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.

Our first week in Jacksonville

We arrived here last weekend and it has been a whirlwind since we stepped off the plane. I only have a few minutes to write (we don't have internet access so I am using the public library computer...hooray for public libraries!).....Here are the good things about our first week in Jacksonville:

-We love our new home and neighborood
-Everyone is very friendly and helpful
-The oak trees are beautiful
-Noah loves his new school and has been adjusting well despite jet lag and culture shock (more about that later)
-The sweet tea and peaches are delicious
-It feels good to be back in the South
-Adam's new co-workers are very nice
-Camille is becoming a southern belle...charming everyone with her sweet smile and waving

Here are few things that haven't been so good:
-Our kitchen renovation won't be completed for another month....so we will extend our hotel stay and plan on moving in later than expected
-We have spent way too much time driving and sitting in traffic
-Looked like Hurricane Ernesto was going to hit us but luckily it slowed down and just turned into a few rainy days
-I am still sick and not sleeping
-The shopping options are way too overwhelming....food choices, paint choices, kitchen appliances, baby supplies...I have a headache that never seems to go away.
-and the worst part of our trip is that we got into an accident today. Our brand new minivan (four days old) was re-ended today (and it was NOT my fault). We are still trying to find a used car for Adam and will now have to deal with getting our van repaired while also finding a second car...not fun. Luckily none of us were hurt...just shaken up and missing our old junker cars in Okinawa!

Well, my time on the public library computer is about to end. I will try to check e-mail tomorrow but just wanted to post a quick update on us. Hope y'all are doing well and I'll post more when we get internet access

Back in the States

We are back! After a long flight (Camille didn't sleep at all! And she threw up twice!), we were very happy to arrive in California. We are having a wonderful visit with Adam's family. It has been great to watch Noah and Camille playing with their cousins. And we're looking forward to a large family gathering tomorrow night. We'll post photos soon. We are struggling with jetlag and trying to get rid of the illnesses that traveled with us. The kids are wide awake each night from midnight to four am....not fun. We arrive in Florida this weekend. We are looking forward to finally seeing our house in person and exploring our new city. I am not sure when we will have internet access but we will try to update the blog when we get a chance.