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From Our Home to Yours... We Wish you a Merry Christmas!

Only in Japan!

This coffee machine was at a rest area. I was so amazed- there was a video of it making your special order coffee. You could choose anything you wanted, and then you watch it grind the beans and make your coffee. ALL IN A VENDING MACHINE! Enlarge the picture by clicking it and you can see all of the different choice.




Okay- I'm only going to post pictures...there isn't a lot to say about these. At first, things strike you very funny when you see them. Then after living here for a while, you just chuckle, and say, "ONLY IN JAPAN!" Look at every picture carefully!

A Very Special Thanksgiving!

As many of you know, I teach English to a few groups of Japanese women offbase. This has been one of my favorite things about being over here. I get to teach them English, but each time I learn so much about the Japanese people and culture. It has been such a positive experience. One of my groups, 7 women in all, have been so much fun to teach- I think it is the mixture of their personalities, but nonetheless, they always make me laugh. Some of the women in the group have been getting together to learn English for over 10 years.

I decided I wanted to have them over to my house for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Getting Japanese nationals on the base is a little time consuming. I had to get all of their information (birthday, height, weight, driver's license number, etc.) and take it to the pass and id office. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I had so much fun preparing for this meal. I wanted it to be perfect because none of them had ever experienced a true Thanksgiving meal. I do love to enterain, so this was a great excuse to decorate and set the perfect Thanksgiving table. I went as far as preparing menus, placecards, and chocolate truffles for each of them to take home.

On Thursday, November 20th, I met my seven students outside of the main gate, and surprisingly, all of their passes were waiting for them, and I got them on with no problems. We got to my house at about 10:30 am and had the best time talking about the different traditional foods. I served them some appetizers, their favorite being creme cheese with a sweet and hot pepper and onion relish poured over it. They loved this. We had sparkling apple cranberry cider, which the just raved about.

For the meal, I served all of the traditional foods- turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, rolls, apple cranberry stuffing, and of course, homemade pumpkin pie. Their favorites were the sweet potato casserole and the stuffing. I did have to get very cheesy during the meal, and I had everyone at the table share something they were thankful for. We had fun because most of them ended up telling stories, which was great for practicing their English.

After we ate, we sat around the living room and talked about the history of Thanksgiving. I had the best time sharing one of our biggest holidays with these ladies.

So Much to blog about!

Well, now that I have finished writing about China, except for some pictures, I need to go back and finish some things I didn't have time to post before we left for our trip. I must get these things written because with Christmas fast approaching, I am sure there will be many things to share and many pictures to post.

Happy Reading!!

China -Day 4

Our last day in Beijing was a long and tiring day. We fit so much in to one day. I think we left the hotel at 8:30 am, and we didn't return until almost 9:45 pm.

The bus first took us to The Temple of Heaven. This was a really interesting place. Its layout symbolizes the belief that Heaven is round, and the earth is square. The Temple of Heaven was completed in 1420 and was originally a platform for the Son of Heaven (the emperor) to perform sacrifices and solemn rites. It covers an area of 273 hectares, smaller than the Summer Palace while bigger than the Forbidden City.

Even though the Temple of Heaven was beautiful, it wasn't the biggest attraction for us. The biggest attraction were the performers in the park leading up to the Temple. There were groups of people playing checkers, cards, dominoes, etc. There were also music groups and dance groups performers. They were playing instruments and singing. Also, at the front of the park, people were doing Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese Martial Art. Tai Chi is supposedly very good for your health. Our guide said people get to the park at 5:30 in the morning when it opens so they can do Tai Chi all day. No wonder there are not a long of overweight people in China. We saw many people doing Tai Chi with a racket and ball, so we bargained for one. We bought a set for the boys to play- it is a fun game.

