Shurijo Castle

 During winter break, we went to see the Shurijo castle site. Most of it has been rebuilt after being destroyed numerous times due to war. The last time, was during the Battle of Okinawa during WWII. 

 I would have loved to have seen this when it was first built. The exact date of construction is unknown, but they do know that it was used as early as 1322. How crazy is that?

 Of course we have to take our shoes off inside. It's been fun learning some of the Japanese culture.

 This is a big courtyard in the middle of the castle and gates. I loved the stripes!

 This is a model of what it would have looked like with all the people during a ceremony of some sort. 

 Anderson thought he was being funny while I was trying to take a picture of him.

 

 He wasn't so happy when the ducks started coming around. He freaked out! Poor little guy.

On our way to the car, I wanted to take a couple pictures of some everyday things in Okinawa. The girls wearing a surgical mask is something you see ALL the time. Everywhere! They wear them to keep from spreading their own germs and from getting other's germs. 

 This a very typical house in Okinawa. Square and concrete. It is very rare for them to have a yard. Most of them have a gate around them and a teeny little spot for their car.

 I don't know if you can see them in the picture, but the dogs on either side of the gate are called shishi dogs. One has an open mouth to keep out evil, and the other has a closed mouth to keep good in. These are on every house, and almost every building.

This drink machine is also something you see all over the place. It doesn't matter where you are, you can almost always find one. 

We are starting to get used to things here. It is still so different, but we are glad to be here. We have almost been here for 6 months already. Sometimes I feel like we are just on a long vacation and that we don't really live here. I'm not sure when it will completely set in. Probably when it's time for us to move again!

Grandma Gorrell

I found out yesterday that my Grandma Gorrell passed away. She had a stroke a few months ago and hasn't been doing very well ever since. She was such a great lady. First of all, she was hilarious. She would get so fired up about certain topics (politics being one of them) and she would say some pretty funny things. She lived a modest life. She never had anything that was very expensive and drove the same car since I was little. I wish I could care so little about earthly possessions as she did. She was a master quilt maker. Everyone in my family has a least one Grandma Gorrell quilt. The last year my parents were on their mission, she made 9 quilts for my mom and dad to give to families there in New York and several more for other people. Plus she knitted over 60 scarves that same year and sent 30 to the sister missionaries. She has piles and piles of fabric in her house. We would all tease her and tell her she has her own personal fabric store right in her house. She has made a couple different sets of pajamas for Jack and Anderson and they would wear "Grandma Gorrell jammies" every day if they could. I remember when I was in kindergarten, sometimes my Grandma and Grandpa would pick me up at the bus stop and take me to McDonald's for lunch. I also remember going to her house every Christmas day for dinner. She would make a ham, every year. I still to this day do not like ham and one year she started getting a little rotisserie chicken, just for me, so I would have something to eat. I have told her since I was little that if I ever had a little girl, I would name my baby after her. Her name is Ellen and she hated her name! She would always tell me, "Don't you dare name your baby Ellen! I have a terrible name." I told her maybe we would call her Elle, or Ellie, and she was still a little skeptical. She would stay up late watching TV every night. She loved watching sports, the news and old game shows. When we lived in Biloxi, she would call me worried because she saw that there were tornado warnings in Mississippi and she wanted to know if we were ok. She did not want us to move to Biloxi. She was always worried about a tornado or a hurricane. She was even more upset when I told her we were moving to Japan! She felt a little better when I told her that our house was on top of a big hill and if there were any tsunamis, we were in the safe zone. She worried enough for our whole family. I guess that just means that she loved us a whole lot and wanted us to be safe. My Grandpa Gorrell died 22 years ago and I know that she has been missing him every day since. Even though it is sad for us to let her go, it will be a long awaited reunion up in heaven with my grandpa. Things like this make me sad to be living on the other side of the world. I wish I could be there with my family right now getting ready for her funeral. 

You understand though, right Grandma? I love you so much and I already miss you. Say hi to Grandpa for us. I'll see you later!

Dinner conversation

Mom: Jack, your Dad asked you a question. Don't ignore.

Jack: But Anderson keeps interrupting me!

Me: Well, just ignore him.

