Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It has been a really mild winter for us. Don't get me wrong, we've still had some snow. The girls started making forts this year to hide in. It's all fun and games until the snowballs start flying while mom is trying to shovel the sidewalk below.

Sometimes it is hard to keep track of Carl while shoveling at the same time. Here you can seem him off in the distance, exploring the neighborhood as he wanders down the sidewalk. I am standing on our sidewalk which ends where the small path begins. 

 I was really sad I didn't get a picture of the snow shooting out the top of this huge street snow-blower. You also can't see here it, but to the left of the green dump truck, there's also a large 6 foot tall sidewalk snow-blower shooting snow into the truck. The Japanese really take their snow removal seriously.

We've heard for years that the downhill skiing here is great. I am not a good judge of that, as this was my first time. I am happy to report that all limbs made it back from our skiing trip unbroken.

 Warmer weather does mean awesome snowmen. Jane reported that Ryan had to make a ramp to get the second snowball into the proper position. On the right we're feeding the Siberian swans (at least they're rumored to be Siberian, and I suppose that we are close enough that it isn't out of the question).

That Carl likes to help his dad, especially if it means he can swipe one of the girl's aprons and climb on the chair. 

 I finished my crazy quilt! I started 15 months ago, and had many interruptions, but I made it.

 It's hard work at our house. Carl takes it upon himself to take everything apart that he can get his hands on. It is astounding that he is such a avid supporter of the second law of thermodynamics at such a young age -- his entire day consists of converting order to disorder, randomness and chaos. It's exhausting!

I love Malaysia!

Last week I went to the 9th Asian Pacific Conference on Clinical Nutrition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was so excited to still be in Asia for one more year so I could attend. I love Malaysia for many reasons: it's tropical, they speak English, the people are friendly and funny, the food is yummy (if spicy at times), things are inexpensive and it hold a special place in my heart as one of the stops along the early spice trade routes. 

 To the left you can see the impressive Petronas towers as viewed from my exit from the metro system. Above you can see me working hard at my conference. I got this cute little Chinese girl to stand with me so I didn't feel so lonely as the only American at the conference (although I was the only one from the US). To maintain my credentials as a registered dietitian I have to have 75 hours of continuing education over 5 years. I could always read 75 journal articles or travel to climes unknown. I chose the later.

One day I took a walking and eating tour of Kuala Lumpur. I was so excited to try street food at places where I knew I wouldn't get sick. (They take Australian tourists every day to these places.  If people started getting sick I would have known really fast.) Our first stop was the home cooked Indian restaurant joint. (By the way, the population of Malaysia is made of Indians, Chinese and Malays). I learned how to the rice and curry dish you see below with my fingers. After the excitement wore off, I became acutely aware of the fiery curry seeping into my dried and cracked fingers. To the bottom left is a traditional Malaysian house spruced up for tourists.

The bowl below contains sweetened condenced milk, shaved ice, toasted coconut, interested bright green gelatin slugs and it was delicious!

On my last couple of days I met up with my mom and dad who are serving as LDS missionaries over the Asia humanitarian aid projects and are based in Hong Kong. We were lucky enough to meet up while they were doing some wheelchair training in Malaysia. It was eye opening for me in a couple ways. #1, Senior missionaries work hard. I was so happy to come home to my 4 kids under six so I could have regular nap times again. #2, Senior missionaries do a great job taking care of people. #3, Senior missionaries get to meet amazing people and do unforgettable service. 

 I talked my mom and the Public Affairs missionaries into visiting the KL bird park with me. I got to feed and ostrich! They are kind of fierce animals and I was happy to leave with all my fingers intact. I love hornbill birds and was delighted to see some roaming free.

 

 Could I go anywhere without getting a market picture or two? The vegetables on the left have a pink ton from the tarp above not the "rose colored glasses" setting on my camera. On the right is where I bought a kurta top.

 On my way back I stayed at a "capsule hotel" at the Haneda airport. This was my room that I crawled into for the night. I had been itching to try one of these for a long time, but thought I would never get the chance since this would not be a good place for kids. You have to be totally quite (Japanese quiet not American quiet- that's the difference between a buzzing fly and an F-16 fighter plane). Oh, and there is no door, just a screen curtain that comes down 80% of the way. Only in Japan would I feel safe enough to sleep.

