The Day Family

Our Awesome Trip to Tasmania!

2011-04-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

This is the ship, The Spirit of Tasmania, that we took from Melbourne, Victoria, to Devonport, Tasmania. We sailed across the Bass Strait, which took about 9 hours. Luckily, there were things on board to keep the kids occupied- such as the world's BEST face painter. She painted a dolphin for Savannah and a cheek wound for Brandon, but her most amazing work was saved for Dylan. He asked her to paint a beard on his face, but instead of just a beard, she age-progressed him by about twenty years. If you want to see what Dylan will look like as a 35 year old man, just take a look below...

Over the course of the week, we drove in a roughly clockwise circle around the island. This is an example of the amazing countryside that we saw. It was so beautiful!

We camped in Freycinet National Park on the east coast. Our campsite was just off the beach. The scenery was breathtaking, despite the overcast skies.

We took a hike in the Park up to a scenic lookout overlooking the famous Wineglass Bay.

On the hike....

Some amazing rocks we passed on our hike.

This is Wineglass Bay.

Our family at the Wineglass Bay overlook.

After the hike we went to dinner at the Freycinet Lodge in the park. It was super fancy and we were totally under dressed, but it was our only option for dinner, since we hadn't brought food or cooking supplies. Here are Savannah and I warming up by the fire in the lodge.

Brandon ordered "slow-roasted, local rabbit" for dinner. Yum! It looked like a work of art.

Dylan enjoyed some rich chocolate cake after his steak.

Shane had a lamb delicacy.

The next morning the weather was better and the skies were blue. We hiked to another lookout spot. Shane and I both thought that it was some of the prettiest county we have ever seen. Take a look...

After we left Freycinet, we headed toward Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania. While we were driving along a winding road in the middle of nowhere, an echidna crossed the road right in front of our car! Shane had to stop the car the let him cross. We, of course, got out to take pictures of him. He was shy and tried to hide his face in some grass and debris on the side of the road. Echidnas are such funny looking animals! They are like little pin-cushioney rodents.

We next stopped at a Tasmanian Animal Conservation Center that is home to many Australian and Tasmanian animals. We were fascinated by the Tasmanian Devils! They are unbelievably cute, but boy, were they mean and nasty! They fought constantly with each other, biting and clawing at each other's faces. And when the food came- holy cow! I thought they were going to kill each other to get to it first. In fact, there were a pair of older devils whose faces were really disfigured and gross looking. Shane thought they had face cancer. But when we asked the guide about it he said that they look that way after a lifetime of fighting each other. I told my boys this could be a cautionary tale about the dangers of fighting too much, but I don't think they listened.

Seriously, I told the boys not to lean so far over the devils' enclosure! What were they thinking??

It was close to feeding time, and the little devils thought Brandon and Logan were offering them food.

When no food was coming, the devil got fired up! Check out his big mouth as he threatens the boys...

A really cool feature of this animal park was a mob of friendly kangaroos with whom we were able to socialize. We could walk among them and pet them. The kids even fed a few of them.

I was a little tentative at first, but their fur is soo soft! It was like velvet.

Dylan really wanted a picture of him taken with his arm around a kangaroo. He tried a million times before I was able to snap the picture before the kangaroo jumped away. I think the 'roos thought Dylan was a little too close for comfort, until he met this cuddly little fellow.

How cool is this?

We have two Tassie Devils of our own, it seems.

This animal below is a Pademelon (pronounced paddy-melon). I have never in my life heard of a Pademelon until this trip. It is a small marsupial, similar to a kangaroo, but smaller. It kind of looks like an overgrown, hopping mouse with a pouch.

We could have stayed all day with the kangaroos, but eventually we left their enclosure and saw another marsupial called a Quoll. See below.

The next day we drove to the west coast of Tassie to a little town called Strahan. It was sort of New England-ish with boats in the harbor and nineteenth-century looking storefronts along the street. We boarded a 60-foot sailboat named the Stormbreaker, for an overnight trip up the Gordon River into another National Park.

Brandon preparing to board the ship.

This is the room with the kids' berths. There were 8 bunk beds, and so our kids slept here with two other kids and two crew members. The cabin that Shane and I used is through the hatch visible in the picture below.

We stopped at a little island in the harbor called Sarah Island. Back in the early 1800's, it was the location of a penal colony. At that time, England was in the habit of banishing its criminals
to various colonies where the convicts would work off their sentences doing brutal physical labor. Much of Australia's early infrastructure like roads, bridges, etc., was built using convict labor. On Sarah Island today, some of the brick foundations of the buildings remain and visitors can catch a glimpse of what convict life was like. The convicts of Sarah Island were used to build ships using the strong, sturdy pine trees in the local area.

This is the foundation of a home from around 1825. This home belonged to a free settler, not a convict. It is hard to gauge the dimensions from this photo, but believe me, it is tiny! If the free settlers lived in such small, spare accomodations, imagine what the convicts had.

This is a picture of what remains of the jail. You can see on the sign below that jail is spelled "gaol."

What remains of a bake house.

Check out the rainbow over our boat as seen from Sarah Island.

This is the remains of the Penitentiary built on the island to house the convicts who misbehaved. The building was deliberately built on a cliff on the windward side of the island, and it was built without windowpanes in the tiny window-slits, so that the rain, wind, sleet, and even snow would blow in on to the convicts. It was a harsh life!

A last look at Sarah Island.

Savannah and I in the dining room on the boat. Even though we were sailing, we had morning and afternoon tea, in addition to our meals.

In the morning, Shane and the kids took turns kayaking off the back of the boat.

The skipper let the kids climb the mast. They had to strap into a harness first, and then they could climb as high as they dared. Savannah bravely gave it a try.

Then Brandon had a turn.

Then Logan.

Then Dylan.

Savannah took a turn skippering the boat.

