Okinawa Visitors

Lucky us! We have visitors! Stacy and her family came all the way from Oregon and are on a 3 week visit to Okinawa. We are having the times of our lives - not wasting a single moment - it's go, go, go with no rest for the weary. We have been sightseeing from the Northern Tip to the Southern Coastline and everything in between. For the most part, the weather has cooperated, but it is hot and humid, so we are pretty stinky by the end of the day. Everyone is enjoying our time together and unfortunately, time is flying by. I want to encourage everyone to visit Stacy's Blog, which I have a link for in my link section. She has done a fabulous job documenting their stay here and has some beautiful pictures. I probably will just refer to her link for this visit, because her blog is so AWESOME!

Spring Piano Recital

With the theme of "Favorite Songs from the Silver Screen," the Spring Piano Recital was a huge success. Brenna played the opening song of the recital, the theme song from the movie Titanic, and it was flawless and beautiful. She also played songs from The Little Mermaid and Dr. Zhivago. Morgan played songs from the Lion King and Sound of Music and did wonderfully. Sydney played very well for her very first recital. Nerves got to her a little bit, but she played "Tomorrow" from Annie and "You'll be in my Heart" from Tarzan. She did great and we were proud of all three girls!!

Son Rock Kids Camp!

This year's VBS theme was "Son Rock Kids Camp" and we had a great turn out. Our head Chaplain said we would turn no child away - and we didn't with almost 300 kids enrolling for this year's program. The planners and volunteers are exhausted, but the kids are going strong!

Thank God For Our Loving Husbands

Well, somehow the Seoul Sisters managed to sneak another trip in. We didn't think it would go over, but it was a success. Our friend Liz leaves in 8 days, so in honor of her departure, we had to hold with tradition and plan a girl's get-away. This time, Melissa, Liz, Carrie, and I headed to nearby Ishigaki Island, south of Okinawa, to Club Med, where we relaxed in style. Of course we had some wild and crazy times and we will remember it for a long time. This is one of my newest favorite get-away sites! My list keeps on growing and growing!

Livin' In A Fish Bowl

You know we never sit still for long. After two days at home, we packed back up and went on a Kerama Island Adventure to Tokashiki Island, the largest of the Kerama chain. It was a 70 minute ferry ride from Naha to this remote island. We went with a huge group of people (there were 39 of us total) and were invited thanks to our neighbors and friends, the Day family. Our housing was the Okinawa Friendship Center, a government funded "school" and our mission was to learn more about the topography of the island and the marine life surrounding it. For a total of $121, our family of 5 stayed in this place for two nights/three days - meals included!! Can't beat that deal, but it did come with some interesting commitments. First of all, we slept on tatami mats - not the most lush and comfortable things, thus the reason for the mandatory morning flag raising ceremony and exercises - to work out all of the kinks from the night's sleep!!! The meals consisted of a lot of rice and fish, but everyone was pretty good about shoveling it in. Luckily, we all brought lots of snacks for the beach. The Kerama Islands are known for the beautiful waters for diving and snorkeling - all of which we did. I included lots of underwater pictures - not to bore you or make you jealous, but to hopefully enjoy the sights we are being able to experience here in Japan. If it weren't on the other side of the world, I could live here the rest of my life. This was one of the most culturally expansive excursions we have taken to date, and one worth remembering. Love to all.

Memoral Day at Okuma

We spent Memorial Day weekend up at Okuma! High winds brought the surf up, so the kids had fun in the rare waves. We also got a good snorkel and dive trip in. With my new camera, I tested out some underwater photos. I have some work to do, but it was fun trying to get some different pictures.