Eric and Heather

Ethan turns 5!!!

2012-01-31T05:31:00.002-06:00

Ethan turned 5 on Saturday. I can hardly believe I have a 5 year old--it has just gone so fast. We are so lucky to have Ethan in our family. He is such an obedient, fun boy and so helpful. He is always helping me out and is so kind to Kailey and Cade. Here are a couple of pictures from his fun day!

The birthday boy with his banner and hat

Opening his first present--Kailey and Cade are as excited as Ethan!

More presents!

Cade playing with Ethan's new star wars gun (that makes so much noise!!)

Ethan wanted a batman cake and this is what I came up with

We invited some friends over for cake!

Blowing out the candles!

2nd place finish and Cirque Dreams

2012-01-31T05:21:00.003-06:00

Cirque Dreams came to the base and performed a free show. We went and it was amazing!! We are so lucky to have so many talented performers come and perform at the military bases for free. Here we are with part of the cast!

I ran in a 5K on Friday and pushed all 3 kids and FINISHED and ended up getting 2nd place in the stroller division (okay there were only like 5 strollers, but they were all only pushing one kid, and I had 3!!) Needless to say, I was pretty proud of myself. My friend gave me her old jogging stroller and I LOVE it! Can't wait for it to get warmer so I can use it more. So Eric's whole command ran the race, and one of the JAG's snapped this picture of us to send to Eric joking that he wasn't man enough to push the kids! While we were running, Eric came out and took a picture of us!

Here I am in action--the kids were really good, however, a couple of times they asked, "Mommy are you running yet?" I guess I wasn't running fast enough!!

Iwakuni

2012-01-31T05:15:00.004-06:00

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go down to Iwakuni, which is about 6 hours away by bullet train, on the southern tip of the island of Honshu, Japan. I went down with a friend, we had to go for a church conference and the husbands stayed home to watch the kids--it was FANTASTIC!!! I will say that Eric has a lot more appreciation for motherhood--he told me he never wanted to be a stay at home dad and couldn't wait to go back to work!! He did have a lot of fun with the kids. Jessica and I went down a little early and had time to go see this really cool bridge called the "Kintai Bridge." Originally it was made with no nails, it was just lashed together--it was pretty amazing. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Kintai Bridge

We rode a cable car up the mountain to a castle and there were some amazing views.

View of the bridge from the top of the mountain

Looking over Iwakuni

The castle at the top

At night

I thought this was really cool with the reflection

We also had a chance to go to the LDS temple in Fukuoka, about 3 hours south of Iwakuni. Here we are in front of the temple.

Jessica and I in front of the temple--we had so much fun.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-31T04:56:00.000-06:00

We had an amazing Christmas this year. It was really nice and low-key and the kids totally cleaned up and got TONS of fun presents that are still keeping them busy (the sign of a good toy!!) Here are a couple of pictures!

Santa came!

Kailey so excited

Batman cave

Cade just chilling!

Cade in his raincoat and Kailey's boots!

So handsome!

New church clothes from Gramps and Granny

Matsumoto's Castle

2012-01-31T04:43:00.000-06:00

Our last day in Nagano, we went and saw this really cool castle called Matsumoto's castle!

Kailey modeling her little slippers in our ryokan.

Kailey and I dressed to go to the onsen (hot baths that are inside and outside that you sit in naked--sounds weird, but so relaxing!) Kailey and I had so much fun!

Cade hiding in the little door

Cute Cade

View out our ryokan window

Family picture in front of the castle

Our ninja picture

The kids in the castle with our friends

Snow monkeys!!

2012-01-31T04:31:00.003-06:00

The highlight of our Nagano trip was going to see the snow monkeys. You hike about a mile or so into the forest to find the monkeys hanging out at a natural hot spring and they are EVERYWHERE!! It was kind of unnerving at first, because they are just roaming everywhere, but then you get past the fact that there are monkeys everywhere and it just becomes the coolest thing ever. Kailey still talks about how one monkey patted her on her "bum-bum!" Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure with the snow monkeys!

The start of the trail

Cade and one of his girlfriends, Maggie

Cade trying to pet the monkey

Looking at the monkeys in the hot spring

Kailey growling at the monkeys

Eric and I and Cade with the monkeys

It is amazing at how close you can get to the monkeys and they just don't even pay attention to you!

Looking at the monkey

Monkeys grooming each other

Most of our little group!

First night in Nagano

2012-01-17T02:14:00.000-06:00

The week before Christmas we went to Nagano with some friends. Nagano is up north and in 1998 hosted the winter olympics. We had such an amazing trip, as you can see by the TONS of photos.

We stayed at a traditional Japanese inn called a Ryokan. This is the room--it is a tatami mat that at night they lay out futons and you sleep on the floor.

This was our breakfast the next morning--they brought out tons of food and many different courses--have the stuff we had no idea what it was, but most of it was good.

Our breakfast--basically the only thing we recognized was eggs and a green salad. We would all take turns trying something on our plate and then tell the others if it was good!

Sitting/kneeling at our table.

Right outside our ryokan was a famous Buddhist Temple--you can see it behind us.

Our ryokan

Eric in front of the buddhist statues--he even color coordinates with them!

The temple--it was snowing and made everything so pretty.

Prayer cards you can buy.

Cade chasing his little girlfriend, Maggie.

Cade loved chasing the birds.

Cade and I--you can barely see us!

A school group of Japanese kids--they always wear brightly colored hats and they are just so cute!

Ethan and Kailey in front of our ryokan.

Hakone

2011-12-11T15:11:00.001-06:00

The Friday after Thanksgiving we went up to Hakone with 3 other families that we are good friends with. Hakone is a resort town at the base of Mt. Fuji. We had gone up to Hakone once before right after we moved here, but it was rainy and cloudy so we didn't really do too much. This time, we had some of the best weather ever!! We were up there for two days. The first day we did a loop around the Hakone area. It was a ton of fun--you do 5 different ways of transportation--a boat, a bus, a train, a cablecar and a ropeway.

Here we are at the boat--it was a pirate ship--the kids LOVED it!!

The kids with some of their friends and the pirate!

You can tell we really liked taking pictures with the pirates!

There were quite a few torii gates in the water--very scenic!

After we got off the ship, we did a little hike--we thought it would be easy, but it ended up being mostly uphill, however the kids did fantastic. Between our 4 families we had 11 kids with 9 of them 5 and under!

At the beginning of our hike--most of the kids!

Hiking up the trail--the kids were real troopers!

Love the signs in Japan!!

Here we are on the cablecar--we again had amazing views of Fuji!!

This was a place we stopped at called Owakudani that is a volcanic valley with active sulphur pits--it is a big tourist draw mostly because they boil eggs in the sulphur pits and the shell turns black and by eating the eggs it is supposed to add 7 years to your life--needless to say we had a couple!!

People peeling their eggs

Ethan with his black egg--it is just like a hard-boiled egg, except the shell is black

Cade finding the stray cat--he loves animals!

Family picture with Fuji in the back

Fuji--you can never have too many pictures of it!

The kids with Hello Kitty and a black egg!!

Another great japanese sign!

We had the most amazing time--it was one of the best trips we have taken here. It is hard for me to believe we will be moving in the next 7 months--I am really going to miss Japan!!

Showa Park

2011-12-04T16:07:00.001-06:00

The beginning of November we went and stayed at Yokota Air Force Base--it is about two hours away, on the other side of Tokyo. They have this really awesome park called Showa Park. The kids and I had gone last year without Eric, so this time we took him with us and had a FABULOUS time. Japanese playgrounds and parks are unlike ANYTHING you would find in the states--they are so much better and more fun. Here are some pictures:

Ethan and his new friend!

Kailey being silly!

They have this awesome thing called the "Sea of Clouds" and it is like a giant pillows you can jump on--it is awesome!

Having more fun on them!!

Kailey climbing on top of the dragon

Ethan in the dragon's mouth

Kailey growling like a dragon

Climbing on the nets

Kimono Dressing

2011-11-23T20:47:00.001-06:00

During the summer, my friend's spouses' group had a kimono dressing event and luncheon. It was one of the most fun events I have done here. I took my other really good friend, Kendal with me, and we decided we wanted to host a kimono dressing event and luncheon for our JAG wives group. So last month we had our event and it happened to coincide with Granny's visit. There is a group of Japanese women who donate their kimonos and time and they come and dress us and then stayed and we had a luncheon. Here are some pictures

All the kimonos lined up

Japanese ladies getting everything ready

These next couple of pictures are from the summer when we did it--they do our hair.

Back of the kimono--the obi

Kendal and I

This was from last month--my ladies getting me dressed--it literally takes like 30-40 minutes to get dressed--there are more layers than you think.

Granny looking gorgeous in her kimono

This is my favorite picture of Granny

All of us walking outside in our kimonos for group pictures

Our group dressed up in kimonos

Flashing the peace sign

Checking out our backsides (the obi)

Us with the japanese ladies that helped us

Kendal and I with Takeko, the japanese lady that organized everything with us. She was so nice!

