Happy Birthday Danielle!

We had a big day today! It was Danielle's 2nd Birthday and we also had our Christmas services at church.

After lunch we had some birthday cake and opened up Danielle's presents.

She loves to watch Sesame Street, so we got her these Big Bird and Elmo dolls. I think her face says it all.

Our Christmas Program

Tonight at church the kids did a little singing in the program that we had. They did a really good job, I actually saw their mouths moving!!


Afterwards, they had a little Christmas dinner for the kids. Somehow Brandon managed to get jelly all over his shirt, it was even on the back!!

We were able to get a little video, at the end Brandon's "La's" went a little longer than everyone else's! It was cute, usually he just stands there with his hands in his pockets so it was nice to see him participating...

Round One

Tonight we went to a 7 story indoor sports playground!! I will tell you... the Japanese really know how to keep theirselves entertained. This place had this 3 story ball pit/playground for the little kids, a skating rink, basketball courts, batting cages, ping-pong tables, tennis, relaxation room with AWESOME massage chairs, arcade, miniture golf, and more stuff that I can't even think of right now!


Unfortunetaly, I only got pictures of this playground for the kids after we left this area I got a locker for my purse and I left my camera in it!

These little cars were too cute. They were controlled by those little joysticks, Danielle never really figured it out so most of the time she just got someone to push her! They also had tricycles with a step on the back so that two people could ride. The track went all the way around the ball pit.

This is our neighbor Amy, she loves playing with the girls, and they love playing with her. She is like my little babysitter! She is only about 11 though, so I can't go to far.

Japanese Flower Arranging

Yesterday, I went over to my neighbor Carol's house to learn the art of Japanese flower arranging. I have seen a lot of beautiful floral arrangements since I have been here. Our church always has a beautiful one at the alter, and we always drive by flower shops and you can see inside all of the their work. Some of these have to be at least 3 feet tall. The ones that we made were not as tall but they are still beautiful.

I am not sure what her name is, but this is one of the Japanese ladies who was teaching us the craft. This lady did not speak very much English, but she was very sweet.

This is Carol, she is our neighbor across the street. Her son Daniel is the same age as Danielle! Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of my neighbor who was hosting this class, her name is also Carol.

After we were done with our class we enjoyed the American food that Carol had prepared, and also the rice balls that the Japanese ladies brought with them. The lady in the flannel shirt was very excited to find out that we would be here for another three years, she said we could be friends. What I think she meant was I could take her shopping at the exchange!!

The final product... In the middle is a poinsettia plant and surrounding it are iris's, orchid's, and rose's. At the bottom are ferns and the tall branches sticking out the top are willow branches that they painted red. The ladies said that we can save the branches for next Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

"You want me to stick my hand in WHERE?" After I cut the tops off of the pumpkins I told the kids that they needed to scoop all of the seeds out before we carve faces into them. Caidence actually told me- Princess's don't get dirty!

Brandon on the other hand couldn't wait to scoop all that yucky stuff!

All dressed up! You have to LOVE Brandon- what a goof ball... Just like his Daddy. (ah-oh)

"Anyone need a surgeon?"

Danielle just can't figure that one out...

Unfortunetly we had a rainy Halloween! We only Trick-or-Treated for about 30 minutes at the most. When we got back home we took off all of the wet costumes and smeared make-up. And then we opened the candy, popped some popcorn, and watched The Apple Dumpling Gang! It turned out to be a good evening. (and we don't have too much candy!)

Mom and Dad's Night Out

Derek and I were able to get a baby-sitter last weekend for a much needed date night! We started off by dining at our first Japanese Restraunt, Derek ordered a plate of tuna rolls (raw tuna wrapped with rice in seaweed). I couldn't believe he was making me be so adventerous on our first night out! I did try ONE, I guess it wasn't too horrible. We didn't know that you were supposed to put the whole thing in your mouth at once, it was a little difficult trying to bite through the seaweed. I haven't decided if I am going to give it a second chance yet or not. But we are going to try to get out on our own once a month and try a new local place to eat.


After dinner we went to an area called "American Village" While we were walking around we found a vintage store. I am not sure what the difference is between vintage and thrift, but we were in shock over some of the prices that we were seeing.

The Japanese lady working at the store started doing the Thriller dance when she saw Derek wearing this jacket! It cost 15,000 Yen (about $150) and I think Micheal Jackson actually wore it in the Thriller video.

And these Adidas shoes straight from the 1980s cost 4800 yen (about $48). To me they look worth about 48 cents, OK- maybe $4.80 they do have purple stripes and they are high tops.

Out in Town

Here are a few pictures that I took the other day while we were out driving around. I love seeing more Palm Trees than Pine Trees!

