Joint Post:
First of all, thank-you for keeping up with us through this blog. We appreciate it very much. Knowing that some of our friends and family follow our posts is heart warming and we are grateful that we have not yet been forgotten!
It has been a while since our last post and there were a few special occasions in the meantime, so we would like to share a quick recap of how we spent our Holidays.
Starting all the way back in November...
Thanksgiving-Some friends of ours suggested we team up to cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner at Camp Hansen for young single Marines stationed there. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience. We quickly realized that the men and women there were in a much tougher situation than us.
From there, we continued North to a military resort called Okuma Beach. We camped for three nights and enjoyed beautiful bike rides, hikes, fishing, and roasting things over our campfire by the ocean.
Christmas- I (Lydia) was fortunate enough to go home and spent two wonderfully snowy weeks with family and friends. THANK-YOU to everyone that took the time to get together! Emily, Whit & fam, Lesa, Ellen, Steve & Candace, Gina, Kay, Amy, Jason, Katie, Sara, Beka and of course my family, Mom, Dad, Grace, Jay, Joe, Ni, Grandparents and all extended relatives present on Christmas Eve at Gramma Marcy's. ALL of you contributed to a very happy and re-charged Lydia upon my return to Okinawa. Lastly, thank-you to Daniel for selflessly spending our first Christmas together as a married couple alone so that I could go home and share that special time with my family and friends. I am very grateful for a partner who was supportive and understanding of that choice.
I (Daniel) had a different Christmas this year than I'm used to. I knew it would be difficult being apart for Christmas but I also knew how important it was for Lydia to make it home for some family time. I was working for much of the time leading up to and around Christmas but I spent my spare time fishing. My main event while Lydia was gone was Christmas dinner.
For Christmas Eve I invited anyone from the Dental Squadron who didn't have family, friends, or a place to gather and/or cook a meal over for a traditional Christmas dinner. I thought I would have a few responses but when it was all said and done I had 13 RSVP, mostly young couples and single Airmen. Fortunately the menu was enough to satisfy everyone and I ended up eating like a king for about a week afterward. Christmas dinner; turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, veggies with hummus (homemade by Lydia) and guacamole, Mexican chocolate cheesecake, and lots of chocolate chip cookies. I turned on the oven when I got home from work at noon and it stayed on until dinner was served at 6:30 and for quite a while had 4 pans inside at any given time. After everyone was stuffed we all played "Taboo," a word-guessing board game, until it was time to go home for the night.
It was a fun but exhausting evening and I was very happy to share our home with some of the folks who are far from home, family, and friends, and living in a dorm on base. I heard Lydia comment several times that she wished she could have been here too and it will certainly be repeated. The highlight of my break, though, was when Lydia came back to Okinawa so we could spend my time off from the clinic together.
And last but not least,
New Years Eve- We were invited to join a few couples for appetizers and games on New Years Eve. We enjoyed bringing in the New Year getting to know these new friends more through games and conversation.
On New Years Day, Lydia joined in on an annual century ride up to Okuma and back in beautiful weather with a large group of other cyclists on the island. Daniel spent his afternoon at his favorite fishing spot, Cape Zanpa, on the prowl for mahi mahi.
The next day, we packed up and spent the rest of our long weekend back up at Okuma, this time in a cabin. We enjoyed some terrific rain storms, hiking, a little fishing, and spent some adventure time together fighting wind and waves in a double kayak we rented there as well.
Thanks again for reading! We appreciate you, our dear friends and family, and your prayers and support so much.
First of all, thank-you for keeping up with us through this blog. We appreciate it very much. Knowing that some of our friends and family follow our posts is heart warming and we are grateful that we have not yet been forgotten!
It has been a while since our last post and there were a few special occasions in the meantime, so we would like to share a quick recap of how we spent our Holidays.
Starting all the way back in November...
Thanksgiving-Some friends of ours suggested we team up to cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner at Camp Hansen for young single Marines stationed there. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience. We quickly realized that the men and women there were in a much tougher situation than us.
From there, we continued North to a military resort called Okuma Beach. We camped for three nights and enjoyed beautiful bike rides, hikes, fishing, and roasting things over our campfire by the ocean.
 |
| Nature hike |
 |
| Nature hike |
 |
| Our ocean view campsite |
Christmas- I (Lydia) was fortunate enough to go home and spent two wonderfully snowy weeks with family and friends. THANK-YOU to everyone that took the time to get together! Emily, Whit & fam, Lesa, Ellen, Steve & Candace, Gina, Kay, Amy, Jason, Katie, Sara, Beka and of course my family, Mom, Dad, Grace, Jay, Joe, Ni, Grandparents and all extended relatives present on Christmas Eve at Gramma Marcy's. ALL of you contributed to a very happy and re-charged Lydia upon my return to Okinawa. Lastly, thank-you to Daniel for selflessly spending our first Christmas together as a married couple alone so that I could go home and share that special time with my family and friends. I am very grateful for a partner who was supportive and understanding of that choice.
I (Daniel) had a different Christmas this year than I'm used to. I knew it would be difficult being apart for Christmas but I also knew how important it was for Lydia to make it home for some family time. I was working for much of the time leading up to and around Christmas but I spent my spare time fishing. My main event while Lydia was gone was Christmas dinner.
For Christmas Eve I invited anyone from the Dental Squadron who didn't have family, friends, or a place to gather and/or cook a meal over for a traditional Christmas dinner. I thought I would have a few responses but when it was all said and done I had 13 RSVP, mostly young couples and single Airmen. Fortunately the menu was enough to satisfy everyone and I ended up eating like a king for about a week afterward. Christmas dinner; turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, veggies with hummus (homemade by Lydia) and guacamole, Mexican chocolate cheesecake, and lots of chocolate chip cookies. I turned on the oven when I got home from work at noon and it stayed on until dinner was served at 6:30 and for quite a while had 4 pans inside at any given time. After everyone was stuffed we all played "Taboo," a word-guessing board game, until it was time to go home for the night.
It was a fun but exhausting evening and I was very happy to share our home with some of the folks who are far from home, family, and friends, and living in a dorm on base. I heard Lydia comment several times that she wished she could have been here too and it will certainly be repeated. The highlight of my break, though, was when Lydia came back to Okinawa so we could spend my time off from the clinic together.
And last but not least,
New Years Eve- We were invited to join a few couples for appetizers and games on New Years Eve. We enjoyed bringing in the New Year getting to know these new friends more through games and conversation.
On New Years Day, Lydia joined in on an annual century ride up to Okuma and back in beautiful weather with a large group of other cyclists on the island. Daniel spent his afternoon at his favorite fishing spot, Cape Zanpa, on the prowl for mahi mahi.
The next day, we packed up and spent the rest of our long weekend back up at Okuma, this time in a cabin. We enjoyed some terrific rain storms, hiking, a little fishing, and spent some adventure time together fighting wind and waves in a double kayak we rented there as well.
 |
| Looking for sea glass |
 |
| Hiking to Hiji Falls |
 |
| A new extreme adventure cliff fishing spot near Cape Hedo |
Thanks again for reading! We appreciate you, our dear friends and family, and your prayers and support so much.
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