Two Things and a Cowboy

Saturday we dressed the kiddos up and went to a haunted house at Alan's squadron, then trick-or-treating on base.  The base opted to celebrate on Saturday to avoid the late night Sunday night.  The bats were out in full force, but thankfully it didn't rain this year.  It was a beautiful night for some trick-or-treating.

Sheriff Woody!

Thing 1 and Thing 2...my first attempt at homemade costumes!

All three, getting ready for the haunted house

Adam, showing off another pumpkin he decorated.  Is that a halloween-y sky, or what?!

Buzz came by to trick-or-treat and I asked if I could take their picture together.  When I went to look through the camera, I said, "I can't even see y'all because it's so dark!"...

...so Adam pulled his glow stick out of his holster and said "You can see us now!"

ALIENS!!!

Our trick-or-treat setup with the neighbors, Steve and JoAnn.  Adam was the candy-keeper.

Happy Halloween!

What a year!

One year ago today we arrived on this Rock.  An exhausted family of three and our dog.  My, what a year it has been!  We've seen things we never thought we would see in our life.  We've experienced the uniqueness that is this island, but still have so much more to do.  We've dipped our toes in the East China Sea, as well as the Pacific Ocean from this end.  We celebrated the holidays here, with new friends and Air Force family.  We delivered twins!  We've learned a little Japanese (arigato gozaimaaaaaasu!).  We've shopped in Japanese grocery stores, kids stores, department stores and furniture stores and we've fallen in love with the Japanese style of karaoke.  We eat the food and drink the drinks and have rice a lot more often than we ever have.  We have chopsticks in our silverware drawer.  We know to dial 0071 to call our family.  We no longer accidentally walk to the left side of the car to drive and we no longer turn on the windshield wipers when we're looking for the blinker.  Driving on the left side of the road is now second-nature.  Recently, Alan and I became scuba-certified and have completed four dives, witnessing the amazing beauty that is our underwater world.  My mom lived here for THREE MONTHS!  Alan ran a marathon in a country that wasn't America.  We have made great friends (a few of them have even been aggies!), and have had to bid a few farewell...only until we meet again.  We've been through a typhoon and a major earthquake (and a tsunami, if it even counts).  We've jumped on-board with the Okinawan obsession with vending machines (seriously, people, you even use a vending machine to order food at some restaurants!).  We've learned which online shopping sites ship to APOs and which do not.  We've learned that the early bird catches the worm at the BX and Commissary (even if you have to buy your seasonal stuff three months early).  We've learned to get used to those bats flying overhead, but still don't appreciate close encounters.  We've learned the feeling of loneliness, though, too.  Although we know we have each other and our Air Force family, nothing replaces our families and friends we've left behind.  We wish we were sharing all of these experiences with all of you.  Nothing replaces that quick phone call or that last-minute decision to meet for lunch or drinks.  Nothing replaces holidays with your family and nothing replaces missing the birth of your best friends' babies.  Although we have loved this year and we look forward to the time we still have left here, we always miss home and the feeling that home gives you.  In celebration of our time here, I give you this year, in pictures.

Our first Thanksgiving here:

Our first Christmas here:

My Mom arrived!

The twins are one month old!

Springtime in Okinawa:

My 31st birthday:

Our first formal event here:

Alan's birthday:

Rosie's first pedi:

The Air Force Birthday Ball:

Start of SCUBA class and Spouses' Dining In:

What?  You were expecting a different sort of "year in pictures"?  There are only 11 works of art here - number 12 comes tomorrow - my "One year anniversary" pedi.  So excited!  Seriously, though, it has been a great year and we are excited for our next year here and the adventures it will bring.  We know our time here will pass quickly and we hope we leave with no regrets. 

Adam's about to be home from preschool and he'll want a snack.  Just before he eats it he'll say, as he does before he eats anything, "ducky mas," which should be "itadaki masu" (the "u" is silent).  I can only hope that one day he is able to recognize how lucky he was when he was four.

Konnichiwa!

The other day, when we took Adam for a bike ride, we stopped for a little bit at a nearby playground.  I thought it would be fun to take the babies down the slide for the first time.  Here's what we got:

You know Anaya, she just goes with the flow... I really did expect more of a reaction out of Audie, but whatever. It won't be long and they'll be sliding all by themselves.

We've almost made it nine months!  Yay, us!

Two-Wheeler

That's what Adam calls his bike - a "two-wheeler".  Never mind the training wheels.  Anyway, I don't think I ever told the story about Alan and me going to buy Adam's birthday present - a bike.  Alan and I met during lunch one day and went to Toys R Us, because they had a better selection than the BX (go figure).  Now, you know how crazy Toys R Us is in the States?  Well, it's that on crack here in Japan.  For being such quiet people, they sure do like their stores LOUD.  Anyone who's been here knows what I'm talking about - there's no way in hell my babies are going to fall asleep in Jusco, with all of the demo videos playing on repeat and the loud music blaring on a different station in each shop.  It's crazy.  But that's all for another time...Toys R Us, the bike...

