Playing Hooky!

Our latest hooky--a trip to the beach! Sand, sun, water, food, a day together, perfection!

Julia, Jordan, Jason and Chester, waiting for the car to start!

Janina, trying to get into the car

Mom and Dad, just before departure

Dad trying to put up the tent--with some direction from Mom, he figured it out

Juli, can't wait to jump in the water!

The boys--first ones in the water!

Jason, trying to be 'cool', hard in the sand and sun

Jordan wasn't sure if he liked the water or not, took some time to decide.

But muddy sand was awesome fun!

Janina, the teenager, spent most of the day lounging and listening to music, playing with her cell-phone..

A quaint little sand-castle, or hut..

Chester had to stay leashed the whole time, poor thing. We didn't realize the beach was off-limits to dogs, so we snuck him in and kept him on his leash. He ate lots of sand though.

Daddy taking a break in our tent

That's the end of the pictures, oh well! I do good for the first 20 minutes, then forget about the camera!

pictures pictures

I love this pictures, both of them smiling and happy!

Jason's new hair-do..it's been buzzed since though!

Chester loves Janina, and Janina usually loves Chester, except when he poops on her carpet! He is officially forbidden from going in her room.

Aimi being silly during her short stop at our place

Jason is probably playing game, actually, i'm sure he is

A small lap-quilt I made out of scraps and gave to a friend. It took about 3 years..hehe..but at least there's no cockroaches sewn into it!

Jordan and Yuji playing with the present from Papa

Jordan discovering the joys of a balloon..

Not quite sure what he's grinning about--I probably just told him it was snack time! His favorite time of the day..

Yuji was afraid of Chester for awhile, but you'd never know it now, he loves the little mutt!

The only girls in our little community of foreign-mix marriages...there's about 10 boys!

SNOW!

We got snow this year, lots of it! Jordan loved it, so did Chester, though Daddy didn't...

Winter Break

We took a trip out to Papa's during the winter break, and spent the day at a big mall near his house..you can see a big ferris wheel in the background. This is out by the Kansai Airport, at a new mall/shopping center they've built there.

Lunch was tako-yaki and hamburgers

My Christmas hat..

Papa and a couple kiddos

Jordan got to play in a big play area for little kids.. he loved it!

The girls did some window shopping, Juli got a new wallet, then came to watch Jordan play..

Juli took him in the ball room

Mommy took him down the big rubber slide

And we finished the day at Papa's little apartment, with Jordan dipping his popscicle stick in Papa's coffee..yum!

New Year's 2008

Stepping Back in time, we celebrated New Year's with our friends the Shibuyas, along with Renee's father and his wife Ludeen who were visiting at the time. Lots of food, drinks, and the movie I Am Legend!

Ken, Juli and Jordan, I think Ken has the Wii controller

Ludeen and Renee's Dad, our special guests!

Janina doing k-tai..again..again..again..

The egg-nog! Our Christmas and New Year's treat!

Sunday Mornings

What do we do Sunday mornings? Hang out of course!
Janina does her k-tai...nothing new there...that's basically 24/7..

Juli does her game..
Jordan does his jordan-thing..
Jason does his game-thing...

Jordan Turns One

Jordan is one, congratulations to him for surviving a year with us! We had 2 parties, one with friends, and one with Papa and Aimi who was in Japan visiting at the time. Jordan lucked out with some cool presents, as much cake as he could eat and friend all around!