The Hammes Clan

2010 and my new plan

2010-01-01T12:56:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year!!

I hope 2010 has greeted you with open arms and happy hearts. We are all a little tired in the Hammes household this Jan 1. We actually stayed up till after midnight (RJ included). It was great ringing in the new year with great friends!!

I have been hesitant about updating my blog for several reasons, which I won't go into here. I would like to start a new blog and password protect it. So if you would like to continue to follow my family and my attempt to document it, email me at merryhammes@hotmail and I will give the info to you. I promise to be more faithful at updating it seeing how I can control who gets to see it.

Hope all is well in all of your homes and here's to a great New Year!!

Being Proud

2009-10-13T09:47:00.003-07:00

I was so excited the other night when Mitch came to get me so I would see what RJ was doing. He said "Bring your camera".

RJ can ride his bike...without training wheels!!!

another quick video

In case you can't see the videos, here are some snap shots.

The best part is, he has crashed (lightly) and gotten right back up and rode again. I am so proud of him!!!!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Halloween....

2009-10-11T17:00:00.003-07:00

Every year, our church Mission Bell UMC sets up a pumpkin patch. To kick it off, we invite all church members, friends, family, boy/cub scouts & girl scouts to come help unload the truck...

We all work in a long line so no one has to carry a heavy pumpkin for too long...

"Many hands make for lite work"

If you stand opposite from each other there is less back twisting...

Sara taking a break with her friend all the adults do the heavy work (the kids set out all the tiny gourds earlier)

The grassy area in front of the church

Look at all those pumpkins...

When it was all said and done we off loaded 1132 regular to large size pumpkins. It took about 2 hrs with breaks for water and pizza. It was a lot of fun to talk to everyone while working.

If you are near 43rd Ave and Bell Road, stop buy and get your pumpkin!!!

Once we got home, the kids helped me finish decorating our house for Halloween

Now they want to know when is it time to go Trick or Treating...

Fun with Cousins

2009-10-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

This summer I had the privilege of hanging out with 4 awesome kids!! Jordan and Miles came over for a week of fun!! Everyday we spent time in the sand (at home or at the park)

Swings were a bog hit for the big boys

And Sara

All four of them also spent time in the play house in the back yard. Can you see them through the door window....

Oh wait..there they are...

It was a great week! It went by too fast. I hope they can come over again to play!

A Little About RJ

2009-10-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have been slacking on my blog...sorry about that...here is a quick update on RJ...

Following RJ's 6th birthday this summer, he decided he wanted to try karate. He loves it and is very good at it. We hope to move him up in January to the next category "Master Club"

Sara got to try class during July.

He has also learned about the Jr. Ranger Program. At all the National parks here in America he can answer some questions and then receive a badge for his Jr Ranger vest. He has 4 so far and he can't wait to earn more.

A piece of lava rock near Sunset Crater National Park

This summer we spent a lot of time doing science experiments (thanks Aunt Heidi). He loves to see how things work and to see if he can make other thins happen.

Every day RJ amazes me even more. He loves to read and tries to read anything you put in front of him. Sometimes he gets frustrated if the words are too big but he tries hard to sound them out. He has made some good friends here in the neighborhood and at school. Everyday he has something new to share. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!!

Walk for Hope

2009-10-05T21:10:00.005-07:00

This past Saturday, Mitch, the kids and I ventured out on my 3rd annual (minus the year abroad) participation in the City of Hope "Walk for Hope Breast Cancer Walk". We left the house at 5:30am in hopes of getting there in time to fill our bags with all the free goodies the vendors give away. We got some bread, candy, ice cream, apples, water and office supplies. It was great fun.

Then we get ready to start the walk. It was a 5K walk which took us through the Phoenix Zoo.

The finish line! We were rewarded with tags at the finish line.

After the walk we hung around the vendors a bit more and the kids got to meet the Coyote's mascot.

After the walk, we headed back to the zoo to enjoy the animals.

Sara wanted to sing a song to her new frog...

Down at the wallaby walk about - trying to get the kids use to the idea of seeing kangaroos and wallabies...

Taking a break from the animals and enjoying a playground.

