10 Months!!!!

My baby is growing up so fast!!!!

He turned 10 months old, today!

What he has accomplished in the past month:

＊He's starting to prefer walking over crawling

＊He's been standing up more and more

＊He has taken over 25 steps without stopping {that I have been able to count}

＊His FIRST WORD = "anana" or "nana," meaning Banana

＊He can pinch things between his thumb and pointer finger, and take it to his mouth

＊He can carry the spoon to his mouth

＊He points at things all the time!

＊He says "ooooo" a lot {and makes the funny "oooo" face}

＊Loves to play the piano
＊He is eating more normal (consistency) food - rice, bread, banana, cereal

＊He enjoys playing with his toy cars and rolling them on the ground

＊He can "Banzai!" {raise both hands in the air - *yay*} and raise his hand when you call his name

＊He can put a phone to his ear when you say "moshi moshi" {which means "hello" on the phone}
 ＊He drinks with a STRAW!

Happy Birthday Little One!!!!

we love you so SO much!

Michigan Trip Week 1

{WARNING: LONG post ahead....LOTS of pictures!!!}

I cannot begin to say how busy (but amazing) this week has been!

We came back home (to Michigan) to see my family, and for my family to see me Noa...

and we have been having a blast!

needless to say, this week has been an eventFULL week.

It began with settling in, getting re-aquainted (Noa, with everyone), and getting some shopping done.

My sister flew in from California, and it's been great to have her here for a short little while.

When my sister and I get together, we talk, hang out, and take lots and LoTs of pictures

{we are what you might call compulsive/pathological? photo-takers...}

here is the result of those photo-taking episodes:::

Noa played on the baby piano that my mom had bought for him. Very antique-looking and cute, but also very out of tune and harsh on your ears, especially how Noa was banging on it.

but...He sure looked CUTE doing it!

{*kiss*}
 I can't wait for him to start learning to play the piano!!

Tuesday was Chad's birthday...

we celebrated with the WHOLE family (minus Levi)

with SUSHI!!!!

...and {raspberry/white chocolate/Oreo-crusted} CHEESECAKE !!

(made by Yushi)

topped off with some awesome presents {that Noa helped open}
Happy Birthday, Chad!!
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

A couple days this week, we played tennis at my subdivision tennis courts...

very FUN!

 my little brother and Chad had a pretty good match going....
and we were cheering them on

The girls got some playing time in too:

 
We even rescued a turtle on the court!!

He (or she?) is safe now, back where he belongs...

Pool-time is one of Noa's favorite activities!

He loves the water...

...he's all smiles the whole entire time we're there...

we all had so much fun!

Noa also LOVEs going to parks...

and exploring the world.

 ...discovering new things everytime...

and enjoying blissful life...
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

We were able to attend the temple as a family {with everyone there - from the oldest to the youngest} for the first time ever.

{Detroit Temple, June 2010}

We were able to do baptisms for our relatives as a family.
It was so special!
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Saturday was Yuka's Japanese School field day (運動会）
she participated in the soccer, volleyball, three-legged race, relay race, and the giant jump rope events

{so hot}

And then there was Father's Day...

it was the day Chad flew back to Utah.
It was sad that we couldn't spend it together as a family...

but we sent him lots and LoTs of LOVE from Michigan!

Every year for the past few years for Father's Day
we get our Dad a tie....
but on that ordinary tie, we draw a picture of a temple to just make it a little more special.

Turned out so fabulous this year....

the BEAUTIFUL picture of the Salt Lake Temple was drawn by my amazing sister, Mariko

...and the not so nice writing on the tie (plus the card) were done by me.........

So there you have it, a short recap of the amazing week we've had here in good ol' LO-town

plus a few pictures here and there for you to enjoy!

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks ahead of us!!!!!

To the greatest DAD:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

We love you, and miss you SO much!

You're the BEST daddy ever!

Happy Father's Day!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

＊Memorial Day Weekend＊

We spent our Memorial Day weekend in Cedar City, at Chad's family's cabin.

I've been up there a couple of times before, but never in the summer time - and it was Noa's first time being in the wild! {which, he was very excited about, as you can imagine}

One of the main reasons for this trip was for Chad's family to see Noa - how much he's grown - and for us to catch up with everyone...
but we also had some time to::::::::


＊celebrate (Great) Grandma Betty's birthday＊

 ...with a card, a gift....

...and some cheesecake! mmm...


＊play on the 4-wheeler＊

{leaving the baby behind...}

 ...and going for a scenic ride...

spending some quality time together

...with some wildlife, of course...

We also went....

＊Cave-diving＊

gettin' down and dirty

...in a couple different caves

{ice crystal formations on the cave ceiling}

and...

 ＊Fishing＊

 {Noa helped me out}

and I got one! {the biggest one of the day!!!}

Believe it or not, we did cook and eat the fish that we caught, and it was surprisingly very delicious!

Other highlights of the trip included: playing games, eating yummy food, spotlighting for deer at night, cutting down dead trees....and watching Noa interact with everyone.

and what's a cabin-trip without 

＊a bonfire and some s'mores＊

Noa was very much mesmerized by the fire

Such a fun, fantastic trip - we were able to enjoy as a family!