Christmas 2014

We had a lovely Christmas this year and even though we missed our family and friends back at home, it was a fun and relaxing day for us all.  We started off the festivities by attending a Christmas Eve service on base.  When that was finished, we went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant that serves mostly steak and hamburg (a seasoned beef patty served with a sauce).  After choosing your main dish, the salad and fruit bar was all-you-could-eat.  The kids had a great time and all the food was very good.  We took a few portraits on our way back into the apartment building.

Once the kids were asleep we put out the presents.

And since we had no fireplace or mantle we put the stocking in front of the tv stand.

Christmas morning the kids woke up at about 6:30 am and they opened their stockings while we got dressed.  Then we let the present opening begin and had them put aside gifts from family back at home so we could video-chat with them when they opened their gifts.  I tried to purchase mostly Japanese toys so they could experience something different than what they could get back at home.

The kids each got their sibilings a gift from the 100 yen store - Jamie bought Abby this white board.

Tristan's Shinkansen (bullet train) puzzle set from Kumon.

Abby's drawing kit.

This present came from the NEX but Jamie was super excited about it - a set of all the different Tabasco sauces.

A Japanese Kendama.

Abby got Tristan some bubbles.

A neat airplane that transports vehicles!

Japanese version of play-dough.  This stuff is fun!  It comes with much more intricate tools to make things with.

The Japanese barbie.

A Go gameboard (we also have learned to play Irensei)

All the kids got a nerf gun.

And some yen to spend in Tokyo.

Here is the Christmas morning cake I bought at the bakery called a Baumkuchen (it's origins are German) and literally means "tree cake" because of the rings that you can see.

Here you can see Jamie in his new jersey beating me at Go.

After playing and going to the park to try out Jamie's new soccer ball, we picked up our Christmas dinner - Kentucky Fried Chicken (which we had to pre-reserve since it's so popular here on Christmas)

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well and wish you a Happy New Year!