2009 in Review

Can I really sum up all our adventures in one post? I guess I'll try. These are just a few highlights from our year, you can read the full accounts in the archive!

January: We took advantage of the great weather and spent so much time at the amazing parks here. The slides are huge, wild and dangerous, and so much fun! The equipment is so different to us, the kids love it! The island is small so the coast is everywhere which means a lot of the parks also have a beach, it makes for a great outing!

February: Tom and I spent Valentine’s day having a picnic on the beach. On February 16th Tom turned 31 and we had a surprise birthday party with a BBQ and Rockband with all our friends! We discovered the treasures at the “100 Yen Store.” It’s like a dollar store and the kids love all the great stuff they find there!
March: We picked up some new passions in our family: Family Rockband time- with Hayden singing and the girls on guitar or drums. Running- Tom and I began to really enjoy it and were training for a half marathon! Karaoke- I think Tom would go every weekend, he’s phenomenal and kept needing “just one more song!”

April: Everyone is growing up so fast! Hayden started playing soccer, Danica got her haircut, Alyssa got rid of the binky and I turned 30! My birthday was great and left me realizing how my life has only gotten better in the last 10 years!!! We had a great camping trip on the beach and fun at the Forest Adventure Park flying down ziplines. We traveled by ferry to a nearby island where Tom and I competed in our first ever half marathon. It was fantastic although we were puzzled by the bowl of hot noodles offered at the finish line- I wanted a cold drink!
May: Tom had an amazing opportunity to go to Cambodia with a Navy medical humanitarian team to do dental work. He loved the experience of helping the people there. We missed him for those three weeks but when you live on a military base you find that 3 weeks is nothing compared to the separation that so many families endure. I have gained a new appreciation and admiration for the sacrifices of our military families. We are truly blessed to have such amazing individuals and families willing to serve this country, and all of us.
June: We enjoyed a trip to Okuma, a beach resort where we stayed in a condo. Had fun at the huge aquarium on the island where the kids enjoy watching the sharks eat. School got out and we headed to the states! We spent some time getting over the jetlag and then spent a fantastic week on a houseboat at Lake Shasta with Tom’s family! We had 31 people on one boat and enjoyed it all!! The water skiing and wake-boarding were fantastic!
July: While in Washington with Tom’s family we enjoyed tons of shopping, eating out and game nights with the family. Hayden practically moved in with his cousins and the kids were on true vacation mode, even sleeping in until 9 or 10 some days! It was so much fun and made us long for the time when we will live there. In the middle of July Tom had to come back to Okinawa for work and the kids and I flew down to Utah to see my family for the first time in 14 months! We went to Antimony (southern Utah), I ran a 1/2 marathon and came in 10th place for my division, we went 4-wheeling and bottle shooting and just ran around! Back at my parents house we began a month long vacation of crazy fun everyday!
August: The list of things my parents took us out to do is too long to write again! It included Lagoon, Children’s Musuem, Park City Resort, East Canyon Resort, the fair, movies, the zoo, the temple open house and so much more! It was so fun to be with family and to see friends and have my mom’s cooking! The highlight was right before I had to come back I was able to attend my mom’s graduation from BYU!!! It was fantastic to watch her walk across that stage and know she worked hard and really earned that degree!

September: Hayden started first grade and Danica began at preschool and Alyssa potty trained. Tom got really into road biking, the huge spiders came out in full force, the humidity made me want to die, we got serious with our marathon training and got into longer runs including our 18 and 20 milers. We had more adventures out in town discovering fun recreation centers!

October: We explored the caves of Okinawa World, did a lot of running in the rain, and decorated for Halloween. Hayden is a reading machine, sometimes finishing chapter books in one day. Danica is showing some real skill with gymnastics and loves it! On the 31st Tom and I took a ferry ride to another island and ran our first full marathon! It was a gorgeous course, along the coast of the island! It was a long and grueling run, but we did it!

November: Hayden entered the science fair and won for first grade! Danica loves to work on her own homework while Hayden does his and is getting really good at her letters. Alyssa is talking more every day and is a dance-a-holic and can’t resist when she hears music! We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends at some cottages on the beach!

December: It’s all a blur this month has been so busy.... we’ve had Danica’s birthday, our 9th anniversary, Hayden’s birthday, cookies for the class party, gifts to neighbors, Christmas cards, all the shopping, service projects, primary activities and so much more! Just like every year I keep saying that next year I am starting in August so I can actually enjoy the season!!

The year was full of adventure and fun and we are so grateful to be happy and healthy and have this wonderful world to explore. We are most grateful for our Savior and the gift of his birth and his life and death, for the opportunity he gives us to be together as a family forever. May you all have a Merry Christmas and may 2010 be a year full of fun and adventure for you all.

Love,
Tom, Tracey, Hayden, Danica and Alyssa Stinchfield

Happy Birthday Danica!

Danica turned 4 on December 12 and we had a fantastic day. It started with a birthday party with 9 little kids who were all well behaved and we had a great time! Danica picked The Little Mermaid as her theme and we made necklaces, painted underwater art, searched for dinglehoppers, and then ate fish shaped jello, chicken nuggets and crackers (and carrots and oranges). At the end we went fishing for prizes to fill the goodie bags, Danica says this was her favorite part.


