Okunokayama Snow Boarding Day

We loaded up our van and headed to the mountains on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Everyone was eager to try a new winter sport.  There was a little trepidation (mostly from mom).  And unfortunately we didn't find a sitter for Bolton and Abe who weren't going to be snowboarding.  We had snow falling the entire 2 hour drive there.

We found where we were going and the snow just kept coming!

Even though we'd outfitted everyone with as much as we could thrifting, we still had to rent some things.  The troops were all lined up patiently waiting to join their friends on the slopes.

Playing in the snow!  Yay!  The kids all loved snowboarding!  I went up the lift one time and Ethan took me on the bunny hill... it was not pretty.  First of all, the conditions were terrible!  Nearly white out.  Plus my goggles were awful and starting to frost over by the time I'd fallen a couple times.  Oh, man.  I fell.  And I fell.  And I fell.  Usually I fell on my bottom and I hadn't been up long enough to gain any speed.... but there was this one time I'd been up for awhile and I was going pretty quickly (for me) and I did something wrong (who knows what?!?!) and face planted HARD!  I ripped off my goggles and threw them at Ethan yelling, "I CAN'T DO IT!!!!" well, that was after I stopped bawling.    One of my gloves came off, too and got thrown at the man.  It was not a good moment (or several moments) for me.  I came in to the lodge and said to the several people from our ward who were there eating their lunch, "Y'all are crazy!  This is NOT fun!"  And I didn't get a chance to try again because of the little guys.

Eliza was really impressive out there.  When we left Ethan told me that she might be ready for the bigger run down the mountain.  The boys (maybe Eliza, too) went down the "trick" course as well.  I'm so impressed with these kids.  They didn't let a few lousy falls keep them down!

I took the little boys to play in the snow for part of the time.  They were in heaven!

Levi and his friend took the sleds out to one side of the bunny hill and we went out to join them.  I was pretty frustrated with them when Bolton got stuck (really, really stuck) up where they had been.  I had to find my way up to him to get him free.  He was in up to his hips and both feet were stuck.  When I dug and pulled the feet free, his boots and sock stayed in the snow below!  Ugh.  It was cold and the snow was pelting me in my face and I'd already had a breakdown and I was frustrated and Man! I grumbled through that rescue.  Then I had to dig myself out because I got stuck up to my hips as well.  I made my way down the hill a little then used the two sleds like snow shoes to get the rest of the way down.

Levi stuck his face into the snow to eat some.

He realised it wasn't his brightest idea.

Our friend tried to pull Abe in the sled, but the snow was so deep and there was so much powder it wasn't going anywhere!

Snow angels.

Cutest little angel around!

We finally were able to sled when we got to a place with a little less powder.

Then we headed back inside to get some lunch.  And warm up a little.

And pull funny faces while we waited for the rest of our crew.

On our way home the roads were still pretty bad.  Bryant asked if he could eat the Clif Bar he'd taken for emergency food.  About two bites in he realised that it had pecans in it!  So we tried to figure out where in Japan we could find Benadryl... no easy task!  We stopped at three places with no luck.  Although at one of those places, he put on quite a show for all the people inside as he wretched in the parking lot.  Finally, the fourth place we stopped they were able to find the right meds with the help of three nice Japanese people in the drug store.  He felt much better by the time we got home.

We were all tired and ready for bed by the time we finally got home, our two hour drive had turned into a three hour one.  Thank goodness for a warm home and bed!

Beating the January Blues

December is so full of anticipation and excitement that January has a tendency to be a little bit of a downer.  We've done a little exploring to combat the January Blues.  Ethan had a day off the day the kids went back to school so we went out for the day.  For lunch we tried out a newish restaurant in town, a Yakiniku style restaurant.  They brought us our meat raw and we cooked it on this little grill. 

The first menu we looked at was in Japanese, when they brought the English menu to us I was thinking I might have been better off not knowing!  I handed it to Ethan and let him choose for us.  I shared on instagram that I am a very trusting wife!  I told him not to tell me what he ordered if it was tongue or intestines... but he told me he didn't order either.

Abe and I frequent the base thrift shop and sometimes we score awesome toys for dirt cheap.  Even though we had just celebrated Christmas, these Lincoln Logs had to come home with us!  The kids have surprised me by playing with them (all together no less!) more than just about any other toy (the magnet tiles are the only thing that's been played with more since Christmas!).

