Connected Again

We finally have internet! It is amazing how dependent we have become upon the internet. Sorry we weren't able to keep in contact by blog or e-mail for the past month (give us a little more time to reply to e-mails...our boxes are very full right now). It has been a very intense and exhausting month for us with all of the highs and lows of moving. All of our belongings have arrived including belongings we hadn't seen in three years that were in storage while we were in Japan (lots to sort through). In the midst of the moving chaos we took a very quick trip to Louisiana to see my family. We had a great time meeting new baby cousins including my sister's daughter, Clementine who is a month younger than Camille. It was fun to see the new generation of cousins and to think back on all of the wonderful times I had with my cousins. I will post photos once we have unpacked more of our computer stuff. After our trip to Louisiana, my saintly mother-in-law came to Jacksonville to help us unpack and get a little more settled. My father-in-law joined us this past weekend as we celebrated the Jewish new year together. It felt good to be moving into the house and looking forward to a sweet new year in our new community.

This move has been challenging for all of us but it has been hard to see its impact on Noah. He frequently tells us he is lonely and will sit in the front window watching for signs of neighborhood children. He talks a lot about his Okinawan friends, but he is also now starting to talk about some new school buddies. He is such a social little guy. I am glad he was able to start school so soon after arriving because that has helped him with the adjustment. But he has really missed our lively little street on Okinawa and the daily neighborhood gatherings after school. He has also been a little confused by all of the coming and going. We picked him up from school before heading to the airport for our Louisisana trip and he stopped each person to tell them "good-bye I am going to the airport now". I thought he was just excited to get on an airplane until we got in the car and he told Adam "it took me longer to leave today because I had to tell everyone good-bye since we are moving to Louisiana". But now that his trains have arrived and he is surrounded by some familiar things I think he is starting to realize that this is home now. I think it will take me a little longer to feel settled and connected but I think this will be a good spot for us.

Thanks to all for the good wishes, positive thoughts, and encouragement. It feels good to be back on-line.