Gift #68- Homemade Icecream

Hank's mom and dad bought Hank this ice cream maker several years ago.  It has brought a lot of smiles over the years.  You just can't go wrong with milk, sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream!

Gift #67- BLT's!

There is a little restaurant just outside the main gate called Sako's.  Sako's is famous for its BLT's.  I have heard that, once upon a time, the Sako's BLT was ranked in the top ten for World's Best BLT!  I can believe that.  It was delicious.  We tried to go to the restaurant yesterday, but when we arrived, the owner (her name is Misi) sweetly told us that the kitchen was closed.  She was teaching an English class to a group of Japanese ladies when we arrived  and asked if we would come in and converse with her students.  We stayed for a little bit and promised that we would come back today for lunch.   When we arrived today, Misi had a table reserved for us.  When she brought our water, she remembered each one of the kids names!  Before we left, she gave us some tomatoes from her garden.  I think that everyone would agree with me-  BLT's are definitely a blessing.  But it is the kindness that we will remember the most.

Josh, Macy, Misi, Sam, and Jack

Gift #66- America

Happy 4th of July

Gift #65- Twins

It's double the giggles and double the grins, and double the trouble if you're blessed with twins.  ~Author Unknown

Gift #64- Perspective

On Saturday we had the privilege of visiting an orphanage in Hiroshima.  We went with a group from the church that we have been attending.  We made bracelets, played games, and had birthday cupcakes!  Macy played Memory with the children for hours and showed no mercy!  She has a bit of a competitive streak.  :0)    We had a great time playing together and left with some much needed perspective and a renewed sense of gratitude for the many blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon our family. 

Gift #63- Lunchtime Laughter

 We were finishing up with our lunch this afternoon when Sam decided to make a funny noise with his cup.  This noise made him laugh so hard that it got everyone at the table laughing.  After a few moments, no one even knew what we were laughing about anymore.  The laughter died down for a moment only to start back up when Sam started giggling again.  Proverbs 17:22 says "A merry heart doeth good like medicine."  The laughter at our lunch table today was certainly good medicine.

Gift #62- Military Friendships

With this military life, summer brings about a lot of change.  Many new families come and, sadly,  many families leave.  In our short time here, we have come to know some wonderful families.  Three of those families are moving on to new adventures.  While we are super sad to see them go, we are so thankful for the time that we had together.

 Sam with his friends Zane (left) and Bryce.  Zane and Sam were classmates and hit it off right from the start.  During their last few weeks here in Iwakuni, I thought that Sam might move in with them.   Zane and Bryce left early this morning bound for NC.
We will miss their sweet faces.

My friend Sheila drove the Rupple family to the Hiroshima airport this morning and snapped this goodbye picture.

 This is Josh with our friend Alex.  Jack, Josh and Alex played on the same baseball team and have had many a nerf war and sleep over together.  Thankfully, they still have a few weeks here in Iwakuni.  This little neighborhood will not be the same without Alex and his family.

This is Jack with his friend Kyle.  These 2 are thick as thieves.  They have spent these first two weeks of summer  bowling and swimming and riding the base bus just to see where it takes them.  Kyle leaves tomorrow for Missouri.  We will miss you Kyle!

Gift #61- Sunshine and Smores

After what seems like weeks of rain, today we finally saw the sunshine!  It was a beautiful sight for this Florida girl.  To celebrate, we made more smores.  Because isn't that a great way to celebrate any occassion?  While sunshine counts as my number one blessing of the day, smores come in a very close second!

Gift #60- Summertime Sleepovers

The boys had a sleep-over last night.  The intent was to sleep outside in the tent.  We watched a movie and made smores on the grill.  But when I woke up this morning.  Not one single boy was in the tent.  All of them were sacked out on the living room floor. ;0)  A good time was had by all.  We are making some fun memories here in the land of the rising sun.

Gift #59- A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place

As you can see, the suitcase is GONE!  I am not going to tell you who finally put it away.  (But his name starts with an H and it rhymes with bank.)   I made sure to give him a sincere thank you and did not even show a hint of a smirk.  But I did tell him that I HAD to post about it.  

He completely understood.  ;0)

(If this post makes absolutely no sense, please refer to blessing #55)  ;0)

Gift #58- Brotherly Love

Jack-11, Josh-9 Iwakuni Pool

It is such a blessing that Jack and Josh are, not only brothers, but friends. 

 They have been close from the start and I pray that they always will be.