Japanese Tea Ceremony

One of the things I'm most grateful for is the cultural experiences the boys get to experience while we're living overseas.  Today, for example, the parents were invited to watch the kindergarten class perform a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony.  They've been practicing this in their ettiquette class and the kids were excited to show us what they had learned.  It was really a sweet show and I loved the older ladies in traditional kimonos directing the students to make sure they performed the ceremony in the proper way.  Whether it was the specific way they stirred the tea (front and back finishing with one complete circle) or the direction they turned the bowls before presenting it to their guests (two times to the right), all the of motions were deliberate.  There acted as hosts one time and then as guests.  Very impressive to watch a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds do it.....and quietly at that. :)

Beau's Field Trip to the Zoo

This is a big year for Beau at school.  He is finally old enough to go on the field trips and he's thrilled.  He remembers last year when Bennett got the chance to go, so he's officially in the "big boy" club now.  This past Friday his class spent the day at the Okinawa Zoo and Wonder Museum and had a blast.  Beau's teacher, Ms. Joanne, is so kind to take pictures and post them for us.  I loved getting see my little guy exploring with his classmates.  We've been so blessed by Ms. Joanne and Beau is thriving in her class.

MLK Day

We've had such beautiful winter weather, we're taking full advantage of it.  Cape Zanpa is one of our favorite spots, so we headed out to enjoy a little sunshine.

Watching Daddy at Work

Fletcher has been super busy lately with some exercises here on island.  He invited us down to watch a practice raid on Monday and the boys were thrilled to get to see him in action.  We watched the 46 helicopters come in (closer than I expected), hover, and let out several Marines by rope to raid a nearby building.  Pretty exhilarating to watch up close.

Beau on 2 Wheels!

Beau wanted his training wheels off, so off they came.  He's our little daredevil and thank goodness for helmets.  He actually was riding on 2 wheels just before his 4th birthday which seems a little early to me, but you can't tell him that.  Needless to say, he's excited to be doing when big brother is doing.  So proud of you, Beau!

Merry Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas!  The boys were excited about all of it which makes it that much more fun.  They loved reading the Advent calendar and learning exactly what happened the night Jesus was born.  I'm proud that they have taken to the real meaning of why we celebrate.  They're still kids though and a huge part of why Christmas is so exciting to them is coming down the stairs Christmas morning to see what treats Santa has left.  I think they'd both agree that Santa was generous to them this year.  The only real request from the boys was a "gator" like Cousin Trey has.  Well, they don't deliver gators to Okinawa like that and believe me, Santa searched high and low.  BUT Santa mentioned that since he couldn't swing a gator, he might be able to pull off a dune buggy and the look on the boys' faces when they saw it was priceless.  They were showered with gifts from back home and I hope they realize just how blessed they are to have all this fun stuff.  After we opened gifts and had our Christmas breakfast, we cooked and took food up to Camp Hansen to serve the single Marines.  As a mom, it's so humbling and a little heartbreaking to see these guys alone on the biggest holiday of the year.  Most of them were in good spirits and all were super grateful to have a homecooked meal, but I wanted to hug each and every one of them on behalf of their mother back home.  I have to mention that the weather on Christmas day here could not have been more beautiful.  It was in the mid 70s with lots of sunshine.  We left Hansen and went onto have Christmas dinner with our dear friends, The Fergusons.  By the end of the day, Fletcher and I were beyond exhausted.  I don't know how Santa does it.  I was in bed by 8:00 pm and I'm still recovering.

Christmas Eve 2012

It's Christmas Eve and I have two excited little boys all snuggled up in their beds sound asleep.  Fletcher and I are as excited as they are.  We read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as we always do.  Seems like last year we had to read it from an IPad in Singapore, but we read it nonetheless.  Tonight we had the actual book and the boys enjoyed it.  We said our goodbyes to JoJo for another year.  Bennett told JoJo goodbye and said, "well, we'd better get going"....I think he's ready to get this show on the road.  I can't wait to see their big smiles in the morning and hear the giggles.  Merry Christmas Eve!