January 1, 2010

Itoman Peaceful Illumination Festival

Happy New Year One and All!
A new year and a new beginning...and a resolution to try to update this blog on a slightly more regular basis!
(it wasn't until I really looked at this picture that I realized just how SHORT I am becoming! Matt simply towers over me these days.)

On New Year's Day we went to a Shrine then down to Itoman's Peaceful Illumination Festival. The boys were less than thrilled, but humored me with me need to "see some holiday lights" before the holidays drew to a close. Itoman is located in the South part of Okinawa, not an area we have spent much time so getting there in the dark was interesting!

Even the weather cooperated to lend the to the Holiday Spirit- it was FREEZING! (for Okinawa standards anyway!). I had on two jackets and both the boys were glad for their sweatshirts...and Matt was wishing he had heeded my suggestion to bring pants along.

The lights display was beautiful, if small by American standards. We were even treated to the rising full moon to add to the display.

Here is what the website says in regards to this festival-
"This event sends out to the world Okinawan's prayers for peace in the form of 600 thousand miniature light bulbs being lit in Itoman City, where the Battle of Okinawa saw its end. Join the prayers at the "starlight wink" every night at 8 o'clock, where all illumination is turned off once and lit back again. "
We were there when they turned off the lights- I didn't know why until reading this...we just heard lots of Japanese then the countdown. Pretty cool when they turned the lights back on.

This part of the park was the "Under the Sea" part I guess- the blue lights were the top of the water and the sharks and boats where underneath.


The vertical lights were gorgeous- like walking through a jungle of lights!


David and I had fun playing with the timed exposure. Matt just stood around freezing.


Here is David at the end of the tunnel of lights.

There was entertainment too. Fun to watch, but cold just to stand around (yes, we are pansies here in Okinawa- it was probably about 55 degrees and we were chilled to the bone!)



The green houses were open so I made the boy s go through those with me. They were good sports...maybe because it was slightly warmer then outside! The day lilies were beautiful and very fragrant.

Here are the boys with their new friend! Matt found him in the gift shop (while he was trying to stay warm) and we just couldn't resist him!

Matt smiling like the Shisa

David giving the "Shisa smile" a go.

Matt and David are in the middle of this picture- see those dark blobs? That's them. I asked them to strike a pose and this is what I got.

Here Comes 2009...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
明けましておめでとう

"Akemashite Omedeto"

Happy New Year to One and All.
2008 was an exciting and eventful year for us- and we're hoping 2009 will be just as exciting (just maybe not so chaotic!) and filled with many many new things.

A bonus of living in a foreign country is learning about their customs and culture. In Japan, New Years Day is apparently one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Here is is a clip from Wikipedia...

Hatsumōde, hatsuhinode, the "firsts" of the year

Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the "first" time something is done in the new year. Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the new year. Hatsumōde (初詣) is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1. If the weather is good, people often dress up or wear kimono. Other "firsts" that are marked as special events include shigoto-hajime (仕事始め, the first work of the new year), keiko-hajime (稽古始め, the first practice of the new year), hatsugama, the first tea ceremony of the new year, and the hatsu-uri, (the first shopping sale of the new year).

So here is to our First of this year- our first New Year in Okinawa.

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve- watched "Dan in Real Life", BBQ'ed hamburgers and snacked on shrimp cocktail. We all made it until midnight (thanks to a late coffee with plenty of caffeine for me!)and stood outside with neighbors watching the fireworks (see above) over Chatan Town and listening to all the shouts of "Happy New Year"!

"Santas" of Christmas Past....

How Time Flys By...

Every year we take pictures with Santa...our own personal Santa that is.
Mike and I found Santa our first Christmas together after we were married...which means he is now 20 years old (can that really be right? Yikes)! One look at him and we knew we had to get him. Even then we shopped at Costco (although it was Price Club back then) and this is were we found him- the flagship store in San Diego.
We have taken pictures of Santa with the boys every year... all the way back to when Matt was just 4 months old and about the same size as Santa. Since all of those print photos are in storage back in the states, I can't share them with you. I do, however, have some more recent photos...some with Santa, and some not, but all a trip back through time.
Check them out....

Here is last year, 2007. Boys don't look too different other than Matt's braces.







Back to 2006....a definite difference here.
All the way back to 2005....Was this only three short years ago? My sweet adorable elves.And back still further to 2004- only four years ago and they look like such babies!
Time surely does fly by, even when we think we're looking, it just passes us by in the blink of an eye. I know the boys cringe when I pull out the camera (and they're begging me to pull these photos off here!), but I wouldn't give up a single photo of my little angels for anything! So grab your cameras and snap away- you'll be glad you did! :)

December 25, 2008

Our First Christmas in Okinawa

Mike worked Christmas day, so we had our Christmas at night, It was pure torture for the boys to look at all the presents and stuffed stockings all day, and not be able to touch!
I did let Matt and David each open one- but in some ways I think that made it even worse. Ty enjoyed opening one of his presents (a new bandanna)...and he was ready to keep going too!

