January, the fresh start of a new year, promised change. I started school again with West Virginia University’s online program for Child Development and Family Studies, another level of busy I had yet to conquer now that we have kids. Returning to academia after some time was so rewarding after the often-mundane days of house wifery and child rearing. We had our first snow mid January and ventured to the Hamada aquarium on snowy roads while Chris and his friends attempted diving in freezing water. That same weekend, we took a day trip to Megahira Mountain so the kids could go sledding and have snowball fights. The long drive was breathtaking with snow covered trees and mountains. Emerging from the many tunnels revealed a wonderland worthy of a snow-globe. It snowed about half the time we were there and after a while, the red faces and chilly winds became too much to endure. We ended the month with the boys’ birthday party at the bowling alley, Rylan turned 5 and Finley turned 3. We also spent a week dog sitting for a friend and were reminded how much we miss having our own dogs. Chris and Quinn also attended the Father-Daughter dance.
February I returned to solo parenting while Chris went to an exercise in Thailand. Finley learned to peddle his bike with training wheels on his own and no longer allowed me to push the handle that attached to it. We had another day of snow among cold days. A new parenting challenge emerged as Quinn developed a very amorous and seemingly relentless admirer. Rylan was flourishing at school after finally breaking through after his school’s Sports Day. With limited hours available for hourly care for Finley at the CDC, we made the decision to enroll him in the same yochien as Rylan that would begin in April.
March was filled with beauty as cherry blossoms made their grand entrance to Iwakuni. While Chris was away again, I took the kids Shimonoseki for a new view of the sakura and ended our long day with our family favorite “Chicken Shack” restaurant. Other days were filled with trips to local parks. St. Patrick’s Day was spent with some of our favorite friends. We tried okonomiyaki, for the first time, a signature Hiroshima noodle dish, with our friends from our bible study.
April brought warmer days and plenty of scraped knees. Finley started yochien with Rylan, making my own schoolwork much easier with all of the kids at school. I was able to get schoolwork and gym time in every day easing the stress a bit of my daily load. Quinn turned 7 and we celebrated her birthday at the bowling alley and tried the Tex-Mex restaurant here at her special request. The end of April couldn’t have come soon enough because my mom came to visit. It’s amazing how seeing a family member in Japan makes you realize just how far you are and just how much you miss them. I took mom to see the local splendors and we made a tenkoku stamp. Chris had a professional dinner, which was a fun night out with our great friends in the squadron.
May started with great fun and adventure taking my mom around Japan. We went to explore Miyajima and missed our train stop, landing us in Hiroshima for a spontaneous adventure. We visited the A-Domb and Peace Park museum. After the somber tour through the museum we decided to cheer up a bit walking Hondori Street and trying Starbucks’ seasonal “American Cherry Pie” drink. We went on a tea-leaf harvesting trip with the base and were sadly disappointed overall with the experience but made up for it with an amazing trip to Fukuoka to see the wisteria in bloom, the reclining Buddha statue, and a stop at IKEA. May also brought Friendship Day on base, a trip to a local park, Miyajima, and another trip to Hiroshima with mom. While out on our second trip to Hiroshima, I got the call that my grandma was in the hospital again and that a trip home would be necessary. Facetiming my grandma on her hospital bed hooked up to a whole-faced oxygen mask while riding the streetcar in Hiroshima was quite possibly the most difficult experience I have ever had. The rest of the day was spent planning how to get me home. I was blessed to be able to get home again and that my mom was able to extend her trip in Japan so she could stay with the kids. My beloved grandma passed the night before I left and I was devastated my goodbye happened on Facetime instead of in person-I was so hopeful I would make it before she passed. Even knowing it was a possibility before moving overseas didn’t ease the pain of the loss. It was incredible to be with family again and help my dad with arrangements. It was an incredibly hard second half of the month with the loss of my grandma and the sudden loss of my brother-in-law’s father. May also brought the first of farewells to some of our best friends in Iwakuni.
