Surprise! Nov 1 - Nov 20

Phillip had spent 10 days in the U.S. The children and I were expecting him home around 10:30pm on Tuesday, November 1. Arriving home this trip, he had to fly into Nagoya, take a train to catch the Shinkansen bullet train, to take a bus to Rokko Island. Whew. I noticed on the Delta website that the plane had landed quite a bit early. I waited for his call. Indeed, it looked like he might make it home around 9:40pm. OK, this makes it very difficult to get 3 kids in bed to sleep! So, we agreed that everyone could read until Dad came home. Then, we would need to try and go right to sleep. I told the children that Dad had hurt his back and needed help with bags, so I went over to meet the bus at the Sheraton to help him roll the bags to our apartment. The kids did not know that I left a camera in the foyer on my way out. The kids did not know that Dad’s back was fine or that he needed help with more than just his bags. They also did not know that Grandma was making a surprise visit! We made our way home and left the bags in the hallway to walk into the apartment. Phillip went first into the kitchen. Jacob came out to give him a hug. Then, Jacob said he noticed a shadow peeking around the door from the family room. (He later said that he thought he was hallucinating!) He raced over to find GRANDMA! They shared a big hug. Matthew ran over for a hug with HUGE eyes and a smile just as big. Then, Jessica realized what was going on and screamed. We all had tears in our eyes. Yes, we had kept the secret for several weeks, and now the wonderful secret was revealed. Grandma is here!

Grandma was a trooper and got up early to see the kids off to school. She had told me on the phone that she did not want to do a lot of tourist attractions like we did last year. Rather, she wanted to spend 2.5 weeks just hanging out with our family. So, she and I went to the fitness center where she got a temporary membership. We decided to go the “water world” as Phillip has so named it. (The part of the gym with pool, hot & cold tubs, and saunas.) I swam laps while Grandma did the walking belt. This belt is made of material like a life jacket. It allows you to walk in the water and do laps for cardio exercise. After our laps, we sat in the hot tub and enjoyed the sauna. Grandma decided to try the Japanese process of hot sauna – cold tub – hot sauna – cold tub. This is supposed to increase muscle recovery and strengthen your heart. We had a great time, and then headed back to the apartment for lunch and to start baking. The next day, of course, was Jessica’s birthday!

We started Jessica’s birthday celebration on Thursday morning with coffee cake and presents.

November 3 is Culture Day in Japan, so Phillip had the day off. We took the train to Sannomiya to look around in shops and met friends at a French restaurant for lunch. We were looking for outfits for our Halloween costume party on Saturday. (Note most of the expats were gone the week before Halloween because of school fall break. So, the party was planned for November 5.) We decided to go as players on the new Hyogo Storks professional basketball team, which a friend coaches. Grandma was to be our official. We found team shirts and decided we would make something for her to wear.

On Friday, Grandma and I spent the morning at the fitness center again. (This will be a theme for the visit.) This time, we went into the equipment part of the gym. While I was on the elliptical, Grandma walked for a while and then rode the bike. We did a few of the nautilus machines and some stretches. Fun workout! We visited the stores that Grandma remembered … Gourmet City, Kobe Grocers, and her favorite 100 yen, which is similar to US dollar stores only with more selection. (With today’s exchange rate, that would be more like the $1.25 store!) We also visited the Costco outlet store on the island.

On Saturday, we took the train to Jacob’s basketball games at Marist International School in Suma. Grandma laughed when she saw the official and said, “I wonder if he has an extra shirt I could wear.” I said, “Ask him.” Well, she did! Amazingly, he went into his office and brought out 2 shirts from which she could choose! He said that I could return it when I come back to Marist in December. Only in Japan! Then, he told her to wait one more minute. He returned with a new whistle and told her it was a gift from him. Unbelievable. Needless to say, Grandma looked the best of any of us that night at the party!

Over the next 2 weeks....

We celebrated Christmas (complete with a small Christmas tree and Christmas music) and Matthew’s birthday (complete with ribs and coffee cake).

We watched Jessica play soccer and then win 4th place in a Japanese gymnastics league tournament.