This was also where my friend Melissa witnessed something so disgusting that I have to blog about it. Some of the toilets in China do not have doors on them. So basically, you walk into this big area with a bunch of holes built into the ground, and there you have it- you have to go with everybody else, no privacy. So anyway, she took her daughter into the bathroom, and there was a lady squatting down doing her daily duty. Yes, right there in front of everyone. I am so glad I decided I would wait until our next stop to go to the bathroom. However, the next stop was the Hutong area, which is where I ended up going in one of these same toilets. However, I was not blessed by anyone else's presence while I was in there. :)

The next stop was the Hutong area, which is the oldest neighborhood in Beijing. This was a very interesting place. We started off by taking a rickshaw ride through the area. I rode with Matthew, and Patrick and Brian went together. The Hutong area has common housing areas where families share a courtyard and kitchen. They are by no means luxury. In fact, it looked as if it were a very poor area. However, Allen told us that just because these famlies live here doesn't mean they are poor. It is a very familiar and comfortable life for them. The older people who have lived there for years don't want to leave because it is all they have known. We had a local family make us a delicious Chinese lunch in their common eating area. It was great food but I don't know how they prepared it all because the kitchen was so tiny. We got to talk with the families and ask questions. Our guide, Allen had actually grown up in one of the homes when he was a child. He has moved since, but many don't choose to leave. So I decided after lunch that I needed to go to the bathroom, which was where I experienced the no door and no privacy toilets. NOT my idea of fun- I had to have my friend come in to take my picture. What an experience.

After leaving Hutong, we headed to the Olympic sites. We had about 45 min to walk around and take pictures. The line was too long to get into the water cube (Magic Box they call it) where Michael Phelps got all of his world records. The Birdsnest was really impressive to see as well. It was really neat to be there just three months after the games. It was a packed area, and many people still go to see the sites and take it all in.

Our last stop before dinner was Silk Alley. This is several floors of knock off clothing, purses, bags, electronics, coats, watches, etc. It is truly an experience. They are very pushy. We didn't haggle for a lot, but did come away with a Northface jacket (fake of course) for Brian, and some coats for the boys. I did not opt to buy a Prada purse like many ladies tried to get me to do. They said, "Hey lady- you want Prada- How about Gucci?" "I give you good deal." They act like we have been friends for years. One said to me, "I met you last year here- you bought bag from me. Want another? Your husband handsome- he need wallet?" It was hilarious. I never was there last year, so she was full of it! The boys got to haggle for small pieces of jade that they wanted. They were pretty good at it.

We stopped for dinner at an American food place, which was the worst dinner we had during our time in Beijing. It was a buffet and not very appetizing. After dinner we went to a Chinese acrobat show, which was absolutely amazing and a highlight for all of us. No wonder the Chinese win the gold in Gymnastics all of the time. I can't believe what they can do with their bodies. The contortionist really really impressed the boys. They were amazed.

We got back to the hotel around 10:00 and by 2:00 in the morning, Patrick and I were both in the bathroom with our heads in the toilet. We were sick as dogs. Not what we needed for our long trek back to Japan. We were sick all morning, and the whole plane ride home. At least it happened the last day so we didn't miss anything. It was definitely the flu and not something we ate. Many people had this 18 hour flu while we were in Beijing. Matthew and Brian escaped it, so they were lucky.

Okay- that is China in a nutshell. We loved it! I will post the pictures from this day soon. I just wanted to get this posted before I forget everything. Look for pictures soon.

Day 3... The Great Wall

This was by far the highlight of our trip to Beijing. Because it was about a two hour drive from the city, we left a little earlier from the hotel. After breakfast, we boarded the buses and started our way toward the Great Wall. It was interesting driving out in the country of Beijing. It is so much different from Japan- open fields, countryside, big spaces.

We arrived at the Mu Tian Yu section of the Great Wall by about 9:15 am. Allen told us this was better than the popular Badaling section of the wall where there are many more tourists. The first stop was the bathroom- no need to say anything else (not luxury in the least bit) I had my toilet paper handy though and I just took a deep breath and got out of there as quickly as I could. We took a cable car up to the climbing section. As we were going up, we just had to pinch ourselves- The Great Wall! Wow.

I really don't even know what to say other than BREATHTAKING! To be standing on the wall and see it strech on and on and on is truly amazing. The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan on the east coast to Jiayu Guan in the Gobi Desert, which is more than 4000 miles.

We walked for just under two hours, mainly taking pictures and stopping to just take in this awe inspiring World Wonder. There were many towers where soldiers stood watch and guarded the wall. The boys had fun hiding in these towers, pretending to shoot the enemy.

The pictures say it all!

