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Beautiful Days

The weather has finally cooled a bit to where it is tolerable to spend periods of time outdoors. A few Saturdays ago it was so beautiful outside, so we decided to spend the day at the park. We chose Okinawa Comprehensive Park. This has become one of our favorite spots to hang out. We loaded up the van with kids, water, snacks, stroller, scooter, bicycles, and helmets. Then off we weren't. Once we arrived we decided to give kite flying a try first. It was so windy we weren't able to fly them for too long, so out came the scooter and bicycle. The boys rode all over the place. Our first stop was at the playground. The boys played on the swings and roller slides, they climbed through the tunnels, and did all of the other dangerous things there were to do there. If you've never been to a Japanese playground, you must understand, they trust their kids way more than we do. They are so much more dangerous, which of course, means more fun for the little ones. After the playground they rode bikes some more, then we went to feed this fish in the pond. We rented a paddleboat and took the kids out to feed even more fish. Keegan and Braden had a good time, Dayton wasn't so sure about having to wear a life vest.

We've Been Boo-ed!!

Around the first of October my friend Jessica and I decided to go 'Boo' some friends on base. We created seven little gift bags with a fall themed potholder or dish towel for the Queen of the house, and candy for everyone else ;) Inside was also a ghost that said 'We've Been Boo-ed' and instructions to spread the good cheer and boo 2 others within a few days. It was honestly the most fun I have had in quite some time. We mapped out the houses we planned to 'BOO' then went to work. At each house we would hang the gift bag onthe doorknob, ring the doorbell a few times, then run like crazy!! Like I said, GREAT FUN! It was so funny to hide and watch their expressions. The Brown Family-Indy opened the door, took the gift closed the door..come on Indy...show some excitement!! The Maranaca Family (these were the funniest) The two daughters were screaming Ooh! Ooh! Look its a birthday party! Ooh candy I wasnt some!! I thought we would get caught from our laughter as we were hiding in the bushes right next to the door. Then our next door neighbor, he was pretty funny too. He looked at thebag, then scanned the yard, then looked at the bag, then scanned the yard again, a very cautious fellow he is! After we did them i was curious if the others would pass on the good cheer. We Boo'd 5 people in our neighborhood and the two others lived in other areas. Well a few nights ago, we were Boo-ed!! We were all about to eat dinner and the door bell rang, I went to the door and noone was there (at least I couldnt see anyone through the peep hole!). Thinking it may have been a small child, I opened the door to find a pizza box on the ground. First thought..I didnt order Pizza...second thought...where did the pizza guy go??? Then I see the huge "We've Been Boo-ed" sign. Silly me :) The family that booed us had baked a huge sugar cookie-pizza. It was covered in frosting anf topped with candy corn. It was so stinkin' good, I love good sugar cookie ;)

Evolution of Dayton

My little love will be seven months old on Sunday!! Can you believe it?? Heres a quick slide show to show his transformation from a dark-haired, teeny tiny infant, to the blonde, roly-poly, hands on everything baby he is today.

Daddys Girl

This picture was taken of Daddy when he was about 15. His friend from high school that took the picture, came across it a month or so after he died and mailed it to me. Thanks Ms.Breedlove. As you can see, he was a pretty carefree spirit.

Yesterday I had an appointment with a DR to get an echo cardiogram (sp?) done of my heart.. Some of you may know, I had some issues when I was younger. Well, since then the problems have pretty much fixed themselves, but they haven't been monitored in quite sometime. So yesterday everything was checked out just to be safe. Since there are no cardiologists here, the results will be sent to Tripler in Hawaii, and I will go back in for a follow up in one month. The tech said he was fairly certain all was good;)

Anyhow....leading up to the actual procedure the doc was asking about family history....diabetes..heart issues..and the dreaded 'c' word, cancer. I proceeded to tell her about my Dad passing away last year. The Doc was very kind, and allowed me ramble for about 45 minutes. She asked several questions, and seemed genuinely interested in my Dads fight (albeit short) with Cancer. I think I may have taught her a thing or two, lol. She wasn't very familiar with chemo or radiation or the drugs and their side effects (as this isn't her specialty, of course). As I said I rambled for close to an hour with no emotion. When I speak of it, it seems so distant, as if I am retelling a story I read in a book or magazine. Then, as soon as I shut my mouth, I realize this is me, my Dad, his story, my story, our story....then the tears start......

I miss my Dad soooo much. I cant even put it to words. Nor can I count the times I have woken in the middle of the night confused thinking I need to call him and check on him at that exact moment. See, since I have been a 'grown-up' I felt like I needed to take care of Daddy more than him take care of me. Daddy had seizures and it was always my worse fear for him to have one alone, and injure himself, or while driving. I am sure I called him no less than a dozen times a day;) Since we had moved here it was typical for me to call him each and every morning and before I went to sleep at night. If for some reason I couldn't sleep, I would call him then too. I talked to him more than Thomas last summer since he had been in Texas for 4 months.

I still feel empty without him in some ways. And if you have never lost someone close to you 'empty' is a hard feeling to describe. I need to talk to him I need to tell him about the boys, I need to show him pictures of Dayton, he was so proud to have all these handsome grandsons.

He should be able to take them fishing and send them birthday wishes, and tell them how they act just like me when I was a kid :)

I miss my Daddy =(

Reminiscing.....

Just so you know I havent went crazy (or maybe I have). I am going to post about some things in the past. I want to write about some of the things we have already experinced here in Okinawa. As I sort through my photos I may post about things we did long ago....but I havent gone crazy =)

Ok, the sole purpose of this blog is for me to figure out how it works…I am trying to add some pictures……

The Beginning

OK, I am serious, I am going to do this :)
This is the beginning of the Lewellen Family Blog!! We decided to join EVERYONE else here and create a blog to share our adventures with our family and friends back home and our friends that have become 'extended' family here.
Hope you enjoy!