January 2008 Archive

1/29 - William and Alison have made it back home safely and again it
was a pleasure having them here. The last big event of the month is Riley's
birthday tomorrow. Don't worry I haven't forgotten I promised stories
but right now we are tied up wrapping and putting gifts together. Stay
tuned for that update and pictures.

1/27 - And so it is done! All of the pictures from the trip are uploaded. This has been an incredible visit and I think we all
had a great time. A long time ago someone told me to treasure the friends I make in High School because they will be the
best friends you will ever have in your life. Well in my case they were right! All of the friends I still keep in contact with from
High School are still my best friends. Don't get me wrong I have made some friends in the Marine Corps that I consider family,
but you get my point. Anyway like I said at William's wedding (and meant every word), they say you can pick your friends but you can't pick
your family. Well I don't believe that William is and always will be my brother and I am so glad he came... Thanks William and Alison (you too
Jenn) for creating more great memories. Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/26 - I have added some more pictures. There are a few extra pictures under the At the cabin pictures, I have added pictures from Assumi
and Cape Hedo. Today we came back home but not before we took a tour of the Orion Beer Factory. Nothing like drinking beer at 1000
in the morning. Then this afternoon Samantha took Alison and Riley to get there toenails painted at Kocos. Nothing like being pampered after
a long 2 days of site seeing. And finally tonight we at dinner at a restaurant shaped like a barrel. It was pretty cool. It was the traditional take
your shoes off at the door "kinda" sit on the floor place. You sat on the floor but the floor was lower where you put your feet so sitting on the
floor was more like sitting in a chair. For those who lack imagination like I do, just ask Samantha or William to explain it to you. I don't think
we took any pictures that show the seating. Keep checking back because one day I WILL have all of these pictures up...
Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/25 - Ok so the last few days have been action packed and we took over 300 pictures. So I am in the process over getting them ready for
upload. I have put a few pictures on the William and Alison page but there are place holders for now. Keep checking back to see the new
pictures. Hopefully tomorrow I can get you a full written update on the past few days. I have some stories you won't want to miss...
Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/23 - Ok so no update yesterday because apparently strapping a 23 lb child to you for several hours a day for 2 days makes you
extremely tired. But before I get to our adventures of the 22nd let's talk a little about today.

It would appear that both of the Quailes children like playing in dog water bowls. We can't seem to keep Zachary
out of the water bowl and for those who have known us for a while know that Riley had the same problem. But if
you aren't one of the privileged I have pulled a picture from the past of Riley and her dog water bowl experience.
Feel free to bring this up again when she is a teenager.

Kids!

Ok now back to what we did yesterday. We went to Okinawa World and we did quite a bit of stuff that you can
see in the pictures. We walked through a cave, dressed the girls up like Japanese dancers, saw Eisa dancers, visited
the Habu (Snake) museum and  William got to drink some Habu sake. The biggest thrill of the day came when William
and Alison got to experience being rock stars for a few minutes. Japanese people love Riley for her curly hair and
they love Alison for her blond hair. So while we were waiting outside of a store for Samantha some Japanese women
start ooohhhhh and aaaahhhhing over the kids so they wanted to take a picture of William and Alison with their camera
phones. You go boy! [Don't worry Jennifer they were really wanted to take a picture of Alison but figured since William
was there, why not take a picture of him too]. Tomorrow we head up North to go to a cabin for a few days and visit more
sites. There should be internet there as well so I can continue to keep you up to date on our adventures. Some of the
pictures from the cave are blurry because it was humid as all get out down there. Either way you can figure it out.
Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/21 - We're twins! Riley and Alison dressed up similar and have
been running around all day saying we're twins! Today Samantha
packed a lunch for the girls for our long trip to Shurijo Castle, which
is South of here. I have updated the pictures on William and Alison's page
with today's adventure. As you can see this drive and walk around the castle wore the twins out. We
also went to the 100 yen store. The 100 yen store is like our dollar store but with a lot cooler things you can buy. Since the current yen to
dollar ratio is 105 yen to the dollar these things are better selection for less than a dollar. Tomorrow I think the plan is to go to Okinawa World.
Stay tuned for that excitement.  Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/20 - They made it! After long hours of flying William and Alison are here in Okinawa safe and sound. We have wasted no
time with the site seeing tour. Today we went to the Botanical Gardens where the kids had a great time and then Riley and
Alison got to take turns riding a bike and roller skating over to a park on base. They got to play some more and wear down
even more. Then we ate dinner at Yakiniku which is where Alison hit the wall! She fell asleep right there at the table. I am
going to have one page for all of the pictures from  William and Alison's visit. There will be a link to click on for every entry while they are here.
I will load pictures from our camera as well as William's camera. Right now our pictures are a little fuzzy but we are going to try and correct that.
Hope you enjoy.  Click here for William & Alison's visit pictures.

1/15 - Yesterday was Samantha and my 13th anniversary. We didn't do anything big this year. We went to dinner at Genghis Khan, a
Mongolian BBQ restaurant. It is one of my favorite places to eat in Okinawa (I don't love it as much as IHOP). Then we went to the Cheesecake
Factory for dessert. We are going to try and hit a local resort for a day later in the month. The next big event for us is picking up William and Alison
this Saturday night for 10 days or so of pure Okinawa sight seeing. We should have some good pictures during their visit so stay tuned. 