On the way down from the wall, there is vendor after vendor of people selling things- t-shirts, watches, trinkets, food, stuffed panda bears, chopsticks, etc. We started walking down and one women said, "Hey lady, I remember you. I give you good deal. How much you pay for this. You want t-shirt? How about table cloth?" It was hysterical. They haggle with you. They even haggle with the kids. Matthew ended up getting a little stuffed panda for $1.50 US. Patrick wanted a piece of Jade in the shape of a dragon. I don't think he got the greatest deal, but it was a fun experience for him. The whole way down they run after you to get you to buy things. We had been told this was how it would be, so we had fun with it. We played along with them, and bought a few little things, but nothing big. The boys just loved bargaining and got pretty good at it by the end. Patrick would walk away and say, "No- too expensive!" They would say, "Come back- I give you better deal!" It was comical!

We left the wall and stopped for lunch at a Cloisone factory, a unique art form of bronze casting, originating during the Ming dynasty. This was yet another tourist trap, but not my thing, so I didn't find a need to buy anything except two panda bear Christmas ornaments for the boys.

The next stop was the Ming Tombs, which is the final resting place for 13 of the 16 Ming emperors. It is a 40 sq km area of rolling countryside dotted with tombs and small villages and farms. This was not really that impressive to us after being at the Wall earlier in the day.

We were ready to crash at the hotel, so we had another quick dinner at the hotel and hit the hay! Our last day in China would be a long and busy day.

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China- Day 2

Day two on our adventure in Beijing began at 8:00 am after having a western style breakfast in the hotel. We boarded the buses, and we were off. First stop- The Forbidden City, the home to the emperors for over 500 years. I really should have watched The Last Emperor before going on this trip. We stepped off of the bus, and we were attacked by people selling trinkets, like watches, hats, chopsticks, etc. They wouldn't stop, and they followed us, and hounded us. Someone who had been on this trip had already warned us of this. The Forbidden City was absolutely huge- 9999 rooms. Nine is a good luck number in China. All of the doors in the Forbidden City had 81 knobs. Everything relates to nine. It is very easy to get lost in the Forbidden City, so we stuck close to Allen, our guide. One very interesting fact is that before the Olympics, there was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City, but while preparing for the games, they decided to take out the starbucks, and they have not put it back. They wanted vistors to see how old this place is, and having a Starbucks in the center of it would make it seem modernized.

While we were at the forbidden city, we all had to go to the bathroom. Now this is another experience in China. We were told to bring toilet paper with us, so I did. Thank goodness I had several rolls because I ended up passing out a few in the bathroom to some poor ladies on the tour who hadn't been told to BYOTP (bring your own TP). Also, you don't flush the paper in China. You throw the toilet paper in a waste can. We are spoiled in the good ole USA.

We moved on to Tiananmen Square, which was built in 1417 as the front door to The Forbidden City. The square is huge, about 440,000 square meters. Mao Zedong Memorial Hall is at the South side of the square, and this hall contains the crystal coffin for Chairman Mao, the founder of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party. The Chinese National Flag flies high in the sky at the Square. We walked around for a while and took pictures and then we bargained for our first items in China- Beijing Olympic knit hats for the boys. It was getting colder and windier, and somewhere along the way, Patrick had lost his hat. Of course, we couldn't get Patrick one without getting Matthew one. I think we haggled a little, but walked away with two hats for about $3.00 total- not bad (except for the fact that they are totally falling apart now and the stitching of the Olympic rings is coming apart).

We stopped for lunch on the way to the Summer Palace. Lunch was good- more beef, chicken and vegetables on a lazy susan table to spin around for easy access to everyone at the table. The Summer Palace was the highlight of the day I think. It was so beautiful surrounded by the largest man made lake in the world. The Palace is where the Emperor would spend the summers. There is a 700 meter corridor which leads to the steps of the palace. This corridor has thousands of painted scenes as you walk through it. Each scene is different and so detailed. If we had stopped to examine each painting, we would have been there for three days. When we got to the entrance to the actual palace, the boys were mobbed by tons of Chinese tourists. We must have spent 15 minutes with them so they could take their pictures and touch their hair. Sometimes they just stare at us. For some of them, they have never seen a westerner, so the just stop to look at our faces and our big noses. They refer to us as "The Big Nose". This is what Allen told us. He actual called us his big nose friends during the whole trip. The Chinese have very small, flat noses, so they are quite intrigued by ours.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Silk Factory and watched how silk is made. It was actually very interesting, and the boys got a kick out of it. Of course, it was also a tourist trap. We managed to get trapped- we bought a few items, one being a silk duvet. (after bringing it home and replacing our down duvet with it, it is so awesome. It doesn't shift in the cover like the down one always did). Brian really wanted to get measured for a suit, but time didn't allow. They are really cheap to get custom made over here.

