Happy New Year

Another year down and the start of new one! This year is going to be bitter sweet for us as we will be leaving Okinawa after having been here 3 years. This has become our home away from home. We are anxious because we have no idea where we are going. We have been told we will know something by the end of this month but it is still hard not having somewhat of an idea. There is a bit of excitement as Maggie heads out on a new adventure to the United States. She was born and raised in Okinawa so it will be fun to introduce her to our house in Arizona as well as all of our family. I know McKenzie will be thrilled to show her the ropes of our house. We are going to try and get as much in locally as possible in the next several months. We will keep everyone posted when we find out where we are going.

Happy Birthday Maggie Mae

Happy 14th Birthday to Maggie Mae!! We have been extremely fortunate to have adopted Maggie Mae. We have had here for a little over 2 years and she has been a fabulous addition to our family. We love you Mag Pie!

New Years Eve

We spent our New Years Eve at the Kadena Officer's Club. We have done this for the last several years and always have a great time!! We went with a whole new crowd as people were either stateside or had PCSd. It was fun hanging out with Carolina, Scot, Sharmane, Stephen, Liz and Ginger. It was our last New Years Eve in Okinawa and we will definitely remember being with great friends. Have a happy and prosperous New Year!

The End of 2010

I can't believe how quickly this year went by. So much has happened over the last year and what is even crazier is we leave Okinawa in about 4-5 months. My friend Liz William's had a great idea and I am going to borrow it to recap 2010.

Cesario started out the year with a 3 week TDY to Thailand. The great part was he had our friends Erin and Brad to hang out with. I celebrated my 41st birthday without Cesario but had fantastic friends who allowed me to celebrate all month long. I started a new job as the sexual assault response coordinator/victim advocate at the end of January. After Cesario returned we went home to Tucson, Arizona for 2 weeks. This was a bit difficult as we had never left our girls for more than a few days. We were both ready to come back several days after we got there but ended up enjoying our time home with family and friends. We celebrated our 7th year anniversary in May. We were very lucky in June. Our niece Tyler and her boyfriend Adrian came to visit for 10 days. They even got to go to the Army Birthday Ball with us. We felt extremley fortunate to have family come visit. Aside from my sister coming for the second time last year, no other family has to visit.Cesario had a medical scare so they sent us to Tripler in Hawaii. He was cleared of all medical issues but we it was a nice to get away even if it was for that reason. We volunteered over the summer pouring beer at numerous Army events as well as at Rocktoberfest. Cesario celebrated his 42nd birthday in November. We had a party at the house with all our friends. We spent Thanksgiving in Vietnam and Cambodia which was absolutely fantastic. We traveled with our friends Stephen and Liz. We wrapped up our tour in Cambodia with our friends Zack. We spent Christmas Eve with the Lee's and the Boucher clan. Cesario and I hosted Christmas day.

Our girls have been fantastic!! We were fortunate in the sense that we have our friends the Odette's that take great care of our girls when we are gone. Maggie Mae is showing her age a bit. She developed a cough in late August and we found a small mammary tumor which turned out to be benign. Her cough stems from a slight heart murmur she has. Just recently the vet told us her knees on her back legs are bad. She has what is called patellar luxation (this means her knee caps move around). I admire Maggie for her will and determination. She has not let her ailments bring her down. Granted, she has good and bad days but overall seems to be coping well. Maggie Mae will celebrated her 14th birthday on January 1. McKenzie has not slowed down. She is still feisty as ever. She turned 10 in September. She did great this year as she didn't beat up on Maggie once. Her health has been great and she is so patient with her aging sister.

We wish you all a Happy New Year!!!!

Bōnenkai

I found out from my boss, Rich, that a group of people from work were going to celebrate Bōnenkai. We could not be left out so Sharmane, Cesario and I decided to join in the fun. But first we had to find out what the heck Bōnenkai was. I decided to look it up on google as I do everything else. Here is what I found on Wikipedia.



A bōnenkai (忘年会, literally "forget the year gathering"?) is a Japanese drinking party that takes place at the end of the year, and is generally held among groups of co-workers or friends. The purpose of the party, as its name implies, is to forget the woes and troubles of the past year, usually by consumption of large amounts of alcohol.



