Cassie and I rode a pony. We fed the fish.
It was good.
posted by: jessica
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Our Animal Adventure
On Saturday, March 20, we went to the zoo. We pet a rabbit, chicks, and guinea pigs. And we walked through the zoo. We saw giraffes, elephants, koala bear, tigers, lions, alligators, turles, crocadiles, hippos, monkeys, and kangaroos.
Cassie and I rode a pony. We fed the fish.
It was good.
posted by: jessica
Cassie and I rode a pony. We fed the fish.
It was good.
posted by: jessica
Sunday, March 7, 2010
HOLY HAIRCUT!
Jason went to go get his hair cut on Saturday. He's been getting his hair cut on base at Hill for over six years. He has them cut one or zero on the sides and back and three or four on top. When the barbers are good, he can get them to taper between the top and bottom. He tried to explain at the barber shop in the BX here at Kadena, but she didn't understand what he meant by blend, so he told her zero on the sides and three on top. Apparently, three is different in Japan than it is in Utah!
Carston is 18 Months Old
Carston turned 18 months old on Thursday. Here's a little about him:
What I like: I still really like balls and I also like balloons. I love going outside and walking on grass. I’ve been falling down a lot and my knees are sore and scratched up. I like running my fingers through hair, especially when I’m tired. I like to dance to music, and of course I like treats. I love to wrestle and be tickled.
What I’ve learned to do: I’ve learned to run, although not faster than mommy can walk. I can also climb up on the coffee table and on the couch. I understand “no” (although I don’t always listen),” shoes”, family names, “go outside”,” poop” and “diaper change” and sometimes I will go lie down when it’s time to change. I can say “uh-oh”,” mommy” (sometimes means I want what you have), “daddy”,” cookie” and “balloon” (sounds like boom-boom). I can give real kisses on the cheek, not big slobbery wet spots, now.
What I try to do: I try to say shoes, Jessie, Cassie and Carston. I try to walk, instead of crawl, up and down the stairs, because I think I’m so big. When everyone else is singing, I try to sing, too. When I see or hear a dog, I try to bark and one time I tried to mimic a rooster.
What I get in trouble for: I get in trouble when I hit, pull hair, or when I throw things, especially food. Now that I’ve learned to climb on the coffee table, I get in trouble for that too.
How I’m doing with the move: I’m tired a lot. I’m not sure when I want to take my nap, but looking at all of these houses has been interrupting my sleep. Also, Mom always seems to wake me up and put me in the stroller to go get Cassie from school. Mom hated taking me places at first, because I was into everything and I was hyper. I’ve settled down a little, but the place we are staying is small and I’m bored. I think I’ll feel better when I have my own stuff in a bigger place.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Earthquake!
I really hate not having access to the internet. It takes forever to get anything posted. This is all old news, but as this blog is as much a record of our time here as it is a way to tell everyone what's going on, I'm going to post it anyway.
At 5:30 in the morning on Saturday, February 27, an earthquake struck southeast of Okinawa. At it's epicenter, it was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It was the biggest earthquake they’ve had in Okinawa in 10 years. A tsunami warning was issued for the island immediately following the earthquake, but was rescinded shortly after. Here's each of our impressions, and memories of the earthquake:
Earthquake from Jason’s viewpoint.
I woke up about 5:00 and was laying in bed while my mind was wandering. All of a sudden I felt some shaking and the closet doors next to us began to rattle along with the lamp shade above use. When Jennifer and I concluded it was indeed an earthquake we went and grabbed the kids to take them to a protected area. I grabbed Carston and stood under the door jam between the two connecting rooms and Jennifer got Cassie and Jessie out of bed and had them kneel down next to the bed and cover their heads. The earthquake seemed to last a long time, but it is hard to tell while it is happening. After the shaking stopped the building seemed to still be swaying a little bit. After talking to people on the island it seems like we maybe over reacted but it was the strongest earthquake here in ten years and I will probably do the same thing if it happens again. I think it is better to be safe than sorry.