She spent the afternoon playing with presents and talking to grandparents on the web cam and opening the gifts they sent. In the afternoon we went to our favorite park, appropriately named by us “the slide park.” It was nice going just as a family and spending that time together. It was a really fun day for everyone!



Just as a record I want to share a bit about Danica. Before she turned 3 she was incredibly, painfully shy. Then one day I found her hiding under the table because she was shy about grandma being on the webcam...that was the last straw. I had idea and just started telling her that she wasn’t shy anymore because now she was 3. It worked! Whenever she started acting shy I would just remind her and she would stop. She started talking to people, making eye contact and just having fun! It’s made for a fantastic year with a truly delightful girl. She is quick to smile and if she’s in trouble she’ll just sit there smiling at me in hopes of changing my mind. This works the other way around too, when she is grumpy about something I can just smile at her until she cracks and starts laughing with me. She is a great big sister and loves to play with Alyssa and is quick to help her with anything. She was invaluable when I was potty training Alyssa and thought it was so fun to help! I don’t know what I’d do without her! Alyssa copies everything she does and it’s great because Danica is such a good example!
Danica loves the color green and loves The Little Mermaid. She loves to sing and dance to the song “Celebrate.” She likes making up names for everything and everyone, she’ll ask me someone’s name and if I don’t know she’ll saying something like “I think it’s Inglebog.” Right now I always hear her saying things like “I’m totally serious, really!” Or I see her running around yelling “I’m losing my life!” She loves her gymnastics class and her preschool and always tell me “I had a great day mom!” When she is happy or excited she claps her hands together and scrunches up her shoulders trying to hold in the excitement, it’s really cute! It’s easy to make her happy, sometimes all I have to do is give her a clementine, she loves them!
Before she leaves to go play at our neighbors or goes into preschool or goes to bed she always insists on lots of hugs and kisses. If she walks away without them she'll come running back for a kiss and hug. She loves to play with babies, play hide ‘n seek, or jump on the trampoline. Danica is an amazing little girl and delight to have in our family!

Team Ball-Field!

Introducing, the newest biathlon team! We decided at the last minute (literally decided the night before the race while we were cleaning up the branch Christmas party) that we would compete in a biathlon on the Air Force Base. The team required 3 runners and one biker. I actually rode the bike, despite my lack of experience, due to lingering knee problems. I have been diagnosed with IT Band Syndrome and am on no-running torture for 4 weeks...it's killing me because running is when I clear my head and have time to think and be alone and this time of year is so crazy that I need my running time now more than ever. I've been going to a spin class but long for the chance to just wake up and run without having to think. But that's another story... this one is about the fun we had doing the race! Randy and Melanie Ball ran with us and were awesome! Melanie nursed her baby, sprinted to the starting line, ran a fast leg of the race and got back to take her baby again so I could get ready to race! It was serious mom power! It was fun and we hope to do it again!

Tropical Island Thankgiving

I’ve been feeling a bit down about missing out on all the family holiday gatherings that are coming but our Okinawa family really came through for us this past Thanksgiving weekend. It was fantastic!!! Back in August we all got together and reserved cottages at small resort on a base up north. We’ve been there a few times but never along with anyone else. It was the perfect set up- 7 families, Hayden was the oldest of the 20 kids. All the cottages in a small fenced in area on one little road surrounding a playground and within walking distance to the beach. The kids were everywhere, riding bikes, rollerblading, digging in the sand, swinging and just enjoying the lack of supervision while the adults relaxed and hung out!
We started Thanksgiving off right with a football game that was a blast (thank you to the pregnant moms who watched the kids so the rest of us could play!) Then we gathered for appetizers for lunch, got some food prepped, put the Turkey in the oven and headed to the beach! The waves were great and the sand plentiful! Then we cleaned up and met for dinner. We had enough food to feed us all for three meals, three fantastically delicious meals! I don’t make anything that requires more than three ingredients but my friends are fantastic cooks and I totally benefitted! My mashed potatoes and rainbow jello turned out fine and I did contribute a stellar apple pie and pumpkin pie. Yum!
After dinner the kids had a scavenger hunt, a p.j. movie party and it was off to bed so the adults could stay up way to late playing games. Every night we would put the kids to bed, lock the doors and meet for pie and games at one of the cottages while monitoring the kids with baby monitors, walkie talkies, and cordless phones...it was awesome. (There is a perk to being on an isolated little military base- totally safe!) By the time we left on Saturday I was exhausted but so happy, I just kept smiling on the drive home thinking about how thankful I am to be here with so many wonderful people. Who would have thought that this far from “home” I could have so many amazing friends. We truly have become like family, the kids play like cousins and adults just enjoy our time together and everyone has unique and special things they bring to the group. This Thanksgiving, while so far from the rest of my family and things that are familiar there is no question I was the most thankful for friends...and the blue water and perfect weather helped...on the drive home I noticed that instead of passing trees full of fall leaves changing colors I was passing trees full of bright orange flowers. There were hundreds of them and they were gorgeous...ah yes, it might be far from “home” but for now it is home.