Then she had her "king-of-the-world" moment on the bowsprit.

Dylan took the wheel for a few minutes.

Savannah with her luggage and her stuffed wombat as she disembarked the boat.

This is the town of Strahan.

We spent the next night at a lodge just outside of Cradle Mountain National Park. After dinner, the waitress took the fruit and veggie scraps out to the back patio to feed the animals. She sprinkled the scraps on the ground, and like magic, the little animals came creeping out of the bushes. About a dozen pademelons and one ring-tailed possum came to munch the scraps.

Two pademelons eating.

The ring-tailed possum enjoying his dinner.

The cabin that we stayed in at the cutely-named Lemonthyme Lodge just outside Cradle Mountain National Park.

We went into Cradle Mountain National Park the next day. Unfortunately, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it became really cold and rainy. We took a short hike as a family, but then Savannah, Logan and I bailed out and went to the lodge for hot chocolate. Brandon, Shane and Dylan continued on for a longer hike around the lake, despite the fact that Brandon wasn't dressed for the weather in shorts and a sweatshirt. The three of them were frozen solid when they got back! We decided we will have to go back to Tasmania in order to see more of Cradle Mountain when the weather is better.

This shows Dylan and Bradon on top of the lookout point overlooking Dove Lake.

Despite the rain and fog, we got some beautiful scenery shots.....

Our last day we spent in Launceston, the second largest city in Tasmania. We stopped in at their lovely city park where they have beautifully manicured gardens and (inexplicably!) a Japanese monkey exhibit.

Then we went to see Cataract Gorge. There is a chairlift ride to take visitors to see the sights over the gorge.

Waiting to ride the chairlift.

They had to carve out the tops of the trees to accomodate the chairlift landing facility.

Downtown Launceston.

One of our last stops before reboarding the Spirit of Tasmania for our return trip was a raspberry farm where we ate fresh raspberry sorbet cones and chocolate covered fresh raspberries. So delicious!!

All in all, it was such a perfect trip. We loved Tasmania, and we want to visit again soon. Maybe when family and friends come to visit... Any takers??

A Brief Stop in Hong Kong

2010-09-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

After we said our goodbyes and left the beautiful island of Okinawa, the first stop on our agenda was Hong Kong. We spent a couple of nights there and did as much sightseeing as we possibly could. We found Hong Kong to be a fascinating place! We loved it.

This first picture shows Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong. Truly, my small camera doesn't begin to do it justice. I really believe that watching the sun set and the lights come up in Victoria Harbor ranks as one of the top 5 all-time coolest things I have ever seen. It was just breathtaking. We ate dinner at a restaurant on top of The Peak (a high point that overlooks the harbor) and watched the sunset. As the sun went down, a million lights flickered to life. There was something about the combination of the lights, the water, and the mountains in the background that made it unique and utterly amazing.

We did some shopping at Stanley Market. While we were there, a group of giggly, Chinese schoolgirls spotted Brandon. They pointed at him and whispered and giggled amongst themselves. Then, one brave girl approached Brandon and said in her halting English, "You.....are.....so.......very.......handsome." And then she held up her camera and mimed taking a picture. So, Brandon obliged and posed with these girls.

Brandon with his giggling admirers.

At a market place, there was a wax sculpture of Bruce Li that Brandon wanted to pose with.

Doing a little shopping. The kids bought some awesome souvenirs.

Shopping at Stanley Market.

I didn't expect the topography of Hong Kong to be so attractive. I didn't know that it was so mountainous. Mountains just rise up out of the sea and then, nestled among them is this giant, bustling, tropical city.

Another picture of the pretty scenery of Hong Kong.

We wished we had more time to spend in Hong Kong. But, the rest of our vacation called, so we boarded a red-eye flight bound for Fiji.

A Couple More Fiji Pictures.....

2010-09-30T02:54:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: OK, so this posting and the one that follows are out of order. This one is supposed to come second, but I can't figure out how to switch them around. Blogging is so frustrating sometimes! Anyway, if you want the story of our Fiji trip to make sense chronologically, skip ahead and read the next posting first. Then come back and read this one second.

Somehow, these pictures didn't make it into my first post. I think I may have accidentally deleted them when I tried to upload them. Oh well, here they are now....

All three boys got SCUBA certified while we lived in Okinawa, and they were able to dive quite a bit in Fiji.

This picture of me was taken shortly before I saw the shark. That's why I'm still giving the "OK" underwater gesture. (More about the shark in the next posting....)

Logan and Savannah in a sea kayak. I love this picture because you can see through the clear water to the reef below. Also you can see the quaint little resort on the shore with the huts we stayed in. (More about the resort in the next posting...)

All in all, a great vacation!

Ahhh... Fiji

2010-09-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

We started our trip to Fiji by taking an overnight flight from Hong Kong to Nadi, Fiji, which is on the main Fijian island of Denarau. Then we boarded a water taxi to take an hour long ride to the tiny island of Amanuca, where our resort was located. The seas were calm, the weather was beautiful, and the water of the South Pacific was amazingly clear and blue. On the water taxi.

This is our resort on the TINY island of Amanuca. The island was so small that all it had on it was two smallish resorts. No town, no local population, etc. The only way on or off the island was the daily water taxi that stopped by, or by renting a helicopter. Every day a boat from the resort would go out to meet the water taxi to collect the new guests and to gather supplies like vegetables, Cokes, and beer that had been sent over from Denarau.

How about that water? Pretty, huh. The island of Amanuca is only a stone's throw away from where the movie "Castaway" was filmed.

In this picture, you can see the people in the green and blue Hawaiian shirts greeting the new arrivals on the boat that has just arrived.

The twins in the sea kayaks.

Because the resort was so small and so isolated, the pace of life was extremely slow. Wonderfully slow. I would sit for hours at a time and look out at this view of the ocean while I sipped drinks and read books. It was heaven.