After the year we have had and all the hard work we put into accreditation in September we definitely needed a night like this. We had such a great time as we were people we typically don't hang out with and it was a good chance to hang out with our local national co-workers.



We went to a place called Poco a Poco. For 3,500 yen we got to drink and eat everything off a menu we were given for 3 hours. We have been to a place similar to this with the only difference being there is no time limit and you get up and serve yourself. The atmosphere was fantastic and the company was that much better.

So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu

We can remember the first time we met the Cisneros', it was at Oktoberfest 2008. We met them through our friends the Williams. They were both quiet and we thought they were ready to PCS. Apparently they weren't! They are from Arizona and I think that is one of the many reasons we took such a liking to them. In no time we had made ourselves their only son, Emilio's, Godparents. The funny thing is everyone played along and to this day we are still Emilio's Godparents and the Cisneros' compadres. We feel fortunate to have met them and are sad to see our family leave. I think what is worse is that they are leaving right before holidays. Granted it is great for them as they will be with family and Emilio in Phoenix. Safe travels to our wonderful friends. This is not goodbye but see you again soon!

Vietnam & Cambodia

Several months ago Stephen, Liz, Cesario and I had talked about a trip together to Vietnam and Cambodia. Luckily Val had left me the card for the travel agent they used in Vietnam. I emailed him and put our trip together. We utilized cheapoair for our flights and our trip was planned. We went for 10 days and 9 nights and I will have to say it was an experience of a lifetime.

Our tour began in Saigon. We did several days there and experienced the cuchi tunnels, Mekong Delta and several other places.



After several days we flew to Hanoi. It was a little nicer in this area. We went to the Hanoi Hilton and got to do an overnight on a junk boat in Halong Bay. The junk boat trip was so peaceful and much needed.

Our tour ended in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We met up with an good friend and spent the last several days there as well as celebrating Thanksgiving. The highlight here was our friend and touring Angkor Wat.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. The Lee's were super fun to travel with. Hopefully this is one of many trips we will go on with them.

RIP Target

Florence, Arizona - Her name was Target and she was a hero. The dog, featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", was hailed a hero after saving her owner and other soldiers from a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Today, she was accidentally killed by a staff member at the Pinal County Animal Care and Control in Arizona. Target had gone missing from her owner, Sgt. Terry Young's, yard on Thursday.

Target was picked up by an animal control officer on Friday. Young located his missing dog on the shelter's website Friday night. Tragically, he assumed that the shelter was closed through the weekend - he didn't realize that the shelter operated on limited hours on Saturday.

Young went to the shelter to pick up his dog on Monday. The staff brought out a dog, but it was not his dog - it was not Target. After an hour of waiting, a tearful shelter staff member delivered the heart-breaking news. The wrong dog had been killed - a horrible mistake had been made.

A dog that had survived the war-torn streets of Afghanistan - a dog that had survived a suicide bomber and saved soldiers from certain death - has died. An innocent victim of a horrible, tragic mistake. Currently, the responsible employee is on paid administrative leave.

According to the shelter, changes are going to be made to ensure that this type of fatal error is not made again.

This entire story is tragic and heart-breaking. Sadly, Target should have never died, but some dog - rather a stray or surrendered, was slated to die today at this shelter. A dog was spared when Target's life was taken.

In a strange and ironic way, Target is once again a hero-her life taken in error, while another dog was mistakenly spared. One can only pray that the dog that was spared finds his or her way to a home so that the fatal error - the taking of Target's life - was not in vain.

Maggie Mae

After numerous trips to the vet since September 7, Maggie finally got a diagnosis. We had been taking Maggie to Noah Animal Hospital but we felt information was getting lost in translation. Dr. Jahana would prescribe medication but could never explain why. We decided it was time to make an appointment on base. We saw Dr. Ono a few weeks ago and she scheduled a follow up for yesterday. She wanted to observe Maggie's heart. Dr. Ono gave Maggie a mild sedative and performed an ultra sound on her heart. Maggie was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation.

