Dan and Kelli's Visit and Spring Break Day 1 & 2

We had our first visitors--Dan and Kelli (my sister and her husband). It was so fun! They left their four kids with family and took the long flight out here. We were so happy to see them. I picked them up at the airport and then we went to Shibuya. This was on the train back from Shibuya at 11:00 p.m.--I can't even believe they made it that long. They were troopers!

Here they are again, much more awake and enjoying a temple in Tokyo.

The next morning we went to the Tokyo Fish market. I had some of the best sushi EVER!! It was excellent. Then we went down to Kamakura and ate Okonomiyaki, which was also excellent. We saw the Big Buddah and went to Hachimangu Shrine, it was also Cherry blossom season, and they were beautiful! 

 

Day 1 of Spring Break

6 hour drive and straight to Fushimi Inari Shrine.

 

 
That night we found a little ramen place. We filled the whole thing, and met a nice Japanese man.

Spring Break Day #2

Arashiyama Bamboo forest and temple. Beautiful water and cherry blossoms.

 

Kinkakuji Temple (the Gold temple)

 Mostly I love Sam's face in this.

Because it was Cherry Blossom (Sakura) season, they had the Giesha show. We were not able to take pictures in the theater, but here are pictures of the walk there and a woman dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. The show was fun as we sat on tatami mats to watch it. It was also interesting to realize that what we hear as beautiful music is not universal.

This is the bunk house we stayed in, very much like a hostel. And they served "french flys."

Christmas

This Christmas was our first one celebrating with no family. We missed family but enjoyed being with each other. The first two fuzzy pictures are of Hazel and Sam following their strings. Santa always leaves a string from our stockings to a gift. Christmas morning is always filled with strings all over the house.

 Hazel got an accordian at the end of her string. Emma a Kindle, Mattie an iPod shuffle and Sam a lego set.

 I think everyone's favorite though was the marble slide from Grandma. It took a long time to put together, but has provided hours of entertainment since then.

 We took a short trip up to Chinatown with some friends where we got kiss fish pedicures. It was enjoyed by all, especially Sam--I had to keep telling him to stop screaming. Sheesh! We are such loud Americans.

These two babies are Tom's Christmas presents to himself. One for me and one for him, too bad there is no place to ride them around here (or thank goodness.) Don't worry there are many plans for future use when we get back to the states. And for anyone curious, they are Honda 110's made in 2012.

And, I just love this picture of Hazel getting a ride home from church on Tom's bike.  

France..just Tom and Keriann!

So the first thing I need to say, is we pretty much ate our way through France, well, I did. Tom just learned a lot of French dermatology terms. We ended up staying in the three different military hotels in Paris. The second one (and longest stay) had a free breakfast. It was so amazing I can't even call it "continental." They had panne au chocolat, brioche, baugette, jams, butters, and of course croissants on the first quarter of the buffet table. Real hot chocolate, cheeses, yogurt, eggs, meats (good meats), and more deliciousness. Out in town there was even more. I could not get enough of the French boulangeries and pattisseries. Oh man, so good. Anyway, we ate very well.

And we saw the Eiffel tower.

And ate chocolate to our hearts content.

We saw Versailles.....

and the Louvre...

 and St. Chapelle....

 and the Seine.

While Tom was in his conference I went to the chocolate factory. Yum! and interesting.

 We also were able to go underground and see the catacombs. Though shocking at first, I was surprised at how quickly bones become pretty common and unremarkable after 20 min.

During our stay in Paris, Tom found out that his life long friend and mentor Farren Hunsaker passed away. It was very say and frustrating b/c it was almost impossible to get there. Not only do we live in Japan, but we were visitng France. But, he did have his good friend Seour Palacio whom he met on his mission. She was only a short flight away, so we hopped a plane to Biarritz--the San Diego of France. It was beautiful! We stayed in a chateau and spent time on the ocean.

 We even spent a lovely afternoon/evening walking around the city of Bayonne. Beautiful!

Thank you Tom for taking me to France. I love love loved it! Lets do it again in twenty.

First December

Getting our tree in November, before Christmas.

Tokyo Disnelyand...

...with great friends...

...with three girls exactly Hazel's age...

...and a place to try on Cinderella's slipper...

..and right before Christmas.