Kyoto

Kyoto is the heart of Japanese culture!  It has over 1,800 temples, hundreds of shrines, and is Japan's 7th largest city.  Nara was the first capital of Japan, then Kyoto for over 1,000 years, and now Tokyo is the current capital.  


We had the opportunity to travel to Kyoto on Thursday, January 21 via the Shinkansen bullet train so that Dr. Gush (my principal), Dayle (Pre-K teacher), and I could visit Kyoto International School (KIS) to learn about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP).  Tim came along too and we stayed for the weekend. 

Shinkansen

After arriving, we ate sushi in the hotel.  Tim ate us out of house and home!  Can you believe he ate 7,500 yen worth of sushi?!  Must have been gold!


While the three of us visited KIS for the day on Friday, Tim took a self-guided bike tour of the city.  He rode to the Ginkaku-ji (The Temple of the Silver Pavilion) and through the Imperial Palace.  He enjoyed yakitori for lunch and then exploring some more after lunch.

 Imperial Palace grounds

yakitori for lunch

KIS is a TINY school with around 70 kids and is Preschool through Grade 9.  There are teachers for the following grades:  Preschool, Pre-K/K combo, G1, G2/3 combo, G4/5 combo, and all of middle school are lumped together with the one high school student.  They are looking for a new school but are currently in an old Japanese school.  Dayle and I enjoyed chatting with the Preschool and Pre-K/K teachers.  PYP seems like an awesome, inquiry-based, student-led program that I would love to implement!  I already use much of what they do but it would be great to implement the full program.  The elementary teachers at FIS are going to Hong Kong for PYP training in September!  It will be a lot of work but hopefully worth it!


We all stayed through Sunday since it was everyone's first trip to Kyoto.  Tim, Dayle, and I stayed in the Granvia Kyoto Hotel which was actually IN the Kyoto train station.  It was a great hotel and very convenient!  Linda stayed at a nearby hotel.

 our hotel

coming out of our hotel into the very modern Kyoto train station

Since it was such a short stay and Kyoto is a massive place to visit, we took advantage of every second.  Though we were tired from our visit to KIS, Dayle, Tim, and I headed to downtown Kyoto to a great street called Pontocho.  Reminded me a tiny bit of Europe because of how narrow and quaint it was.  There were tons and tons of tiny restaurants, half overlooked the river.  We ate a great meal at ZuZu.  We shared a bunch of things but my personal favorite was the spare ribs.  The meat fell right off the bone.  We tried to order more but they were out.  Bummer!

 Hurray!  We FINALLY found the restaurant...and it had an English menu!

Tim, Sarah, and Dayle at ZuZu

On Saturday, Linda got up early and explored the city.  She visited everything that we were planning on visiting on Sunday.  We did most of the Higashiyama walking tour in National Geographic's Japan guide book.  Rode the bus to the bottom of a hill and had to walk up a slope with tons of cute shops to get to Kiyomizu-dera Temple.  This temple had magnificent grounds with views overlooking the city of Kyoto.  The temple was first built in 798 but burned several times and has been rebuilt.  The main hall has a huge veranda that juts out over the hillside, supported by 139 15-meter high wooden pillars.  Just below this hall is Otowa-no-taki spring.  Visitors drink the sacred waters believed to have therapeutic properties and also thought to improve school test results.  I bought a cup and drank from the spring!  North of the main hall is Jishu-jinja, the Love Shrine.  Visitors try to ensure success in love by closing their eyes and walking 18 meters between a pair of large stones.  If you miss, your desire for love won't be fulfilled!  It was so amusing to watch people that Tim decided to try.  He made it...with my guidance!

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Otowa-no-taki spring at the Temple

Jishu-jinja (The Love Shrine) and Love Stones

Tim and Sarah with the main hall of the Temple in the background

After wandering through the Temple, we escorted Dayle to a taxi to send her back to the hotel.  Her poor back was bothering her!  :(  We meandered down a narrow lane called Kiyomizu-zaka.  It was lined with beautiful shops.  The architecture was really quite nice.

Kiyomizu-zaka

Next stop:  five-story, 128-foot high Yasaka-jinja Pagoda, built by the shogun Yoshinori Ashikaga in 1440.  I'm fascinated by pagoda buildings!  

Yasaka-jinja Pagoda

After a quick look at the pagoda, we passed a huge statue of the Buddhist deity, Kannon, on our way to Kodai-ji Temple.  We only had time to walk up the beautiful bamboo lined walkway to the entrance and then we had to turn around.  The extensive grounds supposedly include gardens, teahouses designed by the renowned master of the tea ceremony, Sen no Rikyu, and a little grove of bamboo trees which are supposedly "positively otherworldly" when illuminated at night.  I would like to visit when we go back in March.  