Mitral valve regurgitation is a form of heart disease. When the valve between the two left chambers of the heart (the “mitral” valve, between the left atrium and left ventricle) fails to form a tight seal, the blood pumped from the atrium into the ventricle tends to be “regurgitated” back into the atrium.

The heart muscle is a pump that moves blood through the four chambers with involuntary contractions that promote the one-directional flow of the blood. The valves between the chambers prevent the back flow of blood into the preceding chamber, thus keeping the blood flowing in the direction it should.

When the valves degenerate over time they become thickened and deformed, thereby losing the tight seal and causing some blood to move backwards in the heart. This means the heart has to work harder to pump the volume of blood the body needs for normal functions.

Maggie is currently on two medications to to help her with blood flow and they seem to be helping as her cough has subsided. We will continue to monitor her and hope for the best!

Typhoon Chaba

It looks like we have a typhoon headed towards us later this week. We have spent nearly 6 years in Okinawa over 2 assignments. Never have we had a typhoon this late in the season. I have 2 different pictures. The top one is from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and the one below is from the Japan Meteorological Center. Stay tuned for updates!

My Car

A few weeks ago I had come home a little early from work because I had a horrible cough and knew I need to get some meds and rest. Cesario had told me that if I waited about half hour he could come home and go with me. We went to the BX and commissary and headed home. I had parked my car in Cesario's spot so he had to park in mine. When I got off the car to head into the house I noticed the bumper above the passenger side tire had been hit. I was so upset!! I believe I got hit at work. I take such good care of my Terrano and this was going to reduce the selling price next year, ugh! I had talked to a friend of ours, George Lee, who is brilliant when it comes to working on cars. I had told him what happened and he said he would take a look at it. So happens I ran into him the following day and because the piece was fiberglass there was not much we could do except replace it.


On Friday morning I am hanging out talking to my mom when I see George pull up. Cesario goes out and talks to him and then I see him leave. Apparently, George found my car at a junk yard and talked the guy into selling us the one piece for 2,000 yen. We made an appointment for Friday and they will put on the new piece and my car will be back to normal!!! The funniest part was locating the junk yard. I knew no one would believe me if I told him but this was the office at the junk yard. Cesario actually went in and said there was a couch, sink and other random thins in the office.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As most people know when we do something in our household it typically involves everyone in our house to include our girls. We had all intentions to take the girls with us on our awareness walk last weekend but unfortunately no pets were allowed. This was okay considering Maggie was still sick and it was SUPER hot and humid day. However, I had already purchased some pretty cool bandanas for them thinking they were going to walk. They are now able to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Breast Cancer/Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Torii Station hosted an awareness walk. It was actually advertised way in advance and we had a fabulous turn out. There a little more than 300 participants. I currently work as a advocate for domestic abuse so it is something that is important to me. However, Breast Cancer Awareness is near and dear to my heart as we have a family member, Ana Mae Arevalo, who has battle this disease for a little over 8 years. Ana had gone into remission and had done great up until 2008. Unfortunately, she is not doing well and is just living day to day. We have done the Susan G. Komen walk for many years and since we had not been able to participate since we left Arizona this was the next best way to show our support. Ana is a wonderful person and I have never watched anyone fight like she has. She is definitely someone to admire.

What a Roller Coaster!!!!

Where to begin....It all started on September 7, 2010 when I finally made an appointment for Maggie after she'd been cough for several days. I was lucky enough to get into Noah Animal Hospital the same afternoon that I called. The doctor did some blood work and prescribed some antibiotics and cortisone pills for the cough. In that same visit her blood work came back with high ALT levels. ALT is short for alanine transferase. This is an enzyme that is present in the cells in the liver. In order for it to be found in elevated quantities in the blood stream, liver cells have to be leaking the enzyme. So rises in this enzyme indicate damage to liver cells sufficient to cause them to leak the enzyme. He gave her some pills to stabilize that as well. We made a second trip on September 15, 2010 as he wanted to run her blood work again to see if the medication had worked. It did help but it also showed that her kidney and creatin levels had increased this time. While waiting for the doctor to call us in I was rubbing Maggie and discovered a rock like bump on her belly. I mentioned this to him during our appointment. He took out a needle and took some fluid from the bump. He ran in on a slide under his microscope and did not like the looks of it and told me he would have to do surgery. Luckily she was already scheduled to have her teeth cleaned on September 17, 2010. He told me he'd clean her teeth and if he had time would do surgery to remove what he was now calling a tumor. I suggested removing the tumor and if he had time to clean her teeth. We we lucky that he was able to do both. We picked up Maggie that afternoon and she was completely bandaged and had beautiful teeth.



