A Little Bit of November

Wow! Time is flying by and I have yet to post a single post about November. Tomorrow Shelby and I make our way back to Southern California. We plan on taking the bullet train all the way to Tokyo. It will be about a 7 hour train ride total to get there and then we fly out from Tokyo, straight to LAX. It will be a year and a half since I've set foot in the United States. I never would have dreamed that I would have this amazing opportunity to travel this much outside of the US. Anywho, here are a few things we experienced this month.

We went to Hello Kitty Land about a 3 hour drive North from here. It was a worn down park, but still pretty fun for those HK lovers. We ran a few 5k's on base and had plenty of dinner dates with our good friends here. We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving where we fried up 3 turkeys for about 20 of our closest friends. It was a fantastic holiday. Russell will be home shortly from his 4 month long deployment and we will miss him by about a day or two. Just our luck! Right now, the blog isn't letting me upload photos, so sit tight until I can figure that out.

Russell in Malaysia & Hong Kong!

During the deployment Russell has had the opportunity to see many different countries and places. Two of the last places he has visited were Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia & Hong Kong! Here are a few photos from his trips. Yesterday, while in Hong Kong, Russell celebrated his 30th birthday at Disneyland! He had a ton of fun, but wishes his family was there.

 

He's pointing to the sign that says Japan!

 

The fairy he had to take to get to the ship. It was a very rainy day out! He said that Hong Kong is HUGE and that it makes San Diego look like a little town.

 

In an alley in Hong Kong.

More Hong Kong Skyline!

 

The Mickey in front of the train station is made out of pumpkins!

 

Russell at Hong Kong Disneyland!

 

Holding up the planet!

 

His space mountain photo. He didn't know the person sitting next to him, but she has a funny face!

 

Happy Birthday Russell! Hey at least you got to be with another princess on your birthday, even if it's not the one you are in love with! Just a joke....

 

Pumpkin Carving with my Japanese Student

Today we had my Japanese student over that I tutor in English twice a week. Instead of her lesson, her mother and her joined us for some fun pumpkin carving! They loved getting to experince this American custom and couldn't believe that we put our hands in the squishy guts for fun! They did very well though and carved their pumpkins with terrific faces! While we were carving them, I stuck with the Groves tradition and made fresh pumpkin bread from our "guts" for us to share and for them to take home. I hope they enjoyed it as much as Shelby and I did!

 

Digging in!

 

Ewww!

 

Shion is always making funny faces for the camera!

 

All done!

 

Us with our pumpkins!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Shion and her mom having fun!

All of our pumpkins! Mine is an anchor and Shelby's is for a friend that passed away this past weekend.

Our pumpkin muffins!

Akizuki Kimono Wearing Trip 2012

Once again this year we got to travel to Akizuki town in Fukuoka preficture (about 2 hours Northeast) from Sasebo to get dressed in a Kimono! Here are a few of the photos from this years trip.

 

 

While we were there there was a Japanese bridal magazine having a photoshoot! This was a very exciting experince!

 

The back of Shelby and I's Kimonos.

 

My friends are so crazy!

 

There was also a Samuri Warrior there!

BHR Supports Breast Cancer Awareness

Russell's ship did a pink T-Shirt sale to fund raise money to help support Breast Cancer Awareness. During the month of October, Sailors are allowed to wear their pink shirts as part of their uniform. This is a HUGE deal as a change in their uniform for any given reason is almost unheard of. I'm so proud of my sailor for showing his support. I'm one proud sailor's wife! Here are a few photos from their deployment in the Philippine Sea.

This is a photo from above the ship taken by a helicopter.

 

 

 

My handsome Corpsman hard at work!

Spider!

The day after my niece Shelby and I decorated our house for Halloween, we found this little guy on our lamp. It was like he knew it was okay to come out and play because it was his time to shine! I love Halloween! He makes the decorations look so much more awesome, she he is here to stay. Although, if he decides to move his web in my pathway, he might not make it until October 31st!

Fukuoka Trip with the Ladies

Today we went on a trip to Fukuoka (about 2 hours north from Sasebo) to go shopping at one of the big malls called Canal City. We went with our 3 friends and their little baby boys. First we took the base bus up to the area and then had to take the Subway to get to the actual mall area. This was Shelby's first time on a Subway! We found Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream and a few other stores. It was a great long day shopping and then we took the train home. It was a great experience traveling with the kiddos and I look forward to our next adventure outing together.


Shelby at the platform, about to get on the subway for the first time!

 

Shelby, Mary Kate and little Damien on the subway going for a ride!!!

 

The whole gang!!!

 

We made it to Cold Stone!!! Yummmy!

 

They had Halloween treats!!! I got the pumpkin ice cream with Oreos and Kit Kats in a purple sprinkled bowl. So fun!

 

Shelby shopping in Gap Japan!

 

After our long day, we sat around on the train platform waiting for our train!

 

Shelby and I on the train! It was her first time riding!