JAPAN - (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

TUESDAY

Tuesday we headed to Costco for my parents to stock up on some food. It was fun driving there and getting out of the city. Out in the country there are a few more homes and tons of rice fields. We came back and let the kids nap and then headed to one of their favorite Ramen Noodle places. Everywhere you go there are only chopsticks so we tried to learn as best we could to use them. As you can see Kurt didn't get it down very good. He ended up with one noodle most of the time! The food was great though and I would have eaten there again!

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday we went to a place called Dazaifu. The AP's came with us that day and helped us get on all the right trains. They were such cute missionaries and I can just see how much they love my parents! The train was one of Ethan's favorite parts. Dazaifu was super cool. There were tons of little shops and lots and lots of little shrines. It's what I pictured Japan to be.

After seeing all there was to see we decided to eat at one of the little restaurants. It's customary for you to take your shoes off at many places in Japan, so we slipped them off and then sat on pillows at a little table. The food was actually really good; one of my favorites. We had so much fun laughing with the AP's and getting entertainment from our crazy Ethan.

THURSDAY

Thursday we went to a Hakata Doll shop! My parents had purchased us all Hakata dolls this last Christmas and Kurt wanted to add a samurai to our doll. We went to a little store that had any type of Hakata doll you could think of. After the store we headed to a mall in the city and had some lunch along with some yummy crepes. It's so interesting to see how everything is in Japan....so different from the US. The women's bathrooms have squatter toilets....which luckily I was able to avoid by finding one or two stalls with a normal toilet.

Later that night some of the missionaries stopped by with some chocolate treats for us and a "special" treat for Kurt called Nato. Lets just say the consistency looked like pinto beans and snot. It looked awful but the Japanese eat it with everything. I'll let the pictures tell you what Kurt thought of it.....

I was so glad that he didn't throw up on the counter, only in his mouth!

We also hit my mom's favorite store in Japan....THE DOLLAR STORE! We laughed so hard as we shopped with her. I don't think my mom ever went to the dollar store here, but now she thinks it's the greatest thing ever! We came out with some pretty awesome purchases. I've got a picture of my mom, dad, and Kurt, but my mom told me she would disown me if I ever posted it...so I guess it will remain unseen!

JAPAN - (Saturday, Sunday, Monday)

Well it finally came and sadly now we are back home! We loved Japan and being able to spend time with my mom and dad. The kids were spoiled, we had tons of good laughs, my parents got to see Reese in person for the first time, and we just loved being together.

On Thursday night we headed to the airport. After checking in our luggage and boarding a plane headed for L.A. we were off. The flight was great, if only the flight to Japan was under two hours. Instead we had a 14 hour flight ahead of us. We arrived in LA, transferred to the international terminal, checked in to get our tickets, and then headed to wait at our gate. Our flight left at 12:30 A.M. on Friday morning but because of the time difference we arrived in Japan on Saturday morning. The kids were exhausted by this point and as soon as we were in our seats they were out cold.

This is the bassinet that Asian Airlines provides if you are traveling with an infant. My sister had flown to Japan earlier last year and had seen them and told me about them. I had to reserve one since they only provide six, and was lucky enough to have it on all our flights with Asiana. It was a complete life saver. We swaddled her up and both Reese and Ethan were out about the first 7 hours of the flight. The next seven were on and off sleep and lots of movies.

Finally we arrived in Korea, exhausted but we had survived. We found McDonalds where we got us some breakfast, sent my parents a message that we were only an hour away, and then waited for our connecting flight to Fukuoka, Japan.

Finally we made it to Japan! We waited for a while to get through customs, grabbed our luggage, and then went through two big slider doors where my cute parents were waiting with the AP's. It was SO good to see them and to be able to hug them! Such an awesome moment. After loading up one van with our luggage we hopped in the other to head back to their house. Here are my sweet parents all excited. Everything is opposite in Japan, so you drive on the other side of the car and also on the other side of the road. Most of the times we were on the road we thought we were going to die...it's pretty crazy and SCARY if you ask me.

After getting to their house, which is the basement of the Fukuko Temple, we went for a little walk while my dad took some phone calls. Here is the temple, it's very pretty and very small. Everything in Japan is so close together! Not a lot of people live in homes it's mostly all big apartment buildings. 1.33 million people live in the city of Fukuoka alone so the temple just kind of appears right off of the road.

SUNDAY

On Sunday we were able to attend my parents ward. It was so fun to see how much the people just love and adore them. Even the sweet ladies who don't know any English just hug and hug my mom. We were able to go to an English speaking Sunday school class and then we had earpieces where an Elder translated sacrament meeting for us. The rest of the day we just lounged, watched movies, and ate dinner. It was the best just sitting around laughing and talking and catching up on everything.

MONDAY

Monday was the only day that my dad had things he needed to do. They were finalizing transfers and he had a few meetings. We had Kurt stay home with the kids while my mom and I went to a Spa to get a massage with two of the Sister Missionaries. It was such a cute spa. They had you put on these awesome outfits and then when they massaged they did it over your clothes. The "hot rocks" were HOT! I wasn't in the room for long but it was like a sauna. We had so much fun with Sister McIntyre and Sister Beazer.

Then it was back to the house where the kids played and we relaxed for a little bit. Reese was already loving Grandpa and loved for him to hold her. In fact she fell sound to sleep on him like this...which she never does for us!

The night ended with Hard Rock Cafe! At least we always knew we could go here for some good American food.

Our Little Sunbeam

We now have a Sunbeam at our house! It's weird that he is no longer in Nursery! After a few tears and pout faces I think he loved it! He got his own Book of Mormon from the Primary Presidency and hasn't stopped carrying it around. In fact I am the WORST mom ever because I didn't let him take it to school yesterday! Such a bad mom!! He's got AWESOME teachers who put so much time into their cute lessons!! This pictures is from the last Sunday of the year! His other AWESOME nursery teachers, who he loves, made these graduation caps and banners for their Graduation from Nursery! So cute!