Then we headed down to Harmony Farm to enjoy the petting farm.

Sara was in heaven...She loved petting and brushing all the goats.

This one was rather tall...Almost as tall as RJ

This was my favorite picture of the day...Sara sat there stroking this goats goatee for quite some time. She often does this when anyone has a goatee....

Then off to some other hands on exhibits...Mitch was a good turtle (or sport)

RJ and Sara are "all clammed up"

Daddy was wrangling this crocodile to save Sara from his jaws....

Our last stop was the Giraffes. The kids talked dad into walking up the look out tower to get a better look.

It was a great morning!! Mitch and I were down for a nap by 2:30pm...the kids lasted all day but were out by 7pm.

All About Sara

2009-08-23T14:12:00.006-07:00

Seeing how I am a bit behind, I thought I'd do a recap a few things we did this summer...staring Sara

Back in March, Sara turned 3 and I took her to have her pictures taken.

Isn't she fun in front of the camera

We welcomed a new member into our family and Sara took a liking to him immediately

Poor Buster never had a chance

The biggest amazement of the summer...Sara taught herself how to swim. She started out with a life vest back in April, but by the time RJ's birthday rolled around (June) she was swimming from one end of the pool to the other unassisted.

But she never ceases to amaze me...she loves to be a girl and dress up. She was so happy to get a pair of Hello Kitty sunglasses that she wore them all day even in the house.

I really enjoyed spending time with Sara this summer. I am already looking forward to Fall Break in October. It will just be the two of us as RJ will be in school that week. We will have a lot of fun.

RJ's First Day of First Grade

2009-08-08T07:56:00.003-07:00

After much excitement, RJ finally got to start 1st grade at his new school!!!

We all decided it would be best if RJ attended his neighborhood school so we registered him there. He was so excited to be able to go to school on the first day and be able to know some kids. There are 5 grade school kids on our street (none in the same grade) and they have been playing together all summer long.

Here is RJ outside his new classroom

Here he is at his new desk.

We are certain that he is going to have a great year! He spent his first week cooking! He was so excited to come home and tell us what he made in class.

Hope everyone else has a great school year too!

Our New Family Addition

2009-06-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last week, our great friend across the street conned Mitch into bringing home a new family addition...

Sara is in heaven with the newest member, Buster.

She carries him everywhere..

When Buster arrived we were already dog sitting our friend's dog, Porche. I think Porche was thankful to have someone to play with...

It has been interesting adjusting to having 2 dogs again. Porche will go home this weekend and I think all of us, including Buster, will be sad when she leaves.

June 12, 2009...RJ turns 6...several times last week!

2009-06-23T18:27:00.007-07:00

I can't believe RJ is now 6 years old...I know the cliche is "time flies, enjoy them while you can", but man, 6 years have come and gone like a blink of an eye.

Thanks to some great friends afar, this is what RJ woke up to on his birthday.

A new helmet for his scooter and bike rides

an awesome package from Kimi (and her mom and dad) in Japan. She sent him toe socks, underoos and lots of Japanese candies and snacks.

a fabulous package from Miho with a set of Shinkansin colored pencils and a date book.

This is a thank you message from RJ to his friends in Japan whom we all miss dearly!

More posts to come with the rest of the birthday festivities.

SSOO Much FUN!!

2009-06-02T21:56:00.002-07:00

Flash back about 15 years or so and 2 of my favorite friends are pregnant. And they are both expecting boys! I was so excited for them.

Flash forward about 10 years to when I was pregnant with RJ. I was scared to death I was going to have a girl...for those of you who knew me back then, I was not a girly girl. I have two older brothers and we grew up on a street where all the kids were boys (except for Darcy and I). I learned to be a tomboy so I could fit in.

Then I became pregnant with baby #2 and I was actually ok with the idea that I might have a girl. the ultrasounds were inconclusive until about the 8th month and by then I was actually getting EXCITED about the possibility of having a girl...

Flash forward three years (to present day) and let me tell you...IT IS SO MUCH FUN having Sara as my daughter!!

Today was a day of nothings and we had fun. The kids and I headed off to Michael's to get a few things to help RJ get his birthday invitations off in the and some shoes for RJ and Sara.