This is our little hut that we stayed in. The resort was made up of several dozen of these thatched roof huts, and then an open-air building that housed the restaurant, bar, office, etc.

At sunset they would light torches along the patio and cover all the picnic tables with linens to make a nice atmosphere for dinner.

Did I mention how clear and beautiful the water was? It was amazing. I was really impressed. And that is saying something since we were coming from the crystal clear waters of Okinawa. We snorkeled out over a huge coral reef that was right in front of the hotel. Tons of fish, big and small. Even a shark encounter!
Logan underwater.

Dylan underwater.

I want to say that I have never been so scared as when I came face to face with this freaky shark. At one point, the shark was in between me and the shore! All I can say is: moment of panic. Finally it moved aside and while Shane chased after it to take these pictures, I swam for shore. I was swimming so fast Shane said all he could see was a blur on top of the water. I wanted to kiss the sand when I got to shore. It took me a while before I had any desire to snorkel again....but I did. I couldn't resist.

Me swimming for shore at lightning speed.

Logan's favorite afternoon pastime, playing Scrabble, sipping on a banana smoothie, and gazing out at the ocean. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon! The resort didn't have a fancy sound system, but one of the employees at the bar brought a boom box and propped it up on the counter. They only seem to have brought one CD, however, and so we heard the same music playing the entire week. "Hey Soul Sister", by Train, will forever remind me of that vacation because I must have heard it 1,000 times that week!

Here are the guys unloading the shipment of supplies that would come each day. The would form a human chain and toss the boxes of food and bags of produce up the steps to the restaurant kitchen.

While SCUBA diving one day, Shane caught this lobster. He brought it back and asked the resort's chef to cook it up for him for lunch. Tasty!

Savannah got her hair braided at the resort's spa.

Hangin' out.

One afternoon, the boys went deep sea fishing with a friend, Enrico, whom they met at the resort. They caught some delicious fish!

The resort chef, once again, prepared our catch and served it to us for dinner that night. Yummy!

You can see we liked it; we ate it down to the bones!

Australia! Welcome to the Land Down Under.....

2010-09-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

We flew into Australia on my birthday, July 11th. This picture above shows me celebrating my 37th birthday on the floor of the overcrowded Nadi, Fiji airport waiting on a delayed flight. Good times!

Once we got to Australia, our first order of business was to find the kids a school. We didn't know which part of the city we would be living in, so we tried to look at schools all over the city of Canberra. Brandon chose the Canberra Boys Grammar School, which requires a fancy-pants uniform to be worn daily. See below.

The twins and Savannah chose Emmaus Christian School. It is much smaller than Brandon's school and requires a more casual uniform.

We have loved the topography and scenic countryside here in Australia. Not too far from our house is a huge National Park called the Tidbinbilla Nature Preserve. The mountains are beautiful and the fields are full of animals like kangaroos, koalas, emus, platypus, etc.

Below are some pictures of our day spent at Tidbinbilla.

Dylan and Savannah are sitting quietly- waiting to see a platypus.

The boys looking for wildlife.

Shane and I both think the topography of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) closely resembles the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Having a spring picnic at Tidbinbilla.

These next two pictures were taken on the top of Mt. Ainslie, which is one of the hightest peaks in Canberra. There are great views of the city from the lookout points.

Below is koala in a tree at Tidbinbilla. Did you know that koalas are very picky eaters? They eat only a few specific types of eucalyptus leaves, and these leaves by themselves are not very nutritious. Because of their not-so-healthy diet, they are very lethargic. They have to sleep 22 hours a day because they don't have enough energy to stay awake longer! It seems like natural selection would have led them toward a richer diet, but no. They are quite content to sleep their lives away.

A little stream in Tidbinbilla.

OK, I have to say that kangaroos are EVERYWHERE here! Not just in zoos, not just in nature preserves, but literally everywhere. They are on the side of the road, grazing in the field behind my house, etc. On a typical drive to school in the morning we will see about 50 kangaroos. Amazing! This one in the picture below was on the side of the road. We pulled over, rolled the window down, and I took this picture out the window. Check out the little joey in the pouch. So cute!

We were driving along and so these kangaroos in the field, so we stopped and I took this picture of Shane with the roos in the background.

Believe it or not, Brandon has turned 14 years old! Unbelievable. For his birthday he got a set of cricket gear and he is now playing on his school's cricket team.

It is springtime in Canberra, and it is beautiful! Every year, Canberra has a festival called Floriade. It is an outdoor festival that has vendors selling food and trinkets; there are rides for the kids; but the main attraction is the thousands and thousands of flowers that have been planted months ago and cultivated for the festival. I felt like I was in Holland because it was tulips as far as the eye could see. It was really beautiful.

Exciting Trip to Zamami Island

2010-06-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to Zamami Island, which is in the Kerama Island chain. We took a ferry boat from the Tomari Port in Naha and it took about an hour. Zamami island was a beautiful place with gorgeous waters, a charming village, and a bizarre little hotel. Our weather was not very cooperative- it rained almost the entire time! We were disappointed, but we didn't let it stop us from seeing the island and having fun at the beach. The most exciting thing that happened occured only a couple of hours after we arrived. The boys were playing around on the dock and Logan slipped in the rain and fell. He split his ear wide open! Seriously, it looked like someone had snipped his ear apart with a pair of scissors. We debated going home on the next ferry, but finally Shane decided to stitch it up himself. Luckily, he had brought a first aid kit that contained sutures, lidocaine and other necessary supplies. All went well with the stitches and we ended up having a great weekend.

These adorable shisha were sitting on a ledge in the village. They are made out of broken pieces of terracotta roof tiles and sea shells. So cute!

Here is Logan's ear after he fell and split it open.

