I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE...

We are thrilled that Ethan was naturalized on 15 December, 2009.

He's waiting so patiently for his turn.



And so cute raising his right hand (Daddy recited the oath for him!)



Family photo with his citizenship certificate.





For all those reading the blog we know the significance of the day, but for Ethan it was all about the CAKE!!!

Thanksgiving, Anniversary, and Mickey Mouse

This year our anniversary fell on Thanksgiving day. We celebrated Thanksgiving and our 10th anniversary with the boys at Tokyo Disney. The weather was beautiful, about 60 degrees. We had a fabulous day!







And look what was delivered when I got home! I am so thankful for a great husband and two wonderful boys! Happy Thanksgiving!

Look Who's Three!!!

What a celebration! Complete with Dora cupcakes.

The Official Countdown!

We officially received orders this past week. We can ready ourselves for our move home to Virginia Beach. Although we are extremely excited to be near family, friends, and have all the conveniences that the states bring, this will be a bittersweet move. When we departed Japan in 2003 I knew in my heart that we'd be back. I know leaving this time, we won't call Japan home again. We are looking at our last four months in Japan. What???? I have a LOT of shopping to do first. :) Those of you who know me, know that I'm not talking shoes and handbags here! There won't be a craft, yarn, or kitchen store that is safe from me in the coming weeks. House pack out is scheduled for the 19-20 January. (that actually gives me less time for shopping)

For my 2 or 3 regular (and patient) blog readers I plan to share my favorite Japan places and people weekly until we leave. Yes, that's right new blog posts. Can you believe it? Me either. But I'm optimistic.

Without further ado I present...



MooMoos is located in Zushi (the town we live in) near the shin-zushi train station. The owner is a very nice man who speaks English. He will often say "I've missed you" if we haven't been in a while. I know I've blogged about MooMoos in the past but we love it so that I thought I'd highlight it again. It is a small little shop with only a couple of tables. The ice cream is all natural with no artificial flavors. There are only two flavor options EVER. Milk flavor is the staple. The flavor of the week changes every Friday and it is usually something that is seasonal. Some of my favorites...pumpkin and coco. Andrew just mentioned that his favorites are melon, peach, and strawberry. The owner is quite adventuresome and has had some crazy flavors before. I haven't tried all his off the wall flavors but he was quite adamant once that I try his Gorgonzola creation. Sounded crazy but tasted like cheese cake ice cream. Sign below states coco is the flavor of the week. Both boys on this day chose to swirl the coco with the milk flavor! OISHII DESU!!!!

Goodbye Dear Friend!

I know I've been a real slacker at updating the blog. And promise that when my class ends next week to give Japan a proper farewell via the blog but until then...another farewell.....

We lost our dear friend Yasujiro Okajima this past Sunday evening. We met him in 2001 when we lived in Shonan Takatori. He was a great neighbor and friend. He had a lovely Japanese Buddhist service this past Wednesday. Truly different from anything Jeff or I had attended prior but very moving. I think the thing that struck me the most was that in their greatest sorrow the Japanese are still "so Japanese". Hard to explain unless you have experienced the Japanese way. His wife Shegeiko couldn't thank us enough for attending and mentioned how honored she was that we would attend and that Jeff would come in his dress blues. She kept thanking us for our friendship. When we're the ones that were so proud and honored to call him our friend.






Okajima-san was 84 and had been battling esophageal and tongue cancer for the past year. He and Shegeiko were married for over 50 years.

We will miss his friendship. And his coffee! He made great coffee!!! (using an old percolator!)

Summer Fun

Some random photos of our summer vacation...

What a great day. We rode our bikes in to Zushi to pick up bentos (lunch) and headed to the beach for some fun in the sun. The water was still too cold for me but it didn't seem to bother the boys.





Jeff hanging out at the "campsite".




I think the best thing about our days at the beach is our stop at "Moo Moos" for homemade organic ice cream on our way home. Poor Ethan...he just couldn't hang in there. He was asleep within 10 seconds of Jeff strapping him in.







As I was uploading the photos earlier he was on my lap. He saw the pictures of his daddy and Andrew eating ice cream and his face got serious and he said "hey...where's mine?" Two and a half and he doesn't miss a trick. :)

My baseball boy!

Andrew really loves playing ball. Unfortunately the last two games were rained out. We will have a baseball marathon this weekend to make up the games.

HOME

I'm back home after two weeks in Virginia Beach with my dad. He was a great patient and is doing great.

I came home to this...







Jeff took Ethan to get "shaved". I think he looks so cute. I called him "buzz" and he got really bent. "no! buzz mommy, no! buzz". He really likes his hair but don't call him "buzz". Jeff really took the opportunity to work on the potty training. This is the first photo of his "big boy" Thomas pants. We are NO WHERE near going diaperless for good but the goal is before we leave Japan. He has had great success with both "little and big jobs". Yeah!!!!

Ethan's First Day of School

I can't believe my baby is going to Preschool. He loves riding the bus and he loves his Sensei. Reminds me of Andrew's first day. photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7596/2734/1600/DSCN1484.jpg

SEVEN

Andrew turned seven on March 9th. Aunt Sue Sue came from Vermont to spend time with her favorite "monkey boy" for his birthday. And if that wasn't enough of a birthday present...we celebrated by taking him to the World Baseball Classic (Game 5) at the Tokyo Dome.

Skiing with Uncle Stephen!

We just returned from our Christmas ski vacation to Hokkaido. We stayed at the Tomamu ski resort. This was Andrew's first time on skis and he did a great job. He had lessons every morning and afternoon. At the end of the day he would make one or two runs with his Uncle Stephen and his daddy. He really did a great job. Ethan was sick and had a fever the whole week so the day care option went out the window. Mom did a lot of hanging out in the hotel and riding the shuttle bus (the only thing that made Ethan happy all week). I did get to make 3 runs. I'm a little (lot) rusty. I fell getting off the ski lift the first time up. I was totally laughing at myself. And the lift attendant kept saying. "ok? you ok? ok, yes?" "No...I'm way too old and out of shape to be okay".

We celebrated Christmas this morning and the boys were both thrilled and overwhelmed with it all. Ethan was more excited about the unwrapping then he was about the actual gift. I hope everyone had a great Christmas week also.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We had a wonderful Saturday. Daddy was home and we kicked off our Christmas festivities. We are getting ready for Uncle Stephen's arrival and our big ski trip to Hokkaido for the Christmas holidays.

Some of us eat our spaghetti...

and others? Well...

MEN

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday (Thursday was a normal Japanese school day). I invited Andrew's piano sensai and my nihongo sensai and their families. We had a wonderful time. Jeff's job was to take pictures of the festivities. My job was to cook. These are the TWO pictures you get. At least it's evident from the one photo that I held up to my end of the bargain. The good thing about inviting the Japanese to things is that you will get doubles of every photo that they take a week or so after the event. We really did have a good time; even though I do not have the photos to prove it.

Can You Believe...

my baby is two?




Happy Birthday Ethan!

Finally...felted!

I have had these slippers knit up for quite some time. Almost every phone conversation with my Aunt Sue Sue includes "have you felted your slippers?" Finally today, during our conversation I was able to say "yes, finally". I love felting...it truly is an amazing thing!!

Before:





Ater:




These were knit using Cascade 220 yarn, I don't know the colorway. The pattern is from Fiber Trends (AC-33).