May 2015

Hallie joined a preschool in January from the NRH rec centre.  She loved going a couple days a week (despite protests at first)

These are pics of pics her teacher took.  I got to come to her Easter party

 Cowgirl day

 Presidents day

 Wacky Wednesday

 Jackson got some loose teeth at the end of the year and lost his top 2 teeth in June.

Jackson went to Taekwando in May.  He improved so much in his strength, balance, confidence, and ability.  I really wanted to keep him going to this and hopefully we can make it work!  I loved seeing him succeed and improve. 

I watch a little girl named Ade and her and Mariah like to play together.  She is a bit younger, but as she grows up they are learning to laugh and play together.  

 We met our friend Adrienne at her new house and ate Thai food.  So delicious!

 Last Day of school Car party!  I ripped Jacksons shoes off and put flip flops on and sunglasses and then we sang in the car... only problem was the car wouldn't start and we had to be jumped.  Just a bit embarrassing.

Maui for Memorial day

Six months is too long without our Hawaii fix... so we packed up and headed back to Maui to use our Hotel points at the fabulous Mariott resort there over the memorial day weekend. 

The flight from DFW is SO long (8 hours)!  We let the kids bring their own entertainment/snack bags and it worked out well for them. 

Unfortunately, we got split up. Mariah and I sat up front with a Jehovah's witness girl who I loved talking to.  She was open and honest and happy.  It was lovely (plus her and her husband split up so I could sit with my baby... SO NICE!)  

Dave sat 20 rows back with these two hooligans.  They enjoyed new $ store presents to entertain them.  They love playing together with the occasional outburst/fight.  At one point all 5 of our family was squeezed onto these 3 seats just to change things up a bit.   It was way too long, but we finally arrived in Maui.  Dave got a tiny car for our family and we still had to wait FOREVER for our bags.  I'm not sure how such a small airport can take SO long.  I was getting panicky about losing our bags, but they were the last 3 to come out of the conveyor!  YaY!

Despite it being late our time, we hit costco for dinner and then checked in at our resort and went to the pool and beach.  It was perfect.  We let our kids stay up until 1 am our time!!  They were tired, but still enjoying the beauty and fun of the sand, sun, and pool.   Part of our reasoning in letting them stay up late is so they aren't awake at 2 am Hawaii time. 

Despite a very late night, we still wake up early in Hawaii, by 6:00 am we were out the door for a fabulous road trip around the Island.  We drove the road to Hana.  It was a little rainy, but nothing like the rain Dave and I experienced 4 years ago.  All the sights were so different with little rain fall.  

We did a short nature hike which got us all very muddy.  Mariah didn't like that at all. 

 

 The kids enjoy discovering new plants, animals, bugs and critters (even if we make them!)

 Great waterfall to explore.  They get more and more brave as the day goes on.

We made it to Church in the tiny city of Hana.  It was so awesome to share our worship with these good people.  They are so welcoming each week to all the visitors.  Our kids doubled the nursery and loved the attention.   I love that every church has a kitchen we can count on with a microwave (we make EZ mac/ canned fruit and oatmeal at church every Sunday we travel). 

We went to the sacred pool state park.  Last time we were here it was scary... the water was a torrential river flooding out to sea.  This day was amazing and beautiful and peaceful.  

Hallie laid on a rock and soaked in the sun for so long here. Mariah dug in a shallow pool and Jackson and Daddy and I took turns exploring more and more.  a little piece of heaven!

We drove around the south side of the island which is a barren desert SO opposite from the north side of the road to Hana.  It was an experience to see a tropical jungle and a barren desert within a few hours of each other.   We finally made it back to the city to get a dinner... we were starving.  Mariah had a giant poopy diaper (which we had smelled hours previous but thought it was something outside the car, so her bum was so sore!  We had a giant mess and we were all so hungry!!  But finally got some food in our bodies and felt good again.   Vietnamese food is yummy!

Up early again, we wanted to spend the day on the beach and at the pool.  All relaxation for us.  Mariah was ready!

The Luau stage was right outside out back door. 

 Early morning kids photo shoot on the beach was a success.  We put the pics up in our living room and it turned out great!

