Home sweet Japan.

And just like that he's home! We're (sort of) getting used to these frequent three month deployments. Basically three months away, a few weeks home followed by three months away. Rinse and repeat. It's no cake walk living in a foreign country while living this Navy life but we're doing it!! And when I have my doubts I just look at our homecoming pictures to remind myself, gosh it's worth it.

Heading out to greet daddy. Elin wanted to make sure he'd find her.

There they are!

We got to head up to the flight tower to greet Colin. Elin's reaction was adorable.

Declan is still unsure about this male stranger who shows up every few months....

Perhaps my favorite photos. We went up to the flight deck to watch a promotion ceremony for some of our friends. Before hand, Elin and Colin had some fun. 

Oh and this reminded me of his first deployment here in Japan. Elin was beside herself to see her daddy for the first time in three months. This is still one of my favorite photos!

Matane,

Caitlyn

Strawberries & Ice Cream? Yes Please!

So as the cliche goes, half my heart deployed this week. Colin left for his summer deployment. I'm determined to make this one a bit better now that Kid #2 is out of the 4th trimester and Kid #1 is in preschool. Despite Declan still not sleeping through the night I'd say things have gotten phenomenally better now that Elin goes to preschool five days a week and Declan goes to daycare two mornings a week. I've rediscovered Me Time. It's amazing! This week I got a Body Pump class in on one day and a 2 1/2 hour nap on the other (getting up SIX times the night before makes a nap an obligation, not a luxury). When Elin is not in school on the weekends we have to work hard to stay busy. 

My friend Asuza invited us to go strawberry picking and make ice cream at a dairy farm this morning. We brought our friend Judy and her son Daniel along as well. Judy and I knew each other at our last duty station in Norfolk where Colin and her husband Chris flew together. Judy and Chris recently joined us here in Sasebo. We shared the same due date but our boys are three weeks apart so we get to experience raising boys for the first time together. 

They're already wrestling pros.

And running buddies.

So back to today, I've easily decided strawberry picking with small children is not a leisure activity. Trudging through the wet dirt with an 18lb baby strapped to you while helping a toddler not trip and spill an entire basket of berries all over the ground pick and eat strawberries is not fun but the reward is fabulous. The strawberries were out of this world delicious. I might have eaten as many as I took home. Possibly. :)

E had a great time. After a few spills in the dirt she mastered her berry picking skills and declared we'd make strawberry pancakes for dinner tonight. 

We did. 

They were delicious. 

The boys enjoyed their first strawberry picking experience. Apparently they make great teethers. 

Adorbs.

Is this not the most brilliant contraption? I'd love to see my uncle convert his Rolls Ruff truck into a feeding trough on his farm. 

Onto the other tasty part of the day. It must be how they produce the milk because Japanese ice cream has a unique flavor and I will probably never want to eat normal American ice cream again. It's THAT delicious. 

See?

Loving the guardrail ingenuity around the herb garden. 

This proves a rice paddy can be placed anywhere. They're all over the hillsides here!

Elin was too scared to pose with the goat.

But not the least bit afraid to greet the cows. She must have some Friberg genes after all. 

Judy and I were rewarded with a whole five minute nap had by all three children on the ride home. Google maps took us the scenic route home (think 10 foot wide two way roads with heavy traffic) but we did get a pic of this gem. Any ideas?

Matane,

Caitlyn

PS, those pancakes? Oishi!

Baby Clothes Quilts: Labor of Love!

I decided to take on a project while Colin was deployed this spring. A woman on base asked me if I could turn her twin daughter's baby clothes and blankets into quilts for their hope chests. While I hadn't done something like that quite yet I had been planning to make one for Elin in a few years. Always up for a challenge I thought I'd take it! It all started with a whole lot of clothes and blankets....

I had a blast deciding how to cut up each outfit trying to preserve the uniqueness of each item while ensuring it would stay connected to the quilt indefinitely. The one thing the mother wanted was to keep their hospital outfits intact so the girls could show their children one day how little they were when they were born. I never thought of that and after asking around, I could not find anyone who had every heard of doing this. So of course I had to come up with a plan! 

I managed to adhere all of the clothes, including the center outfits to the fabric with a iron on webbing material. Careful top stitching followed as the webbing would eventually fade away. I was pretty excited to get everything to cooperate! 

Although morning sickness slowed me down a bit I managed to get them done by my May 1st deadline, just a few days before Colin returned. All in all it took a little over 50 hours but I had a great time creating each square, picking out colorful fabrics according to the mother's preferences and sewing them all together. 

Alex's Quilt:

Lilly's Quilt:

I have to say I love the back of the quilts. I had a bunch of receiving blankets I wanted to incorporate but they would have been king size blankets by the time I was done. So I decided to piece them into a strip quilt and use that as a backing. 

                                                   

My favorite part is the binding. It means it's almost finished and I can sit back and watch a movie when I sew thousands of little stitches to seal the blanket. 

Overall it was quite a task but a very fun experience. It's funny how you grow attached to quilts that you spend so much time on. Letting them go is easier said than done! I cannot wait to start Elin's in a few years, I'd like her to be a little older so she can appreciate the effort that goes into it. 

Ready for delivery!