Tokyo

Nichy had a week off for The Holidays and we decided to go to Tokyo. We caught the bullet train and left on Tuesday. We stayed in Shibuya district and couldn't believe all the people! I researched Tokyo a lot before we went and had all the addresses of sites to see. Unfortunately, that list got left at home! When we got off the train we spotted a Sabarros pizza place. This was are first stop in Tokyo and the beginning of our eating spree! Gabriela did well and had a good time. At times she got tired of walking. We laughed, because at one point when she was walking she said, "I am ready to go back to our Japan home." This little girl had no idea how lucky she was to be in Tokyo! All she knew was her Christmas toys were in Otsu, and that is where she wanted to be!

My favorite sight was the Tokyo Tower. The view of the city and buildings was amazing. There was also a really cool play area for kids. I felt like each district we went to had a different vibe. Shibuya was very loud, crowed, and had a little bit of everything. Ginza district had the ritzy vibe with a lot of people. We also made it to the famous Kiddy Land store. This was three levels of toys! Gabriela was a happy and picked out a Hello Kitty toy. We are so glad we got a chance to go to Tokyo and hopefully next time I won't eat so much:)

Christmas Pics!

Decorating the Christmas Tree! I let Gabriela pick out all of the ornaments and decorations.

Santa Clause came and gave all the kids from the basketball team presents at the party. They were so excited and he was the hit of the party!

 Gabriela on her way to the game with her sack of candy canes!! I think at this point she had only eaten one! Every time I looked at her at the game she had one in her mouth.

Gabriela giving a candy cane to Hina. A few people had not seen candy canes before.

Before Nichys basketball game. They lost on New Years Eve but won the next day on Christmas!!

Christmas In Japan

I anticipated Christmas being hard this year being in a Buddhist country and away from family. The team and our friends did a good job helping us celebrate! We started celebrating with buying a Christmas tree and decorating it. This year I really tried to focus on teaching Gabriela what Christmas is truly about and its just not about getting gifts! We would read the Christmas story and she would also look at the pictures and recite the story.
She was also very concerned how Santa would get in the apartment in Japan with out a chimney! Nichy told her Santa had "magic keys." She wrote a few letters to Santa this year and would give them to Nichy to send. Christmas Eve Nichy had a basketball game. Gabriela wore her Christmas dress and passed out candy canes. She also ate a few! Before the game she decided she wanted a present for her friend Frari. I gave her something I had put away and she loved wrapping the gift with Daddy.
Christmas Eve night we sang songs, read the Christmas Story, left cookies and milk for Santa, and lettuce for the reindeer's! It was very hard to get her to fall asleep. The next morning when she woke up she ran to check if Santa had eaten the cookies and the reindeer got the lettuce. She loved her presents and her barbie dolls. Santa sent her on a scavenger hunt for a gingerbread house and she was beyond excited! I love Christmas and traditions. This was are first year making a gingerbread house. Daddy did most of the work and Gabriela and I decorated it. We are trying to figure out how to get rid of it now!

Sushi

Its funny a couple day ago I was having a tough day and missing the U.S. Everything changed today! I am so grateful for being here, and learning about this country. We went to Michis house today, and learned how to cook sushi and another Japanese dish.  After we got done cooking sushi we went into her dining room. There was a small table on the floor with big pillows and cushions surrounding it. We sat there and ate our sushi. On the center of the table was a big skillet where she prepared the other dish. Everything was so good! She also gave us sake to drink with little gold flakes in it!

When we were finished with everything she presented us with bags. In the bags were all the ingredients for everything we had learned to cook! I can't wait to try and cook the sushi again. She laughed when I asked about putting avocado in it!

Mondays

Each Monday Nichy has the day off. We love this day together as a family and also enjoy going to knew places. Last week we went to Osaka and walked the streets for 6 hours! We couldn't believe how well Gabriela did. Its funny I will take her on a five minute walk and she wants to be held. However, when Daddy is around she does much better! This week we stayed in Otsu and walked around. We laughed that even though we didn't travel anywhere we still managed to do the usual 6 hour outing! Poor Nichy never gets to rest on his day off!

We love going to Nichys games and they have been winning! He has been playing great. After every game Gabriela runs on the court with him. Then she complains how he got her sweaty! Last game Gabriela took her braid out of her hair. When I asked her why she did that her response was "I want my hair like the cheerleaders." She is fascinated by them and I think we are in trouble!!

Kimono Dresses

The first day I was here in Japan Nichy brought two presents home for Gabriela and I. A lady named Miche game them to him for us. Attached was a note that said enjoy Japan. I thought that was so sweet, and it was the first time I received a gift before meeting someone. We met Miche and love her!! She is truly a genuine nice person and makes me want to do for others as she does. Last week she took us on a river boat ride. After the boat ride she fit us for Japanese Kimono dresses and gave them to us! Gabriela loves hers and wants to wear it everyday! I love this picture of Gabriela. It also reminds me of how lucky this little 3 year old is!

When Nichy got home from practice we were in our dresses and surprised him! Some of the players were with him! I think they all got a good laugh.