Mika has an official US government number! July 25, 2009

Mika received her official Social Security card today! This was the last government document we were waiting for. Everything's done now. Yea!!

A family outing to Araha Beach July 19, 2009

We decided to take advantage of the nice Okinawa weather before it gets too hot and enjoy a day at the beach. This was Mika's first visit to an Okinawa beach and she loved it. She especially enjoyed playing in the sand and had fun splashing in the East China Sea. We used to take Max to this SAME beach when he was 8 years old and we lived here several years ago. It felt wonderful to go back again and have Mika with us!

Happy 4th of July 2009!

This was Mika's first 4th of July holiday, and we were excited to show her all the festivities on base! We went to the AmericaFest on Kadena Air Base and she enjoyed playing games and seeing all the big airplanes. At the end of the evening we watched the fireworks and she loved them. She's definitely used to seeing fireworks and kept pointing at the sky and saying a phrase in Mandarin. It was a very long day and she fell asleep in the car on the way home. We had a wonderful time.

We finished decorating Mika's room today and she really likes it.

Max and Mika at the end of a long day.

July 1, 2009 playtime with my friends

Our friends Miki and Ipei came to visit from Tokyo! Her family lives on Okinawa. Ipei is two months older than Mika, and they enjoyed playing together. It was very interesting to watch them communicate.....Mika speaks english and Mandarin and Ipei speaks Japanese! They somehow managed just fine and had lots of fun. Yori was with us too and we all had a great time.

This was the first time for Miki and Ipei to meet Mika, so they brought her a present from Tokyo. It's a summer Yukata to wear to the festival season that will begin soon.