Christmas break.

Here is what we did over the holiday season.

The girls got lots of fun things for christmas including disney princess dolls, clothing, board games, and some other fun stuff.


Sophia and Grace passed presents out to everyone.


We went to Park City for the week after Christmas to ring in the new year. We did lots of sledding. The girls in their snow gear.


Grace going down the hill.



Sophia going down the hill.


The girls were good about bringing their sleds back up the hill.



Grace and Sophia with their cousins on Main street in park City on New Years day.
We wanted to get the kids out of the condo so we took the free bus to walk around Historical Main Street and then after about 10mins. of that, the kids(well my kids) were ready for a break. They were so thirsty and the only drinking fountain we knew of was at deer valley ski resort. So we got back on the bus and went over to deer valley for a potty break and some water.


My girls were really tired by the end of the two hour outing. Here they are walking in front of the Park City Mountain resort, right near our condo.


It was a nice holiday break and we can't wait for our next break.

Tuesday!

Today is my favorite day of the week- Tuesday. On Tuesdays Lane doesn't have to be at class until 6pm. So what does that mean- we get to spend almost the whole entire day with him. Grace goes to school on Tuesdays so after school we always go and do something. So today we went hiking in our own back yard. And not literally our backyard but up this little canyon that is just to the right of the G on the mountain in Pleasant Grove. If you drive up 200 S in Pleasant Grove it runs in to a park where the trail head is. It was only .8 miles up to the waterfall so we decided to go ahead and do the hike. We had a map of the hike today so we did a little Dora Explorer Exploring. We had to first cross a bridge, walk by a spooky cave and then we would get to the waterfall. The girls were really excited. Now when we go hiking we always tell the girls that we wont carry them so if they get tired they need to find a nice rock to sit on and rest. With these rests, our hikes some time take a lot of time, but we made if up to the waterfall in no time and the girls had fun. Here are some of the pictures from our hike today.
Sophia siting on her comfy resting rock.

Grace got upset because she couldn't find a comfy resting rock.

We have a rock climber on our hands. Sophia had to follow her dad after watching him try to climb. She didn't get very far, but at least she tried.

We didn't take a picture of the bridge but here is the spooky cave. It was this tiny little cave perfect for tiny little kids to crawl into.

Finally the water fall. It was really pretty and I had no idea we lived so close to it.

Lane has always wanted to kiss a girl in front of a waterfall and well this was the perfect opportunity.

On the hike down the girls would race ahead of us and then stop and do some strange stretching. It was pretty funny really.

One last spider man stretch as Sophia was calling them.

Fall break!

This past thurday and Friday were fall break. So both the girls and Lane had no school. We had a fun couple of days off to enjoy together. On Thursday we went shopping on behalf of my birthday coming up next week. I picked out a few things for Lane and the girls to give to me. I got this perfume from bath and body works in my new favorite scent. Grace and Sophia stumbled across this a few weeks ago and told me to buy it and now I love it.

In the afternoon we took the girls to the Dollar theater to see Wall-E. Very cute and original movie. Grace loved it and well Sophia fell asleep. She takes after my side of the family.
Later that evening Lane and I went and saw Dashboard Confessional in Concert. It has been about five years since we last saw them. And they are still just as awesome as ever. We also got to see Plain white Tee and Panic at the Disco. For as much as I love going to concerts, I thought that I was going to go deaf. It was so loud. Its doesn't help that it was in an arena. Most of the concerts we go to are outside or in night clubs so the volume isn't too bad. But it did bring back lots of fond memories. On a side note- Our relationship was started at a ticket booth buying concert tickets for New Found Glory. He wanted the seats next to mine.

Here is a video of Dashboard singing the best song ever. They sang this song at the concert as well.

Then on Friday our great friends (the Roberts and the Jacksons) invited us to go up A.F. canyon to go off roading in their neat off road vehicles. These off road vehicles are awesome. They each hold 4-5 people and your in a normal seat so they are really comfortable. We did a campfire dinner and then headed back down the mountain. Beez and Chris are awesome drivers as well. You have to know how to maneuver the vehicles or you just might tip them over.
This is kind of what the vehicles looked like, but with back seats. I loved them, the girls loved them and so did Lane. They make for great family outings. We just might have to get one as well.




*Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, so I just got the pictures you see off the internet.

The Beauty of the Mountains!