Shane preparing to suture. As you can see in this picture, there was no furniture in our hotel room, other than a small table. For sleeping, there were a few thin mats to put on the floor. Three years ago when we first moved here, it seemed really exotic and kind of fun to sleep on the floor at various hotels. But now, it doesn't seem so fun. It just feels like a hard wood floor.

Shane pressed his friend Brady, a dentist, into service to help him suture the wound. Thus the two pairs of gloved hands. I got assigned to hold a flashlight to provide adequate light while Shane stitched. Looking pretty good! Shane did a remarkable job with the stitches! Unfortunately, having stitches meant that Logan couldn't get in the ocean for the entire weekend. Bummer.

Logan all bandaged up and ready to go out for dinner.

The boys and their friend, Denver, hanging out in Zamami village.

We ate at several quaint, yummy restaurants on the island. Above is Dylan's meal of grilled eel over rice with Miso soup.
This was the van driven by the hotel manager. He picked us up at the port and drove us to the beach and around the island. It supposedly sat eight people, but at one point we had it stuffed with over 25 people! So much for any seat belt laws....
Savannah and her friends climbing on rocks at the beach.

Girls' Trip to Hawaii!

2010-06-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Recently, Savannah needed to have surgery on her kidneys but the procedure she needed wasn't available here in Okinawa. So, she and I got to go to Hawaii to have the surgery done. We had the best time! The lodging facilities on the Air Force Base were full, so we got to stay in a hotel in Waikiki, just a block from the beach. It was such a wonderful and unexpected treat to be able to spend 10 days with Savannah in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Her surgery went well and we were able to spend lots of time soaking up the sun, sightseeing, shopping, and catching up with old friends. Savannah and I loved the beach in Waikiki!

When we got off the plane, my sweet friend, Amber, had fresh flower leis for both of us. Here is Savannah wearing hers.

This is Tripler Army Medical Center where Savannah's surgery was done.

This is Savannah when she is just waking up from the anesthesia. Not too happy!

She felt better quickly, though.

She recovered well, and two days later we were at the beach!

Here I am with my friend, Amber, who lives in Hawaii. She took us to Kailua beach near her house. It was so pretty!

We were able to go to Pearl Harbor and see the sights there.

Savannah got a hula skirt and was practicing her dancing on our hotel balcony.

We went to a luau one night and we loved it!

At the luau, we each got a wrist lei made for us.

At first, Savannah was a little skeptical of the luau food, but it turned out to be really delicious.

There was a cute little "keiki" at the luau that was helping the children learn to hula.

After the show, Savannah got her picture taken with Chief Tuey Manga, who was a fire dancer in the show. Check out the tribal tattoos all over his legs...

On our flight home, the flight attendant was quite taken with Savannah, and she took us both up to the upper floor of the 747 to meet the pilots and sit for a minute in the cockpit of the plane. Really cool!

COUSINS IN JAPAN

2010-04-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

2010-04-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, this really is Jaden holding a python! We went to a place called Okinawa World that is kind of like a museum/park where you can learn about Okinawan culture. She wasn't sure at first that she wanted to hold the snake, but after holding it with her cousins, she decided to go solo.

Adam is loving the snake!

Jaden and Logan at Okinawa World.

Savannah and Jaden in front of a tree full of "prayers." When people receive a bad fortune from a Shinto Shrine they tie it on to a tree in hopes that the fortune won't come true.

This is Jaden's lunch at a Thai restaurant.

Update for Kyle and Emily

2010-04-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

On the first day of the trip we went out for a sushi lunch. It was sushi-go-round where the sushi came around on a conveyor belt and everyone could take what they wanted. Jaden was a good sport and she tried some quail egg sushi.

The first evening we went to a place called Chula-U bath house. It has a natural hot spring pool.

The other really cool thing at this bath house was the "Doctor Fish." They are little fish that like to eat the dead skin cells off people's feet. If you put your feet in the water the fish come and nibble on your skin. It tickles! Jaden was really hesitant, and she only dipped her feet in for a second or two.

The next day we went to a restaurant called "Thai in the Sky." It was on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were some trails around the grounds that the kids hiked on while we were waiting for our table.

The cousins at Thai in the Sky.

I will post some more pictures soon, but I wanted to give you two a little taste of what we've been up to. We are having a blast!

Christmas Cruise!

2010-01-08T21:53:00.001-08:00

Here are some highlights from our Christmas Cruise. We had such a great time. It was fabulous to be together as a family for 7 uniterrupted days! We saw some amazing things, visited some beautiful places, ate LOTS of yummy food, lounged around on gorgeous beaches, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The boat was full of fun things to do and the kids liked the days spent at sea as much as the days spent sightseeing on land.

Our first day was spent at sea. In the picture about, the twins are preparing to climb the rock wall on the ship.

The kids really enjoyed the rock climbing wall on the cruise ship. The boys entered a climbing competition and Brandon got 2nd place in his division, and the twins got 2nd and 3rd place in theirs.

Shane and Savannah took advantage of the mini golf course on the boat.

Jas and Shaner-D relaxing poolside on Shane's 40th birthday. That's right!! The big 4-0.

Our first stop was in Phuket, Thailand. Wow! Talk about beautiful.

We took a boat out in to the Phang-nga Bay (you can see Dylan on the boat ride, below) and then hopped into inflatable sea kayaks to navigate our way through some sea caves.

Here we are in our kayaks. We went through a tiny opening in the bottom of a big, sheer cliff that looked like the Cliffs of Despair from Princess Bride. It was a cave that is only accessible at low tide, but it allowed us to float in to a hidden lagoon. The guide we were with gave us each a banana- just in case we needed it to fend off any aggressive monkeys. We didn't see any monkeys here, though we sure would later on......

Above, all six of us in our kayaks. Below, we are coming through the cave opening into the lagoon.

Kayaking around some cliffs in the Phang-nga Bay.

