Back to America.....

And "real life"----

I still have a beautiful spot to walk and it's green (of course that won't last all summer like in Okinawa).

 Here is the brand new lake in Syracuse now complete with boats houses

The only downside of my Jensen Park walk is the increasing number of houses which are being built on the south end of my traveling path.  This area is called "Stillwater".  If you know Syracuse's reputation about mosquitoes, you might want to be cautious  about buying a lot there.

School started and we have two classes this summer from 5:15 to 10:30....and we are staying to 10:30 every night because that is one of our most important class of all of them.

Scarlett came and played for a few hours.  It was very exciting to see her again.  It was a great day to be outside so we jumped and swung on the swings.

Thursday, Jena mentioned that she had a performance the following day.  Since we hadn't seen in written flyers or email newsletter information (they are fairly good at keeping in touch), I wasn't sure but reached out to her teachers and got a confirmation.  Friday morning I headed off to Vista for Jena's choir concert.  It was a Tribute to the Military and it was very fun.  Of course Jena being one of the shorter ones stood near the back so I could barely see her.

Afterwards I was going through the crowd to find her but right when I got close, I saw these two friends reaching her and congratulating her with words, five five and hugs.  Kaitlyn and Hyatt are great kids and good friends.

I asked Jena if she wanted to take a selfie with me.  Hyatt jumped in and said that he knew how to do it so I handed him the phone thinking he was going to take a picture of Jena and I.  This was much better--he took a selfie of all 4 of us.

Added Blake and Amanda Curtis for this picture.  Blake was also in the choir.  These guys are all in the same Special Olympics team (although Jena is taking a bit of break during her mission.)

 

Cultural was the theme of the day as we picked up Grandma Hall and headed down to the Hale Theatre to see "Peter and the Starcatcher."  It wasn't my favorite play although it was one of those that did have some funny lines and you had to pay close attention to catch them all.

Here the three of them are waiting for the crowds to thin before heading down the stairs at the end of the play.

Jena and the poster play

We attended the 4:00 play so drove to Bountiful to the Sizzler for dinner afterwards.  Meal was great and I decided to have a mini-ice cream cone to finish it off.  It is hard to see but I couldn't separate the ice cream cones so I ended up with four mini-cones and a tiny bit of ice cream.

I have been home about 4 days and jet lag isn't too bad.  There was no time to take a nap or go to bed early so I took whatever sleep I could get.

Now for the weekend................... 

For the dedicated readers...

you might be wondering what it was that I had to have from Okinawa......

Well, I did get Ben an Okinawa shirt.....


and for Jena a Japanese doll.......

This was standing on a notebook with a picture
of Jena which makes for an odd picture.
Sorry about that.

I brought home my sea glass from the beach....

And Tosha bought me my carp windsock which will soon be flying in my backyard.  It will serve always as a reminder of Okinawa and my fun vacation there----

But the major item which we searched for--that was worth jumping out of a car in the middle of a foreign country where I didn't speak the language or have a working cell phone--was:

A chicken!!!

Actually this is the more authentic view-
the chickens hanging in the meat shops' windows

It makes the most awesome noise when you squeeze it.  It was a great purchase even at Japanese prices.

It has already made a trip to Pack Meeting where the boys got to squeeze it while the audience "applauded" using "chicken" noises.  This chicken doesn't really make chicken noises.  It makes the kind of noises that make Cub Scout boys laugh.

It then went visiting teaching with me the next day, because the woman we were visiting had a four year old daughter who had been at Pack Meeting.  I knew that she wanted to squeeze the chicken, too.  Her eyes got so big when she saw it and when I told her she could squeeze it, she was delighted...for the next 30 minutes.  Turned out she had Rex, the Toy Story dinosaur, who also made a noise when you squeezed it and she let me squeeze it too.

I think he may live in my office when I work as a therapist with children and their families!  What do you think?

I might have to get the dinosaur as well.

Scarlett does NOT like the chicken yet.

saying goodbye isn't fun.......

Monday morning, we are up and heading out the door.

Last family photo.....

 Final hugs before hopping in the car for the journey to the airport.

We were all very brave in the car.  No tears or anything because we didn't want to distress Niki. However he won my heart one more time as I leaned over to him in his car seat and kissed him goodbye on the head.  He immediately blew me a kiss and gave me the sweetest smile.  He doesn't know about goodbyes and he won't really remember me the next time I see him in person, but he knows just what I needed as I left him once again. (And to keep the record straight there were tears from me at least as I headed into the airport. Leaving is not fun when distances are so far.)

View in the airport.

 One last sweet reminder as Tosha had tucked in a cookie for me to take on the plane with me.

Juliet (of Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare) said: “Parting is such sweet sorrow ...."  The sweetness comes from the being together and the experiences, conversations, and silliness shared. Otherwise you would be happy to leave.  But truly it is a sorrow too because it is hard to leave those you love behind.

So saying goodbye is really not fun...so instead, God be with you til we meet again, Tosha, Austen, and Niki.  May it be soon and for more happy memories to build and share.

Leftover pictures of every day stuff.......

Truthfully, it is mostly pictures of Niki....

His high level balancing act

  And on the way down....

Reading a book to him.  This was The Racer's Alphabet Book.  It was great.  It had awesome illustrations though out the book that often keyed into specific races and events over the years. (History notes provided by Austen.)

Playing with cars in the pillows of the couch--two of his favorite things! 

He does love bubbles as well...you can't see the bubbles in this picture but his face shows his delight with them all.

Trying on his Car's hat.

 Watching Daniel the Tiger with Dad before he left for work--

Well, I can't believe I am actually posting this picture.  On Wednesday night when Tosha's friend Che was there, Tosha decided we needed to braid each other's hair.  Now you can see why I don't braid my hair any more--too thin.  However it is sometimes fun to be silly together and to remember those occasions later.

Silly faces on the same night as the hair braiding--about mid-night when Austen was home from work.

Cars on the table.  Niki can play with cars and other toys for a long time.  He makes the best truck noises.

One more sunset picture off the coast of Okinawa  (Friday night)

The last Sunday was Mother's Day.  Sad to be away from the rest of my family but a privilege to be with Tosha and Austen.  We had a great dinner and we (meaning Tosha) made cookies together.  I did cut out the shapes and help with decorating.  Tosha is the cookie master.  They were yummy.

(As a bonus, I got to see Austen sing with all of the Young Men and Men in the ward during Sacrament meeting.  They asked all the men and young men to come up and sing "Love At Home". The person behind us encouraged Austen to go up by saying "How many times will you be able to sing for your mother-in-law for Mother's Day?  So up he went.  He is a good sport and a very musical person.)

While we baked cookies, they played a game on the PlayStation.

Niki is trying out our cookies.  He decided he liked the decorations on top best so he picked them off and eat them.  Don't you love those brown eyes?

 For the family, here is what parts of her apartment look like-----

Tosha painted ABC magnet letters gold
to look nicer on this photo board.
Only Tosha!!!

Kitchen and dining room
Where you can see a piece of the ocean on clear days
while you do the dishes

Living room
See the black pattern on the wall
Tosha did that and it looks great and adds to the room a personal touch.