Merry Christmas on the Nile

Happy Merry Christmas, family, friends, and all the loved ones. We are experiencing wonderful time in Cairo Egypt. Right now, the new year is approaching in 2 hours. We are watching the Muppet Scrooge (this is the second scrooge movie today) with Matt, DeNeece, David, Christian, and my brothers, Takuma and Ryoma. Yes, they are experiencing American culture in Egypt.

We had had wonderful days of exploring Cairo.

The house was decorated beautifully. They had three Christmas trees on the main floor with bunch of poinsettia flowers.

Cairo is definitely an unique and interesting place.

Astonishing history and buildings.

And a LOT of fun!!!!

Like you see, the sky is beautiful and I even did not have to edit these pictures at all.

I will put more pictures when I have more battery in the computer, but for now, I wish you happy new year!

Okinawa 2

Sugarcane fields


The roads there verily fit one car.


The world second biggest aquarium.










Instead of AC, ice on the fan.


Can't miss!


Can't resist!


The biggest sushi ever!


Two foreigners.


Off course, finish with dessert.


Six most blessed things of the world.

Okinawa

Since we are leaving to Cairo in 2 weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to finish Japanese pictures before starting Egyptian pictures. So let's see how far we can record!




In Okinawa, you see shiisa all over the place.


One on the right will welcome the happiness with open mouth and the other one on the left keep the happiness and fortune in the house.


You can find shiisa in the castle, restaurants, houses, even on my husband's computer.


Shuri where my mission president lives has a lot of people who fix their homes into a little restaurants for traditional Okinawan food.


Like they sell this Japanese dumpling sweet for over 120 years.



What else in Okinawa?



Snakes in jars.


Beautiful bamboo bush.


A park looks like a jungle.


History.


A manhole with fish.


Himeyuri no To where 222 female students and 18 teachers committed suicide during the world war II.


They hid themselves in this cave.


They would go up to the cliff, and jumped off to go a "better place" before they were killed by U.S. soldiers.


Each prefecture in Japan donated cenotaph to remember those who died.


In the park, there are two hundred thirty seven thousand three hundred and eighteen names being engraved. One of these name was President Yafuso's ancestor who died overseas while he was in service.




"Danger Forbidden Zone."

What Happen to the Young Tuellers?!

How long did I wait for this?! It all started right after I got a job and started studying for exam. I know, such a convenient time. How many times did I ask if it was worth it? Who knows. Finally, I feel I have my life back and the house begun to look less haunted.

So, this is a digest of "What happened to the young Tuellers?!"


My husband started schooling again.
I got a job as a Therapeutic Recreation Technician at Utah State Hospital, Children's unit. As soon as I got that, I had to ask for their sick leave policy, maternity leave, etc. because I was already nauseated.

Then, the real morning sickness hit our lives. We visited doctor's office every week, sometimes twice a week. They put me in IV therapy because all the anti-nausea medication didn't work for me and I was really dehydrated. The diagnosis was Hyperemisis Graviderum.


This is when my IV left the vein and made my hand swell.


The only day in 2 months that I wore makeup and left the house besides doctor's appointments and work, we went to my mission reunion.


Emergency Room due to dehydration. My home nurses could not find a vein for the IV after poking me for one hour. At ER, they spelled my name wrong.


This is the last night with my IV. It was taken away after 4 weeks of therapy. It was a relief especially for my husband since he had to worry about me to the point that he gets really nervous whenever my condition was not well.

I've been feeling much much better since my IV was taken out. I now go to work and play a lot with the kids at work. I ride a scooter and go hiking with them. Even trick or treating.

I got terrified when I was told that I needed to dress up for trick or treating at work. I went home and told my husband that I didn't know what to do. He ran down stairs and got this costume from a closet. Probably mom's. So, thanks mom for letting me borrow it. Actually quite a few people asked me where I bought that costume. They were disappointed when I told them it was handmade.


Lastly, my husband was Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple. People at his work decided that they wanted to be Steve this year. So all of them did. My husband came back home and said that nobody recognized him as "dressing up."


So, we did much less this past two months but definitely excited for the new arrival in next April.

According to Chinese calendar, we are having a girl. Even my doctor said that would be probably right. So, we will see.

Paradise, Okinawa, Japan

We visited Okinawa for 10 days from 16th of June. Okinawa prefecture is located the very south of Japan and consisted of many islands. We stayed at my mission president (Yafuso)'s house for first 5 days in Okinawa island, then flew to Ishigaki island and Taketomi island for the rest of time.



President Yafuso sang in the concert. This concert was organized for the purpose of cultural exchange among Okinawa, Yamaguchi, Taiwan, and Hawaii. So people from those places performed songs and dance.



Goya chample, Okinawa's dish was served. Okinawa's climate was similar to Hawaii but a little more humid. So people plant this green vegetable, goya, and eat it all the time. Goya's nutrition gives people to fight against the heat.



At the hotel where President Yafuso had the concert, we found butterflies with golden cocoons.






President Yafuso took us to the only castle in Okinawa, called Shuri castle. Shuri castle is different from any other castle in Japan. It is flat. President Yafuso explained that Okinawa used to be Ryukyu country, which was a bridge between Japan and Taiwan, until Japan conquered it. So Ryukyu people built the castle not for the purpose of fighting but for welcoming others. Therefore the castle is flat and anyone can attack it. But they built it to show their trust to others.
When you enter the gate, there is a big open place. This is where they had dance and music. In the castle, they still had some dance performance from the days of Ryukyu.



Program for Okinawa's traditional dance.



Very slow dance and almost no facial feelings are shown.