Home Leave

Our first home leave from Japan is over and done.  It went way too fast!

First stop: Nauvoo

Cute cousins!

The boys

The girls (and Sammy!)

The boys with the kids

Pioneer past times

Playing hoops with Grandma

Grandma's office at Nauvoo Restoration Inc.

Wagon ride

Another wagon ride, sort of.

Pioneer games

My favorite freckled face.

Next Stop: Peoria

Where we spent a lot of time running around to various doctors, etc., and visiting some friends and where I took no pictures.

Next Stop: Utah

Y Mountain trailhead

At the top of the Y

If you keep going past the Y, there is a trail that will take you to the top of Maple Mountain.  We didn't go that far, but we did go to the canyon before Maple Mountain.

Mike has a picture of himself as a teenager on this same outcropping.  Only, he was hanging off of it by one hand.  Maybe I'll let Bear do that when he is a teenager.  Maybe.

Beaver was super excited to go to BYU because he thought that going to BYU meant going to watch BYU football.  Sorry, Beaver.  We happened to drive by the practice field later, and the team was out practicing.  So, Mike took Beaver and they peeked through a small opening in the fence and watched for a few minutes.  Someday we'll take him to a real game.

Thanksgiving Point with cousins.

Watching the koi.

Allison and Wesley.  We stayed at Allison and Justin's house and they were great hosts!

A hike in Mapleton Canyon

A hike on the Nebo Loop

 Mount Nebo

Beaver and Wesley - buddies!

We spent a day in SLC and went to This Is The Place Monument to see where the pioneers ended their journey after leaving Nauvoo.

Final Stop: Idaho

I had a brief moment of emotion when we stayed on I-15 going north into Idaho rather than veering off onto I-84 as we have always done on our way to Jerome.  We were headed to a different destination this year.  To Uncle Jim and Aunt Colleen's house in Ashton.  We had a couple of reasons for going there.  First, it is the home of Mike's favorite childhood memories - taking pack trips into the Tetons with Uncle Jim and his cousins.  Second, Luke has been wanting to see Yellowstone for a couple of years now, and the Marshall's house is only about an hour from the park.

First up was some horseback riding.  Even Grandma and Grandpa rode!

Both kids loved riding the horse, but ultimately, I think that Beaver preferred the 4-wheeler.  Bear said he liked riding the horse better, though.  That's my boy.

Take a look at the horse with the stripe down its face.  There's a story with that horse as a significant player coming up.

By the time we left, Bear was riding Duke all by himself.  Yes, I was proud.

I swear that horse is posing.  Indeed, my boy, you are a handsome fellow.

Yellowstone - Beaver with elk in the background

The only wildlife we saw in Yellowstone were elk.  I was surprised that we didn't even see bison.  I remember them be everywhere last time I was there.

Old Faithful

The Canyon that gives Yellowstone its name

On our way to Grand Teton National Park - a growling little bear in the meadow.

The majestic Tetons.

Although he grew up on the Wasatch Front, I think that Mike's heart belongs to the Teton mountain range.  I had never been there before, but now I can understand why.

One final story: 

We were scheduled to be on a plane to San Francisco at 5:48 Saturday morning - the first leg of our trip back to Japan.  The plan was to spend Friday morning packing up and doing a little more horseback riding in Ashton, and then heading to Salt Lake in the afternoon.  I slept in that morning, and by the time I got outside, Mike was already out with not only Duke (the gentle horse we had been riding) saddled, but also Bruce - another horse that his cousin had been working on a couple of years ago when we were last in Ashton.  Honestly, I don't even feel like going in to too much detail because it was one of the scariest moments in my life, but Mike got on Bruce and was riding around the field.  Bear was riding Duke.  Bruce was acting up a bit and suddenly took off across the field at a run, then dropped his head and began to buck.  Mike went off his back and hit the ground.  We've both taken falls off of horses before, so I was kind of waiting for him to roll over and sit up, but instead he just lay there, motionless.  I jumped down from the fence and ran to find him lying unconscious on the ground. It probably only lasted a couple of minutes at the most, but it felt like so much longer.  Bear jumped off Duke and ran to the house for help.  By the time Mike's parents got out to the field, he had come to, but in that short amount of time my life as a widow flashed before my eyes.  We called an ambulance and ended up spending a couple of hours in the emergency room in Rexburg before being sent home with a diagnosis of a concussion, and instructions for Mike to rest and only get on our flight in the morning if he experienced no more headache or nausea.  We got to my Aunt Janell's house about 11:00 pm and woke up the next morning at 3:00 am to make our flight.  Thankfully, Mike was alright and after a few days of being pretty tired here at home, he is pretty much back to his old self.  

