Hello all! I just have a few more pictures to share from my time at home. As you know, I'm in Okinawa again. After some serious airplane time, Walkerdog and I made it back to our Jacob. We're all adjusted and back into the swing of things! In my next post I'll get y'all caught up with our latest adventures. For now...

My not-so-little brother.

Reunited with sweet friends. I go way back with these girls... So many great memories!

Out on the boat for the first time! We braved the storm Friday then enjoyed a full Saturday of rafting and fishing. 

Sister sister.

Ranger game (and pedi-cab ride) with Dad, Sarah-Kathryn and Landy. Cozy! :)

Visiting with Courtney, Mackenzie and Hayden at their new house!

Mom and Dad after celebrating his 50th birthday!

"Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name. "

-Avett Bros.

Oh my, how I've loved being home. I've had the chance to relax and spend some quality time with friends and family. I've enjoyed the cabin, shopping, and placing my obnoxious Starbucks order in English. And yes, I've definitely been enjoying Texas BBQ and yummy salsa. Looking forward to more family time then getting back to my Mr!

Celebrating Dad's 50th Birthday

Landon and his homecoming date

Dad's softball game

Konnichiwa! Good news... I'm going to Texas in less than a week! I'll visit family and friends, eat some BBQ (oh, how I've missed it...), then bring Walkerdog back with me to Okinawa. I get to stay for about a month and I'm so excited! :)

Here's a quick update on what we've been up to lately...

I've had the opportunity the past couple of weeks to volunteer at a local orphanage. Some women at our church are involved in this ministry and I feel so blessed to be a part of it too. Once a week I get to cuddle and love on the sweetest babies.

Last weekend we traveled up to Cape Hedo. It's the most northern point of the island and was really beautiful. We took our time getting there and explored some other islands on our way. Yagaji and Kouri Islands were both pleasant surprises and the water looked especially gorgeous.

That's all for now! Have a wonderful day. :)

Happy Monday! We had a really nice relaxing weekend. We explored Cafe Gold Hall in Kin Town (pictures to follow), discovered an amazing pizza place around the corner, went to an adorable bakery that's been on my to-do list, and ended the weekend with an evening bike ride through our beloved Yomitan. Did I mention we watched the sun set from our roof? It's been hitting me lately how blessed we are to be here. Seriously, what an adventure. Even when I complain about the heat and humidity (it's really hot, y'all), I'm thankful to be here. Blows my mind that we've been on island over 5 months.

All the pictures below are from Cafe Gold Hall. I've heard it referred to as, "a cafe, a cave, and a bonsai garden." It was 13 different areas full of ornate carvings, furniture, bonsai trees, statues, etc. Tons to look at. We took our time wandering around then ate taco rice in their cafe for dinner.

On another note, VBS was a huge success. We had around 320 kids and close to 150 youth and adult volunteers! It was super busy and crazy but lots of fun! :)

Excuse my crazy face. J looks handsome so I posted it anyway :)

Dining area

Hey there! Today I want to take a minute and wish my Mr. a very happy birthday. We've had a whirlwind of a year. Exactly a year ago I finally visited him in Florida. Exactly a year ago he swept me off my feet and we haven't looked back since. Thank you, Husband, for caring for me the way you do. Thank you for providing for us, for working so hard, for wrapping me in your arms exactly when I need it most... Thank you for marrying me. I'm happy to celebrate your life and the life we now share. Our love story is a sweet one.

Birthday lemon meringue pie (Grandmother Red set the bar high!)

Onna Point (our latest snorkeling spot)

Tonight starts VBS at Koza. Keep us in your prayers as we minister to those kiddos this week!

Good grief, I've fallen behind on my updating. I know it's been a couple of weeks now but I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing 4th of July! We spent our long weekend being extremely lazy. We watched fireworks from the beach, went snorkeling a couple of times (our underwater pictures didn't exactly turn out by the way...we'll try again), saw the Lieutenant Dan Band perform on Futenma, and finished the 3rd season of Parenthood. :)

Lieutenant Dan Band

Rainbow!

In other news, since then I've been keeping busy running around! I'm still loving going to the local markets for produce and flowers. I decided to help with VBS at Koza the first week of August so we've started having meetings to get ready for those kiddos. I'm involved in a couple of other ladies Bible studies throughout the week and feel really blessed to be growing new friendships. I've also been enjoying doing wifey stuff around the house. I finally found some curtains for our living room and am currently working on adding some cute fabric to give them a little more length. Wish me luck sewing straight lines. :) That's all for now! Love you guys!