June brought even warmer weather and Quinn had her dance recital. We bid farewell to my mom and Chris left the next week for another exercise, which left a bit of a void having both gone and Quinn almost out of school. We were blessed to watch another dog for a while which brought great comfort and peace just in time. Rylan started Jiu Jitsu and slowly began gaining confidence. The lotus fields also began to bloom in June, making for a beautiful landscape when I would take the kids to the beach or to parks on the weekends.
July was filled with humidity and ringing of cicadas. The mosquitos were back in full-force and the kids and I were regularly covered in several bites despite bug spray. Chris and I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima on a date to get some fluffy-jiggly pancakes. We hosted friends for a 4th of July celebration around our new fire pit. July was filled with plenty of s’mores and days outside. Finley got stitches for the first time on his knee and we ended the month with an overdue vacation to the beaches of Okinawa.
In August, Quinn decided to join Rylan in Jiu Jitsu. Rylan earned his first stripe on Chris’s birthday; Chris turned 30. My friend Sophie and I conquered Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) and had some fun in Tokyo without kids and husbands. I have never been so physically challenged before and am very grateful for the experience. It took my knees and hips some time to recover afterwards. I started my Fall semester for school and Quinn began 2nd Grade. We said farewell to another family of best friends; PCS seasons are never easy.
September Rylan started Kindergarten, a week after Quinn started school. It was a rough first day and a much longer road to the decision for him to start Kindergarten throughout the year. Transitions aren’t easy for Rylan and we had spent the previous months of the year dealing with extreme behavioral difficulties. Chris was gone most of the month on another exercise and returned home towards the end of the month. Finley began soccer and we made it for another year of fireworks at Penny Lake on base.
Early October Chris lost his maternal grandpa; another sad loss for us, making the distance of our overseas home feel even greater. October also began the busyness that wouldn’t end until the year was over. Finley had Sports Day for yochien and Rylan got to participate with his class for their activities and dance performance. I was working hard on HOWL decorations and theme, the annual base-wide Halloween event for the squadrons. Our theme was general Halloween and Chris and I went as Danny and Sandy from Grease. Quinn and Rylan attended their first Mini-Ball, an event for kids only to experience the ceremony and fun of the Marine Corps Ball. The end of October was busy with a squadron 3-day bake sale and finished out by Halloween. Quinn was a ballerina, Rylan a ninja, and Finley was a ghost.
November could not have started soon enough. We began the month with our long-awaited trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We had so much fun! There were plenty of things to do for the kids and the locals were very kind to us. We learned how elephant poop fibers are recycled into paper, saw a bug museum, a sad monkey show, spent a day with elephants, and were able to participate in the Loi Krathong and Yi Peng festivals. We hired a photographer to capture our festival experience and it wasn’t quite the experience we have envisioned. When we returned back to Iwakuni we decided to take Fall family photos since our Chiang Mai pictures did not turn out as expected for Christmas cards. November also brings the Marine Corps Ball, which was a great time. We celebrated our 10th anniversary this year as well, it sure it amazing how time passes so quickly. The squadron had their annual Thanksgiving feast for the single Marines the day before Thanksgiving and I wasn’t intending to cook at home, but the kids couldn’t handle breaking tradition by going to the buffet on base so I made another feast for us. Thanksgiving night we headed to Hiroshima to see their holiday light display. The month ended with Christmas decorations hung and a stripe earned for Quinn and Rylan in Jiu Jitsu.
Chris left before December started for 3 weeks, missing all of the many festivities that were planned. I rounded out finals for school and participated in planning a “Cookies with Santa” kids’ event for the squadron. We braved the cold for the annual tree lighting on base. Quinn had her Christmas dance performance, Quinn and Rylan had their school Christmas performance, and Finley had his Christmas party for yochien. On top of that I chaperoned field trips for both Quinn and Rylan. I wound up very sick for about two weeks in the middle of the month when Chris was gone and when I was busiest, naturally, and quickly learned my physical capacity for stress. There’s nothing like sickness to remind you that you’re human. Chris arrived home days before Christmas and though the sickness still lingers, we were able to pull off a low-key Christmas and our annual gingerbread house party.
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