Gifts from Afghanistan

In September, I received a special package from James, filled with special gifts he had picked out at the bazaar there in Afghanistan. We've started collecting works of art from every place we visit and the fruit and nut bowl below is a true piece of native craftsmanship. I've never seen anything like it. When it's closed, it serves as a large, intricately carved trivet. But then you lift the handle and it pops up into a partitioned serving dish!

Before.

After!

He also bought me a pretty scarf with some purple coloring to it (since he knows that's my favorite!) and a beautiful jewelry set made of semi-precious blue stones called lapis lazuli. Outside of Afghanistan they're very expensive but, of course, he got a good deal. ;^) I love them all! He is so thoughtful, even while deployed.

Kristina's Engagement Photos

It's not often in Misawa that I have the privilege of taking engagement portraits. I mostly get asked for family and baby pictures. But my good friend Kristina will be gettin' hitched in November and so she asked me to take some pictures of her and her fiancee Andrew in September. She's a major photo-phile like me and so it was a little intimidating. She had some very specific ideas about how she wanted the pictures to look and so we spent 2-3 hours walking all over Miswa and experimenting. But in the end we were both very happy with the results. Below are a couple of my favorites from her shoot. Looking forward to another engagement shoot later in November! Capturing love on camera is my favorite. =^)

International Talk Like a Pirate Day MOSC Event

This fall, our Misawa Officer's Spouses Club got back up and running with a packed schedule of fun and creative social events, as well as service projects and other opportunities to interact with the Japanese community. The theme for our first big event was inspired by the popular un-official September holiday called International Talk Like a Pirate Day. We all dressed in our pirate-y best, sat at tables decorated with skull and cross-bone festooned hats, flags, and fake treasure, and played some games worthy of the high seas. Some of us even had to walk the plank! I won a prize for my surprising command of pirate/nautical trivia (thank you, Pirates of the Caribbean! I knew watching those movies over and over would serve a purpose down the road... ;^) Below are a few snapshots of the fun!

nametags

Centerpieces

My commander's wife and I added a little Samurai pride to our outfits

Prize for best costume went to Karolina who has a real wooden leg!

Jon Visits Misawa - AGAIN!

In early September, Jon and a few of the other pilots from Osan came to Misawa for a week of training in our simulators. Unfortunately, James wasn't here for some quality family time. But I enjoyed going out to dinner with Jon and his friends a couple of times and catching up. Since he knows the area so well, Jon enjoys serving as a tour guide on each of these trips - showing his friends from Korea the best restaurants, bars and attractions in the area. The first night they were here, we had a family-style feast at the New Miyaki Chinese restaurant out the gate. Then later in the week I joined them at Kin's for a gourmet, traditional Japanese spread of sashimi, tempura, cold noodles, etc. It was a little outside most of our comfort zones, but sometimes that's OK when traveling internationally. I joked with Jon that the only times I eat and enjoy seafood is when he's around. Kin is a long-time friend of Jon and Claire's, so he and his family were excited to see us walk in. Claire even took some cooking lessons from him, and passed that privilege down from Lady Samurai to Lady Samurai. Their adventurous spirit is the gift that keeps on giving around here!

Lights on the Lake

Since the weather is often too bad for fireworks on the 4th of July, the base decided to put on a fireworks display over Labor Day Weekend instead. They hosted a huge event at base beach - providing food, games, and live music until the sun went down and then launched an impressive 30 minute display from barges in the center of the lake. My friends and I thought we'd be smart and avoid the crowds by hopping the fence to the golf course and watching the fireworks from the hill above base beach. It was nice and quiet up there and we were able to see most of the fireworks over the trees in front of us. But as soon as they began, I started to regret our choice because I'm sure the photos of the fireworks reflected in the water would have been spectacular. Ah well, it was still fun and patriotic!

PYOC Soul Surfer Luau & Movie Night

At the end of August, we kicked off the new school year with a luau and screening of the popular Christian movie Soul Surfer. I had fun using our Hawaiian vacation earlier this summer as inspiration for the night's festivities. We decorated Fellowship Hall with all kinds of beach stuff - lawn chairs, beach balls, surf boards, shells, flags, etc... We had brightly colored cups full of tropical punch, complete with umbrella straws. For dinner, we had a choice of grilled pineapple chicken kabobs or Hawaiian style cheeseburgers topped with grilled pineapple and avocado. We also had a lot of fresh fruit, Hawaii-brand potato chips and either key lime pie or tropical fruit popsicles for dessert. It was a lot of work to set up, but quite a feast that we all enjoyed! The kids got into the luau spirit with some tropical outfits and silk lei's. All of this did a great job to set the scene for a powerful movie. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Inspiring true story of a teen inspiring a lot of people with her authentic faith!

Annual Parish Picnic & Youth Baptisms

The Sunday after our mission trip was our annual protestant parish picnic. This year, we held a combined worship service at base beach and then grilled out and played in the water. It was a nice day, but would not have been blog-worthy if it weren't for the fact that we baptized three members of our youth group in the lake after the service! What a wonderful day!

Arielle Goecker, about to be baptized by her father, Ch. Goecker

Arielle's younger brother Nolan being baptized

Kristen Farless, a new 7th grader and member of our worship team