Sara wanted HOT PINK flip flops...hey they were only$1 and they had her size and mine...this could be fun.

So we picked out some ribbon and made the best looking flip flops on the block!!!

I could get use to this girly stuff!!! Thanks Sara for being who you are!!!

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-25T08:53:00.006-07:00

Today is a day of remembrance...

But what do most of us remember about Memorial Day's of the past....

Swimming (yep that is what my kids will remember about this day off from school)

BBQs

The beginnings of vacations (for a few years, I was at the airport on Memorial day; Australia in 2000, LA 2001 (I believe picking up Rochelle), somewhere else 2002...)

But how often do we stop and remember all those lives taken (just listened to Andy Rooney say that they were not "lives given up, but taken").

My father was one of the fortunate ones...His life was spared, but how many friends did he lose, how many memories does he have..

There are others who I try to remember to Thank on Memorial Day (Mitch taught me this practice years ago). 3 of my 4 grandparents fought in WWII and I was fortunate enough to know all of them. Grandpa Miller (aka G-Papa) Grandma Miller (a member of WAC And Grandpa Leister (sorry can't find the picture)

But what about all those we don't know therefore can not remember....(photo of some survivors of the Spanish American War)

I hope each of you takes a moment today to remember why it is so great to be Americans and enjoy the freedoms we do have.....

1st Swim of the 2009 Hammes Swim Season

2009-04-21T21:51:00.005-07:00

Just a few pictures and vidoes from tonight's swim. The weather reached 100 degrees F (about 38 degrees C) so it was time to cool off.

Sara's first jump

RJ's solo jump

Sara's message to Japan (sorry it is sideways)

Daddy finally got Sara to take off her life vest and swim with him

Here's to many more fun filles summer days in the backyard pool!!

Naps Still Needed

2009-04-21T21:48:00.002-07:00

Apparently Sara still needs to take a nap every once and awhile....

When I picked her up from the sitter today, she had just passed out on the TV room bed. I carried her to the car, buckled her up and drove home. Even after the 30 min nap, she still wanted to sleep when we got home (at 5:30pm) so she just stopped at the stairs and took a snoozzzzz...

Aren't they so cute when they sleep

Sing With Glee, Sara is Three!!!

2009-03-19T15:12:00.001-07:00

The celebrations started off with this great sign made especially for Sara by one of our new neighbors. I gave it some color by painting it and placed it on the fire place mantle so that Sara could see it when she came down the stairs.

She also received an early present from our friend Michy in Japan. She was so excited to get her own mail with her name on it. She also received a card from Aunt Anne.

Monday morning the festives began when her little friends showed up for her tea party. The first thing we did was paint. The girls painted different parts of tea sets. They all seemed to enjoy it very much.

Sara was so excited to be painting!

The boys painted their own ties to wear later.

There ended up being about 20 kids at the party (it was Spring Break)

Then my camera went dead so I can only tell you what else we did. We played pin the lid on the tea pot and had a relay to set up a tea set.

It was time for lunch. RJ helped me cut out fun shapes of cheese, turkey and ham. We also had crackers, apples, carrots, broccoli...all of Sara's favorites. Plus pink lemonade to drink.

After lunch Sara opened presents and was very excited to receive some Princess band aids and panties. It is funny what excites little ones!! After presents was cake time. Sara was waiting all morning to eat cake. She loved it.

After her friends all left, we took naps and geared up for another party that evening after RJ's T-ball game.

Grandparents and aunts came over to help Sara celebrate her special day. She was able to open her presents before cake again. Very happy little girl.

She received a princess table, umbrella and chairs from RJ and a small computer from one of her friends.

We sang Happy Birthday and RJ helped her blow out her candles. (yes, I made the cake and decorated it with a tea pot on it).

The next morning Sara was very happy to be able to play with all her new toys including her new dress up high heel shoes...

She even let RJ wear a pair of her new high heel princess shoes (Mitch said it was evil of me to keep this picture, I think it will be fun to show his wife in about 20 years)

All in all, I think Sara had a great 3rd birthday. She had her pictures taken at the Photo Studio on Tuesday. I will post them as soon as I get them scanned in.