We got back to our hotel just in time to catch some dinner at the hotel and head to bed. The highlight of the trip would be Day 3- The Great Wall.

China- Day 1

I am going to do my blog posts for each day we were in China. I really want the boys to be able to have this and remember all that we did and experienced. So here goes.....

November 26, 2008- We woke up at 4;30 am to shower and get ready to meet the bus for Narita. Our flight was to leave Tokyo at 10:30 am. We managed to get out the door and to the bus on time and we were off. The plane ride to Beijing was uneventful and seemed quite short. We had the most beautiful view of Mt. Fuji as we were leaving, so I was able to get some great pictures. Once we arrived, we had to go through immigration with our visas, but all in all, it was pretty easy. We met our guide Allen outside and got on Tour Bus A, which would be our bus for the remainder of the trip. Allen was Chinese (so I am still not sure why his name was Allen, but oh well, stranger things have happened.) One of the first things we noticed on the way to the hotel was the space, the trees, the grass, and oh, they drive on the right side of the road. Allen told us that the entire way from the airport to the downtown area where we were staying was completely redone for the Olympics. No wonder everything looked well kept and beautiful. We arrived at Joy City hotel at about 4:00, and we had exactly two hours before we had to meet in the lobby and go to our first Chinese dinner, Peking Duck.

We were amazed with our hotel room. We are so use to Japanese hotel rooms- very tiny, twin beds for each person, and just not a lot of space. Well, this room was huge. We had a huge living room and kitchen plus two bedrooms, one with a king size bed and the other with two twin beds for the boys. Each room had a big bathroom with a tub and a shower, plus an outside vanity area. Not too bad!! We could certainly handle this for five days.

The Peking Duck dinner was a lot better than I had imagined. In typical Chinese style, the food was all brought out to the center of the table in bowls and there was a great big glass lazy susan so we could all turn it and help ourselves to the food we wanted. There was beef and vegetables, yummy cooked celery, pork dishes, chicken dishes, noodles, and even french fries. They eventually brought out the duck and carved it. It was actually good- it tasted like chicken to me. Both boys ate just fine and Patrick tried almost everything. Matthew is our pickier one.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Day Two would be a busy day- The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, The Summer Palace, and the silk factory.

Home from China!

We are home from our trip to Beijing. We had an amazing time seeing all of the fabulous sight in Beijing for five days. I plan to blog about each day and post pictures, but for now, the picture of us at the Great Wall will have to do. It is not the best one at the wall (I can't give away our Chrismtas photo yet :))

I have so much to write about, and I am so behind. More very soon......stay tuned!!

Can it Be??

Can it be??? Our Matthew is 5 years old! I feel like just yesterday, I was preparing to head to the hospital, not knowing whether he was a boy or a girl. When he came out and Brian brought him to me, my first thought was, "Can this be our child?" I was so use to Patrick with all of the white blonde hair. Not this child! Matthew had a full head of black hair. And I mean a full head, not just peach fuzz. His start to life was a little rough, having jaundice which required lots of pokes and prods and many trips to and from the hospital. Then at five weeks old, he had a serious case of bronciolitis, which scared me to death. Brian was already in Connecticut, and the boys and I were in Michigan at my parents' house. I called Brian and told him to catch the first flight of the weekend because I honestly didn't know what was going to happen to little Matthew. I remember watching him on the living room floor on his blanket, gasping for air to breath. On our way to the ER that night, I grabbed him out of the carseat and put him in my lap (yes, I know- not safe, but I felt I had to because he couldn't breathe). Luckily, with the help of a breathing apparatus and some other tricks, Matthew came through and got better. It was a scary beginning though.

