November 29, 2012

Slices of Life

November 3, 2012

Mike has been trying his hand at bread making. He and Andrew have enjoyed sitting with the iPad in bed at night watching Julia Childs on YouTube. Today he made baguettes and they not only looked good but they were absolutely delicious. I must admit that Mike has a knack for baking.
 


November 8, 2012

In celebration of the end of cross country season we joined Andrew in his cross country banquet tonight. We are so proud of how hard Andrew worked throughout the entire season and how much he was able to improve his time over the course of 8 weeks.  We hope Andrew will continue to enjoy running.



November 14, 2012

I have been enjoying running track workouts with the Namban Rengo running group up in Tokyo most Wednesdays in preparation for my 10K next month.  It has been fun to run with a good group of runners and to see the crowds of different running groups there.  It is a serious 5 hour journey round trip including training time but I have really enjoyed it and my family has been super supportive. I have also added some longer runs on the weekends. I had a fabulous 10 mile run along the coast one Saturday and because it was so clear I got to enjoy the wonderful views of Mt. Fuji. These are the kinds of runs I live for.
 



November 19, 2012

We went on our yearly fall visit to Disney and decided on Disney Sea this time.  Since we have already been there a few times we know exactly what our favorite rides are and exactly where we want to spend our time.  It is so much fun to go to Disney here in Japan even with the crazy crowds.  We always seem to get the fast passes we want and then we just have fun playing and eating yummy treats all day.  This fall the new Toy Story ride opened up but we didn't even attempt to go there as the lines were already crazy long when we entered the park.  Just for fun we stopped by there on our way out to see how long the line was.  It was a crazy 400 minutes!!  The people here in Japan really are crazy to wait so long.  I guess Americans just aren't that patient.



November 27, 2012

I took Abby in for her 4 year old check up (a little late) and to get her updated with all of her kindergarten immunizations. I was so sad when I found out that she had to have 7 shots (6 for kindergarten and 1 for her second round of the flu shot). I knew getting them done at the same time was probably for the best. We both shed some tears today.  It was a sad occassion followed by smiles with ice-cream afterwards and lots of hugs and kisses at home. 
 



November 22, 2012

After two years of not being able to cook a turkey in our small oven because all the turkeys have normally been too large I was really looking forward to a change this year.  I was so excited to see that our commissary was selling smaller turkeys this year.  I grabbed one right away and prepared for a "normal" Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Mike and I found a great method online for prepping and cooking the turkey without using a turkey bag which is what we normally used in the past.  I didn't want the bag to burn against the sides of my small oven so we needed to cook it differently.  Our turkey ended up looking fantastic and it was the tastiest turkey I have ever made.  Go figure.  We had the usual sides of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe pie, deviled eggs, homemade rolls, stuffing, and sparkling apple cider.  My mashed potatoes also turned out great this year after a huge mishap the last time I made them.  I found a better recipe online and used a potatoe masher (homemade by Mike because I didn't have one) and they turned out so well.  Our Thanksgiving dinner was a huge success this year.  It required teamwork of which I was grateful for.  That is really how I see my family.  We are essentially a team that works together pretty well.  I would be so sad without all of my teammates.  I am so grateful for my family!

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