Meet the Newest Leister

2009-03-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

Sara was so excited to meet her new cousin, Kennedy. She was giving her kisses all over so I had Mitch capture it on film. I think the 2 of them are going to get along well.

RJ's T-Ball Fun

2009-03-19T13:41:00.005-07:00

A few months ago, Mitch asked RJ if he wanted to play a sport. His choices were golf or T-ball (just like baseball but no one pitches the ball to the batter, it is stationary on a T so that the young kids can learn to hit it). He chose T-ball. Mitch signed him up for the 4-6 year olds and the started practice just a couple of weeks ago.

This past Saturday they had Opening Ceremonies. The teams were paraded around the bases. You can see RJ marching with his team.

Then all the teams went into the outfield and had a snack (pizza and drinks). The coaches then played a quick fun game (running backwards, batting with the wrong hand).

Jordan (RJ's cousin) and Sara were there to cheer him on.

Then Monday, RJ had his very first game. He was so excited to finally get to play.

Sara was just as happy to be relaxing with her grandmas and parents.

RJ batting

Running to 1st base

waiting on 2nd base to run to 3rd base

Fielding the ball

Throwing it to 1st base.

They do not keep score or outs so all the kids played and had fun. RJ can't wait for his next game!!

My Goals for Spring Break

2009-03-19T13:40:00.002-07:00

So, I had some pretty big goals for myself for this year's Spring Break....and I am happy to say that one of them was to update the blog...hope you enjoy the next few entries...

Great Friends and Great Citrus

2009-02-22T15:38:00.001-07:00

What do you do when your great friends give you A LOT of oranges from their orange trees....

You juice them and eat them at the same time...

Thanks Frances and Scott for the great memories you provided my family today!

I'm Still Here...

2009-01-27T21:08:00.002-07:00

No, I haven't gone anywhere, I just haven't posted in like forever. I apologize (again) to anyone who regularly checks my blog to see if I have anything new. It's funny how I get upset that the blogs I frequent when they haven't updated....

Life is just weird these days. I don't want to complain because I know that we are very fortunate with all we have, it just doesn't seem normal. Who would have thought 6 months after returning from an adventure of a life time, we would be so home sick.

We have been busy getting our new place ready for us to really live in it. We finally had a few friends over to see the finished floors and paint downstairs. Now I just have to get in gear to finish the upstairs. I know new carpet is a LONG way off, so what is the hurry to paint. Except I hate the ceilings and the blue walls.

Since the old house is vacant (tenants left Jan 2 and never paid Dec's rent...uugghh...), we decided to reclaim some of our things we left behind. Mitch has graciously agreed to bring over the cabinets so now my craft room is starting to take shape. Now we just have to construct Mitch's office so he can feel like he has a space too.

I guess having to pay 2 mortgages takes more than a financial stain on anyone. Here's to hoping we both still have jobs come next month.

I hope to get back to my regular days of blogging soon. We don't have reliable wireless Internet which means if I blog, I don't even get to see Mitch let alone spend time with him. My 2 hour commute is starting to drain on the kids and I.

OK I am going to end this post before I make myself anymore depressed. We truly are thankful for all we have and our family and friends. We are glad to be home, but we sure do miss Himeji!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T17:11:00.004-07:00

For those of you who are avid blog followers, I apologize for being absent...life has just been busy.

I wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! For those of you who have not received our Christmas card, do not feel alone...I have not sent them out yet...Maybe Valentine's cards will be nice :-)

For Christmas Eve, Chef RJ invited my family over for Hot Chocolate and Cookies. In preparation, we had to make cookies

Daddy helped the little ones decorate.

RJ did a great job all on his own.

Sara had to make sure some of the frosting ended up on her so she could enjoy it later.

Then the guests started to arrive. RJ put on his Chef outfit and served hot chocolate and cookies.

After the goodies were eaten, Grandma Leister played games with the kids.

It was a great night!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Guess I am slacking a bit....

For Halloween this year we decided to go to Tucson and go Trick-or-Treating with some friends. RJ and Sara decided to be Japanese and wear their yukatas ( a summer style kimono).