1/9 - Well Quailes Family January madness has begun with its first big event. Zachary had his 1st birthday yesterday and he
had a blast. We had a small family party on his birthday with gifts and a cake party at Mrs Tomy's house (Riley's daycare
and our friend). Click here to see all of his birthday pics. The next event is Samantha and my 13 year anniversary.
Our next big event after that is my big brother William coming to Okinawa!! Then last but not least Riley's 4th birthday.
This is a busy month for us. By the way, the 1st was Jennifer's (Monty's sister in-law) birthday Happy Belated Birthday Jennifer!!!!! 

1/2 - Happy New Year everyone and let's start off the New Year by closing out the Quailes family's last few months of 2007.

October & November

During the month October the whole family flew to Maryland so that I could run in the Marine Corps Marathon. We went a
week before the marathon so that I could acclimatize to the weather and time difference. During that time Samantha and I
got to visit Washington, DC and our friends Bill, Sonia, Emma, Tino, Katie, Becca, and Sophie in Virginia. Thank you Bill
and Sonia for putting up with us. On the 28th I got to run the marathon and I ran it in 6 hrs 2 mins and 4 secs. Not a smoking
speed but this body was not made to run, I just like the challenge. I think if I do another one it will be to raise money for a charity.

The Burn: On the morning of the 29th Zachary burned his hands on the glass that protects the gas fireplace at Samantha's
parents house. That boy is quick, even crawling. Anyway, there is a long story about hospital visits and hospital stays that can be
told on a later date. Long story short Zachary had 2nd degree burns on both hands and spent 3 days in Johns Hopkins hospital.
After a few follow up visits and classes on how to change bandages we were all set to come home on 2 Nov, but were told that
Okinawa Drs didn't have the staff or facilities to handle follow up care for burns. SOOOOOOOOO we ended up staying in the
States an additional 3 weeks, we ended up coming home just before Thanksgiving. I was able to work out getting the additional
time off through work which was good. Fast forward to today: Zachary's hands look great and have sustained no permanent
damage to this point. The Doctors said that scar tissue can form under the skin up to 2 years from the incident. We have to
continually stretch his hands to ensure he does not lose flexibility. One hand looks completely normal and the other has a small
scar across the palm. He is quite the trooper, after the initial incident he did not show much sign of pain and even when he had
to wear splints on his hands that did not slow him down. He was the same ole Zachary with 2 clubs to beat people. He was very
impressive and kids are very resilient. The bottom line is that Zachary is fine.  (Samantha typing) While Zachary was wearing his
new "clubs" he learned to walk.  Yup at just 9 months and 3 weeks Zachary learned to walk.  My theory is that the splints counter
balanced his bottom and when he went to fall he threw his arms out and bam..he was walking.  I will say this, it is true every child
is different but Riley never had me running around as much as ZAQ does. 

Halloween: Yep, we went Trick or Treating with Riley. Trick or treating in my old neighborhood is not like I
remember. There was hardly anyone passing out candy and the candy we did get was sub par! That's ok because
Riley went to about 7 houses and was done. Mommy and Daddy were done too because of the disappointment. 
Zachary didn't get to go Trick or Treating this year since he came home from the hospital that day but he did get
some serious Halloween loot.  The nurses at the hospital went for him around the hospital and brought him back
a bag full of books, candy, stuffed animals and play dough.  We are still going through that bag!

During the month of November was spent driving back and forth from our hometown to Johns Hopkins which is about hour drive for
follow up appointments. The kids were great on the really, really long trip back. Once we got back Samantha cooked a great dinner
for just the family. Normally we have the Marines from the office over but my boss the Colonel beat us to it this year. As long as the
Marines have some where to go during the holidays is what is most important. Click here for MD trip pictures

December

December came hot and heavy and went out in a flash. Zachary got his first haircut (nope mommy didn't do it) and
we finished our Christmas shopping. Other than that we spent most of December trying to get things back to normal.
I got to play a little office football on Christmas Eve and after that Samantha went with some friends to a nail salon to
get their toe nails painted. Christmas was a good time for us as well. The morning was spent with the kids opening
presents and Samantha cooking up a storm. This time we did have the office over for dinner and this was our
biggest guest list to date. Fifteen guests, a mixture of Marines and spouses. Some of them left before we took this picture but don't
worry they left full and with a gift. Click here to see football pictures.  Click here for Christmas pictures.

The New Year: To bring in the New Year our neighborhood had a block party. We moved the cars out of the parking lot and cooked
food and got a couple of fire pits going. It was windy and really cold. It even drizzled a couple of times on us. Even still we brought in
the New Year together. Some of us were without our loved ones because they are deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq BUT they did
get a phone call from their love ones right at midnight Okinawa time. So there was some happiness bringing in 2008. We are not sure
what 2008 holds for the Quailes family but rest assured sooner or later you will read about it here. Oh there is one thing I do know
about 2008, my big brother William and my niece Alison will be here in mid Jan to spend some time with us. We are all looking forward
to that visit, so expect to see some pictures from that. Well I know this doesn't excuse me from not posting in 3 months but I hope you
at least feel more caught up on Fire Team Quailes... Until next time...