Merry Christmas, again...

Santa's little helper....

An onsen basket from Daddy (Onsens are the japanese hot springs and yes, toddlers/babies go too). Since much of the onsen experience involves letting others see you wash thoroughly before and after you soak, it's customary to carry your own "onsen basket" full of soap/shampoo/scrubbing stuff with you. Daddy put this one together at the "100 Yen" store (also known as a dollar store...)

Santa brought playdough sushi set!

Fairy princess....

Another fairy princess....working with her power tools from Santa.....

...our new ride....

Doing ballet while drilling....

Merry Christmas

What a great Christmas. We were sad to be away from our family and friends, but overjoyed by the love (and loot!) they sent...ha! Our families really overdid themselves. Hannah Jane "got" Santa Claus for the first time really, and was elated Christmas morning to see that he'd left her gifts (despite her parents talk about the "naughty" list which she worked hard to make the top of just before Christmas). Christmas Eve we made a gingerbread house from scratch, leading us to the conclusion that Rick should be the architect/engineer next year. Hannah Jane had a great time piling on candy though, and an even better time eating it afterward. Amazingly enough, she did manage to get a nap in before I hauled her off to church for a Christmas Eve service at 6pm. She enjoyed seeing some of her friends there and even singing Christmas carols. Rick stayed home and worked on a festive Christmas dinner - lucky us! Afterward we read the Night Before Christmas and put Hannah Jane to bed, leaving us to "Santa Claus" and toast Christmas by the tree. (Yes, we do get Christmas trees on base, but they're in demand obviously so you end up buying and putting up your Christmas tree a day or two after Thanksgiving. And yes, the needles are ready to fall off about now...) Christmas Day was a wonderful day of unwrapping presents, eating, napping and visiting with neighbors. Exhausted as she was from the day, we put Hannah Jane to bed early and ate another celebratory meal, just the two of us. I'll let the pictures tell the rest........

Decorating the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving (and before Rick leaves for Singapore)

Building a gingerbread house with mom

Christmas Eve before heading to church

A princess with kneepads!

Santa brought a choo-choo train, just like the ones they have in Utah!

More to follow...stay tuned......

Singapore!

So we followed Rick to another TDY location (temporary duty) -- this time to Singapore. What a blast! I traveled with my neighbor and her daughter, a friend of Hannah Jane's, which made things easier. The trip over was an adventure because we did a "hop" -- the military's version of the buddy pass. Like the buddy pass you're flying "non-revenue", or in this case, FREE. There were a few minor drawbacks though -- in addition to not knowing if we'd actually make it on the plane (we're flying "space available"--same as "standby" on a commercial airline), we didn't exactly know on WHAT we'd be flying. So, prepared for anything, we ended up on a C-17....as in CARGO. We were flying along seated in cargo nets, with no windows and several blankets each to protect us from the cold air, with that week's mail and who knows what else tied down in the middle of the plane. We knew this could happen so we'd brought along hats and gloves and plenty of food and diversions for the kids, so we were actually OK. We were even better than OK when the kids -- able to stretch out between the rollers on the floor -- took long naps. Which helped tremendously when it turned out to be an unexpected 8 hour journey! But like I said, we did fine, with earplugs and garbage bags full of boxed lunches to ease the trip. Here are a few photos to give you an idea.......

Stretching out for a nap; Watching a DVD and snacking on the floor

Going for a "walk" with a new friend

You get the idea. The ride on the way back was an entirely different matter -- I'd show you pictures but I was too busy soaking up the business-class service to take any ("regular" airplane with comfy seats, shrimp cocktail and Chilean sea bass for lunch, movies, hot towels, snacks, the works...and it took less than 6 hours).

When we arrived in Singapore we walked out of our refrigerated cave into the bright light and steamy heat of tropical bliss. It had been cold and even snowed a little in Misawa and we welcomed the warmth and heat of a country not far off the equator. We found out quickly though that the heat and humidity is ever-present -- things don't cool off at night or with a passing thunderstorm like they do back home. So the heat was something definitely to contend with, but once we adjusted, we were fine (just had to make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day and make many trips to the pool).

We were lucky to find a good price on a hotel downtown, which helped tremendously considering how pricey Singapore can be. One "Singapore Sling" at the nearby historic hotel where the drink was invented cost $24 (yes, of course we got one...it's us! See photo below). One room at said hotel costs around $1,000 per night (see tacky tourist photo after that). Fortunately taxis and the very clean/easy-to-use subway were both cheap. That made it easier to do the tourist stuff -- the zoo, their famous "Night Safari" next door, a bus and boat tour of the city, and even a water park (that one was for Rick I think -- he just needed his toddler there for an excuse to go). We also felt OK spending money on all the great food Singapore's known for. We ate a different ethnicity every night!

All in all we had a great time. I'll let the pictures tell the rest........

At the National Orchid Garden with mom, waiting for Dad to get off work.

Playing in the spray park at the Children's Garden section of the Botanical Gardens

Cooling off at the water park for the day

Slingin' "Singapore Slings" and throwin' peanut shells on the floor at Raffles Hotel's "Longbar."

Tourist shot in front of Raffles Hotel (we did actually walk into the lobby where they require you not where shorts or have opened-toed shoes/sandals on. We gawked and then we walked straight out...)

At the zoo (we didn't see a single cage. In the monkey's case, the animals just roamed free in the trees above you.)

Open-air bus tour that led to a boat "Duck" tour (a World War II amphibious vehicle that tours the historic area on land and then the harbor -- see below)

Duck tour (the condos in the background start around 1.5 million each, according to our tour guide)

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting!