Beautiful Forks

For those of you who didn't know, Belle Fourche is French for "beautiful forks." Although I find the forks in the river here to be like any other fork, the weather has been beautiful! I've been able to run every morning (along said forks), and without that yucky Okinawa humidity, I feel like I could run all day (but that's just silly). The boys and I have been outside non-stop. We've been home for three full days, and we are already hitting up all the parks for the second time.

Cliffhanger

Bridge jumper

My swinging sweethearts....

The best part about today's park trip was the train passing by. We got to see it from start to finish, and the engineer blew his whistle at us. This picture of the boys seems so American (too bad Jackson always has to have those darn Lightning McQueen swim trunks on ALL the time!).

Our Trip to Idaho

The blog is back! We had such a wonderful visit with Grandma Vicki, Uncle Bobby, Aunt Connie, and baby Gunner. Gunner and Jackson quickly became fast friends, although Ethan didn't enjoy being surrounded by so many babies. We went to parks, petting zoos, and arcades. We also went shopping and out to eat a lot. We definitely had missed American cuisine! Andy left for Afghanistan on March 25th, and after stops in Ireland and Kyrgyzstan, he should be in Afghanistan within 24 hours. Saying goodbye to him was the saddest thing the four of us have been through, but we will prevail. Now that he has deployed, it just means it's that much sooner that he comes home!

Best pals: Ethan and Daddy

Best pals: Jackson and Daddy

The Goldhahn Leprechauns.

Gunner, Jackson, and Ethan

Ethan lost his first tooth on March 18th!

Jackson saw snow for the first time. He wasn't impressed at first, but now he is always on the lookout for "no."

We are back in South Dakota now. Jackson is struggling to find snow as it was 77 degrees today! Bring on Spring please! More soon.

Idaho Update

Sorry I have been absent from the blog. For those of you who didn't know, we are in Idaho spending time with Andy and his family before the big deployment. We've been having a wonderful time. Jackson saw his first snow, and Ethan lost his first tooth! We've been to museums, playlands, parks, and petting zoos. We've also been eating out (A LOT) so we've been trying to make trips to the gym as well. Next week we are spending the night in Salt Lake City at a new hotel with a new waterpark. This will be our last family adventure before Andy leaves. It's very surreal, and I know it won't hit me until we say goodbye at the airport on the 25th. The boys and I fly to South Dakota on the 27th, and we're looking forward to spending time with our family and friends. I will post pictures soon.

Justina

Relieving Stress via Creativity

There was rain outside and travel woes inside so in order to relieve some stress (the boys weren't really stressed, but having them run around the house like maniacs stresses Mommy out), we decided to get creative. The boys made beautiful works of art, and then they graced our home with one-of-a-kind percussion music. I just love my boys.

GREAT NEWS: We got our e-tickets issued today. We leave Okinawa on Friday, March 5th, and we arrive in Salt Lake City on Friday...March 5th. Quick flight!! ;) Our prayers have been answered. We hope to see many of you soon.

Still Here. Still Stressed.

I can't begin to explain how stressed out I am. After the earthquake here, there was the devestating earthquake in Chile, which then lead to a tsunami warning for Okinawa. Thankfully, the wave was only a whopping FOUR INCHES!

After that drama, we attempted a Space-A flight to California. We waited at the terminal for seven hours, and at 11pm, we were told we could not get on the flight. Because of this horrible experience, I opted to buy plane tickets. I thought I found a great deal through an online military travel agency. However, my credit card company flagged the purchase as fraudulent, and our reservation was cancelled. I guess this was a blessing because the travel agency was trying to charge me $1,100 more than I had agreed to. So now I am trying to ensure that my credit card will be refunded.

After only a few hours of sleep, I am going to head into town to a local travel agency to buy tickets home. I have bought tickets through this company before, and my friends bought tickets from them yesterday to go back to the US on Friday so I'm trying to be optimistic that we will get back soon.

My optimism is wearing thin so I'm relying on faith. Any and all prayers are greatly needed so we can get home to see Andy before he deploys.

God Bless...Justina