From the day Matthew came out, sleep wasn't a problem. We braced ourselves for the worst because his older brother didn't know what "Sleep" meant. However, this little guy was an angel when it was time to sleep. He never minded being put right into his crib. He slept straight through the night by about two months old. He also never took a pacifier or a thumb, so when he woke up in the middle of the night, we didn't have to go stick the darn thing back in his mouth. Matthew knew how to put himself to sleep. We were in heaven. Of course, our three year old still wasn't sleeping through the night, so we were up anyway, but it was still nice to have an infant that slept. To this day, Matthew still sleeps well, still naps when he knows he needs to, and will put himself to bed when he is tired. He has been know to fall asleep at 4:00 in the afternoon and sleep all of the way through to the next morning.

His hair slowly turned to blonde at six months. It never fell out, just became very highlighted with tips of blonde, and eventually all of it changed. He weighed less than 20 pounds at his first birthday, and he stayed tiny until he was about 3 years old. Now, he weighs 38 pounds and is 43 inches tall. He was a little peanut for the longest time. To this day, he still won't eat cheese. What kid doesn't eat cheese? He won't go near it, unless it is shredded parmesan on pasta. It makes packing lunches for him very difficult!

We recently learned at conferences that Matthew is a leader, and other kids look up to him. His teachers called him calm and confident (now who does that sound like?????) He knows what he wants and has no problem asking. He is a good listener and good role model. Maybe Matthew is leader in school, but in this house, there is one person who Matthew does follow, and that is Patrick. He admires him, looks up to him, wants to be just like him, and is lost without him. There is a line that Matthew always says...whatever he says, he follows it with, "Right Patrick?" He says this as if Patrick has the final say in everything. He seriously thinks his brother is the coolest kid!! I think the picture at the top of this blog sums it up perfectly!

Matthew loves to use his imagination. He plays very well on his own, building legos, playing with his webkinz, and building puzzles. He is obsessed with Star Wars and Indiana Jones. His interests are space, rocks/crystals, volcanoes, and the outdoors. His favorite shows are Discovery and Animal Planet, and he loves to read the Kids National Geographic Magazine with Patrick. His sense of adventure is huge!

While he hasn't been to as many states and ciities as Patrick because he is three years younger, he has done so much in his five years of life. At three years old, he got on a plane to Japan, still wearing diapers. Today, he is a smart little boy with a winning personality who has been to Guam, Australia, and soon China. Oh and he is not in diapers anymore (he was out of them right after we arrived here) He is posiitve most of the time, always looking to cheer everyone up and look at the bright side of things. I must say his smile is contagious. He gets excited about the smallest things. He can find a rock on the side of the road and be excited and happy for the rest of the day.

Most of the time, when Matthew gets down, he is sad because he can't keep up with Patrick. In a previous post, I wrote about how he just couldn't wait to be 7 so he could reach the number "5" on the elevator. He still can't reach the "5" but he is getting closer. Matthew is a sweet little boy. He loves to sit with us on the couch and cuddle. He always tells me that he loves me so much that he can't get enough of me. (I know he'll grow out of it, but I will take it while I can get it.) He still smiles as wide as ever when I pick him up at preschool. He is in a good mood most of the time, except of course, when he is tired. He is considerate to others and has many friends. Matthew is funny, and he is always making all of us laugh. Even when Patrick is pouting about something, something Matthew says will make Patrick laugh. Just tonight we were all on the floor playing Clue Junior when Matthew decides he is going to take his gloves and put them on his feet to look like a duck. We all busted out laughing.

Sometimes Matthew seems like such a big boy to us, yet other times, we realize how young and innocent he still is. I tucked him into bed tonight and realized it was the last kiss and hug I would give him as a four year old.. ...ahhh sighhhh....
We love You!!! Happy 5th birthday little guy!!

Rock On!

Here in Japan, we look forward to the smallest things. We get excited when our theater gets a newly released movie, when the commissary gets in the holiday flavored coffee creamers, or when they built a Chillis restaurant (not a favorite of mine in the states, but I admit I was excited when it opened on base). Now, we really get excited when there is a free concert in the parking lot of our bowling alley. That is big stuff!! :) Let me go back a bit.

