Gift #368- Treasures Found in the Garden

"Now he wasn't hungry any more- and he wasn't a caterpillar any more.  He was a big, fat caterpillar.  He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself.  He stayed inside for more than two weeks.  Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and ...he was a beautiful butterfly."

Eric Carle- The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I will blink and a butterfly she will be!

Gift #367- Sweet Friends

Some of my very sweet friends (Colleen, Julie, and Moira) threw Avery Grace and our new little neighbor ,James, a "Sprinkle"today.  We had such a great time together.  These girls have a way of making you feel like family when you are so far away from your own.  

My neighbor, Tiffany, & our friend Nikki.  Nikki is holding Tiffany's new baby, 

James Stephen Featherstone

Shower Guests:  Julie Goodwin, Katie Bayley, Erica Hall, Moira Jones, Colleen Gordon, Michelle Northam, Tiffany Featherstone, Megan Reid, Gary Bernhard, Fatima Boyd, Nikki Baldwin, Jenn Keller

Gift #366- The United States Marine Corps

The Marine Corps has allowed our family to experience one amazing adventure after another.  We have enjoyed the ride and are so very grateful.  Happy 238th Birthday USMC.

Gift #365- Sugar Comas

Halloween here on MCAS Iwakuni is BIG!  The local Japanese children come aboard and trick-or-treat along side the base children!  It is so much fun.  Sam and Macy have their own different strategies for collecting candy.  Macy likes to walk to each town house and deliberately avoid anything that looks scary.  She likes to go with some of the bigger girls in the neighborhood.  Some of the dads like to hide out in the drain pipes and gutters and jump out when the kids come by!  Macy doesn't love that!  Sam likes to RUN to each house (even the scariest), and then hit all of the mid-rise apartments.  He likes to go out on his own as another person might slow him down.  Both of them like to hurry to the chapel fall festival afterwards to add to their loot.  Macy uses a very polite "trick or treat" and a nice shy smile to get her treasures.  Sam goes for volume- as many houses he can hit in the shortest amount of time.  Both strategies seem to work very well judging from the mountain of candy that they each bring home.  Once home, they always dump out their candy and immediately start trading.  My siblings and I did the exact same thing.   The boys hung out with their friends and had a great evening as well.  They did a little trick or treating, but not as much as the twins.  Jack is usually pretty quiet, but when he came home after treating, he was so animated and chatty.   I loved it!

Now, I know that too much candy before bed is never a good idea.  I have heard that some moms put their children's candy bucket outside on halloween night and the "Great Pumpkin" picks up all of the candy and leaves the children a very nice toy.  I really do like that idea.  But I just always let the kids HAVE AT IT!!!!  And yes, they do go into a crazy mode for an hour or so, and I usually begin to regret my decision.  But before too long, I start to see that glazed over look in their eyes and the slight downturn of their mouths.  And before you know it- Sugar Coma!!!!  And they are out like little light bulbs for the rest of the evening.  This is when I can  dig through their candy and steal all of the Peppermint Patties and Almond Joys.  Oh--  and the Peanut M&M's and maybe a Milky Way or two.  I am really not that picky now that I think about it.

We had about 500 trick or treaters this year!  About 60% of them were Japanese children.  They come to the door, hold out their bags and say "Trick or Treat-A".  They always add that "uh" sound to the end.  After they receive their treat, they always say in a very scripted, but sweet voice "Thank  you very much".  One of the little Japanese boys (he was probably about 4) came up and pushed the babies hat off of her head just a little ways, bent down, kissed her on the forehead, and walked away.  It was so very sweet.  I wish that I had recorded it somehow.  But it was just one of those moments.

Macy dressed as the Pinky the ghost from Pac Man.  Sam went, once again, as a handsome Blue Angel.  Jack was Charlie Brown.   And, for the third year running, Josh was the red Angry Bird! I wore my Cinderella costume once again.  It is the one time of year that I can pretend to be a princess.  The silly costume must have shrunk two sizes this year though!  The baby wore her "Very Hungry Caterpillar" suit.  She was a big hit!  The Japanese ladies kept touching her head and saying "ka-wa-ii"  (cute).

It was a wonderful evening.  And now we look forward to another Thanksgiving here in Japan.  We have so very much to be thankful for!

