Our Family of 12

Here we are in "color and black n white" on the beautiful island of Okinawa. We enjoy the view of this beautiful water that surrounds us. Thanks so much to our friend Stephanie Blacketer for spending this morning with us and capturing our joy. It was no small undertaking to get all 11 of us together, work, schedules etc....for 1 1/2 hour of time and not to mention the weather needed to be perfect and it was.....


Our Family of 12. Count them and see for yourself. Oh yeah....one is tucked away and will show her face in Dec.....
Juda trying to just how far should he get in with his clothes on.
Tomo says "Go for it Juda, the water is GREAT!"
We are the proud parents of this crew and we love it.
Ol' Tommy Smith still makes me laugh. He is a funny man and his boys take after him. What a party when we all gather.

Ashley and Caleb wondering and waiting on the Air Force and what their future holds.
Ben and Alisha the day before Ben asked her to marry him. She said YES oh by the way as we are 3 weeks away from the wedding as I post.

All the SMITH Boys. They are all so very handsome and fun.
Andy, Jillian and Baby Girl Smith....At the time no one knew about Baby Girl Smith.
All the SMITH Girls and some SMITH Girls in waiting.YEP! There is the awaiting GRANDPARENTS of Baby Girl Smith...still wondering what we'll be called....Will it be "Sarah and Abraham", "OBA san and OJI san", "Lolli and Pop", "Pa and Ma", "Granny and Granny Pants" or "MawMaw and PawPaw". These are a few that we have heard of....Not sure what Baby Girl Smith will call us. We just want her to call us.......
Our Sweet Bessy Girl.....she is loving that the Smith girl population is rising....me too! Go Girl Power!
The Proud Parents to be....
We have soooooo much to "Jump for Joy" about around here and among our family. We are truly ever so blessed.








Tomo looking down at Ben and Alisha!
Ben and Alisha the day before Ben asked her to marry him.

Miyajima Island

Deer waiting for their lunch of carrots
There were deer everywhere. They must have just had lunch because they were all napping and lying around.


Pagoda on Miyajima
Famous "Floating Tori". When the tide is in, it appears to be floating in the water.
Don't panic, Tomo is strapped into his stroller. We don't suggest you try this at home.
Yet another mode of transportation for Juda to document. A boat ride to Miyajima Island.

Our fun in Kyoto

We found a bit of shade at Nijo Castle Garden. It was HOT....

We took a subway....
Juda couldn't take time to look, he was having too much fun riding the subway...
Juda has is drink to refresh him on the HOT Kyoto weather.....as we cross over the mote around the Castle.


We also rode a bus....if you haven't already noticed...Juda enjoyed the modes of transportation best of all.
Ako and I enjoying the view from the pavilion of the temple along with Tsubasa kun. He was a good traveler.
The only Red Japanese Maple that was RED.....
Tom and Tsubasa taking a rest...
Juda and his PEACE sign....
Emma, Aiya and Bethany....what a fun time these girls had on their first ever "Girl GetAway"



Kyoto Tower rising above the city...
Juda immediately after we got him down from throwing his ticket over the railing. It is a long way down. Glad Juda didn't have to find out how far...



Tomo never complained about being a tourist, but then again, who would that was getting pushed around everywhere in a stroller....even so, he was a good tourist...


All the pics above are from the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. As you can red for yourself, most folks don't come to Kyoto in the summer as it is known to be very HOT. Kyoto is situated and tucked in kept from harm. Thus, it has never been destroyed by war which explains why all the temples, shrines and castles are so very old and still in good order....
That explains why the water was such a delight...
Our precious friends Ako and Emma
Juda is either pondering how to achieve world peace or how to get to the other side....
Bethany was a happy girl in the water.
Ako and I enjoyed a moment on the park bench catching up and visiting while Tomo napped and Juda relaxed.
Tomo wanted to swim so bad, however, his little body would have gotten caught in the flow and went with it.
The river that runs through the city has cross walks of a different kind. When Bethany saw this she saw WATER and for a fish this is a good thing. She hopped right in and didn't want to leave this area. So much so that when Ako and the girls arrived this is the first place we went.
At first Juda was afraid to jump from turtle to turtle. He soon decided to enjoy. The water is not his forte', dry ground for him any day.
Kyoto is full of Temples and Castles and Shrines. Not sure which this is in downtown....
Ako and I sure enjoyed a moment to sit and catch up. What a blessing to have her, Emma and Aiya join us in Kyoto for a short visit.

Typhoon Muifa allowed us to update...

Waking up to Muifa on Friday AM. Tom has the puzzle started and the movie mania has begun with "101 Dalmatians". Baxter says "I just can't watch a movie about dogs"...."Makes me want to roll over and die".

On our trip to Iwakuni we found our first Japanese home that we lived in for about 6 months in 1988. There had been alot of construction and a few new roads added since which made it hard for us to find. Maybe it was 700 sq ft, maybe not. It was cozy for sure.

The landlord was to the left of the house. I just don't remember them being so close. This field behind used to be a "Lotus"field, now appears to be a garden.

We've been FLOCKED.......

We have been the proud recipients of 10 PINK FLAMINGO's for at least 24 hours.....our front yard, he he he, was not big enough to hold all ten so these four had to jump the wall and perch in the flower bed,or at least what was once my flower bed until Typhoon Songda came a few days ago.....



This is our front yard.....he he he....that is correct.....we do not own a mower any more, just some scissors.....

As I was taking these pics a neighbor drove by in such surprise. Probably they have never seen Pink Flamingos and had to take a double look to see if they were alive.....he he he....what a great idea Koza Summer Missions Team. And thanks Rio and Kayoko for FLOCKING the Smith's.....great fun.....