Whoa...Hello Mr. Jet Lag

So the day started just like any other kids watching cartoons and us waking to the sounds of their laughter except, it was 0545!! What!! 0545 and we are all up and staring at each other - what now?

We decided to eat a bite of breakfast and get ready for the day, all done by 0830. If you know me at all I was slightly lost as to what to do at that time of the morning all dressed, kids fed and ready to do whatever it is we are to do. What are we suppose to do right now? We meandered through the morning waiting until about 110 to call Viva since she was to pick us up about 12:30 to show us around a bit and gather some things. We did go by the PX (aka the military "Wal-mart" or "K-Mart" for my non-military speaking Friends) as we arrived there was an American Red Cross table set up and I thought what a perfect opportunity to see what they have to offer and ask questions about their volunteer program. The lady at the table was so sweet, I told her we had just arrived last night and she was just amazed at how nice I looked. I explained I had been up forever and had nothing else to do with myself, she was so complimentary.

It went straight to my head. I was thinking yeah, that's me, Jet Set. Mrs. International, " You need me where? Italy, Rome, The Americas' darling? Pedro, Get my bags, I'm off" We carried on through the day and arrived back to the room and I guess just stopping allowed for the over-whelming OMG I'm going down, DONE. OVER. I. AM. ASLEEP. I was out for the night at 1530 in the afternoon. I did wake up to feed the children around 2200 since the kids where hungry and Steve and I where ummm....resting then back to bed we went. The whole process started over again this morning when at 0600 Steve and I where awake and just lying in bed. I will not give in today we will make it to a normal bedtime and get ourselves together, maybe.

Well we are moving from Westpac Lodge to Camp Courtney today and I am not sure if we will have Internet access there so do not be alarmed if it is a few day until you hear from us. I will post pics once I can find a "Hot Spot" to connect our computer. They are great!! You guys are going to L.O.V.E the little tiny cars over here! Marissa looks like the paparazzi snapping pics of people in their little cute cars. I wonder if the Japanese ever shake their heads at the Americans walking around taking pics of everything they see? Ha! That's backwards huh?

Ohayou Gozaimasu

Word of the day : Ohayou Gozaimasu (Ohio Go-zi-mus)
Means - Good Morning

We made it, and it is all we expected it to be and more!! We arrived last night on the "Patriot Express" from Seattle to Okinawa around 1750 or so. The flight was long but we really did over-stress about making sure the kids had plenty to do. They have in-flight on-demand movies and Nickelodeon as well as video games and trivia that you can play with the rest of the plane, they even show your seat number so people can come by and laugh at you when you don't know the answers.

The craziest thing is that we never saw night-fall, ever, it was daytime the whole trip until we arrived to Okinawa and we were deboarding the plane. That will mess you up. We originally were expecting to go to a hotel on Camp Courtney but our sponsor informed us that Camp Courtney had no power today from 0800-1800 so she moved us to Camp Foster for 2 days then we will move over to Courtney(God love her). Viva, our sponsor had sandwich stuff and cereal with a few other things in our room when we arrived so we ate a quick bite and crashed hard. I think the kids where asleep before they even hit their pillows!! We were all up around 0300 and Steve and I found ourselves a little restless but that did not last long and we were right back to sleep.

The weather when we arrived was muggy and damp, Viva said it had rained so it wasn't quite as humid as it should be. Great!! There will be no need to ever really fix my hair here, ever. Today we are going to start small and go pick up laundry detergent and our manual to practice for or drivers test on Tuesday, wish me luck!! We may venture off for dinner tonight, I don't know?

Just wanted to let you guys know we are in and trying to soak everything up. The kids on the way to Camp Courtney form the airport where sooooo excited and trying to look at so much at once they said their eyes hurt! Now that's REALLY checkin' things out!!

Love you guys and we will have internet connection today and tomorrow so we will be checking back in with you. Have a great day!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Well to say that our new adventure has been uneventful was the truth until we arrived here at the Seattle airport.I would not really be able to share much with you if we would not have had the great fortune of staying at the USO last night.

Upon arriving and locating the little hole in the wall you begin to notice that the "Marines have landed". Fortunately for us they had a "family room" left that we would be able to use IF we would have registered prior to going to put our bags up. This is where we were thrust into the mud -filled trenches of military life that for so long have not been a part of. The thought of getting a hotel room did cross our minds but the fact that we a lugging around 8 large suitacases, 4 carry-ons, 1 purse (of course) 2 blankets, 2 children and a partridge in a pear tree there was absolutely NO WAY we were leaving that place!!!

We were left to rough-it in a room filled with bunk beds and military members, not so bad for us but Javan was thinking this was not really his cup of tea. He told Steve he was scared and I guess for all real reasons it would make sense - He has no home, no schedule, no structure, no bed and now he is sleeping in a room full of strange men. I kinda find it ironic that he would be scared due to the fact that EVERY man in that room would go to any length to be sure that he was safe for the night, some things they just don't understand. Not being part of a military family for so long we all have quite a bit of readjusting to do.

Guys I am going to make this one short so I can visit with our new plane friends and chat but know that we love you all and leave the states with many mixed emotions - sadness, excitement, anxiety, curiosity and so many other things it just brings tears to my eyes. We will try to get in touch with you all in a few days, don't worry it may take some time to get our communication together.

Gotta go, the troops are restless!!

Love, Cindi

Happy Memorial Day!!

What a great day to spend with family and friends! Nikki and Kevin had a going-away party for us this weekend and we had so many people show up to say good-bye, it was wonderful. It was a great opportunity to say our goodbyes and leave with great memories. We love you all and thank you for coming to see us off.