Opening Ceremony

Jessica with her friend Isabella at the gymnastics tournament

Jessica won 4th place in her age group.

We cheered on Matthew as he played in a rugby tournament. We watched Jacob play basketball and perform in the middle school play “Murder in the Knife Room”. Yes, he actually got to play the part of "Diehard Alabama Fan." The wardrobe was easy, and I think he also found it easy to stay in character! :)

We spent lots of time hanging out as a family, having dinner on the balcony, and playing Euchre and Pictionary. Jessica and Grandma did lots of baking, too. Grandma and I spent tons of time in the fitness center – the gym and the “water world”. I think my favorite day was when Grandma raced a very nice Japanese woman wearing the walking belts. She said, “I just had to beat her.” True Maloney spirit! Most of all, we just enjoyed spending time with Grandma. We are so very blessed to have such a wonderful mother (to Phillip and to me too) and grandmother. I often say that I pray that one day my grandchildren will love me as much as my kids love her.

Thanks for making the long journey again Grandma!

Peace and Love,

Tina

Fall break in Saipan: October 20-27

On Thursday evening, October 20, the kids and I caught the bus to the airport, checked in, and of course, had noodles at their favorite noodle shop. It has become tradition. :) Our itinerary was to fly from Osaka to Saipan via Guam. We left at 9:00pm, gained an hour, and arrived about 1:45am. Fortunately, the four of us had an entire row on the plane. Matthew and Jessica could both lay down across 2 seats. Jacob and I were tall enough to use the "head wings" that fold in to "catch" your head when you fall asleep. After snacks, we all settled in to nap for about 60 to 90 minutes. Once we arrived, we were able to quickly go through Customs as we were the only Americans arriving on that flight. The Customs agent was very friendly and asked us if we wanted to go outside before we caught our connection. Really? After I told him we only had about 25 minutes, he sent us over to check in with a lady sitting at a table. She checked our passports again and crossed our names off of a list. We waited for 4 additional Japanese people to join us at the table. The lady called to a gentleman to open a door behind her. Then, we proceeded to the other part of the airport where our passports were checked a third time. We were amazed to see that all of the shops were open. It was now 2:00am! As we approached our gate, the gate agents motioned for us to come forward. I noticed that the sign said "Rota". I asked if this was the name of the airport in Saipan. I was informed that Rota was another island (of the Northern Mariana Islands) and that we would be making a brief stop there before landing in Saipan. Ummm. Continental failed to tell me that little detail. At any rate, we boarded the little commuter plane, had cookies from Guam (delicious), and then landed in Rota. A few of the Japanese passengers were confused as the flight attendants only spoke English. They thought they were supposed to get off the airplane. The flight attendant was able to explain to them to stay on the plane by using motions with their arms and hands. (We now know how this feels!) After a quick flight, we arrived in Saipan at about 3:45am. We got our luggage and were met by a driver from our hotel, the Pacific Islands Club. When we got into his van, we saw a sign laying in the front seat that read "Phillip Maloney." The children all said, "Hey you picked up our dad!" Phillip had arrived in Saipan from Tokyo at about 12:30am. The drive was short, and we arrived at our hotel at about 4:10am. We checked in and walked to our room. On the walk, the kids devised a plan. We set our luggage in the hallway, took off our shoes, and burst into the hotel room yelling "Happy birthday Dad!". Phillip awoke from a sound sleep to give hugs and kisses. Then, he was fast asleep again. Amazingly, after all of the excitement, we did all get to sleep right away until about 9:30am on Friday. Then, the fun really began!

We started our Friday with a buffet breakfast. We immediately started all of the many activities offered at PIC. We went from the rock wall to badminton to archery. Then, we decided to hit the pools. The slides were so much fun. We also had fun with water polo, water basketball, and water volleyball! Then, we discovered "Point Break" which allows you to "surf".

After a long fun day in the sun, we discovered the Seaside Grill which faced the beautiful sunset over the ocean. They offered daily happy hour - half priced appetizers and drinks, including smoothies! From here, we made our way back to the pool and then to play ping pong. We grabbed a few snack items and headed to our room. What a great first day!

