Dear Friends
and Family,
We have not done this in a few years, so we decided to catch
you up on our life since moving to Japan in 2013 …we’re still here. We have experienced typhoons,
earthquakes, Japanese food (which is NOTHING like American Japanese food), the
Korean black market, the biggest city in the world, busiest train station in
the world and been in and seen some of the craziest festivals you could ever
imagine! We have conquered Mount
Fuji, been skiing, seen Japanese baseball (Mashiro Tanaka) and been closer than
felt comfortable to North Korea.
Been to Tokyo Disney, Disney Sea, the Hirosaki Castle during the cherry
blossom festival, been to the Sea of Japan and the very Northern tip of
mainland Japan. We have seen the
great Panda’s, been to the largest temple in Tokyo, rode the bullet train to
Tokyo, took selfies in the middle of Shibuya crossing (the busiest intersection
in the world), ate Japanese cuisine at the famous Ninja Restaurant in downtown
Tokyo and been to the top of Tokyo Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower.
Kiley
is 12 ½ years old, doesn’t seem possible we almost have a teenager. She started out practicing with a
Japanese gymnastics team when we first arrived and after about seven months
made the team. Each year she
competes in four gymnastics meets in Hachinohe and Hirosaki, two cities in our
prefecture. In the spring of 2015
she qualified for the All Japan Gymnastics meet and competed at level 6 in
Tokyo … she placed 38th overall and last year she placed 6th over all in Aomori
prefecture (Northern Japan). We
were very proud of her to say the least.
Kiley trained with the #1 junior male gymnast in Japan who went to
Austria and won the world championships.
We will see him in the Olympics in 2020. There are a few new American families that participate in
gymnastics, so carpooling has been a HUGE relief! Kiley is also doing ballet on base. Her last ballet recital is in March and
she’ll be doing a regular ballet dance and a dance on Pointe’. She is also doing well in school. She just won her class spelling Bee and
will compete against the 6th grade in a few weeks. If she wins she will get the opportunity to compete in Tokyo
this spring.
Brendan will be 10 years old in June,
how time flies. He started playing
on a Japanese ice hockey team about 2 ½ years ago and hasn’t slowed down
since. Last year he moved up to
the B team and started playing in tournaments in Hachinohe and Misawa. In November his team got the
opportunity to train with some of the best players in Hokkaido, the island
north of us, in Tomakomai City. Brendan and Korry took the overnight ferry to
Hokkaido, Brendan’s first boat trip out to sea. He had a great time
and learned so much. In his last tournament, Brendan’s team beat the best team
in Hachinohe but unfortunately lost in the finals 2 to 0. It looked like they spent all their
energy the day before. Brendan
also plays outdoor soccer during the spring, baseball during the summer and
just started playing indoor soccer this January. He is the youngest on the outdoor soccer team, but hopefully
that will push him a little harder to keep up. He is also doing great in school. He also won the class spelling bee and will compete against
the 3rd grade in a few weeks.
Bailey is turning 7 in April and is always busy
doing something. Bailey ran in his
first race when he was 4 against 5 -7 year olds, he ran 2 miles and got second
place. He was the first to the top of Mount Fuji when he was 5, he never wants
to be second at anything he does.
He watched on the sidelines while Brendan played hockey and would skate
every once in a while, but couldn’t officially start until he turned 5. So, as soon as he turned 5 he was out
there with the big boys! He has
now been playing for a little over a year and a half. He is the most competitive kid I have ever seen! I Love it. ;o) He also plays outdoor
soccer in the spring and baseball during the summer. He is very bummed he isn’t old enough to play indoor soccer
with Brendan, but I am sure he will find other things to keep himself
busy. Bailey is doing great in
first grade. He loves his teacher
and has lots of friends (mostly girls).
So in a nutshell our kids are busy! ;o)
Brittany started a photography business when we
arrived and is still shooting family photos, but took a step back and started
concentrating on school. She went
back to finish her Elementary Education degree and is taking between 12-16
hours a semester, it has kept her very busy. She is also substituting at the kid’s school to gain
experience and some extra money, which is always nice.
Korry worked as the Chief of Public Affairs in
Misawa for the first 2 years and then was asked to be the Wing Commander’s Executive
Officer last March. He has been
doing that for nearly a year now and has really enjoyed both jobs but is ready
for the next adventure. He made Major in January and will pin on later this
year.
Which leads us to our next big announcement!!! WE ARE FINALLY MOVING!!! We are beyond ecstatic to be moving
back to the United States and to be back closer to our families. We will be moving in June to Scott Air
Force Base in Belleville, Illinois just outside of St. Louis. We will be making the rounds to visit
family and friends, we will let you know where we will be stopping and if you
would like to meet us at any of our stops you are more than welcome to let us
know and we can try to plan something.
OR when we get settled into our next house come and visit, we’ll plan
some fun activities! It’s been a
long 3 years and 4 months since we have been home so we can’t wait! Please keep us in your prayers and hope
to see you soon!
God
Bless!
Love,
Korry,
Brittany, Kiley, Brendan & Bailey
