My baby just turned 6!  The years seem to go by faster and faster.  As the days go by I try to live in the moment with my girls.  I know they won’t stay little for long.  It seems like yesterday that I was having Kendall and now she is 6.  I love the fact that she is healthy, smart, happy, active, funny, and beautiful but I long for the days that I could just hold her in my arms while she sleeps and watch her breathe and smile while she is dreaming her sweet dreams.  Even though she has gotten older and she tells me she is not a baby anymore, she still is my loving little Kendall that lets me snuggle with her at night before she goes to bed.  She still wants me to walk with her in the mornings to her line at school.  She still gives me lots of hugs and kisses, even in front of her friends.  She still loves it when I scratch her back and she still tells me “mommy, I love you so much that I can’t even tell you how much it is, because it’s so much!”  I love her to the moon and back a thousand times over and I am so blessed to have her.  I know she is going to have a big bright future and even though my heart hurts to know she won’t stay little forever, I am thrilled to watch her grow and watch her change through the years.  Happy Birthday Kendall!  Mommy, Daddy, and Carley love you!

The girls started playing soccer a couple of weeks ago and they both love it!  I wasn’t worried at all about how Carley would like playing again.  She always gives 100% of herself .  Kendall on the other hand is a different story.  The last time she played she would run a few yards and need a break.  ha ha.  Well last Saturday they both had their first game and they looked like pros!  Both teams won their first game.  Carley’s team is called Blue Dynamite and Kendall’s team is called Silver Dragons.  They were so cute playing.  Kendall actually scored 3 goals!  She was all over the field.  I could tell she really enjoyed playing this time.  They both did great and we couldn’t be more proud of them!

Here in Altus this weekend they are having the Great Plains Stamped Rodeo.  It started off on Thursday as several cowboys and cowgirls on horses had a cattle drive through Altus AFB.  I can say that in 18 years of being a military wife I have never seen anything like this!  They drove a herd of longhorn cattle straight through the base, through military housing and all.  It was one of the most interesting and oddest things I have ever seen but it was awesome to watch!  We went to the rodeo on Thursday because it was military appreciation night and the girls liked it so much that we went back last night for kids night.  Carley got to participate in a tug-of-war with kids from her school and at one point in the night all of the kids got to go out into the arena to try to chase down a calf to pull a ribbon from around it to win a bicycle.  It was a hoot!  This was the first rodeo that we had ever been to and I have to say it was alot of fun to watch!!  This definitely won’t be our last rodeo.

Carley just had her 9th birthday last week and she couldn’t have been happier about it!  I’m not so sure I was.  It seems like my babies are growing up so fast!  Where did all that time go?  Just yesterday I was changing her diaper.  As they get older it also means I am getting older and I’m not so sure I like that either   Well, we were lucky enough to have moved into a neighborhood full of girls this time.  They are also Carley’s age so we had cake and ice cream for her and Carley also had her 1st slumber party.  She had an awesome time but I forgot when I agreed to let her have a sleepover how LOUD little girls could be when they are all confined to one house!  Oh well, she had a good time with some great little girls and that is all that counts!

Well, the start of the school year got here fast and furious!  The girls just finished up their 2nd week of school. Carley is in the 4th grade this year and Kendall is in 1st. It’s been an adjustment after being able to sleep as late as they wanted to this summer.  Now they have to be up and going around 6:45 every morning.  Carley is a little better than Kendall is about waking up.  Kendall wants to sleep more!  You know how a princess can be   Now as reason would have it they want to sleep in during the week but as for the weekend they are up bright and early.  Isn’t that the way it works.  Go figure.  Carley loves school! She is so enthusiastic about it and wants to go everyday but Kendall on the other hand likes school and her teacher but she wants to stay at home with me.  If it was up to her she would stay at home everyday and veg-out on the couch watching TV.  I am hoping she will get back into the swing of going to school and learn to enjoy her time away from her barbies.

