Braces off

Yesterday, the boy got the braces off his top teeth. He has a retainer now. Just thought I'd post a photo of the before and after.

PS Also a photo of some pretty fall colors we passed on our way to the orthodontist's office.

Inoshishi Sighting

Sunday morning pig sighting! We had slept in and Gil and I didn't leave for our morning constitutional until 7:30am. We rounded the corner towards the back walkway and low and behold there were 2 pig bottoms not 6 feet in front of us. Luckily they were rooting in the hedges and didn't notice us. I was able to whisk Gil away and back into the safety of the house. I grabbed my camera, alerted the rest of the family and took off in pursuit of the beasts! As I exited the back door I saw one pig up at the grassy knoll, rooting. I sidled up the hill for a photo, as quiet as possible, but it noticed me. It looked me right in the eye, but made no move towards me. After a few photos I returned to the house, wondering where the second pig was. Gil still needed to go for a walk but I thought it best to run a surveilance check by the back gate to be sure the second pig wasn't down there. I peered over the balcony in the back yard and what did I see? Three young pigs cavorting by the back gate. One saw me and they tried to make an escape up the steps. I rushed ahead through the hedge to get a photo and they got skittish and ran around in circles. After a few photos they finally emerged into the street, looking for their mother. After a brief stop at our back door, they high tailed it up the hill to the safety of their protector. Now, I didn't want to mess with a mother protecting her young (they can be aggressive you know) so I suspended my surveilance and managed to get Gil out the back gate with out being detected. They were still on the grassy knoll when Gil and I returned 20 min. later, but at the time of this writing they are nowhere to be seen. Now you see what we're dealing with! (P.S. the photos are in reverse order)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you're all set to enjoy some good food and fun with family and friends. Its an ordinary day here in Japan. Hubby at work, kids at school & me at ikebana class. However there was a national holiday on Monday, with everyone at home, so we took the opportunity to have our own Thanksgiving. As is our tradition, we did not have the classic turkey dinner. Instead we each chose our favorite food. This year's dinner consisted of vegetable curry & naan, roasted potatoes, french bread and pecan pie. While not very well rounded, it was quite tasty. After eating, we decorated the tree and watched a dvd. Earlier in the day, we did get to see the Colts play--and they won! Anyway, just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving. We miss you all and wish we could go hunting as we used to do and enjoy a nice family meal. Oh well.

Last Week of Company

Well, as usual the photos are in reverse order, but I wanted to put up a few from our last week with company. We went to Arima onsen, one of the oldest hot springs spas in Japan. I got over heated and nearly fainted. Thank goodness my remaining visitor is a nurse and was able to help me. Also drove to the top of Rokko mtn for a night view of the city. Yesterday I had to tell her goodbye. We'll miss all the company we've had these last 3 weeks. Hope they enjoyed themselves!

Even more fun with visitors

A bit late, but better late then never! A few photos of some of our adventures of last week. The first 2 from Himeji. We went down in the afternoon, after a fun morning where the guests tried there hand at ikebana, with a fair amount of success!

On another day, we went on a bike trip through Kyoto to Arashiyama. Here we are pictured in the bamboo forest, during a brief break.

In Kyoto (another day) we stopped for lunch in a Japanese okonomiyaki place, where we sat, curled up on the floor (Not comfy)

And here are the girls with the helpful young fellow from the Sake tasting excursion!

Two of them have since returned home and we miss them terribly (well, at least I do). Still got one left, thank goodness. I'm glad it was spaced like this to slowly wean me from the company, rather than suddenly taking them all at once!

More photos to come!

More fun with family & friends

A few more photos of the first part of the visit. One is from Halloween. There was trick or treat in the area around our neighborhood and we were happy to participate. The temple is Yashima Temple near Takamatsu.

The girls are going zen, taking a moment for quiet meditation. Here are a couple of monkeys and some sort of wise person (I think).

Here the crowd stands in front of the A bomb dome in Hiroshima. We've had lovely weather for our travels. New photos will be posted soon!

Guests have arrived

The guests have all arrived, safe and sound, with not too much trouble. The first day was spent at the Toyota factory in Nagoya (no photos allowed). After which we took a 4 day journey through Awaji to Shikoku and over to Hiroshima and Miyajima before heading back towards home. Had a great time, but wore out the guests a bit too much. The first 2 photos are in Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu. So many beautiful landscapes and gardens! The third photo is party night at our first stop, a Japanese style hotel in Takamatsu, where we slept on tatami mats. Glad it was just one night! Stopped at the Monkey Center on Awaji Island, only to discover that the monkeys were all gone to the forest and we could not see them.

First stop on the tour was just after getting off the world's longest suspension bridge. Here We get a close up of the type of cable used.

More photos of our fun adventures will be added soon. Please check back!