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!!!!



Welcome to Japan

I have no pictures to show at this point because honestly....I have been too tired!

Thursday July 28

We arrived here on Thursday after an 8.5 hour plane flight.  The kids were awesome on the flight.  We arrived and had some issues at customs because on the airplane they told us we only had to fill out one form for the family, but that was not true......we needed to have one filled out for each person.  After we retrieved our 11 pieces of luggage we rounded a corner at the airport to see a sign with our name on it.  HM1 Salas was sent there from the hospital to pick us up.  By this point is was 8:00PM pacific time, and so they were tired and ready for bed.  We pinched, nudged, and tickled on the 2 hour ride from the Tokyo airport to keep them awake.  Once we arrived, we got checked in to the Navy Lodge, dropped our luggage off and set off to find some dinner.  By the time we finished dinner, it was almost 7:00 PM and the kids were barely awake.  We put their PJ's on them and tucked them in to bed hoping they would sleep a long time.

Friday July 29

So much for sleeping a long time, the kids got up at 4:30 am ready to go.  It was a frustrating day and we walked a TON.  We had to check in at various places, sign up for various classes, get the kids registered for their prospective day care centers (you have to know I am dry heaving about the prospect of my kids going there), and doing some grocery shopping.  By 6:00 PM I was dying of exhaustion, and couldn't wait for bed.

Saturday July 30

More sleep was great.  This time they didn't wake up until 7:00 am.  We had a chill day of playing at the park, buying new cell phones, and going bowling. 

Sunday July 31

Our reputation precedes us.  Last night about 7:30 our motel phone rang.  I answered and this is how the conversation went.

Hello!

Hi, is Sister Shupe there?

This is she.

Hi my name is Lisa Whilhelm and we heard you were here and just wanted to see if we could take you to church tomorrow.

Oh.....great.  Ummmm....how did you know we were here.

Well, one of the nurses that came from SD a few months ago said she thought you were Mormon, and then HM1 Salas who picked you up at the airport saw all your luggage AND your three kids, and said he was pretty sure you were Mormon, so I was just hoping and guessing....you are Mormon right?

LOL....sure am.

Great someone will be there to pick you up at 8:30 outside the Lodge.

So at 8:30 this morning we were picked up outside the motel and driven to the Hospital parking lot just inside the front gate of the base.  We then walked outside the base (there is apparently NO parking for our church building).  We walked for about 10 minutes and then arrived at a 10 story tall office building.  We were instructed to take our kids to level 7 for Primary opening exercises for Senoir Primary, to level 6 for Junior primary calassrooms, and then down three flights to level 3 for RS and Sunday School.  Talk about Wild!!!!!!!  I was not at all comfortable leaving my kids 3 floors up with who knows what imbetween.  But after a few deep breaths, and a silent prayer, and the realization that lots of other Moms were leaving their kids 3 stories away......I left them.

Church was great, we were invited to the Wilhelm's for dinner tonight (he is an ENT at the hospital), the Branch President and had a great time getting to know them. 

There have also been two earthquakes in the three days we have been here.  I guess we are just learning to "roll with the punches"

Tomorrow we start our Weeklong Orientation.

Hawaii * Day 7

LANAKEA BEACH

We googled where the place to see sea turtles were and this beach was the #1 spot.  We must have seen 15 different sea turtles.  It is a state law that you can not go within 6 feet of them, but honestly, it was really hard becasue they swim right up to you.  They have no fear toward humans and seem to like being stared at and amazed by.

These pictures do not do them justice......it was AMAZING!!!!

Then we went out for shaved ice. 

Yes.....Paul was able to finish his entire ice!

DELICIOUS!

It has been a fabulous vacation.  Paul told us all that when he graduated from residency he would take us all to Hawaii....and we didn't let him forget it.  Thanks Paul for taking us!!!!!

Hawaii * Day 6

PUNALU'U BEACH

This morning we just lazed around at the beach right outside our condo door.  What an amazing vacation to be able to be so close to the water.

THE POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

 We learned so much at the PCC today.

This guy showed us how to make fire, and how to split open a coconut with a rock.  He also made us laugh hysterically with his jokes.

In Samoa the kids weaved banana leaves into fish.

 Paul and the kids tried their hands at making fire as well....Paul made smoke!

 In Figi we made rhythmic music with bamboo stalks.

 We rode in canoes just as the Polynesian people did down a canal past all the villages.

It is such a beautiful place.  The flowers and landscaping are gorgous and the authenticity of the village peoples' costumes was awesome. 

At the end of it all....the kids asked for Macaroni and Cheese for dinner....it's good to see that although we are in paradise .....they still want simplicity.