13...that is the place that my team got at our tournament in Reno, that is out of 193 teams I might add. It was amazing and we had tons of fun. We were 1 game from being in the top 8 but we just didn't have enough umph to pull it through. The girls played great and we had a lot of comments about how it is nice to see that Idaho can play volleyball. We placed the highest out of all of the Idaho teams that went to Reno which covered 16, 17, and 18s teams.

7...days ago Peter took his PE exam. It went really well according to him. He says that he would be surprised if he were to not pass. We are so glad it is over and so happy to have him home more often, even though he is now having to be out of town one night a week for a project up in Bellevue, ID.

8...days until our last tourney for club. It is exciting to have it all come to a close. We are hoping to pull out a win and take the entire championship as a 16s team in an 18s division. We will see.

16...days until the first grass tourney of the summer. I am so excited to be able to start it up again. I love playing grass volleyball and I am playing with Heather, the girl I coach with at Caldwell. We should kick some major butt!

58...days until Lake Almanor. We are so excited and I am busy trying to get things ready for it. I will be sending an email out soon as to the assignments for bedrooms, prep/cleanup of meals, and cleaning of the house. If you all could let me know when you are planning on arriving and leaving so that I can adjust things, that would be great. Any requests as to activities you would like to do would be appreciated as well, I am trying to make up a plan for that as well.

Well that is all the numbers for now. Everyone is well and the boys are growing daily. We love you all and can't wait to see everyone at the lake.

Highlights from the last few weeks! First off, one Sunday afternoon when Tom was busy with meetings I took the kids for a walk and we enjoyed some fun and picnic in a nearby area we call "Habu Canyon."



HAYDEN scored his first goal in his soccer game on Saturday! He is usually the goalie so this was one of his rare opportunities and he was awesome! The team has only scored a handful of goals all season (you know how those little 5-6 year old teams are.) We are really proud of him and he is loving soccer and wants to practice all the time!
DANICA got her haircut and sat so nicely in the chair like a big girl. She was very serious and wouldn’t smile for the pictures (she was too focused) but then she would flash me a shy smile. She was even willing to tell the woman “Arigato” and gave her some yen as a tip. (This is a big step for the child who previously wouldn’t talk to adults she knew, let alone strangers! Also, you don’t actually tip in Japan,however, the salon is on base where it is still customary to tip even though the employees are local Japanese women.)
ALYSSA gets excited to see her sister every time she wakes up and runs around pointing and saying “Danica.” She has a best friend, a little boy named Oliver and they follow each other everywhere playing together nicely and pointing and calling out each other’s name in excitement. Today she was walking up the stairs at the park and I heard her counting each stair, she only got to three but I was impressed!

TOM and I had a phenomenal experience last week. Elder David A. Bednar came to speak to our district! He is in Asia visiting branches and missions and we were fortunate enough to get him and his wife for an evening. Along with him was the Area Authority of the 70 with his wife and the mission president and his wife. It was from 7-9 so we got a babysitter and went to listen without distractions. (That alone was a treat!) Elder Bednar opened the meeting to a question session and let people ask him things they have always wanted to know about General Authorities or about the church. We learned a lot, the spirit was strong and it was great having him so close and so candid.

TOM recently did his fitness test for the Navy and was able to max out on everything, running, push-ups and sit-ups. He wouldn’t tell you all this but I am really proud of him and his perfect 300! After the test his clinic had a work retreat and went to the Forest Adventure Park and enjoyed the zip-lines and fun! Check out the ocean view you get while soaring down the sip line!


TRACEY (me) turned 30!!!! I figure I’m still young enough to admit my age. I had a fantastic birthday and was truly spoiled by my friends and family. I slept in and woke up to Hayden saying “Happy Birthday!” After taking him to school I dropped the girls off at my friend Joy’s house and had the morning all to myself! It was beautiful weather so I went for a long run (10 miles), showered with no one bugging me and then did a little shopping. I decided I wanted to go out to lunch and didn’t want to go alone so I picked Hayden up from school and he was my lunch date! We had a great time together. Then I picked up the girls and we had nap time and such. Then at 5:00 I took all the kids to my friend Tatyana’s house and she took them for a picnic dinner and soccer practice while Tom and I went out to dinner! I chose to go to Kabaab’s an Indian Restaurant. They have this chicken karma that I just love! It’s a white curry and is delicious. It’s ironic it took moving to Japan to get me to like Indian food, but hey, when you can’t pick Olive Garden or Red Robin you have to go somewhere! After dinner we picked up the kids and enjoyed a nice Key Lime Pie with candles as my cake, it was great! Then we watched American Idol and put the kids to bed. It was a fantastic birthday! I decided that some things really do get better with time. My 20th birthday was miserable!!! I was home from BYU for the spring/summer semester living with my parents, I had a lousy job, no friends nearby and my boyfriend was in Jerusalem for the semester. My journal doesn’t even mention the fact that is was my birthday, it just talks about being depressed! And to top it off, I am quite certain I could not have run 10 miles back then, especially not “just for fun!” Hooray for being 30!!!

FAMILY Camping! Last weekend we went on the branch camp out and slept in a tent with the whole family for the first time. I can’t say the sleeping was great but the trip was a blast! It’s called Okuma and is a resort run by the Air Force. It’s right on the beach, has a playground, mini-golf, bikes, go-carts, and my personal favorite Wave Runners!!! This was a fantastic weekend. I think Hayden’s favorite part was the s’mores, he was a master marshmallow roaster!