Dylan jumping off the boat in to the waters of the Phang-nga Bay.

We kayaked to a little island in the bay. It was beautiful. The kids found a starfish, a crab, a jellyfish (yikes!), among other things.

The next day, our ship docked in Langkawi, Malaysia, which consists of about 99 islands. We got off the ship and hired a local man with a small boat to take us "island-hopping" so we could see some of them.

The view as we sailed through the waters around Langkawi.

The first island he took us to was called Rice Island. Immediately upon landing on the island, we were accosted by monkeys. They were everywhere and they wanted FOOD. Anything would do! They even ripped open my backpack and got into a sealed bag of potato chips all by themselves when I wasn't looking. Sneaky monkeys.

Dylan feeding a monkey a peanut.

Jas and the kids on Rice Island.

Shane and Savannah enjoying some Malaysian sodas on Rice Island. The only thing on the island was a snack shack where they sold sodas, and a place to rent water toys. The rest was a monkey-filled jungle.

The boys checking out Rice Island.

While we were in Langkawi, Savannah lost the second of her two front teeth. That night, the tooth fairy brought her one American dollar and one Thai bott. Who knew the tooth fairy was so financially diverse?

Here we are on the little boat we hired to take us around the islands of Langkawi.

The next island we went to was called the Island of the Pregnant Maiden. It is called that for two reasons: first, do you see below the way the tops of the hills look like a pregnant woman lying on her back? (The kids thought it looked like Timp!) and second, because the island has a unique, fresh-water lake that is said to have magical, fertile properties. It is said that if a woman wants to get pregnant then she should visit this lake. Here's hoping that's just a local myth..... can you imagine! No, thank you.

Arriving on the Island of the Pregnant Maiden.

They should have called it "Island of the Very Amusing, But Slightly Unnerving Monkeys."
Here's one of them. Brandon told this monkey, "Dude, you need some pants." We hiked about a quarter of a mile on a trail up to the lake, and the whole time we were watched by a thousand pairs of little monkey eyes. We were told not to make eye contact with them because the monkeys might mistake that for aggression.

Here are the kids jumping in to the fresh water lake. It was such a hot day and the water looked so refreshing, but on the outside chance that I might get pregnant, I choose not to swim. :)

This monkey was nursing her baby while she was walking around. She wasn't even holding on to the baby most of the time. The baby just had to cling on and hope it didn't fall off as the mother scampered around.

When we got back to the ship that evening, it was Christmas Eve. The kids opened their Christmas Eve pajamas in our stateroom. This room was Shane's, mine and Savannah's. The boys had their own room next door. It was actually a pretty roomy room for a cruise ship. It was bigger than the rooms on the other cruises we've been on.

This was the Christmas tree in the centrum of the cruise ship. The ship was decorated festively for the holidays.

On Christmas Day, we visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Here are the twins in front of the tallest twin towers in the world. I thought that was cool.

I got a horrible sunburn, can you tell?

While in Kuala Lumpur, we visited a Hindu shrine called the Batu caves. It consists of a huge golden statue in front on 276 steps leading up to a shrine in a cliff-side cave. It was fascinating! The picture below shows Savannah and me halfway up the 276 steps.

Brandon called this "the big golden dude." It really was amazing to see. It was gigantic.

You can see how big the idol compared to the people beside it. HUGE.

When we got back to the ship that evening, the kids had the pool all to themselves.

Nothing like a Christmas Day evening swim. The twins and Savannah swam until it was dark.

We spent the next day in Singapore. What a neat city! The part of the city we stayed in felt like being in a big American city like Chicago or L.A. The streets were decorated for Christmas akin to what you might see in any large city in the USA. There were endless shops of western and American goods. If I hadn't seen the many hundreds of Muslim pilgrims at the airport, I might not have realized the diversity of this city.

Orchard Drive in Singapore decked out for Christmas.

This is an awesome video of Savannah dancing to the reggae Christmas music being played by a live band on the cruiseship. Enjoy! and Feliz Navidad!

Beautiful Okinawa

2010-01-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

About a month back, when Shane had one of his VERY rare days off, we decided to pile into the car and take a drive. On a map, I saw a little island off the Motobu peninsula on the northwest side of Okinawa. It was accessible by bridge, so we decided to check it out! When we got there, we discovered a hidden treasure. The island was tiny and mostly covered with sugar cane fields that went all the way to the edge of the cliffs. We drove around the island several times (which only took about 15 minutes!) before we found a trail that we could hike down to the water's edge. When we got to the ocean, it was breathtaking! Seriously, it was one of the prettiest places I've ever seen. The sand was pale and soft, the water crystal clear, and the shore was dotted with beautiful sea glass. We had the beach all to ourselves and it made me wonder how long it had been since anyone else had been there. It was very secluded. What a great day!

Savannah and her friend, Baylee.

One of the boys walking down the trail to the beach.

How pretty is that view?!?

Right on top of the cliff where this trail started down to the water, there was an Okinawan couple harvesting their sugarcane.

Welcome Home!

2009-01-20T02:01:00.001-08:00

On Monday January 12, Shane returned home from his deployment to Afghanistan. There are not words to express how happy we are to have him back! It is such a relief to have him home safe and sound. It has been fascinating for me to listen to him tell stories of his adventures in Afghanistan- he really had some amazing experiences. I thought that I would put some of his pictures from his deployment on my blog so that my family and friends could see them, too. In this case, a picture really is worth a thousand words. In the picture below, Shane's plane had just arrived here on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and I had just picked him up. What a wonderful moment!

Pictures from Afghanistan

2009-01-20T00:32:00.001-08:00

Shane is showing two of the five medals that he received while deployed.

