Happy New Year!

New Year's is the biggest holiday in Japan

Here we are at the famous Thunder Gate in Asakusa

Eatin Okonomiyaki with  Tsukasa

Making Mochi

This Video is when we made mochi (which is mashed rice) 

Mochi is used in many Japanese style desserts, snacks and meals.

Making Mochi is a New Year's tradition, and we were

so happy to be apart of it this year :)

On a slight side-note, Americans see a man in the moon right?  Well the Japanese see a bunny, holding the wooden hammer above his head making mochi!

Christmas Time

Baby doll from Grami Tami and Adorable rain coat made by Nana Sandra

Thank you so much!

Crab puppet

Despite being far from Home this Christmas, we have felt so blessed!

Big Girl

Hug for Teddy

Playing at the park 

This Girl has got it going on!

Eden has mastered the picto-chat on Daddy's Nintendo DS

Here we are checking out Eden's picture in the Department Store Ad

What a fun gal you are Eden!

December

Eden getting bundled up and ready for bed in her Panda suit

So excited about her new footie pajamas from Ash

Eden hugging her Elephant from Isla

(Ash thanks so much for sending us stuff, We feel so loved)

The month of November (so far...)

We have been having a wonderful November.  It started out with Mommy's 22nd Birthday.  And it was the first time I had to cook my own Birthday Dinner (SHOCK)  And this is only because I am living in a foreign country, otherwise I know my  Mama would have been right on it!  But I didn't deviate from the plan, I slaved away on a roast with mashed potatoes and gravy (my fave) and Grandma's Neopoltian Cake (also my fave:)

OKAY back to Eden...

LOTS of time at the Park

And some more!

Playing with baby Yoshua (so cute)

And bundling up, because it is getting COLD!

And next week brings Thanksgiving!  We will have a houseful to celebrate the "American"  Holiday, and I am so happy I found a Turkey (very rare in Japan) and it actually fits in my tiny tiny oven and stuff to make Pumpkin Pie (also very rare).  

Grape Picking

In October we went to a vineyard with our wonderful friends, Hideki and Tsukasa, and ate as many grapes and we could fit into our bellies!

Thank you so much for taking us all the way to Yamanashi-ken for this wonderfully delicious experience.

Koen-- Japanese park

Eden loves the Park

And she loves the slide!

But her favorite thing about the park...

Is the sand/dirt!!!

She could play with it for hours, and completely ignore the slide.

Hats!

Eden absolutely loves hats! And hat is one of the few words that Eden uses on a daily basis. Probably used more than Mom and Dad. Eden doesn't use many words yet, but she communicates well using signs and other gestures to get the point across.

Busy-Bee

Eden is a busy little girl. She is always walking around the house, playing with her toys, or getting into something!!!



This a rare sight during the day... Eden SLEEPING! She has always been not so good at napping, but lately she thinks she is old enough to skip the naps altogether. The other day I was sitting next to Eden and the next thing I knew, she was asleep! Rarely, rarely, does this happen!!!

Bye-Bye

Eden loves to go Bye-bye. Often times I find her standing by the door waving, which means she wants to go out! 

"Can we go now!??"

Week off

We spent 4 days in Utsunomiya (where Evan lived for 2 years when he was a boy) with friends.  Here are some pictures from the trip:

With Michiyo (who let us stay with her)

At Sachiko's having a wonderful Lunch

Eden enjoying her ice (she loves ice!!)

Here is Eden walking, clapping, and also bowing like the Japanese do. 

Also Eden said her first Japanese words yesterday!!!  I was so shocked.  All day I had been singing a cute childrens song to her in Japanese.  And later that night I sang it again and she mimicked one line of  the song perfectly!

Eden-chan Eden-chan, doko ni iru no?

(Eden Eden, where are you?)

Koko desu koko desu, koko ni imasu.

(Here Here, I'm right here!)

Anyway, she said "Koko desu"  so clearly.  And the funnest part was, we had some Japanese friends over for dinner, so they were just as shocked as I was!

Fun times, our little silly girl is growing and changing in leaps and bounds these days.  It is exciting to see her learning everyday.

Also, I made these boots for Eden for this winter.  They turned out better that I thought they would, so I was so excited.  I got all the fabric from the thrift shop for only 100 yen each.  That makes for some cheap winter boots.

First Concert

We had a great time at Passion World Tour Tokyo Monday night.  And We couldn't find a babysitter for Eden, so she came along.  It was her first concert, and she loved it!!  It was a little loud, but she didn't seem to mind.  So happy she was such a good sport, staying up way past her bedtime.

Japanese Nature

Playing by the pond

Koi Fish

Pretty Butterfly

Sewing

I have been enjoying being creative and sewing lately, and Eden loves to watch and point at the sewing machine.

Fun at the Park

Going down the roller slide with daddy!

Eden like climbing up the slide!

Lil' Cutie!

Goodbye Summer

The hot summer days are coming to a close and we are moving into Fall! This is Eden playing in the Tama River in August. The weather is cooling down and the humidity has dropped, which makes me very happy!

laundry girl