Visiting Utah

We were able to take a very short trip back home to visit our family at the end of the summer. Airline tickets from Okinawa are way too expensive for our whole family, but the military allows us to fly Space-Available around the Pacific Command twice a year while we are stationed here. I really appreciate this benefit, although it has many challenges and adventures. In fact, our Space-A experience was such an adventure, I think I'll save that part of our trip for a blog of it's own. Unfortunately, we weren't able to use Space-A until we'd been here for six months, which was two weeks before Cassie was to start school. We decided to go to Utah for a two-week visit, which meant Cassie would still miss the first few days of school by the time we got back. It was a whirlwind of trying to see as many people as we could, shopping, and doctors' appointments. The two weeks we were there were packed, but I didn't take as many pictures as I should've, so I'm not exactly sure how to blog about it, but here goes:

We left here on Saturday, August 14th, and got to Utah on the 15th. We gained a day in-transit. We were exhausted. On Monday, we mostly just hung around and concentrated on getting over the travel exhaustion and the jet lag. That was pretty much all the 'rest' we allowed ourselves. There was so much to do, we started go, go, going.

As much as I possibly can, I want to continue to use our doctors at home, so I plan to take them in every summer for their yearly physical and dental checkups. We did dental appointments on Wednesday of the first week, and doctor appointments on Monday the following week. Everybody got a clean bill of health, but Cassie is starting to have some eye problems. We took her in to have her vision evaluated, and sure enough she's 25/20. The doctor isn't recommending glasses right now, but next summer Cassie might get a more studious look.

I was so happy that we made it in town early enough to be there for my Grandma's 80th birthday party on Thursday. (You never know with Space-A.) I was horrible and didn't really take any pictures, so I had to steal some off my cousins' websites. My Grandma Jones is one of the greatest examples in my life. I love her very much, and I've never doubted that she loves me too. I am fully aware of how much she spoils me, even now. I'm always amazed at how much she can do and how talented she is. Grandma knows what is going on in the lives of all of her family- not only her eight kids, but also her 26, and counting, grandchildren. Most of her family was there to wish her a happy birthday, including my Aunt Tracy, and her family, who were in town from Virginia. It was a good opportunity to visit with everyone.

Here's a couple of pictures that I stole: on the left, grandma with a bunch of us getting ready to sing happy birthday, and on the right, my kids with my cousin, Tawnya, who is moving to Montana soon.

Jason and I really wanted to spend some time in the mountains while we were in Utah. With such a short trip, I debated about using so much of it to plan and prepare for a camping trip, and also, about how spending a weekend in the mountains would affect our ability to spend time with everyone. In the end, we decided to go up with my dad for just one night. He was going to go bow hunting, and Jason, who is really sad to be missing the hunt this year, was going to go out with him. We got up to the canyon, and Dad realized that he forgot his hunting tag, and decided not to go back down. Even though it cut into Dad's hunt, in the end, I was really glad that he forgot it. We were able to spend more time with him, and I had a more relaxing time. Jason had promised Cassie awhile ago that the next time we went camping he'd help her start the fire, and she remembered. He showed her how to prepare a fire and let her start it. We cooked corn on the cob on the coals and had a nice evening around the fire. Since Dad forgot his tag, we didn't need to go up as high, so us 'Okinawans', who are used to warm weather, weren't freezing. On Saturday morning, Cassie wanted to go for a hike. Jason stayed in camp and played endless games with Jessica, and I took Cassie and Carston for a hike. Cassie really loves hiking. I need to remember to be more prepared when I put her on the trail, because she could go on and on, and I didn't bring any water. But Carston spent most of the trip riding, and finally falling asleep in my arms on the way back. I was exhausted.

After our hike, we packed up and headed back down to the valley. On Sunday, we had a family party with my Mom's family, and I got to catch up with them. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but we had a good time and enjoyed seeing everyone. I really miss my family.

The second weekend, we headed up to Trenton to spend time with Jason's family. On Friday, we had the opportunity to go to the temple with Jason's parents, and the kids stayed home and played with Aunt Melissa. That was really nice, since we don't have a temple close in Okinawa, and it was the first time Jason and I had been out together without the kids since leaving Utah in February. On Saturday, we tried to go up and do some trilobite hunting, but it didn't work out the way that we planned. Still, we got to spend another afternoon in the mountains! Here's a picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa Cowley. I'm glad we had a little bit of time for the kids to reconnect with them. The girls know how much their grandparents love them, even when they are on the other side of the world. Carston is still having a hard time remembering everyone, but by the end of our visit, he wasn't shy anymore.

The rest of our time there was filled with visiting, going to restaurants, and lots of shopping. We had the opportunity to visit with friends in Syracuse after our dentist appointments on Wednesday. Cassie was able to have a sleepover with Kelbie, her best friend, who she misses very much. I was able to go to lunch with some of my girlfriends, who I miss very much. Shopping here is often very frustrating, and there were some clothes that I couldn't find. We enjoyed shopping at Walmart, Target, Smiths Marketplace, and JCPenneys. It's nice to be able to go to another store when you can't find what you want, instead of just the BX. We even got the kids' birthday pictures taken.

In the evenings we visited with my parents and we went to all of the restaurants that we miss. Here's a picture of the kids with my Dad. We spent a couple of evenings at his house, where the kids got to play on a real lawn, and they got to play some games with Grandpa.

At my Mom's house it was games, games, games, which I miss very much. Jessica, especially, loves to play games. Every evening, she wanted to play Princess Yahtzee Jr. and SkipBo Jr.
Here we are celebrating a Yahtzee! Cassie spent as much time playing with her friend Jade, who lives next door to Grandma and Grandpa, as she could. Here are the kids with my mom. I was going to get a picture with Michael in, and I forgot to do it the night before we left, so we'll have to get you next time, Michael.

We began our trip back to Okinawa in the morning on Tuesday, August 31. As it turned out, we had another week left of our vacation, but our time in Utah was done. It was really hard to leave again. We really miss our family, and I hated saying goodbye, again. I left determined to find more to enjoy in Okinawa, and more for my family to love about this time in our lives.