She got home and ate like nothing ever happened. We removed the bandage the following day to find about a 3" slit with 12 staples. It did not hold Maggie back, she was such a trooper and extremely inspiring. Now it was the waiting game for 10 days. Was the tumor going to come back malignant or benign. We took her in again on September 26, 2010 to have her staples removed, check her blood work once again and get the results from her tumor. Her kidney and creatin levels had balance out but the ALT levels had tripled. She is currently on meds again to decrease that level. Unfortunately he had no results on the tumor so we had to wait another coupler days. On September 28, 2010 I called to see if they had received anything from the lab. The person who answered the phone put me on hold to check to see if any results had come in. When the phone was picked up it was to doctor and he gave us the best news...Maggie's tumor was benign.

We go in again on October 16, 2010 to get it checked once again. After a little research I found that their are numerous contributors as to why those levels increase. A few being the sedation from surgery, antibiotics, etc. Our girl seems to be doing well except for this crazy cough that doesn't seem to let up. More to come on our Mag Pie.

Lets go Cats!!!

What an exciting day!! We actually got to watch the Arizona Wildcat football team play. They played in Tucson against #9 Iowa Hawkeyes. Our team has been struggling for some time but we acutally looked like a real football team. It was a great game and we managed to win 34-27. The best part is I think we were ranked #24. We had some big supporters in the house cheering on our team!

Cool Stuff

Over the weekend I was looking at my friend Tyra's pictures. I want to say her photos were labeled CM. As I browsed these photos I kept wondering where these pictures had been taken. In one of the photos I see Creative Memories. So being the person I am I googled the information and came across Creative Memories. Their website is awesome! They have some great stuff for people like me that like scrapbooking but don't want to worry about putting a page together. Their all in one kits cover that. They have these fabulous picture panels on sale right now. They some what look like canvas photos but on a smaller scale. If you get some time check out Tyra's web page. Click on my title "Cool Stuff" and it will take you to Tyra's page or look at my links mid way down on the right side.

Happy Birthday McKenzie

We can't believe she is 10! When we rescued McKenzie 3 years ago, we never stopped to think of her age. She is a wonderful girl and it has been fun watching her age over the last several years. Granted, I think she has more energy now than ever. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!! We love you so much! XOXOXO

McKenzie's Adoption

In 2007 before Cesario was going to Iraq, I had decided I really wanted a dog. My friend Delcia had 3 lhasa apsos that I thought were absolutely amazing. They were small but not to small and had a ton of personality. I had no intention on purchasing a dog from a breeder so I began my search on Petfinder.com. I came across this perfect little lhasa named McKenzie. Here is how she was advertised:

Hi, my name is McKenzie. I'm a 6-year-old, purebred, cream-colored Lhasa Apso. I'm a sweet and loving girl, an affectionate friend, and typical of my breed, I can be independent and head-strong sometimes. I will make a lovely companion for someone that wants a small, sturdy dog that's part baby doll and part diva.

My family is putting me up for adoption because I have problems living with their other small dogs. I respect big dogs, but I don't like the competition with other small dogs. If I think I can get away with it, I will bully and scare dogs smaller than me. Being an only dog with someone that has lots of time for me might be the ideal situation.

If you think you might be good enough for me, I told you that I have an attitude, then maybe I can be Forever Yours".

I put our application in April and continued to see her on the website. In June I finally called the rescue and found out that she needed to go to a home with no other dogs. We were the only applicants that qualified. This past June was 3 years that we have had our precious girl. She is definitely head strong and as many of you know we have made a couple trips to the vet hospital because she decided to whoop Maggie's butt. She has proved that she needed affection and patience. I can't say that McKenzie completely loves Maggie but I think they make great companions.

