14,502 Miles, 3 Passport Stamps, and 1 Big Adventure

The three of us had an opportunity to take a trip back to the states this October and November. Jason had a conference in Louisville, Kentucky so we left Misawa on October 25. Jason was only able to be away from work for a short time, so he went back to Japan on November 1, while Suz and Jacob went on a whirlwind tour of the Midwest to visit and meet friends and family until November 16. There are so many stories and details of our trip to mention so this will actually just be an abbreviated version.

It was a pity that Jacob didn't have a built in odometer to log all the miles he traveled on this trip. This little guy has traveled more in his first 4 months than his parents did in their first 20 years. The trip to the States was long, to put it mildly. From our door here in Misawa to the hotel room in Louisville, it was a mere 27 hours. We started our journey navigating the Japanese train system for the first time. We took a total of 3 trains between Misawa and Tokyo. One of them was the Bullet Train which whisked us through the beautiful landscape of Northern Japan at upwards of 200 mph.

Once we got to Narita Airport in Tokyo, we boarded a Boeing 777 airplane which took us to Chicago in about 13 hours. We then took a quick flight from the Windy City to Louisville. Jacob was SUCH a champ throughout the entire trip!!!! He rarely cried or fussed and he flirted with all the flight attendants. In fact, the only real excitement on our journey was when Jason's medical expertise was needed on the plane!! (Good story, ask him about it later.)


Our time spent in Louisville was not only getting ourselves and Jacob acclimated to the change of 13 time zones, but visiting with many of our friends from Dayton who came to the conference. Almost everyone brought their families along too, so Jacob had a chance to meet all of the adults and kids his parents socialized with during our time in Dayton. It was so great to see everyone! (Oh yeah, and Jason had fun learning at his conference too!) Jason's family had an opportunity to come down and see Jason too before he left the States, thus Jacob got to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Massengill for the first time. During the rest of the conference, Suzy kept herself busy by shopping.....

Suz and Jacob then traveled to Dayton, Ohio where we stayed with Scott and Casey. Jacob not only got to get dressed up for a belated Halloween party with the kids, but also went to his first poker night. He also hung out with his Mom and her old co-workers with a trip to Arhuas Furniture. Suzy did some more shopping. Note, Casey and Suzy should not be allowed to enter Gymboree unsupervised!








After Dayton, Suz and little Jacob traveled to Anderson, Indiana to meet his dad's side of the family. We spent several days in Anderson meeting and spending time with just about everyone in Anderson....Aunts, Uncles, Great Grandmas, and Great Aunts and Uncles, church friends, work friends, school friends, strangers, you name it!! Grandpa Steve did an excellent job dressing Jacob in the mornings and Grandma Becky loved to give Jacob baths. We watched a Colts game (without having to wake up at the crack of dawn). And let's not forget food. We ate Pizza King breadsticks and a Steak and Shake Platter while we were there. We had such a lovey time in Anderson with the Massengills. .....and Suzy may have done some more shopping.












From Anderson Jacob and Suz went to Reynoldsburg, Ohio to visit with the Cooks. The Cooks should definitely get a "Best Patience Award" as they had to endure knowing their new Grandson had been in the States for 2 weeks before they got to see him! The wait was well worth it!!! Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and (almost) Uncles, more friends, co-workers, and family got to love on the precious Jacob for a full week. Jacob got to watch his first two IU basketball games with his Grandpa Bob and Grandma Ginny taught Jacob to say "Ooooooooo". We had such a fabulous time with The Cooks. We all had a great breakfast at First Watch and Suz got to spend a day of pampering at Jenn's salon. .......and Suz may have done more shopping.









Although everyone was obviously disappointed that they couldn't see Jacob when he was first born, this was a perfect time to come meet everyone. Jacob was so interactive and smiles were easy to come by. It was amazing how much he changed and grew in just the 3 weeks we were in the States. It was so special to see all of the Grandmas and Grandpas interact with Jacob. We haven't mentioned poor Jason yet who had to go back to Misawa and missed his little boy like crazy! We were fortunately able to web cam with Jason often from Anderson and Reynoldsburg. The only downside of the trip was when Suz came down with an awful cold that she is just now getting over. One of Jason's gifts from the States was to be passed on this cold. Luckily though, Jacob never got sick!!!



As a result of all of Suz's shopping and gifts that Jacob received along his journey, we had to ship 4 boxes back to Japan of things that would not fit into suitcases. Aunt Bridget drove us back to Louisville to board an airplane that took us to Dallas and then on to Tokyo. Suz was a bit anxious to travel such a long distance by herself with Jacob, but she did great! It was very empowering to travel half way around the world with a baby and successfully get through airports, planes, Japanese train stations and trains!

Although we had such a lovely trip and enjoyed seeing all of our family and friends, we were VERY thankful to see Jason waiting for us at the train station in Misawa. Thanks to everyone who let us stay in your homes and treated us with all the hospitality in the world. Thanks as well to all of our wonderful Dayton friends who let us borrow baby supplies for our stay in the States. We loved seeing all of you! We'll be back this summer for Bridget's and Amy's weddings. See you all again then!

Love to everyone.

Jason, Suzy, and Jacob "The very tired world traveler"