While we were on our drive.... Derek found his first GRAY hair!!

There is a cafe on the top of this building that we would like to eat at, maybe without the kids. The view from up there is supposed to be great. The ocean is only about two blocks away when you turn left down that road.

Notice what side of the road the cars are driving on... I am not sure I will ever get used to this.

Daddy's Home!!

After about two weeks we were all excited to see Derek again.

Those boys are so crazy...

After he had a some time to relax and get out of his uniform we went shopping at the brand new BX on the airforce base, it is the second biggest one in the world! The biggest I believe is in Germany. And then we went to the McDonalds off base, we had to order from a picture menu... and we still didn't get what we ordered!! We won't be making to many trips here though, it cost $25 for all of us to eat, and Danielle shared our food.

Welcome Home Derek.

Our Walk Home

I realize that I am always way behind on my posts... One day I dream of being organized and on top of things, but I am still working it.

These are pictures of "one of" Brandon's first days of school.. I guess this has been a couple of weeks ago now. We were still living in the WestPac.

We had to walk up this hill twice a day... Brandon only had to do it once a day!!

Danielle was always a trooper...

Caidence on the other hand.... well, she is our little princess!! I do feel for her though... it was REALLY HOT

This is one of the Japanese statues.. these lions(?) are everywhere. I was told at our welcoming brief what they represent, but I couldn't tell you now. I am sorry I'm not very helpful... Maybe Rosa could help me out here.

Caidence was not so happy to be getting her picture taken after that HORRIBLE walk up that HUGE hill. -sorry princess

I am back!!

We have been in our house for a week now. And we are starting to finally settle in, even if Derek was only here for one night before he had to go TAD. He isn't to far away, he is on a small island right off of the coast of Okinawa. They are redoing the airfield out there, hopefully he will be home in about two weeks. We are missing him though. I am just figuring out the Internet, it wasn't working right at first, but now I think we are up and running. Sorry there aren't any pictures yet... I want to get the house the way I want it before I start posting pics. We haven't been able to do much exploring yet either, with Derek being gone I am a little scared about going it alone. Driving is still a little crazy, especially out in town where it is super congested. So far I the farthest I have gone is to church, and I am relying on God to get me there (and back)!! Keri- I have to admit I deleted your friends email address before I was able to use it, could you send it to me again?? I like the church that we are going to now, but I would like to see what else is out there. Again, I am kind of waiting for Derek to get home so that we can explore our options together. Keep in touch everyone... I love reading the blogs.

My Apologies

There have many times that we have gone out in town and every time that we do I forget my camera!! I just finally put it into my purse and from now on I plan on taking lots of pictures.

"The River"

My Grandpa Richardson lives in the backwoods of Indiana, Brandon is enjoying one of my favorite childhood memories... driving down the rocky path that leads to Grandpa's house.



The four wheeler is new. It is how my 72 year old Grandpa gets around these days.

Who let the baby ride with Uncle Rob?

There is a river that runs by the property, so we decided to take the boat up the river and take a ride down to Grandpa's house. Uncle Rob didn't mention the broken paddle until the boat was already in the River!!

This would probably wouldn't be so tough if we didn't have half a paddle... for some reason the boat keeps turning to the left!

We made it back just in time for Uncle Tim's lasagna... funny all I ever remember eating at The River is hamburgers and hot dogs.

Go Redskins!!

Most of you probably already know that we are now season ticket holders for the Redskins. Now we just need them to start winning some games so that people will want to buy them from us!!

Hanging out at the West Pac

I just wanted to give everyone an update!!

We were offered a single family house, which is a blessing becuase we were expecting maybe The Towers (which are apartment buildings) or at best a triplex. The house that we will be living in seems to be very nice, it is a corner lot in a nice neighborhood on Camp Foster. Brandon will start school on Tuesday, and it is close enough that we will be able to walk.

But for now we are stuck here in our hotel... our house won't be ready until the 21st!!

Brandon got a haircut and learned to blow a bubble all in the same day!!

This is Danielle's favorite snack right now, Animal Crackers. It is about all she will eat!

Here is Derek... Doing important Officer work.

This is our very own Sleeping Beauty

At least we have our own transportation now... This is Derek's car, it has really been taken care of on the inside so hopefully, the motor is in good shape too. On the other side there is a bit of damage, but that is just how it goes out here!

And this is my new "van"- I can't tell you what kind it is...something crazy I have never heard of before! It isn't really a van, the back doors open up just like a four door car. But, there is a third row.

Yes, the steering wheel is on the WRONG side!! It feels completely crazy to drive on the left side of the road. But I think I will get used to it pretty quickly, it is much easier when there is other people on the road to follow though. (I had a picture of this but I just accidentally erased it.)