My friend Mia and I

Kendal and I

Getting dressed

I don't know how they learn to tie the obis and put kimonos on--it is definitely an art!

My friend Tracy and I

Meiji Shrine, Asakusa and playground

2011-11-23T20:05:00.001-06:00

The last couple of days Gramps and Granny were here, we went and stayed up in Tokyo and took them some of our favorite places. The first place we took them was the Meiji Shrine, which is one of my favorite shrines (and we have been to TONS!) It is in a really fun area--Harajuku--a really famous area well-known for their street fashion. If you go on a Sunday you see people decked out in CRAZY outfits. Anyways, we were there on a Sunday at the Meiji shrine and there was a wedding going on so we saw tons of people in their kimono-best! It was so fun to see.

In front of the main torii gate

He is telling us that he is 5.

Ethan and Kailey with the cute japanese girls. Kailey was fascinated by the kimonos and told me several times that she wanted to dress up in a 'mono'!

The wedding party

The next day we took them to Asakusa, which is another big temple. We took a river cruise on the Tokyo river to get to where we were going. Here are some pictures in the park where we caught the cruise.

In front of Asakusa

This picture isn't very good, but at the end of the street is the temple, but along the sides are tons of fun stalls selling everything you can think of--japanese shoes, lucky cats, swords, etc. It is fun to walk along and look.

The main temple

Every time you enter a 'holy' place, like a temple or shrine, you always have to wash your hands.

Playing at the park

We had such a fun time with Gramps and Granny and hope they can come visit us when we move to Spain next summer!!

GODZILLA park!!

2011-11-20T21:33:00.004-06:00

One of our favorite parks is Godzilla Park or it is really called Kurihama Flower world. It is this huge park with tons of flowers and at the top is this really cool playground. We took Granny and Gramps there and had so much fun. I was also surprised to see them sliding on all the slides--it is so awesome that the kids have such active and fun great-grandparents!

Riding the train to the top of the hill!

Granny and Gramps LOVING the roller-slide!

Gramps coming down Godzilla's tail--he almost got stuck!!

There were all of these cute little japanese kids in different colored hats.

Kailey sliding down with some random japanese lady!

Gramps and Granny in the train!

Climbing Cade!

ZIP-LINE!!

View from the top!

Chinatown

2011-11-09T21:43:00.003-06:00

One day we took Granny and Gramps to chinatown in Yokohama-it is such a fun place to wander around and has TONS of yummy food.

Cute picture of the boys!

Panda stuff is EVERYWHERE in Chinatown!

Everything is also so colorful!!

Mikoshi Parade

2011-11-09T21:31:00.003-06:00

In Japan, fall is marked by mikoshi parades. They are religious processions featuring colorful costumes and elaborate mikoshi. The mikoshi is a sacred shrine carried by men on their shoulders or pulled. Anyways, tons of fun to watch. While Granny and Gramps were here, the city of Yokosuka had their annual mikoshi parade. It starts out in town and then comes on to base where it finishes. It is tons of fun to watch--here are some of the pictures.

The guys that carry the mikoshi wear these short coats, oftentimes with nothing underneath!!

Carrying a mikoshi

Kailey and Cade and I helped pull this mikoshi--there is Kailey in the bottom corner--we had so much fun!!

With the really heavy mikoshi, there are tons of men carrying them and they occasionally will stop and do a little dance to give them a break--you have to see it, but they kind of shuffle their feet and it looks like the mikoshi is going to fall, but it gives everyone a break.

Tons of colorful and unique outfits!

Half Marathon Mommy (and Daddy!)

2011-11-06T15:18:00.004-06:00

Last month, while Granny and Gramps were here, the base had their first annual 'Great Pumpkin Half-Marathon' and Eric and I ran it. I have been running in the morning with two of my good friends, Breclyn and Kendal and I talked them into running it with me. Both of them had never ran a single race before and the most they had ever ran at one time was 4 miles, so this was a big thing. However, we started training during the summer and just worked our way up to it. While it wasn't one of my better runs, which was frustrating, we all finished and had a fun time and then to reward ourselves we went to the onsen (naked japanese bath house--it sounds crazy, but it is the best--one of the things I will miss most about Japan!!) The half-marathon was on base and we ran by our house twice. Granny and Gramps were so cute to bring the kids outside and cheer us on--it was so fun to run past our cute cheering section!!

Eric in action--he did awesome!!

Kendal and I running together!

Our t-shirts we had made--we are kind of slow, hence the turtle.

We joked that this was our 'Engrish" shirt--Japanese are constantly misspelling English words--we meant to spell 'peace' not 'piece'--I guess that is what happens when you live in Japan too long!!

Me, Kendal, Bethany (one of the volunteers), Breclyn and our other friend Deborah!

Splashing at Mikasa Park

2011-11-06T15:03:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed some beautiful weather while Granny and Gramps were here--for the most part it was in the 70s and a few days in the 80s. One of the gorgeous days we went to a park that is right outside the gate--Mikasa Park. It is one of our favorite places to go to. A couple of times a day it has a water show--it is like the Bellagio, just a lot smaller. We went with some friends of ours and here are some pictures to show how much fun we had!!

The kids watching the water show with our friend Mallory!

A random Japanese guy taking pictures of the kids--this happens all the time, but it is Japan!! This guy took tons of pictures of the kids, it was pretty funny--they were just oblivious the whole time!

The kids splashing in the water, while Granny watches them.

Splashing in the water--the kids were SOAKED by the time we got to the car--Ethan and Kailey ended up practically swimming in the water--it was pretty funny!

Fuji and Kamakura

2011-10-30T16:29:00.004-05:00

One of the days while Granny and Gramps were here we drove up to Mt. Fuji (or at least attempted to). We didn't realize it was a japanese holiday and the roads were packed. The weather also didn't cooperate--we ended up driving to one of the lakes right at the base of Fuji and walking around, however, it was so overcast that we never saw fuji--frustrating when it is right there!! We did have a great time.

The kids loved sitting in all the cars!

Granny and the kids

I think this is such a cute picture--Gramps and Granny and the kids

Cade LOVES dogs--every time we see one he stops and points and gets so excited!

Another day we went out to Kamakura, which is the ancient capital of Japan. They have tons of temples out there--this is one of our favorite ones!

Enoshima Island with Gramps and Granny

2011-10-27T16:18:00.003-05:00

Eric's grandparents came and visited us for the last 3 weeks and we had so much fun with them. I feel like we are so lucky that we had such a great opportunity to have them all to ourselves and how many kids get to know their great-grandparents so much and have great-grandparents that are so active and healthy. Anyways, here is the first of many posts of what we did while they were here. One of the first places we took them was to Enoshima Island. Here are a couple of pictures

Eric and the kids

Cade and Ethan washing their hands--you have to do this anytime you visit a temple or shrine.

One of the street performers had this monkey that did all sorts of tricks--here he is jumping over posts on stilts--we had so much fun watching him.

Another street performer--this guy did magic and illusion tricks--he was okay, but we have seen better.

Looking at flowers with Granny!

Our Mt. Fuji experience--it was one of a kind!!

2011-09-07T19:25:00.005-05:00

I had a video I tried to upload that we took up on the mountain that shows how windy and crazy the weather was, but unfortunately I couldn't get it to upload. However, a couple of weeks ago, Eric and I and our friends Brandon and Kendal Keith tried to hike Mt. Fuji. Eric did hike Fuji the month after we moved here, but the other 3 of us hadn't. Here in Japan, it is one of those things that you just have to do. The climbing season is from June to August and the mountain is about 2 hours from us. The mountain is divided into 9 stations. Most people start hiking at station 5 and then station 9 is the top. It takes about 6.5 hours to hike to the top. We went up the night before and stayed at a marine base that was an experience in and of itself. Here are some pictures of our trip.

The night before we went out to dinner at their officer's club. I don't know if it was being away from our kids or what, but we had a little too much fun and thought everything was hilarious. We thought it would be so funny to make a sign that had a 9 and then hold it up at all the stations and say we were at station 9--like I said, we were a little slap-happy.

We were the only ones in the O club and had so much fun shooting pool, playing darts--it was a lot of fun. Here we are showing our darts!!

Here are Brandon and Kendal the morning of our climb modeling their "rain gear" they made out of trash bags!!

At station 5 and it is already raining and cold.

Checking out the map to make sure we are going the right way--the trail started off by going down and Kendal and I were convinced we were going the wrong way, but the boys were right and we were on the right path.

By the trail map again--there are 4 different trails that go up to the summit.

Not the prettiest hike, but this is what the first part of the trail looks like--switchbacks on this volcanic gravel. The second half of the mountain you are literally climbing--with it being so rainy and then when the wind would just gust so hard, sometimes I felt like I was going to fall off--I am sure if I had, they would have made a "made-for-t.v." movie about the crazy white girl that fell off Mt. Fuji.

