Here Comes Summer!

Wow, has it really been an entire month since I last posted? I would say that it has flown by but I have also done so much that it seems to have lasted forever! I hate doing this timeline style but it’s the quickest way I can think of to remember what we’ve been up to. So here goes:

In the middle of May we started the beginning of our sad season to say “see you later” to many of our friends. Many members of our Okinawa family are moving and I just try not to think about life in Oki with out them. We had a big “see you later BBQ” with Randy and Melanie Ball before they left. They were so stressed with flying out the next morning that I don’t know if they remember it but we had a great time.

Hayden finished the soccer season, much of it was cancelled due to the crazy amount of rain we’ve had this season but he still had a good time. Danica finished preschool. She has loved her teacher and class and it’s been a great experience for her. They did a little program on her last day where they were singing and she started out happy and smiling and part way through the song she realized how many people were watching her and just ended up crying and nervous... it was just “so Danica.” Here she is with her two teachers, one American one Japanese. She learned a lot of great things in her culture class and sings a cute little Japanese song.



We’ve had a lot of fun exploring Japan and participated in a lot of cultural exchange activities with local members of our church. They took us around and showed us the true Okinawa side of things. We really enjoyed it and learned a lot! These black snakes are really expensive and you buy them to make things like snake soup. The kids were thoroughly disgusted and fascinated by the pigs heads and crazy fish. Alyssa was terrified the lobster were going to crawl out and get her! Danica developed a little "crush" on a boy named Levi, he's the son of the woman who was the district camp director so they spent a lot of time together while were we getting camp things planned. She hadn't seen him in a while and was so happy to spend the day with him!






Alyssa is completely adorable and I have fun taking her around everywhere with me. She's my little companion while Danica is at preschool. She is talking up a storm and loves to smile and ask me "you happy mommy?"

Tom got to DJ the youth dance last month and we had a lot of fun. Although it was pretty stressful trying to screen all the songs to make sure they were appropriate. I offered to host Hayden’s class for the end of year family picnic. It sounded easy enough, I would put together a few water games, throw out some chairs and blankets and have a good time. So I spent all week weeding and prepping the yard and getting it looking as nice as it can. Then of course the forecast was very rainy. At the last minute we rented some huge canopies for the yard and had quite a headache picking them up, setting them up and then taking them down...ugh...won’t do that again. But they saved the picnic. It’s warm even when it rains so the kids still rain around playing games, doing the slip ‘n’ slide and sprinklers while the parents stayed dry under the canopies! Hayden is done with school this Thursday and although he has loved his class this year he is dreaming of waking up and playing video games every day.... his dream life.



Over Memorial Weekend we watched our friends kids and so in return they watched our kids this past Friday night. Tom and I didn’t go anywhere but lived a life of “freedom.” We went out to dinner, did some shopping, and then went to karoke. We went to bed late and then woke up early and ran a 5K race and then went on a 20 mile bike ride before picking up the kids. It was nice!!! Saturday night we spent at the church at District Area Training. It was a long meeting but was good information.

We've enjoyed a lot of fun activities. Great beach days, park days and indoor play days. The girls play "mom and dad" all the time and I never know for sure whether to call them mom, dad or baby... I never know who I am supposed to be that day.

Now we are prepping for our big summer trip back to the states. We leave on June 23rd and will be there for three weeks. We can’t wait to see family and friends and to be in America, we miss it all!!!!

The Karamas

I feel like all I ever do here is complain about the weather. It’s either too hot or too rainy and I know it will only get worse as we head into spider season. It rained so much this weekend that ceiling started to leak...good times. However, the weekend before this I was reminded that this is just the price we pay to live in a tropical paradise. We went with some friends on a weekend excursion to the Karamas Islands. They are a little grouping of islands known for their scuba diving. They are just off the southern side of Okinawa, the opposite direction that we usually go when we travel to these little islands. It was quite the adventure!