Household 6

I happened to be on Facebook this morning and came across a post on Army Wives Network that talked about Household 6. I have often heard Army people use this term but never really new where the term came from.

What is Household 6?

A military man’s wife. The head of the household. The one that keeps up with the arduous tasks of washing uniforms, picking up smelly PTs, going to the commissary and PX, raising the children, packaging care packages…you get our drift! A HH6 is the one in charge of everything!

The name is derived from where said wife spends most of her time (the household), and the number 6 is the designation for a commander of a Company/Troop, Battalion/Squadron, Brigade/Regiment, Division or Corps.

Used in a sentence – “I’d really love to go with you on the hunting trip, but household 6 pulled my weekend pass.”

Now it all makes sense!

Typhoon Kompasu

Tropical Storm Kompasu is officially a typhoon. We are currently in TC-1 and I am at work patiently waiting for TC-1C. I talked with Kemmy, my Japanese co-worker, and she told me that it will get worse later into the evening once the typhoon has passed over us. I am a little worried about McKenzie as we have not experienced a full blown typhoon. Maggie will probably sleep through the whole thing. The crazy part is how calm it is outside. It is partially cloudy, it rains from time to time but no wind is blowing. All the websites I have gone too state we will have winds up to 105 miles per hour. As long as our electricity doesn't go out we should be fine.

Tropical Storm Kompasu

We have a storm in the area. Typhoon season began in June and this is the closest we have been to being hit. We are currently in Typhoon Condition 2 (TCCOR 2) which states destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 24 hours. Remove or secure all outside items. I am not quite sure why we are in TCCOR 2 when it is only a tropical storm. I guess someone out there knows something we don't. We moved some of our plants and we are going to secure our patio furniture. We made sure we went to groceries yesterday, we bought batteries for our flashlights, bottled water, the girls have food, plenty of candles and the most important item for typhoon preparation is beer. We will wait it out and see what happens.

Obon

Obon is a time for celebrating life, and welcoming ancestor spirits home for a family reunion. It’s a Buddhist event, where ancestor spirits are believed to return to the human world in order to visit relatives. It is said that on this single day of the year, the iron pot of hell is opened, and the deceased are allowed to leave. Buddhist services are held at temples and in private homes for ancestors, friends and relatives who’ve died, with particular focus on those who’ve died within the past year.

The first day of Obon, Unkeh, is a time for families to gather at the primary family residence to purify the home and its altar. Family members will place fruit, water, sake, tea and a pair of sugar cane stalks on the altar in preparation for the visiting spirits. In the evening, the family lights candles both at the altar and the gateway to the house to invite the spirits inside.

Obon is a time of celebration, and Okinawa’s second unique custom, Eisa, is performed in streets everywhere. Eisa is a traditional music.

Obon is a time of gift-giving, and a time for sharing. Children and grandchildren return from mainland Japan to Okinawa to pay homage to the ancestors, and traffic snarls getting around the islands. It’s a time for Ochugen, the presenting of gifts to relatives and bosses in the workplace. Okinawa stores rack up tens of millions of yen in sales, with typical Ochugen gift sets running Y2,000~5,000. Food seasonings, towels, beer and gift certificates are popular choices.

There is dancing in the streets, called bon odori, music, plenty of traditional lanterns hanging in front of houses to guide the spirits home, and intense family bonding. Bon Odori is a religious folk dance originally conceived to comfort the spirits of the dead during their ritual visit to the earthly world. It is a dance shared and participated in by Okinawans of all ages, including small children.
Obon is an important event socially, as well as from a religious perspective. It is a time when it is nearly mandatory that family return home to be together. Years ago, it was required that all family gathered for Obon, and for events on January 15.
Monday, the final day of Obon, is Uukui, a time when the family gathers and celebrates with a lavish dinner before preparing to send the ancestral spirits back to the other world. A variety of foods are offered and special paper money, Uchikabi, is offered to the spirits for use in the other world. Uchikabi is paper imprinted with a coin pattern.