On a related note, Hayden did a little Thanksgiving play in his class at school and he was one of the two narrators and did a fantastic job! He's on the far left, reading one of his parts.

Life besides running...

There hasn't been much running lately. Tom came down with a sinus infection and ended up really sick most of the week. I felt sick to my stomach clear through last Wednesday but then finally hit the pavement on Thursday only to find both knees sore and tired. Oh well, it was nice a cool and felt great to be outside!

Okay, so what else have we been up to lately? Here’s a few highlights:

Hayden has his first loose tooth and is very excited! His school did a science fair and said that any grade could enter so he decided to do a project. I helped him pick something based on some homework he had enjoyed that involved doing surveys and making charts. He did a great job and learned a lot. Turns out he won first place for the 1st grade! Kudos Hayden!
Tom and I went to the Marine Corp Dental Ball last night. We hadn’t planned on going but the pressure came on and at the last minute Tom bought tickets. I didn’t have anything to wear, I borrowed something last year, and shopping is really tricky with the limited options here, not to mention if you want something that isn’t sleeveless! Finally, after much searching, two days before the ball I miraculously found a dress at an obscure little store off base. Of course it was sleeveless and I couldn’t find anything go with it so I came up with the crazy plan to make something myself, in one day. I went to the Japanese fabric store, found matching black satin and then found an idea online for a little “bolero shrug.” I managed to make it and was actually surprised with the results. Now I know I have an option when my girls hit prom age! I know I look so comfortable taking these pictures...but I wanted to show off the dress because it was such a miracle I found one here, I'll work on my "modeling" skills next year!

Alyssa is really beginning to do well at gymnastics and is enjoying it a lot. She’s learning a lot of great physical skills plus the idea of following directions and taking turns. Danica is a natural and has been asked to join an “advanced preschool” gymnastics class. I’m really proud of her and excited.
Danica and Alyssa are the best of friends and it’s fantastic. They play together all day and love it. Hayden had the day off school Friday so we went to this great in door playground for the first time. Everyone had a blast and it was so fun watching the girls do everything together!! They are more like twins all the time. Danica’s shoe size is only one bigger than Alyssa’s and they can wear the same shirts!
Due to Veteran's day there is no school or work on Tuesday, Wed, and Thurs of this week so we are looking at going camping or something fun. The weather has cooled down a bit and you won't have to put up with me whining about it anymore. It should be gorgeous from here on through March, it almost makes up for how bad it was...almost!

The primary program is next Sunday and I am so excited to be done with it because I am the chorister and have tried so hard all year to teach the kids the songs. I can't wait to just do whatever we want and sing some fun Christmas stuff. The stress of leading the music during sacrament meeting has me nervous already...oh well, we have enough wild kids that I am sure no one pay attention to anything else!

That's all for today, have a great day!

Why did I get sick during the marathon?

Okay, so you're probably sick of hearing about our marathon now, but I found this article and thought it was interesting. Of course my parents were dismayed when they heard about my experience and couldn't believe I didn't just stop running. They were genuinely worried about me. I have been wondering if I was insane and really not smart and would I have stopped had we been around anyone who spoke English so I could have figured out another way back to the finish line besides simply running there...now I am not trying to compare myself to Kara Goucher, but it was nice to know I wasn't alone in this. Apparently, Kara Goucher, an up and coming great runner who ran the NYC marathon in 2:25 last year, also has a problem with throwing up when she is running...she also said it's hard to finish in the time you want because you are so drained and can't keep anything down to replenish.
However, she was probably sick from running so fast.... I have come to realize I was sick from the boat ride. I talked to my dad (from whom I inherited most of my less than ideal qualities like bad teeth, ugly toes, and motion sickness) and he said that when he gets seasick he is then sick for days!!! So, the fact that I was no longer on the boat didn't matter. What I took to be pre-race jitters was still the nausea from being seasick and it lasted for 4 days after the race causing me to even take a pregnancy test when I found myself up at 3:00am eating crackers to calm my stomach enough to go back to sleep! I think I"ll stay away from stormy boat rides in the future!! Hayden wants to go whale watching... I think I'll send Tom with him!

Marathon-short report

It has come to my attention that a sweet and simple account of the marathon may be all that is wanted by most readers, and my long and gory details are too much. So here it is, you can skip the full account if this is enough info for you. If you've already read the full account, just blur out the other details and remember that this is take home message:

Hooray!!! We finished our first marathon! It was awesome, a beautiful course with awesome ocean views and mountain scenery. The weather was perfect, not too hot and just misty rain here and there. At one point we were going up some steep hills along the coast and the breeze was at our back pushing us up, it was great! Much to my surprise, and pleasure, my knee didn't hurt at all and we felt well trained and ready. It was long, and hard and around mile 18 we found ourselves wondering why anybody ever wants to do it again but we kept at it. We finished close to our goal and are so happy to be done!!!

During our training we ran together for our long runs every week and have decided to keep doing that just for fun. We've looked into a few half marathons on other surrounding island and found a few in February and March- should be fun!