Pokemon for Halloween

My children are obsessed with Pokemon. We brought these costumes home with us from Japan as souvenirs for the kids.

Okinawa, the adventure of a lifetime.

So I admit that I have been dreading blogging the Okinawa trip. The adventure was so action packed that I don't even know where to start. This one entry could turn into an entire blogspot on its own. Okay, so here I go. I will try to keep it concise.

We flew from Boise to Salt Lake to Georgia to Tokyo and finally Okinawa. We had four hour layover in Tokyo, so we ventured off on train to a beautiful Buddist temple. There were real munks chanting in the background and the rain was lightly falling. It was the perfect introduction to the country.

We stayed in a traditional Japanese guest house. Our bedroom was great, but the bathroom was so disgusting. We didn't have to use it much. We did our morning routine and bathed at an Onsen. I was out of my element at the Onsen (I was naked with a bunch of Japanese women), but it beat using the bathroom at the guest house.

Emmett had me taste a dish called Goya Chompudu. I have a pleasant look on my face, but that is because I knew I wasn't going to eat the bite that was approaching my mouth. I did taste it. It was extremely bitter. I could barely hold back the gag reflex. Okinawans believe that eating goya leads to longevity. I guess I'll die young.

Emmett and I went to a parade. The most memorable part for me included this cute little girl in the pink hat. She wasn't part of the parade, however, she did provide entertainment. I kept feeling a slight movement in my hair. I quickly realized this little girl was touching my hair. Emmett told me that she actually smelt it at one time. The island is pretty homogenous, so I was a novelty with my hair. I was amused.

Emmett had prepared himself for let down before we went to Okinawa. He said things like: everything has changed, no one will remember me, etc... On Sunday we went to the stake center. It was exactly the same, and many people remembered him. It was a good day.

Emmett did teach me a lot about the culture before we went to Okinawa. However, he failed to give me bathroom training. There were a variety of confusing bathroom situations, but the "Squatty Potty" was by far the most confusing for me. Once I figured it out it wasn't so bad, but the initially shock will always be memorable.

This is a photo of the biggest tug-o-war rope in the world. There were a lot of tourists at this event. I have a suspicion that I wasn't the only blonde having her hair petted that day.

This is the Shuri Castle. It has been blown up a couple times and rebuilt. This is the King's thrown. We saw a lot of traditional Okinawan dance. This was the first one and we really enjoyed it. However, by the end of the trip we weren't as thrilled with the slow, methodical ritual.

Zamami Island... What an adventure! The most relaxing and most stressful part of the vacation all in one. This is the ferry we took. The island is uninhabited except for a few resorts. Basically it is all jungle.
This is where we went snorkeling.


These are the scooters we rode all over the island. The scooter riding was my favorite part of the trip. The owner of the guest house we stayed in let us rent his scooters for $20 a day. This was a great deal considering the alternative of $75 a day. Rickety is the word that sums these scooters up. I did add to the overall adventurous ambiance.

This is the spider that almost killed me. You can't grasp the enormity in this picture. This spider was the size of my hand. Emmett wanted to hike down to a tide pool. Initially, I thought I saw a path, so I went along with it. The path soon disappeared and I wanted to turn back. Being the pushover that I am I continued down through the jungle. The overgrowth was so bad that the trail was barely visible. All of a sudden, Emmett and I realized these banana spiders hanging right in front of our eyes. The jungle noises and solitude were already freaking me out. The spiders almost pushed me over the edge. Somehow we made it to the tide pool and back. I have even found it in my heart to forgive my adventurous Emmett.

We decided to splurge on dessert. We hadn't had dessert yet because frankly, it is a little harder to come by in Japan. I was really craving icecream. We found a little parlor. The owner was excited to see Americans and told us she was going to give us extra. Sounded good to me. When she handed me the cone I almost laughed out loud. On the top of my sugar cone layed the smallest scoop of icecream I had ever seen. Smaller than a kid's cone in America. I was disappointed. Now I know why everyone is so thin in Japan. They don't know what a scoop of icecream should look like.

