Tysei's haircut

The kids have been shaggy for awhile now, so Shunsuke took Ty in for his first designer cut....

Kianah at School

Kianah has had a successful start to the year! She loves her classmates and her teacher. KIS is a small school and everyone knows each other. She feels at home when she's at school and plays with kids of all ages. She gets along well with the teachers and knows them both inside and outside the school. We could not have found a better fit for Kianah in so many ways. This past Friday she was chosen for a PYP award for being principled (one of the traits of the IB learner profile). Here are some photo's of her class and her receiving her award. We're proud of ya Kianah!

Danjiri Festival

We went to meet our friend Junko (and kids) from canada in her hometown. It was their local festival and we witnessed some of the interesting events that take place. People run with these carts while people dance on top.....it was wild! It was great to see some friends from home too:)





Tysei's favourite festival game....

Kiho is two

Our niece Kiho just turned two. Kianah and Tysei are happy to have a cousin close by..

Our First Party

We hosted a beginning of the year staff party....hopefully the first of many.
Here are a few snap shots

Tysei's Train

Tysei's obsession of sports has temporarily (we hope) moved to trains. Here he made a train out of plates and blocks....

Kianah's Daikon

Kianah takes a Japanese language class at school everyday. She loves it! They were learning about food and shopping. Her Japanese class (all 3 of them) went to a small shop to buy their favourite food. When Kianah got home, she pulled this huge Daikon (a Japanese radish) out of her bag. Everyone was a little surprised with her choice! Thankfully Baba came to visit and knew just what to do with it!

Our House

Many have been asking for photos of our place. It is a work in progress, but it is beginning to feel like home. We didn't expect such a big house....and we are doing our best to fill it. There are a few room we have just closed off and plan to use as storage. Who could have imagined! Our next project is to get our backyard organized....

This is the mailbox. We love it just the way it is.........We check it everyday to see if anything has arrived from the ones we love!

Bathroom



Play room/Tatami Room

Living Room

Our Kitchen


Tysei's room

Our Room

Kianah's room

Kianah's Birthday!

We celebrated Kianah's birthday shortly after moving to Kyoto. The day before, we surprised her with a cake in her classroom. On the big day, we all went to Universal Studios. Here are some photo's of the day........
Birthday morning...

Kyoto Station (Tysei's favourite place!)

Breakfast on the train


The Birthday Sticker. This got Kianah alot of attention. It was funny to see people stop and clap for her!

USJ continued
Tysei's fav ride.....



Wizard Of Oz (A Kianah Favourite)

The Blues Brothers.....

"The train ride home.....It was a big day! After dinner at Hard Rock Cafe with lots of singing and dancing, we were ready to call it a day! Kianah is holding the photo of her birthday dinner.....and still clips it to her bag for special occasions."

We're back!

It has been awhile....life got a little busy...and we got out of the routine of Blogging. It is too hard to recap all the exciting things that have happened in the past 7 months, so we will start fresh!!
As most of you know, we have moved to Kyoto Japan. Here are a few photo's of our early days in Shizuoka.......