Soccer

I have been on the road for some time now and finally had a chance to make it home and to one of Joseph's soccer pratices. I of course took the camera. What father would not? Ok, none of the other fathers had their cameras, but that didn't bother me. But then again things like that don't.

The real question is, what DOES bother Jeremy?

So, Jessie and Janie and I have been going to Joseph's practices without Jeremy for the last month and it has been such fun to watch him and the team play. Joseph is enjoying soccer more than he enjoyed baseball.

Now that Jeremy is here we have some fun photos of Joseph in action.

This first shot isn't really Joseph in action, but it is VERY important to document that he does have moments when he TRULY listens and pays attention to the person in charge!

The next couple of shots are pretty self explanatory, but fun to see him with both feet off of the ground. I really like this next shot the best. The coach was trying to teach the kids about what happens when the ball is off sides and for some reason Joseph got to throw the ball in (I wasn't really watching that part of the practice because I still have Jessica to keep in line and she was following a big caterpillar, which she informed me, was going to turn into a cockroach!).

Today was team picture day. Everyone showed up early, in uniform, and had their photos taken. It was so cute to see the girls on the team with their hair all done and their big smiles. Jeremy took the photos so I have a couple of Joseph's individual shots to put on here.

This first one is the ONLY one of about 30 where Joseph wasn't making some crazy face. Kind of reminds me of his Uncle Cam:) I can't believe how grown up he looks. What a cute little man.

This next picture, and the last one for this entry, is one of Joseph being his typical self. Just a goofy, fun-loving kid. I'm only putting it on here because I think it is funny. There are more that Jeremy has taken that he'll probably put up on the website in a few days.

Anyway, the weather here in the evenings is pretty nice. It is in the 80's with a fairly nice breeze most of the time. I am reminded of why we love it here and it makes me a little sad to know that we are leaving right now when the weather is so perfect. I remember going to Allison's soccer practices and games growing up and everyone freezing, with blankets, hot chocolate etc... and I am glad that we are here in Okinawa at least for this soccer season.

Neo Park - Okinawa

Hello All,

We had a spectacular visit to a place called Neo Park a few weeks back and thought we'd share a few pictures. If you have seen the movie Madagascar then you will know that these funny creatures climbing all over Jeremy are called Lemurs. They were so friendly and fluffy that we couldn't resist sharing our (Janie's) snacks with them. As you can see, they really liked what we had to offer because we couldn't keep them away!

After Jeremy had his turn with the Lemurs then Jessica wanted to feed them also. She just didn't want to do it alone so, I volunteered to hold her (you can't pass up a chance to have a Lemur on your shoulder, right?!) It was fun to see how excited Jessie was about the Lemur taking the food right out of her hand.

One thing that we found fascinating were the Lemur's little hands. Look at this guy, he just wrapped his fingers around Jessie's arm to hold it steady while he ate the treat out of her hand.

You can almost tell what Jessie was thinking by looking at her expression in this picture. Probably something like,"This is so cool, I sure hope he doesn't decide to bite my finger!"

Once Jessie had her turn and we knew for sure that the Lemur's weren't going to bite anyone we decided to let Janie have a turn feeding them. She was in the stroller hollering at us the whole time and waving her arms for a chance to touch one. She was mesmerized by the animals and couldn't keep her eyes off of them. It was pretty neat to watch them jump from the tree to the rock wall across the way. We weren't sure if getting so close would scare Janie at all so Jeremy was careful at first, but she couldn't get close enough so we let her feed them too.
Being a little older and wiser, Joseph is also a little more cautious. It took a bit of coaxing for him to decide that he wanted to get close to the Lemurs. His wide eyed expression in the photo is telling. He did think they were cool though and ended up talking about them the rest of the day!
All in all, we are ready to go back and feed the Lemurs again. We just need to stock up on our baby snacks so we'll be able to hold their attention long enough for a family photo this time!

Love,

Jeremy, Makell and the family

Joseph running to first base!

Tee - Ball

Oh the lure of the summer heat and the baseball diamond. We have started Joseph in Tee-Ball this year, and he loves it. At least hitting the ball that is. We can't seem to keep the glove on him too long. We are the Yellow Team - You can tell how they came up with that name by looking at their shirts.

I have been able to make all the practices which has been great. I would not have been able to do this while being the Wing Exec. What a blessing it is to finish that job.

Out of all the kids on the team I would put Joseph in the Top Three. But who is counting (Daddy). There are two other kids that have great arms and can run pretty fast. Joseph is about the tallest of the bunch though.

I have created a sequence over at the Zenfolio site. If you click on the "Slideshow" option on the top left corner you can what him run from home plate to first base. Here is the link:

http://Boyd.zenfolio.com/p75250138/?photo=615373630

I will try to keep up the shooting and posting these images. I know we are a long way from family and this is only a crutch until we make it back to the states.

Love,

Jeremy, Makell and the Family

Scuba Diving with the Whale Sharks

Makell and I had a rare opportunity today to dive with three Whale Sharks. There are not many places in the world that you can do this. Okinawa happens to be one of them. You can't believe how huge they are. The largest was 28 feet long, with the other two about 18 and 14 feet. They are housed just off the coast of Torii beach. Their net is about 150 x 200 x 80 feet. For their size they could sure move. I tried to keep up a few times but it was not easy. I wish we could have spent more time down there.

Every day they each receive about 50lbs of food. I'm glad that does not include the human type. They are actually very gentle. Much like huge puppy dogs looking for attention.

It didn't cost that much for the experience either. $110 for the boat ride and $13 for the gear for each of us. I don't know what it would cost in Australia, one of the other locations that you can do this. We were only down for about 30 minutes and I had about 1200 psi on the air guage. That could have given me about another 20+ minutes.

Our good friend Kelley took the shots of us with her digital camera. In the first one you can see both Makell and I with the middle size one. The photo to the right here is me chasing the smallest of the three. You can see a few more photos at http://boyd.zenfolio.com/p109485618/.

It is just incredible to see these creatures in the ocean. We will always remember this day.

Love,

Jeremy, Makell and the Family