Merry Christmas!!

Hello family and friends.

We've had a wonderful year full of blessings. In 2010 we've seen the addition of a new family member, Edward Richard Blair. We enjoy being back in the states, even though Pensacola is about as far away from family as Okinawa :)

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous new year.

Rick, Wendy, Evelyn, Will, and Eddie.

This free greeting card customized with Smilebox

All Hallows Eve

Halloween is so much fun with kids!!

Upon returning home from the "Trunk-or Treat" I stuck my head in the kids Halloween bags and took in a big whiff of their candy. The smell instantly brought me back to the glory days of Trick-or Treating at Grandma Hart's house. We would bring in our full pillow cases and poor them out all over the floor to examine our loot. After running from house to house for two hours we deserved the pig out session that followed. It's fun reliving the excitement of the holidays through your children.

Earlier in the month we went up to see Heidi and Donnie. In October the Birmingham Zoo hosts "Boo at the Zoo"!! You get to go to the Zoo at night. It was super fun with games, candy, a haunted carousel, and train ride.

Because of Halloween being on Sunday this year (too bad) we went to the "Trunk-or-Treat" at the church Saturday night. Rick made the kids stick their hands in the boxes and feel the "eyeballs and brains" before he would give them candy. No treat for you without a trick. Ha Ha Ha!!

The kids had just as much fun passing out candy on Halloween as they did "trick or treating" the night before. Here are two little videos we shot.

Goodbye Okinawa, Hello Pensacola!!

The day we left Okinawa was day of mixed emotions. We were so sad to be leaving but excited to get back to the states. On our way to Florida we got to spend time in California and Alabama visiting all of the family that we missed seeing over the past two years. It was great!!

It was really nice to finally get settled into our house after a month of traveling. This is the house. We love having a driveway, a garage, a backyard, and 4 bedrooms! Definitely a step up from the beloved bomb shelter in Okinawa. Oh yea, the van, it doesn't leak when it rains!!

Rick likes his job and is keeping busy. He is going to be traveling a lot more. He's already been to Portsmouth, VA, Meridian, MS, and Millington, TN. In the next couple of months he is heading to New Orleans, Corpus Christi, and Crane, Indiana.

Evelyn turned five and is now a Kindergartner. This is her on the big first day. She loves her teacher and thinks PE, music class, art class, and ballet are too much fun. Since we live so close to school we get to walk. Rain or shine :)

Will is proud to be three! This is him on his first day of preschool. He goes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday but wishes it could be EVERYDAY! He wants to do everything Evelyn does, even homework.

Eddie is getting cuter by the day. He has started scooting and making his way around the house. I'm enjoying my "Eddie time" while the kiddos are in school. He is a happy easy going baby (I just wish he would start sleeping through the night :).

We love and miss you all. Pensacola is beautiful in the fall. Come and visit!!

The latest

Here are some of our latest pictures. Eddie is getting bigger every day. Grandma Kris and Grandpa Jay just recently paid us a visit. Rick has been wanting to do deep sea fishing for a long time and he finally got to go. We took a trip with with some friends of ours out to Tokashiki Island (one of the Kerama Islands just west of Okinawa), it was beautiful! Evelyn performed in her first dance recital as a Busy Baby Bumblebee! Things are well here. We pack out on July 13th. We'll make a short pit stop in Lancaster to see family and then it's off to Pensacola Florida. We'll miss Okinawa.

The new addition

Edward Richard Blair was born on March 5th. Eddie and his Mother are doing great. He was 22 inches long and weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces. We're happy to have him join the team.

Finally Blogging Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas!!

We went to the Christmas Festival at the Okinawa Zoo. They advertised "snow" so we had to go!! They had a small section on the lawn where they made snow for the kids to play in. They also made little igloos. The machine they had making the "snow" was really a giant snow cone maker that would grind squares of ice and blow it out of a large tube. Hey, the kids didn't know the difference.

With the setting of the sun came the light show. This was truly a Japanese Experience. There was a medley of Christmas songs (in Japanese) and other random songs (like Michael Jackson's Thriller) playing while beams of lights made shapes in the fog. Occasionally there would be fire explosions and fireworks. We loved it!! The song in the video is the end of, "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus"

Family Came to See Us!!!

We had a wonderful October with the visit of Bill, Chelsea, and Ryan followed by the visit from Joy, Rich and Ariel. We loved being able to share Okinawa with them but what we loved the most was that they were here with us. We could hug and kiss them not just hear their voices on the phone :)

The Aquarium

Fukushen Gardens

Halloween

Lunch in the Jungle

Okinawa World!!