Settling in

This week has been very exciting! Friday we got our Japanese drivers licenses! We went straight from there and bought a car! The wierd thing here is that after you buy it thy do an inspection. We didn't pick it up until Monday and that was the first time driving it, too! We loved it! We bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Dion. Friday was also the day that we were called with two housing offers. One was a third floor apartment in a tower. It was nice but bringing bikes with us was going to be tough since we didn't have any storage. The second apartment was in a little neighborhood on the Navy part of Kadena called Camp Shields. We loved it. It is going to be renovated in April of 2012 so we will move again but we chose this one and are very happy! It is a quiet area and our neighbors have a little girl that is a little younger than Paige! We are slowly setting up home here while we await the arrival of our belongings. Rigt now we are using government furniture, which isn't great but it will get us by.
We also got to our unit just in time for a mini vacation to Okuma beach with Jason's battery. We had a great time and everything was paid for! Jason snorkeled and loved it! Paige and I hung out on the beach dice she didn't like the waves very much! He made sand castles an drew her "name" in the sand (scribbles) hehe. We were anxious to come back since we were moving into our house!
Also, along with our list of "new" things we added a dog to our family! Hi name is Zinga. He's a 1 1/2 year old miniature dachshund! He was given to us by Jason's sgt. They just had a baby and disnt have the time for him. Paige is in love! She still calls him Benji, which as most of you know is our dog that mom and dad are "babysitting" til we get back). He's playful and loves Paige!
We are going to start our hunt for churches this week. We found one that offers AWANA so Paige will be able to go to Cubbies! We are praying that the Lord will put us in a church that needs us. Please pray for us as we make this decision!
One last thing...they call this island the island I fertility! Let's hope that is true for us!! :)

Recent Pics

Here are some recent pictures from the start of our trip til last night! :) We don't have internet in our room so it makes it hard to upload pics when I take them! :) More to come once we get our Japanese driver's license!

 

 

 

 

 

This is our room until we get a house

 

 

 

This is Tokyo from the plane!

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings from Okinawa!!!

Well we made it here safe and sound! It was a long day of traveling. Paige did excellent on the plane and enjoyed watching a couple movies and coloring! We arrived in Tokyo in the early evening and had a crazy time in the airport going through customs and checking our baggage to get on our connecting flight to Okinawa. We ran....alot! :). When we arrived in Okinawa it was dark and very windy. Earlier in the day there was a threat of a typhoon but it turned and went another way so we just got alot of wind. After getting all 9 of our bags plus our 4 carry-ons, we were out the door to figure out where we were going! Luckily there was a shuttle for the Army so he gave is a ride to the Shogun Inn (which is our temporary lodging facility). We have a small apartment type room that is just perfect! The first night we were here we met Jason's sargent and his wife who are also believers! She is very involved in PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and I will be going with her on Tuesdays to Bible study for another Beth Moore study! Jason has started the 12 day process for inprocessing. He has had very early days and we are going to start touring around before he really starts work. The weather here is humid but nice. We have been out and about in a little area but look forward to more exploring! Thank you for all of your confined prayers as we settle in! More to come!!!

Saying See-ya-later

Tomorrow is the big day! We are leaving for Los Angeles in the morning with my parents and staying in a hotel for the night. Friday we fly out at 1 pm. We have an 11 hour flight to Tokyo and a 3 hour flight from Tokyo to Okinawa. It's going to be a long day of flying, but we are all very excited to get there. This week the movers came and got all of our stuff so we will be awaiting the arrival of our belongings in the next couple months! Saying goodbye is never easy, but we are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends that made these two weeks here very memorable! We are very thankful for all of the prayers for us as we make this big move! Next post will be from JAPAN!!! :)

change is-a comin'!

We are in the last few days of being in Oklahoma. We are all looking forward to going to Arizona to visit our family and enjoying time together. This week is going to be filled with paperwork, getting things organized for our move to Japan and, OH...GRADUATION! I'm so proud of my hubby...he hasn't been in school for 11 years (wow we are getting old) and has maintained a 95% average!
We get to spend two short weeks in Arizona before making the big trip to Japan. Once in country, Jason gets another 10 days to settle in. We are hoping to get a house on post quickly and get semi-settled until our stuff gets there (approx. 4 weeks later). We will have government furniture until that happens. As the time is approaching to leave, the thought of us not being able to just "pop" over to our parents' houses makes me a little homesick already. But God is faithful and he will get us through this. Both sets of parents have Skype so we will be able to see them often and it really does close in the miles between us.
It's an exciting adventure, the Army is, and we are looking foward to be used by God for God in this new place and see all that He has for us and our family in the coming 3 years! Please pray for our families as well as us, who will be having a hard time being away from their kids and especially their granddaughter. We will keep everyone updated on our progress! :)

Arizona in 14 days....Japan in 30!

Well, we are still enjoying our time here in Oklahoma. We are anxious for this training to be over and have a normal schedule again! :) Jason graduates in 2 weeks! We have met some amazing people here and have already had to say some good-byes. We are looking forward to the 2 weeks we get in Arizona to visit family and friends and get stuff organized for our move! We are excited to see and experience a country and culture. Going to be crazy, but exciting!

adventure

Here we are in Lawton, Oklahoma! It has been so wonderful seeing Jason more and more! We have been here a little over 2 weeks and we have been enjoying ourselves. I have met some pretty amazing Army wives here and we have had lots of girls nights already. We are adjusting to our new military lifestyle as well as living in a trailer! :) It's really not so bad...I mean I wouldn't want to do this forever, but for these few weeks will be great! Last week, mom and dad stopped in on their way home from Nebraska and spent a couple days here! It was so nice to have them here! We are hoping Jason's family gets to come visit as well.
As most of you know, Jason is getting stationed in Okinawa, Japan at Kadena Air Base! We are so thrilled and are really excited about this adventure. His report date was October, but now it's September, but will still most likely change again! We are getting more and more information everyday about our move and what we have to do! We are in the Lord's hands and we will rely on him to work it all out! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! :)