We're Home

Well, as you can see, we’re back home in Japan after a wonderful, long summer visit to the US. We spent several weeks in Birmingham at Holly & Michael’s (thanks for your wonderful hospitality!). I arrived in the US before Stan got out of school so I could attend the local production of 42nd Street, in which Holly had a singing & dancing role. (Check out the Centerstage website under “History” for the previous play, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” for more pictures of Holly http://www.centerstage-productions.org/ & to watch for upcoming productions!). Larry, Lisa & Andy came down from Nashville to see Holly perform & attended church & wow! has Andy grown! We were delighted that a group of about 25 from our church also came out to support Holly & enjoy the play. Thanks, Dottie for setting it up! It was both restful & fun just hanging at Holly & Michael’s pool & visiting with all their friends. I especially loved being with Kim & Eliot and Steph & Lauren. I attended water workouts at Lakeshore Foundation & greatly enjoyed visiting with many friends there, especially Irene & Gwen. We also had a great time visiting with dear friends in Birmingham and eating our way through all our favorite restaurants. It was fun being treated like visiting celebrities! Thanks to all who so graciously entertained us, and especially Sue who squired me around town! We had such fun shopping & eating out! I know Stan enjoyed being with his buddy, Bill. We spent the 4th of July in Pell City with Holly & Michael & his parents, Prim & Mike at their beautiful lake home. Thanks for the scenic boat ride & delicious low country boil. We then drove up to Nashville to visit with Larry, Lisa & Andy in their beautiful new home and were given the royal tour of Nashville. It was such fun spending time with all of them, especially Andy! He was two in April & is growing so fast! He & Grampa really had fun playing trucks. Again, we ate our way through Nashville, and especially enjoyed our night “honkytonking” downtown. Sherri came up from Atlanta for the weekend & it was great being with her again. She & Andy really get along famously! Thanks to Larry & Lisa for all their gracious hospitality and especially since Lisa is expecting twins in January -- you were a trooper! We drove back from Nashville to Birmingham & then flew to Orlando to meet up with Heather & family, who were there for her work conference, staying at the Disney Dolphin. We had such fun spending time with Kelly at Epcot. We celebrated Kelly’s 5th birthday a little early & thought about Larry on the birthday they share together. Can’t believe how grownup she’s becoming & she’s so excited about starting school at the end of summer. Then we all drove over to Clearwater Beach for a couple of days. The beach was a mess from the most recent hurricane, but the pool & tiki bar were wonderful & we had a great time! Then we flew from Tampa back to Birmingham, and then back to Japan the following day. Although Stan & I flew back the same day, we were on different airlines. We were able to meet up in Tokyo however, and rode the bullet train back to Iwakuni. It was exhausting, but we had such a wonderful time. Of course, it’s always great to be “home” – no matter where home is. Keep reading as more pictures are posted. August is Obon in Japan and that is another wonderful adventure.