Our visit to Hawaii for Max to see the doctors and have surgery.

This was our Thanksgiving day lunch. It was delicious.

Mika was using a bath towel to dress up and entertain herself while Max was at the hospital.


Recovering after surgery.

Max's Thanksgiving day lunch. He didn't feel good on this day, so he looks a little tired.

A few photos that were taken during our hospital visit in Hawaii....

Here are a few photos that were taken while we were in Hawaii to see the doctors. It was the week of Thanksgiving, so we had some time off to sightsee and relax for a couple of days.

Uncle Dennis sent their birthday gifts to the hotel while we were there. He was a tiny bit late because he had ordered the Angels baseball souvenir, but that's ok, we still love him anyway!! (Their birthdays were in September!)

An example of our new life...where can Max eat and what can Max eat??!! We always order the biggest, fattest, most calorie busting thing on the menu for him. He has to eat a minimum of 4,000 calories EVERY day to maintain his bloodsugar.

Merry Christmas....we made it home in time!

As most of you already know, we've been at the hospital in Hawaii with Max since November 20th. We're so happy to finally be home in time to celebrate Christmas! We're so thankful for all of your prayers and support over these past four weeks, and we are so blessed that both of his biopsies came back benign and he's now feeling much, much better with the new medicine and the new nutrition plan. We're especially thankful for our dear friends, Eric and Michelle (and Lexie too!) who surrounded us with joy and love while we were in Hawaii and made us feel like part of their family.
I'll be posting more photos as soon as I can.
Merry Christmas!

Mika's "school work" at home...

A few extra photos.....

I had some extra photos, so I thought I would just post them together......
We went to "Seaside" arcade and I won some Halloween stuffies with the claw game!

Mika is learning how to use a knife and fork, so she's practicing with pancakes and a child safe knife.

My friend Yoriko made Mika a bento box lunch.

Mika loved it!!

I'm in the process of teaching Mika how to read. She loves to learn new things!

At a soba restaurant

Mika was excited to see a Japanese school group. They wear color coded hats when they go out for a field trip. So cute!

Mommy, Mika and Daddy.....
(Max was at school)

Enjoying a sushi lunch while Max is at school. Mika loves these little yogurt drinks and used to drink them when she was a baby in Taiwan.

Fresh sushi! Yummy. The chef is scorching some crab meat and mayo.

Halloween decorations off base at Mihama Village.

Mika enjoying a "kids set" at the Thai restaurant.

We enjoyed some Thai food for lunch and I had shrimp cakes and beef salad.

Pineapple rice.....

Max didn't feel too good on this day, so he looks a little tired.

This was Max's lunch-chicken with cashews.

Max got an ice cream for dessert off base.

Happy 18th (gasp!) birthday Max.....

Our "little" boy is 18 years old! We can't believe how fast the years have gone by.
His birthday was on a school day this year, so we celebrated after he came home from school.

Mika and I went to the school parking lot and decorated Max's car before he got out of school! He was very surprised and it was very funny!

We decorated his room a little also. The birthday sign is handmade by my dear friend Toni. He's had it for two years now and likes it because it has a little white car on it that looks like his car.

Home from school and time to celebrate.....

Mika put the balloon in his car!

I took Mika to the PX and she chose Max's birthday gift all by herself. She decided to buy him a remote control helicopter and they enjoyed flying it outside. Max is good at it!

David and I gave Max an IPod Touch and loaded lots of his favorite songs and photos and games onto it. He was super happy and loves it. He can listen to it in his car also thru the radio adapter we bought for him.

He likes to read history books!

History books and DVD's are his favorite things!

Max asked to go to his favorite Mexican restaurant for his birthday dinner. Mexican food in Japan is VERY interesting and unique. This restaurant has been open for many years and lots of the high school kids hang out there on the weekend. These little privately owned places are all over Okinawa.

Happy birthday to our wonderful, handsome, smart, funny and adorable son!!!!

Mika ADORES her big brother!

September 15, 2011

Mika loves to do "school work" and does an activity everyday.

Going to ballet

This is my dragon vase. I've been working on it for the past month.

Here's the photo from September 14th.....and then another photo later that night after working on it for three hours.

Max working on his dragon vase.