Hard goodbyes

Connor went to Primary at church today for the first time. He is now officially a sunbeam, and is beyond excited! Even though it's his first Sunday as a sunbeam, it is our last Sunday in our Misawa ward. We are going to miss our ward family. We have gotten to meet and become friends with so many other LDS military families while out here in Japan. Living in Misawa is kind of a unique experience, and our ward really bonded together being foreigners away from our home land. I knew this last week in Misawa was going to be hard saying goodbye to everyone, and it started out with a hard Sunday saying hard goodbyes to ward friends.

We wanted to go to the fish market one last time before leaving Japan. The kids and I have loved going to the fish market in Hachinohe on and off these past three years. It's such a fun experience to see such a large array of sea food for sale, and it has an amazing kids playing area on the top floor. This place has been a life savor during the long, cold winters in northern Japan because it provided a place for my kids to run around and get their wiggles out.

We went with some friends for our last time, the Broncheaus and the Smeedings. Abby and Corban have really become great friends this past year since they were in the same class at Daiichi. They were so cute to watch holding hands and running around together. As I watched my kids run around with their friend, immersed with a ton of little Japanese kids, I got choked up again realizing that we are going to be leaving this super cool experience. To have my kids be raised in Japan among Japanese kids, learning the language and culture has been a blessing. I know I have said it multiple times, but I am just so overcome with gratitude that we have had this experience, and I am also filled with great sorrow knowing that our time here has come to an end. Goodbye Hachinohe, I hope we can come back and visit this neighboring town with it's amazing fish market again soon.

Lately Brayden has REALLY been loving on Sandy. Poor Sandy just takes all the pulling of ears, tail, and fur, and endures being sat upon by our little chubby boy. All my kids have gone through a Sandy infatuation period, but I think it's safe to say that Brayden's love for Sandy has been the strongest. Don't worry Brayden, Sandy is coming with us to Arizona. She might not make it out of Japan till the end of February when Kyle comes, but she is coming! So you don't need to worry Brayden, your goodbye to Sandy is only for two months, nothing permanent.

And the goodbyes continue to get harder and harder. Later on in the week we met up with our Japanese friends for one last playdate all together. Since it is cold outside we decided it would be best to all grab lunch at McDonalds and let the kids play. It was such a wonderful and relaxed visit. The kids all ran around together playing while I sat with the other moms talking and reminiscing over the past three years of all our play dates together. All our kids have grown up together and it has been so fun to see them get bigger and to develop little personalities.

I love these kids and their mommas so much. When it came time to leave, I gave each and everyone of them a big hug and begged to stay in touch. We grabbed one last picture of the kids all together. I sure hope down the road we can recreate that picture and get all the kids together again! As I drove away I just sobbed and sobbed. That was the last time I would see our little Japanese playgroup friends, and I just prayed that it wasn't goodbye forever. This is the hardest part about being a military spouse...moving away from friends. We really created a life for us here in Japan, friends, a community even. Now I am forced to leave it all behind and start all over again from scratch. I am always up for an adventure and like to try new things, that's not the part that hurts the most. For me it's the thought of never seeing these wonderful friends ever again. I cannot let myself think like that and will hold to the fact that Kyle and I are planning a return trip again soon.

We also met up with my good friends Kat and Oi and all their kids. We all started sending our kids to Daiichi together at the same time and used the same translator and everything. Our first year we were the only American parents for the younger two class levels at the school so we frequently would bounce ideas off each other and make sure we were following the correct schedules and translations. We became great friends, and so did our kids. Oi and her triplets are from Thailand originally but now are American citizens and her husband is an engineer contracted through the Air Force. Kat's husband is a maintainer in the Air Force and it has been fun to see how the three of us, who would have never met if it were not for the school that our kids went to, become such great friends. It was sad to say good bye to them, but I know we will stay in touch and the Air Force world is small so hopefully we will cross paths again down the road.

Thursday rolled around and it was our last day with Yoko San. I have been in denial about this day from the moment we met Yoko San. For the past three years she has come to our house every Thursday to watch our kids for three hours. At first it was so I could get a break and run errands, and then I started teaching ballet on Thursdays during the day so it was nice to have a consistent sitter for my kids while I worked. She knows our whole family so well and would bring presents for everyone on their birthday, bring Christmas gifts, or even treats for the kids on the Japanese Children's Day holiday. I got to learn about her family, her kids, and we even talked about religion. She taught me so many different Japanese words and introduced us to many of the Japanese customs and holidays. She knows how much I love Japanese culture and even bought me a book full of Japanese customs and cultures and information about their holidays that I now cherish. She bought the kids Japanese children's songs on CD to help them learn the language, and has done so much more. 

She has felt more like a grandma to my kids while we have been out here in Japan, and like a mother figure to me. Words cannot express the love and respect I have for this woman. So for our last day she watched the kids for the first two hours while I ran some last minute errands, than for our last hour together we took her out to lunch at the Lakeview grill on base. I told her we wanted to leave her with a fatty American meal, at an American restaurant, on an American base so she will remember her American family. She thought that was funny. It was such a wonderful lunch visiting with our dear Yoko San, and then the time came where we had to part ways. We gave her a gift of all the kids drawings, a card, and a giant case of Dr. Pepper and Reese's candy bars because I know those are her favorite American treats (good choice Yoko San, those are some of my favorites as well). 

As Yoko San went around hugging all my kids for the last time I saw that she began to cry and I began to blubber like a baby. By the time she came to give me a hug we were both sobbing. I told her she can never forget us even if she wants to because we will be staying in touch and emailing, sending mail, and occasionally calling to check in and see how she is doing. As we watched her drive away for the last time I could barely see through my tears to drive back home. It took me the rest of the day to recover.

I feel like the Lord truly answers our prayers through other people. When we first arrived to Misawa we barely got settled in before Kyle left for a 3 month TDY to Alaska. I was scared being in a foreign land by myself, and I was overwhelmed as it was our first TDY separation. After the second week of the TDY I was hardly getting rest dealing with Abby and Connor, and I was getting no reprieve since Kyle wasn't there to help out at all. I was depressed, lonely, and really struggling to enjoy motherhood and this military life. I remember one night praying harder than I think I ever had for some help. The next day I got a message from our Squadron Commander's wife asking if I was interested in a mama-san. She explained that this lady who used to watch her kids when they were assigned to Misawa the first time years ago, was currently looking for a family to tend to on Thursdays. She mentioned that since we had barely arrived to Misawa that maybe we would be a long term fit for her and that she was very inexpensive for her babysitting because she just loved and enjoyed working with children.

My prayers were answered. That week we met Yoko San for the first time and instantly she fit right into our family and has been coming back every Thursday since. I can honestly say Yoko San was a huge factor in making Misawa a wonderful experience for our family. She helped relieve me during those long TDY months when Kyle was gone and I just wanted 3 hours to get groceries, run some errands, or even just sit in my car and read a book (yes, I did do that often just to get a break). She was also a substitute grandma for my kids while being so far away from family. Yoko san was an answer to my prayers and one of the greatest blessing in my life. I can't picture my life now without her. This is definitely the hardest goodbye we will have to make. We all love you Yoko San! Thank you for being such a light in our lives! We will miss you more than you will ever know.