We are SAFE-

I have had a lot of phone calls and emails regarding our safety. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe.

On Friday afternoon we received an evacuation warning at 3:55 p.m. We were told that mainland Japan had an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude and a big tsunami that followed. We were told that a tsunami was coming our direction and was due to hit at 5:45 p.m.

I started packing bags overnight bags for me and the kids and we had some friends call and tell us to come over and play games for the night. They live on higher ground and our apartment is RIGHT on the water. I was just waiting for Carter to get home from school. I tried calling Rhett to let him know what was going on, but all the cell phones were down. It was a scary time for me waiting for Carter to get home. He is usually home by 4:15 and it was almost 5:00. As soon as he got here at 5:25 we headed out the door.

We got down to the car and the babies were really nervous. The sirens were blaring with people in Japanese telling everyone to head to higher ground. We got about a three blocks from our house when they said on the radio that it was due to hit in 10 minutes. Me and Rhett made a quick decision to head back home. We were in stop and go traffic right down the road. We both felt that it would be safer for us and the kids to be on our sixth floor apartment than on the ground if the tsunami were to hit us big. We turned around, got home, and rushed everyone upstairs. Then, we waited. We watched outside and NOTHING came. I have never been so thankful to see calm water.

Japan was still receiving large aftershocks so we stayed on the tsunami warning for 48 hours. It was odd to see all the boats out on the water. We watched the video of all the devastation that had happened on mainland and are so grateful that our little island of Okinawa Japan was safe.

It has been amazing to see so many military members step up to help out. Everyone wants to go and help the people in need. The military base in Yokota had planes rerouted through them so that planes could still land. The same day the Combat Rescue flew to help in search and rescue. It is great to see so many willing to help out. :)

We received many phone calls and emails regarding whether we were safe and are thankful for being in people thoughts and prayers. We are just over 1,000 miles from where the earthquake hit and even though we are still a little nervous about the plants and the radiation coming our way, people are monitoring everything very closely.

The day of the tsunami everyone had a recall to make sure all military members were safe and accounted for- phones were down so this was difficult to get. Little airmen ran from home to home to make sure that all members were accounted for. I know my family was so grateful for them doing so so they could sleep at night knowing we were okay.

I feel bad for all the people that were affected by this and my thoughts and prayers go with the families that have lost members. Thank you for thinking about us and I am happy to say that we are completely safe!

Here is what we saw the day of the tsunami. The water fell and rose, but no waves.

It was interesting to see all the boats camped out in the water for 48 hours.

The second day it was a little stormy and I felt so bad that they had to stay out there.

We again, are just so thankful that we were all kept from harm. Please pray for the people of Japan. They have a rough road of recovery ahead of them.