Medicine for the Soul

After a 2 week hiatus from running and exercise it has been a little rough getting back into it because my body does not feel as strong as I would like.  At the same time it does feel good to get back into it, because exercise always feels good, even though it is hard.  So this morning I ran outside for the first time this year, sans long pants and jackets, and it was hard.  But it felt so good.  It was like medicine for my soul.  I love to be out and see the sunrise, the mountains, the other runners (there are a lot around here), flowers blooming, alfalfa fields, the temple (even thought I HATE that hill and I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest from beating so hard), and to hear the water trickling.  And the lastly, it is always so good to make it back to our water when the run is over.  It was great.  I love running outside.  The weather has been perfect lately.  I could do this weather all year long.  I hope it lasts a long time.  

I have still been weighing myself.  I am trying not to gain back the 10 pounds I lost and sooner or later I will get back on my diet.  However, every morning, I was losing weight.  And it was good medicine for the soul as well.  But I knew something was fishy.  It was too good to be true.  I have been enjoying lots of yummy desserts and barbeques.  So I changed the batteries in the scale.  Problem solved.  Not good for me.  But it felt good to weigh so little before I changed the batteries, so now I am motivated to weigh that much for real.

And lastly, we discovered another egg yesterday.  I hope this momma bird slows down.  2 or 3 was ok, 5 babies birds are going to be noisy!  I hope she is done.  This morning we were checking on them and we were back down to four.  But then we saw one had fallen out to the side of the nest.  I slid it back in with my finger.  I was afraid it might fall down to the bottom of my decoration.  I hope the momma doesn't reject it or anything

Growing

Yesterday

Today

This is about as exciting as it gets around here.  

New Additions

Our neighbors recently got this new addition and invited us along for some fun.  We had a blast!

And we feel lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.  

Today we found these in our nest!  We are so excited!

A Bobcat, A Graduation, and A New Find

The twins were awarded their Bobcats this week.  Boy do they LOVE scouting.  They had a little quiz at the end of Pack Meeting and who ever got the most right won a tree, and second and third took home some flowers.  David got 100%, but so did 3 others (he was the youngest however), so they had to pick a number and David brought home some flowers that we planted in the yard.  He was very excited.  They have lots of scouting questions for me and I have no answers.  You would think that growing up with 5 brothers I would know a little more, but I don't.  I guess because I was the oldest and by the time my brothers were in scouting, I was old enough to stay home.   

Tyler graduated from preschool this week.  His teacher provided the cutest graduation gowns ever!  She made hats out of a square piece of card stock and a Styrofoam bowl.  It was so cute!  Tyler is sad that school is over and wants to go back.  I think I would like him to go back too:)

This is what hangs on my front door.  Today I heard birds very loudly on the porch.  My neighbor mentioned she saw some in there.  

After taking it down and looking inside, this is what we found, a nest!  I wonder if the birds will hang around very long with Reggie.  Chasing birds is his favorite pastime.  

Hungry

Since coming home from Japan, I have not suffered any jet lag or sleeping problems.  It has been an easy transition for me.  However, I wake up STARVING every morning.  My stomach growls and I am hungry.  This morning I returned to the gym after a 2 week hiatus.  I knew it would be hard.  But the hardest part was the fact that I was so hungry!  All I wanted to do was come home and eat!  I felt so weak.  I think it is because of the time difference and for nearly a week, I was eating at hours that I was normally sleeping.  I hope this goes away soon.

Home Again

Last night I tuned into my DVR and saw that Helen won the Biggest Loser, whatever!  I did NOT want Helen to win, nor did I think she would win.  She was my least favorite and I think she probably went home and smoked diet pills so that she could win.  I had already heard she won, but I still enjoyed watching for myself.  And I am glad that Chris (or is it Kris?) is in the finals for American Idol.  I know I'm in the minority, but I don't love Adam Lambert (Remember Lambert the Lamb?  Anyone?).  

After all that catching up, we finally went to bed.  The beds that we slept on in Japan may as well have been the floor.  They were soooo hard.  My bed felt like a dream last night.  By 5:00am, Kirk and I were both wide awake.  Neither one of us could go back to sleep, so we just got the day started early.  Plus I was starving!  My body is out of wack with the time difference (for example, we left Japan at 3:25pm on Sunday and got home at 12:50pm on Sunday) being so huge, I guess my appetite is still on Japan time.  

There were so many things to do today, clean the house, unpack, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  The kids were helpful and we got most everything done before noon.  Including trips to Costco and the grocery store.  Now they are all playing and it is like we didn't even do any work this morning, the house is already a wreck!  Oh well.  It feels so good to be home.  It feels good to be in my home and to have it stocked with fresh groceries and what ever we may need.  I am hoping to plant some flowers tonight and maybe even a few vegetables for our garden.  

