Seaglass Adventures

For Christmas, Kelly specifically asked for some seaglass. So, Olivia and I just HAD to go to the beach and hunt some down for her. I know, it's hard work, but you got to do what you got to do! I decided to take a trip to Torii Station, it is a nearby Army Base with a beach. I decided to just take the map and go, without detailed directions. Needless to say, Olivia and I had fun, but we made it there and we were pretty proud of ourselves. Here was our journey.

View driving along


Before we got to Torii, I took a turn thinking it would bring me to a beach, but it didn't look like a public beach, so I took some pictures and then turned around and headed to Torii.

These were along the road that I took to try to get to the beach...Not sure if they are Emus or Ostriches?

Torii Beach

Note: Strollers aren't that great in the sand...

Love this one!

Hurry find some treasures before the sunsets!

My prized purple seaglass ball...I kept it for myself...hehehe

Ta Da - The finished product!

Guess who is 8 Months?

Olivia is 8 months old today! She is getting to be such a big girl. Still no crawling, but she creeps around. She spins around on her bottom when she is sitting up and when she is on her tummy she goes backwards. If she is sitting up and sees something she wants, she lunges (or flies), to get to whatever it is. She hasn't yet figured out how to sit up from completely laying down. But if she is elevated in anyway she can pull herself up. And she reaches for everything! Tablecloth, tray that is on the coffee table, glass full of soda, anything she can get her little hands on, she definitely tries! She is learning to wave and clap her hands. She is a big fan of the "Friends" theme song. Here is the monthly progress pictures!

"Pay no attention to my rolls..."

"Here Mommy, I'll hold it for you."

"Mmmm, this 8 is yummy!" (Don't leave her alone with the sign)

Christmas Day 2008

Look Santa came!

And he filled the stockings, even Jill's!

Olivia opening her stocking...She got a sippy cup!

Jill is amazed she actually got presents this year! The last couple years, we kinda forgot about her.

"This one has my name on it!" She took off under the bed with it!

"You guys are actually going to let me tear this?"

Ready to open all the presents!

Patiently waiting for a treat from her stocking, they were called "Great Dane-ishes."

This is how the present ended up in the box after shipping...hmm, I wonder what it is?

Yikes! There is an arm sticking out of this one!

Olivia got really good at opening the gifts!

Its an "Olivia the Pig" book!

She really likes this piano from Santa:

Our new NY Football Giants shopping bags, so we can be green!

Budweiser + Giants = Best thing ever

Trying out her hats from Grandma:

"This is all making me very sleepy..."

Opening a big one!

It's a car!

Mommy got a new camera!

Tired out from all the presents...taking a break, she still has some to open in the background!

Up, and ready for the biggest one!

A rocking horse! She looks very interested in it!

Testing out the car...

Trying to snap. We are at Craig and Jennifer's that is Michi their little dog.

Olivia's First Christmas!

Well Santa must have decided that Olivia was "sweet as pie" this year because he stopped at our house and left lots of presents for the baby. On Christmas Eve, we tracked Santa with NoradSanta.org. We were excited to see that he was going to make it all the way to Okinawa! I bet he felt like he was in a heat wave, coming here from the North Pole. Here are some pictures of decorating, the Children's Christmas Party, and such!

Olivia's First Ornament from Daddy:

Trimming the tree:

Daddy put the star up:

Pretty Tree:

Our outside Decor:

Mommy's Favorite:

Daddy's Favorite:

Olivia's Santa bib from Aunt Bonnie:

Santa came to the USO for the children's Christmas Party! He called Olivia's name and had a gift for her from his sack! Olivia wore her "little black dress" for the event. She didn't even cry about sitting on his lap.

Hmmm...that isn't how you unwrap presents baby...

This is Olivia with Craig and his girls Michaela and Maddie. They were our sponsors when we first got here. Olivia loves Craig. He doesn't usually have the mustache, they were having a silly mustache competition at work...

Olivia got a book from Santa!

Ok, now she isn't so sure about him:

Olivia was helping mommy wrap daddy's present:

Hello Stranger

I know, I know, I have been neglecting the blog. Its been almost a month since I have posted. I am very sorry. But I have a good excuse. We have all been sick. The week of Christmas we each took a trip to the ER. That's right, poor baby girl was sick on her first Christmas. She had pink eye, fever, and a double ear infection, complete with runny nose and all. We just couldn't keep her fever down, until our second trip to the ER and were given antibiotics. We had to go to the ER because apparently the week of Christmas, everything on Kadena closes, including the med group! I, myself, got strep...again. And Mike had his choking issues that finally led him to the ER due to bad chest pain after a choking incident (I promise I didn't try to poison him). This has now turned into having to make an appointment with the Gastro-whatever, later in the month. Fingers crossed that he hasn't messed up his throat too bad, waiting this long to get it looked at. So with all that commotion, and regular stress of Christmas, shopping and trying to mail presents out before the deadline...pictures were far from my mind. Slowly but surely things are calming down. Everyone is feeling better (knock on wood)!
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So, I have been trying to upload pictures for the last hour. Now that I am ready, my internet is being too slow. It is now Midnight my time, so I give up and I am going to bed. I will try again tomorrow. So please Stay Tuned!!