Gift #364- My Max

Max- October 2009

My little nephew Max has always held a special place in my heart.  When I saw him several months back, he introduced me to his Sunday School teacher and to his new little friends from church.  As I was walking away from his class, he called out over the noise, pointed to me and said "Aunt Amy, I am taking you to lunch!"  That was one of my very favorite lunch dates ever! Happy Birthday Mr. Max

Gift #363- My Brother Ted

Happy Birthday to my Baby Brother.  I remember the night that Ted was born.  We were at the Panama City Christian fall festival when we learned that he was on his way.  Kim and I spent the night at Mikki and Amy Thomas's house and we woke up the next morning with news of a new little brother.  He had the fullest head of dark black hair!  I remember thinking that maybe someone had given mom the wrong baby.  I loved him from the moment I laid eyes on him and I treated him like he was my baby until he was at least 10 years old!  Maybe a little longer.  :0)  Now he is all grown with a family of his own and has become an amazing husband, father and minister.   I am very proud.  Happy Birthday Ted.

Gift #362- The Way Her Eyes Cross

20 Blessings
20 Things That I Never Want to Forget

1.  The way you smile when you are drifting off to sleep
2.  The smell of your soft head
3.  The wrinkles in your forehead
4.   The way your bottom lip pokes out when you are about to cry
5.  The way your cry sounds like a little lamb
6.  Your dark hair (like your daddy's and Jack's and maybe even Nana's)
7.  The way your eyes cross when you try to focus
8.  The way you stick out your tongue
9.  The way you look when your eyes are crossed and your tongue is sticking out
10.  The way you make an O with your sweet little pink lips
11. The way you love laying on your daddy's chest
12.  Your long thin fingers
13.  The way your arms hang down and your hands relax when you are sleeping on your daddy
14.  Your soft neck
15.  The way you look in your Very Hungry Caterpillar suit that Aunt Beth made for you
16.  The way your sister holds you
17.  The new "talking" sound that you are starting to make
18.  The way you sound when you yawn
19.  Your heavy breathing just before you fall asleep
20.  The way your fingers wrap around mine

Dear Time,

Please slow down.  I want to stay in this season forever.

Gift #361- Complete Chaos

cha·os  

/ˈkāäs/

Noun Complete disorder and confusion. Behavior so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions.

Synonyms confusion - disorder - mess - clutter - muddle - welter A few weeks back, I posted about having time to mosey.  I knew that the time would be short lived and did my best to take advantage of my moseying days.  As predicted, those days are over.  We are back into the full swing of crazy around here.  And I wouldn't have it any other way! I have not done the best job of keeping up with my posts as of late.  It is not due to a shortage of things to be thankful for.  It is the exact opposite!  So many gifts, so few hours in a day!  I will try to do better.

Gift #360- Having a Sister!

Having a sister has been one of God's greatest gifts to me.  Having two has been more than I could have ever hoped for or imagined.  I am so happy that Macy has a sister of her own.

Gift #359- Avery Grace Elizabeth Thomas

September 14, 2013 7:29 am JST

8 pounds 14 ounces

21 inches long

Perfectly Perfect in Every Way

Baby girl arrived one day after her daddy arrived in Yokosuka.  We were hoping that she would come on September 13th (her Nana's birthday), and she did in a way-  it was still September 13th in Panama City!  It was 5:29 pm CST on September 13th in PC.  My family had gathered together at Luigi's to celebrate mom's birthday when Avery Grace did finally make her entrance into the world.  Her daddy delivered her and he did a very good job.  Of course he is a fighter pilot you know.   He likes to remind me of that from time to time.  :)  We had such a wonderful experience with the doctors and nurses and corpsman.  We couldn't have asked for better care.  We stayed in the hospital for just over 24 hours.  We were released shortly after our Celebration Lunch which included shrimp and lobster!  A typhoon was set to come through the very next day so the base shut down completely.  Because of the base closure, we were unable to take care of the details that would allow us to return home.  So we were given an extra day at the Storks Nest to get to know this new little Thomas and to spend the day together being lazy.  We enjoyed it very much!  We arrived home on Wednesday the 18th to pink balloons, a decorative clothes line complete with sweet baby clothes and wooden flowers hanging from our tree branches.  Macy and our very sweet neighbors had decorated.  It was such a happy return!  Avery Grace  brought presents for her brothers and sisters including a chillow for Macy who had been  begging for one all summer since we saw one on an infomercial in Okinawa!  We have been home for a week today.  Avery Grace is 11 days old.  She is fitting right in.  We said goodbye to Mimi and Papa this morning.  It was hard to see them go and I am not sure if we could ever thank them enough.  God has been so very good to us and my heart is overflowing with  thanksgiving.

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  James 1:17a

Gift #358- A Familiar Face

(A "selfy" of the two of us the day Hank arrived)

Hank arrived in Yokosuka! It was so nice to see his face after 11 long weeks apart.  

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10