The kids really just wanted to play at the pool.  Depsite me wanting to be at the beach all day, we consented and spent several hours enjoying the pool and hot tub.  

We traveled south on the island and tried another great beach.  The waves came in a bit harsh, so we just enjoyed the sand.  Fish tacos for us and some taco bell for the kids topped it off.  For some reason, we didn't time our arrival at the airport correctly and we had to get gas, turn in the rental car etc.  So I went through security alone with the 3 kids and then had SOOO long to walk to get to the airplane.  We got to the top of the escalator and Mariahs carseat fell backwards down the stairs onto Hallie right as the steps leveled out leaving us toppling over each other with more passengers coming our way.  It was a mess.  Then getting all the kids to 'hurry' to the gate was unbelievably torturous.  Luckily, we made it in time for tickets and Dave wasn't far behind us after the kids took that long.  We hit the plane for a good 6 hour sleep and I have no recollection of where we sat or what we did on the flight at all, must've been good!

Until next time Hawaii!

Japan Day 1 & 2 Hiroshima

Despite getting in late, we knew we would wake up early because of our internal clocks.  We were prepared and we headed for the train to take us to the first ferry to Miyajima.  We hadn't bought anything yet and were excited to try a bread shop, but it wasn't open so we had to settle on convenience store bakery items (still yummy!)  We took the ferry over to the island and Dave finally saw what he had been hoping to see: the old time Japanese culture and architecture.  It was exactly what he wanted and it was exactly how I remembered it.  We enjoyed seeing the monks in the traditional garb walking in the shrine getting ready for morning services.  I finally realized what the little trinkets I always saw on my mission were (tokens blessed for certain 'fortunes' by the priests at the shrines- so you could buy a token for car safety, pregnancy, health, good marriage, etc etc).  

We then hiked up to the top of Mt Misen to get a view of the islands around and the city of Hiroshima.  It was an invigorating hike, we met a foreigner from Austria with whom we chatted (he was impressed with our hiking speed).   Dave loved the vending machines at every corner (even when you thought you were away from civilization) and we tried many different kinds of drinks (although most were tea and coffee... luckily I could read enough to let him know which ones were 'safe') 

We hiked through a gorgeous park on our way down and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. 

We got some delicious oyster and beef stick (which the deer tried to steal from me right after this photo)

We sat down for my long awaited Hiroshima OKONOMIYAKI and it was every bit as amazing as I was hoping.  Dave loved it, too!  It was so much food and you don't tip in Japan so it was much cheaper than we were expecting to pay ($15 for both of us).

We took the train back to Hiroshima and hit up the castle... which was a small museum.


Practiced being samurai

We finally came to the peace park.  I have many memories of lunches at this park and of tracting and talking to people here. It was beautiful and peaceful.  We took a short nap in the grass before heading into the Atomic Bomb memorial. 

the Eternal Flame in memory of those who lost their life in the bombing of Hiroshima. 

the realities of the Atomic bomb are sobering and depressing.  But the city that has risen from ashes is amazing and thriving.  It is a glorious truth that we will always rise above the terrible things that come our way. 

We found a shop to eat at on our way back to the hotel and Dave got sushi.  It wasn't the American-ized sushi he is use to so I think he was a bit disappointed, but this is the Japanese way!

We were exhausted by 6 pm and called it a night. 

Day 2

We woke up early so we headed to a temple.  The rain was lightly falling and we had the temple completely to ourselves.  Mitaki temple was beautiful. We loved the peace and the nature.  

We headed back to the hotel for a breakfast Japanese style (salad, soups, bread, and a token American egg)  Despite it being really different, I loved it and so did Dave.

We headed to church and accidentally went to the wrong ward (Thanks google maps and my own silly brain for not remembering!!)  We 'luckily' saw the missionaries and figured out how to get to Hikari ward and showed up 20 mins late.  It was difficult to listen to much in Japanese.

Sister Chiemi a favorite member and helper in missionary work. 

