Settling back in at Home

 The girls wanted to KoolAid dye their hairs before school started.  So we did.  I actually trimmed a few inches off Callie's hair after we dyed this.

Delaney's hair really doesn't like to hold dye, but it came out nicely.

I got to attend several back to school events and needed a selfie at Kubasaki.   

A pigeon with a broken leg adopted us- maybe because the girls throw him breadcrumbs so he doesn't starve.  It's a trade off between getting fed by the girls and the danger of being caught by Levi.

Showing off the Bear Bread kit we had for way to long.  We made it and it was tasty.

Delaney and her filters!

 I'm not a good mom sometimes.  The First Day of School was Aug 26 and this is the ONLY kid I got a photo of.  Sigh.

And the lawn guys had not mowed in months and our back hill was too overgrown to walk down. Rylee and I got tired of the extra 5 minutes to walk to school and I used my awesome new Japanese weeder to forge a trail down.

I'm sad the photo doesn't show just how bad the grass and weeds are, but I felt pretty awesome after doing it.  And, of course, the lawn guys came and mowed it a week later. 

Josh's new life

Dan sent some photos of his time with Josh.  They flew into CA where they spent a night or two with Dan's brother and his family and then Dan took him out to Cedar City.

Introducing Josh to Yucaipa's best food- the Garbage Burrito.

Struggling with the jet lag.

Love his face!  He is not thrilled to be awoken by a wet willy from his cousin!

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa in Cedar City.

Things I bought while Dan was Gone

Apparently when Dan is gone I like to make big purchases or changes.  We had been planning to keep an eye out for a good car for Marian.  We had time to look, and I was waiting for the right thing to come along.  And it did.

This sweet ride was only $500. It is a Toyota FunCargo.

And I love it. I wasn't sure, since it was so cheap, but it is a great little car.

It is also perfect for Marian.  It is tiny, but has lots of room inside. Why was such a great car so cheap, you ask?!

Well, it is a 2000, and it does sport this awesome tape deck/CD combo... which does not work.  Plus, the driver side window didn't roll down.  (Okay, it rolled down, but wouldn't roll back up again.) A driver side window that doesn't work is kind of a big deal when you have to roll the window down on a daily basis to show your ID card every time you go on base. Thus the low price.  Fortunately, I have   cool friends and one of them fixed the window for the princely sum of a $30 dollar part.

I also bought this bad boy. Funny enough, it was also $500.  See, big purchases without Dan!

And this is why.  This is my yard.  It took Josh 2-3 hours to mow it and well..... Josh is gone!  I don't want to spend 2-3 hours mowing! So, this is the front yard and the side yard is equally large.  The other two sides are not as large, but this handy mower makes the job take about an hour.  Totally worth it!!

Saying Goodbye to my Boy

 Apparently the week after we returned to Okinawa was very uneventful, since I have no photos!  But a week after the girls and I got back, Josh left for College and Dan took him away to get settled.

Last selfies with my boy!

 Last chance to be silly with him.

The morning he was leaving, the girls got some pictures with him. 

 He is a great brother.

And these girls do love him, even when he's a turd. And they are already planning the hostile takeover of his room here.

I dropped my boys off at the airport and off they went.

 There goes a piece of my heart!

And I may have cried a little.  But this is my "I'm so happy and proud of my boy and I'm going to miss him" face.

Last drops of summer fun

Sadly, our summer came to a close and it was time to return to Okinawa.  We had a marvelous time hanging out with cousins and aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa for 6+ weeks and we had SO MUCH fun.  But still, we had to go home.

We drove to Springfield with Adam and Savannah's family just so we could stop by Andy's and get delicious Frozen Custard.  Delaney is showing off the shirt I made her get because it is awesome, and Rylee and Denali are photobombing.

Callie took the opportunity to hold adorable Liza one last time.

And she liked it.

And then we drove on to Jonathan's house for our last few nights in the US.Callie was trying to sneak a picture of Grandpa and got Rylee being goober.  

Rylee was delighted that Princess let her hold her.  Princess is so cute and fluffy!

Everyone was fascinated watching the workers pour the concrete for the new deck in the back yard.

And here we are!  All loaded and ready to go.  I am secretly pleased we fit everything in these suitcases and fit it all in the van.

Delaney took this photo of her cool socks while she was chilling at the airport.  

Spoiler- we made it home safely.