Collett Family Chronicles: May 2025

SPRING SWAP

I was in charge of a Spring Swap for our district. The members gathered stuff that could be given away. Whatever wasn't picked up was donated to HelpOki, which is a non-profit that helps orphaned kids.

NATHAN MCJROTC

Nathan had his last promotion, last mess night, and last inspection/awards ceremony for MCJROTC. This program has taught Nathan discipline, strength, service, patriotism, and leadership. It’s been a great experience for him.

MADELINE SCHOLARSHIP

Maddy was awarded a scholarship from the Okinawa Enlisted Spouses Club. We are very proud of her.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

We had a Star Wars Themed potluck with friends.

Light Sabers

Seven Leia Dip

Wookie Potatos

Baby Yoda deviled eggs

CHILDREN'S DAY

Children’s day, May 5th, is my favorite Japanese holiday. In Japan on Children’s Day, families pray for the health and happiness of their children. To celebrate, people put up Koinobori, which are carp windsocks, streamers, or banners. The koi (carp) are a symbolic of the strength, courage, and determination of children since the carp are strong fish who are able to swim upstream against the current. Brooklyn and Audrey sang the Koinobori song in their Japanese class, and we visited the fish flags over the river. Audrey was creative and made her own fish flags to celebrate. I love having this day to celebrate children and their strength.

BOOK CLUB MOTHER'S DAY RETREAT

We rented an Airbnb and ate lots of yummy food, walked along the beach, exercised indoors during a rainstorm, and talked for hours. It was a nice get away for some girl time right before Mother's day.

MOTHER'S DAY BRUNCH

We had a beautiful Mother's day brunch with all the sisters in our branch.

DENTIST

We have been busy doing overseas screenings with medical and dental. Brooklyn looking great in her dental shades.

NEW TV!

Our TV of many years finally kicked the bucket. Jared was gone, so Maddy and Nathan figured out how to set up our new TV on their own.

KUBASAKI CHOIR

Maddy and Nathan had their last Kubasaki choir concert. This year they both pushed themselves to improve musically and share their talents, thanks to the encouragement and support of their incredible teacher, Ms Wall.

The choir had a fun game for the audience in conjunction with playing a song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Brooklyn found a golden ticket!

Maddy was the accompanist for both the school’s choirs, and Ms Wall and the choir students really appreciated having a live accompanist. They made her a poster that they all signed to say thank you.

In addition to his choir class, Nathan auditioned and was chosen to be part of Far East Choir this year. We are incredibly proud of both of them.

VIOLIN RECITAL

Audrey had her last violin recital with her wonderful teacher Ms Shoko. We will miss her. We loved watching Audrey perform and seeing how much she has improved.

NATHAN BAGPIPE PERFORMANCE

Nathan performed on the bagpipes at a kick off for youth conference.

JAPANESE CLASS

Brooklyn and Audrey had their last day of co op, which means the last day of Japanese lessons with Akiko. I really appreciate all the time and effort she has put into sharing her beautiful language and culture with us. She has been such a great teacher! We will miss her when we move this summer.

TRIP TO TAIWAN

We took a quick Memorial day trip to see Taiwan. We had a great trip. Taiwan is beautiful with its green, misty mountains, its huge, crashing waves, its gushing waterfalls, and its ornate temples and pagodas. We also enjoyed the people we met who were very friendly and welcoming.

YANJINGDONG WATERFALL

We visited what we thought was Shifen falls, but we took the wrong path and visited Yanjingdong falls instead.

KING KONG MOUNTAIN

It was really rainy with lots of fog, so we didn't get much of a view.

TRAFFIC LIGHTS

We love how the red lights count down the time until they are going to change. We also loved the walking signals that showed the guy walking faster right before it was going to change.