It started with a high speed ferry ride on a stormy rainy ocean.The weather was terrible but our reservation was non-refundable so we went anyway. On the ferry all the passengers went down inside and it felt like being in an airplane. We were flying and hitting off the huge waves practically catching air. The kids were screaming with delight and excitement it was like a roller coaster. I was as sick as could be but managed to hold it in, Hayden and a few other kids were not so lucky and ended up throwing up. None the less, they all loved it. We got off the ferry and swam through the rain to get on a bus to the hotel. We were straining our necks to peer through the rain to check out the island. I could just see green everywhere!! Our hotel was a little resort right on the beach. We had a Japanese style room which means it was just a room with tatami mats on the floor and a small bathroom. In the closet there were futons, blankets and pillows that we threw out at bedtime.From the balcony of our room you could look down onto the beach.It was still pouring rain but it was warm so we quickly changed into our swimsuits and were just heading down the beach when they told us it had just closed for the night. So we changed and headed into the dining hall for dinner. Dinner was included in our stay and consisted of lots of Japanese cuisine. Hayden ate nothing but the rest of us enjoyed delicious food. The girls especially liked the chicken wrapped in seaweed. After dinner we put the kids to bed and played games at the table in the hall.

The next morning we took off for a drive around the island. We hiked up to a peek with a monument to remember the mass suicides that took place there. Back during the war many people marched up there and jumped off the cliff when they were invaded. We drove through rice patties and admired the Japanese scarecrow and all the cranes. It was beautiful.Then we raced back for breakfast at the hotel. Demonstrating true Japanese hospitality it appeared that the kitchen staff had tried to make food for our group of American children. The hotel was practically empty so our group with it’s 12 children was the dominant presence. The children were delighted to see that breakfast was chicken nuggets, french fries, scrambled eggs and pancakes along with a whole lot of Japanese cuisine like their traditional salad and pickled stuff. It was awesome, it was like they just tried to think of anything American and that’s what they made for us. We were touched and the kids got full!

After breakfast was the highlight of our trip- we finally hit the beach! The women took first shift and headed off to snorkel. It was the most amazing snorkeling I have ever done! Right off we saw a HUGE sea turtle just 4 feet below us and followed it for a while. The coral reefs were massive, covered in anenomes with clown fish and tons of sea life. So many colors and fish, it was fantastic. We saw two more huge sea turtles, surrounded by fish. Then just as we were heading back in we saw a large manta ray just swimming by. It was amazing! We spent the rest of the day on the beach, exploring a second beach and snorkeling there and just soaking up the sun. Yes, the sun came out on Saturday and it was beautiful. We had to catch the ferry again at 5:30. As we loaded on the bus at the hotel the entire staff came out and stood and waved good-bye and then bowed. This happened again as we left on the ferry, they stood on the port and waved. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend. I can’t wait to go back!

Babbling

So this morning I went to the commissary with Alyssa while Danica was at preschool. I was minding my own business searching for swedish fish (because they have been out for the last month) when I heard a voice behind me say “excuse me, can you please reach up there and get that for me?” I turned and saw a nice Japanese woman and then glanced back over my shoulder so see if she was talking to me. No one has ever asked vertically challenged me that question. But sure enough, she was asking me and even better, I was able to reach the box of chocolates she wanted. Two of them in fact. She seriously made my day! I love being around the Japanese...

I had a nice birthday last week. Thank you for all the well wishes. It was a normal busy week with soccer practice, Tom’s meetings, watching some extra kids, making a DVD of girls camp stuff, helping with a girls camp final activity Wednesday night, and RS presidency meeting. But I managed to squeeze in some fun and went out to lunch with my friends on my birthday, we got ice cream after dinner on my birthday (in between soccer and my presidency meeting). Friday night we went out to Chili’s, with the kids. We actually had a good time and they even sang to us. Hayden was so embarrassed and Alyssa loved it. It was great to feel American...

Alyssa is a little cheese ball and loves attention and teasing her older siblings. She’s in that grab something and run away phase...love it... the other day I was buckling her in the car seat and she started going crazy. I asked what was wrong and she smiled and said “Oh, me just freakin.” Such a clown. Her favorite game is to play mom and dad with Danica and her friends. Alyssa gets to be the baby and loves it. When the other kids aren’t around she tries to play it with me and will tell me that she is different kids and insist that I call her the other name. At gymnastics she announced she was Danica and I had to call her Dani the entire time. It turned out great, she was so obedient and participated in everything. I wish I had figured this trick out sooner...

Danica really is a nice obedient little girl. I feel so lucky. Right now her thing is to say “I love you the whole wide world!” It makes no sense but I know what she means so I love it. She’s great at taking care of Alyssa and is a huge help to me. I can ask her to help her get dressed or go potty, whatever and she’s eager to do it. It’s awesome, I hope it lasts...

Hayden is sitting over here complaining about having to do homework. He’s currently spinning his new yo-yo frisbee and saying that he has more important things to do than homework, or at least more fun things.... yeah, don’t we all? Luckily, I just say to him “fine, then don’t do it and get a bad grade.” He freaks out and gets busy. I wonder how long that will last...

