turkey turkey day day

Happy Thanksgiving, though a day late! We have been fortunate enough to have wonderful friends here in Sasebo who took us in for not one, but 2 days of Thanksgiving feasts! It was enjoyed thoroughly and honestly VERY nice to not be stuck cooking :) Sadly we missed out on live football though, this darn time difference!!!

We're super thankful for our family and friends and health and happiness...

Cora's thankful for her friend Shelbie's playroom!

Rick and Jamie carve the turkey

Cora enjoying some Mac n Cheese while daddy has his Sam

Stacy and Stephanie oggling over weird Japanese kit-kats (purple sweet potato, miso, cayenne pepper, blueberry cheesecake, maple, cheese, edemame)

one of the boys' plates

my plate with lots of color!

mmm pecan and chocolate chip pecan pies!

super kawaii!

that means super CUTE! Cora came home from school with a ponytail on her head.... I was sooo excited :) Now I need to find where they sell those teeny tiny rubber bands! (don't mind the tomato sauce on face...)

fashion DISASTER...

here's what happens when you let your almost-18 month old child choose her outfit... Wait a minute, that's what I had hoped to label this shot. Nope, instead it's what happens when you let your Japanese senseis dress your almost-18 month old! I was SO happy that I didn't have anywhere to come but HOME upon picking her up the other day.....

happy HALLOWEEN!

We went to Huis Ten Bosch for Halloween afternoon, it was free to those in costume and was a beautiful afternoon. We joined friends Cheryl, Joy and Shelbie.

Get our theme? chicken, farmer and cook... sick, eh?

Cora chasing Shelbie to the Carousel

Cora's "dip" into the ice cream... little piggy!

almost Halloween...

this was Cora's get-up for her school party :)

Greg's HOG experience...

only in Japan do the driving schools (a fun mini-world of driving / parking challenges) shut down and host Harley Davidson "try outs." Of course Greg was more than excited to take a few spins... since it's likely the closest he'll ever come to owning one!

back in Sasebo...

the reverse jet lag has passed and it wasn't as bad as the other direction. BUT the family is now sharing a bug that seems to linger, it's not fun...

here's an update of what we did last week (since this week we are collectively on the couch in jammies)!

watching Koi fish at HVC

with buddies Shelbie and Priya

yes, daddy took Cora down this slide (I couldn't take a picture b/c I was so scared!)

striking a pose

with daddy on grass slide

the whole distance of grass slide