Typhoon Sinloku

I guess you had to be here to feel/see/hear the rain, thunder etc.....This typhoon was definitely no Man-Yi (July 07),but was enough reason to tie and weight everything down so things didn't disappear. It was supposed to hit us directly, but ended up moving west. This is a short video taken from our back porch.

Gracie turns 9

What a gala we had.....Grace has been planning, talking about, rehashing and strategizing about her party for months. With all the pressure I was worried that I would flop as her assistant party planner, however, I am happy to say that we had a grand time. To start 4 little girls, Heath and I went to Burger King drive thru to get lunch. Lunch in hand we progressed to our favorite roller slide park. For those not living in Japan these parks are fantastic. The entire slide is made of rollers and the kids (some adults) travel down the slide on their backsides, feet and various other body parts. The major complaint (if not traveling on cardboard) by the end of the slide is, "My butt is itching and/or vibrating....". Well.....with cardboard in hand we hit the slide. The girls were up and down (in very humid weather) too many times to count. I am happy to say that by the end of my maiden slide yours truly was able to stick a catapult induced landing and earn a very respectable score per our 4 girl judging panel. I am also very proud to say that Heath's slide was not nearly as fast or graceful as mine. After the park we headed home for more festivities. Grace made out like a bandit in the gift department and the kids enjoyed a Lego cake (I am going into the cake making business) and a pinata. Grace is already talking about her 10Th birthday party.....

NOSCO Luncheon

You might ask....What is NOSCO? NOSCO stands for Naval Officer Spouses Club of Okinawa. NOSCO runs the gift shop that I volunteer at and is one of the organizations that raises money to be donated to local American and Japanese charities. Last year a total of 250,000 dollars was donated. Anyway......who would of thought that I would meet such cool women through this organization. Let me introduce you to Kim, Lea Ann, Rachel, Britt (front row L-R) and Kelly, Rebecca and Amy. We were at the Welcome Aboard Luncheon for the new people on island. It was a nice time and we had the most festive table. They gave away great prizes of which we won NONE while some people won 2-3 times.... We decided the raffle was rigged. All in all a very nice time and probably one of 2-3 times a year where dressier clothes are in order.

Heath Did Good

Heath was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his time in Kuwait. Go Navy.......

My New Friend

After living on Okinawa for almost 2 years I have finally discovered a better way to
buy fresh vegetables and fruit at a much better value. As most Americans do when stationed overseas we have shopped at the local commissaries. As the food prices have gone up (IE. limes- 5.00/lb, lettuce- 4.75/lb and garlic- 17.00/lb) we have started shopping elsewhere. We have found a few fantastic markets that are so reasonably priced it is unbelievable. And now for the greatest thing.......at my favorite market they have a mascot. His name is Sito (unsure of spelling and because I am not fluent in Japanese I am most likely spelling his name wrong) and he is a Lemur. I visit with him each time I go. He holds my finger and swings around his cage. I do feel a little bad that he is not swinging around in trees, however, I look forward to our weekly visits.

Heath and Salley's Adult Adventure

Not that we don't love our kids, however, sometimes you need adult time. We had our friends Amy and Rob watch Garth and Grace and off we went. We headed north towards Nago and were able to enjoy a fantastic lunch at the FUU Cafe (don't know what fuu stands for). We happened upon this little gem which is tucked away on a small island off the west coast of Nago. It is a definite place to take visitors. After lunch we went to the Marriott. Because Heath's mom practically lives at Marriott's for her job she was able to hook us up. We were on the top floor (15Th) with a view of the East China Sea. It just so happens that we had the executive floor benefits and got to imbibe for free. We swam in the pool, hung out in the sauna and read out by the pool. I am fairly sure we were the only Americans there. We went for a long road bike the following morning and then headed home. Okinawa is beautiful and the short drive from Chatan to Nago finds one in an entirely different setting. Enjoy the photos.