Tom and I went on nice bike ride on Saturday. He’s nice to go at my leisurely pace (leisure to him, killer work out to me.) We had time to go 30 miles thanks to the free child care we can use the first Saturday of every month. Saturday night we had friends over for a fish fry. They went deep sea fishing early in the morning so the fish was very fresh. Tom and I told them we don’t like fish but they could come over and cook it and hang out. Turns out we do like fish, it was really good! We’re lucky to have great friends. Too bad they are leaving us. It’s actually really depressing and I try not to think about it. Several of our really good friends are moving this summer. Okinawa will not be the same without them...

So anything else random I can write about it? Hmmm.... yesterday we went to the Dragon boat races. This week is Golden Week, a week that has three Japanese holidays so schools are closed, businesses shut down and everyone enjoys the festivals. I took Hayden out of school and we went to a big festival so we could cheer on my friends who were on the Navy women’s racing team. They won and it was very exciting and a fun atmosphere. Hayden was just happy to be out of school eating cotton candy and sno-cones. Lucky kid...

In our effort to become triathletes I recently tried swimming. My foot was injured so I needed something different and thought it was finally the perfect time. After a few failed attempts where all the lanes were full (no, I was not going to crowd into a lane that already had three marines swimming in it, thank you.) I finally got in one day. Swimming was great, it was the first time in my life I had ever swam laps. I didn’t expect to be good, I just wanted to try it. So then I went a second time and sadly the more I tried the more I realized I was terrible!! I loved the challenge and the instant fatigue and muscle soreness but I was so embarrassed knowing that I look like, and feel like, I am on the verge of drowning at the end of each lap. So until I find someone who can be my coach I am going to back off and focus on my biking for a while. They do have adult swim lessons here and I think I may give that a shot. I’m not giving up, I just need help...

Well, I could probably babble all night. I actually wrote up a long blog entry earlier today and then the power went out and I lost it all. I don’t know if this one is as good but I am just sitting here waiting for Tom to finish up some paperwork for a background check at work and figured I’d try to get it done. The weather is really unpredictable right now, it goes from sticky humid hot, to cold and rainy, to gorgeous warm and clear. You never know what is coming. My eyes are starting to get blurry so I may have to give up on waiting for Tom... have a great night!

Catch up time!

Well, girls camp is over and the house is a mess and there is a ton to do but I sprained a joint in my foot during the half marathon and only made it worse during girls camp so I am trying to take it easy today and will sit and blog instead of cleaning. So here is what we've been up to:

The biggest event in our lives the past month was the fact that we had visitors!!!! Tom’s parents came to visit and we had such a fantastic time with them! They flew in late on Saturday March 27th and stayed for a week. For days leading up to Saturday Danica would wake up and start asking if it was Saturday yet! I wish we had taken more pictures of everything we did but we just get so busy with things that we forget!!! They survived their flight and were able to attend church with us on Sunday morning. After church we rested for a while and then went to a nearby shrine and explored a sacred cave. Then we drove out to a lighthouse on the coast and tried to ignore the raging wind while we enjoyed the view of the vast ocean that surrounds us.

Monday we packed up and drove to Okuma, the Air Force beach resort about 2 hours north near the tip of the island. On our way there we stopped first at a Japanese McDonald’s and then at Mt. Nago, a mountain in the large city of Nago. There are two main cities on the island, Naha, where the airport is, and Nago up north. We enjoyed a great hike up Mt. Nago, although it was a bit steeper than we’d hoped with tons of stairs! We didn’t make it quite to the top but the view was nice and the greenery was beautiful!

Then we played at a really fun playground for a while before finishing our drive. We checked in at Okuma and unpacked in our beach suite rooms. The kids were dying to go for a bike ride so we rented some 4 person bikes and rode around the resort. It wasn’t quite warm enough for beach activity but we still had fun and BBQ’d dinner and played some games before going to bed.
Tuesday we relaxed, got up and played some miniature golf, and then went out on a glass bottom boat. It was awesome, we were able to look down at the floor and see all the fish swimming below us. We even saw 4 sea snakes and 2 jellyfish. Very cool. Then we ate lunch and Kenn and Barb stayed with the girls while they napped. In the meantime, Hayden, Tom and I went and hiked up to Hiji Falls. It was a beautiful hike and pretty falls. The whole time Tom kept saying “I can’t imagine being the guys who had to haul the wood up here to build these steps and bridges!” After our hike we all walked over to the beach and rented a wave runner. It was a bit chilly so we were the only people out there and enjoyed racing that thing all over the ocean. Then we hiked around the coast enjoying the views before going to the restaurant for dinner.

