さくら - Cherry Blossoms 2008

When the cherry blossoms (Sakura) in Japan are in bloom it is absolutely beautiful everywhere you go. They are planted all over the place. I took my kids to Mitsuzawa park, which is about a 5 minute walk from our house, to take some pictures. They were taken on March 28th. Notice how my kids are doing the peace sign in every picture....they are becoming Japanese!

We are off to Sendai!!

Shane has a business trip to Sendai this week, so we decided to tag along with him. The kids are on Spring Break from school, so it will be fun to go back and see old friends in Sendai. It has been almost a year since we moved from there to Yokohama. The time has gone by fast.
Shane will be working the whole time, but I have plans to see a lot of our old friends. We leave in the morning, so I better go get to bed!

Easter Activities

I think everyone would agree that Easter seemed way too early this year, but we still managed to put together a pretty busy weekend of Easter activities. On Saturday morning 2 wards in our stake had a combined Primary activity. They had a puppet show about the Savior's life and crucifixion. The kids colored eggs (well, actually just put the plastic wraps on the eggs that you put it in boiling water), had an easter egg hunt and did a few other activities. Japan doesn't celebrate Easter at all, so I was pretty impressed with this activity.

As a family we did our own Easter egg hunt, thanks to Shane's sister Janette. She sent us a lot of American Easter candy and plastic eggs. Since our yard is about 1 foot around the perimeter of our house, we decided to do the hunt inside the house.

After the hunt, we made our Easter wagons. This is a tradition done by my mothers family that goes way back. This is how the wagon is supposed to be made: the wagon is a snickers candy bar with life saver wheels glued on with frosting. On top it has coconut frosting colored green made into a nest, with jellybean eggs inside. Peeps can also ride in the wagon, and it is pulled by marshmellow bunnies. Growing up we always tried to see how loaded up with candy we could get our wagons. Now for the Japan version...the wagon is indeed a snickers candy bar, no lifesavers in Japan though so we settled for Werther's (which we like better anyway!). The jellybean eggs are m & m's and the wagon is being pulled by Koalas (a little Koala shaped cookie filled with chocolate).

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.