Juniper Walks

Juniper took an interest in walking this week and we thought the Grandparents might want to check out this action-packed video footage....

Winter Wonderland and Pottery Festival

Last weekend we joined a few other families and stirred up the Christmas spirit by enjoying a winter wonderland at the Southern Hills Ice Skating Center...

This weekend we shopped 'til we dropped at the annual Yomitan Pottery Festival...

Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-... That's All Folks

Thanksgiving: Oki Style

This year we joined some friends for an exciting Thanksgiving weekend at Okuma recreation area.

Thanksgiving Day:

The Thanksgiving day buffet at Okuma featured great company, great music, and OK food. In all fairness to the wonderful Japanese cooks, nothing quite compares to mama's home cookin' when it comes to Thanksgiving. The weather was great, so we ate outside on the terrace....

Friday:

The day after Thanksgiving it was windy. We enjoyed wave watching, park exploring, and a mock Thanksgiving leftovers meal. Yes, it is pretty sad that even though we didn't make anything for Thanksgiving day, we brought all the necessary items for a "leftovers" meal the next day....

Saturday:

The festivities for Saturday included, beachcombing, a visit to Hedo Point (northernmost point of the island), and banana boat rides...

A Special Thanks to Melfeldt for Sharing Some of Her Photos

THANKFUL

This Thanksgiving Holly and I are grateful for so many things including the opportunities life brings, wonderful friends, and this beautiful island we live on.

Punishers Soccer

Denver's soccer team the Punishers (aka Black Out Nation) just finished their soccer season this Saturday. Coaches Dan and Brady were awesome and made the practices and games lots-o-fun for the kids. Below are some pics from yesterday's backyard pre-game warm up as well as actual game time...

Tour de Okinawa

On Saturday, Holly participated in the Tour de Okinawa, which is a two-day biking event with about 20 separate races/rides. The weekend is filled with everything from professional road-bike races to a unicycling competition. Holly rode in the Yanbaru Century Ride which was a 189km (117 mile) course around the northern half of the island. There were about 600 participants in the Yanbaru ride. Holly's support crew consisted of a driver (Jason), a cheerleader (McCall) and a public relations specialist (Juniper). A fourth crew member (Denver) dropped out at the last minute due to important soccer and birthday party commitments...

Holly's Biker Buddies

About two months ago, Holly was lucky enough to find a few experienced road bikers to train with on Saturday rides. Some of them also participated in the same ride as Holly and they rode together. They are (listed from left to right) Frank, Shea, Brian, and Terry

Road Biking Is Not all Fun, Sweat and Spandex

Occasionally pain, blood and grease are also involved.

McCall Was Always There For Encouragement

Some Signs Were Also Translated into Engrish

Engrish is a term used to describe English that has been poorly translated from Japanese. The Tour de Okinawa was fraught with some beautiful Engrish. Fortunately, there have not been any reports of American participants being injured after the signs instructed them to "speed down" certain steep and curving hills. In case you are confused, the signs should have read "slow down."

The weather for the first half of the ride could be described as windy and rainy. The weather for the second half of the course was stronger wind and heavier rain. Some participants threw in the towel and quit early, but Holly was not thwarted. In fact, she was the first woman to finish. Great Job Holly!!! Click above for some sweet footage from the ride.

Beachcombing

Beachcombing was the activity of choicee this weekend. We stayed at the cabins at White Beach and spent Saturday exploring Ikei and Miyagi Islands...

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Our latest obsession is collecting sea glass (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_glass for more information). The picture above shows the bounty from Saturday's beachcombing.