We walked around the area and found my old apartment and I did a lot of reminiscing.  My favorite Japanese Mom, Mami Tanaka prepared an amazing meal for us and my first baptized investigator Ishida shimai.  She doesn't speak any English, so it was much more difficult to carry on a long conversation.  Luckily Sister Tanaka was so helpful.  It was amazing to see Sister Ishida.  She has a new baby and is so loving and peaceful.  Now that I am a mom I can see what difficult years we knew her in.  It is amazing to see her growth and yet, she is still the same beautiful woman I loved a decade ago.   The Japanese always prepare such an amazing spread and send us home with more food to eat.  Sister Tanaka is aboslutely inspirational in all she gives to the church and her friends.

Day 1 & 2 Hiroshima   Day 3 & 4 Kyoto  Day 5 & 6 Himeji & Takayama   Day 7 Tokyo

Japan Getting there

Getting ready for an getting to Japan was one of the most anxiety-filled experiences of my life.  Starting about 5 days before I was scheduled to take the kids to Utah my stomach was in knots, sleep was far from my eyes and I couldn't eat much (big deal for me).  I worried about the flights mostly and if we really should spend the $$ and the time away from our kids.  This is one of the problems with stand-by travel... You can cancel ANYTIME!  Most people set their vacations and then don't questions whether they should go or not.  I am questioning every second.  But eventually we realized we needed to plan ahead and finally I bought a rail pass (having to pay extra for RUSH shipping) and booked hotels for 6 nights and got a reservation at the temple.  While this was all good in relieving some stress... it added more stress in case we didn't make it to Japan the day we wanted and had to find different places to spend the night and still had to pay for the places we reserved (typically we don't reserve hotels until we are actually IN a city, but for foreign travel with no internet access at our fingertips, this is more difficult.)  So I packed.  For me, for the kids, for grandmas.  I made lists and schedules, I checked Jackson out of school (actually UNENROLLED him!) and felt like an awful parent for making him miss school for my own enjoyment.  Usually I don't feel bad when traveling because I think I am letting him experience awesome things, but this travel was purely for me and Dave.

Finally, the night before I was to take the kids to Utah arrived and I was a bundle of nerves.  Then to make matters worse, the flight direct to SLC filled up.  We looked into alternate plans and one included leaving in the morning to Phx, 4 hour layover, flight to SLC and then only 20 minutes before the flight back to DFW left.  It was not a great plan.  If anything went wrong I am stuck with 3 kids in some place and we still can't get to Japan.  But it was all we had left . I knew I had to be 100% 'on' all day.  Being patient and calm, even though  I was stressed and anxious, I couldn't let the kids feel it or they would act up and traveling alone with 3 is hard enough.  I did security in DFW without a problem, but the first flight felt like an eternity.  It was too early to call my sister-in-law so I didn't know if we would be able to see her, but luckily when we landed she came and picked us up for the layover.  It was so nice to have a place to relax, to play, to eat and to let the kids move with friends.

 Unfortunately, Mariah didn't take the time to take a nap like I was hoping.  She fell asleep on the way back to the airport :( thus she got a 10 min nap.  I didn't let  it bother me like I usually would (being stressed about future tired-ness).  The second time with tired kid, security was really difficult and I just didn't have enough hands to help all the kids.  Luckily, I checked most of our bags, so it was just backpacks, but the kids were fighting and I was tired, too.  The flight  seemed long and about half way through I started worrying about catching the one home and saying goodbye to my kids at the gate, and the stress of dropping my kids off with my mother-in-law (who Mariah didn't know well).  I also worried because we were flying into a blizzard!  My kids were wearing flip flops and shorts!  With only light jackets (packed).  I felt like I was unprepared (despite lots of preparing) and wondered what else I didn't remember that my kids would need.  My mother-in-law is a saint and came to the gate to walk them out since I didn't have time to wait for bags or re-do security.  I started to feel the extreme exhaustion of a long day.  When we de-planed she was ready and waiting and Mariah started clinging and I was so worried she wouldn't go without a fight.  and how can grandma corral 2 kids and a fighting toddler on her own??  I was so worried.  But grandma had a plan.  She had a toy in her pocket to entice Mariah to her.  She went to her with no problem and was able to say goodbye to me and even smiled at me as she was carried through security.  Hallie came running back to tell me she was scared.  I gave her a big hug and told her how much fun she would have and she scurried off to catch up with grandma (through security already).   Then I lost it.  I cried and cried.  My mental and emotional fatigue and the stress of not know how it was going to go without me to comfort my kids overcame me.  I didn't have to be strong anymore since my kids weren't there so I was weak.   I went back up to my gate and realized I had another 10 mins before boarding was complete and wished I had longer with my kids.  I grabbed some food and called grandma 3 times to see how it was going.  I found out while we were being de-iced that all bags were accounted for, Mariah had fallen asleep on the ride home and that the other kids were eating dinner! (I was just glad they made it through the blizzard safely, but also so relieved to hear my kids were doing well and grandma and grandpa were surviving.  It was out of my hands now, so I tried to relax.  I thought I would completely crash and sleep on the plane, but the anxiety never left and the new anxiety of going to a foreign country where I 'speak the language' and planned the trip started to overcome me.

