Big Changes!

In case you haven't already heard, John and I are going to have a baby!

We are so incredibly excited! We found out on New Years Day that I was pregnant, what a great way to start the year!

I am feeling great and baby is healthy with a strong heartbeat over 140 beats per minute (just for you Kellie). The doctor and I have a little dispute about how far along I am, but according to her, right now I am about 15 1/2 weeks and the baby is due September 14.

Here are a few pictures of out little bundle of joy...

10 weeks

15 weeks

At the latest appointment the doctor thought we might be able to find out the sex. No such luck, the baby is as stubborn as both of it's parents (no surprise there) and kept it's legs crossed! Guess we'll have to wait until the next appointment in 4 weeks with the high-tech ultrasound equipment!

At the end of the appointment baby even rolled away from us proving no interest in showing the goods! Atleast we know it looks great an is healthy!

Please keep us and baby Franklin in your prayers!

Trip of a Lifetime

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to two local islands with the American Women's Welfare Association. For those of you not in Okinawa, the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force officers' spouses have gift shops on the island where you can go shop for items from all over Asia at amazing prices. I have found some great items that look exactly like things I have seen in the Pottery Barn catalog for a fraction of the price! On the island the enlisted spouses also have thrift shops. All of the profits from all of these shops go to the American Women's Welfare Association (AWWA). AWWA then takes the money and divides them between American and Japanese charities. Last year, we gave over $85,000 to Japanese charities. A large money of the money designated to Japanese charities goes to the islands of Miyako and Ishigaki. Every year AWWA takes a trip to those islands to tour the facilities that we have given money to over the nearly 40 years AWWA has been in existence. I am on the executive board for the Marine Officers' Spouse's Club and was given an opportunity to go on the trip.

In the four days we were there, we toured TWENTY-THREE facilities! It was absolutely exhausting, but I am so thankful I went.

We had such a warm welcome at the airport!

First we went to two mayors' offices in Ishigaki.

Then we started our first day with some of the sweetest little kids.

I can't believe I didn't bring one home with me! Look at those faces!

At another orphanage, these sweet kids did a little dance and gave us handmade paper necklaces.

The majority of the facilities we visited were nursing homes. People in this region are known as the longest living people on earth. We went to quite a few places that had around four people who were over 100 years old, and the approximate average was mid-nineties. Although the most impressive thing was their wrinkles, or should I say the lack thereof! Incredible!

A few of the facilities that cater to adults with special needs will teach them skills, usually making a product that they can turn around and sell. This helps the facility become less reliant on the government for funding, and many people are able to eventually go out into the city and find jobs.

The Japanese are really big on gift giving and at each place we gave and received a gift from the staff and those who use the facility.

At many of the places they put on a little show for us, and in return we did a little song and dance for them! I have never done the "Hokey Pokey" so many times in my life! It was a great song though because although we were singing in English, it is pretty easy to follow along and they could dance with us.

The directors of the facilities on each island threw a banquet for us. Of course a show was involved. The appreciation for the money and gifts given by our organizations was overwhelming.

We added to the show by doing the "Cha-cha Slide"! It was such fun!

Here is a picture of a few girls teaching us how to do an Okinawan dance!

The trip wasn't all business. On our last day, we got to do a little sightseeing and even got a chance to put our feet in the absolutely gorgeous water!

There were 18 of us who went on the trip and 9 of us were Marine Officers' Spouses' Club members so we had to show our love with "MOSC" written in the sand. In the background you can see a bus that our organization helped fund.

As the title of this blog says, this truly was the trip of a lifetime. It was beautiful to see efforts on both the American and Japanese sides to bridge the gap between the two cultures, particularly on Okinawa and it's surrounding islands. Next year AWWA will celebrate its 40th anniversary. I sincerely hope these relationships remain for many years to come!

For more pictures, check out AWWA's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=67223431648

Girl Time!

It seems as if I have more girl-time than husband time since John is always gone. Fortunately I have made some great friends here to keep me busy! Many of us are in the same boat, so it has been so wonderful being surrounded by great women who are going through the same things I am!

John's unit had a "Spouse Appreciation Day", so I signed up to spend a day with some of the other wives in our unit. We drove up north to check out the Nakajin castle ruins.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom so it was gorgeous up there!

Here I am with some of my favorite other wives with a gorgeous view behind us!

After that we went to a little (crazy) place to learn how to make little shisa dogs out of clay.

Many Okinawans have these really ugly looking ceramic dogs outside of their homes to keep out the "evil spirits". I don't really keep up with the hype, but I wanted to see if I could make anything besides a bowl out of a lump of clay!

One of the men that worked there showed exactly what to do and made it seem pretty easy.

Here are some of the ladies working hard and concentrating on the tiny details!

Here's my finished product! It is still ugly, but I am proud!

The next day, my close girlfriends and I drove back up north to the last day of the cherry blossom festival.

