"Nihon e youkoso!" (nee hōn eh yoh--koso) *

Here we are in Crystal hotel saying good bye, the day before her and Jeff head to Japan for three years:

With Uncle Brandon.

Carly and Kaity(Brandon's girlfriend).


With mama.


Lovin'.


Here we are saying our final goodbye a and wishing her a safe trip to Japan(it was an emotional time for all):



Crystal and her boys....giving hugs.


Owen, so sad to say goodbye, she is SUCH a good aunt.

Ashton does not want her to go either...he loves his Crystal.

The hugs were not enough Owen had to call to talk one more time.


All the emotions wore him out...

...and him....

It was such a hard emotional time to say goodbye. Crystal is a huge part in the kids life and the miss her as soon as we drive away as it is, so knowing that she was going so far away was hard to grasp.

Well, Crystal has been in Japan for about four months now and we miss her everyday. The kids talk about her all the time and ask when she will be home. Luckily she will be visiting this summer and we look forward to that day! Skye is a wonderful thing. It would be much harder to have her gone if we could not see her beautiful face. Now if we could only do something about that darn 14 hour time difference.

Crys, I hope you are enjoying yourself and gaining many memories and experiences. You have always been a free spirit and I admire that so much. I know that it is hard some days when you miss your friends and family, but when the time is through you will never regret your decision. And you may have it you chose not to go. We miss you so very much and the kids are so lucky to have such and amazing aunt, who care so deeply about them. Thanks for being you. I love you.

*Translation: Welcome to Japan.