Wednesday we packed up and drove up to the point of the island. After enjoying the view we drove to the Ocean Expo Park, a HUGE aquarium. We had a great day marveling at the fish, eating japanese ice cream while watching the whale sharks and dancing to the annoying music during the dolphin show. The kids drank so much Fanta grape soda during the trip I thought they might turn purple. We got home from our trip late in the afternoon. We settled on Pizza Hut for dinner and Kenn and Barb graciously offered to watch the kids so I could go to the youth activity that night where Tom had been asked to be a judge for the “Standard Works Idol” activity. We had a good time and enjoyed being out.

Thursday, Hayden went to school and we went to Ryuku Mura, an attraction to celebrate Okinawa heritage. They took traditional homes from villages around the island and brought them to this one location. They also did a parade that incorporated elements from many different festivals. We got to see a traditional sugar cane press that uses a water buffalo. We enjoyed Japanese treats and I even got to try a real coconut. She used her machete to open it up and just put in a straw for me, it was awesome! In the afternoon we went to the beach and did some snorkeling! It was a bit cold but we managed and Tom actually encountered a dangerous lion fish while swimming through a cave. Yikes! That night we BBQ’d in the backyard.




Friday we finally had a moment to relax! Tom went to work, Hayden to school, Barb went running and we just hung out. That afternoon we did some shopping at the souvenir mall and then hit the 100 yen store (dollar store) before going to the barrel restaurant for dinner. I’m sad we didn’t take any pictures of our dinner. The restaurant looks like a huge barrel. We had fried octupus as our appetizers and then just a nice assortment of japanese foods for dinner. The kids all ate soba (noodles) and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Saturday we started off with some long runs, Tom and I had to run 12 and Barb had to run for her training as well. Then we all went to watch Hayden’s soccer game. He did great and Papa took us all out to Burger King for lunch afterward! The kids were thrilled! We did some errands that afternoon, dyed Easter eggs and then had a babysitter come over so we could go out to dinner. We met up with a dentist here that Kenn used to work with in the Navy and enjoyed a fantastic sushi place.
Sadly on Sunday they had to leave and flew up to mainland Japan to stay with Kenn’s roommate from BYU. They had a “real” Japanese experience with him. We loved our visit and the fun times we got to have with them. The kids can’t wait until we can go to their house in the summertime! Sunday was Easter and we got together with our Okinawa family and had a nice Easter dinner and egg hunt.
Other than that it seems like church is just keeping us soooo busy! I was just released as primary chorister and asked to serve as 2nd counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I’m excited for the change but have been so busy with girls camp I didn’t really have time to think about it! When I agreed to be in charge of girls camp I knew it would be busy but I had no idea just how busy!! They do it over spring break because it’s too hot to camp in the summer and so many people move and travel in the summer. Most of the things we planned worked out great and the girls really enjoyed them. The second day we woke up to tons of rain, the buckets of water coming down kind of rain and that sort of threw a damper on the days activities. We told all the girls to just get the flip flops they had brought for beach day and we just trudged through the inches of water that covered the ground! It was crazy. Luckily everyone survived the wet and cold, they survived the strange blisters from some sort of tropical bug bite, and managed to have a great time. I’ve never worked so hard for so many days in a row but managed to survive. I was gone from Tuesday to Saturday and my amazing friends all stepped up to take the kids while Tom was at work and even overnight while he fulfilled the priesthood responsibility one night. I was so consumed with keeping camp running and all the work there that I didn’t even have time to think about the kids. There was no cell phone coverage so I was truly just out of touch and had to just rely on my friends doing it all. And of course they did, they even took all three of my kids along with them as they went to the zoo one day and a hotel water park one day. My kids had a great time. I feel so lucky that I have friends I could rely on who were so willing to help.
I’m grateful to be done and home and clean....although I’ve washed my hair three times and it still smells like smoke. The kids were happy to see me and I couldn’t get enough hugs. Danica has accidentally called me a dad a few times, it’s pretty funny. I am so lucky that Tom is the type of dad that I can leave for 5 days and it’s okay. I’m very glad to be back home with him.
So what’s next.... we decided we are going to start speed training to try to win some up coming 5K races. They have them once a month and they aren’t really competive but they have good prizes and it’s feasible that we could win. I am hoping that now that I am home and off my foot the sprain will heal up quickly. I am going in to see a podiatrist on Wednesday. Life is now full of all the normal things like soccer and gymnastics, RS activity Wednesday night, a branch campout Friday night, the single marines over for dinner on Sunday, etc. Right now, I am going to put the girls down for a nap and try to get things ready for Hayden to come home to do homework! Two last pictures.... the girls enjoying the swings and Alyssa eating a piece of broccoli left on her plate after dinner instead of the ice cream cone in front of her....if only they were always so health conscience!

