Ryukyu Mura

Ryukyu Mura is a a place to go that's full of history, crafts, music and ancient homes that have been restored. It is much like the Polynesian Cultural Center but on a much smaller scale. Ryukyu is the ancient name for the islands of Okinawa and was the name of the ruling family.Here is a craft table for stringing beads into jewelry, and making kaleidoscopes. This is a rickshaw made for royalty! There are cute little elves like the one in the tree house all over the island. Isabel is feeding the fish and they are going crazy for it! This is not a dragon it's a Shisa Dog. He sits by the door and collects your warrior spirit so that peace will dwell inside. When you leave you may take it with you again. They also protect the home from evil spirits so they are also found on the roofs of houses. These are homes from different eras of Okinawan history.

American Village

This is a beautiful indoor/outdoor mall where Shannon says the Japanese come to buy overpriced "American" products. Blue Seal Ice Cream is one of the best brands of ice cream found at parlors here on Okinawa. Baskin Robbins is also here, but that one was too familiar for us to want to go there!
Shannon's waffle cone has 2 scoops of yummy purple sweet potato ice cream. My crepe-wrapped cone contains 3 kinds of cheesecake, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and carmel topping. I thought it was going to be crispy like the ones look like they are in the display case but it was very soft. I would have preferred to have one like Shannon's but the crepe cone was an interesting experience and wasn't too bad. This small building houses an Okinawan internet radio station. True to Japanes cinema, this dragon stands outside the theater. There were lots of things to occupy kids. Isabel really enoys the drums!

4th Of July With The Mattes Family!

When one of Joe's friends got transferred they gave him their fireworks. After a barbecue at the Mattes family's home we went around the corner to the park and set them off!

Gushikawa Military Branch

This is the chapel where Shannon's family attends church. It is in the city of Gushikawa which is next to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. What a privilege to be in a military Sacrament Meeting on foreign soil on a fast Sunday and the Eve of Independence Day.

Happy Birthday, Miss Olivia!

And here is where I'm posting birthday photos!








What a wonderful day!

Celebrations!!

Friday night after being at the Pirate Beach, we showered and I made dinner. We watched tv for a while and then went to a 4th of July event on base called America Fest. We walked by the carnival games and food booths where we had funnel cakes, popcorn and snow cones and Isabel got her face painted. There was an aircraft display and live music which Dave especially enjoyed. I wore earplugs because the music was so loud! Haha! It's interesting how much background noise is muffled while you can still hear fairly well those who are speaking close to yoLater that night Shannon told me she thought her water broke. She wasn't sure because it was a trickle, but the trickling occurred 3-4 times. She called the hospital and they told her to come in.
Labor stopped, of course, because we walked through the door. The next morning they told her that they were going to need to do some intervention because of the risk of infection. We prayed that her labor would start again so that the birth could be natural, and it did start again but not enough to satisfy the doctor. Joe called someone from their branch and someone else picked up David, and Shannon was given a blessing. After the blessing the doctor let her labor progress on it's own and about 2 hours later Olivia was born. Shannon's friend Sarah said that she overheard the doctor and nurses talking about how the blessing had helped and one of them commented that maybe all of the delivering mothers should have one!Joe took me to their house at about 8 PM and on the way we saw the Base Fireworks which were the finally of America Fest. So tonight there were celebrations all around!

Pirate Beach On The East China Sea

With a beautiful and safe beach, play areas and a pirate ship, this is a fun place! We had a picnic and then stayed in the water because of the heat.
One thing to be aware of though, is that if you venture ouside the protective netting you may run into jellyfish, which sting if they are touched anywhere!