Kuwae Preschool Graduation

Evelyn's last day at Kuwae Preschool was wonderful. Her class sang all of their favorite songs, received "graduation" certificates, and had a cookie party. It was neat to hear her sing a few of the songs in Japanese. She is going to teach them to me so we will never forget them.




Mrs. Blodgett and Ryoko-San were wonderful teachers and Evelyn loves them. She will miss them very much.

Ie Island Trip

This last weekend we made a trip out to Ie Island (a small island just off the coast of Okinawa). The motivation behind our trip was so Rick and a few friends could participate in the Annual Ie Island Half Marathon. Ie is only accessible by ferry, and it takes about a half hour to ride over. The Island was absolutely beautiful. We have attached several pictures showing where we stayed and some of the sites.

Ready for Summer!

Evelyn got her cast off! She was such a great sport through it all. She loved putting on the goggles and having her cast sawed off. Right after having her cast removed she said, "Mommy, my arm is floating". Her arm felt so light she thought it was floating :)

I change my hair every couple of months. I ventured out and got my hair cut in town by a guy named Miyagi. Short again for the summer. Good job Miyagi San!

We went with some friends up north and camped at Okuma. We stayed in a cute little cabin that was a short walk to the beach. We got to take a tour of the area in a cool buggy. Fun Fun Fun.

Introducing...Robot Girl!!!!

Evelyn started out Friday night as a normal girl but came home as "Robot Girl" with a super powerful robot arm.

We were at Big Dip getting some ice-cream and Evelyn fell off a pretty high stool. As she was clutching her wrist and crying in my arms I asked the question that no parent ever wants to ask...."Do you think it's broken". The swelling was instant and she was shaking with pain so off to the ER we went.

The x-rays were clear...it's broken. The good thing is that it's a "buckle brake". Her bones are soft so instead of breaking the bone buckled. The x-ray showed a bump on her bone (distal radial to be exact). It should heal pretty quickly.

She has a temporary cast with a sling right now. On Tuesday she will go into Orthopedics, get new x-rays and a permanent cast. Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Evelyn has been a super kid through the whole thing. To look at her you would think nothing ever happened. Super Robot Girl to the Rescue!!!

Mr. Miyagi: Evil Spirits Beware!

Mr. Miyagi is my Shisa Dog (he is old and wise). According to legend a shisa dog saved an Okinawan village from an attacking sea dragon, so now EVERYWHERE you go there are shisa dogs on roofs and entry ways warding off evil spirits.








Since it is essential to have shisa dogs protecting your home, we had a girls day out to an antique store that lets you make your own guardian shisa. The cutest man, Mr. Sachi, helped us along the way. We started with just a frame and a pile of clay. While working Mr. Sachi would come around and help us out by adding claws, a nose, a mane, all kinds of things. We loved Mr. Sachi!!




Traditionally there are two shisa that protect your home. One has an open mouth to ward off evil spirits(male), and the other a closed mouth to keep good spirits in(female). We will be going back soon so I can make Mrs. Miyagi. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Quilting a plate of Sushi :)

Twenty girls including myself got together and made an Okinawa Memory Quilt. Each girl chose something that reminded them of Okinawa, designed a quilt square, and made 20 of them! We then got together and exchanged all of our squares. So at the end I ended up with 20 different squares. Here is what some of the girls did: geta shoes, sanshin, kokeshi dolls, goya, kimono, whale shark, map of Okinawa, and goya. I made a Sushi Platter!!


It was a lot of hard work but it paid off in the end. Now I need to learn how to piece a quilt together!? My goal is to finish it by the time I leave the Island. Rick thinks it will never get done. Blah, Blah, Blah.... :)

Happy Anniversary!!

Ricks out of town and the kids are in bed so what am I finally going to do.........blog-it-up!!!

For our 7th anniversary Rick and I took a scenic tour of Okinawa in a little Cessna plane. Of course Rick thought it would be lame but after the flight he admitted that it was fun. Rick sat in the front with the pilot and got to fly the plane a little. The views were amazing!! The water is so clear we could see all the coral reef that surrounds the island.

Our flight was uneventful until it came to landing. After touching down the pilot heard a pop and lost the brakes and steering on the right wheel. He did manage to slow us down and get us off the main runway before loosing all brakes and steering. We ended up going into the grass to stop. Since we lost control and ended up in the grass it was an official crash landing!! Emergency vehicles came out to make sure we were all o.k. Our pilot kept apologizing but we assured him that we thought it was a perfect end to our flight!!