Leaving Yuma for Ann Arbor

And so the journey begins...

Tate says goodbye to his classmates,

and Keri gets excited to go.

Our first real stop is in Salt Lake City for Easter with the Jones Family

Keri's first Easter egg.

Sachiyo and Keri share a moment

Sion and Hana enjoyed themselves

So did Tate

Thank you Michiru (and Makoto, too)!

Next, it was off to Idaho Falls and Menan

Ted came to play with the kids, and we met up with Ruth, Michael and Ben. Good times were had by all, though there were some tense moments when Ted became lodged in the slide. Hana talked him through....

In Menan, the Nelsons let us sleep, eat and jump off their roofs and on their trampolines.

Time to say goodbye to the Nelsons. Thank you Keith and Karie!

For some reason the kids weren't too intent on taking the whole tour around Mt. Rushmore. Maybe the 29 degree (F) temp combined with the 40 mph winds had something to do with it... Anyways, the gift shop was warm. The kids liked that, at least.

Home, sweet home. Our first home in Ann Arbor was the Motel 6, room 408. 10 days, 1 room, 6 people and 1 dog. Paradise...

Close quarters makes for some strange bedfellows...

We finally made it into our new home and Keri says. "moving is exhausting!"

After recovering from the move we started to enjoy our new surroundings.

Memorial Day parade in Dexter, MI. 90 degrees with 100% humidity! This is NOT Yuma!

Ann Arbor Hands On Children's Museum. An air conditioned escape from the humidity and fun and educational, too.

Japan trip

Sachiyo, Tate and Keri were able to go to Japan in February and enjoy spending time with Sachiyo's family. They got to go to Disneyland and a lot of other fun places with Sachiyo's sisters and Tate and Keri's cousins. Here are some of the photos from that trip.

Aunt Nobuyo and Keri



Tate and Tomo at the Anpanman Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman)



Sachiyo and Tate at Tokyo Disneyland



From left to right)
Sachiyo, Nozomi (bottom), Tomo (top), Tate and Shohei at Tokyo Disneyland



Keri in the O-furo (a traditional Japanese bath)



Saying goodbye is hard!

Top: Sachiyo and Keri
Middle: Tomo, Momoko, Nozomi and Shohei
Bottom: Tate



Keri rides the bus ride to the airport with Aunt Michiyo and Baba



See you next time!

Again? So soon?

And here we go again:

If you can't tell (and I have no idea why you wouldn't be able to) Keri has just cut her first two teeth (both bottom front teeth).



Keri's favorite toy is an old audio visual cord....and yes we do not let her play with it unattended, or while the cord is attached to anything...



We visited the local fruit stand where the lady was nice enough to let the kids pick their own tangelos (think tangerine taste crossed with grapefruit size). Delicious and a lot of fun.

Catching up....again

Catching up on the last few months.

Nov 2010:

Grandpa and Keri



The Phoenix Zoo



A trip on the Polar Express (http://www.thetrain.com/polar-express-5679.html)



The Grand Canyon



Tate and Keri



Dec 2010:

Keri with her Grandma at Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary party


Hana and Sion all dressed up for the party



The girls loved playing under the hotel sink



Keri



Keri got her baby blessing



and love from her aunt Sarah



Jan 2011:

Hana and Sion's Birthday cakes (brownies). 2 Years Old!



At another party with their friends



Tate is tying his shoes now, after a few years of velcro shoes.



Feb 2011:

Hana and her horse at Grandma and Grandpa's house



Sion knows she can't have dessert until she is done with her food. This can lead to some interesting attempts to be "All Done!"



Valley of the Names. North of Yuma, there is a spot where people go to write their names in the desert with rocks...not much to do around here, I know. We felt we needed to take part in the tradition before we left. A little 4-wheelin' and here we are.



Until next time