Patrick turned 8 in September, and we got him an ipod. He really was starting to show an interest in music and seems to always be playing his fake guitar. In the technology capital of the world, we decided this would be a good gift for him. When he opened his new gadget, he was thrilled. The first song Brian put on it was "All Star" by Smash Mouth. Patrick would come home from school singing..."Somebody once told me the world was macaroni so I took a big bite of a tree. It tasted kind of funny so I spit it on a bunny, and the bunny started yelling at me." Now, I really don't think you need to know the song to know that this is not the way the song goes. But, somehow, this is what he was singing. He finally learned the words to "All Star" after listening to it on his ipod for a week.

About two weeks after his birthday, I was looking at the base website and I saw an advertisement for "Smash Mouth". They would be performing at the base as part of their 2008 Military tour. We never would have taken Patrick to this concert in the states because we would have had to pay for tickets and be amongst typical rock concert regulars. ( I am not saying anything bad about people who go to rock concerts, but seriously, they are not a place for an 8 year old). However, this event was different. It was sponsored by The Fleet and Family Service center and all families were welcome. Matthew didn't have an interest in going, but when we told Patrick, he was so excited.

The next day there was not any school- if you have read the previous post, you know that the kids don't attend school on Fridays in the Dept of Defense schools in Japan. (this is an exaggeration, but still- we've had 3 Fridays off this month already). So, we headed out to the concert literally in our "Backyard". We had a lot of fun listening to all of the familiar songs and hanging out with friends. Now Patrick can say he has really been to a rock concert. And... he really knows the words now!

Trick or Treat

Halloween on the base in Yokosuka is absolute chaos, but in a completely fun way. For about two weeks before the 31st, every time I would go to the Commissary, I would buy a bag or two of candy. I finally stopped at 15 bags. I thought for sure that was enough. Well, Brian didn't think so, because on Halloween, he came home with six more bags of candy (now these weren't small bags- they were big bags of candy). I thought he was nuts- how could we possibly go through this much candy?

Our Halloween started off low key, with the kids having school off. For some reason, it seems as if the Dodds schools (Dept of Def schools) don't think it is necessary to send kids to school on Fridays. I think we have been off the past three Fridays. There is only one week in November where the kids will go to school the full week. Anyway, we spent the whole morning at the hospital, almost positive that Matthew had Pneumonia. After a chest x-ray and an exam, we were on our way. The Doc said his chest was clear. He came home and slept the majority of the day, and at 5:00, he decided he really didn't care about going trick or treating. I don't think he felt well at all. However, Patrick was set to go. I did convince Matthew to put on his costume and come with us to a few houses. He gave in- the word CANDY always seems to help

Our first stop was at a neighbors townhome for yummy grilled hotdogs- the perfect thing on a nice fall night. We have a neighbor that is a professional chef. He teaches classes at the Community Center, and we are lucky because he always seems to have goodies for us when we are out on the playground in the afternoon. He has brought us homemade beef jerky, coffee ice cream, homemade choc chip cookies, and even some margarita ice cream. Believe me, we need it on our playground!
Chef Clement decided he was going to set up a table outside and grill 200 hot dogs for his trick or treaters. We made that our first stop because I knew it would be popular, and I didn't want him to run out. With dinner done, we began the hunt for candy.

Let me start by saying, this base is crazy for Halloween. They open up the gates, and it is an open base event for the Japanese people. The Japanese kids and adults seem to love this holiday. They come in huge masses and know enough to say, "Trick or treat", "Happy Halloween" and "Thank you." Matthew lasted about 10 houses, and then he was ready to go in. Patrick, 8 years old, wanted to go to every single house on Gridley. Patrick's goal was to get as much candy as possible. He wanted to bring his pillow case, but I told him that no one needs to fill a pillow case with candy.





Brian and Patrick went on their way, and Matthew and I headed back home and set up some chairs outside the door. We didn't have time to even go to the bathroom- there were trick or treaters lining up at our door. We must have continuously handed out candy for a straight two hours. All in all, we went through 20 bags of candy and all of the snacks in our snack basket. We even started passing out some Halloween stickers. It was obvious that they didn't care what they were getting, as long as we put something in their bags. When Patrick and Brian returned, Patrick ended up giving away a lot of his candy that he got- good thing because in this house the candy mysteriously disappears after about two weeks. (I go through the bags and send stuff in to work with Brian)

We had a great time this year, which will be our last year in Yokosuka for Halloween.