We sat at this table at The Seaside Grill every day and enjoyed happy hour smoothies!

On Saturday, we took a van to catch our boat to Managaha Island for a morning of snorkeling. As we arrived, we saw a sign that said, "Jellyfish. Swim at your own risk." Well, that does not sound good! I asked if they were poisonous and was told, "No. They just hurt." With Phillip leaving the next morning for Cincinnati, we decided to stay and try our luck. After all, there were lots of people in the water. Within 10 minutes, all of us were stung except for Matthew. We had to stand in line to get the medicine put on our stings. The man spoke the truth. It hurt! I decided this would be a good time to teach the children about "making lemonade out of lemons." We got stung and could not back into the water for an hour. However, we could walk completely around the island in less than an hour. It was truly gorgeous. We also got to see some items left over from World War II, including 2 cannons. The water was very clear, so we then watched fish from the bridge and even saw 3 sharks!

Once the boat returned us to the shore, our van driver was there waiting. We were starving, so we actually went through the McDonald's drive-thru to get lunch!! Yes, we have managed to find McDonald's in almost every country we have visited. After eating our take out lunch at the hotel, we quickly headed to the pool. We played there, climbed the rock wall again, did archery, played mini-golf, played tennis, went back to the pool .... PIC is truly full service. I was amazed that they even had socks and sneakers that we could borrow in addition to the tennis rackets and balls! After our nightly happy hour smoothies and more pool time, we showered quickly and headed to dinner at the buffet. We caught the end of the evening show (put on by the Club Mates) and then went to the pool bar for karaoke. I think the kids got a kick out of watching Mom and Dad sing! Jessica and I also did a duet. Then, we called it a night.

To note, PIC "Club Mates" are young adults who are stationed at each of the activities to teach and oversee, but also to get to know you and make sure you have fun. By day 2, most of the club mates were calling us by name. Also, the guys would jump into the pool and play basketball or soccer with the boys if they saw my guys alone in the pool. The club mates really made this vacation even better.

Phillip left at 4:30am on Sunday morning to start his journey to Cincinnati for meetings. The kids and I watched a little college football (on the one ESPN station we could get) before going to breakfast and hitting the pool. I was able to get wi-fi and watch part of the Alabama-Tennessee game sitting by the pool. Nice. We hung out all day making our way to all the activities again, but we spent most of our time at the pool and on the slides. We also went sailing and snorkeling off the beach that afternoon. We ended our day with smoothies, buffet dinner, club mate show, and of course, closing down the pool.

On Monday morning, our friends the McCarys and Neelys arrived. Once they made it to the pool, I found myself going down the water slide alone. Hey, what happened to my play mates?

With Phillip gone, it was especially nice to have friends there. We introduced our friends to happy hour smoothies, and then headed into town to Tony Roma's for dinner with the McCarys. Interestingly, we were able to take 2 cabs to the Duty Free Shops mall for free. We just had to go inside the mall, sign in, and get a shopping card. The mall was full of very expensive shops, like Prada, Chanel, etc.... so we walked right on through the next set of doors! We walked about 2 blocks to the restaurant and enjoyed yummy ribs! Then, we just grabbed a bus back to our hotel. Of course, the Maloneys put on bathing suits and played in the pool until 10pm closing time!

Tuesday and Wednesday were much the same with fantastic activities all day, happy hour smoothies, buffet dinners, and closing down the pool. On Wednesday night, the club mates did their Polynesian show, which was fantastic. At the end, they had a dance contest. Yes, 3 of the 4 Maloneys participated...Jessica... Matthew... and MOM! Jacob enjoyed taking pictures. (Note pictures below are only of the two best Maloney dancers!)

We closed out our last night at PIC by singing Bruno Mars songs at the pool bar with our favorite club mate, Dee.

Matthew climbed the rock wall every day. I bet he climbed it 40 times in 6 days. There are 4 levels, and of course, Matthew mostly enjoyed level 4. All the club mates knew him, so they did even require an adult there when he came over to climb!

We spent some time at the pool Thursday (10/27) morning before showers and cab to the airport. We flew back through Guam where we had Domino's pizza for dinner. Once again, our family had an entire row on the airplane. While our flight landed a little early, we just missed the bus to Rokko Island, so we had to wait about 50 minutes for the next one.

