{A mom of all boys}

Being a mom of all boys is no easy task. They are more destructive , busy, and energetic than girls , not to mention their brains are wired differently, which requires a big learning curve for me. :) They are just different.  Sometimes the testosterone in our house is a bit much for me. It can be hard to handle. The farting, wrestling, tough talk, destructiveness, energy, and their ways i just can't understand, can be overwhelming. They always want to go play football, or basketball, or golf, or xbox. It's always boy centered. I don't always want to do those things. Sometimes i feel like i am losing myself in all the testosterone. The more time goes on, the more grateful i am that i am a mom of all boys. I am also grateful for who they are, and for the gender differences. I am learning a lot from it all. Boys are such lovers. My boys love me, and want to take care of me, and they show that often. I love that about them. And i am so grateful for that.

Would i really WANT to play with hair all the time? And do makeup and nails all the time? And would i really WANT to deal with what comes in a girls life as she becomes a teenager? NOPE. I remember all too well what I was like as a teenager and the thought of having had a girl like me stresses me out. I am sure one of our boys will give us a run for our money, but it's still very different than having a girl. Yes, i wanted a girl, but i have come to peace(finally) with the fact that it's not in our plan. At least while here on this earth. :) For some reason, the Lord knew we needed boys. I feel like i have already realized a few of those reasons. A part of it was for me and because of me. :) I know it. It's something i needed for various reasons that i won't get into. But i hope that it isn't just them teaching me a bunch of lessons. I hope they were also sent to Shane and I because there is something we can provide to them as parents that nobody else can. I hope they were sent to us because we too have lots of things to teach them about life. I hope that we are the kind of parents to them that will make them grateful to have us, respect us, and love us, and follow and trust our direction. I hope we can be exactly what they need. That is my biggest prayer i hold in my heart constantly. I just want to be the kind of mom they need. That's my deepest desire.

And i also pray , constantly, that i can live everyday to make them GLAD that i am their mom. It is hard to live that way everyday...or maybe i expect perfection of myself and i am just too hard on myself....but i try everyday to be a good mom to them. Boys are special. They are more special than most people realize...more special than i ever gave them credit for years ago in my life. But my eyes are opening. They are very different from us girls, but that's a GOOD thing. We need them for their differences, even if it can be frustrating sometimes.  And there is a lot to be learned from them that we could not learn without them. They help us learn and grow and progress in this life. They help us become more like our Heavenly Father. And it's up to us(myself) to learn to love those differences, embrace it, and learn from them, and love them for it.

Boys can become extraordinary men if they are loved, nurtured, appreciated, carefully lead, and lovingly guided throughout their growing years. And i know that this world needs a lot more extraordinary men in it, and i hope and pray i can be the kind of mom to help mold and shape them into the kind of man that makes them extraordinary... not in the way the world would define extraordinary, but in the way God believes is extraordinary.

{An afternoon of Japanese tradition, food, and wonderful friends}

My friend, Jennifer, and I were invited for a New Years celebration lunch to our friend Tomoyo's home. She is someone we met when we first moved here. We were introduced by our friends the Thompsons, and have been visiting her and her family at their family owned restaurant ever since.  Tomoyo and her family are some of the nicest and most genuine  people we know. They are just wonderful.  She took the missionary discussions and was baptized. It can be hard to convert japanese because their traditions and culture are very deep rooted and go way way back. She is the most loveable and teachable person i know.  Everytime we go visit them at their restaurant we always make sure to bring a gift. They always have some sort of gift they give to us as well. That's a japanese thing too.  So, when i went to her home i decided to bring a bouquet of flowers this time. They are really into flowers. Anyway, below is a picture of some of the food they made for us. It was soooooooo delicious. One of Tomoyo's friends made something kind of like a chicken salad. It was good. They also had daikon, which is a big white radish that's popular here. It was sliced, and had been boiled, topped with miso paste. It was surprisingly very good. They also had some bamboo, that was very good. She made egg rolls that were amazing. And they had the best miso soup ive ever had since living here. Man it was good. The tofu in it was amazing. They also had some apple raisin bread, and some other breads that i didn't try. And she made this amazing drink that consisted of gingerale, cucumbers, ginger, mint, and couple more things in it. It was awesome. I am going to get the recipe. :) Now that i know what japanese food should taste like, i am going to be disappointed anytime i eat japanese back in the states.

