Baby it's cold outside...

I decided we all needed to get out of the house this afternoon.  I know it is cold outside, but I bundled these cute little kids up and headed to the post office.  I figured if our grandparents used to walk 10 miles, up hill, in the snow, to school, a quick walk into town wouldn't be so bad. 

 

The perks of a chilly walk outside - yummy hot chocolate!

 

Abram's first taste of hot chocolate.  I had the camera ready and I am so happy I did!  He took a sip and looked at me with such delight!!!

Hawaii 2012

We ended our Japanese adventure with a very relaxing stay in Hawaii!  We had been to Oahu before and I was happy, because dragging the kids around to see the sites wouldn't have been so fun for them.  They did thoroughly enjoy swimming!  It was so nice spending time together as a family and just truly enjoying each others company!

Abram's first time at the beach.  He liked it - a LOT!

 

The service was great at the Hilton as usual.  They had a sweet little penguin waiting in the room for Adi.  She loved going to see the live penguins at the hotel!

 

The kids were still adjusting to the 19 hour time difference, so they enjoyed the king size bed!

 

Beautiful view from our room!

 

Abe LOVED being at the beach, but Adi DID NOT.

 

They had live music every night at the restaurant by the pool.  Adi loved dancing and specifically asked to go stand by the drummer.  He noticed her and was happy to give her an old pair of drum sticks.

 

Bran and the kids had a little dance party about every morning before breakfast.  

 

I was so happy that both of the kids enjoyed swimming!

 

The sun and swimming helped Abe to sleep through the night (and during the day as well)!

 

Abe's favorite thing was when Bran threw him in the air in the pool.  He couldn't get enough of it!

 

Man was that little boy happy to be in the sand (for a couple different reasons as you'll see).

 

Gotta have a feet in the sand pic!

 

Abe was eager to get these two in the ocean.

 

Fine... you don't want to go, I'll go alone, in my clothes.  

 

If we're not going to go in and swim, I'll just sit here and eat the sand!!  The boy shoveled it in!

 

I love how being in Hawaii constantly reminds you of how lucky we are to experience God's glorious masterpieces all throughout the day. :)

 

We did visit the zoo one of the days, and it was again fun and relaxing for all.

 

HANDS DOWN - my favorite picture from this trip.  Brandon needed a break so very badly, and this picture shows how much he truly enjoyed his time to unwind.  

 

Both of the kids had a blast on the kiddie slide.  By the end Adi was pretty confident and was glad to go down alone.

 

My sweet little guy wearing his sissies hat, munching on a snack!

 

The only pic of the two of us.

 

Loved this picture.  These two are really becoming such good little friends.

 

It was time to say good-bye.  While the time spent there was relaxing and fun, it was time to go home!

We were walking in from the car tonight after bible study and Adi said the sweetest little thing to me. 

Adison - (looking up at the stars) All these beautiful stars just make me miss Cooper!
Me - You are just the sweetest thing around - what do you mean?
Adison - When I get up into Heaven he is going to be there, and I can't wait to see him.  He's just up there waiting on one of those stars.

Now if that doesn't make your heart just melt, I'm not sure what would!

"Toyoda" Museum

I'm so happy we were able to go to the Toyota Museum in Nagoya.  The museum was HUGE and gave a thorough history on Toyota.  I couldn't believe how big the section on their loom's were.  A lot of people don't know that Toyota started out as a loom business and then moved into the automotive field from there.  There was a lot of interaction, and it was fun to see some of the oldest looms and the new state of the art looms in operation. 

 

The automotive area wasn't disappointing either.   It took you step by step through the assembly of a vehicle.  They did a great job representing what really happens within a plant.

 

Brandon and Adison even got to build Toyota's first model they produced, the AA.  She is so similar to her daddy - LOVES building things!

 

There was a really cool interactive kid area, unfortunately Adi was to little to do all the rides within this area.  She did have fun playing on the jungle gym though!

 

Abey-chan hanging on the rings in the train on the ride home!  :)

Halloween - Japanese style!

We spent Halloween in Japan.  Adison talked about Halloween for months after October last year and was really looking forward to dressing up as Minnie Mouse.  It was sad that she was going to miss it, so we got a little taste of Halloween in Japan. 

Small to average size pumpkins start at 30 dollars in Japan, so I decided we wouldn't be carving one!  Instead, when my dad was here we found a cute little pumpkin for Adi to decorate.  She had a blast with this little guy.  This was only phase one of Mr. Pumpkin.  I'm pretty sure she changed his stickers daily and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

On Halloween our friends who live in Nagoya invited us to join them for a party at Kerrington's international school.   Adi was able to eat lunch with her friends, listen to songs, and even do a little trick-or-treating.  It was so nice of them to include us and it was a little taste of Halloween Japanese style for Adi.

Lincoln, Kerrington, and Adi

 

Adi the little pirate (kind of sort of :)

 

The girls getting ready to eat lunch

 

Abey-chan and Gigi

 

Look at that sweet little trick-or-treat face!