Fearless

I love that Isabella is a girly, girl and a tomboy all rolled into one. This past weekend we had a wonderful time up at Okuma (a military resort on the north of the island). All the kids went jet skiing with Rob, but Issy's face is just so excited in this picture. I thought they'd be just a little bit scared, but nope. Rob was going super fast and they begged for more.

McDonalds

My kids love McDonald's over here because they have pancakes as a Happy Meal option. Recently they added sweet corn as a side too and Noah was in heaven. I usually don't get the Happy Meal for them because the toys suck, but I did this day. It was a cell phone that said "Mushi, mushi" which means hello. They got a kick out of that.

Preschool parades

April is the Month of the Military Child....betcha didn't know that (if you're not in the military). I know I didn't. The boys' preschool did a little parade around the base in honor of themselves. Parents and siblings could come too and it was pretty cute. Ben also had a hat parade earlier that week around the school. He was beaming. This preschool dictates our lives. We live on the base we live on because we can walk to school. Since I have to go there everyday it just makes sense. I do happen to love the teachers too. Isabella is SOOOOOO excited to start next year.

Girl Power

We had one last final hurrah before Rebecca left the island. What better activity to do than a night a Cocko's and dinner at the Barrel? Notice the details on our toes and the yummy giant bread dessert on the table with the gooey honey/chocolate/butter drizzle all over it. Pure delight. It's so fun to have our GNO with these ladies.

More Utah fun

Noah's favorite thing about Grandma Kiser's house is the pirate Legos. There are a million of them and he spends all day long building something.

Issy helping Grandpa plant his garden.
One more snow day. The kids helped Rob build this big snowman. I thought it was super big until I saw the one Josh and Rob built.

The monster snowman. This picture doesn't do it justice because I took it from above on the balcony, but look how much taller it is than Rob's arm. Now that's a big snowman. Oh, and can you tell we are ready, at this point, to go back to Okinawa. Rob's in a t-shirt.

Girls Trip

Few things in life are as wonderful as 3 days away from your kids with your sisters. Right after Disneyland I got to spend 3 1/2 days with the Kiser girls at a timeshare in St. George. One of the many wonderful things about marrying Rob is that I got SIX sisters and a great mother-in-law. Yeah! We had so much fun sleeping in late, watching movies, eating and more eating, playing games and just chatting. I loved it. Thanks, Rob, for taking the kiddos.

Quick stops

We had to make a couple of quick stops and would have liked to have spent more time with Kathryn and Great Grandpa Kiser. Rob stopped with the kiddos while I was on the girls trip. Love you guys!

The happiest place on earth

Yes, we really do think Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. So once we realized Vegas was only a few hours from Disneyland we HAD to go back. Our sister, Natalie, was willing to brave the car ride with the Kiser Clan and we headed out for 3 days of bliss. It was pretty fun, too....minus a few hundred meltdowns. Rob got in for FREE because he's active duty and we all got in for about $90 each for a 3 day pass. Not too shabby. Of course it was fabulous to also see Amy and Scott. We stayed at their house and got to see quiet a bit of them considering we were gone all day long. We miss you guys so much!

Here are each of the kids showing their excitement (especially Issy) in video.

Las Vegas

Next stop on our trip to the States was to Las Vegas to visit my parents. Wait a minute, you say...you aren't from Vegas. You're right. Rather than take ANOTHER plane ride, my parents came out to Vegas and met us there. My brother, Ben, is living there for the winter and it was a convenient crossroads. We had a great time relaxing in the hot tub and getting spoiled with dinner out every night.


Poor Uncle Ben getting climbed on. Before we arrived he spent quiet mornings in the jacuzzi. After we came, nothing was quiet.

Vegas had a pretty good Children's Museum so we headed there one day. Here the kids are playing dress up on a stage.

This was a tunnel that simulated a hurricane/typhoon CAT 1. It was pretty windy and Issy didn't quite know what to think of it. Speaking of typhoons, I just found out that if we get a warning for one after I'm 36 weeks along I have to camp out at the hospital, not my house.

Easter 2009

This is my Okinawa family. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We had a yummy pot luck dinner followed by an Easter egg hunt with dessert. It's so good to be "home".

Speaking of home, I said to Noah that he'd go to K and 1st grade here in Okinawa and then he'd go to 2nd grade when we go "home". He cocked his head and said, "Mom, aren't we at home?" Yes, my son, we are.

Cousins

Is anyone still following my blog, besides my parents and SIL Amy who told me to update? Here's an update. We just got back to Oki a few days ago and are adjusting nicely. We really didn't have any jet lag except that we go to bed by 9pm every night. No waking up in the night, though. Yeah! Let me start where I left off.

We traveled to Southern Utah and Nevada to visit some sisters and my parents. First stop was Kathryn's house where my kids once again fell in love with her kids. Brooklyn (10) was darling with Isabella acting as mother hen. Noah and Claire (8) always hit it off like two peas in a pod. It's always a blast to visit the Sorensen house!

Next we went to Natalie's house in St. George. I can't believe how much her kids have grown!! Jack is a full on toddler and Ella is so grown up. So cute. We met up with them later on and went to Disneyland together. More about that later.

I can't believe I spent over a month living with Jane and close to Marianne and didn't get any pics of their kids! What was I thinking? So I don't have any to show of adorable Maddie or the babies, Ethan and Christian. You guys will have to send some. I think Maddie was a little overwhelmed with my 3 monsters taking over her house, but they all had fun. It was so rewarding being around the newborns. It got me excited for my munchkin to arrive in less than 2 months! We've decided to name her Kate as it's the only name we've come up with. We wanted to name her a Japanese middle name to honor the fact she'll be born here, but we can't find one we like. Any suggestions? At any rate, we had a fabulous time with our cousins in UT.


Claire and Noah doing cartwheels before bed

Brooklyn reading to Issy before bed.

The Jensen, Sorensen and Kiser crews.

Ella and Issy share a birthday (June 1st) exactly one year apart.



Can you believe I went for Japanese THREE times while in the States? Here we are at the steak house in Cedar City. Everyone is giving us their best ninja pose.