Transitioning the blog

When I started this blog adoption was consuming my life. It was all I thought about, talked about, etc. Now that we have Oscar and he has been home for so long, it isn't really our focus anymore.

I'm not sure the direction that the blog will take yet, but I am really into reading and cooking right now, so I may start posting about that. There will also be random family information and also some school stuff thrown in. Larry and I are both teaching 6th grade this year and are really enjoying being back on the same team and planning together. We both really enjoy working with the older kids too!

Thanks for hanging with us and feel free to check out my reading shelf using the link on the right.

Earthquake

I realized today that I probably should have posted during the big earthquake we had over hear last March so that you would all know we were okay. We do not live in the area near the earthquake and were mostly unaffected. We definitely felt a lot of shaking and many of our pictures, and things on shelves were knocked over, but nothing was broken or damaged. We felt very blessed that we were so fortunate. It was much easier for us having the base to rely on than it was for our Japanese neighbors and friends in the days following the earthquake.

Larry had the opportunity to go and help with the relief effort last April during our spring break. Here are a few photos from his trip. These were taken about 1 month after the earthquake and tsunami.

April-June 2011

Here are a few photos from last spring and summer. Oscar is doing very well and is a happy, active toddler. He enjoys reading and playing with cars. He is obsessed with cars and it is hard to get him to play with anything else!! He also loves the Cars movie and I think we have seen it a few hundred times now!!!

Walking with Grandpa at Alcatraz

The 3 kids at Pier 39 in San Fransisco

We had a short stop in Seoul, Korea last summer

Enjoying a bike ride

Having fun at home last April

Still here!

Life is busy and I find there is not enough time to keep this blog updated. We have had a great few months and Oscar is doing really well. Larry and I are both back at work now and Oscar started daycare in January. He seems to enjoy it and the transition has gone well.

We went to Vietnam for Christmas and it was so interesting to see how the Vietnamese people loved him! He attracted flocks of people everywhere we went. It felt like we were traveling with a little rock star! We don't usually get that kind of reaction here in Japan, so it was a unique experience. Oscar loved Vietnamese food and had a great time playing on the beach. Here are a few pictures from our trip.