Well, we have finally made our way back to the States as we have spent the past 3 years in Japan.  There aren’t words to describe how challenging it is to make that transition.  You go through several emotions as the time finally nears that you actually do move.  We were so exhausted, happy, sad, and emotional all at the same time.  Moving back to the States would be a drastic change as it was to actually move to a different country.  A few things we have to get used to here are,….not living at the beach, rude people, driving on the right side of the road, food, flip flops all year round, having a bigger home other than base housing, car payments…..the list could go on but I will stop   Needless to say its an adjustment.  Well, to make our adjustment we made a few stops before we got to Oklahoma the land of longhorn and flat land that goes on for miles.

 

 

 

Our first stop was Hawaii.  As usual it was breathtaking!  To top things off my mom and Rod’s mom met us out there to enjoy our vacation with us.  We had a great time and I hope it was an awesome experience for them to remember for years to come!  We ate alot, got to see the sea turtles on the beach of the north shore, and we got to visit Pearl Harbor.  Visiting Pearl Harbor was a very humbling experience.

 

 

Our next stop was South Carolina.  We finally got to spend alot of time with our family and we got to see our good friends the Thomas’.  We got to go to the lake for the 4th of July.  That’s something we havent done in years.  Carley learned how to ski while we were there and it turned out to be lots of fun for the girls.

Finally we have made our way to the small town of Altus Oklahoma where Rod will be an instructor pilot here and we have finally gotten to settle down and buy a home.  We should stay put for about 3-4 yrs. and after that who knows where the Air Force will send us.  Time will tell   As for now we are going to enjoy our time here and the girls will enjoy their daddy being home more!

Before I moved to Okinawa I had heard about the sea wall.  When I got here I thought what is the big deal?  There is a wall with a bunch of graffiti on it that most of it I can’t even read.  As the years went by we learned to love going down to the sea wall to watch the sun set.  There is something about that area that will just suck you in.  As you sit on the wall there is so much to be seen.  There are the beautiful sunsets, people walking dogs, kids riding bikes, surfers, Japanese people always on their cell phones texting, quaint little restaurants, coffee shops, scuba shops,  and last but not least all of the special paintings and messages that people have left behind on the wall.  There are messages painted on the wall from welcoming a loved one home to saying farewell to Okinawa.  There are lots of colorful paintings.  Some are very detailed and some are not so intricate.  All of them have some sort of message they are wanting to send out.  We always said that when it was our time to leave the island we would want to paint a spot on the wall, so today was our day to do just that.  We gathered what little paint we had and we set out on a mission.  I was kind of nervous to think we might be participating in some illegal activity but we had been assured that it was tradition here.  The girls each painted a flower and we all wrote our name on the wall.  I’m not sure how long it will last.  Some of the paintings look as if they have been there for years and years.  It would be fun to think that our farewell painting will be on the wall for several years to come.  I think our painting turned out great.  The girls were so excited!  We are really going to miss our time here.  We have been very blessed!

Yesterday was one of those days that you look back on and can’t believe it  happened.  Well as you may know our time here on Okinawa is down to 9 days.  We took yesterday to do something we have been wanting to do the past year.  We spent some time diving with whale sharks!   It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  We also got to share it with our good friends Ilisa and Abe.  The day was perfect.  The sun was out the water was blue and we were in good company!  The most funny thing about the dive was that we went out on a boat with all Japanese people.  We were the only 4 Americans on the boat so we didn’t understand one word that was being said.  We had to meet up at a nearby port.  We had all of our gear and got on the boat to take a 5 minute ride out to where 3 whale sharks are in a huge net.  For all of you PETA people out there, don’t worry.  These big beautiful giant creatures are very well taken care of.  The Japanese people have the utmost respect for the sea life here.  As we were getting ready to flip off of the side of the boat my heart was racing!  I was so excited and nervous at the same time.  Once I got in the water and got calmed down things went fine.  We all swam down to the opening of the net and swam inside.  The Japanese guide fed the whale sharks first and it was amazing to see them swim past.  They are so big but they swim by with such grace.  As feeding time was over, we had free rein to swim about with them.  I thought I would be intimidated by them but for some reason a calm come over me.  I swam directly toward one and as it went past me I rubbed my hand down him like you would a cat.  They swim by with such ease.  Its like they are being pampered and they like the rub down.  One time I looked over and Rod had one by the dorsal fin and was being pulled around.  A couple of times I would look up and one would be right over the top of me.  Its at that time you know how huge they are and how small we are.  Just so you know, they don’t eat humans!  ha ha.  They are filter feeders.  It seemed to me they liked us being there.  They like the attention.  The only thing we were told not to do is touch their eyes and their genitals.  ha ha.   It was a perfect way to end our diving time here on Okinawa.  That was mine and Rod’s last dive here so we went out with a bang!  Thanks for going with us Abe and Ilisa!  We had an incredible time!  Last but not least, I have to send a big THANK YOU to Aviva for watching the girls while we went to do this.  You are so sweet!