RJ

Sara

The gang of kids we went with

It didn't take Sara very long to figure out how the night was going to work...walk to the door, yell "Trick or Treat" and receive a bunch of candy. It was great! She loaded up her bag then had mommy carry her back to the house.

We had a great night. Thanks Trina and crew for letting us go with you! We had a blast!!

Casa Grande Ruins National Park

2008-11-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

For the Veteran's Day holiday (November 11) we met up with some friends in Coolidge Arizona to visit on of our National Parks. Apparently AZ has the most National parks out of all the states.

The Great House is believed to have been built hundreds of years ago by the Native American tribe called the Hohokams.

Another part of the compound near the Great House. Cheryl and i were collage roommates. RJ and Nathan are about 2 months apart in age and Sara and Jacob are about 5 months apart.

The kids trying to fit through a door way. The Hohokam people must have been very short.

Another room on the compound

This picture is a hard to see, but this is believed to be a Ball Court. Apparently a ball game was played here and the losers were offered up in a religious ritual.

a closer picture of the Casa Grande (in Spanish, casa means house and grande means big)

While we walked around the grounds, RJ and Nathan were answering some questions so they could become Junior

Answering questions

Getting ready to be sworn in as Junior Rangers

Our proud new Junior Rangers!!

It was a great day! We all learned a lot and had fun with our friends! Thanks Cheryl for meeting us!.

You can read more about this place at http://www.nps.gov/cagr/historyculture/index.htm

Triple Scoop of Fun

2008-11-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

The other day after church, RJ managed to get Daddy to give him a ride on his shoulders. Sara was not too happy about that so she asked for a ride. Mitch thought it was best to give both of them a ride....

Smash...Crash...

2008-11-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

We have officially started reconstruction on our new home. The kids got to help Daddy smash up the old tile he pulled up on the downstairs...
I think the hammer was heavier than Sara...

RJ loved smashing...

and crashing all the tile.

That room was finished last weekend. They have the other half of the down stairs to pull up and smash. Oh the joys of children....

My School

2008-11-07T21:49:00.003-07:00

I finally remembered to take some pictures of my school. I teach 7th grade (1st grade Jr High for those of you in Japan) math at a Middle School (7th & 8th grade). Most of our school is single story, but we have a new library building that is 2 story.

This is the front office and staff parking lot.

This is the remodeled cafeteria.

Our small copy room

the one Riso machine that no one uses and it is put back in a corner. (in Japan we only used Riso machines and they worked great!)

The patio area just outside the cafeteria. The students can not eat out there, but they do play games there during their lunch time.

The inside of the cafeteria. These tables fold up and are put away during the day time. Sometimes they have school dances in here.

This is me out in front of the school on Halloween. We were able to dress up for Halloween so I thought it would be fun to wear my Yukata. The students loved it and asked all kinds of questions about life in Japan.

That is all for now. Maybe I will take more pictures later and post them.

Tolmachoff Farms

2008-10-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here in Arizona (possible in other parts of America too), going to a pumpkin patch is a big thing to do with small children just in time for Halloween. We go to pick out our very own pumpkin to take home and carve into a jack-o-lantern. If it is a great pumpkin patch, they will have many other fun things to do for the kids. This year we went with some friends to a near by family farm and had a blast....

5 of the 6 kids we took posing behind some vegetables.

RJ and Jacqy hanging out in a tractor tire.

There was a large wooden bin that was filled with dried corn. the kids thought it would be fun to bury Sara in the corn.

A water duck race. The kids had to pump the old style water pump to get the water to race the ducks.

They were able to grind their own corn to feed to the chicken and roosters.

There were tricycles to ride

And go-cart peddle cars to ride too.

A fun small corn maze to wonder through...we almost lost Sara.

Look how tall the corn was.

Some hay to sit on and pose with a large jack-o-lantern

A small petting zoo...Sara wasn't too sure about the pig. It was almost as big as she was.

The big pumpkin patch...Sara was determined to pick up that pumpkin, and she did it all my herself.

The smaller pumpkin patch and a smaller pumpkin.