When you climb Mt. Fuji part of the experience is to buy hiking sticks (like the ones we have) and then at every station you get them branded with different japanese characters and pictures. It is really cool. However, you can't read the sign, but it says, it is too wet to brand the sticks. So basically, we have these sticks with nothing on them. Kendal and I are going to buy a wood-burning kit and make our own signs!

I know it looks sunny here, but the clouds would sometimes break for a minute or two and you would think that the weather was getting better and then it would start raining again! It was very deceiving!

Is it Station 9??? No, this is like station 7--but they all look the same, so you can't really tell!!

Stopping to warm up at station 7--who knew cup of noodles and hot chocolate could taste so good!

A group of kids we saw hiking--the japanese are so funny because they are all TOTALLY decked out in their hiking gear and it is all so colorful.

So to end our adventure, we ended up making it to the 8th station and had about 1 1/2 hours left to get to the top and they had closed the mountain--the Japanese guides at the station told us we had to come down and it was too dangerous to continue on. LIke I said, it was freezing cold, rainy and very, very windy. We couldn't even go back down the regular trail (which I was kind of glad, since we had pretty much rocked climbed up), they made us go down the bulldozer trail, which they NEVER usually let people go down. So, even though we didn't make it to the top, I am still counting us as doing it, because if the weather had cooperated we totally would have made it. Despite the crummy weather, we had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves and feel like we had a unique Mt. Fuji experience!!

Warning: This post is bragging about my AWESOME husband!!

2011-08-29T02:15:00.002-05:00

So, a couple of months ago, Eric was out to see and sent me an e-mail and imbedded in the e-mail was a line that said, "oh, I won some award, it is no big deal, but I am going to have to fly to Toronto for the awards ceremony." Okay, whatever, not a big deal--one of the reasons I love my husband--he is so humble!! Anyways, it was a big deal. Eric was selected by the American Bar Association as the 2010-2011 Outstanding Young Military Lawyer of the Year. He got to fly to the awards ceremony in Toronto to receive his award where he was accompanied by the JAG (the admiral that heads up the JAG corps--that's a big deal for all you non-military folk). The picture above is Eric and his award shaking hands with the JAG. Also, doesn't he look so good in his uniform--one reason I am glad we are in the military--a man in uniform is HOT!! Anyways, I am just so proud of Eric and so glad to be married to someone who does so well at providing for our family and does his best in everything! I am one lucky lady!!

First of many trips to the E.R.

2011-08-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

Cade is such an active and busy child, that Eric and I have joked for awhile that he would be our first trip to the E.R. Now, Ethan has fallen and had some cuts that probably should have gotten stitches, but being the nurse that I am, I just have glued them shut and then slapped some steri--strips on them and everything was fine. Well, last week Cade was playing in a little bassinet Kailey has for her babies and went to get out and fell and smacked his chin on our hardwood floors. There was blood everywhere and one look at his cut and I knew we had to go to the E.R.--it was really deep and split wide open.

Luckily my friend was here, so she stayed with the other two kids and Cade and I headed to the hospital. Cade was tough and had stopped crying shortly after he hurt himself. At the E.R. I was lucky enough that we could just walk in. The corpsman came over and flushed out his cut--Cade wasn't too happy about that.

Then the doctor came over and we were lucky enough that the doctor in the E.R. that day is a good friend of ours. In fact, his daughter is Cade's girlfriend and he also joked that he wasn't surprised at all to see Cade. Anyways, he took one look and said that we would need stitches.

We had to wrap Cade in a sheet like a hotdog, from about his neck to his calves and then I held down his feet and two corpsman held down his torso and head while Steve, the doctor, stitched up Cade. Cade was not happy and was screaming and but we finally got 4 stitches in. The cut probably could have used a couple of more, but it was a lot of work to get those 4 stitches in.

Here he is after we were done. That bandage on his chin lasted all of 5 minutes and I tried to put about 4 more dressings on, but Cade would pull them off in seconds.

The next day, I laid Cade down for a nap and about 10 minutes later I heard a loud crash and walked into his room and he had climbed out of his crib and on top of his dresser, which is like 4 feet tall, and was standing on it and throwing stuff off of it. I have a feeling we have many, many more E.R. trips in our future, hopefully not the too near future!!

Kailey's 3rd Birthday!!

2011-08-03T23:23:00.005-05:00

I have had a hard time getting motivated to update our blog, but since Kailey's 3rd birthday was a MONTH ago, I figure it is about time!! Kailey turned 3 last month and we had a little tea party with 3 of her close friends. Anyone who knows Kailey knows it is all about princesses, pink, and anything girly!! Everyone dressed up and we had a fun time. Here are some pictures from her special day!

She got a new plasma car--we already have one and the kids LOVE it and we decided to get another one--best toy every--the kids play with them ALL the time!

The tea party spread--cucumber sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, fruit, and hummus and crackers.

Kailey and her friends!

Ethan, the pimp, with his lady friends!! I think he is enjoying it a little too much!

My mom sent Kailey the tutu swimming suit that she is wearing and even now, a month later, Kailey still begs me to wear it EVERYDAY!!!

So I made Kailey a pink princess castle cake for her birthday, but while I was making it, I walked out of the kitchen and came back and Cade, who gets into EVERYTHING, had climbed up on the counter and was devouring my cake.

This is a picture of what it looked like after Cade helped himself--almost half of my cake was missing, luckily I had some cake left over and I was able to salvage it.

Here is what the inside of the cake looked like--Kailey was happy with it and it tasted good--what more could you want!!! All in all Kailey had a GREAT birthday!!

Mr. Belding and Bowling for Soup--what a night!!

2011-07-12T02:09:00.005-05:00

So we finished up the 4th of July with a bbq with friends and then we went and saw "Bowling for Soup." They are a rock band, that has a couple of famous songs--I like them. Mr. Belding, from 'Saved by the Bell' was the MC for the concert and I have to mention the military is AWESOME, because this was all free. Anyways, we had a GREAT time rocking out. The kids loved it and had so much fun dancing around and the music was awesome. Here are some pictures:

Bowling for Soup, Natalie Stovall (some country singer that also performed)

Mr. Belding, me and my friends, Barbie and Breclyn

(I hate to say it, but he hasn't aged too well, he looks like he ate Screech!)

Kailey learned to 'rock out'--we are so proud!!

Ethan watching the band!

Dancing in the parking lot

Awesome balloon hat

Fabulous concert!!

4th of July Parade

2011-07-12T01:42:00.004-05:00

We had one of the most fun 4th of July's I have ever had. I started out the morning by running a 4-mile race around base with some friends--it was wicked hot, but we had a fun time. Later in the afternoon, the base had a parade for the kids followed by free ice cream. My dad was so nice to send us some awesome decorations and the kids bikes/scooter/wagon looked so patriotic. We walked in the parade with a couple of friends--I have to say it was hot and the parade was probably about a mile long, which for little legs is long--luckily there was free ice cream to motivate us at the end. Here are some pictures from the parade:

A fire truck led the parade--here are the kids with their friend, Isabel.

Getting our bike checked to make sure it is safe--it was!!

Cade, waiting to start the parade.

My friend, Kendal, running to keep up with Ethan--look how intent he is on riding away from her!!

We had such a great time and already we are planning how to decorate next year so we can win a prize!!!

What we have been up to...

2011-06-29T19:33:00.003-05:00

I know I have been a slacker when it comes to blogging. We haven't been up to too much lately. Eric started a new job here on base. He is now the lawyer for the base, so he has been busy with that. He now gets to carry a blackberry ALL the time and gets calls on it day and night. Anytime a sailor gets into trouble, Eric gets a call about it. Most of the time they are drunk and getting into fights, but he has gotten some interesting calls--it is fun to hear all the stories--some of these you just can't make up. The kids and I have been busy playing with friends almost everyday. Here are a couple of pictures:

Cade got into the colored bubbles (don't ever buy these--they are a BAD idea!!!)

Ethan rides his bike EVERYWHERE--he loves riding it!!

We had a party and I was in charge of making a birthday cake and saw this cute idea. I thought it was so fun and it was a big hit at the party. It is just 2 round cakes with kit kats around and M&Ms on top. Sooooo yummy!!

Same party I made these really cute candy sushi. The kids loved them!!

Anyways, I will be better at keeping up on the blog. The kids are going to be in a 4th of July parade on Monday and then with Kailey's birthday next week, I will have LOTS of fun pictures!!

Easter at Purina Farms!

2011-05-30T01:58:00.004-05:00

Purina Farms is about 45 min away from my parents' house and they have a great event every Easter where you can come see the Easter bunny, they have a petting zoo and you can watch a dog show. We went a couple of years ago when Eric was in Iraq and got lucky to go again this year. We had such a fun time.

Cade isn't quite sure whose lap he is sitting on!

Watching dog jumping--it is amazing how far some of those dogs can jump!

Dogs doing tricks--they were catching frisbees, running through obstacle courses--it was great!