I think I'm sending mixed signals. The later in the day, the worse my mothering skills become.

Christmas

 This year for Christmas, we decided to do Christmas Eve on our own. We really wanted to make some of our own traditions and tried to make it extra special. We started by decorating cookies to leave out for Santa. Justin was proud of his Christmas tree creation.

Pretty good Justin!

 Anderson preferred to lay on the kitchen rug, waiting to open a Christmas Eve present. After cookies we let them open one, which was their jammies. I bought the pj's in August and after seeing how much the boys have grown since we moved, I was worried they wouldn't even fit. They put them on and Jack said, "Wow, I'm going to grow out of these fast." It's true. They barely fit him. Even Anderson doesn't have much room to spare in his. I guess Anderson will be inheriting Jack's sooner than later!

After pj's, we ate dinner. Justin and I wanted a full on, traditional turkey dinner. I was fully on board, but soon realized that doing an entire dinner like that all on my own, is a ton of work! I was cooking for 3 days straight, including most of Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Justin helped me a lot, but man...it was a little rough!

 Even though it was just our little family, we really wanted it to be a nice dinner. The boys loved it. They thought it was totally cool that they got to drink sparkling cider out of our goblets. Don't worry...even though they look fancy, they are plastic! I wanted to have some pretty glasses but I really wanted the boys to be able to use them too. I bought them at Target last Thanksgiving and have used them for multiple special occasions since. I love having them.

 Cheers!

 Out of all that amazing food we had, this is what Anderson ate. Really?? He obviously doesn't know what he's missing out on!

 After dinner, we opened a couple more presents. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and a new Scooby Doo game. We watched the show, played the game, put out cookies for Santa, read the scripture account of Christ's birth with our nativity pieces, put the kids in bed on the air mattress in Jack's room, and read the Night Before Christmas. It really was the perfect night. It was just what we were hoping for. 

 Didn't you know that Santa drinks almond milk now?

The next morning was a blur of candy, presents, and wrapping paper flying around the family room.

How does a mess like that happen so fast?

 The big present we gave to the boys were razor scooters. We had a friend say once that the big present comes from them, instead of Santa. She said, "I don't want some fat guy stealing my thunder!" Justin and I agreed. We want some of the credit! So we wrapped them from us. Don't worry, Santa was still praised for the awesome Batman action figures, space and airplane toys and other miscellaneous items in their stocking. We just wanted to feel some of the love for being the coolest parents on the block and getting them scooters..

 And boy were they a hit! They rode them around the loop in our house all day long and for the next few days until we made them go outside. Definitely the reaction we were hoping for.

 Jack and Anderson made lots of little "presents" for each other.

(Yes, that is a fake fire playing on our tv! Don't judge, we were just trying to add to the feel of Christmas!)

 I asked Justin what he wanted for Christmas breakfast and he chose monkey bread. We thought our kids would love it, but of course, Anderson wanted multi-grain cheerios instead. I mean, what little kid would really want to eat bread that's smothered in butter and sugar? Not Anderson.

And after finishing his bowl, he needed to carry the whole box around.

 We spent lots of time playing with new toys and the rest of the morning on Face Time with our families. My nieces and nephews thought it was a little unfair that Santa came to our house first and we had already opened our presents. Living on the other side of the world has some perks! Later that afternoon, we had Christmas dinner with friends at the Bjarnason's house. The kids played and had dance parties while we sat and had some great conversation. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from this, but it was another highlight of the day. We are happy to have such great friends to fill the void of being far from family.

We felt very spoiled and extremely blessed this Christmas. We have so much to be thankful for and this time of year has a way of helping us see that. I LOVE Christmas and the holiday season and everything that goes along with it. But even with my love for the holiday season, I was dying to get my tree down and put everything away. I love reorganizing and doing a little winter cleaning as I get all the holiday decorations packed away for another year. It feels so much less cluttered and fresh for the new year. So this year, I actually cleaned it all up the day after Christmas. I was anxious for that clean, clutter-free feeling. I wrangled the boys into helping me and we got it all done that day. It was a lot of work, but I was able to enjoy a clean house and reflect on another successful Christmas.