Shane is with a little Afghani girl named Nazia who was receiving medical care at the American military hospital because the kind of treatment she required wasn't available in her country. Her story was so compelling that the hospital staff at Shane's hospital decided to try to raise money for her so that she could go to the States to be treated by the specialists she needed to see. They raised money by having a "moustache-growing contest." While the cause is worthy, I am sorry to have to show this next photo, which shows Shane sporting a fine 'stache. Thank heavens he had shaved it off by the time he came home!

Sweet!

While Shane and his friends were waiting for trauma patients to arrive they would take turns learning how to do tricks in the wheelchairs.

This is Shane inside an MRAP (which stands for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle). An MRAP is like a tank, only better and stronger. They are designed to withstand IED attacks and ambushes. The photo below is Shane standing on top of an MRAP.

More Pictures from Afghanistan

2009-01-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

This is what was right outside Bagram Air Base where Shane was based. I think it is so interesting to contrast the modern American military hospital that is inside the fence with the primitive conditions that exist outside it. For obvious security reasons, Shane was never allowed outside the base during his time there.

One of the highlights of Shane's time in Afghanistan was meeting Afghani President Hamid Karzai when Karzai came into the hospital for a check-up.

Here Shane is standing on top of the hospital and you can see a view of the mountains in the background as well as part of the base.

The picture above shows Shane as he is flying into Afghanistan for the first time. He is flying in a C-17. The picture below shows the sign outside the hospital where Shane worked. Check out the weapon that he has strapped to his leg. He had to have his gun with him and loaded at all times.

One of Shane's main duties was to fly medical evacuation missions from Afghanistan to Germany. What this means is that the patients that were too wounded or too sick to be treated in Afghanistan would be flown on special medically equipped planes to an American military hospital in Germany where they could receive more extensive treatment. Shane's job was to fly with them and keep them alive and safe until they reached Germany. This picture to the left shows a C-17 that was set up with bunks for the patients.

This is a picture of a KC-135 plane that had been configured to accomodate medical patients. KC-135s are normally used for refueling and they are much smaller than the C-17s.

This shows a view inside a C-17

Life's a Beach!

2008-07-01T00:55:00.000-07:00

For us, here on Okinawa, life really is a beach! We recently took a little trip -to celebrate the end of the school year, yay! -to Okuma, which is a beautiful beach resort on the northwest side of the island on the East China Sea. It is very family friendly, with water sports of all kinds, parasailing, bikes to rent, mini golf, tennis, and lots of soft sand and warm, turquoise water. The kids kept busy with all the fun things to do, and I had a fabulous time sitting on a beach chair under an umbrella reading for days on end. Truly, my favorite thing to do!

Raingutter Regatta

2008-06-08T16:19:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta. It was held on the beach (you gotta love Okinawa!). The boys had fun, and Dylan ended up winning third place.

Piano Recital

2008-06-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Dylan, Logan and Savannah played in a piano recital this weekend.

Our Very Own Karate Kid

2008-06-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

We were at the beach the other day and Brandon saw this post. He couldn't resist channeling the Karate Kid!

Who let the dogs out? Seriously, where did this dog come from?!

2008-05-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but Shane has done it again: He has talked me into yet another pet! This time, it is a huge (as in FAT) lab/retriever mix named Laney. Her owners were moving back to the States and couldn't take her with them, so Shane and his bleeding heart decided that we should take her in. The kids are delighted, especially Savannah, who has never really forgiven us for leaving our dog, Miel, back in the States. Even though I am no dog lover, I must admit that all things considered, I like Laney's personality. She is very mellow- almost too mellow. She is so overweight that she can't run around and she certainly can't jump up on people (thank heavens!). In fact, so far she pretty much just lays around and sleeps.

Happy Birthday to the Twins!!

2008-04-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it, but the twins will turn 10 years old this week. That's right, 10 years old!! I am stunned (like always) at how quickly the time flies. They started out life so small and fragile, and they have grown into such strong, smart, independent boys. They have become the life of our family's party. They never cease to amaze me with their humor, their energy, their creativity or their kindness. I remember so clearly the moment in the doctor's office when I found out I was expecting twins. I felt like I had won the lottery to get not one, but two babies! Now, there have been times over the years when they have given me a run for my money, but all in all, I still feel like I hit the jackpot. Happy Birthday, Dylan and Logan. We love you!!

I am an idiot

2008-04-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

I have to confess my idiocy. There are probably those of you out there who already knew that I was an idiot, but for any of you who were previously on the fence, this story will convince you once and for all that I am an ignoramus. Here's the story:

For several days now, Shane has been telling me that his van was nearly out of gas, but he never had a free minute to go fill up. So on Wednesday evening, while he was at soccer practice with the boys, I decided to do something nice and go fill up his tank with gas so that he wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. Well, the best laid plans......

To make a long story short, I filled up his DIESEL van with regular unleaded gasoline. And then I drove it. Needless to say, I only made it about a half mile before the van died, right in the middle of traffic. I was able to coast to a parking lot.

In my own defense, let me just say that I have never put gas in his car before, and although in retrospect I acknowledge that I knew it was a diesel, I never really thought about it before. I have never owned a car that takes diesel, I haven't even really known anyone who had a car that took diesel, and in this environmentally conscious age that we live in, I routinely make fun of people who drive diesel burning cars. So it really wasn't in my realm of thought to consider putting diesel in.

I know, I know. I can try to justify it all I want, and in the final analysis I am still an idiot. Shane has been furiously (and I do mean furiously) emailing and calling family and friends trying to best figure out how to remedy this situation. We have heard everything on the spectrum from, "You'll be fine once you drain the tank and replace a few parts," to "Man, you are hosed. Your car is a total loss." I am banking on the the former being true. My happy marriage depends on it.

