Shisa's in the house!

Okay so we have made yet another purchase...Just to show how japanese we are getting. Joe has been wanting a set of shisa lions for a very long time. So did I, and for mother's day Joe bought me two different sets that stand about 3 inches tall. Well, we've always thought that the big one that stand about 2 feet tall were pretty cool and about a year ago, joe said he wanted to buy them. Now that we are leaving, it's time to buy them. Joe went yesterday and purchased a set of GAINORMOUS Shisa lion. They are beautiful, and Fierce! Here are some pics of what exactly Shisa lions look like!

**beware, may scare little children**

Ian and his Girlfriend!

Okay so I have the habbit of pairing my kids with the cutest girls thier ages and trying to convince the parents of the girls that our kids should get married. So Ian and I had the chance to babysit the little girl I'm sure he's destined to marry! She is so adorable and we got some really cute pictures of them! Oh, her name is Evie.

Part 2

So I want to let you all know just how much I love my husband! First he buys me a chinese wool rug then today we put our down payment on the Van, which will be ready by May 1st!!!! After that, we went back over to buy another chinese wool runner, but they didn't have the one Joe really liked, so instead he bought another 6x9 rug and and 8 ft. runner that are just amazingly beautiful AND I got my Secratary!!!! He totally suprized me with that one! I am so shocked! He doesn't like it because it's not quite as "ornate" as some of the other items, but I fell in love with it when I saw it. So Because our rugs are in their wrappers, and I forgot to take the camera with us, I can't show them to you, but here is a picture of our secratary! It's not the best picture but it'll do until you come and see it for yourselves!

getting what i want!

So now that we are at the end of our time here in Okinawa, I have taken it upon myself to start buying the things I have always wanted. Some things are only $1 and others are quite a bit more. I found a secratary desk that I really want and so I took Joe to go look at it. He's wasn't as fond of it as I was, but that's okay because I did have a back-up plan... Chinese Rugs! There is merchant here from China that sells rugs. Beautiful rugs for a much cheaper price than if we were to buy the in the states. I have admired the rugs on many occasions. They are only here every 4-6 months or so. So I motioned across the room to the rugs and said to Joe, Hey, that rug is really pretty what do you think? And then we were off on an adventure of finding a rug we could both be happy with. Okay so I am a little devious, but I always get what I want....in a round about way. So We bought a beautiful Chinese Wool Rug for about 1/3 the price! I am so excited. Because we are moving, we had them wrap it up for us. When we get settled in Monterey, I will put up some pictures. Now, What more should I get before I leave?.... (Perhaps I can convince him the secratary desk would be a worth while item and then I can have both!)

Sunday Lessons

I am currently serving in the Young Women organization and I truly love it. I have the opportunity to teach every 3rd or 4th week and I think I glean more from the lessons than the young women do. This weeks lesson on Homemaking, or "Family Consumer Science" as I like to call it (just to be politically correct), really brought some things to the fore front of my thinking. I have never been the best housekeeper and I tend to find excuses for most of my short comings. This is not a good thing. I must be honest.... I don't like to clean. Just ask my mom or my sister. I have never been very good at cleaning. (I used to bribe Jamie to clean our room and then "forget" to pay her in the end.) But after much thought and prayer over this lesson I realized that being a good homemaker is much more than being a good housekeeper. You can be a good housekeeper and not a good homemaker, but you cannot be a good homemaker without being a homemaker.

This may sound confusing to you, but let me explain. To keep you house clean is very good. It's even commendable. But if you want to be a good homemaker, you have to be able to keep a tidy house and in such a way that you invite the spirit to dwell there with you. If you have an impeccably clean home but there isn't an attitude of love you have not created a space that the spirit can reside. And you can't have a dirty, cluttered home and think that the spirit would want to be present.

There are many days that I have been able to keep the house tidy and the spirit is very present, but on the days that the clutter creeps up on us, I can tell the spirit drifts far away. So I wanted to share with everyone my new "goal" or "ambition": I want to be a good Homemaker. I want to be able to have a home that the spirit wants to dwell with us and since no unclean thing can be where the Lord is, I want my home to be clean. So I am going to really de-clutter with our upcoming move. It will be a time of purging and giving away things that are just taking up space here. I have already purged my "sewing" closet, and next will be my kitchen. Since it seems to be the biggest of my problem areas. Wish me luck!

I hope I can spread the message of the importance of having a home that will be inviting to the spirit and where the family can live with service in their hearts, and love always abounding!

Tokyo

We just got back from visiting Cortney and Sonnet in Tokyo! We spent a week with them and had a blast. While we were there we went to many different parks, Costco, rode on trains, and walked a whole lot. We loved every minute of it. The boys loved playing with their cousins, and can't wait to see them again soon. So here are some of the highlights from our trip!

Time To PARTY!!!!