Thanks everyone! I had a great day, I"ll hopefully get around to posting details tonight!

Actually, I tried to call early this morning on the way to the temple and got Hayden's cute greeting! That way I could have said Happy Birthday on the actual day. It really is tough keeping that dateline in mind.


We hope it was a great day for you! It will be fun when you are here and we can have a live get-together! We are so glad that you and Tom got together so we got you into our family.

Love,
Barb and Kenn (alias Mom and Dad, AKA Grandma Barb and Papa)

Tracey is everything I could have ever dreamed of in a mother for my children, a wife, a running partner, and a friend. We love you...

You are an amazing mom, a fun sister-in-law, a fast runner, a good friend, an awesome aunt, a genuine person, and we hope you have a great birthday!

Love, Dave, Adina, Isaac, Taylor, Parker & Morgan

(probably should have posted this yesterday - sorry)

Holidays are meant for family and when you don’t have any nearby (or even in this hemisphere) you have to find a temporary family. We have been tremendously blessed to form a group of friends here we lovingly call our “Okinawa family.” We can count on them for anything, the kids run wild like they are cousins and we truly have a great time when we get together. The group is large, as a good family should be, and we love it. Last week we had the first family move away, it was sad but we are excited for them and their new adventure. We all enjoyed a fun Easter gathering before they left. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together after church, broke up for nap time and then the kids had a good time searching for eggs. I long for the days when we can go to grandma’s house on Easter but in the meantime, I am thankful we could go to the Ball’s and the Peterson’s.
The Group, our Oki FamilyAlyssa was so excited to run around finding eggs!
Yes, that is her Easter basket on her head.

The week before Easter was spring break and we had tons of fun exploring the island while Hayden was home from the school.
Monday was rainy so we went to the indoor Discovery Museum at the zoo. I think the kids could stay their all day exploring and playing with everything oblivious to the fact that everything was in Japanese.
Above: this display really made you feel small, Hayden is making a face to pretend he's a mouse. Below: this was Alyssa's favorite attraction. You dip the cup in the water and pick up these digital images floating on the water, Japanese characters, and once they are "in" your cup they turn into the object the character stands for like an animal. It was amazing and Alyssa would just say "wow!" and get so excited! I don't know how it worked!

Above: Hayden's favorite thing was this center where you made a design with the blocks in a little box, then you put the box in the drawer of the tower behind Hayden. When you close the drawer a video of the tower appears on the screen on the wall, in the video the drawer opens and your design comes to life and moves around the screen. He could have done it all day. Below: they had a fun toddler climbing and playing area.

Tuesday we went to a place called Bios on Hill, it was a beautiful garden area with farm animals to feed, unique slides and climbing areas, stilts to walk on, grounds to explore and a boat ride to look at lilies and other plants and water buffalo.
It was all very enjoyable except for the drama on the boat ride when one of Hayden’s friends dropped Hayden’s lego Star Wars character into the water and Hayden started screaming. I couldn’t quite reach the toy without climbing off the side of the boat and I had taken my friends three small children with me that day because she just had a baby and her husband is deployed so I was already struggling to keep them from jumping off the boat. To say I had my hands full is an understatement. It was only possible because I had help from some of the other friends who had come to the gardens. Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to get the toy as Hayden is wailing and I try to talk to the guy driving the boat but he speaks no English and I speak no Japanese. I try to ask if I can climb off and get it he says something that makes me think he means no and he begins to move the boat away...yes it was just a toy, but to Hayden is was so much more and I still get a sick feeling watching us drive away from it while I was frantically thinking of what I should have done...needless to say, we survived the day, luckily no children were left floating in the river (given that I had taken 6 children, 5 of which were 4 and under, that says a lot) and after spending way too much on an Ebay auction and we managed to replace the precious Star Wars guy, so all is well.4 of the 6 kids, with Alicia, our most beloved babysitter. My girls adore her and she was nice enough to hold Alyssa on the boat while I held the other little toddler. We've never before had a regular babysitter and it's great. I look for excuses to hire her to watch the kids. Hooray for Alicia!
Wednesday Hayden was supposed to have golf lessons all day at the local course but it was cancelled due to rain. So instead we had over two of his best friends from church that were moving soon. They had a blast playing together all day.
Thursday we went to our favorite beach, Maeda Flatts and enjoyed a day of digging and exploring. It ended up raining and we got a bit cold but still had a fun morning. That afternoon we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the theater. It was the first time I have taken the kids to a movie since Danica was 2 weeks old. Hayden has been and Danica was so cute about it, on the way she turned to Hayden in the car and asked very seriously “Hayden, is the movie theater far away?” It’s right next to the Exchange, post office and the food court that we go to nearly every day. We walked in and she said “Mom, what is that smell?” The popcorn. During the previews she kept turning to me and saying “This isn’t the movie, mom.” She enjoyed her trip to the theater, Hayden loved the movie and I learned that having Alyssa skip her nap in hopes that she’ll fall asleep during the movie doesn’t work, she was so wiggly and crazy I missed half the movie...we won’t do it again until she’s older... and by then there will be another wiggly little baby... hmmm... I suppose that is why I didn’t go to movies much as a kid either!
Friday we left on our trip to IE Island and the half marathon that I already wrote about. It was a really fun spring break and it was hard to have Hayden go back to school and go back to our mundane routine... :)