Ryukyu Lantern Festival

There are so many places to go to lights that typically begin around Christmastime and run through March.  They aren't necessarily Christmasy, but it did give us that little extra Christmas-feel.

We headed to Murasaki Mura to see the Ryukyu Lantern Festival.

Murasaki Mura is a reproduction of Naha City during the 14th and 15th centuries, when Okinawa, then known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, was a flourishing trade center.  This cultural theme park offers so many crafts and workshops, we will probably go back to try our hand at a few of them.

There are said to be about 5,000 lanterns.

 Each year there is a contest with new lanterns.  We were given a sticker when we paid to get in.  After looking at the lanterns entered into the contest, we were to place our sticker on a board to help find a winner.  Here are just a few of the lanterns we liked.

 Here Amelia is placing her sticker on her favorite.  

I keep saying it, but we are so grateful for this amazing experience. We will hold this place and these experiences close when we leave.

Thanksgiving Weekend & My Birthday

We are so thankful for this group of "Prowler" friends that we were able to spend Thanksgiving with!

 The day after Thanksgiving we headed to American Village for lunch.  You can't beat this view!

 Photos with Santa in our shorts and t-shirts.

 We got all of our decorations put up this weekend also.  Christmas is not a holiday here in Japan so there are not very many homes with Christmas lights up outside.  Unfortunately, there is a bright street light right next to our house, so it drowned out our snowflakes and spinning candy canes.

For my birthday, I wanted to go see a new area.  We headed to Maeda Flats, which is only about 15 minutes from our house.  We had planned on eating dinner at an Italian restaurant near there, but they were closed for a wedding.

 This island is so beautiful and every beach we have been to offers amazing views and a peaceful atmosphere.

After walking around this area for a bit, we drove around a corner to check out this beach and to catch the sunset.

 Amelia found this perfect shell!

This is a pretty amazing place to spend our birthdays for the next few years!