In the eyes of a 5 year old

My boys never cease to make me laugh and smile with the things they say. Tonight Matthew said something that really made me think. Matthew and I were home watching the election news while Brian took Patrick to Taekwondo. He was lying on the couch and NBC was doing a video tribute to the two candidates and their campaigns. He was listening to Barack Obama giving his speech, and he said this, "Mommy, he's our first dark president right???" I stopped and thought for a moment. How great that Matthew doesn't see a difference in people. He just knows his skin is darker than his, but he doesn't think of him as being any different. Some day Matthew will understand why November 4th 2008 was such a big day in history.

I think our children could teach us so many lessons. Thank you Matthew for reminding me again that our country has come so far!

Proud to be An American!

Today is a day that will go down in history. I am so proud to be an American (hey I was born on the 4th of July :) and to have a husband who is serving in this Awesome country. I do my share of complaining about the military, but the fact is, what an honor it is!

Whatever happens today- and I am not here to voice my opinion because honestly, we are all Americans, and everyone has a CHOICE. It is not my job to tell anyone who to vote for. I just think it is amazing that so many Americans are out there voting because they can!

While Brian and I do not share with our boys who we have voted for because honestly, when it is time for them to vote, I want them to vote based on their opinions, not ours. We do tell them this- Our country has come so far. In a country where slavery use to exist and African Americans use to have to use a separate bathroom or sit at the back of the bus, we are so proud of Barack Obama for coming this far and helping us to believe that anything is possible. In a country where women are not always considered equal and have never served as a President or Vice President, we thank Sarah Palin for defying all odds and giving women a true voice! Wow- how far we have come!

Get out there and vote. Vote for the best team and support this country!

Just Pictures

I added some pictures last night but forgot to add captions. Oops!! These pictures are from Kurihama Flower World (Aka Godzilla Park). In the first pic, Brian and Patrick are simply trying to be tough guys, while Matthew is just being Matthew. So no, they are not angry about anything, just acting. Some may think we asked Patrick to put his arm around Matthew for a few pictures, but that is not the case. I had the camera in hand and couldn't resist this "Real" moment. I have so much to post on this blog, so stay tuned for pictures from the Smash Mouth concert and Halloween.

California Pizza and Yokohama at Night

A few Saturdays ago, we took the train into Kawasaki (about a 45 minute ride) to Lazona Mall and some yummy California Pizza Kitchen. Sometimes, we just really miss good ole American food. On base, we can't get good pizza. The choices are Sbarro or Anthonys (the kind of pizza that only tastes good at midnight when you are intoxicated). Needless to say, we rarely get pizza here, so we like to take the train up to Kawasaki and go to California Pizza Kitchen. It is exactly the same as the ones in the states, and the salads and pastas are good too. They have a great kid menu, so everybody is happy!!

Lazona mall is an outdoor mall with trendy stores. There is a great area for the kids to run around (great for Brian and the boys while I browse through the stores.) Everything is very expensive, but the restaurants are great. We've also been to a fabulous Teppanaki restaurant there.






When we arrived, we noticed it was absolutely packed with people on all three levels. When I say packed, I mean, you could barely move. All we could see was a "sea of black hair". We saw a huge tv screen showing some performers, but we had no idea what the fuss was all about. People were trying to take pictures and laughing at the performers. We stood and watched for a few minutes, but decided since we couldn't understand a word that was being said, we would go to dinner and ask at the restaurant. The man at CPK spoke a little English and told us it was a very famous Japanese comedian giving a free perfomance. By the time we were done eating, it had ended, and all of the people had cleared out.





We then headed back towards Yokohama on the train. Next stop- Coldstone Creamery! I guess we were on a mission for American food. It is very funny because the workers sing songs in English while they make the ice cream. One song they sang was..."Hi ho, Hi ho it's off to work we go...." We all had our ice cream treat (it's a bummer though because for some reason they don't have cookie dough!) and then headed to our last stop of the night- the Yokohama Cosmo World Ferris Wheel. We have gone on the ferris wheel before, but never at night. We thought it would be a fun thing to do on such a clear night. It is about a 15-20 minute ride around, and the sights and lights are spectacular. The ferris wheel cabs are completely enclosed, and an English and Japanese speaking voice plays throughout the ride, explaining the views, buildings, and history of Yokohama.






It was a fun filled Saturday, and we were all exhausted. Luckily, we got seats on the train for our trip home.