It was nice to be home. We absolutely loved Saipan, and especially the Pacific Islands Club. We just wish Phillip could have been there with us the entire week. We are so thankful to have had friends with us to share our week's adventures.

Peace and Love,

Tina

Fall update - September and October 2011

The family settled back into life in Japan very easily. It was wonderful to see friends again and catch up on summer activities. Friday nights are family favorites because we meet outside Macsy’s restaurant to eat, drink, talk, and watch the children run around river mall. The weather in August and September has been very hot, but so was summer in Cincinnati! Early October brought lovely fall weather – cool breezes and bright sunshine.

First Day of School August 18, 2011

Jessica has gotten off to a great start in 2nd grade. Her teacher, Ms. Vos, has left to adopt a 4 year old girl from Russia. Ms. Vos has been waiting for this little girl for 3 years! We were told that a US citizen sent an adopted child back to Russia on an airplane a few years ago. Net, it is harder for US citizens to adopt from there. I cannot imagine having to wait so long! So, Jess has a long term sub (Ms. Ramani) until January. Jessica continues to do a great job reading and is also working on lots of math. She actually tested into Japanese “B” class for her language class. Only 2 kids in 2nd grade made it! She loves to chat in Japanese with people. I suppose this is a good thing since we live in Japan, and she has good friends who are Japanese. Jessica goes to soccer clinic on Mondays with her friend Alex (whose mother is from Japan and father is from England). Alex helps Jess if she does not quite understand what the coach is saying. Jess has piano and gymnastics on Tuesdays. She goes to gymnastics with her friend Isabella (whose mother is from Brazil and father is from New Zealand). When the coaches asked them if they spoke Japanese, they both said, “chotto”, which means “a little”. At least they have each other!

Jessica and her friend Alex

Jessica and the biggest stuffed bear ever!

Matthew has found that 5th grade is pretty tough. The 5th grade teachers have said that their goal is to prepare these kids for middle school, and they are certainly pushing them hard. Matthew spends hours on homework, including on the weekends. However, I have already seen improvement in his writing skills in just 7 weeks. Amazing. Matthew has piano on Tuesdays, and soccer clinics on Wednesday and Thursday. He continues with rugby on Sundays. He has only had one tournament this fall so far. He played in 3 games and had 3 tries (scores)! Interestingly, he played against a team from Sydney, Australia. They were pretty surprised to see a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy on a Japanese team! After Matthew scored one time, a few of the Australian boys yelled, “It’s the American!”

Matthew with some of the Australians

Jacob has a busy schedule in 8th grade. He is in the 8+ math class and loves it. He decided this year to take Spanish instead of Japanese in anticipation of needing Spanish in the US when we return. His class is small, and his teacher is really fun. All MS and HS students here are required to take design technology, which combines a bit of math, computer science, and architecture. Very cool. His extra curricular activities keep him busy, too. He has middle school play practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school. Then, he has had baseball practice on Tuesday and Thursday after school. Young Life events alternate weeks on Thursdays and Fridays. Of course, all games are on Saturdays. The CA baseball team did great this year, losing only one game (in the tournament). Jacob hurt his shoulder in the first game of the season and didn’t get to pitch for a couple of weeks. The doctor had him come back slowly to finally pitch a few innings during the tournament. He did get to play at first base and at shortstop throughout the season. The team won the league tournament in the last inning of the final game. It was so exciting! What a great way to end MS baseball. Now … on to basketball!

Canadian Academy Falcons - 2011 tournament Champs!

Phillip has travelled a ton. But, he has somehow managed to help coach baseball. This was a thrill for him. Now, he has been asked to be head coach of the MS basketball team! This will require some scheduling changes for work, but he is going to make it happen. He is very excited about coaching the boys.

