Temple Trip to Tokyo

 Lots has happened over the last few months . . . but we'll start with one of my favorites - our trip to Tokyo so we could go to the temple with Reed for his first time.  What a great experience / adventure!

Our adventure began on Tuesday, February 26.  The kids and Sloan caught a C-130 at Andersen AFB around 4:30p, and landed at Kadena AFB in Okinawa about 10:15p that night.  Because the plane was a powered by propellers it was a bit slower than planes with jet engines (a 6 hr. flight as opposed to 3 1/2).  However, we were warm (which had been a huge concern) and, we got to walk around and stretch out.  It was quite loud, but we all had earphones. We saw a gorgeous sunset, and had a great flight!  The only downfall . . . the latrine was a bucket with a toilet seat set on top of it that was surrounded by a thin curtain located near the rear of the plane - right near the cargo. . . nice.

We were able to spend several days in Okinawa - visiting favorite parks and beaches, renewing friendships, etc. - before heading on to Tokyo. 

One of our favorite beaches, Araha Beach . . .

 . . .  otherwise known as Pirate Ship Park

One of our favorite parks . . .

. . . Drop Slide park out gate 2 - which also had a roller slide . . .

Because the military Space-A flights to Yokota from Okinawa kept getting cancelled, we ended up having to buy tickets on Japan Airline (JAL) to get from Naha to Haneda, Friday morning. 

The stewardess offered . . . so Jessica accepted :0)

Chad had arrived in Tokyo the day before and decided to meet us at the airport so he could guide us back to the hotel.  It was quite a process.  We took a combination of buses, trains, and lots of footsteps(definitely a planes, trains, and automobiles kind of day) to make it to our hotel but we finally made it to the New Sanno!  We were so excited to be there - one to finally all be together in Japan, going to the temple, and two, being able to stay at the New Sanno once again.  The New Sanno is a beautiful hotel located in the heart of Tokyo run by the army.  We stayed there several times prior to this weekend, while living in Okinawa, and it had become a favorite.  And,  this time the kids brought their swimsuits, and actually got to swim :o)  (family joke)


The purpose, and highlight, of our trip was finally a reality . . . our trip to the Tokyo Temple.

It was so wonderful - to be in the temple with all of our children.  What a blessing!  I went down to the baptistry with Jessica, Rachel and Tanner while Chad and Reed did some preliminary things;  then I met them upstairs in the chapel.  What an amazing experience!!

The next day, Saturday, was spent mostly in Tokyo.  A friend of ours, Chris Okano, (who served in Auburn as a missionary) met us in Shibuya and walked around with us for the day.  A fun "coincidence" occurred while waiting to meet up with Chris.  We had just walked out of the train station in Shibuya when we saw two elders standing in the middle of the sidewalk area.  We went over to them to say hi and began to ask where they were from, etc.  Chad mentioned that he had served a mission in Hokkaido and one of the elders said, "Hey, my dad served in Sapporo."  Long story short - Chad and this elder's dad, Eric Kerr, had been roommates on their mission, and at BYU afterwards.   Sloan and his mom, Anitra, are also friends - what a small world. . . .

Elder Kerr is the missionary between Chad and Sloan

An interesting side note.  Notice the short sleeves and light suit coat being worn by the elders, in contrast to the winter jackets and scarves worn by the Guisingers.  Needless to say Tokyo was a tad bit colder than Guam.  It took some getting used to.  Brrrrr . . .

Chad left to fly back to Guam early Sunday morning, while Sloan and the kids went to a special stake conference being held in northern Tokyo.  They got a ride with the Roth family - a family visiting from Misawa whom we had met in the temple two nights before.  The Roth's were there with their daughter who, as it turned out, was entering the MTC about 3 weeks before Reed.  Elder Callister spoke during the conference, and then Sloan and the kids caught a train to Yokota with many of the members from the Yokota ward who had gone to Tokyo for the conference.  We met so many wonderful and helpful people.  They truly made the remainder of our trip much more comfortable and enjoyable.  What a blessing!!

There were no flights headed to Guam on Monday so we walked to a 100 yen store off base, the commissary and the BX.  I LOVE 100 yen stores, and really miss not being able to go to them.  They have so many fun things to buy . . .  We also found a vending machine on the way back to the base that sold Corn Soup.  Reed was so excited!  It brought back memories of another trip to Yokota - one we took in December of 2007.  Later that night we saw that there was a flight headed back to Guam early the next morning.  So . . . after an early morning shuttle ride to the flight line, a heart-pumping race to the Japanese passport office (located right off base) with Reed, and several delays, a KC-135 finally took off and we were headed home.

Our flight home was quite the adventure.  The plane we fly in is often used to refuel other aircraft while in mid-air.  One of the crew members took Reed and I underneath the tail of the plane to the fueling boom.  We got to lay down in the cockpit?? (for lack of a better term), and experience what it would be like to try and connect a fuel line to a fuel tank while flying in mid-air.  Wild! What an amazing feat.  Very impressive!!

But wait, that's not all - Reed got to sit in the cockpit during take-off, and Tanner was invited to sit there during landing.  Both of the boys spent about 30 minutes in the cockpit with the flight crew - asking questions and watching the maneuvering that went on.  Definitely an amazingly fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We were gone exactly a week; a week that was full of memories, fun, and adventure!