Rod and Mr. Whale Shark

Me and Mr. Whale Shark

 

For the past couple of years I have been going to this small Japanese hair salon that my friend Terri Hill (yes, for those who know me there is another Teri Hill in this world ) told me about.  I have to say that I am forever in her debt   When she first told me about it I was a little scared to go because I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I eventually took the plunge and went to have my hair straightened by this Japanese man named Tatsu.  For anyone who has lived here knows how bad the humidity is, and as a woman we all know that humidity and hair is not a good combination.  I thought if I had my hair straightened it wouldn’t get so kinky.  So, off I go to the Japanese salon.  I have to say that it was one of the best salon experiences of my life!  To start out they greet you at the door and they take your purse and put it away for you.  Next they meticulously place a towel around you as they lay you back for a shampoo.  For the next 10 minutes or more (I loose track of time at this point) they shampoo your hair and at the same time thy massage my head and down my neck all the while they are pressing on pressure points throughout my neck area.  Then they stop to get a hot rolled up towel to place up under my neck.  I can’t tell you how great it feels. At this point I am like a rag doll.  After the shampoo session is over I go to my chair and while I am waiting they ask if its OK to massage my shoulders and back.  They ask “massage OK?”.  I want to scream “HECK YES a massage is OK!  But , I keep my composure and properly say “yes, arigato gazamous”.  Then the next 5 minutes or so I get another massage.  When they finish I notice that some one has pushed a little cart up next to my chair with a glass of tea, a cookie, and a piece of chocolate on it.  Underneath that they have American magazines for me to look at.  Unfortunately the magazines are the same ones I look at every time I go there, and they date back to 2006, but at least they try.  ha ha.  Tatsu then comes along and goes to work on my hair all the while not saying two words to me.  He is very quiet as he concentrates on my hair.  I can tell he likes his work to be his masterpiece.  When my cut is over and I go to pay, I just feel like I want to go ahead and schedule for me to show up daily to get a head massage and shampoo.  ha ha.  They treat their clients like royalty.  As I leave they give me samples of shampoo telling me its a gift from them and they all bow to tell me goodbye.  Wait the story isn’t over yet.  As I go and get in my car the small street is very hard to back out into so the girl from the salon will actually go out and stop traffic for me so I can back my car out onto the one way street.  Now, the story is over!  That is what I call good customer service!!  Never in a million years would you get that kind of sincere service back in the States.  With all of that said and done, my hair cut/massage/treats was only $35.  I am really, really,really going to miss this place!  I like to call it my little slice of heaven

 

Carley had her first field day at Amelia Earhart Intermediate School.  Her 3rd grade class had several events they participated in.  They had the inner-tube race, the relay race, the jump rope race, the dizzy bat race, and the best one of all was the tug-of -war.  Their 3rd grade class was the top winner at the tug-of-war!  Carley was so excited she was beaming!  Ms. Bishline did a great job at cheering on her class.  Carley loves going to school, but she especially is fond of Ms. Bishline.  She is a great teacher and she really cares about her students.  Carley is going to really miss her!