I have been substitute teaching in middle school and high school PE classes. This has been great for me as it allowed me to get to know a lot of these young men and women. (I tried very hard not to embarrass Jacob.) I am not taking Japanese language lessons anymore. However, there are 2 lovely Japanese ladies who come to my apartment about twice per month to speak English! We just talk about children, school, vacation, .... anything! It is fun for all of us. I have also been spending a lot of time at the gym and in the pool. We have such a great fitness center here, so I decided that I need to take advantage of it!

Fall break is approaching. We are headed to Saipan on October 20!

Peace and Love,

Tina

Singapore August 4-10, 2011

On Thursday morning, August 4, the children and I loaded the bus to return to Kansai airport. We checked in and went for noodles, of course! Yes, noodles are served any time, day or night. We boarded Singapore Airlines and started our journey to Singapore to meet Phillip. This airline, much like Thai Air, is just terrific, even for those of us in economy class. The flight attendants are polite. They serve you food, drinks, and help you with your TV monitor. The flight was pleasant, and we arrived in Singapore without issue. We got Singapore dollars from an ATM and headed out for a cab. We only had 2 big bags, but they would not fit in a regular cab. Bummer. Oh, actually, who cares? We had to take the Limosine taxi service! While Singapore is very expensive for many things, cabs are not one of them. It was only a few dollars more for the limo cab.

We arrived at the St. Regis hotel around 5:30pm. Wow! Phillip had left a key for us at registration so we headed on up to the room. Phillip joined us shortly after. We called the butler to bring hot chocolate and cookies for Jacob, Matthew, and Jessica, while Phillip and I went downstairs for the wine tasting with cheese and crackers. Nice! Then, we just walked around a little bit and grabbed pizza. Oh yes, I did say "butler"! We ordered hot chocolates, lattes, apples, and cookies every day. One night, we arrived to our room to find that the butler had already dropped off apples for the kids with a note! The service at the hotel was first class from the butler to the cleaning staff to the concierge...everyone...and no tips! Oh, and every bathtub should have a TV! This is by far my favorite hotel ever. Fortunately, Phillip was there for meetings, so we were able to stay in one room at a Corporate rate!

Phillip had to work on Friday. I had actually been suffering from an infection since Monday, and the antibiotics were not helping. The concierge told me about a doctor's clinic in the building right next to the hotel. The doctor changed my medicine and then I went back to hotel to take the kids to the pool. However, I just kept getting worse. I was in so much pain that I was in tears. So, I called the doctor. Ten minutes later, he called me back and had ordered a van to take me for an ultrasound. He was worried about kidney stones or some type of growth in bladder or kidney. The van took me over. I had the tests and waited for results. The van drove me back to the doctor's office, free of charge. The results looked normal, so the doctor put me on 2 antibiotics at the same time. I could not have asked for better care. While I was gone, the kids had walked to McDonalds for lunch and then back to hotel to play and watch TV. I called a couple of times to check on them. I truly had nothing to worry about. Singapore is such a safe country. The laws are very strict, so the crime rate is almost zero. Phillip made it home around 6:30pm, so we just walked to Tony Roma's for dinner. Matthew was especially thrilled about the ribs.

On Saturday, we went to Little India to meet one of Phillip's colleagues. We went to a 75,000 square foot store called Mustafa Centre. It had everything. Unbelievable. After lunch at an Indian restaurant (of course), we headed back to the hotel for a while before taking a cab to the Night Safari. This was simply awesome. We walked around for a while and then took half of the tram tour. We saw the Creatures of the Night show, and then decided to take the full tram tour. We are so glad we did as we saw some different animals, and the animals were actually doing different things this time. We were quite curious about why the adult female elephants were swaying by the sleeping baby elephant. Then, around the corner, we saw the adult male elephant swaying in the same way! We were also amazed by how close these animals came to the tram. At one point, Matthew leaned in on me because a mother tapier was right by his leg!

We woke up on Sunday to pouring rain, so we decided to enjoy the hotel for a while. We went to the fitness center and played tennis as a family. Then, after showers, the weather cleared up. We took a cab to One Raffles Place. We started at the sports bar on the 60th floor. The Maloneys can find a sports bar in any country! We played golf, watched soccer, and enjoyed the view. We headed up to the 62nd floor rooftop when it opened at 6pm. The view was spectacular. We just had a couple of drinks and walked around enjoying the view and conversation. Then, we had dinner and headed back to the hotel.

