Maya's 6th birthday

For Maya's 6th birthday, we promised her that we will have a party where she can invite her friends. Maya has always been a little shy and quiet, so we have always had a small get together with Grandma and Grandpa. Now that Maya is in kindergarten, she has really opened up and have made a lot of new friends. Karen had a birthday party at Brunswick Lanes earlier in the year so she wanted to do the same. Since, Mom and Dad had a busy schedule, it was nice to have host take care of everything. This was Maya's second time bowling, and she had a lot of fun.

Summer approacheth

The most beautiful time of the year in Seattle is .....SUMMER. It's not even June yet, but we hope summer is here early and stays for a while. We decided to cruise around Makoto's old neighborhood in Edmonds. Such beautiful views in Edmonds as well as a beach with acutal sand, not pebbles. But the water was freeeeeeezing.

Alderwood mall has really upgraded and it is nice to have a small playground for the kids indoors.

Summer = playing outside.

Klair has learned to blow dandelions and loves to help bring color to our nice green lawn ;)

May has been very pleasant this year in Seattle. It started out with a lot of rainy days, but we also have enjoyed some beautiful weather. Trampolines are always a neighborhood magnet for kids.

A little break

This was our little break from the ordinary. It was kind of a belated Spring break / Mother's Day / 3-day middle of the week vacation. Mom & Dad has a time share that needed to be used up by June, so we booked a quick 3 day vacation to the closest place we can find....and it was Birch Bay in Blaine WA. Never been to Blaine, but it was a nice hour and a half drive to have a little get away time and spend time with the family.

The 2 bedroom unit we rented was very nice.... 2 Bedroom with a formal dining room, Chef''s kitchen with stainless steel appliances, gas cook top, granite counter tops and maple cabinets. Newer carpets with hardwood flooring, large master bath with walk-in closet. French doors takes you to the patio with tremendous views of Birch Bay. Located close to all amenities, must see to appreciate...(Just practicing for real estate)

We took a quick 30 minute drive to Deception Pass. It was rainning and windy but we enjoyed the spectacular view from the bridge.

We walked on the beach. The beach was very calm and gentle. Kids enjoyed finding diffrent kinds of sea shell and crabs.

"Our three girls are loving and caring. They make me happy and bring laughter to me everyday! Thank you for the lovely cake" Love, Mom.

Karen's Baptism

Our first baptism in the family has finally arrived...child baptism that is. It was a wonderful day and went well....no slips. Kaori actually planned ahead and bought Karen's white dress a year ago. The baptism was scheduled a week after the general conference, and it turned out great since we were able to go to Salt Lake and actually attend one of the sessions in the new conference center. Just wanted to thank the rest of the Ohana clan in Hawaii for the phone call and blessings.

A collection of Karen's photos. I personally like the one on the bottom left...she kind of looks like an onigiri (rice ball). Notice the head band to tame all that hair.

Easter...egg?

Easter has a special meaning for us Christians, but for the kids its all about the eggs.
Easter egg coloring kits are getting fancier but we stuck with the stickers this year since all that fancy glitter stuff was a mess last year. Klair helped out but cracked a couple eggs along the way.

We missed out on the community egg hunt so we had our own egg hunt in our backyard. Dad had to hide the eggs a second time since he didn't do a good job of hiding the eggs.

Road trip to Utah

For spring break, we decided on going on a road trip to enjoy our general conference in Utah. Since Karen turned 8 years old, this would be her first time and be eligible to attend conference. This was a last minute decision, and when Joy showed us a great deal for a 2 nights stay at Park City Utah, we jumped on it. Although we did not have tickets, Joy, with her Utah connections was able to find 4 tickets. We were told that it is a 13 hour drive, but since we are used to 10 hour flights to Japan, this was a piece of cake. The first 2 hours into the drive and everyone is happy.

After an 8 hour drive from Seattle to Utah, we decided to stay the night at a motel in Boise Idaho. It was a long drive and with 5 pit stops along the way. We arrived late but thank goodness for Denny's....always open:) Kids were happy they were out of the car.

We finally arrived in Park City.....and it still is winter here. We spent a dinner and movie night with the Yates family.

The kids were more excited about swimming in the pool than seeing Temple Square. The heated outside pool was nice but there was still snow along the side of the pool.

This was me and Joy's first time attending general conference in the new conference center. It was huge. Nice comfortable seats by the way. Makoto and Karen went to the Sunday morning session with Zac and Kyla.

Lot's of people braving the cold weather during conference weekend. It kind of reminded me of Seattle. Took a lot of pictures and got taken a lot of pictures...maybe you might see us in the next conference issue:)

It was a pleasant surprise to see Amie Spjut at Temple Square. She took the picture of us. I hope you found your car keys.

Karen's 8th Birthday

For Karen's 8th birthday, we went bowling at the local bowling alley. It was a cosmic bowling event so a lot of neon lights, fog and a mirror ball. It was kind of cool. I think the best part was the funky 80's music in the background. Karen had a couple strikes and one spare. Thanks to Wii bowling, she knew what she was trying to accomplish. See....video games are instructional.

Hannah Montana birthday cupcakes. A must for any little girl.

School and neighborhood friends. This was also Maya's first time bowling. She had a blast. Klair just enjoyed running around with a balloon tied around her waist and feeling the hand dryer on her face....forgot to take a picture of that.

Well spring is........was....... not quite here yet. But it was nice to get the kids outside and get a little sunshine.