Good times, good times...

Answering the call of the wild.

Today we ventured off into the great unknown with nothing but our camara and a few alfafa pellets. I must tell you that we were not quite prepared for the beast we were about to meet. There were a few subtle and meek animals and a few savages, at times we were unsure if we would make it out alive (and to think we took children).



We traveled many miles and the children were very weary upon our return to our safe retreat but they left with many memories and a few they will not forget for a long time if not forever. We visited an exotic animal farm just out of Springfield, MO and had an awesome time!! If you guys ever get a chance to make it you will have a blast and a few slobber stains to remember your adventure!

Where to start?

Ok, I know it has been a LOOOONG time since I even updated you guys as to what is going on, it has been so hectic and crazy that we have not even had a chance to slow down. We are finally out of our house and have handed it over to out tenants, they seem to really be happy there. I'm so relieved that we have people in our home that will really enjoy it.

Steve repainted the whole house and I think we underestimated the process since our homes ceilings and walls are so large, we have 20 foot walls in the great room. I think we may have had time to finish but our clearing of the house for the renters was cut short when we received a phone call at 0130 Wednesday morning letting us know that Steve's cousin in Poplar Bluff was killed approximately 2 hours earlier in a car accident.

Lauren Elizabeth Capper was killed at the young age of 17 after being struck by a tractor-trailer when going home from a friends house. She had called Uncle Elmer to let him know she was on her way but never arrived. I wish there was something I could do for everyone, the pain is so much when anyone dies but to lose a child that has so much going for her and is so loved by everyone. Lauren turned 17 Feb. 14th and had such a bright future in front of her. It was guesstimated over 800 people came for her visitation. She will be missed by so many, it will be a long time until these painful, open wounds are healed to allow everyone to find peace in her death.

We had to leave earlier than expected to go to Poplar Bluff to be with family so Steve had to hire a young guy to help us finish painting, it never is quite the same as if you where to do it yourself but it worked and we a finally out. of. our. house!!!

So lets re-cap, here is what we have been doing over the last week
Monday: House
Tuesday:House and Steve's birthday (we forgot with all the house junk, poor guy.)
we went to bed early thinking we would get a good nights sleep and start fresh and we got the
phone call about Lauren, little sleep that night.
Wednesday: House and painting/ carpet cleaning
Thursday:House and sis spent the night with a friend, we had dinner with Mickey and Terrie.
Friday: Finished the house and left for Poplar Bluff about 2030 arrived around 2300, the kids left with Cami to go to Springfield to see their Aunt Amanda.
Saturday: Funeral and Family
Sunday: Left Poplar Bluff to go back to STL, Marissa stayed in Springfield and Javan came back for his graduation, we stayed the night at Cami's with Javan.
Monday: Met with Bonnie and Kayla for dinner and we all went to Javan's graduation. Monday night we drove back to Springfield with Javan.
Tuesday: Here we are!! It all seems so muddled and I don't really even want to remember the last week with all the house junk and Lauren so lets move on to better things.

I wanna be teachers pet...

21 years, a lot happens in 21 years-so much matter of fact that you really can not cover it all. You can not really tell someone about what has happened in your life that has made you who you are today and the things that have shaped your personality and being to become the person they are looking at right now, today.

You see, when I look back on my young life as a child I have quite a few memories of school and friends and remember trying to figure out how I wanted to treat people and really oddly enough my 6th grade teacher has so much to do and holds many memories of my past. You know that one teacher that really made an impact on your life? The one that when you sit around talking about teachers that "one" always pops into your head and you wonder..."Where are they, what are they doing?" The friend to a child as much as they could be as well as a teacher? Things change so much with age.

Mrs. Janie Taylor and I always had a special relationship when I was in 6th grade. I remember the first day I met her and thinking how kind she seemed to be, I even remember what I was wearing (strange huh?) As the year passed I leaned on her for many things, my family was consumed with my sister being ill and I occasionally needed a little extra attention and guidance since my mom was very busy with Bekah and we had some major family turmoil that year that caused much confusion and insecurity, Mrs. Taylor was always there. I remember sitting up at her desk and just talking to her and telling her how I felt or things that I was concerned about after school or during recess and she would listen, maybe this was nothing big to her but to an eleven year old it was so needed. Every now and then I would need to go with her after school because no one was home or for some other strange reason that I was not privy to as a child and she was always there, smiling and talking. ( I think I had a few pop quizzes in there too, hmmm...is that fair?)

I was able to track her down (not as hard and mysterious as it may seem) and we met for lunch. Marissa thought this was VERY funny that I was going to see MY sixth grade teacher. I only hope that Marissa has a teacher one day in her life that she thinks of as I think of Ms. Taylor. She is still just as kind and beautiful as I remember her as a child. Sometimes God brings certain people in your life that will always be a part of you for one reason or another, a person that you don't have to talk to or see every week, month, year or even 21 years but you know that they are just... there-part of who made you who you are, part of your past.

I truly enjoyed seeing Mrs. Taylor again and just officially want to thank her for her kindness and professionalism, she went way beyond the required duties of a teacher. Mrs. Taylor taught me more than the stepping stones of academics needed to become the nurse I am today she also taught me kindness, compassion, hope, friendship and so many other things that makes me person I am to many people. Mrs. Taylor passed along traits that allow me to be a nurse to the sick and hopeless, the mother to my children, the wife to my husband and true friend to those around me. I hope I can continue on with a renewed sense of compassion and maybe one day be this person to someone else in their life.

Thank you Mrs. Taylor.