If anything good came of that incident, it was that I gained a renewed appreciation for my husband, the priesthood, and the fragility of life.  I am thankful to God that he is alright today.  Also, I warned him that I will hold this over his head whenever he does something that I consider risky. :)

So, we are back in Japan and getting reacquainted with our life here.  We are meeting the new families that are arriving and missing those that have left.  Bear starts school in just over a week, and a new season begins again.  We didn't feel ready to leave, but now that we are here we are glad to be back.  There's no place like home, wherever it may be!

Cowboy Up

I'm planning to eventually post about our first home leave, but for now, I just had to get this picture up because, c'mon, isn't this lil' cowboy cute?!

Kofu

Mike served in the Tokyo South mission.  His second area was Kofu, which is not in Tokyo, but about an hour away on the west side of Mt. Fuji.  While he was there, he met a couple who wanted to go to the US.  Mike hooked them up with his parents in Provo, and I think they lived with his parents for a time.  When they got their own apartment, it was in the same complex as Mike's brother Merrill and his wife and they got to be good friends.  About a month ago, Mike got reconnected with Miyuki through facebook and we learned that, after spending 10 years in the US, they are back in Kofu.  Both Mike and Merrill were keen to see Rei and Miyuki again, and Mike has been wanting to return to Kofu, so we thought last weekend was the perfect time to make the trip.

Whenever we are in the mountains or some beautiful place in the US, Mike and I fantasize about how we could make a living there.  I've often wondered if those people that relocate permanently to Japan are perfectly happy here, or if part of them always wishes to return to their original home.  I've been in some lovely places in Japan and have been very happy here, but I haven't ever felt like it was a place I wanted to stay permanently.  Until I went to Kofu.

Kofu is still very agricultural.  There are rice fields everywhere, terraced up the hillsides.  The area is also famous for peaches and grapes, so there are orchards and vineyards.  Add to that the beautiful mountains surrounding, and you have all the desires of my heart - farmland and mountains.  I'm already making plans in my mind about when we can go back, and I want to weep at the thought of someday leaving Japan and never seeing Kofu again.  I'm smitten.

We took the ropeway to the top of Shosenkyo Gorge and went for a little hike from there.

I was basically in tears at this point.  I am terribly afraid of heights, and Mike took my little Beaver out to the ledge and set him there with the other kids for a picture.  I managed to pull myself together enough to take the picture after Mike promised to stay with Beaver.  It made for a nice picture, I confess, but I was terrified.

Later we went to a park that had all these fun pools to play in.  We told the kids not to get wet since we didn't have a change of clothes with us, but Annabelle slipped off a little raft and got soaked.  Miles followed soon after.  It was useless to try to keep them dry from that point.

This is one of the five lakes surrounding the base of Mt. Fuji.  Although you can't see it because of the clouds, Mt. Fuji is behind us.  At one point, the clouds parted for about 2 minutes, and we were able to catch a glimpse of the side of the mountain.

The next day, Rei and his boys had a baseball game.  In this picture, Rei is the umpire and his son Shin has just hit the ball.  I love watching little league.  Takes me back to my younger days.

We also stopped at a shrine near the ballpark.

And that is Kofu.  Merrill and the kids left for home on Saturday.  It was so fun to have them here and a great start to our summer.  Less than two weeks and we will be on a plane headed for the USA!

      

Cousins in Japan!

Uncle Merrill has a work conference in Kyoto next week.  When we learned that he would likely be coming to Japan, Mike had the great idea to ask him to bring Miles and Annabelle along.  They arrived yesterday, and our boys our having a fabulous time with their cousins!

Temps were only in the mid 70s this morning, but the die-hard swimming kids wanted to go to the pool anyway.  Bear looks like one of those cartoons where the character runs off a cliff and hangs in mid-air  before dropping.

They all actually swam for quite awhile.

A little exploring in the bamboo forest.

Our favorite nearby park...

...with the awesome kids adventure forest!

And the awesome super slide.

Miles was catching some major air on a couple of his runs!