Since it is much warmer here in Okinawa than mainland Japan, they blossom a few months sooner.

My friend Christine thought it would be fun if we did a jumping picture. It didn't work out so well. Fail!

That's better!

The cherry blossoms bloom throughout the summer. They are absolutely beautiful. I think everyone needs a little pink in their lives!

Happy New Year!

We haven't had any major events going on, so here are a few happenings in January for the Franklin's...

We started the year off with a quick visit down the road to one of the shrines. New Years Day is the most celebrated holiday for the Japanese. On the first day of the year they visit their local shrine, and pray for blessings for the new year. We're not into the whole "praying at a shrine" thing, so we just strolled around and took in the sights. The Japanese purchase fortunes and if they don't like it, they tie it to a fence. Guess there were a lot of crummy ones out there!

Of course as with any Japanese celebration, there is food everywhere. I have to admit, I really went so I could get a bag of cotton candy!

We had the opportunity to celebrate our good friend Paul's promotion to Captain. In the Marine Corps, once you get promoted, it is customary to have a "Wet down" or basically a promotion party.

Congratulations Paul and Caralee!

The weekend before John left (again), we drove down south to Okinawa World.

Of course it is a tourist trap, but we heard great things about the huge natural cave you can tour. It is a little over 3 miles long and I really do not want to know how far underground we were! There is a nice pathway all the way through that is well lit, and it took almost 30 minutes to go through the cave.

I have never seen stalagmites and stalactites in real life and it was fascinating to see how they grow.

Outside of the cafe they have sort of a craft mall. in one area we were able to watch glass blowing.

After John headed off to his final deployment here in Oki (woo hoo!!!!) I thought it would be great to have some girl time. A lot of our husbands are gone, so what better way to relax than get an amazing pedicure! I do not think a pedicure in the States could ever compare to these! It was fun to chat with my best girlfriends while getting pampered. Here is the final product!

Seriously, they have books at least 2 inches thick with pages of different designs to choose from! I will miss this place!
January is almost over, so we are one month closer to moving back to the US!

Thailand Part Two- Bangkok

We hopped a short flight to Bangkok from Phuket and the scenery drastically changed. We started in a laid-back beach town, then ended up in a large, bustling city. Our hotel was amazing. It was chic and very, very tall! On the top of the roof they have a restaurant and a bar. We decided to head up 59 stories to the roof and get a drink and take in the incredible view. The restaurant was appropriately named "Vertigo".
I borrowed this next picture from Google so you could see what our camera could not capture! The elevator ride down makes your ears pop!

We really only had one full day in Bangkok so we went to see the major tourist attractions. We started at Wat Po, which is one of the largest temples in Bangkok. They have the world's largest reclining buddha. Now I have no idea why they need one of those, but it brings in the tourists. Wat Po is a large area with several smaller temples in side. I didn't feel the need to actually go in any of them so we walked around and saw the unique architecture.

We decided to go into the area where the reclining buddha was. John loves all things historical and for me I went in purely with the intention of viewing it from a Sociological standpoint (as most of you know Sociology is kind of my thing!). Here he is standing next to the head. You can see how huge it really was.

I find it fascinating that millions of people worship a statue. Something that isn't even alive. As I watched people marvel at a fake guy made of gold laying down it made my heart sad. People were saying quick prayers and I wondered if they thought it was listening.

It made me so grateful to know that I believe in the living God! OK, now off my soapbox...

Fortunately the Grand Palace was a block away, so we headed over to see where the king lived.

I forgot to mention that in the "wats" or temples and any other place, like the Grand Palace, there is a dress code. You cannot wear shorts or show your shoulders. If you are wearing a skirt it has to be full length. Fortunately we knew the rules before we went so we dressed appropriately. We saw them turn away people because they were not covered. I don't blame some of the people though, it was at least 90 degrees outside! I loved this sign and wish we could use it in America!

As I said before, the architecture is unlike anything I have ever seen.

In the palace some of the buildings had such incredible detail. I tried to take a few close-ups so you could see it. All of the colors you see are like a glass mosaic.

While inside, John took a picture with a monk! I bet you don't have a picture with a monk! Ha ha!

Somehow he fits right into this picture!

After our tour of the palace we took a little break, had some coconut water, paid essentially one dollar to use the bathroom, then headed back to the hotel.

That night we took a dinner cruise along the Chao Phraya River. On the cruise we were able to see 34 of some of the most famous places in Bangkok.

The food was great too. We had a six-course set meal which included 18 different types of traditional Thai food. It was fun to try new things that we probably never would have tried on our own.

It is always hard to take pictures at night, but I got a few good shots.

During dinner, there were a couple of traditional Thai dancers. I had to get a picture with them as we were getting off the boat!

Thailand was an interesting place, to say the least! Coming from the quiet, well-mannered Japanese culture to a wild and crazy horn-honking place was a bit of a culture shock! I think we are all traveled out (for now) and will be happy to move back to the U.S.A. very soon!