Emmett has a friend in Japan who took us to Kareoke. This was another highlight for me. Who knew that sitting in a room with friends and singing your brains out could be so fun. I loved it!Mrs. Nakasone san bought us tickets to this aquarium, gave us spending money and made us a homemade lunch to bring with us on our trip to the aquarium. Emmett tried to refuse the spending money and was severly chastized. I will never quite understand the depth of generosity in the Japanese culture, so I'll just be grateful.
We went to the pineapple farm on our way back from the aquarium. It wasn't much of a farm, but it was fun.
This is Mrs. Nakasone taking Emmett and I out for a beautiful lunch. Following lunch she took us to a souvenir shop and literally would not let us leave until we chose something.
This grand adventure was also supported by Mrs. Nakasone. It was another one of my favorite things on the trip. We went to a photo studio where they dressed us in traditional Okinawan clothing and took our photos. We got a little goofy at the end of the photo shoot.






This is Emmett's shamisen sensei, Mr. Nakasone. The Japanese letters in the background say "Emmett and Michelle". The Nakasone's threw us a big party at a restaraunt that they rented in our honor (talk about overwhelming). I learned an Okinawan song that I sang with Emmett while he played the shamisen. There were other performers as well. We felt like celebrities.
It was time for me to go home. Bye Bye Mrs. Nakasone. Bye Bye Japan.
Emmett stayed behind. This is a family that he baptized 15 years ago. They had him over.
Emmett ventured off to Osaka to meet Curtis, a childhood friend, who lives there.
He visited another famous temple.He met a supermodel coming out of a photo shoot. I'm sure everyone would like an explanation on this one, including me.Most importantly, and finally the trip ended with raw ground beef mixed with raw egg. He didn't get sick, but watch out, if you look at the picture and think about it long enough you might.

Okinawa gave us the adventure of a lifetime. We did a lot, we learned a lot, we ate a lot, and played a lot,but we were glad to get back home to our babies and America.

Emmett is 35

He might be 35, but he still has an excitement for life as that of a teenager. I want to brag on my man for a minute. What a great husband and father he is. We don't always know exactly what we are going to get when we marry. I was lucky enough to get more than I expected. I couldn't be happier to be married to this 35 year old.

Taylor's photo shoot.

Our family photo shoot may as well have been a photo shoot for Taylor. She was more photogenic than ever.

Family Photos 2008

Rachel took our family photos again this year. She does a great job.

He's not a baby anymore!

So Tommy is in the first grade now. We had to move his violin lesson to 7:30 AM because his teacher didn't have any availability during after school hours. At 6:30 on Tuesday mornings I try to remember that I made the right decision putting my five year old child into school for six and a half hours a day. I have mixed feelings, but I know the decision to bump him up was the right one. He is very happy there. Explaining the decision isn't always the easiest to handle. Somehow (without boasting) I try to tell people that he's reading at a third grade level and he just passed the second grade end of year math exam. I'm not sure, but I don't think anyone appreciates hearing about it. However, I can't help but be a bit proud. Tommy is a good, smart, go with the flow boy bound for greatness. I love you Tom!

Tommy had his first season of soccer. He scored a lot of goals, but his team never won a game. I just can't believe that time flies by so quickly. He's playing soccer, going to first grade, playing violin..... My baby is obviously not a baby anymore.

The Other Side of the World

Last week I visited the other side of the world. Okinawa, Japan to be exact. Emmett and I have been planning the trip for six months. The itinerary was completed, babysitters were found, travel arrangements were made, etc... I admit that from the beginning I was a little hesitant. I didn't want to leave the children for ten days. I was a little worried about them, but almost more worried for their caretakers and my reaction to being separated from my 24/7 buddies. The trip was difficult and jetlag made it painstaking at times, but all in all the trip was insightful and worthwhile. I learned a lot on this trip.

• I take a lot forgranted in America.
• Not all toilets are built the same.
• Body image isn't an issue in every culture.
• Respect is still cherished in some parts of the world.
• Having a good time is all about perspective.
• Sometimes anticipating the fulfillment of a dream is just as good as fulfilling it.
• I empathize with people who live in a country where they don't understand the language.
• I now realize in more depth the sacrifices military families make.
• International travel is not for the faint of heart.
• I want to be with my family more than anything.

There are many stories with pictures to come. Stay tuned.