New Year's Eve 2017

Fisher looked way too cute at church to not take some pictures.  I love him so dang much!!!

Bryant looked pretty cute too in his nee bow tie Grandma made him with Dr. Who fabric.

The kids were so excited to stay up late.  We played games and did this puzzle.

Oh, and Fisher hit 2 months!  At his check up he weighed 13 lbs. 13 oz. and was in the 90th percentile.

He is a ray of sunshine in our lives...so when the doctor was worried he might have a potentially life threatening herpes virus we were quick to ask for prayers.  Thank you for everyone who helped us in that way!  Fisher is completely fine and we are so grateful!

Ethan snapped this after our attempted photo shoot.  I am trying to be in more photos with my kids.

After Christmas: Snowboarding & Sendai

The day after Christmas Ethan took the big boys snowboarding.  I got to stay home and snuggle this cute guy.

Bryant was the first to conquer the puzzle ball that Bolton got from one of his cousins.

December 30 we took a day trip down to Sendai.  It wouldn't have been so bad but we didn't leave Misawa until around 11 am... so our 4 hour drive ate up most of the time we could have spent having fun in a new city. But that's OK, if we'd left earlier, we might have missed this beautiful view of Mt. Iwate.

First order of business was the outlet mall!

We were surprised to see a Ferris Wheel there.  But I was eager to try out my new camera, so I had to snap a picture!

Any time you see English in Japan you might find some interesting terminology.  This was the sign for one of the stores in the mall.  No idea what they meant by this!  It was just a clothing store.

We had to try out the ferris wheel!  It was so fun that we got to see the city all lit up!  We had to ride in two different cars because we're so huge.

Fisher wasn't happy, but I nursed him the rest of the time and he calmed right down.  I'm sure he was cold.

This is the second Big Boy restaurant we've seen in Japan... we haven't made it inside one yet, but we're interested to see if its a similar style to the Big Boy in Kentucky.

Pictures from the camera:  I really like this one I got of the wheel all lit up.

Ethan took it off my hands for the ride since I had my hands full with Fisher.

After our ride we went in search of the Illumination, the reason for our trek south.  We found it!  I don't know what I expected, exactly, but this was kind of a let down.  It was just one street... a beautiful street.  For anyone who has been to Temple Square at Christmas it was a little underwhelming.

We stopped in a little convenience store and let everyone choose something for dinner.  Its one of our favourite ways to do dinner here.

It was a great day!  We live in a great place!

Christmas 2017

Our Christmas morning and day was wonderful.  We started like we always do with stockings.

Chocolate and strawberry milk was a big hit.

Bryant was giddy about getting a sewing kit.

Levi's been begging for a white board of his own and was delighted to find it with his stocking.

Jonas' ear warmer which we learned from Bryant is referred to as an ear bra.  Ha!

And Eliza chose a panda hat for her cousin even though she really wanted one of her own... she was so happy!

My personal favorite tradition is our exchange of homemade gifts. 

Bolton made Abe a neckwarmer (with Bryant's help).

Levi made Bolton this awesome marble obstacle course.

Eliza and I made Levi slippers.

Jonas and I made Eliza this adorable skirt.

Bryant made these awesome joggers. 

After helping the other kids with their gifts I didn't quite have time to finish Bryant's, but the 4th Doctor's scarf ended up turning out great and he's worn it to school every day since!

Abe and I made Ethan some super yummy gingerbread popcorn.  And Ethan wrote me a song and performed it for me.  I totally cried.  It was my favorite gift.  I'm so lucky.

I love that we get to take our time opening gifts when we have Christmas on our own.  I miss being with our families, but this is one of the sliver linings, for sure.

I loved spying Ethan and Eliza playing with her Legos. 

And then he crashed.  But he always seems to know when I'm taking his picture.

 

Ethan got this double bass, too... not really, though.  Its on loan for him to learn and then perform with chamber orchestra around Easter.

Abe's cousin sent the biggest Nerf gun known to man for him.

Probably the gift that has gotten the most use for Ethan is these neck warmers.  They are so versatile and handy during these winter months!

Baby Fisher was there too, I realized at the end of the day that I hadn't taken any pictures of him... but like I told Ethan, it wasn't really about him.  It was all about the older kids and their excitement.  Oh, and don't worry our house recovered a couple days later.

It was a wonderful Christmas.  We got to video chat with family in the states.  We are so blessed to have them and to have one another.  Christmas is a time that we love being with family in any way we can!