Kid pics

Here are some pictures I took of the kids last week after we got our new camera. Isaac is sporting a ninja outfit given to us by our friends the Shepards (who also live in Japan). Isn't it great!!?

Hats off to single parents!

There is nothing like a 3 week business trip to help you realize how much you rely upon, love and miss your spouse. Shane has been back in Tucson for the last 2 weeks...1 to go and I am counting down the days until he returns. I have really felt a profound respect for single parents. Yesterday I was thinking about how demanding 3 young children are, especially when I am the only one who can meet their needs all day everyday, and I thought of my Aunt Marcy. She was a young mother with 2 small children and one on the way when her husband was in an accident and died. I can't imagine how she made it through those years with 3 small children by herself. All my love and respect to you Aunt Marcy....
On the positive side, this business trip will have it's benefits. Shane has been doing a little shopping while he has been there and will be bringing back some much anticipated American goods. One of those will be a new camera, so if I go crazy on the blog with pictures in a couple of weeks, you'll know why. (I know there are good cameras in Japan, but I want to be able to read my owner's manual!)

Oyugikai

It is difficult to describe the whole yochien (kindergarten) experience in Japan unless you've been here. I guess one way to describe it is that they go all out for everything. On Saturday, we spent the majority of the day at Cailey's Oyugikai. I don't really know how to translate that, but the kids performed dances and songs on a pianika (an instument that has a keyboard like a piano but you blow into a mouthpiece to make the sound). The kids had spent the last couple of months preparing for it and I have to admit it was pretty amazing what they can get kids ages 3-6 years old to do. Cailey was in a dance with half of the kids in her class and it was so stinkin' cute! The pictures I took are terrible (we need a new camera, but that is another subject), but I wanted to post them anyway. I was so proud of Cailey, she did such a good job on it.

Happy Anniversary, Shane

10 things I love about Shane:

1. He always puts us (his family) first.

2. I love when he sings to music in the car.

3. He loves the scriptures.

4. He rides in a claustrophobic train for 2 hours a day to provide for us.

5. He is frugile with himself, but generous to others.

6. Our kids think he is the best (especially when I catch them sitting in a dark room playing nintendo on his lap).

7. He is a great gospel teacher.

8. He thinks his assortment of Japanese jokes are funny.

9. He makes his kids laugh during FHE ("hello everybody..." and sock puppets, you'd have to be there!).

10. He is my best friend.

Month of birthdays

After celebrating 3 birthdays in January, we are a little bit tired of cake! I almost talked Cailey into cheesecake, but she couldn't pass up the pink frosting. Here are a few pics from Bryant's 3rd birthday on the 18th and Cailey's 5th birthday on the 30th.

Isaac's Blessing

Yesterday was Isaac's blessing. Since we live on the other side of the world and no one could be here, we thought we would at least snap some photos. We are standing outside of our church at the Yamate ward building. There is a monument in front of it because this is where the first Elders dedicated Japan for missionary work.

Fuji Birthday celebration

Mt. Fuji at Lake Kawaguchiko

Shane did a great job surprising me for my birthday this year. He took us to see Mt. Fuji. We hear that this is the best time of the year to see it. Most of the year it rains so often that there is seldom a day that the clouds don't cover it. We went to a lake called Kawaguchiko and the view from there was amazing. It really was beautiful, these pictures don't do it justice. We were surprised at how close it was to us. It only took us about an hour and a half to drive there.
We spent the day there and drove home in the late afternoon.

Around 5:30 pm our friends from Sendai, Katie Shepard and her daughter Grace (Cailey's friend) came to stay the night with us. They had to drop off family at the airport that day and so it was fun to be able to see them. Katie gave me a great present. She watched all of the kids while Shane and I went out to eat. We went to find a restaurant by the Yokohama eki (train station) where there are hundreds of shops and restaurants, but because it was New Years day(the biggest holiday of the year in Japan), almost everything was closed. It was so weird to see it like that! We finally did find some that were open and ended up eating at an Indian curry restaurant.
It was a great day for me. This year's birthday/New Year's celebration will be hard to beat.