Three cheers for Ryan who successfully kept the kids alive while I was gallivanting around! Here they are showing off their new Indian prince/princess clothing.

December in Misawa

Here are a couple of videos we wanted to share to give you a taste of our family in December. We do a lot of shoveling and a lot of bell ringing. Enjoy!

December Fun

The girls and Ryan made 4 dozen cookies to donate to the single airmen on base. In addition to being a great service, they had a ton of fun.

 Alice turned 3, and we continue with the nontraditional birthday desserts. Carl had pumpkin pie, and Alice requested a flat cake (complete with hand motions).

 What is a birthday in Japan without streamers?

 Carl helped Ryan put the finishing touches on the bunk-beds he made for the kids. His favorite tools are the electric drill and the rubber mallet, both are so different yet each has its appeal.

 Here are the completed beds. Ryan did a great job and came away with all his fingers intact.

Continuing with our birthdays of unconventional desserts . . . Ryan requested a Rocky Road Pizza.

 Helen had to choose between rinsing dishes and putting the second coat of powdered sugar on the snowball cookies for her evening job this week. Can you tell which she chose?

Seoul, South Korea

I love breakfast in Korea and have been dreaming about honey bread since the last time we took the hop over. The honey bread is on the plate in the background. I gambled and lost on the white bean waffles in the front. They looked yummy, but had the consistency of shoe glue. (Note the peace sign from Helen. This is totally normal in Asia)

 We got to go to the temple while we were in Seoul - what a blessing!

 I talked Ryan into taking me back to where I got my haircut the last time we were there. The best haircuts I've had while in Asia have been in Korea, and at only 15.00 USD it really is a steal. 

 Here are the girls outside a traditional dress shop in Korea. 

 Markets are fun no matter where you are. Luckily, all the fish products were dry so it didn't smell hardly at all. 

Jeju-do, Korea

Last month we escaped the cold rainy fall weather of  Misawa for the sub-tropical island of Jeju-do off the southern coast of Korea. Carl and I were really excited to see these little pineapple plats at the botanical garden. 

 I love the colors of fall, especially when I don't have to wear a winter coat to enjoy them.

 It was tangerine season while we were there, and the whole southern half of the island was covered in citrus groves. A fun highlight of the trip was visiting the Citrus Museum. How can you go wrong at a museum with a giant orange slice in the front?

Koreans just love little kids, and would give our kids oranges and tangerines. Carl was most appreciative of the gestures and wouldn't let go once he got his hands on one.

They taught us how to pick tangerines, a foreign experience for someone from Iowa. 

Citrus trees as far as the eye could see . . . 

We had an fun experience washing cloths at a laundromat in town. I probably made 10 trips back and forth to the 7-11 across the alley to procure us lunch. I learned after the first batch of instant noodles that the kids can only handle 1/15th of the spicy Korean flavor package included with the noodles. 

 Here we are at Jeongbang waterfall, the only waterfall in Asia that falls straight into the ocean. 

 I love public transportation and so do the kids. I think three of them had a nap on this bus ride and the other one threatened to toss her cookies. 

The most awe-inspiring portion of the trip was at Seongsan Ilchulbong crater. As we did not take a helicopter ride, we thought this picture would be a great substitute. 

Here we are half way up the crater. Rest assured we were the only people with kids. We were also the only Americans, but there were plenty of people from all over Asia there. 

We went for a walk the next day along the beach to work some of the soreness out of our legs.  You can see the crater we hiked the day before off in the distance. 

Fall fun

One of the best things about fall has to be running down the hill into a giant pile of leaves.

 But Thanksgiving turkeys might be a close second. (I sure I don't know who would feed their 1-year old candy corn).

 We had some friends over to help us get rid of our least favorite Halloween candy by making gingerbread houses. Please note the Thanksgiving decorations the kids made that are hanging from the ceiling. What you can't see is the herd of 25 turkeys they colored and taped to our front door. I tried to talk them into pilgrims, candy corn, cornucopias, but all they wanted to color were turkeys.

 They did a great job making their fancy houses. There were some tears shed when we told them they couldn't eat the candy off their gingerbread houses. But we let them eat one piece of candy before we threw the rest away.