Merry Christmas 2013!!!

Christmas Eve Service at Central Baptist Church

Caroling on the front porch to passersby

FOOD!!

FRIENDS!!

Christmas Morning

A new silk robe

A jade family ball with three layers for our little family-- Rodney, me, and Truman.

The biggest surprise for Rodney was this license plate replica.

The kanji at the top says "Okinawa" and the '504' indicates the size motor which determines the taxes paid. "Y21-46" was the actual plate number on his "Red Hoopty" (pictured on the right of the plate). All 'foreign' car buyers had a plate number beginning with 'Y', so we joked it stood for 'Yankee'! The decoration to the left of the plate number is a Torii gate adorning the island of Okinawa, while Shisas stand guard on the bottom.

I received some blue diamond earrings and

a lovely print of the snow-covered floating Torii we had visited on our trip to Iwakuni. 

The rest of the day was a day of relaxing and enjoying each other's company reveling in the peace of the day with less than a month left on island....

Merry Christmas!!

Japanese Preschool Christmas Party -- Pt 2

After the greeting party received their candy canes, Santa worked his way around the room ensuring all children received a tasty treat. They all waited so patiently and respectfully! Rodney... um,I mean Santa, said it was precious to watch as those at the front of a group would take a candy cane, then pass it back to a friend making sure others had a gift before keeping one for themselves.

Stockings waiting to be delivered!

A few random cutie pics I just had to share!!

Child-made decorations

Rodney accepting great 'arigatos' and appreciation.

A few outdoor shots of the facility 

Japanese Preschool Christmas Party

We had the pleasure of participating in a Christmas celebration at a Japanese preschool, thanks to the invite of Yoshi, the pianist at the base chapel where we first attended.

Yoshi-san announcing the arrival of a very special surprise guest...

...and the children were super excited to see none other than

SANTA CLAUS!!!

Santa-san was greeted and escorted by Yoshi to a seat of honor 

and given a special welcome gift crafted by some of the children.

Then, it was Q&A time for Santa!

Followed by special musical performances by many of the children.

These keyboard harmonicas are fascinating instruments.

The player blows air in the tube as they press the keys on the piano-like keyboard.

Santa was then introduced to a small greeting party who were the lucky ones 

to also receive the 'first gift of the party' -- 

---candy canes!!

It was only respectful for Santa and his party 

to return the entertaining favor before departing!

Last Chaplain Spouse Fun

As 2013 was swiftly drawing to a close, so was our time on island.

With only five weeks left, we quickly began our "lasts"...

On Dec. 12, the evening of our return from Hong Kong,

I attended my last Oki ChapSpouse Ornament exchange...

Then, on Dec. 17 it was my final farewell gathering.

Sushi!!

I was farewelled with the prized Oki ChapSpouse kokeshi (red) and surprised with the blue Okinawa Japan kokeshi for the time I served on the Navy Spouse board!

One of the best groups of ladies to be found anywhere on the globe!!!

My last Oki ChapSpouse volunteer project occurred on Dec. 23

when we served as Helper Elves at the Post Office!

We manned the desk and helped pull the vast amount of packages

that arrive during the holiday season.