After being in Japan, I am so grateful for my family, my big house, my big yard, a car, my neighborhood, and just about everything.  My life is so good I should never complain again.  My house and yard are very average for Utah standards (maybe even below average), but they feel huge to me today.  And they are totally sufficient.

While we were in Japan we toured Kyoto.  Kyoto was the old capitol of Japan and the home to lots of neat things.  I realize these pictures are in no particular order, sorry.

Tallest temple in Kyoto.

Before entering the temples, you had to remove your shoes.

I only rode in 2 taxis while in Japan, but they both had lacy white seat covers.  And the back seat was always covered as well.  In Japan they drive on the left side of the road.  And the steering wheel is on the right of the car. 

Lots of the temples had places to leave money and some even had a bell to ring as you left your money and said a prayer to Budda.

At lots of the temples and shrines that we visited, they had a little area for cleansing.

 Getting ready to board the Shinkonsen (bullet train) for Kyoto.

Kirk baptized this sister while he was on his mission.  She and her husband took us out to dinner.  I am sure it was really expensive, and I know they tried hard to order things they thought I would like, and they did great except for the fish egg jello stuff that had crab and shrimp in it, disgusting!

 

The view of Nagoya from our hotel.  We were on the 45th floor.  That large building in the middle of all the green is called the Nagoya Castle

Our hotel in Tokyo

Kirk and 2 of his companions from his mission.  Both of them now work for the church in Tokyo and both are them are neat men.

Being in Japan was great.  They are very respectful people.  All of the men wear dark suits, white shirts, and ties.  Literally.  And everybody that is employed, wears some kind of uniform.  So do all of the school children.  When we landed in Portland and this guy with a beard and tattoos started unloading our luggage, I realized how scruffy and gross he looked.  In Japan, everyone looks so nice.  They are beautiful people.  

Goji is the name of the sister that Kirk baptized and that toured Kyoto with us.  She is an amazing lady.  Her children are my age or older, but she keeps young by golfing, traveling, playing tennis, and doing all kinds of things.  She is busy and has lots of hobbies.  And then she asks what I do.  I love being a mom and I realize that it leaves me no time for hobbies, but after being around Goji, I am anxious to do a few things.  I have always wanted to take a cake decorating class and a cooking class.  And I am going to do it this year.  I have heard there are some good cooking classes at Thanksgiving Point.  If you know of any, please let me know.  As for cake decorating, I am hoping to find one at Michaels or one of those stores.  Wish me luck!  I realize that gives me more than 6 months to get going on these 2 things, but I will need all of that time to get to it.  

The Other Japanese Toilet

Yes, today I ran into one of these little beauties. I learned that if I kept opening the doors to the stalls, that I would usually find a "western" toilet. I didn't ever have to use one of these. While I am quite enjoying the heated toilet seat here at the hotel. I don't care if I ever have to use a squatter. And most of them don't even have toilet paper!

Today was the the most amazing day ever. I saw some of the most beautiful things. I have enough pictures and saw enough things that I will be able to post about it for a long time. But the day ended pretty badly. Kirk's friend, who accompanied us, kindly shared a cracker with us at the end of the day. When she opened the package, I got a definite fish smell. She passed them out and told us that she really liked them. I took a bite and my nose was right, crackers flavored with fish. And they are BIG crackers. While I am chewing, she tells Kirk they are actually squid flavored. I tried so hard not to gag. So as soon as we got back, we rushed to McDonald's for some greasy American food. It was delicious. While I was trying to eat the cracker, our friend graciously gave me the entire bag. So if you are ever curious, come on over, I will give you a squid cracker!

Tokyo, Hello Kitty, and a Miracle

This was Tokyo last night after dinner. It is too bad that man in my picture is not wearing a mask. Most of the people here wear a little mask over their mouth and nose. They passed out masks as we excited the airplane. I have not worn mine yet.