Petting bunnies

Pigs

Petting the tiny baby chick

All that petting wore Kailey out--she is taking a little nap in the dog bed!

Maramec Springs

2011-05-30T01:39:00.003-05:00

Still catching up from St. Louis!! One of the places we went while we were there was Maramec Springs--it is one of the most gorgeous places and what makes it so fun is that it has HUMONGOUS fish that you can see and feed. The kids loved it. Here are a few pictures from our fun day!

Dad, Mom, Brooke and the kids

Getting more fish food with Papa--luckily he brought a LOT of dimes and quarters!

Cade walking with Brooke--she is such a good aunt!

Looking at the fish

Grandma and Cade

Feeding the fish--it was amazing--you would throw the food in and you would get swarms of fish coming and trying to eat it--I had so much fun feeding the fish, but the kids were in heaven!

Fun in Tokyo without the kids!!!

2011-05-18T00:02:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, Eric and I went up to Tokyo for the weekend. Our wonderful friend and neighbor, Hayes, offered to watch the kids for us--his family is still back in the states and he claimed "he needed some kid time!!" It was very nice of him and the kids had a BLAST!!! Everyday now, Ethan asks me if Hayes can come over and play!! Anyways, Eric and I took off Friday afternoon and headed up to Tokyo. We went to this awesome ninja restaurant that night for dinner. It was this door and you walk in and then all of a sudden there was a secret door that opened and a ninja took you through some secret passages and used his "ninja magic" to fix broken bridges and then we got to our table which felt like was underground in a cave--it was pretty cool. We ordered a set course and the food was AMAZING!!! We got throwing star crackers for an appetizer, and the rest of the food was culinary masterpieces--foie gras, sushi, etc--very good. One of the courses was some sort of mollusk in a shell that they set on fire at our table--very cool. At the end of the dinner, we had a ninja come and do magic tricks for us at our table and he was amazing--I couldn't figure out how he did any of the tricks he was doing. To say the least, it was probably one of the most pleasurable and memorable dining experiences that we have had.

Our ninja waitress using her ninja powers to make some amazing soup at our table!!

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go check out the Tsukiji fish market. It is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and is at top of all the lists of things to do in Tokyo. Usually they have tours of the fish market, but due to the recent earthquake/tsunami the tours are cancelled right now. We ended up just wandering around. It was pretty unbelievable. The place was hustling and bustling (we were there at 6 in the morning) and it was huge. There were tons of stalls with every kind of fish or seafood imaginable and a lot of things that I had no idea what they were. One of the biggest draws of the market are the tuna auctions--they have these closed auctions where they auction off HUGE tuna. We saw them doing it, but they have japanese cops all around that won't let you in. Anyways, here are a few pictures of what we saw.

They had carts and cars zooming around everywhere--we had to be really careful not to get ran over!

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta!!!

2011-05-16T20:33:00.003-05:00

We invited some of the JAGs from Eric's office over for a Cinco de Mayo party. I must say it was a hit and I think that cinco de mayo is the kids' new favorite holiday. We had yummy food (I made Cafe Rio salad--a sweet pork salad with cilantro dressing, cilantro lime rice and black beans--yum!!) along with guacomole, bean dip and some other yummy treats. For dessert I made these really delicious chipotle chili brownies--they had just a bit of kick! The highlight was the pinata. We had bought it the weekend before and every morning the kids would ask me if it was "pinata day"!! Anyways, here are some pictures--we had a fun, fun night!!

We colored pictures and decorated the door to welcome everyone to our fiesta!!

Part of the "mexican" spread--notice the mexican colors-green, red and white!!

Our good friend, Hayes, helping Kailey hit the pinata!

One more action shot!

Ethan getting in on the action--after the kids hit, we called in the big guns and had some of the adults take turns beating the pinata!! I forgot how much fun it is to hit a pinata!!

Pink Potty Party!!!

2011-05-08T20:04:00.002-05:00

When Kailey was potty training, my friend promised her a pink potty party when she was all the way potty trained. Well, anyone that knows Kailey, knows all you have to say is "pink" and "party" and she will pretty much do anything. Kailey has been potty-trained for awhile, but we kept waiting for all of our friends to be in town. Well, then the earthquake hit and I knew it would be a LONG time before all of our friends would be back--in fact most of our friends still aren't back and a lot aren't coming back. Anyways, we decided to do our pink potty party while we were in St. Louis with Grandma and while Brooke was home. Kailey was adamant that no boys were allowed, so Papa, Cade and Ethan had their own party. We had pink everything and then Kailey got new panties--a most successful pink potty party and such a fun idea!!

The boys mowing the lawn while we were having our pink potty party--they had to do man stuff since we were doing girl stuff!!

Ethan and his Papa are such good little buddies and it is so fun for me to watch how much fun they have and how much Ethan wants to be just like Papa!!

Fun walk with Papa and Grandma

2011-05-08T19:58:00.002-05:00

One Sunday morning, my parents took Ethan and Kailey to a nearby park to go on a walk to see all the pretty wildflowers. The kids had so much fun. I have to say, I am sorry we were away from Eric, but we had such a fun time in St. Louis and I am so glad that my kids are developing such a special relationship with their grandparents.

Running away from Papa!

Hiding in the log

What pretty wildflowers and of course, Ethan always has to have a stick when we go hiking!

Wildlife Bird Sanctuary

2011-05-08T19:39:00.004-05:00

Brooke came to visit for a couple of days while we were in St. Louis and one of the days we went with her to the Wildlife Bird Sanctuary. Here are a couple of pictures.

My adorable little Dodo Bird!!

My little eagle

Feeding the chickens

St. Louis Conservation Day

2011-05-08T19:30:00.004-05:00

One of the first weekends we were back in St. Louis, one of the nearby parks had a huge conservation day. We had so much fun. The kids got to pet fish, turtles, snakes, dogs, etc. They got free camouflage hats--just what every little kid needs!! It was a great time. Here are some of the pictures.

Hugging the Duck

Modeling his new hat

Ethan being a silly eagle

Petting the turtle

Petting the snake--I made Papa help the kids with that one!

Scooping things out of the pond

Happy 1st Birthday Cade!!!

2011-04-28T20:28:00.007-05:00

While we were in St. Louis we got to celebrate Cade's first birthday. I can hardly believe my little guy is one. Cade is probably the best little boy ever--he has such a fun little personality and is constantly making us laugh, he is so happy most of the time and always smiling, he growls and grunts and is a true boy--there is no question about it--we love our little Cade!!!

Cade's cake--I decided to get a little creative, with the help of Brooke and we made this--the kids LOVED it!!

Opening presents--Ethan and Kailey were more into it than Cade!

Just love that happy smile!!

Highlights of our trip to St. Louis--Part 1

2011-04-28T01:15:00.006-05:00

We are back in Japan now--got back a week ago. It is so nice to be back with Eric, but we are grateful for the AMAZING time we had in St. Louis with my parents. Here are some of the highlights (prepare for TONS of pictures):

Feeding ducks with Grandma (when we got to St. Louis it was in the 70's)

Eating the bread--forget the ducks--Cade was hungry!!

A week after we arrived it snowed--this is the kids playing out in the snow (needless to say, I did not bring snow stuff for them--wasn't prepared for that kind of weather).

Kailey and Papa with their snow-woman

Ethan and Kailey with their snow-woman

Helped Papa clean out the fish pond

One day I came downstairs and Ethan had found the snorkeling stuff and had dressed up in it--I thought it was so funny.

Tried blackberry cobbler and LOVED it--in fact tried to lick the bowl clean!

Got new fishing poles and spent hours pretending to cast over the railing.

Fishing with Papa

Ethan caught at a ton of fish--every time he threw his line in, he had a fish within a couple of minutes--it was great. Here he is with just one of his many fish he caught.

Kailey lost interest in fishing and spent her time throwing pine-gums in the water--she was very busy!!

Living through Japan's largest earthquake, a nuclear crisis and evacuating my home--what a week!!

2011-03-23T01:32:00.004-05:00

It is almost 2 in the morning and I am writing this--I have two kids wide awake and I wish they would go to sleep!! Oh, how I love jet lag. Anyways, this post is more for me to journal what we have gone through in the last 10 days. It is an experience I wouldn't trade, but has been the most stressful experience of my life.

March 11, 2011 is a day I will never forget. Started out like any old Friday. Eric had been out to sea for the last 3 weeks and was coming home the next day. The kids and I were working on cleaning the house. That afternoon, my friend Kristian came over and we were helping her bake cakes and cupcakes for a party she was having. Living in Japan for the last 1 1/2 years, we are no strangers to earthquakes. In fact, most of the time I don't even feel them. My mom had called me that morning to see if I was okay after the one we had earlier in the week. I told her, "Mom, don't ever worry, we have earthquakes ALL the time and I never feel them." Well, I was soon to eat my words. At 2:46 pm my house started shaking, Kristian and I looked at each other and were like, we are having an earthquake and then it kept shaking and shaking. My blinds were banging against the windows, things were falling off the fridge and counters, we were really rocking. If you are facebook friends with me, I put up a couple of crazy videos shot from people on base. One of them was of the pool on base and you can see how much we are shaking and then see the cascade of water going down the stairs--it is crazy. Anyways, the earthquake seemed to last forever. When it was over, I had this feeling of "that was awesome" because I had no idea of the devastation. The next thing I worried about was if we were going to hit with a tsunami. We live about 2 blocks from the ocean. Granted we live in a bay, but we are pretty close to the ocean. The base put us on a tsunami watch and told everyone to go to the second deck (Navy lingo for 2nd floor). We have one big hill on base and there were hundreds of cars up there waiting to see what would happen. Well, nothing did happen.

