Japan/Zack Update by picture

As you can see, Zack's research trip to Japan has been just awful! Just slaving away in a foreign land!
When in Japan.....



Which of these things is not like the other??
Zack eating at a Korean restaurant. He had many interesting things like intestines, liver, heart, and tongue. He was a little scared at first, but said it was all really good! Here he is cutting up some beef.
Apparently the Japanese are very hospitable! Here Tatsuya is cleaning off Zack's shirt for him. I thought only I could do that! ha, ha.

More pictures to come.....

Some pics from our Utah trip!

Playing blocks w/ Grandpa D
The Three Amigos at Cafe Rio
Giddy Up Cowboy!
Seafood anyone?
Oliver and Granpa B

Fishing in Provo Canyon
Cousin Gage and Oliver

Just a little golfing out on the green!
Grandpa's Caddy!

Some pictures of the Golden Temple in Kyoto

 

 

 

 

A True American!!

Happy 4th of July to all! I just wanted to share some patriotic tidbits that Oliver has expressed recently to kick off your holiday: While in Utah he must have been struck by all the republican talk radio that my mom listens to each day. So we were at the post office waiting for my mom to mail something inside and he saw the flag outside waving in the breeze and said, "Mommy is that the American flag?" I said, "Yes it is." Then a few minutes later he said, "Mommy is that Barack Obama's flag?" Laughing, I said, "Well I guess it is!" It was truly funny, and I'm not really even sure how he remembered Obama's name, but none the less, he feels he is a True American! Eat your heart out Glenn Beck! Then a week or so later, Oliver and I were driving in the car to Zack's parents house. Oliver was telling me he wanted a present because we had wrapped one to give to Grandpa. So I had been telling him that he would get a present when it was his birthday and then I asked him what he would like for his birthday. He thought for a minute and then said, "Ummmm......maybe a Statue of Liberty toy? And a McQueen car, no 3 McQueen cars!" Where he got the idea for a Statue of Liberty toy I have no idea, and I really have no idea what a Statue of Liberty toy would do, but he wants one none the less......I guess it just shows how patriotic our son is. What can we say, he loves his country! So may you all strive to be as into America as Oliver is on this great day!! :)

Sidenote: Apparently Zack has taken our camera cord with him to Japan, therefore I can not download any pictures from the camera to our computer even now that I am home. Sigh. Thus I only had an old picture to put on this, but Oliver is wearing red! Errrr....Zack, you are totally busted!

He's off to JAPAN!! Our Happy Daddy!

Well no pictures because I'm still at my parents house and don't know how to get around their computer well, so pictures will have to wait. But in other news, Zack is now in JAPAN!! On his summer of research! So far he has been delayed by a Volcano, refused tea, coffee, and beer, taken a Japanese bath (I haven't found out exactly what that entails yet!), almost been inducted into some kind of cult, left jilted by his host family at a tea ceremony, and to his pure joy discovered that he could get normal icecream and coke there. And he's only been there a WEEK!! Imagine what can happen in the next 6-8 weeks! So far, so good. He's had many a discussion about mormons already, I told him he needed to find some missionaries there and get himself a stack of Books of Mormon and just start doling them out! :)

And while Zack is in Japan, we have continued to enjoy or last few weeks in Utah with our family and friends. I feel like I have grown a belly to rival Santa Claus in the time we have been here. And I think Oliver has grown a foot taller! (Ok, not really, but he is getting tall!)
Mostly I just wanted to tell Zack that we hope he had a good Father's Day!!! We love and miss him. (I say it in past tense since he's already onto Monday in Japan now.) Singing "Halloween Cat" just isn't the same without you!

HELLO UTAH!!!!

Well, It's been quite awhile since my last post, but I've become sort of a slacker since being pregnant. But now we are in glorious UTAH visiting family and escaping Craziville! Can I just say how wonderful it is to be in Utah again? Their slogan is right, "Utah, a pretty great state." Indeed it is. So far I've been loving the lack of trash all over the streets, the smooth roads, the beautiful mountains, friendly people, bulk grocery items, parking off the street, and not a triple decker in sight!! (Triple deckers are 3 story apartments that basically make up Craziville and they are all 100 years old and mostly ugly.) Not to mention the fact that we have already spent lots of time with our families which of course is the cherry on top!! I will post some of our pictures when Zack gets home since I need him to figure out how to do it on our parents computer. But if you are in Utah and want to see us, please email us!!
Oliver has been having a blast here, he thinks he just got like 10 new best friends! In fact today when everyone has been gone to work or busy he keeps telling me, "I miss my friends." And then he gets this really sad face, and even shed a few tears. I guess one friend isn't enough for him anymore! :) He is basically in toddler heaven, with 2 sets of grandparents to adore him, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc... He is such a social child that he is just eating it up! It's like an endless party for him. I'm afraid for when we go home, he's going to think being with just mom is a real drag! ha,ha.
Anyway, life is good, pictures to come...

Our Vacation in Philly and D.C.!!

We recently took a trip to Philadelphia and Washington D.C. since Zack had a conference he had to attend in D.C. It was a lot of fun and here are some pictures highlighting our trip. Oliver had a good time and traveled well, thank goodness. We got to see some of Zack's mission friends in Philly and the we got to see our friends Shiloh and Andrew in D.C., and then more of Zack's mission friends in CT on the way back home. So it was an action packed trip for the 3 of us!