Easter in Okinawa

This is not even half of the eggs that were hidden!

Easter came and went without too much excitement. It rained the entire day, sometimes hard, but we still celebrated. We went to 8am mass then it was off to the Bourquins for an Easter celebration. There were 8 families there and a lot of eggs to find. Our neighbor, Chris goes and puts all the eggs on the hill behind Trina's house while we are at church, so when we all get home, the egg hunt can start. Since it was raining, we decided to eat first and then do the egg hunt.
All the kids before the hunt began.

Everyone brought a dish to pass so there was plenty of food. Trina made Me-A-Mosas, to everyone one who doesn't speak southern, it is a mimosa! Everyone was having a great time. We actually forgot about the eggs, so when we finally did do them, the candy was a little wet. We finished off the evening with a little Wii Rock Band.


This same group will gather in two weeks for another party as Hunter and Catherine (Trina's daughter) make there first communion. Really, it is just another reason to get together and eat and drink.

Soccer is still going and spring break will be starting on the 12th. More from us later.

Same thing, different day

It is Saturday again, so that means soccer! I would like to be able to tell you about a new adventure in Okinawa but it was a Soccer Saturday. The boys played at different times so I was able to see all of the games without having to leave. Brody was up first and I think they won, 2-1. They don't keep score but the kids do and I think that is what Brody said. He did not score a goal, he had an assist. But if you were to ask Brody, he would tell you this, "I kicked the ball and it went off William's leg so I really scored the goal, he just helped me." That was an exact quote that he gave me after the game. Why rain on his parade? I let him think that he scored!




Hunter's team lost 3-2 but don't tell Hunter. He thought they tied and it is better for everyone to believe that. He wanted to play so bad that he volunteered for goalie. He kicked the ball out on a goal kick and wasn't getting back to the goal fast enough and the other team kicked it in. He did make a nice save on the shot but fell back into the goal with the ball in his hands. He crossed the goal line, so it was a goal for the other team. I was on the side lines wishing for the quarter to end so he could get out of goal. It is not that I don't have the confidence in my son to play the position, it is just that he puts so much pressure on himself that when something goes wrong, he can't forget it and move on, he lingers in what went wrong. The quarter ended and he went back to the field. He was able to score a goal in this game.





We do have games next week but he also have the annual Kishaba Easter Egg Hunt. It is 4 families that get together and celebrate Easter with an egg hunt in the neighborhood. This is the only time my kids like getting up early for church. The fastest we get church done, the faster we can get to the Bourquins house for the party! More on that next week.

Joe is doing fine. We talk about 2x/week. I don't really know what he is doing there, we really don't talk about it- too many things going on back on the home front to take care of!

Soccer Season Has Started!!

The season officially began on Saturday with the boys playing on 2 different bases and one mother trying to get to both. We started at Hunters game. He was playing forward and able to score a goal right away. That boy doesn't show much emotion when he scores. You would have thought the kid next to him scored with all the jumping up and down he was doing. Hunter just turned and ran back to mid field. I guess that is good, I don't want to have that kid that shows off. I was only able to stay until half time (Hunter sat out the 2nd quarter) because I had a 40 minute drvie to the next base for Brody's game. Hunter did score again in the 2nd half and his team ended up winning 3-2 (not that we keep score)



Brody's game was next and it is always very interesting to watch this age group. Where ever the ball was, there was a herd of kids around the ball. Brody has gotten a little more aggressive this year and was discretly throwing an elbow or two to get to the ball. He was hustling all over the field. He was like an energizer bunny. He did have a shot on the goal but the goalie stopped it. He keeps telling me that it went in but I never saw it. So in his mind, he scored a goal and I am not going to argue with him.


We sold our CA home. The owners will rent from us until we get accepted into the HAP program (helps Military sell their house) and then they will officially buy from us. I will be very glad to have that house gone. Joe calls about every other day and the boys get to talk with him. He was able to get a hold of us right after Brody's game. Brody was more interested in getting the after game snack so he didn't have much to say to dad.


No whale watching this weekend. We have a really heavy haze that hasn't burned off so they cancelled the tour. The boys really didn't want to go anyway. We went bowling instead.

Tokyo Swim Meet

Okinawa Dolphin Swim Team (ODST) 4th place overall
Backstroke

Breaststroke

The boys relaxing at the hotel before the big day


Well, it was a long weekend but Hunter's hard work has paid off. The days were long- 5am wake up, hour and a half bus ride, in the pool by 7 for warm ups, finally leaving the pool at 6pm- both Saturday and Sunday. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting but the boys were able to entertain themselves by playing with the other kids. Brody was ready to go home around 9am but he had to stay the entire time.

The team placed 4th out of 16 teams and the boys team was also able to place 4th in the boys division. I don't know much about swimming and the points you earn for the team but Hunter was able to collect about 35 points for the team. Here are his results:
25m Free- 5th overall - 18.27
50 Free- 9th overall - 40.12
25 Back- 8th overall - 23.03
50 Back- 56.00
25 Breast- 14th place - 28.33
50 Breast- 16th overall - 1:00.89

There were 35 kids in his age group so we are very proud of his accomplishments. He was able to earn 2 ribbons for his efforts.

Boys 8 & U freestyle relay team: Ira, Hunter, Nick (Michael not in the picture). They set a team record in this event.
Michelle (Ira's mom) and I after 2 long days. The picture was taken by Hunter so it is a little fuzzy.