Saturday, was probably the most normal day that we had. The kids and I met friends at the playground--of course all you could talk about was what happened and how things were going to change in Japan. It was interesting talking to friends and hearing everyone's stories. We had friends that got trapped in Tokyo with no way to get home. The trains stopped running. Everyone had a story. Anyways, Eric's flight got cancelled, but luckily he was able to take a later flight and got home late that night. It took him forever to get home because of the limited train services.

Sunday, we went to church as usual. The city of Yokosuka seemed a little quieter than usual. During church we got rocked by about 4 aftershocks. It is funny, in Japan, the cell phones go off a couple of minutes before an earthquake to give you a warning. So in church, everyone's phones started alarming and letting you know we were going to have an earthquake. Sunday also started the beginning of LOTS of rumors. Everyone seemed to have a theory of what was going to happen and the nuclear crisis at Fukushima was just starting. I heard, don't go outside if it rains, it will be acid rain, you heard, that wasn't the big earthquake, prepare for another one, etc.

Monday, I went to the grocery store and it was complete madness. The shelves were empty and people were buying whatever they could. I saw a friend that lives in Tokyo and she was saying that they had no food. I saw another japanese friend and she was buying food for her family out in town because they had no food. Everyone was worried, no one knew what was going to happen and there was a sense of panic on base. Out in town they were having rolling blackouts, meaning that power was out for at least 4 hours during the day, trains weren't running, there was not a lot of food, gas shortages, etc. On base we ran out of gas for 3 days and then when we got a shipment they were rationing it and letting people only get 5 gallons because they didn't know when our next shipment would come. Out in town there were lines of, no exaggeration, 100 cars to fill up at gas stations.

Tuesday morning I got a call from our good family friend, Karl. He asked me, "so have you heard any rumors around base?" I replied, "NO, tell me what is going on." He then proceeded to tell me that they had found large chunks of radioactive material on one of the ships on base and that Yokosuka was getting hit with low levels of radiation and I needed to keep the kids inside, shut off our vents and keep all doors and windows closed. Do you know how hard it is to keep 3 kids inside on a gorgeous sunny day?? But we couldn't go outside, because as Ethan put it, "there were bad things in the air." Tuesday also started the mass exodus of people. We were continuing to get rocked by aftershocks daily--most of them big enough that they were noticeable. People were already nervous and then add a radiation scare on top and families were leaving the base left and right and buying tickets to fly home. At first it didn't concern me and I felt like we were fine. However, the more people you saw leave, especially a lot of the senior leadership families on base, you got a little nervous. Also, everyone was constantly reading the news and trying to figure out what was going on with Fukushima--you were hearing worst case scenarios of what could happen, it was nerve-wracking.

Thursday started the waiting game. An order from D.C. came authorizing a voluntary evacuation. Everyone thought this meant that planes were on their way to pick us up and take us out of there. It just meant that you could leave if you wanted. Anyways, you just kept waiting for news that something was going to happen. Nothing ever came--we still had people leaving left and right, blackouts were occurring all over, everything was so on edge. The base was also telling everyone to be prepared. Pack a bag, have emergency paperwork filled out, document all of your household belongings, just in case you had to leave and never come back. It is so hard to pack, not knowing how long you will be away, if you will ever see your things again, and I knew I had to be able to carry all of our luggage and push the kids in the stroller. My space was a little limited. Friday again, was spent waiting. It seemed like all of my friends were buying tickets and getting out. I began to wonder, should I leave or not. I was faced with one of the hardest decisions. Do you risk staying and having something possibly happen to your children (have them exposed to radiation) or do you spend 5,000 to fly home, leave your husband and possibly have nothing happen. Compound that with all of your friends leaving--it was so hard to decide what to do. Also, there was still the possibility that the Navy might evacuate us and fly us home for free. Finally Saturday afternoon, the D.C. finally released the funds to pay to get the family members to a "safe haven." I was lucky and Eric's office was very on top of things and we had tickets to fly home on Sunday night. A lot of my friends weren't so lucky. Some of them are just barely flying home now. Anyways, Saturday was spent frantically tying up all my loose ends--finishing packing (I had been pretty much packed for the last 3 days--not knowing when I was leaving). Sunday, we flew home. I have to admit, leaving Eric this time was in some ways harder than when he left for Iraq. When he left for Iraq I knew he would be gone for 8 months, I had been preparing for that day for 2 months, there were no unknowns. Saying good-bye this time, I didn't know when I would see him again, and still don't know, I didn't know what was going to happen to him--there had been talk of the radioactive plume hitting the base on Monday night. No one wants there husband to be exposed to tons of radiation!! Also, I was worried about traveling by myself for 24 hours with a 4, 2 1/2, and 11 month old. Luckily, my kids are amazing!! We flew from Tokyo to Chicago--an 11 hour flight and had probably only 20 minutes of crying. The flight attendants on board were very helpful and the kids were so good to sleep. From Chicago to St. Louis, again, they were great. People were so helpful all along the way--there are a lot of very nice people in the world!

It is nice being home with my parents here in St. Louis--we got in on Sunday night. The kids have not adjusted to jet lag well this time and have been up every night. I am exhausted, but am thinking I am going to have to drug them tomorrow night with benadryl and pray that it works!!
As of now, I don't know how long we will be here. I anticipate at least a month, but who knows. I hope it won't be too long, because I love Japan and want to go back. That is the other heart-breaking thing. We have LOVED living in Japan. It is a wonderful country with some of the nicest people you could ever meet. The japanese are the most gracious, helpful, kind people ever. All during this disaster they have amazed me with their order and the sense of calm that is here even during extreme crisis. If you can, please help Japan.

Anyways, this post doesn't even begin to describe the emotional roller coaster I have been on the last week and a half. I have learned so many valuable lessons from this experience and am grateful I have been able to go through it. I am glad that the Navy sent us home, even though I hate to be away from Eric. With things so uncertain, I just wouldn't want to take a chance that something would happen to the kids. The day after we left, the base passed out potassium iodide pills to everyone, just in case. If there is a possibility of me having to give my children medicine to prevent them from possibly getting cancer, than something is terribly wrong! Okay, like I said, I am extremely sleep deprived, so I hope all of this makes sense. I will continue to update on our ongoing saga. For now, we are refugees in St. Louis and enjoying this free vacation the Navy has sent us on!!

Halong Bay, Vietnam

2011-03-06T02:01:00.002-06:00

The next part of our trip we went and visited Halong Bay, Vietnam (it is about 3 hours outside of south of Hanoi). We went and stayed overnight on a junk boat. Halong Bay was AMAZING!!! It was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been (that is probably why there are TONS of pictures). We had a blast--the boat was so nice and had the best food, we got massages and pedicures, and had tons of fun. They took us on two little side trips. The first one was to a floating village. It was so interesting to see people living out in the middle of the water. I was surprised at how many modern things they had. We saw a couple of floating houses with satellite t.v. They have a school there, etc. The village makes a ton of money off of tourism and the village is considered wealthy. The other place we went was to this giant cave--there also use to be tribes that lived in the caves. It was pretty amazing. Overall, this was one of the best parts of our trip!!

Hanoi

2011-02-27T21:05:00.002-06:00

So the end of January Eric and I and 4 of our good friends all went to Vietnam and Cambodia for 10 days. I have to admit I would have never thought of visiting Vietnam--it wasn't too high on my bucket list, but when we started talking to people to see where their favorite place to visit was, Vietnam started popping up. My dad was the first one to tell us how much he enjoyed Vietnam (and he has traveled ALL over the world. So anyways, that is where we decided to go and it was amazing. We started up in Hanoi and slowly worked our way down south and then went to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and spent 2 1/2 days there. We took TONS of pictures, so enjoy. It was really the most amazing trip and we had so much fun. Here is part 1 of our AMAZING Vietnam trip. This first post is about Hanoi, where we started out. We started our tour seeing Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is revered in their country and when he died, against his wishes, they embalmed his body and now he is on display for everyone to see. It was kind of weird to see him laying there. Also, every year they send his body to Russia for upkeep--crazy!! Don't worry, I already started building Eric's mausoleum so I can look at him everyday--j/k!!

We also went and saw a couple of different temples and pagodas. They were interesting, but I think less interesting than I thought--we see temples and shrines ALL the time here in Japan--so it was anything new. Their temples are a lot more colorful.