Posted by Jason Cowley
Jennifer: I had woken up and was just drifting off again when I heard a lot of noise coming from the closet doors next to us and the vent above our bed. Jason asked me if it was an earthquake and I told him that I thought it was. When he asked if we should go get the kids, I said, “Probably”. We crawled out of bed and ran into the adjoining room where the kids sleep. Jason went right to Carston and started calling to Cassie. I went to the girls and pulled them down on the side of the bed. Jessica was hard to wake up. She looked at me and then started to go back to sleep. I had to tell her to get down by us, and the three of us squatted there for a few more seconds. When the shaking and rattling was over, I could still feel the building swaying, even though we are only on the third floor. The girls were scared and I had to lay with them for a while. We weren’t sure how big it was, or if it was even bigger than normal. We’d heard that Japan had a lot of earthquakes, so we weren’t surprised. After a while, we all fell back to sleep, and in the morning, we had a hard time finding out how big it was. Nothing had fallen off a table or counter in either of our rooms, so I thought maybe it wasn’t that big of deal. It was the largest earthquake I’ve ever been in, but I don’t know what’s considered worrisome and what isn’t. Michael called me and told me how big it was, and that I was supposed to call and tell everyone we were okay after an earthquake! I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Hopefully by then, we’ll be in a better place to contact everyone.
From Cassie Cowley’s point of view.
I woke up to a loud noise. It was coming from outside. Jessica was half awake. I laid in my bed wondering if it was a Typhoon. Then all the sudden Mom and Dad came running in. “Get on the side of the bed!” Mom said worriedly. Dad grabbed Carston and huddled with him while the three of us, Jessica, Mom, and me huddled up. I was scared. 5 min. later it was over. When it was over I didn’t want to go to sleep. I kept thinking the window was going to fall down on top of Jessica and me while we were sleeping and it would crush us flat. After awhile I fell asleep. Then on Monday when I went to school everyone was talking about the earthquake.
Posted by:
Cassie Cowley.
Jessica: I was scared. I thought that it was a storm and that’s why the house was moving, like boom-boom. So when mom and dad ran in, I woke up and thought that. So, I said to them, “Why did you run in?” So it was pretty scary, as you can tell. I almost thought that we were at home, but then I woke up and reminded myself that we are in Japan. Bye! Jessica
Carston was startled when Jason grabbed him, but I'm not even sure if he noticed anything different while Jason was standing there with him. He didn't cry or anything, and he drifted back off to sleep fairly quickly.
The next day, there was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile that prompted a tsunami warning for the Pacific area. We were preparing for church when we saw the warning and the order to evacuate low ground by 2:00 PM. The tsunami was estimated to hit at 3:10. We still aren’t sure what’s "low ground" here, but we know that the Awasai ward meets at 1:00 and the church is near the coast. When we got to church, they said we’d have an abbreviated sacrament meeting so that we could make it back in time for the evacuation order. We kept an eye on CNN, but it seemed that the waves coming in weren’t significant, so there was no damage and no problems. Still, these two natural disasters were quite the welcome to our new home.
At 5:30 in the morning on Saturday, February 27, an earthquake struck southeast of Okinawa. At it's epicenter, it was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It was the biggest earthquake they’ve had in Okinawa in 10 years. A tsunami warning was issued for the island immediately following the earthquake, but was rescinded shortly after. Here's each of our impressions, and memories of the earthquake:
Earthquake from Jason’s viewpoint.
I woke up about 5:00 and was laying in bed while my mind was wandering. All of a sudden I felt some shaking and the closet doors next to us began to rattle along with the lamp shade above use. When Jennifer and I concluded it was indeed an earthquake we went and grabbed the kids to take them to a protected area. I grabbed Carston and stood under the door jam between the two connecting rooms and Jennifer got Cassie and Jessie out of bed and had them kneel down next to the bed and cover their heads. The earthquake seemed to last a long time, but it is hard to tell while it is happening. After the shaking stopped the building seemed to still be swaying a little bit. After talking to people on the island it seems like we maybe over reacted but it was the strongest earthquake here in ten years and I will probably do the same thing if it happens again. I think it is better to be safe than sorry.
Posted by Jason Cowley
Jennifer: I had woken up and was just drifting off again when I heard a lot of noise coming from the closet doors next to us and the vent above our bed. Jason asked me if it was an earthquake and I told him that I thought it was. When he asked if we should go get the kids, I said, “Probably”. We crawled out of bed and ran into the adjoining room where the kids sleep. Jason went right to Carston and started calling to Cassie. I went to the girls and pulled them down on the side of the bed. Jessica was hard to wake up. She looked at me and then started to go back to sleep. I had to tell her to get down by us, and the three of us squatted there for a few more seconds. When the shaking and rattling was over, I could still feel the building swaying, even though we are only on the third floor. The girls were scared and I had to lay with them for a while. We weren’t sure how big it was, or if it was even bigger than normal. We’d heard that Japan had a lot of earthquakes, so we weren’t surprised. After a while, we all fell back to sleep, and in the morning, we had a hard time finding out how big it was. Nothing had fallen off a table or counter in either of our rooms, so I thought maybe it wasn’t that big of deal. It was the largest earthquake I’ve ever been in, but I don’t know what’s considered worrisome and what isn’t. Michael called me and told me how big it was, and that I was supposed to call and tell everyone we were okay after an earthquake! I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Hopefully by then, we’ll be in a better place to contact everyone.
