And being together to welcome in a new year was truly wonderful!!!
We had so much fun just being together... and of course, enjoying being back all together in Japan.One of the more exciting Japanese New Years traditions takes place at stores all throughout the land. On January 1st, while visiting relatives, children receive special envelopes filled with money. On Jan. 2nd, stores open early (think of the day after Thanksgiving in the states) with all kinds of sales and special "mystery bags". Kristin and Amberly enjoyed sharing a bag- complete with a few treasures!
While the girls had fun shopping, the guys clearly did not! (but they were great troopers and waited patiently for us as we ran in and out of more than a few shops!) Note the excitement in their expressions!
We had so many wonderful adventures, it's hard to even know where to begin in sharing the highlights. For now, we'll simply post a few pictures of our time running around Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima and Miyajima. 
Kids in front of Osaka Castle.
The Glico Man!
A special highlight was an evening with the Li family- Carmen is an amazing cook and treated us to a Chinese feast... complete with Peking Duck! It was incredible!!! Following dinner, the girls headed to an onsen... a perfect evening!!!
Here we are at "one of the three most beautiful places" in Japan- Miyajima.
one of the highlights of going to Miyajima is the Okonomiyaki- a specialty dish made with noodles, eggs, a thin-like pancake and special sauce. It tastes much better than it looks!
Of course, one can't go to Miyajima without visiting Hiroshima. Pictured below is the Peace Bell surrounded by thousands of origami cranes, made from people around the world who send them to Hiroshima with the hope and prayer for peace- and the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. 
We also had a great time in Nara- home to the world's oldest and largest wooden structure as well as the world's largest Buddah. Both are amazing.
We enjoyed having our own personal tour guide, Masayo, a friend and colleague from school who joined us for the day!
Nara is also home to a ton of deer- mostly polite (they bow to beg for food and bow to thank you), however, they took a fancy to head butting Amberly!
All too soon, the sun set on our time together. The kids headed back to their very full lives in the States and Jeph and I continue re-adjusting to a very quiet and empty apartment!