It was really interesting being in Vietnam when we were--their Tet holiday started 2 days after we left, so they were getting ready for it. Tet is their lunar New year celebration--biggest holiday of the year. We saw kumquat trees everywhere--during Tet it is customary to get a kumquat tree for your home (sort of like a christmas tree). Vietnam is interesting in that most people ride motorbikes--we saw all sorts of crazy things on the backs of motorbikes and 4 person families. The craziest things we saw were a live water buffalo, pigs and chickens (not all at the same time) on the back of a motorbike. Crossing the street was also interesting--it takes a lot of faith--cars don't stop--you just walk and they drive all around you--you can' t hesitate at all--it was crazy. We just had the most amazing time--I loved seeing Vietnam and would go back in a heartbeat!!

Ueno Zoo

2011-02-27T00:22:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we stayed up in Tokyo. One day we went to this great park called Ueno park. The park has tons of museums, a lake, and a zoo--we went and checked out the zoo. I have to say it was one of the best zoos we had been to. We were SO close to all the animals. Here are a couple of pictures from our fun weekend!!

What a cute little girl!!!

Looking at elephants

So close to the tiger--we also got so close to gorillas, monkeys, alligators, etc.

My little gorilla

Kailey throwing a temper tantrum and refusing to get up and walk (luckily it didn't last too long)!

Pushing Ethan--what a nice little sister!

Playing on the slide--they are such good little friends

My cute Japanese mailman and mailbox!

Found this little gem in the vending machines--HOT LEMONADE!!! Tasted great on a cold day--I think we had like 3 of them!!

My pretty ballerina

2011-02-17T18:30:00.003-06:00

A couple of months ago, I took Kailey to a ballet class and one of our friends, who is a professional photographer, took these pictures of Kailey. I think they are so cute and anyone that knows Kailey well, knows that she would wear her tutu everyday if I would let her!!

Butterfly House--More fun in St. Louis!!

2011-02-14T18:31:00.004-06:00

That is one of the most adorable faces ever--I never get tired of looking at Cade and he is usually so happy!! Still catching up from January--but while we were in St. Louis, we went to the Butterfly House with my mom--the kids love it. The highlight is walking around in an atrium and having butterflies fly all around you. Here are a couple of pictures:

Inside of the beetle dome

Looking for butterflies with Grandma

Looking at the butterflies that are being hatched

Cute kids

A butterfly flew by them-AHHHHH

Playing on top of the giant caterpillar

Doesn't take much to entertain us!!

2011-02-07T23:37:00.003-06:00

We are easily entertained as you can see. Here is Ethan playing in Grandma's bathtub--he was in heaven!!

My little bubble monster!

My hot husband!!! We found this hat at his parents' house and had fun trying it on!

Ethan can you see us??

This girl makes me laugh all the time--she is just so dang cute, but again, all of my kids are!!

Temple Lights

2011-02-06T19:11:00.002-06:00

A couple of days before Christmas we got to go take a carriage ride around Temple Square in Salt Lake City and see all of the Christmas lights. We loved it. I have to say being in Japan, that is one thing we missed out on last Christmas--Christmas lights!!! We went on the carriage ride with Granny and Gramps, Eric's grandparents. They were so nice to come up from Texas to see us for a couple of days.

All bundled up!!

The kids with our horse--they thought riding in a carriage was so much fun!!

Silly kids!!

I am so glad we don't have snow here!!!

2011-02-06T04:59:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I am WAY behind on my blogging and have TONS of pictures to post (Christmas, trip to Salt Lake and St. Louis, Vietnam and Cambodia), so I am going to try posting a little bit each day to catch up. So to start out with, we spent Christmas in Utah with Eric's family. Here are a few pictures of playing in the snow with Daddy and Uncle Adam!!

Giving Daddy a push!

Pushing Kailey and Uncle Adam

My cute snowkids!

Fun playing in Grandma's dress-up bin!

ROAR!!!!

January Vacations

2011-01-28T20:32:00.010-06:00

Mom and Dad have gone on vacation to VietNam and Cambodia. Kailey, Cade and I are still wondering why they didn't want to take us. We would have made things more exciting for them. But, we ended up having our own vacation with Grandma and Jordie. It really is a vacation for us because we get to play outside all day without coats, eat all the sugar we want, watch t.v. whenever we want, and they don't make us go to bed at night. They give us candy for meals, too. Whenever we throw a fit (which is quite often), they give us what we want. We love them very much. This is the life.

Here are some pics of the fun things we've been doing. I know it looks like we have coats on at

the playground, but grandma just photoshopped them on us so our mom and dad wouldn't be mad. We go to a different playground every day.

We went bowling together. Kailey got a great score, mine was ok, Cade just watched, Grandma is the bomb and Jordie has good form, but she stinks at the game. Don't tell her I said that. No matter where our balls went, Kailey and I cheered every time.

We've decided Jordie has some sort of disorder. She likes to clean. What's up with that? If we spill something, she cleans it up. She even cleans things we don't mess up. She empties the dishwasher before we're out of clean dishes to use. Who does that??? A few days ago I went to sit on my chair to eat, and my chair pad was missing because she was cleaning it. Last night after bedtime stories, grandma came downstairs and found her sanitizing the garbage can! I think she needs to see a shrink. Don't tell her I said that either.

Grandma says she's exhausted, which is weird, since Kailey, Cade and I still have TONS of energy.

Hope Mom and Dad are having as much fun as we are.

Asakusa

2010-12-07T17:55:00.007-06:00

The weekend before Brooke left, we stayed up in Tokyo for a few days. One of the days we went to Asakusa. Asakusa is a district in Tokyo that is most famous for its Senso-Ji temple, a buddhist temple and has some other temples. It is a very japanese district and a lot of fun. Instead of taking the train to Asakusa, we took a water taxi--it was very fun to cruise through Tokyo and see all the buildings and different architecture.

This was after getting off the water taxi--Brooke and the kids in front of what has been nicknamed "the golden poo".

After walking through the first Torii gate, you enter a street that is filled with TONS of different shops--way down there at the end you can see the temple. It was very fun to walk along and see what people were selling.

For example, this shop was selling the lucky cats--that was ALL they sold! There were also shops selling Japanese sandals, fans, etc.

This is a typical scene--we are always having groups of Japanese ladies stop us so they can fawn over the kids, especially Cade--the kids are pretty use to it now and we have even learned the japanese word for cute, because we hear it ALL the time!! Also, in Japan you see people wearing masks any time they are sick.

Kailey eating a chocolate-covered banana--Japan has the best snacks and food.

They dress up statues a lot--I think it is so funny!

Brooke, Eric and the kids in front of the temple

They have these at every temple--people write down their prayers and then tie them on here.

Growing up, my dad gave Brooke incense every Christmas as a joke. Here she is finally embracing the incense.

So you shake that metal thing and pull out a stick that coordinates to a number...

on here and pull out your fortune--pretty cool!

Looking at the koi

Brooke desecrating the temple--big NO NO to ride on top of religious statues, but so funny!!

One of the many delicious treats you could buy--looks tasty, huh?

Cade has really embraced riding the train--here he is hanging on.

Brooke and I went to another temple the next day and saw tons of little kids all dressed up in their finest--here is a picture of one family--I thought they looked so cute!

Thanksgiving at Lake Yamanaka

2010-12-07T17:34:00.002-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went and stayed in cabins at Lake Yamanaka. It is at the base of Mt. Fuji. We stayed in some cabins with 5 other families (3 of which were good friends). We had a lot of fun. The lake is about 100 yards from our cabins--it was gorgeous. Here are a couple of pictures!

The kids and I on a walk by the lake--Mt. Fuji in the background--as you can tell, we had some amazing views of Fuji!

Cute Kailey!

They had this giant swan boat you could ride on around the lake

Tons of fishermen on the lake

Kids playing on the swings by the cabins

The toilet in our hotel--this is a typical Japanese toilet. The best thing, is the heated seat--nothing better than sitting on a warm toilet seat. Also, when you flush, water comes out the faucet at the top so you can wash your hands--the kids loved it!

Lake Kawaguchi 27K race

2010-12-02T23:41:00.005-06:00

For Thanksgiving, we went up to a lake called Lake Yamanaka with a couple of other families for the holiday weekend. Sunday, 5 of us ran a race around Lake Kawaguchi. Three of my friends did a marathon and two of us (me and a friend) ran the 27k race around the lake. Yes, 27K is 16.7 miles--it seems long, but wasn't at all--I had a BLAST. I have run a lot of races and this was by far the most fun. As you can see from the picture above, the scenery was gorgeous. Lake Kawaguchi is one of the lakes around Mt. Fuji. We were lucky and had a clear day and some amazing views of Mt. Fuji. It was so awesome to run in such a beautiful place and take in all the amazing views. The other thing that was awesome were the costumes. Japanese people dress up in costumes to run races. I saw some of the craziest costumes and a lot of these people ran the whole marathon in their costumes. Crazy!! Overall, one of the best japanese experiences I have had here.