Hunter showing his ribbons- yes, he really was happy just very tired.
Brody trying on Hunter's new silicone swim cap.

We will take a break from swimming for awhile, soccer season has started. His next big meet will be in November and we will be going to Taiwan!! Hopefully Brody will be joining big brother in the pool.

On a side note- Joe is there and working hard. He is 4 1/2 hours behind Japan time (which is 14 ahead of MI time) He has called once and emails daily.

Parents visit

Brody, Hunter,Jordan, and Katherine at the Bull Fight. For those of you who know how close Hunter is to Evan S. (CA neighbor), he has found his "Evan" in Okinawa. They are together all the time, playing baseball, basketball, climbing trees or riding bikes. I thought he would never find someone like Evan but I am happy to report that we have a little piece of Evan here.

It has been awhile since my last post but we have had company. My parents came in for 2 weeks. The timing was perfect because they got to see Joe before he left. They were able to see the boys play their last games of football and got to see the new soccer season start. We climb some ruins and visited a castle and also had a 7.0 earthquake and a tsunami warning. What a great visit to Okinawa!!
This guy wore that hat the entire bull fight.

Yes, we had an earthquake! Saturday morning we were all awaken at 5:30am to the house shaking and the sound of a freight train coming through the house. It seemed like it lasted forever!! Needless to say no one went back to bed. Nothing fell off the walls (no one messes with my concrete bunker) but the lights were swinging. Then on Sunday, they (Base) issued a tsunami warning, expected to hit at 3:10 pm. We grabbed our drinks and headed outside to experience this. The loud speakers started announcing that places below a certain height were to evacuate to higher ground. Since we live on a hill, we didn't have to go anywhere. So we waited and waited....nothing. So the warning came and went without any action.
Hunter wanted nothing to do with the bull, Brody didn't really care.

We also went and saw the 8th & I Silent Drill Team and the Drum and Bugle Corps. No, this is not an every year occurrence, the big wig of the Marine Corps was here so base pulled out all the stops. Everyone enjoyed the evening and that might have been the highlight of the visit. We went to a bull fight. As my mom said "It was okay, I would have liked to have seen more blood". It was interesting but we only saw 3 fights and the bulls were on a leash.




Joe has left for his year tour. I have his address for those who would like to send him mail. Just let me know. The boys and I are settling back into our routine. This weekend we are going to Tokyo for Hunter's swim meet. I will let everyone know how it goes.

I got Tagged!!

I got this "tag" from my friend Sandy (Eli's mom) in CA. I thought I would fill it out since I normally don't when I get these in my email account. On a side note, for those of you who know what I am talking about.... 18 days to go.


4 shows I like to watch:
1. The Office
2. Survivor
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. How I Met Your Mother

4 things I am passionate about
1. I don't really think I am passionate about one thing. I'm sure my family could tell you other wise but I can't really think of anything.
2. I thought of one...for the next 2 weeks, I am very passionate about finishing the yearbook.


4 phrases I say a lot:
1. "Did you flush the toilet?"
2. "Wash your hands"
3. "Did you put on clean underwear?"
4. "Why are these clothes on the floor?"

4 things I have learned, or am learning:
1. To be more patient with the boys
2. Swimming masters can be fun
3. To say no to people
4. The military isn't that bad (I still don't like moving but I like the job security)

4 places I would like to go:
1. Michigan to see family
2. California to see friends
3. Disney World with the boys
4. Ireland

4 things I did yesterday:
1. Volunteered in Brody's class
2. Worked on the Zukeran Elementary yearbook
3. Went to football practice
4. Went to a soccer meeting

4 things I am looking forward to:
1. Time spent with Joe before he leaves
2. Seeing my parents in 2 weeks
3. Tokyo swim meet with the boys (Hunter is swimming)
4. Joe's safe return from far away

4 things on my wish list:
1. The CA housing market to improve so we can sell our house (Sorry Evan!)
2. To get into Nursing school (yes, I am still trying)
3. Health and happiness for my family
4. For the military to actually put families first! (This is a wish list remember!)

4 people I tag:
1. I tagged no one. Not because I don't think any one would respond, I know you all are busy and probably get these "tag" letters in your emails. So this was posted for your enjoyment!!

Football Break

No football this weekend!! It has been cold and rainy all week and the fields are all beat up. So I thought I would show you pictures from the Galvin Triathlon that was run last weekend. All the boys placed first in their age groups but no prizes were given out.


It was Brody's idea for Joe and him to run a triathlon. Hunter joined in the fun and I grabbed my camera. First, we had to make sure everyone was dressed the proper way. Brody had a biking shirt, given to him by a cousin, and Hunter wore one of Joe's smaller biking shirts so he could have one too. They ran a reverse tri- run, bike, swim. Of course, on the first lap of running, Hunter fell and scraped his knee. You can't tell in the pictures but he was walking when Joe went back to get him. Brody came running up the street, wiping sweat away and concentrating on breathing in the nose and out the mouth. Hunter was able to catch up with Brody on the bike so he was happy that he wasn't last. We got into the car and went to the pool where each boy had to swim 100M. After the swim portion, we just played in the water!



Brody went to a birthday party and they had a face painter. He wanted to be Darth Mull from Star Wars!! We had to go to church an hour after the party was done. Joe was the lector, which means we sit in the front row. I couldn't let Brody go to church like that so I washed it off. He had a pink glow to him for a couple of days.