Cassie's Birthday 2011

Well, no pictures from Cassie's birthday, either, but I didn't want to neglect it.  We were in Utah for Cassie's 11th birthday.  We celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Bohn's with dinner and cake.  Grandpa Jones came over and so did Great Grandma Jo.  Cassie also had her good friend, Jade, who lives next door to Grandma and Grandpa, over. 

Cassie is growing so fast.  She was very nervous about starting Middle School in 2011.  She had some very close friends in fifth grade, but she's starting to see some of the petty arguments that plague preteen girls.  Cassie made the A/B honor roll all year in 5th grade.  She continues to have the goal of being a geologist when she grows up.  She is fascinated with rocks.  Cassie has also adopted bright orange as her favorite color, thanks to a bright orange hoody sent by her grandmother at the beginning of the school year.  Summer also brought a visit to the eye doctor, and Cassie needed glasses.  We decided to wait until we got to Okinawa to buy her glasses, and surprisingly, they are very affordable heree.  She was able to get two cute pairs.  She will only have to wear them at school, but the doctor says she may want to wear them more often.

Summer 2011

Summer 2011 got all mixed up.  The plan was for the kids and I to head to Utah while Jason had a business trip planned to Misawa, Japan and Dayton, Ohio.  Jason was going to hop down to see us after his trip to Dayton.  After spending a week with us, he would return to Okinawa to work for a bit and then Space-A out to pick us up and bring us back.  In all, he would only be home without us for a couple of weeks, and we wouldn't have to go a whole month without seeing him. But, the Air Force struck again, and Jason's trip to Dayton was cancelled at the last minute.  We were happy to have him space-A out to us early, but I'm not sure he was happy to use so much leave.  We weren't much on taking pictures over the summer.  We fit in doctors' and dentist appointments.  We tried to visit family as much as we could and see as many different friends as we could.  We took the kids to This is the Place Heritage Park, camping with the Joneses, eating at all of the places that we miss so much, tons of shopping (to fill in the holes left from shopping at the base exchange), and up to Logan.  I also took the kids to the Hill Aerospace Museum where they have a new interactive section.  The kids were able to dress up in flight suits and sit in some simulators.  They had a blast.  Carston says he want to go back there.

Even though we were in Utah for a month, it still seemed like a whirlwind of activity, and we didn't have a chance to see everyone that we wanted to see or do everything that we wanted to do. 

Our trip back home was a Space-A mess.  We had planned to leave Utah and drive to Travis AFB in California when we could see that a large flight was going out.  There were no rental cars available for one way travel, so instead, we booked a flight.  When we got to Travis, we found that the flight that we were waiting for was a C-5, which is notorious for break downs.  The flight was delayed coming into Travis and delayed in Travis for four days.  It was four days of back and forth between the terminal and a hotel, and one night spent in the terminal.  The kids entertained themselves playing Chinese jump rope, watching movies, running around outside, DS, and driving mom and dad crazy.  Finally, when we gave up on that flight, we got a good hotel room for a night, had a good nights' sleep, and went to the Jelly Belly factory for a tour before we returned to the terminal to try for a different flight.  Success.  We got a hop to mainland Japan, but we were stuck there for four days.  What a mess getting back.

  This is the group of kids that gathered to play Chinese jump rope.  I'm glad I took it.  Sitting around in those terminal chairs all day can make kids stir-crazy.  They had quite a large group gathered before it was over. 

Jessica's Birthday 2011

We lost pretty much all of our pictures from the summer of 2011 when Jason's dive camera case got a leak and ruined the memory card.  Jessica's birthday pictures were on that card.

Jessica had a few birthdays in 2011.  After waiting all month for a flight out of Okinawa, finally there was a flight going to Hawaii with plenty of seats on June 28, Jessica's birthday.  So, we started the celebration the night before by taking her to Chili's for dinner, where they could sing to her.  I had assumed that we'd be in Utah for her birthday, so when I ordered her present, I had it shipped to my mom's house.  So, we had a small gift for her that night. 

The next, we spent most of the day at the terminal and on the plane on the way to Hawaii.  But, when we arrived in Hawaii, it was the 28th again.  So began birthday number two.  There were no flights heading out of Hawaii that day, so we found a hotel, but we waited in the terminal for a friend to come give us a ride.  It wasn't much of a second birthday, either.  We did manage to get in the pool for a little bit, so it wasn't all bad. 