 The missionaries were also invited to this lunch, and jaydon came along with me. Jaydon wasn't sure what to do with all the eyes that kept looking at him and gawking all over him. It made him very uncomfortable and he kept burying his face in my lap. :) I think the missionaries thought they were coming for a discussion on the temple, but it didn't go that way. :) Everyone there, including my friend jennifer, could understand most of what our japanese friends were saying, except for me. It was a bit awkward at times, but it was interesting and fun. :)

 Next to Jaydon is my friend Nozomi. She is the daughter-in-law to Tomoyo. She also has three boys like us, and she is now pregnant with her fourth. She is so kind and loving. Next to Nozomi is Tomoyo. She has the kindest spirit of anyone i know. Next to her is my friend Jennifer. She and her family have lived here for about 7 years. Next to her, more towards the back, is Eiko. I don't know if i am spelling that right. She is very sweet, and i learned that she knows how to speak French. Very cool. :) She enjoyed trying to converse with me through translations on her iphone. :) I can't remember the other two ladies names. They were a bit harder to remember. :( But they were soooo entirely kind. I really loved their company and who they are. The missionaries were from Pocatello, and from Utah...Elder Wood was from Pocatello and Elder Budge( i think i have it wrong) was from Utah. Elder Wood just arrived on island and was very new. The other Elder had been here since August. He was really good at speaking japanese though.

 After we ate and took some pictures it was time for another japanese tradition. She bought everyone these special papers, with a hard cover on the back.  She pulled out her special black ink and brush and everyone was supposed to write, in Kanji, their New Year wish or Hope for the year. Someone wrote , peace, in Kanji. Someone else wrote something about being surrounded by good friends. For mine i wanted , inner peace. It's actually a thing we have in our family, and something we took from Kung Fu Panda 2. I was trying to tell them inner peace so they could help me figure out the kanji for it. It took awhile for them to understand what i was saying. :)

 Here's Tomoyo trying to show me how to write it. We practiced on newspaper first. They are amazing at writing it so well. I learned how to write it and actually did my own, but when i compared mine to theirs i realized mine looked like a little kids handwriting. :)

 I don't know if you can see mine ...i just finished it on that piece of paper on the newspaper. :)

It was such a fun afternoon spent with wonderful people, and excellent food. I'm so happy to have gotten to know Tomoyo and her friends and family. As a parting gift, her husband gave Jennifer and i some smoked pork roast.  He makes a lot of that for their restaurant, so he gave us some meat to take home. He also smokes chicken. It's very good. She had a lovely home, and it was fun to see and go inside an actual japanese friend's house. :)

{Zukeran mini zoo and egg shop}

I took the boys to a mini zoo and egg shop/ cream puff bakery. Yes, very interesting. The Japanese come up with some different stuff. :) Anyway, in this mini zoo there were bunnies, birds, a donkey, pig, and some little weird looking things that looked like a cross between and squirrel and monkey. It was interesting. The boys liked being able to pet the bunnies.

 This statue kind of creeped the boys out. At first they didn't want to sit in that chair. haha...

 Here's one of the bunnies. It was the fluffiest fur ball i have ever seen.

 And when we were all done walking around looking at the animals, with the smell of poo in the air the whole time, we went into this little shop where they sell bulk eggs and baked goods. haha!  I bought some of their FRESH eggs, and then i bought the boys their very own cream puff. These are the biggest cream puffs we have ever seen. They were yummy too. :) Cream puffs are definitely a japanese dessert. We see these everywhere.

{Taiko Drumming}

Taiko drumming is a huge part of japanese culture. It is done year round for just about everything and anything. The kids at school have the opportunity to learn it and be part of that tradition. Gavin is in the Taiko drumming group. He has been staying after school every tuesday and thursday for practices, but they recently changed it to just one practice a week.  So far, they have performed once in front of the BX . All the parents brought baked goods so we could make money for their group in order to make some more Obi's( the red vest thing you see him wearing). They are expensive and cost 80 bucks. Little insane.  Anyway, the kids would perform and then they would walk around and attack everyone walking in and out of the BX to try and get donations. haha! We spent a lot of our time just sitting back and watching Gavin and his classmates perform. It was fun. And when they all drum it is very powerful and loud. It's very cool.

 So far, they have learned three different Taiko drumming performances. Gavin loves it and is always practicing at home. I usually make him go outside, and i have to laugh because it really is so loud and i often wonder what the neighbors think of the constant beating of the drum. haha!