Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!



You may have noticed that you haven't received a Christmas card/message from us in the snail mail. I've been so busy (as I'm sure you all have) and it just hasn't been a priority. I'm thinking you may receive a Valentines message from us. In the meantime, I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

My week off in the States

We have had NO ONE from the States come and visit us while we've been in Japan. I even had a baby to get people to visit and still no one has come. Well, I couldn't help flying back to the States to show off this little darling to my family. My dad made it happen with his financial contribution (Thanks Dad!!!!) and we were off. I got 8 days without anyone whining at me. Kate is BY FAR my easiest child right now and I really felt like I was off duty. Here are the highlights:
I discovered this neat little bassinet that attaches to the seat in front of you (if you're in a bulkhead seat). It was a welcome relief since Kate was a lapchild.

For my long flight from Tokyo to DC, I sat in between these two Chinese grandmothers that were with a big group. They kept wanting to hold her and when they did all the other people in the group would swarm. They didn't speak a lick of English and I know very, very little Chinese so it was interesting. Everytime I'd go to nurse they spread my nursing cover over my shoulders from each direction assuring extreme modesty. It was pretty funny. If Kate had so much as a toe exposed, they would quickly cover it up. She got quite a bit of attention between the three of us.

Two days before I was supposed to fly out we discovered that Rob's parents would be in DC for a conference. My layover was through DC for 3.5 hours. Yeah! They took the afternoon off to meet up with me. I wasn't planning a trip out to Utah while in the States due to my short stay and lack of funds, but what a treat to meet up with them and introduce them to Kate. We had a nice lunch and it was so nice to see them and show off Kate.


One of the main reasons I wanted to head back was to get pictures of Kate with my parents and Grandma Ruthie. Grandma Ruthie has recently been sick so it was nice to see her now that she's a bit better. Kate loved her!

Four generation of girls.

My parents have two pugs and Kate had fun mauling them. They liked licking her too.

My big brother Scott and Kate.

Mom and Kate.

Grandma and Grandpa Catlin with Kate. Here we are at one of the many restaurants (Pancake House) that we frequented while in NY. They spoil me so much! I think the thing I got here was an apple Dutch baby.....pure heaven.

Here Kate is playing with the dogs, Lotus and Lexi. They loved checking her out as much as she enjoyed figuring them out. My parents are in the middle of adding 1000 sq. feet to their house and it was nearly finished while I was there. They are in the new master bedroom closet in this picture. A new master bedroom, master bath, dining room and kitchen were added to the house as well as hardwood floors, painted walls and carpeting throughout. A MAJOR remodel. So nice. I'll have to make another trip out when it is all finished.


My Grandma Ruthie always gives the kids a stuffed animal to sleep with and they each cherish it. Here Kate is getting a puppy to add to her siblings bear, monkey and kitty. She loves it and already has a fond attachment to it. Also the sweater she is wearing was made by my cousin Amy. We did meet up with my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins while in town. They all showered my kids with gifts that are homemade and gorgeous. We always love the sweaters they knit (super DUPER talented). Pictures will follow.




This is my little brother Ben with Kate. Go ahead and use it for your Facebook picture.

We had an interesting trip home which included having a mechanical delay before we even left Buffalo which resulted in missing my flight to Tokyo. I spent the night at a hotel in San Fran after traveling through Chicago and the airline loosing my luggage. When we got to Osaka, Kate started thowing up and was soooo tired. The one ray of shining wonderfulness through it all was a gate agent that took pity on me. He bumped me up to business class for my long flight from San Fran to Osaka. Both Kate and I had a wonderful giant seat with a purser to cater to our every whim. We had real silverware which was cold when eating a salad and warm when eating our steak. We had warmed nuts. I don't even like nuts, but I ate them because everything is better in a higher class. My seat laid out flat and I couldn't even touch the seat in front of me without some serious reaching. I'm not quite sure how I'll ever take another coach flight again. Good thing I'm married to a dentist because we're rolling in dough (sense the HUGE layer of sarcasm there). All in all we had a wonderful trip home and I'm so glad my family were able to meet Kate. See you in 1.5 years when we leave this duty station!

Family Pics 2009

My darling friend Genevieve took these pics of us at a Japanese park. Her sweet husband David stood behind her getting all of us to smile while generally acting goofy so all the kids would be looking and laughing at the camera. They were wonderful. Thank you so much for taking some wonderful pictures. We had so much fun! (click on any picture to enlarge)

Kid sayings

Mom: I got my toes painted at Cocko's today. They had Christmas stuff and I got snowflakes.
Noah: Did they have Christmas trees?
Mom: Yes
Noah: Did they have Santas, reindeer and candy canes?
Mom: Yes
Noah: Did they have Jesus?
Mom: No, but I'm not sure if I'd want Jesus on my toes.
Noah: I would because then I could walk on water


Holding up my fluffy winter coat for my trip to Buffalo:
Ben: Where did we get this new blanket?

After getting some homemade baked goods for a friends birthday at preschool:
Isabella: I'm going to save these for Kate for when she gets old enough to eat them

Thanksgiving 2009

We had an amazing Okinawan Thanksgiving. A group of 7 families rented beach houses at Ourawan on Camp Schwab for 3 nights. My kitchen/porch overlooked the ocean while a playground sat right next door to entertain the kidlings. We even brought bikes and the kids could ride to their hearts content. No one drove down the little cul-de-sac we stayed in so it was super safe. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather--mid 70's with a nice breeze. On Thanksgiving day itself, we played football while the kids flew kites. Then it was back to the houses to prep food. While the food was cooking we actually went swimming in the ocean. The waves were perfect for the kids to attack...not too big. We don't usually have waves at all on the beaches here so it was a fun surprise. We pigged out and couldn't even think about dessert until the kids were asleep. Another highlight was iChating with our good friends the Peterson's who moved to Spain 6 months ago. We had Thanksgiving at their house last year and we were all able to say hi via computer. Every night we stayed up chatting or playing games until late. Being away from family sure is easy when you've got such wonderfully awesome friends like we have. We feel very blessed to have such a strong network of friends.

My Girls

I bought these cute little bandana dresses/shirts for the girls from a stay-at-home mom who was selling them at a bazaar last month. I actually don't LOVE them on (no shape to them), but they are a cute idea and I like the colors. I had a little photo session. I can't really take a picture, but it's fun to get them on film anyway.