New Family Pictures! Yay!

I have an eye for talent. Maybe that is my talent.... I can recognize and appreciate the amazing gifts and talents of others.
I feel guilty taking advantage of that, but I wouldn't have the amazing pictures of Japan that I do, if not for our friend and photographer extraordinaire Scott Pierce.
I lasted three years with the best family pictures in Washington by the amazing photographer Katie Trujillo....and now I've found another gem, Jessica Stoner. On a super casual Sunday afternoon she snapped some family shots for us.....and this is what I got in return!
Awesome! Of course any mother gets excited at super cute pictures of their kids.... but subjects aside, Jessica did a breathtaking job! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Yokohama Lights and Ice!

My goal was some Christmas lights! I miss the lights of Temple Square. If there was just one childhood tradition I could bring to my kids, that would be it. I loved bundling up and heading to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the thousands and thousands of lights surrounding the temple. Mark and I have been married for twelve years and we've been able to do this once. (These pictures were taken in 2007. I had forgotten how cold it was in Utah!)



I'm not complaining. We've had some amazing opportunities and the kids have had experiences I couldn't have imagined as a child. I just wish I could teleport our family to SLC for a couple of hours each year.

This year I was looking for something in the ballpark, not spiritually I guess, but at least with the lights. Yokohama City Center had an amazing display. Lights, lights and lights for sure, but more like Vegas lights....
not quite what I was hoping for, but fun in a different way.
In the Red Brick City Center, they had set up an outdoor Ice Skating Rink.

Can you believe it's the first time Mark has ever been Ice skating? He had so much fun!
He picked it up so quickly.... in another life he could have been quite the Hockey player I think.

It was Max and Lillian's first time too....


Lillian was a natural, and was practicing turns by the end of the afternoon. Max, always very cautious, hugged the walls, but still had a great time!

Tobias and his friend kept safe and busy on the sidelines.

Gingerbread and Zombie Attacks

Certainly to the two go hand in hand when you add 10 year old boys to the mix.

Max and Lillian got together with the ultimate gingerbread crew and enjoyed a wonderful evening of sugar, sugar and more sugar!



They actually make candy lights!

The joy of making it snow!



At this age, they need to lay out a plan....... and agree on a vision.

Zombie House of Horrors it is!

Hot Chocolate Days

Tobias has discovered the joys of hot chocolate this year.

It might have something to do with the marshmallows;0)


Tobias has exploded with conversation in the last few months. Once a toddler with
very specific sentences, he now shares his ideas all day long. He has lots of questions and ideas!
My favorite is how happy he wants everyone to be. Every morning he greats me with a big snugly hug and asks "Mommy are you happy?" He always follows with "I'm happy!" (He is always happy, but he exclaims it ever time with a tone of surprise).... "So we can be happy together! We're both happy!"
He then proceeds down his checklist, "Where is Daddy? Is he at work? What's daddy do? Is he happy?" then "Where is Max and Lillian, are they at their class?" "Do they like their class? Are they happy?" then he asks where is friends are.... and finally "Is my class ready?" .... "Not yet buddy" I say. (The base closed the preschool after the earthquake and only re opened one class, with a wait list of over 150 kids.....he's #41)

Then he's off......clicking the remote to see if he woke in time for Blues Clues.

All I Wants for Christmas Is.........

Is my two front teeth!

A Little Random Catching-Up

Is it mean to go to Disney Sea without your kids?

I kind of felt guilty the whole day about it, but it was kind of awesome too.

Mark and I took a 3 day 'Extended Date Trip' to Tokyo last month, and after having so much fun, I'm committing to making that happen for us at least once a year.
I'm not sure what happened to most of our downtown pictures.... maybe I only think I took some....not sure.
We spent the first day kicking around Shibya and Shinjuku. This is the famous Shibya Crossing 'as seen in almost any movie taking place in Tokyo'.
This area is known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area.
One of the most well-known stories concerning Shibuya is the story of Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.
A statue of Hachikō was built adjacent to the station, and the surrounding Hachikō Square is now the most popular meeting point in the area.

We have always steered clear of Shinjuku station when we have the kids in tow.

You can see why. This station is the busiest train station in the world. I think something like a million people transfer through everyday.
It's a pretty amazing how efficient these systems are. When we first arrived, I was a little intimidated.....but we found it to be super simple.

The second day we explored the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace. You can't actually go near the palace..... this is about as close as you can get.
At first I was super disappointed. We crossed the street and decided to explore the shopping at the Marunouchi Building.
It was amazing and in general most definitely out of our price range. Lunch at the Pasta House was amazing.
After lunch we walked toward the Tokyo Museum of Modern art. On our way we found the entrance to the Imperial Palace East Gardens. (This is the area open to the public.)
If you packed a picnic lunch, you could spend the whole day here. It's enormous, and like Central Park in NY, a beautiful oasis in the middle of a hustling city. We walked throughout for an hour....but my feet were about finished for the day. As it started to get dark...I still pushed ahead for the museum.... only to discover it was closed for that week, while it underwent an exhibit change. Time to jump into a cab! We hadn't taken a taxi in Tokyo yet, and I figured our hotel wasn't that far...how much could it be..? We'll it was a little further than I thought...and it ended up costing close to $50.00, but I don't regret it. We drove through parts of Tokyo I had never seen (we're always traveling underground in the subways)....and it was a great driving tour. Tokyo is a pretty impressive city!

On day three, Mark was ready for his day! We decided to check out The Disney Sea Resort. (The Tower of Terror)
I had heard this park was more for older kids...and in general I would agree. Max doesn't like roller coasters, and Lillian and Tobias would have only been able to ride a handful of things. It was so much fun though, I still felt guilty. We'll have to take them to Tokyo Disneyland for sure.


Mark had a blast.... it was so cute to see the smile on his face all day! We'll have to do roller coasters more often ;0)