This reminds me of the time when I was 16 years old, and I got infamously lost trying to drive from Provo to Park City. I finally called my dad from a pay phone at a gas station, told him where I was, and he told me that I was about 30 miles off course. He explained how to get back to Park City, and all was well. You would think that the story has a happy ending, but no. Here we are 18 years later, and I still haven't lived that story down. My dad and my brothers still ask me if I need directions, and do I think I can find Park City on my own? Well, move over Park City story! I have a new legacy, and it isn't pretty. Oh, and by the way, that picture above is an actual photograph of Shane's van. Yes, it's 4WD, and yes, it's jacked-up. What did you expect?!

It's Time For My Quarterly Blog Update!

2008-04-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been over three months since I updated my blog. My, how time flies! I guess I won't win any awards for the Most Dedicated Blogger, but I was never in the running anyway. We have had lots going on over the last few months- not the least of which is another broken arm (Dylan this time), a trip to the States (Shane and Jasmine), a dance recital (Savannah), a pinewood derby (the twins), and a fun Spring Break trip to an island nearby (all of us). I am still figuring out this whole blogging thing, and I don't really have a clue what I'm doing. I just figured out -after much frustration- how to put on slide show on my blog, so I put three new slide shows on below. Sorry if I went a little overboard. I am still trying to figure out how to put music on the blog. If anyone knows how, will you email me and tell me? I need a tutor or something!

Our Spring Break Trip to Tokashiki Island

2008-04-11T07:37:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break we took a wonderful trip to Tokashiki Island. It is a tiny island about an hour's ferry ride from Okinawa. It is very remote (about 700 people live there), filled with rice paddies and the most beautiful beaches. It was incredible. We spent three days sitting on the beaches and soaking up the sun. I have to tell you a little bit about the place we stayed, though. It was very interesting cultural experience. We stayed at a place called "The Okinawan Youth Friendship Center." It is subsidized by the Japanese government, and I think it is meant for Japanese youth and school groups to use for things like retreats and summer camps, etc. Somehow, our friend who speaks Japanese made arrangements for us to stay there. The accommodations were very sparse and minimalistic- for example, in the sleeping rooms there was nothing but tatami mats. No furniture or anything. At night, we would take mats and blankets out of the closet to sleep on. Our meals were prepared for us by Japanese cooks, and there was no choosing what you wanted to eat. They prepared the same Japanese meal for everyone. Our kids were really great about eating miso soup, rice, seaweed and vegetables for breakfast each morning! The funniest part about the whole thing was when they told us we had to participate in mandatory morning stretching exercises at 7 am at the flagpole. They weren't kidding, either. Each morning, we would meet and have a flag ceremony led by a Japanese man. We listened to the Japanese national anthem and then he chose some of our children to help him hoist the Japanese flag. Then he led us in our exercises. This was all done in Japanese, and we just followed along. It was hilarious. And actually, after sleeping on the tatami mats for two nights, I was more than happy to do some stretching since my back was in knots! We encountered some rough seas on our ferry ride back home, and many people in our party were puking over the side of the boat. That part wasn't so fun. But all in all, it was a great trip!

Easter on Okinawa

2008-04-11T07:21:00.001-07:00

We had a nice Easter on Okinawa. We did all the usual things like color eggs, etc., but we also did something new this year. We went to an Easter egg hunt at the beach! It was a beautiful spring day and it was really fun.

Tiny Dancer

2008-04-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Savannah LOVES to dance! She will dance to any music, at any time, preferably with a costume. She is currently taking ballet, tap, and gymnastics and she loves them all equally. She recently had her recital for tap and ballet and she did a great job!

I left my heart in San Antonio

2008-04-11T00:35:00.001-07:00

I had the chance a in late March to go to Texas for a week. It was such a fantastic trip! Shane had to go to San Antonio for a conference, so I decided to tag along. It was really hard for me to leave my kids and go more than 6,000 miles away, and I almost backed out at the last minute, but I am so glad I went. I got to spend several days with my amazing friends in San Antonio. We shopped, talked, went out to eat, and did I mention shopping and talking? I was in need of some serious retail therapy after living for almost a year in a country where I don't have access to anything American. I also realized anew that there is no substitute in all the world for old friends. After my trip, I told my San Antonio friends that they are like vitamins for me: I feel stonger and healthier after spending time with them. Thanks, guys. You're wonderful! After my few days in San Antonio, I borrowed my mother-in-law's car (thanks, Merlene!) and drove to Houston to see my brother Kyle and my sister-in-law, Emily. They just had a new baby girl, Reese, and, let me tell you, that was heaven on earth to get to hold her for three days. What an angel. I also loved spending time with my neice, Jaden, and my nephew, Ty the Guy. I don't think Ty's forgiven me for falling asleep during an episode of Power Rangers, but in my defense, it was the second episode, and I was suffering from a powerful case of jet lag! My journey back to Japan was crazy. I missed my flight in Osaka, and I had to spend the night in a chair in the Osaka airport. This was after I had already been traveling for over 24 hours. I finally made it home a day later than planned, and I was so happy to see my kids again. I missed them so much! But what a wonderful trip.

We have a winner! Pinewood Derby '08

2008-04-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

Dylan did it again! That's right. For the second year in a row, Dylan's pinewood derby car annihilated the competition and he was the winner! I have to mention that Logan did incredibly well, too. His car took second place in the Bear den. Way to go cubs!

Okinawa Parks are Awesome!

2008-04-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

City parks here on Okinawa are nothing like anything I've seen in the States. For one thing, the playground equipment here would never pass safety inspections in America. There is really dangerous stuff for the kids to play on. Needless to say, my boys (and even my girl) LOVE it! There is a "drop-slide," where you have to hang out over a ledge and drop down a totally vertical slide; there are "roller slides," where you slide down a conveyor belt of metal rollers 40 feet in the air; zip lines over water; a huge slide made of cement - my kids all tore out the bottoms of their pants going down that one. Seriously, who thought to make a slide out of cement?? One of my kids fell on that slide and practically got a concussion. There are parks like this all over the island and it makes a fun day trip to set out to find new ones.