We spent the day Monday on Sentosa Island. We rode the segway, skylift, luge, and zip line. We also enjoyed the Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom, as well as Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon. This was so much fun. The bummer was that everything was an individual price, and for us, this is times 5 people. This adds up pretty quickly. However, this is a lovely place to spend the day.

Before dinner, we stopped at a fish reflexology place. This was wild! There were small, medium, and big fish. At first, it tickled so much that we all laughed out loud. This was a cool experience.

On Tuesday, we played at the hotel before heading out to the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is next door to the Night Safari. We are zoo people, and this one did not disappoint. I think our favorite animals were the orangutangs. They were so playful and fun to watch. We were again amazed at how close we were to all the animals. Matthew and Jessica enjoyed the water park at the zoo, and then we went back to enjoy the hotel pool one last time.

We ended our evening enjoying a Singapore Sling cocktail with dinner to celebrate the country's national holiday. We took a cab to the airport and hung out until our 1:20am flight. Matthew fell asleep in the waiting area and does not even remember walking on to the plane! We arrived at Kansai, caught the bus, and then entered our apartment about 11:30am on August 10... we were home as a family again at last.

What an exhausting and amazing summer!

Peace and Love,

Tina

A brief return to Japan August 1-3, 2011

Our family arrived back in Japan on August 1. Phillip helped us get our luggage out to wait for the bus. However, then we said goodbye to Dad again as he stayed at Kansai airport to fly to Singapore for meetings. It was nice to get home to sleep in our own beds for the first time since June 8. However, we did all get up at 4am on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! It was also nice for me to be able to put clothes away in our own closets. Ahh, the little things in life.

On Tuesday, I was busy unpacking, doing laundry, paying bills, etc. The kids went down to River Mall to play. After about only 20 minutes, they were back in our apartment, and Matthew's leg was bleeding like crazy. I got him in the shower to clean off so that I could assess the injuries. I called our nurse friend, Mary Gail, to come take a look. We agreed that he would need stitches. Then, the craziness really began. I asked our front reception to call the local hospital to see if a doctor was on call to do the stitches. After about 20 minutes of questions and translations, I was finally told that they had 2 emergencies so I would need to wait a long time. Also, I should bring someone who speaks Japanese. Great. So, then front reception tried 3 other hospitals to find one available. Mary Gail drove us over. A Japanese man met us at the door and directed us to the waiting area. I filled out some paperwork, and then we went in to the exam room. The young doctor spoke some English and consulted his iphone to help with the words "local anesthesia". The older doctor who came in spoke good English and consulted to determine which injuries needed stitches. Matthew ended up getting 4 stitches on his leg (2 on each side of his knee) and then 4 stitches in the arch of his foot. The shots were awful. You could hear Matthew screaming all over the hospital. He absolutely broke my heart! After that, the stitches were easy.

The administration staff was gone, so they asked me to leave 20,000 yen that night and to return the next day to settle up with the exact amount. Funny. So, friends took us back over the next day for the doctor to check, clean, and re-bandage the wounds. Matthew got a tetanus shot, and then I "settled" the bill. One of the nurses spoke English, and our friend who drove us is Japanese so the language barrier was much better.

I am so thankful that the injuries were on the leg and not the face or head. While I really do enjoy living in Japan, it still scares me to think about facing a true emergency.

Matthew began healing, and I started packing. Thursday - off to Singapore!

Peace and Love,

Tina

2011 Summer home leave Part 2

More fun in the USA - July & August 2011

Phillip came back to Cincinnati on July 1 for 6 days. Our dear friends, The Mays, came to visit us from Clemson. We had such a great time. The highlight of that visit was a night at Kings Island. We got to stay until midnight! They left on Tuesday, and then Grandma arrived on Wednesday for a week. Grandma's visits are always special. We also got to spend an evening with Jeff, Annie, Bradley, Brian, and Kevin Lewis.