After Dave picked me up, we packed and planned a bit, but mostly just planed to do it all in the morning since we were exhausted (he stressed for me and had to wrap up things at work for a 10 day absence).  I didn't sleep well, but better than the previous nights.  It was so strange to be home and sleeping with our kids not there, I kept wanting to check on them.  Getting ready in the morning was so simple and unencumbered by kids needs, messes, wants, fussiness, etc.  It was simple to be able to plan what to do and just do it.  We cleaned the house really well, packed everything and left early enough for a shopping trip for food and some last minute items AND to get to the bank AND foreign licensing office when they opened at 9.  I was a bit stressed we were cutting it close, but they opened early and got Dave his license by 9:10. We got a ride to the airport.  As soon as we were through security my anxiety melted away.  I knew there were enough seats.  I had talked to my kids (who slept through the night and even slept in!).   I finally relaxed.  Finally, I was able to eat (at the club in the airport) and enjoyed some time alone with my husband.  We were going back to my mission and I was so excited.  the flight was 14 hours.  Three meals, 6 drink services, 6 movies, and some sleeping.  Because we left at 11 am we never really got tired enough to sleep much.  We talked to our flight attendant (Mormon BTW) and

Relaxing in the airport lounge (only photo of the 24 hour journey)

As soon as we touched down we were starting to get really tired (it is about  midnight our time) but we had to make it to Hiroshima before the trains stopped running, so we quickly went to the rail pass office and then headed into Tokyo.  We started off looking at everything and I was excited to see so many familiar things I had forgotten about.  Hanging futons, little gardens, the apartment complexes, the little cars, etc).  Then we caught a 6 hour train ride south.  We were so tired.  Luckily, we knew how long the ride was so we set our alarms and fell asleep on the amazing bullet train of Japan. We transferred in Okayama to a slower trained to Hiroshima.  We arrived at 11 pm (9 am our time?) and there was a Hiroshima Carp baseball game that just got out.  the train station was PACKED!  We found our way out , but then realized we hadn't printed the map to our first hotel.  Our phone internet didn't work and I was so sad that all had gone well, but now we were stuck.  The information desk was closed, but Dave could see an English map, so he was able to get it and I knew which area it was in so we headed that way hoping for the best.  As soon as we arrived in the -Machi (the area) the hotel was right in front of us!  Great luck!  We got into our tiny room and talked to our kids.  We were worried about falling asleep since it was our bodies' morning time, but it wasn't a problem.

As you can see I am a total worrier.  And you may also be thinking, how is this worth it?  I was also thinking this at this point... THIS IS NOT WORTH IT.  And I was thinking I would probably never do it again.  But then the real amazing part of the trip begins.  The kids are getting to know their grandparents in a way that is never possible when mom and dad are around.  I get time to re-connect with my husband and share a huge part of my heart and life before him.  We see amazing things and experience a culture so different from our own and then, I forget why it all seemed so hard :).

Day 1 & 2 Hiroshima   Day 3 & 4 Kyoto  Day 5 & 6 Himeji & Takayama   Day 7 Tokyo