God Bless Landon

I want to dedicate this post to Landon Bonnett-Castillo and his amazing parents, Erin and Carlos.
Baby Landon was born with Trisomy 13, a genetic disorder, here at Yokosuka Naval Base. http://www.livingwithtrisomy13.org/ He wasn't expected to live after his birth, but he defide the odds and gave his parents 58 days of pure joy and life. Yesterday morning, Landon went home to God to live a life watching over his loving and dedicated parents.

I want all of us to pray for their hearts to be healed and for God to continue to give them great strength. I want all of us to give our own children a hug that lasts a bit longer today to appreciate their health and to give thanks to our lives.

This family has been an inspiration to so many. As to myself, I am amazed at their faith in God and the strength of their young hearts. Please feel free to visit their blog site, http://www.bonnett-castillo.blogspot.com/ as they have been so inviting to others to join in the celebration of Landon's life.

Swim Lessons

Caleb has been taking swim lessons and has only two classes left. Shawn has been taking him every night for the last 8 days at 6:00 and Shawn is over it! He says that Caleb doesn't cooperate and doesn't participate in the activities. The night Riley and I went to observe, Caleb did a great job....I'm wondering if Shawn doesn't have the patience or if Caleb is playing daddy....either way the instructor has suggested that Caleb repeat the class before moving on to the next level.

No more diapers

Yes, it is true!!!! Caleb is potty trained. He's wearing big boy underwear!!! Yesterday, he had one accident, but we took him to Toy's R Us and he just forgot, (he hasn't been to a Toys R Us in more than 9 months, He was too excited to think about peeping!!!). I LOVE IT!!!! It's hard to be always on the lookout for bathrooms, but it's so worth it!!! He's growing up and sometimes that's difficult to watch, but he makes it so much fun to see.

More on Tokyo

Tokyo is a very busy place. Most people compare it to New York City and I would have to agree with that idea. There are so many skyscrapers and billboards and expensive stores, like Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton, and Armani.

We stayed at the Hotel Nikko. It is the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. Everything was extremely clean and very large (by Japan standards). On the morning of check-out, Caleb decided to jump into the elevator first when the doors shut before anyone else could get in there with him. We were on the 8th floor. I panicked!!!! What if he got off on another floor, where could he end up, who would find him???? Not to mention that he must have been terrified!!! We all split up and checked different floors. Grandpa found him on the first floor, in the lobby, surrounded by several of the female clerks. I'm not sure that he really understood what had happened, but I think for the first time I realized what true fear feels like. I lost my breath, I couldn't feel my heart beating anymore, I was lost. What a horrible feeling!!!!

Our last stop before heading home was the Imperial Palace. As we were walking up the hill, Riley was being pushed in his stroller and was fast asleep with the cover over him, with just his toes exposed to the air. Everyone who passed us commented and pointed. We kinda thought maybe they must really like toes.....but when we got to the top of the hill we were overwhelmed with people wanting to look at Riley and then Caleb. People wanted to take their picture with my kids...it was kinda weird.....there we were visiting the Imperial Palace and (Japanese) people wanted to take pictures of my kids.

Our two day visit to Tokyo was awesome and exhausting. We walked alot and seen alot and spent great time together.

So many places, so little time

We have been so busy visiting as many places as possible. By the time we get home from a new adventure I'm too tired to blog. But, today I realized that I am so behind on pictures and days that I better take the time and do some posts.

We went to a Polynesian dinner and show at the Officer's Club. Dancers and performers we're brought in from Hawaii. The buffet wasn't that awesome, but the show was.

On Sunday, we went to Tokyo for two days and visited the Tokyo Tower, which was inspired by the Eiffel Tower, The International Forum, Zojoji Temple, and the Emperor's Imperial Palace.

Ginza district of Tokyo

Tokyo Tower

The International Forum

This beautiful building is Japan's largest congress center. It is a large glass structure that is supported by only two large beams. It has many halls for art exhibits and convention rooms. When we were there, they were having the premiere of "Dark Night". There were hundreds of people waiting in line to get a sneak peak of a celebrity.

Ema boards are for wish making or prayers.

Mizuko Jizo statues are dedicated to the lost life of a baby.

Monks in prayer at Zojoji Temple.

Our visit to Tokyo was so awesome that I will have to put it into two different posts. Right now I am out of time. Shawn and I are taking advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's last night of their visit to have a night out...and I am not ready.

Some random Pics

Big Buddha Day

We took the grandparents to see the big buddha in Kamakura. The weather was SO HOT!!! But we still enjoyed ourselves.

We were able to get some great family photos.

Caleb is going through this phase right now where he doesn't want to get his picture taken or for anyone else to get their picture taken either. He'll jump in front of the person trying to take the picture and yell, "Beep!" which to him means, "stop!" It's really annoying, so you may notice that Caleb is either trying to escape a picture or isn't looking at the camera or is on the corner of some pictures where he's trying to stop the camera person.....