Jessica turned six this year.  She had just completed kindergarten.  She did very well in school this year.  I am very pleased with how well she learned to read.  She made a lot of friends at school, as well, and she is blossoming here in Okinawa.  Jessica and Cassie have developed a close bond.  They are great friends and loving sisters.

Tee House Restaurant

The Tee House Restaurant has been one of our favorites here on the base.  It's next to the golf course, as you may have guessed, but it has a beautiful view.  Here are some of the views from the dining room.
The runway.  We like to watch the jets take off and come in.  This particular day, we were looking for the jet that we were hoping would take us to Hawaii on our way back to Utah for a visit last summer.

 Looking out to the ocean.

 Sometimes I'm amazed that I live so close to the beach.  It's so beautiful.

 A great view comes with a price.  These are the stairs up to the Tee House.  It's quite the workout on hot, humid days and more than once we've been caught up there during a downpour.

 The kids like to play on the grass area outside the restaurant before and after we eat.

Gymnastics

Jessica has been taking gymnastics since we got settled on the island.  Here are some pictures from a class in spring of 2011. 
 

 

(Yes that is a very pregnant coach that she has.)  Jessica's favorite part is the trampoline, but she's getting stronger and more flexible in all areas.

Elementary School Graduation

June 10, 2011
It's a hot, muggy day in Okinawa. At a park on Kadena Air Base, Amelia Earhart Secondary school is hosting a graduation for the current fifth graders. Breakfast is provided. We are all sandwiched in the pavilion:
(Did I mention how hot and muggy it was that day, and how sandwiched we were in the pavilion?)

Vice-Principal, Mr. Merjewski, MC'ing. (He happens to be a Cougar, but we don't hold it against him.)

Carston hiding under the table while we wait for our food.

Cassie's class.

Cassie with her best school friends. Left to right: Adrianna, Abby, Cassie, Kylie, Katelynn, and Lasmey.

Mr. Merjewski was Cassie's science club teacher. This was his last year at the school.

Cassie with her 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Spain. It was a tough year for Cassie. Mrs. Spain is a demanding teacher. But ultimately, Cassie loved her, as she always does.

Aunt Tracy visits!

When Aunt Tracy came to visit in May, we took a lot of pictures. It's just not that easy to upload pictures on Blogger, and I knew this post would be difficult, so I put it off. And sure enough, when I sat down to do it, I had problem after problem, and I put it off again. Finally, nine months later, I'm ready to post, though I chose fewer pictures to share.

Aunt Tracy came to visit us for a week in May. We were so excited to have our first visitor come. We had a lot of fun showing her around the island, and we discovered some new things. Here are some of the pictures from our week.

This is the bell at Shuri Castle. They still use it during some of their ceremonies, including New Years' Eve.

Aunt Tracy in front of Shuri Castle.

Tracy and the kids in front of the King's throne.

Tracy had done a little online research and read about a garden down near Shuri-jo Castle park. After finishing at the castle, we went to find it. I was so excited when we got there. Fukushen Garden had beautiful Japanese-style architecture and gardens. I wish I could post more of the pictures that I took.

Later in the week, we headed down to Zanpa point to see the light house and the ocean view. Zanpa is near our house. It still amazes me that I live by the ocean.

Tracy and the girls went up to the top of the lighthouse to see the view.

Zanpa point coastline.

Sunday after church we headed up to the "cabins" at Camp Schwab for a couple of nights. Camp Schwab is said to have one of the nicest beaches on the island. It is located in the northern area of Okinawa, and on the East side of the island. We live on the West side of the island, and while the island is really not that wide, traffic is so awful that we rarely travel to the other side. We were excited to go enjoy the beach and do some sightseeing up North. We arrived on Sunday, and the kids had just a few minutes to play...

(the play ground was right next to our cabin.) while Jason made dinner. And before he was done, it started to rain. And for two days, Tracy got to experience how wet it can get in Okinawa.

Our cabin had a beautiful view of the coast, but this was the closest we got to the beach. It was such a downpour, we didn't even want to go to the aquarium, because we knew we'd be soaked between the car and the aquarium. I felt really bad for the Marines that had to PT in it Monday morning. We mostly hung around the cabin. But that's when we discovered that there isn't really anywhere to eat on Camp Scwhab during the week- except Subway. Wish I'd known that, I would have brought more meals. Still, we had a good time relaxing and visiting.

On our way home from Schwab on Tuesday, we decided to drive around the tip of the island and see the views. Here are just a few of the tons of pictures that I took.

Hedo Point: (the Northern tip of the island)

Ocean Views from the highway on the way back: