Slices of Life

July 5, 2012

Today was Mike's Birthday and we started our day heading over to the Nissan Factory near our house with our good friend's the Holleys.  We got to go inside the factory and see the cars that are made at the Oppama plant.  They make the Juke, Cube, and the Leaf. The amazing thing about this plant is that they make the electric cars and the gas version on the SAME assembly line.  It was amazing to see how efficient everything was and how everything was organized.  The kids were mesmerized by the different assembly lines we got to see.  They also loved the toy Juke cars they got for free.  I would have loved to take pictures inside the plant but cameras were not allowed.  It was amazing!

July 18, 2012

We had Keisha Yokers (Ms. Yokers - Peter's 3rd Grade teacher) over for dinner so we could spend some more time with her before the GW ship with her husband gets back and she moves away.  Keisha and I met a year and a half ago at the gym when Tony Horton from P90X came to visit.  I was in the middle of doing P90X and she had already done it.  I thought she was amazing at the time and now that I know her better I just think she is even more amazing.  Peter was really lucky to have her as his teacher this year.  We will all miss her so much.

July 27, 2012

Well, this seems to be the month that we are saying our last goodbye's to so many good friends.  We had Jessica and Robert Stoner and their three boys over for dinner for the last time.  We have just loved hanging out with this awesome family and will truly miss all of them.  I don't have many regrets for not doing things in Japan yet but one that I do have is not hanging out with this family more.  We have had some fun times together and I will always cherish those.  Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.

July 28, 2012

Today was our annual Pioneer Day Activity.  On the way to the activity we got a call from our YW president saying that the pavillion we had reserved was reserved by someone else.  We called our friend who was in charge of reservations and she couldn't find her receipt.  It turns out that the clerk who was doing the reserving booked the wrong day.  Luckily there were two pavillions left that hadn't been reserved.  They weren't in the most ideal location but we took it anyways.  After getting everything set up everyone had a great time.  By far everyone's favorite part of our Pionner Day Activity is earning pennies to spend at the candy store.  This year's candy store was just as good as it had been the two other times we have been to this activity. 

Andrew's 11th Birthday

Ever since Abby's birthday party and the amazing spread I did I have been hearing nothing but the things Andrew wanted me to make him for his birthday.  Since he is in an odd year we were just doing a family birthday party but I thought I had better make it special since I put in a lot of time and effort into the girl's parties this year.  I made mummy cake pops, chocolate dipped oreos and cupcakes at Andrew's request.  I even revamped one of the girls birthday banners so it was all boy and put that up.  We decorated the little table and chairs just like we did for Abby's birthday.  He was so excited. I realized why I don't do birthday parties every year....it is just so much work.  I looked at his spread and it didn't seem like a lot but it took forever to do it all.  I am so glad he appreciated it. 

This year marked the year where Andrew asked for big boy items...an iTouch and a camera were the top contenders.  We weren't too thrilled about getting him an iTouch just yet so we decided to go with the camera.  We knew he would love having his own camera where he could take pictures and bring them into photoshop and do all that fun stuff he learned how to do in his photography club in 5th grade.  We also got him a remote control truck which he loved.  From his grandparents he got some great books and a remote control helicopter.  From his siblings he got a singing guitar card and a paper guitar that they bought with their own money.  By far the most hilarious thing was the card that Emma and Peter helped me pick out for Andrew.  It was underwear with big googly eyes on it and it sang "Happy Happy Underpants...etc"  Andrew loved it!  It turned out to be a really fun party with lots of eating and lots of laughter.