Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with our friends, Yori and Midori joining us at our house. We cooked a huge turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, yam souffle, homemade rolls, cranberry sauce, a homemade peanut butter banana cake and a pumpkin pie. We were exhausted by the time we were finished, but it was lots of fun!
Afterwards, we went to Naminoe Shrine to celebrate Shichi-Go-San with Mika. In November every year, the children go to the shrine and receive a blessing from the Priest for a happy and healthy year. Mika did a great job and sat there very quietly. She was very excited when she received a special medal, a bag of treats and a balloon from the Priest! Naminoe is a special place for us because Max also received a blessing at this shrine in 2001 for the very same occasion.

Mika asked for the turkey leg. She took two bites and then said "it's too heavy!"

Preparing for the ceremony.....

Inside the shrine.....it's very peaceful and beautiful.

Time to go home

Ready for bed and enjoying a special snack from the bag of goodies she received at the shrine. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Our trip to California: November 5th-14th

We went to California to spend some time with Uncle Dennis and our friends. We had lots of fun and we were very happy to be in California again surrounded by our extended family.
This was Mika's first trip to California!

On our way!

Arriving in Los Angeles....we're finally here!




Playing a game of pool at Uncle Dennis' house on the beach. It's a great place and is very relaxing.

Enjoying a delicious dinner together. Me, Max, Mika, Uncle Dennis, Katie, Kevin, Nicole and Linda.

Mika with her Godfather, Uncle Dennis.

A beautiful California sunset.....

Mika and Kathy's Mom, Sandi. Kathy was my best friend who passed away six years ago. Sandi has a special place in my heart and she and Mika got along great with each other immediately.

Uncle Dennis got me a rental car to drive while we were there as a surprise. I love this car!

Going for a walk at the street fair on the Huntington Beach pier.

Having a fun day at Disneyland.....

Having a fun day at the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney.

Mika with her Godmother Katie. They baked cookies together.

Snuggled up on the couch watching a movie at Uncle Dennis' house.

Enjoying a carousel ride

Mika with Katie and Kevin. Kevin is Katie's boyfriend and he's super nice. We went to Dave and Busters to play games, eat dinner, and have lots of fun.

We love going to Dave and Buster's! It's a fun restaurant that serves great food and we played lots of fun games.

We won lots of tickets at Dave and Buster's! Mika got a beach towel, a purse, a yo-yo, and a princess book. Max got a sweatshirt, a tshirt and a yo-yo.

Three days in Las Vegas is enough for me! November 13th, 14th and 15th

Uncle Dennis invited us to join him in Las Vegas! It was alot of FUN and it's an exciting and very unique place. I even won some money on a slot machine. We ate lots of great food and saw some great shows while we were there.
After three days though.....we were ready to go. It's a little too weird for us! It was a good experience though. We stayed in a suite at Ceasars Palace and the room even had a piano in it! Uncle Dennis spoiled us and we always have fun with him. This was his first time to meet Mika, so he wanted everything to be very special. He's also her Godfather.

We rode in a limousine from the airport to the hotel!

One of the bedrooms in our hotel suite at Caesars Palace. It had THREE bedrooms!



Our hotel room...

We saw the Lion King show at Mandalay Bay hotel. It was fantastic!

The lobby at our hotel






The view from our room was great....

In front of our hotel....








We went to M&M World. It was four floors of M&M's! Yummy!

Max playing the piano in our hotel room....

We saw the Cirque Du Soleil show: The Beatles "Love" show. We love Cirque Du Soleil and have seen a few of their shows.

The lobby at our hotel was so beautiful.

Our last night in Las Vegas. Max, Mika and Uncle Dennis.

The front door to our hotel room. Time to go to the airport and start the long flight home to Okinawa. We're looking forward to seeing Daddy! He stayed home because he had to work.

Daddy surprised us with a Welcome Home cake!