RJ and his pumpkin

RJ is very proud of his big pumpkin. For those of you back in Japan...we will carve a face into the front of the pumpkin, take out all the seeds, wash them and roast them and eat them. Then the jack-o-lantern will go by our front door step a few days before Halloween with a candle inside as decoration for the neighborhood kids that go trick-or-treating.

Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Phoenix Children's Museum

2008-10-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last month, while we were staying with some friends, we all went to the new Phoenix Children's museum. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, I encourage you to go. The kids had a blast....

Sara liked weighing the peas...
RJ LOVED playing cashier...
He would have stayed all day at this part if I had let him.
I had to explain that we have to share and take turns. I am sure that when we go again, he will head right for this spot.

But the kitchen and pizza maker wasn't far behind on his favorite list.
Sara liked washing the dishes...
RJ and Kendra kept taking orders from the poor souls that sat down at the restaurant table in the kitchen area.
RJ's turn at the peas

There was a small play house area for kids 3 and younger. It was nice for Sara to not have to "fight" with the older kids to get to play.

She made friends real quick too.
"MOM! get this ball out of my way!"
Slides are always fun!

Then we found the bike area (yes this is still indoors). RJ rode Sara around...
And then he rode Kendra around...
Kendra tried it on her own...
Sara made a go of it....
She even tried to pull daddy...

Outside they had some cool stuff too...

This "Dragon" needed to be decorated with ribbons...
It was looking pretty cool by the time we finished.

And of course there is always a craft room at these types of museums...
paper mache lady bug
RJ made a cat's face...
Daddy helped Sara with hers...
The Hammes family having fun in the craft room

Some cool origami cranes...made me miss Japan even more...
These were CDs that were colored and hanged from the ceiling.
The outside

These bikes were hard to maneuver..we have to get the small wheels moving while you are walking on them...

Daddy did pretty good on it
The tunnel area for the little ones (can you see Sara's legs in the hole?)

That is Sara on the right.

It was a great day at the museum. Thanks Brenda and Kendra for taking us!

Games at Church

2008-10-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to our church to play some games with our friends there. The kids found Ms. Colleen to play games with them.

Sara really wanted to knck over my dominoes
RJ and Amelia playing RJ's favorite game, Sorry!

The Park in Garden Lakes

2008-10-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last week was Fall Break for me and the kids (we had a week off from school). Some friends came up from Tucson and we spent a lot of time playing. This is the park in our neighborhood.

I love that the equipment is shaded.
RJ and his friends trying to figure out how to get something out of the tree
Sara and her friend playing in the water puddles on the sidewalk. They were dripping wet when they were finished. Can you see the lake in the back ground? RJ is dying for daddy to take him fishing there.

On the walk home, the 3 middle kids all held hands....aahh...I love how our park is so big and close to our house.

Walk for Hope

2008-10-20T20:31:00.002-07:00

Earlier this month we Walked for Hope to Cure Breast Cancer. This walk is about 3km and the route goes through the Phoenix Zoo. RJ and Sara loved being a part of it this year.

Mitch and the kids gearing up...look at all those people.
The desert view on the way to the zoo.
Many people ahead of us...we were in the slow lane with 2 small kids.
Sara started walking around with her hands in her pockets. She looked so cute, I had to take her picture. Of course, RJ wanted his picture taken too.
This is part of the open Savanna field at the Phoenix Zoo where Giraffes, zebra and many other animals roam freely. Very different than the zoo back in Himeji.

Sara Misses Akiko

2008-10-20T20:26:00.005-07:00

Sara is really missing her friends back in Japan. This morning she pulled out her apron that her friend Akiko gave her and told me that Akiko was sad. I think Sara was sad too...but doesn't she look cute!!!

All Tuckered Out

2008-10-06T09:37:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist capturing this picture of Mitch and Sara taking a Sunday afternoon nap...

They must have been comfortable because they both slept for almost 2 hours this way.....

Snow Fun in September

2008-10-05T09:15:00.001-07:00

We stayed with some friends for a few weeks before we got moved into our new house. One Friday evening, we met up with them at one of their favorite Mexican restaurant. The kids were getting a little restless so I volunteered to take them over to the ice hockey rink. This is what we found in the parking lot behind the ice rink....

