Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a very nice Christmas, although it was very quiet. Santa was able to find us here in Japan and he was very good to all of us. Santa brought us new cameras - a fancy one for Rob and I, a fun digital one for Della, and a little toy one for Morgan. They were all a big hit. Della also got a Tinkerbell doll and a Buzz Lightyear toy. Morgan got a race car walker and a crazy crawler ball. It was so much fun watching them open gifts and playing together all day.

We did spend Christmas Eve and Christmas night with our new friends, the Cokers, who have children the same ages as Della and Morgan. It was really nice to have some friends to share the holiday with. We also spent Friday after Thanksgiving with the Cokers at Tokyo Disney, so they have become good friends of ours. The kids always have a lot of fun together, so it's great hanging out with them.

Rob has been working crazy hours with a ridiculous schedule. There is no consistency whatsoever. He works 24 hour shifts and night shifts that are about 14 hours. They just extended the night shift to an 18 hour shift. It's rough and no fun for anyone. Between his schedule and all of us being sick on and off for weeks now, sleep remains something to be sought after. I really don't know how Rob can continue to provide competent patient care under these conditions!!! I can't even remember to close the van trunk after I've unloaded the groceries!

Fortunately, Rob did not get picked up for deployment this time around, so (if the Air Force plays by the rules) he'll be home for a year or more. We wish this were true for all of our close friends who are currently deployed or up for deployment this year. We are thinking of you. Now that we know Rob will be home for awhile, please come and visit! We'd love to have company.


I took a very part time job teaching English at a school off base.  I really enjoy it and I'm learning more about Japanese culture and the language from my students - a real win win.  I hope it continues to work out. Here's the link to the website if anyone wants to check it out: http://www.excel-eng.com/

Lastly, Della's finally made her big modeling debut! The Combi website and catalogue feature several pictures of her. We were so excited to finally see them. We are going to try to get a few hard copies of the catalogue. There is a store here that has them, so we'll try to get as many as we can. Check out the website-it is a little tricky because it is mostly in  Japanese. Della is in the turquoise catalogue that has a long haired boy on the cover who is wearing a hat, grey pants and jacket, and a yellow shirt. Just click around on the website and hopefully you will find all of her photos. She has been asked to audition for the next shoot sometime in January. Hopefully she'll be selected to do it again- even though it was a huge undertaking, seeing her pictures made it so worth it!
Here is the link: http://combimini.jp/

I just took Morgan to an audition for a Pfizer ad. She is in the finals, so hopefully she'll be chosen for the job. It would be fun to have a little keepsake for her, too. She's been crawling for a few weeks now, so it is a whole new world for her. She's so cute and as busy as can be. She also just learned to clap and she does it when she gets really excited- so fun!

So, that's our update. Sorry it has taken so long! We miss home everyday and hope to make a trip back to the states this spring or summer. Sayonara for now!