Christmas 2013!!!!

Guess what, Marie!

It’s time to put on your Christmas sweater and celebrate!

Wow, Christmas even got Grace’s attention….

Where’s Mina?  Is she celebrating Christmas?  Uh, I guess she decided to eat a cucumber instead.

We all ended up getting on the same page.  Christmas is pretty fun with these angels.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Spring Throwback: Grandpa Visits!

 

Grandpa Youngberg crossed the ocean last March and we forgot to blog about it. (We also forgot about the blog completely). It was a wonderful spur of the moment visit. My dad decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing Ankor Wat in Cambodia. After a crazy maverick trip to southeast Asia we got him to come up to Misawa!

  

It was so nice! We did a ton of hanging around the house. Did a ton of puzzles and playing with blocks. I believe the lego set below was a belated Christmas gift from Aunt Stephanie. It was a delight.

A delight? Really? Your thinking I am romanticizing this. But nay, I tell you it’s true. A long winter is made good with a few puzzles, Legos, and relaxed and easy go lucky Grandpa.

Speaking of romantic though. There is no more special a place than Yoshino’s Steakhouse in Misawa. Brett wants to marry it. We took my dad and he really enjoyed this literal mom-pop-and-son joint.

It burned down 3 days later.           Seriously.         It was sad.  And weird.

Also what was weird is that we stood in a huge crowd of people to watch the Power Rangers at the fish market. I didn’t take any pictures of them because I was hoping it was a phase and since I am writing this 7 months later I can report I was right. Mom:1. Power Rangers:0 (Unless you count how many bad guys they have caught, then it would be like 100).

We also saw this tree. I think it was around when Christ was alive. I think….  I don’t know. I’m the worst tour guide of all time. Keep your tip money.

These are the princesses of Misawa.

Here we are at the Weasel’s den enjoying some mini golf.  (yah, I know, my dad is easy to please).

And this is Mina enjoying so really spicy ramen. This girl lives on the edge for being toddler!

This is our favorite Ramen house '”Thunder.” This was the first place we ate (off-base) in Japan. First and still my favorite!

I was so sad to say goodbye, but thankful for a dad willing to travel!

Here Fishy Fishy

 
Rokkasho is a very small town
It’s here the annual fish catch is found.
Brett went there about two years ago
He came back with a big salmon to show.
So envious was I  that we had to go back.
Little did I know how hard it would be to catch.
3 minutes they gave in a big tarp like pool.
I had so much fun, though I looked quite the fool.
I got my hands on one, but much to my surprise
The fish was slimy, slickery and had gross beady little eyes. 
With ten seconds left I buckled down with all my might
Corned a fish who was just now too tired to fight.

Thank you fish for eating you was no bore.
But I think next time, I’ll just go to the store.

A Little of This, A Little of That

As we have less than 8 months left in Japan I have an overwhelming need to blog more of our daily happenings.

Our Saturdays consist of trying to find a way to get out of the house and usually we end up at a park. This is Statue of Liberty Park, a very beautiful park in the fall. But we may have waited a little late to get the full effect of the autumn leaves. It’s ok though we ran into some good friends and made some new ones.
 
Cathy sent some new jammies for Gracie and now we have a matching set! All we need now is a pair for Brett.  

Marie has really got knack for making Gracie smile. I really think Marie was hand picked to be the oldest child. She’s always trying to entertain her sisters. After school the other day Marie read Grace baby books for at least a half hour and spent another hour just playing with her.
 
Mina has started tumbling! Its a simple 30 minute class where they learn to climb, walk on a balance beam, hang and swing, and well, tumble.

Brett is still playing sports like he’s 16. After working out 3-4 mornings a week he goes every Saturday morning to play ultimate frisbee. I want to note that record for his grandkids so they know exactly why he will live to 110. That is unless, he gets too many beatings like the one below.
 

This is the view of my daily workout. Mina has always got to sit on the bike handles.

But this is my world pretty accurately. Baby… and IPad. In fact I asked
Brett the other day to complete the sentence, “Rachel’s hobby is  ___.” He said '”Pinterest” However sadly accurate that is I don’t want that to be my only hobby. He also said “Being a good mom.” Which, is flattering, but I am really looking to get a real hobby. Cooking and working out don’t count. If they do I might as well count breathing air or making my bed. So we are thinking of getting DSLR camera and I could officially adopt photography as a hobby. We will see if that happens. Hopefully this blog will be the beneficiary of my search for a true hobby.

Grace is Born

Holy moly does time fly. I keep thinking that just because I see Grace everyday that everyone else does. Sorry about that. Let me share my Gracie with you.

Grace Sky was born September 27th around 9 PM at 5 lbs 6 oz and 18 inches long.

She is perfection.

 

We were nervous that the girls might not get along…

Worried that a certain someone would not like her so much….

But I’m happy to report that is not the case. Mina LOVES Grace.

She always approaches me to quickly ask “Can I see Gracie?” and when I show her she always replies, “Oh Gracie- she’s so cute and so liddle!” and then moves on. Mina really loves her new little sister.

 

I think having my parents come to visit for 3 weeks was a huge part of that. Both the girls got lots of love.

  

We blessed her at 3 weeks. It was great to have my Dad be able to be in the circle to bless Gracie. I wish I could have given Mina the same, but thats another blog. 

So we love Gracie. Gracie is going to love her Dad. And I love this picture!

So  I will blog later about the little things we did while my parents were here, but for now we are just enjoying little Gracie…