Halloween Family Portrait

From our family to yours, we hope you have a Happy Halloween!

Pictured from front to back: Buzz Lightyear (Joshua),
Pumpkin Baby (Samuel), Beautiful Mother of Two (Nicki), and
The Invisible Man (Mike)

Mushy Brains and Carvings

Several weeks ago, Joshua's kindergarten class took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch. Being the responsible parent that I am (and considering the rare circumstance I'm experiencing being away from my regular 9 to 5'er at the moment), I decided to volunteer my services as one of the class chaperones and as the unofficial photographer of the event.

We happened to hit the pumpkin patch during what must have been the windiest day in the history of Sacramento County. The poor children seemed just barely big enough not to get blown away by the wind. It also made for some interesting pictures for me. Hair in faces, eyes closed or squinted, and dust flying every which way. In the end, it was a terrific day for the little ones, filled with hay rides, hay bale mazes, picnic snack time, and picking the perfect pumpkin souvenir. Each child was allowed to bring home one pumpkin of his or her choosing, so long as he or she could carry it without parental support. Sure enough, Josh went for one of the largest he could find. But he did great, so it was a keeper.

Tonight, we decided to make a Jack-O-Lantern with the prized pumpkin. Josh had a blast, digging away at the "mushy pumpkin brains" - digging out the seeds and innards. He also chose the shapes he wanted for the pumpkin's eyes, nose, and mouth... down to "I want him to have three teeth, Daddy." I even gave him a bite of the pumpkin flesh from the inside of the Jack-O-Lantern lid. He loved it!

When the dust settled, turned out that we made a great Jack-O-Lantern. Perfect amount of spookiness for our kindergartner. Pictures are up and dated 10/30/2008 in the Gallery.

Someone Turned 5!!!

These past few weeks have been mostly about baby, baby, baby; and rightfully so - after all, the birth of a new baby is kinda a big deal. But there's been one story that I have wanted to post about that is a few weeks behind it's original scheduled posting date:

Joshua's 5th Birthday!

Our eldest turned 5 at the end of August, shortly after my arrival in California to meet with Nicki and Josh. We're fortunate enough to have quite a few family members and old friends that live within driving distance, so we celebrated with a "Buzz Lightyear" themed party for our kindergartner. We also had the good fortune of seeing several of our newer friends at the party - Nicole, Leah and Hannah (we missed hubby, Alan) - all of whom we met during our overlapping tours in Japan. They're in Northern California now, and made the trip to all of our delight... but especially Josh's.

As always, the pictures tell the best stories. Check them out in the Gallery, dated 10/21/2008.

Paperwork

Now that Samuel has made his entry into the world we are now working on all of the paperwork it takes for Sam to make his entry into Japan. Which means that he needs to be a person on paper. Unfortunately, this takes time. Time that we wish would be spent at home (Japan). We miss our little house and our little bed and Sam still has to inspect his nursery. Although we've been enjoying our time here with family and all the support they've supplied (including the roof over our heads for months now), it hasn't really been a vacation. Because I was "high risk" we were restricted on where we could go. So, no day trips to any of the local attractions (Lake Tahoe, Reno, Napa, San Fransisco, etc.) We were just waiting. Mike didn't want to go far either for fear that he might miss the labor. (The whole reason why he's here. Besides taking care of Joshua, Mommy & Baby) Plus, Joshua now has kindergarten to go to, so we are pretty restricted on where we can go during the weekdays. Most readers could not even imagine missing work, but Mike does, along with our daily routine. Not to mention all his vacation time being sucked up. Plus, I'm looking forward to Joshua starting kindergarten at the school on base. I (Joshua, Samuel, and I) may end up having Thanksgiving here as well. To all the friends and co-workers waiting for us to come home, believe me when I say we are doing our best. It's hard being away from home for so long. No matter where home happens to be.

I constantly need to remind myself how blessed we really are as a family though. For instance, Mike is able to have this time provided by his work to spend with us when many people out there don't have such a luxury; that we have a family happy to support us during this time; that we have a very happy, healthy fat new baby boy and that Joshua is thriving in his kindergarten class here. I'm sure that there are many other things but seeing it in black and white helps!

Gotta go. The milk shark (AKA: Samuel) is growling.

Announcing the Arrival

We are proud to introduce to you, our beloved Japan Years readers, the newest member of our family. Samuel was born earlier this week and weighed in at a healthy 6 pounds, 11 ounces; and measured just over 18 inches long. Both momma and baby are doing great and are getting used to each other quite nicely.

As you can imagine, it's been a very hectic and tiring week for us, but we are completely excited about the arrival of our new bundle of joy.

It Never Rains in California

Except for last night. Actually, California rains do this a lot. It will rain at night and just be overcast in the morning. Yes, we are still here in the sunshine state. It's felt good to have a little overcast weather to cool things down. It's actually starting to feel like Autumn. Surprisingly, I miss that about Japan right now. The seasons. Right now, the spiders should be just about everywhere. Last year the mosquitoes in our house where just about to give up buzzing in our ear. (Woo Hoo!). The air starting to feel cool and crisp and my favorite......YAKI-IMO!! All you Japan dwellers keep an eye and an ear out for this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRvoSF2pyt4 Also, if you are in a fairly rural area, see if there is a place where you can go digging. I'm fortunate here in Sacramento to take a trip to Oto's grocer and attempt to make some on my own.
On a bragging note, Mike took me out to the Firehouse yesterday before my doctors apt. for lunch. The Firehouse is a super duper fancy place located in Old Sacramento. I had Scottish King Salmon and Mike had the Wagyu Top Sirloin. YUM! Joshua was with the grandparents at the zoo. Thank you hon. Your the best.