From Cassie Cowley’s point of view.
I woke up to a loud noise. It was coming from outside. Jessica was half awake. I laid in my bed wondering if it was a Typhoon. Then all the sudden Mom and Dad came running in. “Get on the side of the bed!” Mom said worriedly. Dad grabbed Carston and huddled with him while the three of us, Jessica, Mom, and me huddled up. I was scared. 5 min. later it was over. When it was over I didn’t want to go to sleep. I kept thinking the window was going to fall down on top of Jessica and me while we were sleeping and it would crush us flat. After awhile I fell asleep. Then on Monday when I went to school everyone was talking about the earthquake.
Posted by:
Cassie Cowley.
Jessica: I was scared. I thought that it was a storm and that’s why the house was moving, like boom-boom. So when mom and dad ran in, I woke up and thought that. So, I said to them, “Why did you run in?” So it was pretty scary, as you can tell. I almost thought that we were at home, but then I woke up and reminded myself that we are in Japan. Bye! Jessica
Carston was startled when Jason grabbed him, but I'm not even sure if he noticed anything different while Jason was standing there with him. He didn't cry or anything, and he drifted back off to sleep fairly quickly.
The next day, there was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile that prompted a tsunami warning for the Pacific area. We were preparing for church when we saw the warning and the order to evacuate low ground by 2:00 PM. The tsunami was estimated to hit at 3:10. We still aren’t sure what’s "low ground" here, but we know that the Awasai ward meets at 1:00 and the church is near the coast. When we got to church, they said we’d have an abbreviated sacrament meeting so that we could make it back in time for the evacuation order. We kept an eye on CNN, but it seemed that the waves coming in weren’t significant, so there was no damage and no problems. Still, these two natural disasters were quite the welcome to our new home.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Our first car in Okinawa
I didn't think that I would ever own a minivan but that is what our first car is here in Okinawa. We signed the papers for it last Thursday but we couldn't pick it up until Monday at 4:30 PM. It is a 2001 Mazda MPV minivan and it is one of the larger vehicles we could buy. As you can see the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. It has the sliding back doors on both sides which is nice because a majority of the minivans here only have the sliding door on one side. We signed up for their financing program which is 18 months no interest with $500 down. It cost us $4,400 and we needed to buy driving insurance for about $400 a year. The only possible problem is that it is black and will probably soak in the heat during the summer. We also looked at some off base housing today and saw some nice homes one had a great view of the ocean but it is a little too far away. We are still hoping to live on base so the girls can be close to friends, but the housing does seem quite a bit nicer off base so we will just have to wait and see.
Jason
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The First Day of School in Okinawa
On my first day of school in Okinawa was a bit akward. USA is the only country in the world that does not teach diffrent languages. Japanese classes teach English and on base they teach Japanese. On Mondays and Fridays I have P.E.! The teacher is strict. And having 2 days of P.E. is really bad for me. Why you ask? Well because
1. I hate it! Worst thing ever invented.
2. I always get hurt.
3. I can't play, or do anything with a ball.
And finaly,
4. I'm not that good at it.
On Tuesday we have art! My favorite! I was sad at my old school because, they didn't have art. But now I'm happy! We also have a Japanese culture class, but I don't know when that is yet. I also don't know when libary is. We don't have a computer class. Just some computer time, like for taking tests and stuff like that. The libary isn't really in a room. It's just an open area. In the libary they have movies, books on tape, and books that you can check out! And this is all in the school libary! I have big math projects like, taking my big math book home and doing 20 math problems in it. It's caziness! I miss home a whole lot! I already have 2 friends! There names are Kaitlyn and Samoin.
By: Cassaundra Kay Cowley
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
First Trip to the Beach
We took our first trip to the beach on Monday. This is the first time the kids have ever even seen a beach. This particular beach is also where they do baptisms. Monday the water was not very clear because it's been so rainy here, lately. The kids looked for sea shells and coral and dipped their feet, and ultimately their pants, in the water. Carston didn't really like the feel of the sand on his feet.
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