Sayonara

I was reading over the post I wrote several weeks ago about all the nostalgia and memories from my past.  It occurred to me, and I thought it was interesting, that of all the things I talked about missing, the many wonderful people I have been privileged to know and friends that I have made were not what came to mind when I looked back on those years.  I lived in the same house from age 3 until 18 years old.  When I was 18 I left for college and never returned to live at home for any extended period of time again.  All of my adult life has been rather transient.  Of course, that is to be expected throughout the university years, but I did anticipate that once Mike and I were both graduated and settled into a job that our lives would become more stable.  Not so.  In Peoria, people came, and people left.  We made friends, enjoyed a few years together, and then said goodbye as they moved on for various reasons.  There are certainly some exceptions, but as I think about the people that I would like to see in Peoria this summer, I realize that many of the friends I made there are no longer there.  (And, July is a bad time to go b/c many of the friends that are still there will be on vacation!)

And so, I'm psychoanalyzing myself.  I think that I have built up a bit of a wall.  It's hard to always be saying goodbye.  Maybe it is easier to just not bother missing people at all.

Then it was our turn to leave (although we expect to be back eventually!).  And we moved to yet another extremely transient environment.  The expat community is certainly about as far from stable as you can get.  We knew this coming in, but this summer is the first wave of goodbyes I have had to say, and it is no fun!

Tonight we said goodbye to the Bowman's.  They have truly been our family here in Japan for the last year.  It was one of those wonderful friendships that spreads through the whole family - parents and kids both.  I really will always think of them as family, and we will miss them terribly.  There were certainly some tears shed tonight!

Sayonara, our friends!  Until we meet again!

I feel like this has been a somewhat depressing post, and I really didn't mean for it to be.  It is hard to say goodbye, but I also feel so blessed by all the people I have gotten to know wherever we have lived.  It's the same blessing and difficulty that I mentioned about places.  You leave pieces of your heart wherever you go, and you leave pieces of your heart with all the people you meet.  I never expected my life to unfold as it has so far, but I wouldn't change it.

More Sayonaras: 

Neighborhood sayonara party for the two ladies sitting on the couch with me.

Sayonara to the Kansai Branch as we have known it.  

Our two biggest families are leaving in the next month!

Sayonara to third grade!

Enough of the sayonaras.  As a fellow expat said on facebook today, we'll say instead, "Ja mata!'  Until  next time!

This and That

Beaver's preschool had a field trip to the Kobe Winery last week.  You know, to do a little wine-tasting.

Just kidding.  Actually, they have a pottery shop there and they took the kids to make pottery.  It was really fun.  For me.  Beaver actually didn't care that much about making the pottery, but I've never done it before and I thought it was great.  I want to go back and take Bear.  I think he would love it.

Bear and Mr. Mike went on a Father/Son campout Friday night.  It was the last cub scout activity of the year.  

You might know that, unfortunately, I harbor a wee bit of bitterness in my heart toward scouting.  Throughout my first difficult years in Illinois, I felt like scouting was continually taking Mike away.  I spent a lot of time alone with my toddler - him missing his dad, and me missing my husband.  When I saw this picture, however, with both of them in their scout uniforms, camping out together, I finally felt happy about scouting.

Last night our branch had a farewell party for two families that will be leaving this summer.

My dear friend, Kim, who is moving to the UK in about three weeks.  Sniff.

Our friends that hosted the party have karaoke, which turned an ordinary branch activity into something truly memorable!

My friend, Quinn, and I singing "Bobby McGee" - a song of which I learned that I only know the chorus.

I was having a great time, and then I sang John Denver's "Country Roads" and got the lowest score of the night.  I thought I was doing great, so now I have a karaoke complex.

It was a fabulous evening, and we will miss the departing families terribly.  Included in those families is more than half of the primary, the branch president, the primary president, and the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency.  With such a small branch, we became very close, and every Sunday really felt like going to church with family.  Our Japanese church experience is likely to be very different after this summer, but we will always treasure the memories of this first year!

Birthday Man

Mike was looking through the family blogs tonight and pointed out that I had not posted in quite some time.  It is true.  I don't know what has happened to the blogger in me.

Today, however, is Mr. Mike's birthday, so now I have a good reason, plus a picture, to sit down and blog.

Every day when Mike is walking home from work - usually long past dinnertime - he passes a little sweets bakery near the train station.  And every day he looks hungrily and longingly in the window at the strawberry cake.  But, he never stops to buy it.  So today Beaver and I took a little walk to the bakery and got the cake for his birthday.  After dinner we had strawberry cake and oreo milkshakes.

Happy Birthday Mike!