Last weekend we had our first big snow in the Mountains. What I love about living with Lane's parents is the view of the Mountains from their house. Once the storm cleared the mountains just looked so beautiful. I ended up taking a million pictures, but I will only post the best. Then on Tuesday we hiked up the same mountain to see the caves inside. This was our second time and we hiked up the mountain (1 1/2 miles) in just one hour with both girls and Grandpa. The Timpanogos Caves are beautiful and just in our backyard. They will be closing next week for the season so I am glad we got up there and saw all the beautiful fall colors.

This is Timpanogos Mountain. It is the tallest mountain in Utah.

If you look to the far left of this mountain that is where American Fork canyon is. That is how you get to the caves. They are on the North side of the mountain and about 3,000 feet above the valley floor.

These are the mountains on the north end of Utah County. I love that corner of the mountains.

No this is not the cave, but its part of the hike up to the caves.

Utah Valley in the back ground.

We finally made it to the entrance. We were very tired.

One of the cave Lakes. Water seeps in threw a fault line that runs through the cave.

Ahh!! Scary cave. Grace and Sophia loved every minute of being in the cave. Even when they turned out all the lights.

When we got to this part of the cave the tour guide turned to me and said isn't this so pretty and I said no, it looks like fat. What do you think?

This is the heart of Timpanogos mountain.

All done, now we had to hike back down which was mush easier.

Clam Digging!

Last Saturday we went with our friends to the beach for some clam digging. This was our first time digging for clams so we had no idea what to expect. We wore shorts and sandals and we put swim suits under our clothes. When we left it was nice and sunny. Upon our arrival at the beach it started to get cold and cloudy. Our friends that we went with all had rain boots, long pants, and coats on. What were we in for? It wasn't that cold and the sand/mud was warm. We thought, "hey this wont be too bad." For Lane and I, we were fine but of coarse the girls got covered in sand and mud and were all wet and so after a couple of hours they were very cold. We had a good time digging and getting dirty. While most of the people around us stayed perfectly clean. I don't know how they managed that one. Grace and Sophia had a very good time. This was truly a dream come true for them. I am always telling them not to get dirty and to stay out of the mud and such.
While we only found 500 grams worth of clams we had a good time. We were given a 2 Kg limit and we were far from that by the time we were done. I guess we really aren't experts at finding clams. After clam digging we went to the store and bought more clams so that I could make clam chowder. The chowder turned out well and now I have a new appreciation for people who dig for clams. Over all it was a good experience that I don't need to experience again or at least until I forget what it was like.
Grace loved to play with the mud the most.

Poor Sophia fell flat into the mud.

Digging for clams or so they said. I think they were making mud pies

Having fun in the mud. Too bad it wasn't a warmer day, but at least it didn't rain.

Our findings. Half way through the morning we realized that we found lots of the wrong kind of shell fish. So that is why we left without very many clams.

Sakura 2008

The Last two weeks in Japan or a least our part of Japan has been undergoing a beautiful spring transformation. Before most of the trees grow their leafs back, they grow beautiful blossoms. During these two weeks everyone goes out for Hanami or flower viewing time. All the sakura (cherry blossoms) are beautiful light pink color. Between lots of rain and cloudy days we ended up with some pretty decent cherry blossom viewing days. Here are some of the pictures from it.
Grace and Sophia showing some sisterly love.

The girls running under the sakura trees.

I love this picture. They came up with this all by themselves.

At this point the sun started to come out and Sophia could barely keep her eyes opened

Half way through our 3 km walk Grace dropped a giant rock on toe. I had to carry her the rest of the way. She was very unhappy by this point.


The sakura trees line the river for over 3km and it is absolutely beautiful.

Up and close cherry blossoms.

All the blossoms on the trees make it look like snow.

Ski Jo!

Last Saturday we went skiing with some friends. This was the first time I got to go this season and possibly the last. Its been getting pretty warm these last couple of days. We went with another family and we all had a good time. I didn't get many pictures or good pictures for that matter. With 4 kids between the four of us we all took turns watching the kids go sledding. First the dads watched the kids and then after lunch us moms watched the kids. Also this time skiing I used short skis. Lets just say I don't really like them. Or at least I am not used to them. I didn't fall, but I am not sure I want to use them again next season.

Here is Akari Chan, Mika, and Sophia all getting ready to go outside.

You can't see it at all (very bad picture) but out in the distance is the Ocean. I think is so cool to be able to ski and see the ocean at the same time. This shot makes me want to get a new camera. Oh and our house is right in between the two.

Here is Grace at the top of the sledding hill.