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A Brand New Year- A Brand New Blog!

2008-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today I sat down at my computer and I was about to email some pictures of our Okinawan Christmas to my family and friends. I made a list of all the pictures I wanted to send and a list of the people I wanted to email, and the list was massive! The thought occured to me that maybe I should just put all these pictures on a blog, instead of emailing them to every person individually. So, yes! I have finally joined the rest of the world in embracing cybertechnology and started my own blog! Hopefully this will be a good way to stay in touch with our loved ones who are, quite literally, scattered all across the globe. Well, let me start by saying "Happy New Year!" to everyone. We had a wonderful, if a bit different, holiday season here in Okinawa. It was interesting to spend Christmas outside of the United States, and more specifically, in a country where the majority of people don't even celebrate Christmas. The season started off on the wrong foot when I tried to buy a Christmas tree and was informed that the BX on base was all sold out. Keep in mind that this is BEFORE Thanksgiving! I started to panic, because it's not like I have a lot of shopping options here on Okinawa when it comes to American products. I pretty much have the BX, and oh yeah, the BX. I tried to order a tree online, but no vendors would ship an object that big to an APO overseas address. I was so depressed on the day after Thanksgiving, because that is usually such a fun day filled with shopping and dragging out the Christmas decorations. (Where are you, Emily and Jaden, when I need you?) I had nowhere to shop, and no decorations to put up. I did bring a small box of decorations with things like the Christmas stockings, etc., but not enough stuff to decorate a house - even a tiny house like mine! I asked around if any of my friends or neighbors knew of any places off base that might carry Christmas trees and decorations, and they all laughed at me. They gently reminded me that Christmas is not a holiday that is widely celebrated in Japan, and so Japanese stores don't carry much of anything like that. (This is when the tears started.) I related this information to Shane, and he asked me what I was going to do. I told him simply that I was leaving the house the next morning, and I would NOT come home without a Christmas tree, even if I had to cut one down myself from a city park with a kitchen knife. He chuckled, and reminded me that there aren't even pine trees on this island. (More tears.) So, I left the next morning to canvass the island for a tree. I drove from the East China Sea (which I live by) all the way to the Pacific Ocean - literally from sea to shining sea- in my quest. Along the way, I stopped in at every store that I recognized. Keep in mind that this is harder than it sounds, because I can't read the signs on any storefronts, and so I have no idea what kind of merchandise a particular store carries until I am inside. In fact, I can't even tell if stores are STORES until I am inside. Sometimes what I think looks like a store will turn out to be a restaurant, or a bath house, or something completely unrecognizable to me. In those cases, I simply smile and bow and make my retreat as quickly as possible before anybody talks to me and wants any kind of an explanation. So anyway, I had spent the entire day and had found absolutely nothing. (More tears.) I was on my way home, dejected and sad. Along the way, I saw a store that I recognized as a chain home improvement store. I decided what the heck, I might as well stop in. I walked inside and discovered that they didn't have any trees for sale that I wanted (they did have a couple but they were a foot tall, and hideous), but my eyes lit up when I saw their store's own display tree. They had put up a makeshift Christmas display, presumably to attract the American crowd, and in the middle was a huge Christmas tree. I couldn't tell exactly how big it was, but it was BIG -and pretty. It took me a while to find an employee, and I asked her if I could buy that tree. She couldn't understand a word I said, so she went to get her manager. He was little Japanese man who didn't speak any English either. Through pantomime, I was able to ask him if that tree was for sale. At first he shook his head, but then he paused, scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders, kind of like he thought I was a crazy American to be asking to buy the display tree, but I guess he figured he might as well make a buck or two off me. I told him to name his price (he didn't know this, but I would have paid anything at this point) and he finally came up with the price of 9800 yen. He probably thought that such a high price (about a $100) would dissuade me, but I didn't even bat an eye. I slapped down my money before he had a chance to change his mind. There was no box for the tree, since it wasn't even supposed to be for sale, and so it was quite a sight to see these Japanese men trying to carry this huge tree out to the parking lot and stuff it in my van. I drove home with Christmas music blaring from my car stereo, fake evergreen boughs sticking out of every window, and I could not have been happier. I felt like the Grinch when he returns to Who-ville on Christmas morning with his tiny sled brimming with gifts. I had saved Christmas!! Never mind the fact that when I got the tree home and inside, I discovered it was atleast 3 feet too tall. Nothing could dampen my spirits, however. I just didn't put the top section on the tree. So my tree wasn't pointy on top, it ended in a sort of plateau. But who cares? Not me. I thought it was beautiful. I filled the tree with what few lights and ornaments that I had brought with me (by the way, thanks, Ryan and Emily, for some helpful additions), and I think I have never appreciated or enjoyed a tree more in my whole life. Anyway, once the tree was up, the Christmas season went without a hitch. Shane's parents came from Texas and were able to stay with us for three weeks. We had a wonderful time with them! It was so nice having them here. They, more than even the hard-won Christmas tree, made our Christmas bright.

A Trip to Okuma Resort

2008-01-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

After Christmas we went up to the northwest side of the island to a resort called Okuma. It was a little bit chilly for beach activities, but that didn't stop the kids from getting in the water. The kids donned their wetsuits to go jet skiing and swimming. They even found a poisonous sea snake! (Yes, it really is poisonous, but it was dead when they found it)

Sightseeing with Ron and Merlene

2008-01-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

While Ron and Merlene were visiting, we went to Shuri castle, Okuma beach resort and Hedo Point, which is the northernmost point on Okinawa.

Christmas morning

2008-01-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

Doing some shopping on Christmas Eve

2008-01-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Savannah played in her first piano recital!

2008-01-09T08:02:00.000-08:00