So Alan and I go to the bike section and start looking at the rows and rows of bikes.  "Ooh, here's a Harley one!"  "Look at this Chevy one!"  Wait - What size do we get?    We finally decide what size we should get him, based on the chart on the wall and begin our selection.  We narrow it down to three and then make our final choice.  Well, you know how when you see the bikes at Wal-mart, they're all trashed and knocked over and have flat tires because the darn kids have been riding them all over the store?  Well, they've got some smarts here - they don't put pedals on the displays!  So, we thought, "I guess we ring this bell for service and ask for the pedals."  We figured, despite the language barrier, that should be easy enough.  So I rang the bell and a Japanese man (cautiously) approached us.  We slowly and loudly told him in English that we wanted this bike and we just needed the pedals.  He got a confused look and said something in Japanese.  Hm.  Problem.  I can't tell what the problem is, but I can tell there is one.  After a minute or two of us repeating in English that we just needed the pedals so we could buy the bike, and him repeating whatever he was saying in Japanese, he finally was somehow able to get across to us that they would assemble the bike and it would be ready in 30 minutes.  So he handed us a ticket to take to the cashier to pay, and then we would come back in 30 minutes.  Easy enough.  

By now, the babies are a little restless so I told Alan I was going to push them around while he paid for the bike.  I checked back with him because it was taking a while and there appeared to be another problem.  But I didn't know what it was.  Apparently, they were showing Alan a piece of paper with Japanese writing and a price of 500 yen.  They were probably explaining what it was, but we couldn't tell.  Alan was telling them he didn't know what this was, in English, and they were pressing with a Japanese response.  Nothing coming out of Alan's mouth sounded anything like Japanese and nothing coming out of the cashier's mouth sounded anything like English so we were in a bit of a pickle.  Finally, the frustrated cashier called over a manager.  "Thank God," we thought, "He probably speaks a little English."  Nope.  More Japanese explanation of the 500 yen.  More shaking our heads and asking what it was for.  Finally, frustrated enough, the manager just removes the 500 yen charge.  Sweet.  Now we have to wait our 30 minutes.

While we're walking around, waiting, it occurs to us that the charge was probably an assembly fee.  Oh, well.  Thirty minutes passes and the same man who wouldn't just give us the pedals brings the bike out.  Then, he proceeds to, in front of Alan, make sure each and every screw, nut and bolt is as tight as can be and does one final brake-check.  When was the last time Wal-mart did that for you?  Once he was satisfied that the bike was safe, he sent us on our way.  We really need to learn Japanese. 

Fast forward to today: I came across the bike manual and couldn't help but post some pictures.  Here's the cover:

THERE ARE ALIENS HERE?  AND THEY'RE BUYING BIKES?  And what is that guy doing? 

Here's an excerpt from page two - it essentially says "Don't have fun and ride this bike like every other kid rides a bike."  There's a whole lot'a "don't" in this book.  They won't strap their babies in car seats, but God forbid, they should have a little fun on a bike.

One of my favorite illustrated pages - 1) Don't ride in shiny shoes, 2) Don't run into an open car door while riding

Finally, here are a few of Adam showing off his skills :)

    

Movin' On Up

Effective 1 October, Alan was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force.  WOOOOOOHOOOOO!  Pay raise!  Kidding aside, this was a really big deal.  Not only because it is quite a respectable rank, but because the process is pretty competitive.  Additionally, we have several close friends who have worked just as hard and are outstanding Officers who were not chosen for this rank...yet.  There is hope for next year.  You just never know - such is the military life.  But we made it!  Alan made it.  And we thank God for once again providing so that we may continue in this life we love.


On Thursday afternoon, there was a promotion ceremony at Alan's squadron.  Alan's boss gave a great recount of Alan's career, which was amazing to listen to.  It's unbelievable just how much he has been through and how unique his career in the Air Force has been.  The opportunities he has gotten have been amazing.  It was nice to re-live it all for a bit, knowing that he and we made it through so many difficult times.  It is customary for family members to remove the old rank and place the new rank on the shoulders, so Adam and I handled that part and Adam did a great job.  Anaya and Audie also attended the ceremony with minimal fussing, so that was nice.  After the ceremony we had a little reception.  Here are a few pictures from the day:

Really, Commissary?  You haven't done this enough to know that the "C" in "Col" should be capitalized?  Standard.

 Lt Col Daniel, speaking

 "Making it official" (Reading the Promotion Order)

 Me pinning on the new rank:

 Adam's turn to slide on the shoulder boards!

Repeating the Oath with his new rank

Lt Col Dayton, speaking

HUGE shout-out to Sarah and Michelle for holding the babies so I could just enjoy.  While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and give a shout-out to my friend, Angie, for her photography skills - Thank you, Ladies!!!

Flowers for me...the bling came later

Adam with his "surprise" from Daddy...he got a few more surprises later, but was thrilled about the balloon :-)

 Our family :-)

Our family with Alan's boss and our good friends, the Daniels

  

The reception at the Tee House...Great view of the East China Sea

All in all, it was a good day.  What can I say?  Silver looks good on the man.  At the ceremony, just before speaking about me, he told the quote, "Behind every successful man is an astonished woman."  Well, that's untrue.  I'm not astonished.  I knew he could do this and I'm proud of him and all he has accomplished.  I know he has many more great things in store and I'm excited to be along for the ride.  I might even claim some responsibility for his success ;-)