Ethan and I went out thrifting in a neighbouring town for a date early in the month.  We decided to try to find a place to eat.  We have no idea what most places are and this was no different.  I still don't really know what we ate!  But it was pretty good.  I took lots of pictures to document the experience.

Japanese restaurants use the smallest cups!  Water is the norm for drinking, even if you're eating out in our neck of the woods.  Thankfully, they'll often place a pitcher on the table with us so I don't die of thirst while I eat.  If you've ever eaten out with me, you may remember that I drink a ton of water when I'm at a restaurant.  Think of those giant cups you get in the states... yep, I get at least 4 refills on that... at least.

Soup was served with our dinner.  Miso isn't my favourite flavour.  But Ethan seems to enjoy it.

Okonomiyaki is the style of restaurant we happened upon.  I didn't even know that was a thing.  I just googled it, click on the link if you want to learn about it.

I figured it would be good to have a picture of the outside to remember if we ever want to find our way back.

Kids playing and hanging out.  And apparently riding a toddler scooter round the apartment.

We had some friends over for dinner and their son brought his little iPod on which they recorded some scary movies.  They kept screaming in the other room and then bringing us the video to watch.  It looks like they were all pretty proud of their filming skills.

One Sunday afternoon, Levi decided it was time he learn to play the guitar.  He pulled out one of Ethan's old ones and started to learn some chords. I think he can still play a couple.

Bryant didn't want to be outdone by his little brother, I guess.  And dad let him fiddle around on the nice, newest guitar.

Selfies on mom's phone.

Abe went out to play with the kids one afternoon.  He left with one of the big boys, then a different brother went out and the first came in, then another one cycled through... by the time Abe came in he'd been out longer than anyone and I was worried he had a little start of frostbite on those cheeks.  You can see the little white patches starting on his lower cheeks.  I expected the cheeks to be freezing but they were actually warm to the touch.

The pictures don't do it justice.  But he was fine.  Typical mom overreaction.

We have reinstated reading time before bed.  One night Eliza was "reading" to Abraham by flipping through the Children's Songbook and Abe was doing his usual crazy dancing/martial arts.  I had to snap a picture so I can always remember these silly kids bringing a smile to my face.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!

Meanwhile, Bolton was quietly reading in the next room.  Since Christmas he has read at least 8 chapter books.  He's 6.  I'm so proud of him for not being afraid to try something "hard" and sticking to it and learning that he loves it!

I sewed a shirt for myself.  I love the way it turned out and had to snap a picture.  When I looked so skinny in the picture I had to post it on instagram, but then I felt like a liar to all my friends because it is so misleading! That's OK, though, the shirt turned out awesome!  Nothing beats creating something you love!

A couple ladies from church had babies and so several of us went to dinner to celebrate their new babies.  That day we had received a ton of snow, our first really big snowfall in a day that stuck.  One of my friends felt inclined to do a snow angel... I was impressed she could get herself back up out of that snow!  It was an impressive angel to say the least!

Then as we were walking past my van I saw that there was this ledge of snow overhanging the side.  I tried to capture it on my camera, but it was cooler in real life.

This is the back passenger door.  See that little tunnel/cave?  I've never seen anything like it.  The wind must have been doing some crazy stuff.

FaceTime with family is so fun!  We haven't done much with the cousins, but Ethan's brother has made more of an effort than anyone to keep the kids involved.  I loved seeing my whole crew trying to cram into the screen of Ethan's phone.

Date night out with friends.  We got to try a new place and new to us food.  Yakisoba (fried noodles) and cheese rolls, yum.

AND we finally got to a karaoke place!  There are several places around here that are not like what you think of in the states when you picture karaoke.  In these places your group gets its own room, you pay per person/time and you have to order a drink for everyone in the party.

Its not as cheap as hanging out at home and doing karaoke, but it is a fun experience!

We finally rummaged up enough gear that we were ready to hit the slopes.  The kids were so excited when they woke up to find all these treasures to try on for our upcoming adventure.

Ethan had to swap bindings between our boards because his boots were too small and my boots were huge.

Another reading time, this one a little more subdued than before.  When I saw these kids my heart swelled.  They are such good buddies.  Bolton has a sleepover in Eliza and Abe's room most weekends.  I love my kids!