Hide and Seek

The kids were playing hide and seek today.  Chloe and Ryan could NOT find Callista anywhere.  I hinted for them to open the shoe closet, but they gave me this blank stare like "why would she be in the shoe closet....you can't fit in there?" 

Oh yes.....our little monkey climbed up to the third shelf and she fit perfectly!

Happy Birthday Chloe

Chloe is 9 Years Old!!!

What an amazing blessing she is to our family. 

She keeps us honest, on schedule, and always "doing the right" thing!

This is what she woke up to on her birthday morning.  I know it's hard to read, but it says:

 "Happy Birthday Chloe"

(wall art designed by Paul)

 We got dressed after she woke up and went for a walk to :

CINNABON

 Then we went bowling...

 Then we went to the hospital and had lunch with Dad.....

 Then her friend Sean came over to bring her a present.  Who is Sean?  Sean and Chloe go way back from Pensacola and then on to South Carolina.  In Fact......

Here is Sean celebrating Chloe's 4th birthday with her in South Carolina.

Cool, right?

As is Chloe's usual form...she knew EXACTLY what she wanted for her Birthday Dinner:

Pizza, Fruit Kabobs (made by Paul), with Orange Sherbet and Sprite to drink.

She got a matching dress for her and Lanie,

 and had a friend from church over named, Rya Cliffton.

 We had to borrow a bundt pan from someone at church so she could have her "favorite chocolate cake".

It was a fun day for everyone in the family as we got to participate in the day's events.

We love you Chloe and look forward to another joy filled, keeping us honest, on schedule, and "doing the right thing" year!!!!!

Jealous???

There is no getting around it.  You are going to be insanely jealous when you see the pictures of where we live.  After two (very long) weeks in the Navy Lodge, they moved us into temporary housing.  It is actually a tower where if we wanted we could have one just like it.   We are on the 9th (top) floor.  Someone joked that we were in the penthouse.  Let me tell you, it definitely deson't look like the penthouses you see in the movies! It is furnished with a couch, coffee table, 4 beds, and a dining table.  Of course, if we chose to live in a tower like this it would look different because our stuff would be in it and so we could decorate it, put rugs/carpeting down, etc. But we are holding our for the townhome, and should have it withing 1-3 months. But for now we are not complaining.....we are soooooo thrilled to be out of the motel!  We are also thrilled to have an oven and a full size fridge where we don't have to cook everything on the two burners we had in the lodge, and the pint size fridge that caused us to go to the store everyday to buy what we could eat that day. 

Here it is:

The view, however, is

AMAZING!

Don't drool too much over our gov't housing!

Kamakura, Japan

This past week we had an Area Orientation Brief.  The first two days were all administrative (health insurance, DOD school registration process, etc.) and the last few days were introducing us to the culture.  We took a field trip on Thursday to Kamakura.  I wish I knew where it was on the map or even how many miles away it was, but all I can tell you is it was a 20 min train ride.  Ryan tagged along with us as he was not having a good time (at all) in the daycare center where arrangements had been made for him to attend.

This is the train station.  Translation????  We don't know either!

 Thier trains here are actually decorated, and pretty.  Also the cleanest public transporation system we have ever been on.

 This was the LITTLE restauarnt we ate at .  When I say little, I mean it.  The room was about 10x12 with the teeny kitchen where three women stood and sweated, I mean cooked over three hot plates.  In fact they just close the restaurant when it is full.

 Paul was a master at his chopsticks as he ate a chicken, rice, and raw egg dish.

 These were our cute little cooks.

 Then we took a walk over to a famous shrine that was built by the the First Shogun, Yashimoto Minimoto.  First you go through the Torii Gates which is the entrance to the shrine.  It is guarded by two dogs, one with his mouth open, and the other closed.  It signifies the beginning and the end.  At the beginning of life, a babe is born crying (mouth open).  At the end, a person dies and their mouth is closed.

 Before you can enter the shrine, you must purify yourself.  You take the ladle with the right hand and fill it with water and wash the left hand, repeat for the right hand, and then cup some water in your hand and put it in your mouth, rinse and spit. 

Very Interesting!!!!

 This is Sake (Japanese Beer).  Apparently the Gods need their alcohol too.

 We saw a couple on their way to the shrine, via ricksahaw, to get married.  I must add that was 90 degrees with 90% humidity and all I could do was feel sorry for this poor girl dressed in full kimono and this hot headress.  She was glowing though!

 On the walk back we stopped for "sweet potato" ice cream.  If you had told me a month ago I would try sweet potato ice cream, I would have said no way.  But it was too hot to care, and it was DELICIOUS!!!!