As One Journey Ends, a New One Awaits...

As we are no longer stationed in Misawa, I'd like to invite you to join us at our new blogger home:

www.dudleyohana.blogspot.com

Still working out the kinks, but we plan to have current (and regular) updates in the weeks to come!

Good-Bye Japan! Hello Hawaii!

MAHALO! :)

For all our devoted "fans"....

Hi all,

We haven't forgotten about you...just EXTREMELY busy these days! We're in Hawaii this week house-hunting and up until today, the prospects didn't look good. Between sketchy neighborhoods, scary landlords (is that Dog the Bounty Hunter???), and teensy-weensy living quarters, Chris and I began to think we were destined to live out of a box at Wakiki Beach for six-twelve months until base housing opened up. Granted the views would be awesome and the square footage certainly wouldn't be a problem... ;)

After having base housing options go down the toilet--can three people actually reside in 900 sq. ft of living space?--we located a townhouse in Kailua that suits our fancy. It's actually quite incredible--mountain and golf course views from TWO lanais (one upstairs, one down), three bedrooms, three baths, a granite-covered kitchen, covered parking, gated access, and 1700 sq. ft of glorious living space. We still have to work out the details and the paperwork, but have offered an oral agreement to rent the property. The owner/landlord is a AF LT Colonel, so we feel pretty good about that...military renting to military always seems to make things just a bit easier! :)

That's all for now. Actually, I'm just taking a break from two papers and two finals to write and let you all know about our exciting residential news. We've been here since Monday and have yet to spend time on the beach. :( I guess an actual 'vacay' in Hawaii will just have to wait...no rest for the weary!

Love,

Amanda

Adventures in Self-Feeding....

I think someone told Noah that it's not about how much you get in your mouth...but how much you can smear on your face.

Fun with utensils--is it really a spoon or maybe...a paintbrush?

What mess??? I don't see any mess!

Oh no! This means I'll have to have a bath, doesn't it?

We don't have much time to write these days, but thought these photos would most assuredly bring about a laugh or two!

Happy Halloween!!

Noah went on his very first 'Trick-or-Treat' excursion last night! Here he is all dressed up as Stitch--as you can see, he's all excited about the massive amount of Snickers, Hersheys, Sour Patch Kids, and Sweet Tarts he planned on bagging in massive quantities. No, not really, but he played along with Mommy and Daddy's dress-up game with a good sense of humor.

Mommy, Daddy, and Noah actually had a busy night last night. Akiko, who is in charge of one of the English school I used to teach for, asked if we would escort her Japanese students and their parents on base to experience 'Trick-or-Treating' first-hand. So we gathered up a few other American friends and off we went...5 Americans with 30 or so costume-clad (so VERY CUTE!) Japanese kids and their parents, going door to door amongst the American houses saying "Trick-or-Treat!!!!" It was a really neat experience, although Noah thought it was cold...and loud...and not fun, and wailed his desire to be taken back to the car 20 minutes into our night out. You can't blame him--I'd wail, too, if I wasn't getting any of the scrumptious benefits of being out in the cold and wet!!!

We had a really good time, though. I got to see a few of my old students and give them one last hug and a 'good-bye' before we PCS outta here. It's kind of sad actually--for someone who used to cringe at the prospect of a teaching profession, I really did enjoy my time teaching English here and will miss these guys alot.

Well....Happy Halloween from the Dudleys! We hope you have lots to show for your night out--just remember, Reese's cups are our fav and their square little packages fit quite nicely together in a small shipping box to Japan! :)

No Commentary Required

Diving for Salmon...

I'm BAAACCKK! Four 15-page papers in two weeks is a killah I tell you!! :)

Now that I have my proverbial head above water, I'll share with you an actual water adventure that the Dudley family and a few friends went on last weekend. Don't worry....I'll get to the Singapore photos, just decided to play catch-up in reverse order.

So, the Rokkasho salmon festival....a very interesting event to say the least. We laughed our butts off as we watched a few hundred people participate in a 3-minute dive after fish in a large blue pool--kids were slippin' and slidin' and shovin', adults were scramblin', jumpin' and divin'--it was like watching a greased pig catching contest, Japanese style. Chris had dreamed about the moment he would wrangle a fish with his bare hands (he does love his salmon fishing, of course), but realized afterwards that the event selling out of tickets and him not getting one was not a bad thing. I don't know who got the worse end of the deal, actually...both fish and people exited the pool a little bloodied. For the fish's sake, I hope they got in a few well-aimed whaps with their tails before being carted off to the cleaning tables.

Salmon stew...just like in a Campbell's soup commercial--mmm, mmm, GOOD!

Adorable little Japanese girl eating yummy, delicious salmon eggs (GACK!)

Noah had a great view on Daddy's shoulders

Just Mommy and Meeee!

The Kuehns (Tim and Monica) and the Milds (Andy and Keli)

The Great Pool of Salmon

The Wranglers. Ready, Set...

GO!

I got him, Mommy...you go in for another one!!!

(insert Japanese subtitles here)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Chris turned 31 today...wow, time sure does fly by! I get to pick on him for being "older" but I'm not all that far behind. :)

So, if you haven't done so yet, be sure to wish Chris a very "Happy Birthday." I'm sure he'll appreciate all your warm wishes, your love, your generous thoughtfulness...and your reminder that he's no longer a spry young 25. ;)

Happy Birthday, honey! Noah and I love you very much!

Amanda