IEjima Half Marathon

You may have noticed the lack of blog post in a while... I've been way too busy. I'm in charge of girls camp and it's this week, maybe I'll have time to write after that. In the meantime, here is a copy of the post Tom wrote for his family's blog, enjoy!

Alright, so, we have been out of touch for a while, at least as the blog goes. We had a wonderful time with Mom and Dad here which deserves its own post. However, I am just going to post about the half marathon that we completed yesterday. It is a run that we did last year also because it is on a saturday. We luckily had great friends that were willing to watch the kids so this time we elected to just ride out to the island the day of rather than spend the night on the island. We were not very impressed with the expensive accommodations that we had last time. Also, it seemed like last year we just did too many things the day before and the day of the half marathon. For some reason the Japanese schedule a large amount of their races in the afternoon. This is stupid. Who wants to eat lunch then go out for a long run in the toasty sun. So, the morning as we left our house was awesome. It was like 65 degrees. There was a little sun but there were a ton of clouds in the sky to make it cool. So, we were really looking forward to the race. We dropped the kids off and were off to the ferry. All went fine with the ferry. The water was calm so it made for a really beautiful ride over to the island with beautiful views.






When we got to the island we retrieved our shirts and saki and just rested in a shady part of the port building until around race time. We did notice that on the promotional poster for this race there is a picture of the starters from last year and we are in the group so I snagged one for memory sake. We then walked up to the race and by this time the sun was really beginning to shine down on us. It still was only about 76 but that is warm when the sun is coming down hard on you. So, we started the race at 1510. That is just stupid, let me say that again. This time I actually had my ipod functioning, not like last year when I got to the starting line only to find the ipod on and drained of all power...Where is Taylor when I need him? Anyway, this time I had a back up shuffle in my pocket of my shorts and a backup set of headphones in my shorts also just in case anything happened. We started off quick. The first 3-4 miles were at a really good pace and Tracey had determined prior to the race that she was going to stay with me the whole time if she could, and that woman has some serious will power so I was convinced she would. She says that for the first 6 miles it was really tough to stay up but that after that she felt really good. I on the other hand was really having trouble. Tracey tried to leave me a few times and I caught up with her each time because I was not going to have my pride hurt. Every long run we went on during this training schedule has ended with me leaving her at the end because I was going to fast and now it was race day and I was going to let her just go ahead? No way. But, I can only do what my body lets me do. So, we ran as hard as we could, walking through water stops only. The last 5K seemed like forever even though I have been doing 3 miles in my sleep. It seemed like each Km, and they mark each one, lasted forever. I hate that it is listed on the side. This does not help. I have a watch for that.

So, toward the end of the run there is a long hill, so I headed up the hill as fast as I could. I past up Tracey and just kept going hard into the finish. I was feeling completely drained but I had already missed my target so I just wanted to do as well as I could. Tracey stayed very close behind but the fact of the matter is that my legs are twice as long as hers. So, I finished hard, passing up 6-7 guys on the hill and into the finish.



Yeah, I beat yellow guy.






And then, I lost it. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was dizzy, I felt like I was going to fall down. I managed to make my way to a chair in a tent as multiple japanese people crowded around me. I requested an IV because I felt drained but they did not understand me. They gave me water and this brown sugar square that I immediately threw up. I made my way to the ground and my shoes were removed. I apparently asked them for a foot massage which was not granted. I just remember being very delirious and just wanting to go to sleep. I tried multiple times to get up but just could not do it. I have never felt this way. So, I sat on a chair eventually and threw up another load of water. I guess all of the water that I was consuming during the race was not making it past my stomach.

