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
