Adam at 44

I took this photo last week when we traveled by ferry through the Seto Inland Sea to spend the weekend on Shikoku. Adam standing on the roof of a ferry, watching the sun set, and wearing one of his favorite t-shirts ("More cowbell!" from a Saturday Night Live skit). Today is his forty-fourth birthday and I can't think of anyone else with whom I would want to share this adventurous, nomadic, and colorful life. 

A New Year

Iwakuni, Japan

Full moon on the first evening of the new year. Chilly, exhilarating, and filled with hope. 

2017 was a year of change, impatience, strength, illness, thrills, and adaptation. I don't have a resolution or a specific mantra for this new year and that feels alright. Driving home from our visit to the local Shinto Shrine last night, we didn't expect to see this view of the big moon rising over Iwakuni, but there it was. We parked, hopped out of the van, let Hugo run around like a crazy pup, and savored the loveliness in front of us. I want more of that in this new year: the beauty, the joy, and the spontaneity.  

Hanukkah 2017

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Home

And suddenly our house now feels like home...Hugo made it to Japan this weekend. 

He flew halfway around the world. We drove ten hours (round trip). And on a rainy night in Osaka, our little family unit felt whole again. The past two days have been a blur of sleepless nights and messy days. Doggie jet lag is very similar to toddler jet lag, but with a lot more night time barking and equal amounts of confusion and frustration. He is eagerly investigating all of the new smells and sounds and we can't stop smothering him with hugs and kisses. We will forever be grateful to the doctors, friends, and family members who helped to get him here. 

Halloween in Japan

Yesterday I walked by a kimono shop which had an elegant display with kimono-clad witches and a few minutes later I entered a grocery store proudly displaying Japanese Halloween candy (flan-flavored Kit-Kats, chocolate jack-o-lanterns, etc). The hundred yen stores have been crammed with costumes, decor, and kitschy Halloween trinkets for the past few months. The coffee shops have pumpkin spice lattes.

It feels surreal and it is by far one of the biggest changes I have seen since living in Japan for the first time twenty years ago. At that point, Halloween was a very exciting foreign concept for my high school students. Since there weren't any North American pumpkins, I brought in bags of oranges and they gleefully drew Jack-o-Lantern faces onto the tiny orbs. And when we lived in Okinawa fourteen years ago, there was the memorable year of the pumpkin lottery when the shipment of pumpkins that were being sent to the commissary arrived too rotten to sell. The remaining healthy pumpkins were raffled off: twenty five pumpkins for the fifty thousand Americans living on an Japanese island. That was the year I purchased three plastic jack-o-lanterns who have happily traveled the world with us. 

And now we are back in Japan and a bit overwhelmed to see Halloween celebrated in stores, bakeries, and even in a local sushi-go-round that is selling ghoulish bites. I have mixed feelings about it. It's fun to see the festive Japanese twist on this very American holiday, but it also makes me sad to see how much of it has seeped into daily life here. That hasn't stopped me from stocking up on gobs of candy because one thing that always happens when we live overseas is that our host-nation neighbors are invited to trick-or-treat on the base and that always results in a very busy night of celebrating. It's strange to be living this mixed-up expat life, but I guess that cauldrons filled with bizarre concoctions is all part of the Halloween experience, too. 

The Storybook Village

When we built our storybook village back in 2011, I had no idea it would grow to become one of our favorite winter traditions. Camille was 4 or 5 at the time and it was a fun way to create spaces those characters who dominated her imagination and lived in books that had to be read again and again. Each year we pull out the village and Camille adds new elements...new literary neighbors, snow men, trees, etc. This year's new additions included an extra large house for the BFG and a clock tower for Hugo Cabret. Not only is it a lovely way to decorate during December and January, it is also a nostalgic and colorful trip down the lane of her favorite childhood books. Not sure how long she will continue to add to the village over the coming years, but it is certainly something we will all treasure for a long time.

Hanukkah 2014

Celebrating: Nine!

  

 Birthday Breakfast: biscuits, presents, number nines hanging all over the house, and lots of kisses

Birthday Dinner: ice skating, hot cocoa, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, sparkly pink plates, cupcakes baked and decorated completely by Camille, matching purple scarves, and surrounded by her favorite friends

Happy Birthday, Camille!

Halloween 2014

Fancy Devil and Cereal Killer

Purim 2014

Sweet Love

Valentine's Day 2014

Cookies made by Camille and Emee, homemade valentines made by all of us, Lego hearts made by the adults, and a very special snow surprise made by Adam (a huge heart in the back yard with A+L made out of twigs in the center). It certainly was a very sweet day.

Eleven

Happy Birthday, Noah!

First Walk of the Year

We spent New Year's morning traipsing through the woods in Rock Creek Park. Beautiful light, lots of logs for climbing, and icy puddles for cracking...it was a very good way to start 2014. And here's a peek at one of the winter walks we took in Switzerland. I never thought I would be such a fan of winter walking, but there really is something special about it. Things are pared down and details come into sharper focus without the distraction of the colors and textures that flourish during the other seasons.

Happy New Year!

Andermatt, Switzerland

Wishing you and your families all the best in 2014. May it be a year of laughter, wonder, and peace for all!

Christmas Eve in Switzerland with Dolly Parton

A week ago we had no idea we would be here... sipping disappointingly flavorless hot chocolate in Andermatt, Switzerland while listening to Dolly Parton belt out Christmas tunes on a speaker rigged up in a little wooden hut next to an ice skating rink. And yet here we are. 

We spontaneously and successfully hopped on a free military flight to Germany, rented a car, drove south, and have tucked ourselves into this little Swiss Alps town. Hoping to ski, eat lots of fondue, and stay warm. Merry Christmas!

The Party Girls

Somehow it always happens. They show up just when I have almost given up on them. Prancing into the party oozing confidence and perkiness.

I love Christmas cacti with their flashy pops of color and their exotically spiky foilage. They are the scantily clad party girls of the season, never as predictable as the poinsettia or as elegant as the amaryllis or as demure as the paper whites. They let loose in their own way and they always make me smile. 

Allison and Preston

Hanukkah 2013

Thanksgivukkah!

 
Giving thanks today for menurkeys, my goofy turkeys, and hand-made turkey place settings; Settlers of Catan (last night's Hanukkah gift that has already been played multiple times); David Sedaris (who has been making me laugh out loud with his latest book and app); and the ability to stay in pjs for most of today. Now headed off to get dressed for an evening of candle-lighting and turkey eating with an international mix of new and old friends. 

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Eight

Happy Birthday, Camille!