So, I had to be moved over to another area to free up room in the tent I was in. They kept wanting to send me to the hospital but I refused. After being moved, one of our friends saw me and immediately identified it as heat exhaustion and instructed people to pour cold water on my body. She said I looked like death. My pulse was very fast even 30 minutes after the race and I was pale. I got cramps in my legs and feet over and over again. It was very painful. So, in the end, we made it home. I threw up another time on the way home out the car door. It was all the water I had drank during the race. I must not have had anything in me. I am fine now. Frustrated at the whole thing and what it took out of me to not reach the goal we had. But, we did well. Both Tracey and I finished around 1:42. So, it is my PR, but Tracey has a more amazing PR so she had to settle with me. I am not sure why this race has my number, but it does. I could go out any other day and run 13.1 at 6 in the morning and get my goal. I did it every time we did the long runs. But, something about the rolling hills of the run and the heat, you are virtually exposed to the suns rays the whole time, it makes it really difficult. So, we are done. On Garmin we were actually very consistent pace wise. It did not feel like that. Here are some charts if you care and some pictures. I guess we just have to always have interesting experiences with races. We will continue to because we are not going to stop running.

Earthquake and Tsunami

Just a quick update on our lives:

We woke up at 5:30am on Saturday to the noise of all the windows rattling and the ground shaking. We jumped out of bed, ran to the windows and tried to figure out what was happening all at the same time as realizing it was an earthquake. I shouted “Run to the kids!” but as we entered the girls room we could see they were still asleep and the earthquake started to end. Hayden was already awake reading in his room and thought it was so awesome. He instantly wanted to jump on google and type in “Earthquake in Okinawa.” Fortunately there was no damage, although it was a significant quake around a 7. Sunday was exciting as well because as we were leaving for church we heard an announcement over the loud speakers on base saying there was a tsunami warning, predicted to hit at 3pm. The tsunami was caused by the earthquake in Chili. They forced evacuations of everyone living near the coast. We are about 2 miles from the coast but luckily up a big hill. So we had some people come over for the afternoon because they live right on the water but in the end nothing happened. Well nothing except all of Tom’s meetings were cancelled and he got to spend a Sunday afternoon home with us, it was very enjoyable and we even snuck in a nap!

Tom returned home from his trip to Washington anxious to get busy doing dentistry out in the “real” world. It’s going to make the next year and a half really long but I’m sure we’ll find ways to make it fun. We’re happy to have him home. He enjoyed bike rides, karaoke and eating out while he was away. When I told Danica that dad would be coming home that night she said “Good, and he’ll never go again!” I couldn’t agree more!! Next time we vacation together! There were lots of ugly rainy days with cranky kids that were really lousy but we did our best to stay busy while he was gone. My best friend here had a baby on the Sunday Tom flew out so I was able to take care of her other two kids for a few days which kept me very busy. Hayden was thrilled because he gave up his bed to the other kids and got to sleep in my bed, something I never let him do because he snuggles me ALL night! It’s really funny to watch him move closer even in his sleep if I try to move away.

Hayden went on a fun field trip at school and both the kids got to attend their Valentine’s parties. I treated myself to a nice night out for a Valentine’s date with my friends and we got pedicures and went out for dessert. It made for a nice night. Hayden started taking piano lessons from one of my friends and seems to like it. Hayden got to miss school to go to the District Science Fair (I had to go to because first graders needed a parent present). It was fun to spend the day with Hayden and was a great experience looking over all the projects and different stations they setup for the kids to learn things. Then to make the day even better Hayden ended up winning second place out of all the elementary school projects in the district! (3 schools). We couldn’t believe it since he is so young but he was excited. I think he’s already planning what he wants to do next year!

We have signed up for a Half Marathon on April 10th. It’s on IE Island, the same race we ran last April. It’s been nice to have a training goal and my knee seems to be healing. I’m taking it slow and I wear a huge knee brace but we’re up to 8 miles and my knee is okay so I’m hopeful. Running only 13 miles seems so “easy” now that we’ve done a marathon! Crazy... I’ve also started training to be on the Navy Dragonboat team. In May the Japanese have a huge festival and as part of it they race Dragonboats. The military have a few teams and the Navy Women are on a 5 year winning streak. It would be a great experience to be on the team but so many people want to do it that if you miss any practices you probably won’t be on the team. Practice is at 5am out in the ocean, just standing in the water rowing, so it’s a big commitment to go to all those practices and then not actually race...I think it would be awesome to do but I already know I’ll miss a few practices and can’t decide if I am willing to try it. Plus, it means I won’t have time to bike. I told Hayden about it today and he was so excited for me to do it because he watched the races last year. But then I found out he’s just excited to go and get cotton candy again while watching the race... so maybe that’s what I’ll do too...

Well I have to go watch Survivor and fold some laundry... I hope all of your lives are exciting as well! I saw this picture of Alyssa as a baby and it made me smile...