Christmas Tree Lighting

 

One of the things I miss the very most about living in the States is the way holidays are celebrated.  Christmas is my favorite holiday and since Japan is not a Christian nation, most people don't celebrate or decorate.  Luckily for us, the base does try to bring Christmas to Japan.  On Saturday, we went to the annual MCCS Christmas Tree Lighting.  This is the best picture we got.  :)

Kishojiyama Green Park--Kiln Hike

Yesterday was Veteran's Day (thank you veterans!) and we decided to get out and explore Japan.  After a fairly rough night, we decided to stay local.  This hike is about 20 minutes from our house.  I know, right?!  How lucky we are, beach and mountains so close!  We are seriously spoiled.  Anyway, this hike was beautiful.  Almost the entire hike was right along this cute little stream. 

 

 

There were also a handful of waterfalls along the way.

 

 

 I think we caught the tail-end of all of the beautiful autumn leaves.

 

 

The hikes here in Japan are different than most of the ones we've done in the States because they have stairs all over the place. 

 

We counted a grand total of 410 stairs on this particular hike.  And that's only going up.  We had to get back down too!

 

The Japanese also pay attention to detail the way Americans don't seem to.  It results in random, fun things all over the place.  Hence the bird totem pole in the middle of the forest.

 

My cute boys. 

And the girls!  (I have a partner in crime now!)

 

It was such a beautiful hike--I think one of the best ones we've done so far here.  The cherry on top? We didn't see another soul.  So incredibly rare in this heavily populated country.  We love it here!



 

A salad of our own making!

 

So this is super lame, but exciting to us.  Earlier this week, we were able to harvest an entire salad from our garden.  It was delicious.  The kids were even willing to eat veggies they don't normally touch.  Some day--mark my words--some day we will grow enough veggies to make our own salsa!

Persimmon

Do you know what a persimmon is?  Have you ever had one?  Our sweet neighbor (the old man who does tai chi and chanting out in the yard) gave us this.  To me it was kind of like a cross between an apple, pear, and carrot.  Ken thought the flavor was similar to a pumpkin.  It looks almost like an orange tomato.  You eat it like a normal fruit or you can hang them outside to dry. 

He gave us the persimmon to thank us for a thank you treat we took over to them.  He gave us a bag of apples when he saw us taking family pictures a couple of weeks ago.  I made black bottom cupcakes to take to him and his wife as a thank you.  They wouldn't let us leave without giving us a huge bag of mikans (mandarin oranges) and two persimmons.  So sweet.  So very Japanese.

She's 5 months!

 

This girl!  She's five months old.  She's a nut.  So happy so much of the time.  She's obsessed with her tongue these days.  I could hardly take a picture without her stinking it out.  She's rolling onto her tummy frequently but she gets stuck there and doesn't roll back onto her back yet.  She's still a drool monster but no teeth yet.  Loves her brothers and they love her!   

 

Halloween

 

One thing I love about life here in Japan is how simple it is.  Being away from the States, there are a lot of things that we "miss out" on.  For me, having a simpler life is enjoyable.  This is the only picture we snapped of the kids in their costumes.  Friends invited us over for dinner and then we took the kids trick-or-treating on base.  It's so great!  All of the houses are close together and you can only go trick-or-treating from 5-7.  The kids don't have any parties at school.  It's all easy peasy.  Stone is a black angry bird, Ollie is Ironman, Grover is the yellow angry bird, Grey is the saggy, baggy elephant, and Pepper is a pumpkin.  Notice I tied a bow on the stem of her hat?  Yeah, I'm crafty like that.  Happy Halloween!

Moses 7:18

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

I started the week out feeling like this was a very random scripture and didn't know how it could apply to me.  I then thought of my patriarchal blessing and how I am blessed to be a mother in Zion.  So it does apply to me and my family!  How we need to be of one heart and one mind and dwell in righteousness.  I figured the poor among us was my children having a hard time.  I fail miserably meeting all of my children's needs.  There's just so many of them!  Children and needs!  I thought of how we are taught to care for the poor so there are no poor among us.  I need to be more willing to put my children first.  Be in the moment with them.  Enjoy them while they are little and when they are having a hard time (no matter how small it seems to me), meet their needs with love and compassion.  And pray a lot so I can do that.