Okay everyone there should be a new National Holiday! It should be called Chelle leaves Okinawa Day! We recieved Joe's orders and we will be leaving Okinawa on April 30!!!!! We will arrive in Seattle on April 30 and we will pick up our Camry and start our Road Trip. We might spend one night in Seattle to recooperate from the long flight but we'll see how it goes. We will drive down through Boise and if No one happens to be in Boise at that time, we'll head on over to Rexburg and spend a week or so. Then off to Utah! We will stop in and spend a night in Clinton Visiting Grandma and Grandpa J, See all the cousins, then head on down to St. George and stay a week or so. Then from there off to CALIFORNIA!!! We might do DisneyLand but we might just go straight up to Monterey and get settled in. Any who, it's time to purge and de-clutter! So everyone can now go and celelbrate Chelle Leaves Okinawa Day on April 30!

MY FaVoriTe DaY!!

So just in case anyone wanted to know, Today is my favorite day of the year! As of today, Joe and I have been married for 9 years! Wow. So lets recap the highlights of the last 9 years...

Jan. 21, 2000
Joe and I ran off to Vegas and got ourselves married to each other!
March 13, 2000
Joe ran off to join the Marine Corps so he could afford to keep me as a wife.
June 10, 2000
Joe and I finally got a little honeymoon by going up to Alpine WY for a few days.
August 24, 2000
We moved to 29 Palms CA.
March 3, 2001
Joe and I were Sealed in the Manti Temple for time and all Eternity
March 4, 2001
We found out we were expecting our 1st baby!
November 2, 2001
We welcomed Landon Moroni Dummar to the world.
August 3, 2003
We welcomed Matthew Benjamin Dummar in to the world
November 20, 2003
Packed up our house and got ready for Hawaii
January 4, 2004
Stepped off the plane in Honolulu Hawaii
September 13 2005
Left Hawaii for Idaho and Virginia
July 1, 2006
Joe Graduated TBS and we were off to Okinawa Japan
Feb 12, 2008
We found out we were expecting our 3rd little wonder after waiting for a very long time
October 3, 2008
We welcomed Ian Stewart Dummar to the world
January 5th 2009
Joe made the final decision of staying in the Marine Corps until retirement

There is the synopsis of the passed 9 years at our house. We have been so blessed with many many things and wonderful experiences. Now we look forward to the next era of our lives!

Where's the Boxes???

Well, It's official...We are MOVING!!!!!! Of course it's not like it will be tomorrow, but we are moving. We will be moving in May to Monterey California to attend the Naval Post-Graduate School. Joe is going to get his Master's degree! We are so excited!!! We will be in a beautiful area and be able to visit family! (and people just might want to visit us and be able to!!)

I know it will be awesome!!!!! We will be there with some great friends and we will still be in the Marine Corps. Joe will be committed to 6 more years, but that is just fine. It means that we will be lifer's and I am happy about that. So if anyone wants anything from Japan, you can ask and if we can find it, we will bring it back or send it to you!

Happy Day!!!!! (can anyone tell I am ready to leave this island?)

Happy New Year! 2009

Oh, boy! So how was your new year's eve? Our's was great! It's only taken me 4 days to recover! We spend most of the day getting ready for the night ahead. Joe called me about 45 minutes before we were supposed to be at our friends house to come bring some gas to our friend who was stranded on the side of the road. So I tucked all the kids into the car and headed up toward Joe's work and found them sitting on the side of the road waiting so patiently for me. Now for those of you who don't know, Joe works about and hour away and they were stranded about 20 minutes away from our place. So we got the gas and helped our buddy. What a way to end the year...in service to others. After that we drove over to our friends house and played games and ate Pizza and wings. We ended up staying there until 4 am. I don't think we've ever stayed out that late before. It was AWESOME!!!! We played three or four rounds of Settler's of Catan. I loved it! The kids had fun and they almost got to sleep over, but we had to get home before sunrise and get a little bit of sleep before Ian woke up. He did great! I think he woke up around 9 so we had about 4 hours of sleep. Now of course his schedule is a little messed up but we are doing okay with it. We sat down on friday afternoon and talked about things we want to do with the boys and they set some goals. I am still working on mine. I would like to share some of my goals with you though so that you can ask me about them from time to time and check in on my progress! (if you want to that is)

1. Lose 10 lbs (or more) by May 1 by exercising regularly. (my birthday)
2. Be able to stay within the budget. (i did okay last year)
3. Be a nicer mom. (not a push over, but kinder to my children)
4. Read more good books. (I already read a lot, but I want to expand out of my norm and find joy in just about any book)
5. Be a better housekeeper/homemaker. (I think we all know I need a lot of work on that one!)
6. Be a kinder and more friendly person all around. (I want to be able to have many people I can call "Friend")
7. Watch less TV (Not that I watch a lot, but I can always do better, right?)
8. Learn to be okay with Joe watching Football. ( I really hate football)
9. Find someone to serve each month. (I love helping other, I need to do it more)
10. Be better at writing in a Journal. (I want my posterity to know me and remember our adventures)

There you have it. 10 of my goals in no particular order. I am so excited for this new year and all that is ahead of our family. It is AWESOME to be where I am at and doing all the things we are doing.