and she's movin'!!

takin' a little break! this baby stuff is hard work!

she loves spaghetti!

even though shes moving like crazy she still has her adorable chubby arms and legs!always eating & posing!

hugs for Abby-Lola has started giving great huggies!!

serious

now silly!

she is beginning to walk more and more on her own!

Chubby Cheeks!! I love them!

Lola and I are staying very very busy here in Japan! I have been very blessed with great friends and a great support system here! I am not taking classes this semester, for various reasons, but will definitely be starting back at the beginning of the new year. We will both be home for Thanksgiving, Lola's 1st Birthday(stand by for invitations!)Christmas and the Schwind wedding! (love you Kevin and Andria) I can't wait to see everyone and share all these special moments with great friends and family, although I will be missing all my friends in Japan!
It has been one whole year since I started teaching Megumi and Noriko English-I can't believe how fast its gone by!
Its slowly starting to get cooler here-but not fast enough! I am so ready for sweatshirt weather! other than that I am enjoying every moment with Lola and missing Chris!

little bit of oki

i want out!

this way is soo much easier than using that spoon!

despite the mess on her face, shes actually getting pretty good at feeding herself-of course I have to give her the spoon.

this is the other view of her sleeping on the bed in the hotel!! don't worry though we pushed the bed against the wall!

the pineapple cart ride-we actually rode in these golf carts that had huge fake pineapples on top of them. We rode through the fields as we heard a "fascinating" history of the pineapple and how many variations there are. We then proceeded to quickly make our way to the free "unlimited wine tasting" which turned out to be small sips, and was by no means unlimited. They did have unlimited free pineapple though that was really good!

Lola and I in the restaurant at Pineapple Park Nago

Pineapple Plant

sooo happy

soo tired! this is how she slept at the hotel in Okinawa~up against the wall!

asleep in her crib

HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!!

To the Grandparents: Happy FIRST Grandparents day! We miss you guys so much!
To the Great-grandparents:Happy FIRST Grandparents day as a Great-grandparent!
I found some quotes about grandmothers that I thought I would share.
~If nothing is going well, call your grandmother
-Italian Proverb
~Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a grandmother
~My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty.She's ninety-seven now and we don't know where the hell she is!
-Ellen DeGeneres
~My name is NO No NO, but Grandma calls me precious!
~Grandmas never run out of hugs or kisses(that means you guys better start cooking-have you seen how much Lola eats?)
~Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting
~Perfect love sometimes doesn't come until the first grandchild
Hope everyone has a wonderful day and I will post pics later on tonight! love you all!
HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!

and she walks!!!

In case you all haven't heard, Lola took her first steps the night before Chris left! It was amazing! We were all so excited we were screaming!! She isn't much on walking since then, well not by herself anyways, but I am just elated that Chris was there to see it!
Now she walks around the house, but she always has one hand on something, she's not quit ready to do it on her own yet.
I will take some pictures within the next few days and post them.

Waki town Fireworks

A Japanese man has me!!!

Noriko and I eating fish on a stick (the Japanese like to put meat on a stick!)

Megumi and I eating the fish on a stick

All of us that were hanging out on top of the roof watching the fireworks

Two of the men in Noriko's band. The one on the right speaks very good English!!

Letting the toros(not sure if I spelled it right!) off in the water-they represent the souls of their ancestors. This is their way to remember them and send them into heaven.

Noriko's mom and Lola

She loved Lola, and in case you haven't noticed, Lola discovered her tongue!

She had a big night and was getting sleepy!

Lola and I have had a great past couple of days. We went to the fireworks with Megumi and Noriko and had good food, listened to the band and met some new friends. I am very excited about the fireworks next weekend though b/c Lola and I are dressing up in traditional Japanese dress!!!
Today we went out to the Kintai bridge and played in the fountains. A lot of Japanese children were out there with their parents so Lola and I joined in, and of course all the children, as well as parents were curious about us! It was soo refreshing, and Lola had a great time. The water was shallow enough for her to sit and play in. After that we came back to the house and hung out all day. The older she gets the more fun we have playing together, but of course I am in no hurry whatsoever for her to grow up! Hope everyone is well!

Yasaka Dam

abby swimming in the river

the sun was bright!!

the back of the dam

Today Lola, Abby and I went out to Yasaka Dam. It's about 40 minutes away, but worth the drive. It was soo gorgeous out there. I didn't get a good picture of the dam itself. There were boats for rent, you can put your own boat in, or just hangout. Abby had a blast there. There were steps leading down into the water, so she loved that, and Lola loved watching her run around. Lola thought it was soooo funny when Abby would run after the ball in the water. Its been soo hot and humid here, that the cold water actually felt good.
Lola was sleeping great through the night until Chris came home for the weekend and now I don't know what happened. I have tried Tylenol, Motrin and teething tablets and nothing works, but she always does this when the teeth break through so hopefully it will be over soon.
In case you didn't know Chris flew up here for the weekend, it was the first time he had been home since April, so it was wonderful having him here. Lola and I will probably go down to
Okinawa towards the middle of August, and stay until Chris deploys. Other than that things are pretty quiet around here.

back in the kuni

Not a good pic but wanted everyone to see how I put her hair up now!I think its soo cute!

Da-Da having fun with Lola

Rev Todd, Chris, Me, Lindsay and Lola after her Baptism. She was awake a playing the whole service and of course when we go to take pictures she falls asleep!!

Lola hanging out on the porch at our room at Shell Island-needless to say her Da-Da just got finished feeding her!!

Matt,Aunt Shelley,Adam,Me and Lola in front of their new restaurant in Rose Hill
Lola and I are back in Iwakuni, and back on schedule. She has been sleeping through the night wonderfully and enjoying all her things at home. Since we've gotten back to Iwakuni she has also started crawling all over the house!! Before we left NC she was crawling a few steps, but now shes into everything!!!She pulls up on everything and can stand for a few seconds by herself.Its been raining since we got back due to the rainy season (Tuyu) and the "typhoon" that is passing through.
Chris has also arrived safely back in Okinawa, we hope to see him soon.
Not much else to update-talk to everyone soon.
Thanks to everyone for making our trip home so wonderful. We miss you all already!But see you all soon-and hope to see everyone we didn't get to see this trip in November.

Loving life in NC

Lola sleeping on Grandma Fay

Dad fixing a basket and Lola hanging out!

If this isn't a North Carolina picture, I dont know what is!!!
Lola and my dad in the middle of a tobacco field in Bath.

Lindsay showing off her dancing skills!

The newly weds!!

First time GG held baby Lola

The shirt says it all

a little ways into Lindsay's reception....just in case you couldn't tell from the sweaty faces and huge cheesy grins!!

Four generations.....my grandmother,pa, me and Lola

Me and Linds at the rehearsal dinner ( I know I have gorgeous friends!!)
In case you couldn't tell, my wonderful friend Lindsay got married!!!! She was absolutely gorgeous as I knew she would be, and we had a blast at the reception. My dad and grandmother babysat for me that night.
Lola and I visited my dad in Bath, NC this past weekend. Its the oldest town in North Carolina, so needless to say its gorgeous there. It's a very small country town, but I loved it! We took Lola on her first boat ride!!! She slept almost the whole time! She usually loves water, but was not too fond of the water that day.
We have definitely been spoiled since we've been here. Everyday we have been bouncing between grandmothers, great grandmothers, grandpas and good friends. We are enjoying every minute in North Carolina, but time is going by way too fast!