Day at the Aquarium

Bryce's 2nd Birthday

Bryce turned 2 on Sunday. We just had a small family celebration and took Bryce to the indoor playground, McDonald's for lunch, and then had cupcakes and ice cream. His big birthday party will be this coming Saturday at the park with his friends.

High Speed Taxi

I had the most amazing experience today. I had the opportunity to taxi out onto the flightline in an F-15 jet. I went through training in a simulator on how to get into the jet and how to quickly get out in case of an emergency. Then I got fitted for my flight suit, vest, and helmet. While we were waiting, we hung out in the "Bat Cave" (the pilot's bar). Then, the time came when my pilot, myself, Wayne & Bryce were taken out onto the flightline and we stepped into our jet. We started to taxi out onto the runway and the pilot let me call to the tower to get permission for our highspeed taxi. After getting permission, he let me push the throttles up before we took off. We took off and he went into afterburn (when you see the red flames come out the back of the jet). The whole time I was thinking to myself "This is soooo cool!"

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Busy weekend

After this weekend, we only have 5 weekends left here in Okinawa. So, we're trying to fit in all the last minute things we can possibly do while we're here. This weekend, Wayne went on his last Okinawa deep sea fishing trip (this will be his 3rd) and then we took Bryce down to see the Dragon Boat races. They were giving people rides in the dragon boats but sadly, you have to be 4' tall to ride in them so Bryce was shy by 1'.

Wayne's mahi mahi

Beautiful sunset

Train ride

Dragon Boat

Watching the boats

Mommy & Bryce

Children's Day

We went to the Children's Day festival today to see 400 carp-shaped streamers strung across a river in town. Children's Day is a boy's festival here in Japan and the carp-shaped streamers symoblize boys' courage and strength. So all around town families with boys will hang these streamers up outside their homes. Bryce enjoyed seeing all the streamers and he just kept pointing and saying "Wow". The weather is beautiful here so we're trying to get out and get down by the water as much as possible.

Camping Trip/Petting Zoo

We had a good time on our first camping trip with Bryce. I think he thought it was pretty cool that he got to play outside all day. We kept him busy with playing on the playground, playing at the beach, kicking the ball around camp, and then we topped it all off with a game of put-put. The following day we went to a petting zoo. He was a little freaked out by some of the birds since they were as tall as he was but, he enjoyed feeding the ducks. It was a great way to spend our first Family Day.

Enjoying cookies at the cabin..
Running on the beach...
Looking out at the water...
Hangin' out with dad...
Kicking the ball around...
Ta-da!

Golf lessons with dad...

Sitting in front of the cabin...

Walking through the tunnel of fish...

Feeding the ducks...

Our first Family Day, April 16, 2008

Today is a very special day for the Morrison Family as we are celebrating our first Family Day. One year ago today we stood before a judge in Uralsk and asked him to grant us permission to adopt Bryce Danil. After we were asked many questions by the judge and prosecutor and Wayne gave a wonderful speech on how much we had come to love Bryce and how much we wanted him in our lives, the judge declared us the parents of Bryce Danil Morrison. We are thankful everyday to have him in our lives.

We are celebrating our first family day by heading north to spend the night camping at a beach resort on island and then going to the petting zoo tomorrow. But first, we started the day off by Bryce opening his first Family Day gifts. So, his gift this year is his Kazakhstan t-shirt and a DVD with pictures from our first year together... (make sure to have your speakers on)

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