Kirk and I after dinner. I survived sushi in Japan. We ate with some of his companions, they wanted to take us out for sushi. Now I quite like a little sushi back in the USA, but I was hoping to avoid it all together here.　I tried the eel, because it was cooked, and looked good, but it was super fishy. I might have swallowed a few things whole in order to get them down. I finally found a cucumber roll and stuck with that. I ate some shrimp as well. The sushi back home is waaay better!
These pictures are taken from Hello Kitty Heaven! Imagine a Dillards clear full of Hello Kitty. This store was amazing. It really made me wish I had a little girl to shop for. I loved this kind of stuff when I was a kid. They had some really cute pajamas that I was tempted to buy, but I am too tall for Japan sizes. I thought the microwave was kind of funny. Who would ever think of a Hello Kitty microwave?
Well, the trip is going good. We head to Nagoya today and later spend a day in Kyoto. It is supposed to be beautiful. I did not bring my hair dryer and I really wish I would have. Put your dryer on the lowest setting, divide that in half, and you have a Japanese hair dryer. It took me a long time to dry my hair. We are staying at a Marriott in Nagoya. I hope they have a real hair dryer.

Welcome to Japan

Arriving at the airpot....

Our hotel key

Signs outside of the bathroom (if you couldn't tell, that is a bum, with water squirting up)Oops! The picture is upside down.

Just look at all the controls on the toilet! You can get water, osillating air, all kinds of things!


And if you have a little one with you while you are doing your business, they get their own little chair. Funny though, I rarely see Japanese babies.

My plane ride was 10 hours from San Francisco. We actually got in a little early though. And it really wasn't that bad. I bought a new ds game (Professor Layton and the Curious Village, I totally recomend it). It kept me occupied along with all of the movies. I didn't sleep at all and by the time we went to bed here it was about 5:00 am in Utah. I don't think I have ever stayed up that late, not even in my college days. Anyway, I slept great. Tomorrow I will have to post all about the crazy antics to get everyone off of the airplane. It was hilarious!

Beaches

After 3 days at Disneyland, we needed a break.  So we left our Harbor Blvd hotel and went to Newport Beach.  It was beautiful!  Our hotel was not far from the temple, so we drove by one afternoon while we were getting lunch.  It is a beautiful temple in a beautiful area.  While at Newport, we drove down the coast to Laguna beach as well.  We spent our last day at Huntington Beach.  I like Huntington Beach the best.  It is what you might expect of a beach town.  Lots of surf shops, beach cruiser bicycles everywhere, stretches of beach, a pier, volleyball nets,  paved sidewalks that parallel the beach, etc...My sister in law grew up there.  I can't even imagine how that must of been.  But is sure is beautiful!

Kirk had to fly out Saturday, so we missed him at Huntington Beach.  We still miss him.  I am excited and nervous to join him in Japan this week.  Wish me luck!

Disneyland 2009

Who goes on a family vacation and forgets the camera?  We do!  I can't believe all of the things that we forgot on this trip.  I am usually pretty thorough with my lists, but not this time.  Lucky for us we have good friends who waded through our messy house and over-nighted the camera to us!  So here are a few of our Disneyland pics-

Tyler is the only one of our kids who ever liked the characters at Disneyland.  The others were always afraid or they just didn't care.  Tyler always gets so excited!  I love it!  It makes it fun for us too.

This is Ethan with his favorite uncle.  When he gets mad at us he tells us he will live with Uncle Michael, we tell him to go for it:)

We came back for more after a day at the beach.

Splash Mountain broke down on us, so we had to get out and walk off.  But first we took a picture on the mountain.  Then we got fast passes to the ride of our choice, sweet!  I think Splash Mountain was our family favorite.  We rode it more than any other ride.  We got really good at posing.  Kirk would check his watch, someone would pick their nose, another would be putting in contacts or checking themselves out.  We did this so much that I had to laugh when we got off of the Screamer in California and David proudly shows us his "pose".  He pretended to be asleep.  It was a good pose!  I wish I would have had my camera to take a picture of the picture, I am too cheap to buy those things.  

Waiting for the shuttle...Oh the joy of the shuttle system.  Ethan was always afraid that we were going to miss the shuttle.  Our reassurance did no good whatsoever.  Next day we got on the shuttle, he marched to the front and talked to the driver about the schedule.  I guess he just didn't believe us.  

My boys spent their souvenir money at the lego store.  They received a lego magazine with their purchase and they loved that as much as the legos themselves.  

Standing in line for the new Toy Story Mania.  The ride was a hit!  We all loved it.  If only the line would have been shorter.  It was by far the longest line we waited in.  My husband is very competitive and we would have spent a lot of time here improving our scores if we didn't have to wait.  I think Grandpa had the highest score by the end of the week.    

Family photo in front of Tower of Terror, which was Tyler's favorite ride.  He rode it a couple of times and totally loved it.  Jacob and Ethan still don't really like it.  They are good sports and always go once, but they don't like it.  

Waiting for Soaring Over California, which was Tyler's least favorite ride, he did NOT want to do it again!

That's my whole family.  There are a lot of us and we will only be getting bigger.  I love each of them so much!  We had a super vacation!