The adventure this year was our big move from Okinawa Japan back to the United States. We have purchased our first house and are settling permanently here in the small town of Washougal Washington. It’s a great town located along the Columbia River Gorge just across the border from Portland. Tom is working for his brother at Discovery Dental. It’s a beautiful, well run practice and Tom looks forwarding to becoming a partner with his brother in the future. Here are a few of the highlights from this past year, including some of the things we miss about Japan and some of the things we are enjoying here:
January: We enjoyed celebrating the Japanese new year, a month long celebration!! Hayden changed from the second grade to the third grade and loved it! He fit right in and enjoyed the new challenges. Alyssa lost her two front teeth due to a fall and was fitted for some fake ones (it pays to have a dentist for a dad!) We enjoy lots of hiking and being outdoors!!
February: We took our BIG trip up to mainland Japan with Tom’s brother Dave and wife Adina.
We had a fantastic time in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Kyoto, and Tokyo! Great food, beautiful, scenery and amazing people!
March: Tom and I got scuba certified and Tom began going every chance he got!! He’s in love and now misses it all the time! We even saw a shark!
Hayden was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints out in the East China Sea. I pulled the girls out of their preschool and we enjoyed home preschool with more time to spend together and to enjoy the parks and cultural experiences in Okinawa.
April: For the third year in a row we went and ran the Iejima Half Marathon and went camping on the nearby island. Later in the month we did a three day, 230 mile bike ride around the entire island of Okinawa. So amazing!! Oh, how we miss the beautiful island, the weather and the friends who enjoyed it all with us! The kids enjoyed lots of island sight seeing. Hayden enjoyed soccer and Danica tried it, but hated all the pressure. We were really panicking about not having enough time left in Okinawa for all the fun things we wanted to do!
May: Put in an offer on a house in Washington after seeing a video of it. Took more trips to fun places like Okuma. Enjoyed watching Alyssa‘s ballet/tap recital and spent every possible minute with our friends in Japan knowing that we were going to leave them all too soon.
June: The month is a blur of last minute adventures, packing, prepping, playing and saying good-bye. I was happy to say good-bye to my van and my house, both of which were literally junked and condemned when we left them. However, I wish I could have stayed with the people, the weather and the beauty. Nonetheless, mid month we began the jet lag, trying to drive on the other side of the street and adjusting to being back in the states. I remember just being cold all the time, feeling overwhelmed walking into the huge stores and wanting the stability of my comfortable Japan life to return. Fortunately, we had good friends and family here to greet us and help us begin to settle in. We moved in with Tom’s parents, finally saw the house we had put an offer on and began to process of waiting for it to close!
July: Tried to stay warm in the cool Washington summer, it was frigid compared to the temps we left in Okinawa. We took a great trip to Utah and spent time in the sun with my family there. The kids got reacquainted with their cousins and traveled so much they learned to sleep wherever we decided to call home. Poor Alyssa got confused every time we changed to a new location and would ask if it was our new house. At the end of the month we ran the Northwest Passage Ragnar with a team made of Tom’s siblings, spouses and mom! We said good-bye to July with our annual trip to a houseboat on Lake Shasta in California. Heaven.
Tom started working at Discovery Dental. The practice belongs to his brother Dave and its amazing. Fantastic staff, beautiful location, recently updated and remolded inside, and just run really well. It's been an adjustment after being in the military but it's a good one and Tom looks forward to being partners with Dave in the future. He's already got his name on the sign!
August: Alyssa had two great things happen on her birthday- she finally turned 4 and we closed on our house! It didn’t seem possible that my little sweet baby was getting so big but she couldn’t be happier. She is such a fun, smiley girl who wants to make everyone happy. She loves all the girly things her sister likes but also enjoys getting messy, being loud and playing with Hayden. We closed on the house, finally, and were thrilled to move in! Compared to where we have lived this house is so big and new. It’s been fun to organize and decorate. The neighbors are great and I think we’ll be happy here for a long time. I’ve been promising pictures for ages...sorry. In August we also ran on a Hood to Coast team and had a blast!
September: Hayden started fourth grade. He was nervous and it was hard to be the new kid but he’s settled in and is doing well. Danica started kindergarten and is in love with all of it except the chaos of P.E. Alyssa started at preschool and enjoys going and being a big kid but is happy when I pick her up and we get to spend the rest of the afternoon together. My parents came to visit and I was so excited to show them around and to let them experience how beautiful it is here. Of course it rained the whole time they were here. Tom did his first triathlon, a sprint, and totally rocked it. He is hooked and just signed up for a half ironman next year...intense!
October: We enjoyed seeing the leaves change colors as we up our miles during our marathon training. It was fun to run around exploring the area in preparation for the Leavenworth Marathon. The race was great, a lot of fun to run it together and I actually won! First place for women! A great memory. Danica is in love with riding her bike and the new gymnastics class she is in. She is doing really well and is set to start in the advance class at the first of the year. Hayden goes to Lego club and loves it, tried flag football and didn’t love it. Alyssa is doing ballet and has become best friends with a girl in her class she knows from church. We enjoyed great Halloween festivities and took the kids to a pumpkin patch for the first time in 4 years!
November: Thanksgiving was spent enjoying a wonderful reunion with my brothers and sister in Utah. We stayed for the week after Thanksgiving to have more time for skiing, sledding, bowling, museums, games, Temple Square and trips to the gym! It was wonderful being all together and hearing the cousins just laugh and laugh.
December: As usual it’s a crazy month at our house! Danica turned 6 years old and continues to be the sweetest, most loving and caring girl around. She can’t get enough of coloring, cutting, singing, dolls, and playing with her sister. Tom and I were fortunate enough to go to several great concerts bringing our concert total since moving here up to 8. Some favorites were Andrew Bell, Milk Carton Kids, Lights, Naked and Famous, Grouplove, and Young the Giant. We also celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! Hayden turned 9 years old and enjoyed a day spent playing video games and nerf wars with his friends. He still loves to read and is finishing up the Harry Potter series right now. It’s been fun to see him spend more time playing with his sisters!
Christmas will be spent here in Washington. We are looking forward to all the fun and will post some pictures when it’s done!!
We hope the end of this year finds all of you happy and ready for whatever adventures come at you next!!! Please keep in touch!