The boys and I had a leisurely morning- just relaxing and kicking back for the most part. Matt went to the gym and I took Ty for a nice long run and got back just before it started to rain. It was in the 60's today, but at least the rain and clouds made it seem more like Winter and Christmas. We had a late lunch and after I did all the prep for our Christmas dinner we headed out to Jusco and the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" at 4:00 pm. Not too bad of a movie- not exactly a holiday movie, but there weren't exactly a lot of choices.

Mike was home by 6:30PM and the boys were able to go through their stockings. "Santa" had put in all kinds of cool things...like this Jolt gum (looks like Matt already had a piece) and Garden Lemon Tea...our favorite drink here in Okinawa.






Ahhhh...technology invades. Quit texting your friends, Matt, and open your gifts!

David was thrilled with his Tech Decks (finger skate boards). He received a bunch of decks, parts and ramps. We also got him a Razor Scooter- David is excited to give it a try while doing the paper route.



Matt and David opening present from Santa...a very cool remote control car!

Matt's big gifts were shoes (but of course!)- Wrestling shoes and Air Force One's.



Mike reacts to his new T-shirt.


You're in Steeler Country now, Folks!! The guys are dressed and ready for the Superbowl...











LeAnn sent Matt a bear- complete with an Anacortes Letterman's jacket.
David played photographer and took a few pictures of Mike and I- thanks Dave!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all our Family and Friends.

May today be filled with many blessings for each and every one of you.

Ty is getting an early start on opening presents... the rest of us are all waiting until Mike gets off work after 6:00Pm on Christmas night.

Sunday, November 30

Our Second Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated a family Thanksgiving...and cooked our huge 26+ pound bird! The Turkey was excellent- even if it did take 6 hours to cook. It was a real workout pulling the turkey in and out of the oven- I recruited Mike's help when I flipped it over after the first hour.

The skin looks burnt, but it is just where the sugar in the sugar, mustard & bourbon marinade caramelized. We had all our favorites- mashed potatoes, rolls, peas and pearl onions in white sauce (my favorite!), cranberry sauce (which Matt grudgingly shared with the rest of us), and, of course, gravy and stuffing (Mike's only required dish). I did forget to cook the butternut squash- but we can cook that tomorrow and have with the leftovers. (At least I didn't forget it in the microwave or oven- I completely forgot to even start it!) Oh well, what's Thanksgiving without forgetting a dish??

Here Mike once again practices his carving skills...with an eager David awaiting the first taste of the turkey.

I did realize there were are lot of things I wish I would have brought with me...and a few things I thought I had but didn't. My turkey platter, my turkey cooking rack, more serving bowls...Cooking stuff is not easy to find here. Angie has promised to show me a local cooking store so I am looking forward to that! I had to borrow her springform pan for the pumpkin Cheesecake I made for Thursday's get together.

Today was and early day for the boy and I. We got up before 5 am to go down to the Exchange on Camp Foster. All weekend they were giving out $20 gift cards to the first 100 people in line. We went down on Black Friday- but at 4:30 am we were about 200th in line. We ended up staying even though we knew we wouldn't get any gift cards- they were having other give-a-ways too. We FROZE in line though! Felt like we were back in Anacortes! Very glad we had thought to take down a blanket- David and I huddled in that (Matt just went back to the van to warm up). Someone said it had dropped to 54 degrees- and there was a stiff wind blowing to cool it down even more. I know, 54 degrees does not sound cold- but for here it is freezing!

This morning was much better- it was much warmer and we were about 40th in line so all three of us received the $20 gift card when they opened at 8am. They were also giving out Scratcher Cards and Matt won a $25 gift card! He was very excited- David less so... David really couldn't complain though...he won 2 $5 gift cards on Friday. I just won a free haircut (about $7) and free french fries. Didn't do any shopping this morning- just went for the special give-aways. Friday morning we did finds some good deals...including a serving platter I could use for my Turkey. The big demand items were the 1 Terabyte external hard drive for $129 and the notebook computer for $349 (that was tempting even though we didn't need one!). Matt, of course, shopped for clothes...the Nike apparel was 40% off and he was looking for sweats (it is cool enough now we are all digging out our fleece and looking for warm stuff to wear).

One thing we all agreed on regarding Thanksgiving...it is all about the left overs!
Yummm! (and no cooking for several days- yea!!)