Picking up our race packets--we noticed they were practicing CPR--unfortunately they needed those skills--at mile 8 there was some guy that collapsed and they had to do CPR on him--not a good sign!

Another view of the lake--just gorgeous!

I passed these guys twice--they were some taiko drummers that were performing during the race--it was so cool to hear and watch them.

A woman (nope that is a man) running the marathon in his maid costume.

This guy also ran the marathon in his little tutu and don't get too close--those red panties were mesh and WAY see through--EWWWW!!

Another view of Mt. Fuji during the run and no that guy is fishing, not peeing, although I did see a LOT of men peeing on the side of the road during the race!

The chicken costume--you can't tell, but the head of the costume is like 2 feet tall.

Stitch costume and he ran the whole marathon with that huge head on--I don't know how these guys do it!

Like I said, there were TONS of costumes--it was so fun to run and watch all the people and see what they were wearing.

At the end of the race, instead of bagels and granola bars, you got a bowl of soup with a lot of things that I had no idea what they were!

Post-race picture with my friends, Jessica (middle) and Shari (right), who ran the marathon.

Like I said before, I had a blast--I am definitely looking forward to doing more races--hopefully a half marathon this spring (maybe I can get Eric to do it with me)! Back in June, when I started working out again after having Cade, I thought that running 5 miles was a lot. My friends talked me into doing this and I am so glad they did. I have really come to love distance running--I am slow, but enjoy the time to myself and really appreciate a husband that watches the kids in the mornings and Saturdays when I do my longer runs!!! Thanks honey!!

Tokyo Disney--Most magical place in Asia!

2010-11-28T19:45:00.002-06:00

We took the kids to Tokyo Disney a couple of weeks ago while Brooke was here. Brooke had NEVER been to Disney and had always wanted to go, so, we sacrificed and took her there to help Brooke achieve one of her childhood dreams!! I have to admit, we had SOOOOO much fun. Disney really is the happiest place on earth. The kids were in heaven, Eric, Brooke and I had so much fun, it was a great day! It was also really fun to watch the japanese--all of them (men included) walk around wearing the mickey mouse ears, or hats, etc. They get so into it--we saw more japanese couples at disney than families with their kids. Anyways, here are some of our pictures.

Crazy Japanese!

2010-11-23T01:20:00.004-06:00

In one of the train stations we were at this weekend, they had this monument--I don't know what it was a monument for, but there it was. Of course, Ethan wanted to know why the man was peeing in the water.

We also saw this sign in another train station--so please remember don't clash into anyone else!

We also saw these interesting flowers--they look like little pepper plants, but were all different colors--I thought they were pretty.

Confessions of a neglectful mom!

2010-11-15T00:56:00.004-06:00

So, I have to admit, I lost my child the other day--actually I lost Ethan one day and Kailey the next! A couple of weeks ago, we had some friends over in the morning to play with salt dough (so much fun, if you haven't done it with your kids--much better than playdoh). Eric came home in the middle of our playdate to change clothes. Anyways, our friends left and Eric left about the same time. Brooke and I were downstairs with Kailey and Cade--busy with them. I just assumed Ethan was upstairs playing in his room or that he had gone into our room and turned on the t.v. He was quiet, so I was happy. About an hour later, I yell up to Ethan to come downstairs for lunch and he doesn't answer. I walk up the stairs to get him and he is not in his room, not in my room, I yell to Brooke to see if she has seen him and we frantically search the house--NO Ethan. I put on my shoes and run outside, luckily I think to look in the car and this is what I found:

Ethan had put on his shoes, gone out to the car, gotten into his carseat, buckled himself in and fallen asleep. I could not believe it. I should preface this by saying, that Ethan has never run away, unlike his sister, he never goes outside alone--he is a good kid. I asked him after he woke up (yes, I brought him inside and he finished napping in his bed) why he went out to the car and he said that he was tired--crazy--you never know what your children are going to do!!

P.S.--I tell this story, so all of you mothers feel better about yourselves. Like I said, Kailey ran away the next day and took her friend with her!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-15T00:33:00.004-06:00

I know, I am slow in posting--our computer has been acting up, but my WONDERFUL husband fixed it--so now I have no excuse not to get caught up. The kids had fun trick-or-treating this year. They open the base to the Japanese kids and it was PACKED. I bought about $60-70 worth of candy--I had about 7 BIG bags of candy and only passing out one piece of candy, I was out of candy in an hour--so I had HUNDREDS of kids coming to the door, mostly Japanese. Here are pictures of the kids in their costumes.

My Buzz Lightyear

Cade was a pumpkin (just like his brother and sister were in past years)--ignore the spit-up

Kailey was a nice witch--riding on her swiffer!

The night before Halloween we decided to do a Halloween dinner with our friends. We got pretty creative in what we made for dinner--I think this is going to become a new tradition--the kids loved it and I did too!!

Our Halloween spread!

Cat Crudite's--the head is veggie dip

Spooky Desserts!

A Slitherly Snake Calzone

Bloody Monster Meatloaf Hands on a bed of mashed potatoes (we also had a meatloaf foot)

Chips and Salsa--you can't tell, but the chips are shaped like bats, witches, pumpkins, etc--we made cut them out of corn tortillas and then baked them.

Lastly, hot dog mummies

I know Kailey is sweet, but please don't bite her!

2010-10-23T02:28:00.004-05:00

Yes, that is right, my child got bit Thursday and bit HARD!!! There is an hourly child care center less than a block away from our house that I take the kids to a couple of hours a week. They have a great time playing with other kids and I have a great time playing (i.e.-running errands) with NO kids (okay, except Cade!) Thursday I dropped them off for 3 hours and about 45 minutes before I had to pick them up, looked at my phone and realized I had a missed voicemail--listened to it and it was one of the daycare workers telling me that another child had bit Kailey. What happened was, a little girl was washing her hands at the sink and Kailey came over to wash hers and the little girl bit her. They said Kailey was hysterical and wouldn't let them touch her arm and then fell asleep on the couch holding her arm. When I got there about an hour after the incident, Kailey was okay. The girl didn't break the skin on Kailey's arm, but let some nice teeth marks. However, I think it has scarred Kailey--that night when Eric came home and we were talking about it, Kailey starting crying and got upset. I just feel so bad for her--hopefully she won't hate the child care center now.

In other news, we are having fun with Brooke. I am especially excited, her birthday is Wednesday and we are going SHOPPING IN TOKYO with NO kids!! I am excited to spend the day with her up in Tokyo doing some shopping and hanging out. Life is pretty good!! I am going to have a hard time when Brooke leaves!

The bite mark--poor Kailey!!

Latest Sewing Project

2010-10-19T02:27:00.004-05:00

I recently made Kailey a dress and thought it turned out very cute! Here are a couple of pictures. I have to admit, since I have started sewing more, I am really enjoying it!

She makes such funny faces when she smiles for the camera

I thought the purse turned out very cute and Kailey loved it--wouldn't let it out of her hands at church!

I almost died in the mosh pit at Metallica!!

2010-10-02T01:10:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, Eric and I went to the Metallica concert with some of our good friends. Our good friends, Shari and Karl are diehard fans and were going, so a bunch of us all decided to go. I have to say, I wasn't a huge Metallica fan before, but after being at their concert, I LOVE THEM!!!! Like, I said, my friend is a huge fan, so she is part of Metallica's fan club and we got in early. You can't tell from the pictures, but we were pretty close to the stage. The first two bands, we were about 3 people back from the front. When Metallica came on, we were that close, but then, as I alluded to in the title, the mosh pit really got going and I literally thought I was going to die. Japanese people are small, but their mosh pits are lethal--I was getting tossed around and crushed, so we decided to move back a little bit. While in the mosh pit, I kept thinking, "my mom is going to be so embarrassed to tell people her daughter was crushed to death by Japanese people in a mosh pit at the Metallica concert!" What a way to go!! Anyways, we had a blast--I have to admit, part of me was thinking, I am a mom to 3 kids and am at a Metallica concert. Anyways, we had a blast and I would go back again in a heart beat!!

It looks like we are further away then we really are--we could see the band great--also, for being around as long as they have--they look great!!

The band at the end

One of the crazy people that we met--this guy loved taking his shirt off--honestly, one of the best parts of the concert was all the crazy people we met. Right in front of us, they had this mosh pit circle going on--people would run in a circle and hit each other--it was so crazy to watch. Like I said, awesome night--ROCK ON!!!

Mikoshi Parade and Tokyo Edo Museum

2010-09-26T23:08:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday they had a Mikoshi Parade here on base and throughout Yokosuka. The Mikoshi Parade celebrates the beginning of fall and people carry "mikoshis" which are large, heavy japanese shrines throughout the town. Anyways, it was interesting. Here are a couple of pictures.

Sometimes the shrines fall--they are heavy!

