Trip to Sendai

Our trip last week to Sendai was very nostalgic for me. This was a business trip for Shane, so he worked the whole time, but the kids and I had a great time visiting friends and driving past old places. We stayed in a small town called Funaoka that is close to Shane's work. It is about a half an hour drive from where we used to live, but we were only about 10 minutes away from where our friends, the Shepards, live. We spent a lot of time hanging out with them, which is always fun. Our kids have so much fun together. (We will be very sad when they return to the U.S. this summer.) We also got to have dinner with the Karlinsey's, a senior missionary couple for the Sendai mission office who were in our ward. I didn't get a picture of that, but Sister Karlinsey is in the picture of the Nagamachi ward friends.

On Thursday, Imano shimai from our old ward invited us over for lunch with several other women from the ward. I can't express how much I love these people. I just feel such a bond with them, even though I can't communicate very well with some of them. It was so nice to be with them again.

On Friday, the kids and I went to Shane's office and had lunch with him there and met some of his coworkers. Afterwards Katie Shepard and I took our kids to Michinoku park. This is another thing I really love about Sendai. I LOVE this park. The picture on my blog sidebar of Josh and Teresa and the amazing flower garden in the background is of the same park. The kids love this place too, because it has some very fun things to play on. There are a few pictures of the kids playing on the slideshow.

We have lived in Japan for over 2 and a 1/2 years and I have never been to a karaoke joint. On Friday night Katie and Lane decided take us and show us how it is done. Mine and Katie's version of "Material Girl" was definitely the best of the night! I got a great picture of Bryant singing with Shane. Like father, like son.

Saturday morning before we headed home, I went on a great run. It was one of those runs that I will probably always remember. There is a big hill in Funaoka with a huge buddha at the top. I have great memories here because for the last two years this is where we went cherry blossom viewing. It is really beautiful. From the top of the hill you can see a river. A road runs along the river that is lined with cherry trees and the road has been closed off to traffic. This is where I ran. The perfect run: nice weather, beautiful scenery, no traffic to deal with.

So now we are back in Yokohama. It is strange, but as much as I love Sendai, this really does seem like where we belong.