Christmas has come and gone for the third and final year for us here in Japan. It is official. The tree is bare again, the presents are scattered throughout the house - and I do mean throughout - and we are eating Christmas dinner leftovers. It feels great!
First of all - thanks to all of you for your wonderful gifts! Tom & Tracey - the kids loved their stuff! Parker wore his BYU jersey all day and wanted to sleep in it! He had such a great day - he kept saying, "This is so excited!"
In the news...Morgan is potty-trained! Hip, Hip, Hooray! This is the first time in 9 years that we haven't had a child in diapers! She just caught on this last week and has run with it. She even stays dry at night. It's fabulous. In other news, we are planning our trip home in a few weeks. Our plan is to fly to Seattle on the 21st of January. The kids and I will recover from jet lag, then drive down to Fremont til the 2nd. Dave has a "working interview" that week at a practice in Vancouver that the dentist wants him to purchase. He will join us in Fremont after that and drive back to Vancouver with us, where we will be until the 10th or so of February. The main reason for the trip is to secure employment, but we sure are anxious to see family! We are really excited to come home for a while!
The kids are all doing well and growing fast. They are really enjoying Christmas vacation - and so am I. I spend so much time at that school, I should probably teach there. Isaac is a good student, has a lot of friends in the "neighborhood", and is always on the move. Taylor, on the other hand, is content to do a puzzle, play a game, or create a piece of art. Both doing well in school. Parker is a crack up - I think he will be some form of brute when he is older. He breathes like a bull - you can hear him across the room (which is ironic, because when he was born, they couldn't get him to breathe). And he reminds me of that kid on Charlie Brown that always has a whirlwind of mess right behind him - that's Parker. Morgan is very much into Dora the Explorer and is Parker's shadow. I'll say, let's go upstairs and get a book, and she'll say, "Is Parker coming?".
Dave is obviously preoccupied with separating from the Navy and getting into private practice. We are really trying to be smart about everything, without it consuming our thoughts, but that is proving difficult. I know he will make the right decision, so I don't stress so much. Other than that, life continues on. The New Year promises to be interesting, to say the least, and we are ready for the challenge. We sure have loved Japan - an experience we wouldn't trade for the world. Hope all is well with all of you and hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.
Adina