About midnight, family members will remove the offerings from the altar and move them to the family gate in front of the home. Incense will be lit, the uchikabi burned, and the families say goodbye to the ancestral spirits for another year. Okinawa tradition is that spirits will carry the uchikabi money with them, and use the sugar cane stalks as walking sticks.

Obon is celebrated from the 13th -15th day of the seventh month of the year, which is July. It is commemorated this way on the mainland. Okinawa follows lunar calendar for this event, so Obon falls on Aug. 21-23 here.

14 Mexican "Words of the Day!"

I received this email from my uncle back in June. I decided to clean out my email and came across this fabulous list agian that made me laugh so hard I wanted to cry. It was too good to keep to myself so I decided to share it. I don't know that everyone will get the same laugh that I did!

1. *Cheese*
The teacher told Pepito to use the word cheese in a sentence. Pepito replies: Maria likes me, but cheese fat.

2. *Mushroom*
When all my family get in the car, there's not mushroom.

3. *Shoulder*
My fren wanted 2 become a citizen but she didn't know how to read, so I shoulder.

4. * Texas *
My fren always Texas me when I'm not home, wondering where I'm @!

5. *Herpes
Me and my fren ordered pizza. I got my piece and she got herpes.

6. *July*
Ju told me ju were going to tha store and July to me! Julyer!

7. *Rectum*
I had 2 cars but my wife rectum!

8. *Chicken*
I was going to go to the store with my wife but chicken go herself.

9. *Wheelchair*
We only have one enchilada left, but don't worry wheelchair

10. *Chicken Wing*
My wife plays the lottery so chicken wing.

11. *Harassment*
My wife caught me in bed with another women and I told her honey harassment nothing to me.

12. *Bishop*
My wife fell down the stair so I had to pick the bishop.

13. *Body wash*
I want to go to the club but no body wash my kids.

14. *Budweiser*
That woman over there has a nice body, Budweiser face so ugly?

The Mayonnaise Jar

The Mayonnaise Jar ……..

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him..

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and started to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Wholeheartedly worship your God.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Please share this with other "Golf Balls."

Saying Goodbye

It is never easy to say goodbye to family when the come to visit. Cesario, Kenzie, Maggie and I were so grateful that Ty and Adrian were able to come visit. We appreciated that they took time out of there schedules to make that long flight over. It was nice having them in the house and we wished they could have stayed longer. The good thing is we will always have our pictures and memories of their trip here.

235th Army Ball~ Honoring Pacific Heroes

This years Army Ball was like no other as we got take Tyler and Adrian with us. We were really excited about them having this experience. We were fortunate that my parents got to attend with us in 2004. We all got dressed up and had a fabulous time. Dinner was great, we took lots of pictures, mingled and danced. Ty and Adrian seemed to fit right in. It is always cool when we can bring people who don't usually attend these types of military functions and have them see what really happens.



At the end of the night we got a ride home with a bunch of friends. It was a beautiful evening with a gorgeous moon on the ocean. We all decided to walk down to the beach which is something I have always wanted to do but haven't. We sat and enjoyed each other company and brought their trip to a finale. I am so thankful that they were able to come out and enjoy us and Okinawa.

Out and About with Ty and Adrian

One of the first places Adrian requested to go was Shakey's Pizza. They are very scarce in the US so it was quite a treat. Ty had never had it and loved it. We had 2 large pizza, potatoes and chicken. If you have never tried Shakeys it is a definite must on the bucket list.


Ty and I decided to have ramen for lunch one day. Ty ordered the soy sauce ramen. It was so delicious it is one I now order regularly when we hit up the ramen shop by our house.


I was able to get off early on one day and drove the kids around the area. We went to Gala and had plans on hitting on Murasaki Mura until it stated to pour. This is an outdoor tour so we were literally SOL.


I decide to reroute and took them to the place the make the Okinawan cookies that are so divine. We got to see the cookies be made and packaged.


While at the cookie place the kids got to see a bottle of Habu Saki. It is one of the most potent alcohol drinks made here on Okinawa. The snake inside the bottle is as poisinous as a rattlesnake.



Although the weather kept us from doing some things we didn't let is bother us. We found other things to do and that still allowed Ty and Adrian to see our beautiful island.