The participants wear "happy coats". Most of them have little shorts on underneath, but some didn't. I kind of am noticing a theme of naked men in Japan!

Brooke and I went to the Tokyo-Edo museum when we went up to watch sumo. It is a museum all about Japan's history--we loved it because they have a lot of interactive exhibits. We had a lot of fun!

Asians, I have decided, love colorful things!

SUMO!!!!!!!

2010-09-21T05:26:00.007-05:00

Okay, what is more awesome than watching huge, fat guys wearing a loincloth wrestling--nothing--sumo wrestling is AWESOME!! Brooke, Cade and I got to experience this spectacular experience. Three times a year they have a grand sumo tournament here in Tokyo and for 2 weeks all day it is sumo wrestling.

Brooke and I got up to the Sumo stadium to get tickets at 8 am. Here we are waiting outside the sumo stadium.

While we waited for them to start wrestling, we took advantage and got some good pictures. This is to show Cade in 10 years that I did take him to do fun things!

I think Brooke needs to beef up a little more if she wants a career in sumo

Here is my little sumo--so cute!

Sumo wrestling is very traditional. It dates back 1500 years and was a form of ritual to the Gods with prayers. Here is a picture of the sumo ring (dohyo). Over the Dohyo, suspended from the ceiling is a roof of a shinto shrine with four tassels representing the seasons.

Before each match, this guy comes into the middle of the ring and sings a song.

The guy to the right in the colorful outfit is the gyoji (referee). He comes into the dohyo and calls of each wrestler in a specially trained high-pitched voice and then during the match shouts words of encouragement to the wrestlers. Each match lasts about 4 minutes or less. The wrestlers are matched up by weight at all. Some of the matches we had these big, huge guys against littler guys--very interesting. You lose when any part of you touches the ground or you go out of the ring.

These were some of the higher ranked guys and they come in before the match for an "entering the ring" ceremony. Before they start wrestling, the sumos rinse their mouth with water, wipes their body with a paper towel, raise their arms (to show they have no weapons) and stamp their feet and scatter a handful of salt to purify the rings. The stamping of the feet scares the evil spirits away. They the sumos squat and face each other and glare at each other, go back to the corner for more salt, scatter it, glare, and then when they are ready they wrestle. The symbolic stuff takes longer than the actual match. It was so interesting to watch, especially once you know all the symbolism behind it.

Sumo wrestlers leaving the arena

Sumo mascot

Submarines and water wings

2010-09-14T21:25:00.007-05:00

Brooke is here and we are having so much fun, so that is my reason for lack of posts. It is just so nice having her here--already I am dreading her departure even though it isn't for another 2 months. My friends and I are trying to find her hot guys so she will stay here. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Eric went to the states for training and brought back fun prizes for the kids. We always love when he goes to America!! Anyways, he brought the kids back new backpacks and water wings. Kailey wears her water wings EVERYDAY--all around the house, when she naps, outside, you name it!!

We went to a park nearby that had fountains and Ethan decided to cool off inside the fountain!

Playing with friends at the fountain--we went and had a picnic dinner with friends there.

One of our good friends is a submariner and got us on a tour of the USS Hawaii that is was here in port visiting. It is one of the brand new subs and everything is electronic--Brooke and I found it so interesting!

Brooke climbing down the hatch into the submarine

Where they sleep--this is for officer's--enlisted bunks are so close together that if you want to roll over you have to get out of bed and get back in. Sorry the pictures aren't the best--I could only use my i-phone and they wouldn't let us take too many pictures--top secret stuff!!

This chamber is where they can put Navy SEALS and shoot them out of the submarine into the water--pretty cool!

Enoshima Island

2010-09-03T19:29:00.005-05:00

We took Eric's parents out to Enoshima Island while they were here. It was really fun, especially since we hadn't been out there. On the island they have some temples, you ride escalators up the mountain and at the top they have an observatory tower, gardens, etc. It was really scenic.

Playing in the water

Ethan washing his hands--his favorite part of visiting temples and shrines

Annette worshipping idols--she really took to the japanese culture!!

Nice scenic view

At the top of the mountain there was this guy doing illusions and magic and juggling--we sat and watched his show and I just loved it!

He was like a juggling champion in Japan--however, his illusion tricks were a lot better!

Things are always so colorful here in Japan

Observatory tower on top of the island

We saw this post on the island and just thought it had such a nice message!

Grandpa and Grandma visit-Part 2-TOKYO

2010-09-03T19:06:00.003-05:00

So I am SOOOOO behind on posting these pictures from Eric's parents visit. Anyways, here is the next installment. We took them up to Tokyo and stayed in the New Sanno and had fun. One of our other reasons for going up was to go to the embassy so we could get a passport for Cade and get him registered as a birth abroad and get a birth certificate. All I have to say is that having a baby overseas requires a lot of extra steps to get everything! Anyways, while we were up there we went to the Tokyo Tower. It is an exact replica of the eiffel tower, except is orange. I always thought the eiffel tower looked so tall and impressive. The tokyo tower is not, but that is probably because it is in downtown Tokyo and surrounded by tall buildings. It was a lot of fun. As we were walking to the tower, we passed a TON of policemen in their riot gear, police vans, etc. We couldn't figure out what was going on and then we saw like 15 people that were protesting. I don't know what they were protesting, but it required a TON of police. Anyways, here are the pictures.

All the police we passed on our way to the tower--that little group in the back is the protesters.

Eric's parents in front of the Tokyo Tower!

Ethan at the top looking down

View of Tokyo from the top of the tower--buildings as far as you can see!

Eric's mom loves cemeteries so we were always on the lookout for them. This one is down in Tokyo, but I thought it was interesting. By law you have to be cremated here, so the cemeteries are packed with gravestones and these wooden slats. The wooden slats you see are part of a family plot. So the family dumps the ashes in the plot and then sticks a wooden slat in there with your name on it. Some of the family plots have TONS of these wooden slats--I thought it was fascinating. Anyways, this cemetery is in the middle of a bunch of buildings--they are in the most random spots.

Highlights of Japan-part 1

2010-08-17T23:40:00.003-05:00

Here are highlights from our time with Eric's parents. Let me just preface by saying we had a great time with them, especially the kids--thanks so much for coming to visit!!

Kamakura--the big Buddha--we take all of our guests here, I have to admit it has lost it's appeal after now my 3rd time--but you don't see anything like this in the states.

Eric's mom loves cemeteries, so here is a japanese one--wait this isn't the only picture--wait for more later on!! Also, everyone in Japan is cremated.

These are called torii gates and you see them everywhere--they are at all the shrines and signify entrance to a holy place.

The main temple in Kamakura

Around the temple grounds is a huge moat and it was covered with all of these white and pink water lilies--very pretty!

We went to a professional baseball game with Eric's parents and our good friends the Stoners. We were cheering for the Yokohama Baystars who ended up getting killed--when we left in the 8th inning it was like 14-2. Anyways, Japanese baseball is SOOOOOOO much more fun than American. The team we played was the Yakult Swallows and everytime they score a run, the fans all raise neon colored umbrellas and cheer--it is to signify to the other team that their pitcher is all washed up and needs to go take a shower! Only in Japan!

Baystar cheerleaders on the field with the bay stars!

So everyone chants in unison at the baseball games. They all have cheers that they know and sit there and yell/sing them together--even the kids know them. Also, when your team is up to bat, you make TONS of noise. Also, every team has a band that plays songs (think like at a college football game, the band that sits in the stands and plays).

Like 90% of the fans on our side had these bats that they would clap together all the time. Also, you can't tell, but the food is awesome--no nachos here, we had rice, curry, sushi, okonomiyaki, etc. It was awesome!

Cute smiling Cade--I can't get enough pictures of this adorable little guy!

Cade's Blessing

2010-08-17T23:30:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I am WAY behind on posting. I will try and catch up over the next week. Eric's parents were here the last two weeks and my brother, Aaron was here for a couple of days, so we went and did LOTS of fun stuff. However, one of the most important things that happened was that we blessed Cade. It has been so nice, with all of the kids we have had family members from both sides that were able to be present--even here in Japan. Also, you can't tell, I need to take better pictures, but I made Cade a white jinbei (it is a japanese outfit kids wear) and he was blessed in that. We thought it was only appropriate since he was born in Japan and has a japanese middle name. Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

Cade in his jinbei--you can see the front crosses over and then he has little shorts. Funny story, so I put it on him right about 20 minutes before we were leaving for church. About 5 minutes before, Eric's dad brings Cade to me and says that he messed his pants, I take Cade upstairs and there is yellow poop all over his shorts. Eric's mom was so nice to frantically try and wash out the shorts, while I cleaned up Cade. We throw the shorts in the dryer for 5 minutes and they are still pretty damp. We hold them in front of the air vent on the drive to church, and luckily by blessing time they were only a little damp. I just laughed, babies always have such great timing!!

Cute picture of Grandma Nelson and Kailey

Cute Cade--he is such a happy baby and always smiling at us--we are so glad he is a part of our family!