Matthew and Jessica both made swim champs in all 3 of their individual events. Matthew – 25 Free, 25 Fly, 100 IM; Jessica – 25 free, 25 breast, and 25 back. They got to swim in both team relays as well. These were 2 very long days, but very exciting. Grandma was with us to enjoy and be proud! During the swim meet, Jacob pitched a complete game to beat Deer Park in the baseball playoffs. Huge victory! I had a friend texting me the entire game. It is tough not to be in 2 places at once.

We finished the swim season with the annual swim awards banquet. This one was sad as Coach Soozie officially announced her retirement. Soozie taught all 3 of my kids to swim, but more importantly, she taught them to always give their best effort. Rather than to concentrate on winning, she encouraged them to concentrate on getting better as an individuals. The coaches awarded Matthew the 10 & under "coaches award" for always working hard, offering to help in any way, and always be so positive and smiling. Coach Soozie surprised us as well by presenting me with a basket of Cincinnati goodies. She thanked us for coming home to swim this summer. Finally, a 10 year old girl, Kennedy, gave Matthew the "Tony the Tiger Shark" award. This is handed down each year by the previous year's recipient. Kennedy said, "I thought about it, and asked all my friends. We all agreed to give this award to Matthew because he is always cheering all of us on." I had big tears once again. It was a very emotional night. I was very proud, sad, and happy.

On Friday, we moved out of Martha’s place and watched Jacob's team win the semi-final game. His friend Alex pitched a great game, but when his elbow hurt, Jacob came in to close out the final inning. We stayed with our friends, the Powers, for one night (summer stop #8). Val and I stayed up talking until 2am. The hours went by quickly. Then, we had one more night at the rental house. The AC did not work, so we pulled the mattresses together in the family room and borrowed some fans. It was a little bit like camping – just the four of us. Friends offered us their homes, but with Jacob leaving on Sunday for a service trip, I wanted to have some time just the kids and me.

On Sunday, July 17, we moved over to the Bortz’s beautiful home for our final week in Cincinnati. (Summer stop #9). Jacob’s baseball team lost in the regional championship on Sunday. While disappointing, I think this was an amazing accomplishment given the number of players out for vacation, as well as a pitcher injuries.

Jacob left that night for the Son Rise Mission trip to New Orleans. His bus broke down on the way home, so he arrived about 20 hours later than expected the following Saturday. However, he had an amazing week of devotion, prayer, friendship, and service. We are thankful for this opportunity. While he was gone, Matthew, Jessica, and I had a fun week of visiting with friends, playing, and shopping.

June and July were a whirlwind of activity – swim meets, sleepovers, baseball games, sleepovers, gymnastics, sleepovers, doctor visits, sleepovers! I did not actually sleep for a few weeks. I think it was a combination of jet lag and adrenaline.

On Tuesday, July 26, the time had come to say goodbye once more. There were definitely some tears, but this summer, it was a little easier. We know that time goes quickly and that our friends will still be here next summer. We also now know what to expect in Japan – our friends, our apartment, our school. The tough question, though, was … would all of our luggage fit in the rental Traverse??? Our bags doubled while shopping in the US! We were able to squeeze the bags in and drove to St. Louis to stay with Joe, Linda, Patrick, Daniel, and Grandma for one evening. (Summer stop #10). It was nice to get to celebrate Patricks’ 21st birthday!

We left early on Wednesday morning to fly from St. Louis to Minneapolis to Seattle where we met Dad. He rented a truck so that our luggage would fit! We were very excited to finally get to visit our good friends the Montgomerys. (Summer stop #11). They moved from Cincinnati to Seattle 5 years ago. We joked that our family had to move to Japan to get to visit in Seattle. What a beautiful city! We saw several lakes and mountains, including Mount Ranier, and lovely water falls. We went up in the Space Needle, had fish and chips, took a ferry ride, and walked around Pike’s Place. We were also happy to be at Safeco Field to cheer the Mariners to victory. More importantly, we got to spend time with friends. Paul and Tricia are wonderful friends and wonderful hosts. Our children got along great and had a fun visit. We spent 7 weeks and 5 days in the US, and this was the perfect way to complete our summer adventures.

We will be forever grateful to all of our family and friends who helped to make the summer such a memorable one.

Peace and Love,

Tina