SNOW!!

The kids had a blast playing in it
RJ and his friend Kendra

Sara sitting in the ice chair that Kendra made.
RJ cooling off his bottom.
Kendra thought she would give it a try too..
Sara desperately wanted to eat the ice....

They all had a great time and were very cold by the time we were ready to head home. Maybe next time we will go up north and play in some real snow this winter...

Pretty Hair

2008-10-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

One Sunday morning, Sara asked her daddy to fix her hair pretty for church.

So Daddy put her hair in a pony tail, tied her hat thing on and turned her lose...

The hat didn't last long...

Then it was daddy's turn to get his hair fixed pretty...
I love it when Mitch is a good sport and lets Sara make him all pretty.

Get Better Soon

2008-10-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Sara woke up with a tummy ache and daddy decided it was best for him to stay home with her so she could reat and get better.

When I picked RJ up from school that same day, he told me he had a card for his sister that he made.

A beautiful rainbow colored by RJ for his sister
This was the envelop that her rainbow picture came in. In case you can not read it, let me translate it for you...."I hope you get better soon".

I was almost brought to tears. I truly hope that RJ and Sara always stay as close as they are right now. I know that they will have their moments, maybe even years, but it just amazes me all the love RJ has for his sister. She is so lucky!!

I'm Back...

2008-10-02T21:32:00.002-07:00

We have finally moved into our our place! We are so excited to finally have some of our own space and freedoms.

I will post some pictures of the house soon (they are on Mitch's computer), but I wanted to let you all know that I have internet now and plan to get caught up a bit here on the blog. Check back soon...

Driving in Arizona

2008-09-01T17:23:00.011-07:00

I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of what is looks like here in Arizona. Returning to Phoenix after living in Himeji for a year, everything looks the same, but everything feels different. The roads are wider, the space is more open...just different.

I took this picture while driving (I was stopped at a red light) so you could see an intersection. There is usually at least one gas station and one fast food restaurant.

This is a main street near my parents house. You can see that there are 3 lanes on my side of the road, a yellow lane (it is used to make left turns in both directions) and there are two lanes on the other side of the road. Very wide compared to streets in Himeji.

While driving home from Tucson this past weekend, I wanted to take some pictures of our scenery. This is a prickly pear cactus. It is in full bloom. They say you can pick the fruit (that is those pinkish red things on the cactus) and eat it or use it to make jelly.

This is a picture of the Catalina Mountains in Tucson (about 2 hrs south of Phoenix by car).I use to live at the base of those mountains while I was going to The University of Arizona.

I love the big puffy clouds above mountain ridges.

This is the east side of the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. There said to be gold in them there mountains.

While we were driving around the Phoenix area last night I asked Mitch if there were that many mountains in the area before we left...of course there were but it seems so weird to be able to see wide open spaces.

I hope to do more blogs soon for all of you back home (in Himeji). I might be off line for about 2 weeks, but I will be back. If you haven't checked my Japan blog lately (http://merryinjapan.blogspot.com/) check it...I finally posted the rest of Tokyo.

I hope everyone is doing well....

RJ's First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-11T20:44:00.011-07:00

Monday, August 11, 2008

RJ and I both started school on Monday. RJ was SSOO excited to be going back to school

RJ, Sara and I on our first day of school.

RJ out in front of the cafeteria.

RJ trying to get daddy to hurry up so he can get to class

RJ in front of his classroom..Rm 902

RJ waiting patiently for his teacher to unlock her door

RJ so happy he finally got to go to his own desk.

He had a great day! Daddy had to take Sara out of the classroom kicking and screaming. She wanted to stay in Kindergarten also. RJ's only complaint was that school was too short. He only goes for about 3 hrs a day the first 2 weeks of school.

p.s. I apologize if the formatting on this blog is not good. I am finally back online on a more regular basis now so I hope to improve this layout.

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

We finally made it back to sunny, DRY Phoenix, AZ. After leaving Himeji late on July 26th, we arrived in Phoenix late on July 29th.