We Made It!

We arrived in Japan a couple of days ago and are finally over jet lag enough that I can stay up and blog :). I feel bad because there isn't much to blog (we have not yet reached our final destination), but I thought I'd at least post the few pictures we have.

We had to go to another base (the ARMY base) to do Shane's In-Processing (Orientation), so that is where we are. A shuttle bus will be picking us up tomorrow morning and then we will head off to Yokota Air Base and start working on housing.

Anyways here are a few pictures of our last week.

ON OUR WAY TO MEET SHANE

So, this is what my stroller looked like in Las Vegas. Where are the kids you say??? Well, as you can tell there was no room for them in the stroller. I carried Tia and Jayden was attached to the stroller with a strap so that he wouldn't get lost. I carried on 5 bags, a car seat, a pillowcase stuffed full of blankets and 2 kids (thanks to some very kind people that helped me get this all on and off the plane). We normally don't travel this heavy, but it was the only way to get all of our remaining stuff to Japan! Our next move will definitely be a lot different!!!

And THANKS to my sweet parents who drove us to Las Vegas, helped me check in, tag all of our luggage, and then helped me get all of this stuff up through security. I would have been a mess doing it on my own! Wait...I was a mess...I bawled my eyes out when they left me at security! The poor security people didn't know what to do. I did finally get it together and made it to the gate:)! Our flight to L.A. went extremely well and we arrived just in time to go meet dad at his gate.

The kids running to greet their dad as he was getting off of his plane in L.A. (he's behind all those people somewhere).

2 happy kids with their dad (after 6 weeks of him being gone)!

THE FLIGHT

Considering we had tons of luggage and very excited kids the flight went extremely smooth. When we arrived at the terminal in LA the Japanese employees behind the counter noticed us and our large, heavy load (by this point we had 7 carry-ons plus all that other stuff) and asked us if they could switch our seats to the bulk head seats (which gave us tons of extra room). The extra space was awesome!

The kids only slept a little, but thanks to their toy bag...we had a fun time).

Even though it was quite the clean up, these push-pops sure kept the kids QUIET & busy.

Thanks Aunt Shanna for wrapping some of their new toys...they had a blast opening them on the plane.

We LOVE glow sticks! When the kids weren't sleeping (and the whole rest of the plane was) these kept them very entertained. Thanks again Tera!

JAPAN

Here's us at the Fish Pond on Camp Zama (that's the ARMY base that we've been at for the last week). It's amazing how AMERICANIZED it all is! They have everything (i.e. regular milk, Burger King, Subway, & even Oxi Clean-that's one thing I CANT live without).

VENTURING OUT

All we have to do is walk out the base gate and we are right in the middle of a Japanese city. We've had a great time walking around (well, I don't know if you can call it great-we were almost hit a few times on their tiny roads:0), taking the trains, and eating their food. All in all - we are really excited to be here!

We found this little store with yummy noodles & curry. It only cost $5 and fed both Shane and I. OHHHHH do we love this food!!!!

TEMPORARY LODGING Our 1st Room We were put in this single room for the first 2 nights. It was pretty tight, but we were all so tired that it didn't matter.

We were then moved to our 2nd Room(2 bedrooms + a kitchen/front room) The kids room.

The Kitchen/front room...and Jayden giving me a nice punch!

Shane & I's room.

The other night I was sitting at the kitchen table and looked over and saw this...

For those of you that know our kids...you know that this is not normal. They are usually fighting or bugging each other, but I think they're realizing that this is all they've got right now. We still break up lots of fight, but are starting to see more kind moments between them.

Today we had an orientation meeting that both Shane & I needed to attend, so our kids went to day care for the day (their 1st time ever). As I was walking towards the playground at the end of the day I could not find them anywhere. All of the other kids were playing on the play sets, riding bikes, etc. (which my kids love to do)...but where we're Jayden & Tia? Finally I focused right in front of me and this is what I saw...

Look closely at the center of the picture (click on picture to enlarge)...Jayden and Tia are holding each others hands through a fence (that divided his class from hers). When I got up close enough I could hear Tia bawling and Jayden was trying to comfort her. Yeah...I was bawling by this point also! I had to hold her for the next 10 minutes to calm her down. Jayden told me later that Tia was sad that she couldn't play with him. She was really happy to have us all back together as a family. I am so grateful for families and I love mine with all my heart! Thanks Jayden & Tia for being so sweet!

P.S. Shane & I both passed our Driver's Licence test and now have a Japanese Driver's Licence.