Kannon statue

prayer rolls outside of Kodai-ji Temple

outside of entrance to Kodai-ji Temple

Tim outside of entrance to Kodai-ji Temple

bamboo lined walkway to Kodai-ji Temple

From there, we strolled through Maruyama-koen Park.  I bet it is spectacular when the cherry blossoms bloom!  On the other side of the park, we found Chion-in Temple.  Unfortunately it had just closed.  However, we did get to see a group of monks leaving the Temple.  That was pretty cool!  The outside of the temple is huge and very impressive.  It was built by a monk, Genchi, in 1234, on the site where his mentor, Honen, once taught and eventually fasted to death.  It is still the headquarters of the Jodo school (school of Buddhism).  There is a two-story gate at the main entrance that is the largest in Japan.  It is supposed to prepare visitors for the massive scale of the temple.  Supposedly there is a gold altar, gardens, and a huge bell.  The bell was cast in 1633, measures 2.7 meters in diameter, and weighs almost 80 tons.  It is the largest in Japan.  17 monks are required to make the bell budge during the ceremony to ring in the new year.  I hope to go into this temple in March as well!

entrance to Chion-in Temple

monks

"It was finished in visit time.  Entrance prohibition."

Love the translation for CLOSED!

Just past Chion-in Temple was Shoren-in Temple.  There are giant camphor trees growing just outside the walls.  There is a garden as well as sliding screens with paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.  We were just able to see the trees and the wall before turning around to head to Yasaka-jinja Shrine.  The shrine was a nice place to walk through to get to Gion but other than that there was nothing special about it, in my opinion.  I would like to do back to Shoren-in Temple, though.

walls outside of Shoren-in Temple

My personal tour guide...He's a keeper!

camphor tree

entrance to Shoren-in Temple

camphor trees

looking out from Yasaka-jinja Shrine to Gion

It was just about 5pm when we finished up at the shrine.  That is an important time to note because it's when the geishas come out in the Gion district of Kyoto.  I played "Where's Geisha?" for a few hours and spotted one from a distance.  I did see one earlier in the day so I wasn't disappointed!

found...girls in kimonos, but no geishas!

streets of Gion

geisha spotted earlier in the day in Higashiyama...close to Gion!

the geisha and her sugar daddy 

Walked around Gion for a bit before meeting up with Dayle and Linda for a huge, delicious dinner on Pontocho again...just LOVE that street!

Green Tea ice cream for dessert!

Linda, Dayle, Tim, Sarah

Thank you, Dayle and Linda, for finding this restaurant!

On Sunday, Linda explored Gion, Dayle went to see the deer in Nara, and Tim and I went to Kinkaku-ji, The Golden Pavillion.  It is only second to Mount Fuji as Japan's most famous sight.  We took a rather long bus ride to the temple.  It was a most spectacular, sunny, blue sky day; perfect for making the pavillion shine!  The temple truly is stunning.  It has a dazzling gold-covered main hall which sits out over a pond.  The three-story pavilion is covered in bright gold leaf and features a bronze phoenix on top of the roof.  The temple is beautiful when it reflects in the pond.  In 1930, a young monk was so obsessed with the temple that he burned it down. It was totally reconstructed in 1955.  Quite impressive place to visit!

Kinkaku-ji

Sarah and Tim with Kinkaku-ji in the background

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating lunch at a quiet, organic restaurant and shopping at the cute Kyoto Handicraft Center.  Surprisingly, Tim enjoyed it.  Perhaps it was because it was fairly small and it was not crowded.  Picked up a few things and then it was time to head back to meet Dayle and Linda.

delicious Chai Tea Latte at lunch with a sugar cookie spoon!

Kyoto Handicraft Center

The Shinkansen got us home quickly!  Can't wait to go back and explore more of Kyoto with Tena and Nate in March!!!  Such a WONDERFUL city!

Kyoto photos...

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/KyotoWinter10?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2s0qKB07DoXw&feat=directlink

Field Trip #2...Yakult Factory and Park

Dayle called me early in the morning to say that she had the stomach flu that was running rampant at FIS.  :(  Tim said he would sub so he got to go on the field trip with us!  We missed Ms. Dayle but had a great time!


First we went to the Yakult Factory.  Yakult is a popular yogurt drink that is good for the digestive system.  The kids and adults all really enjoyed our tour of the factory, seeing Yakult commercials from around the world, and seeing a kid's movie about Yakult.  It was so interesting to watch the machines package the drinks.  The best part of all was when we each got our own free drink!  YUM!


Afterwards, we headed to a nearby park for lunch and a short play time.  We LOVED the park!  It had a giant pirate ship with slides, bridges, and lots of climbing areas.  There was also a huge slide.  We'll definitely have to go back in the spring when it's warmer and we can play all day!


Our next field trip is to the ice skating rink on Friday!  Wish me luck!!!

Field Trip Pics...

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/FieldTrip2ToYakultFactoryAndPark?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTJrp3B6vmcag&feat=directlink

Handball in Loincloths, Big Buddha, and German

One cold day in January, Tim and I set out to Hakozaki Shrine to watch an annual Handball Competition.  We were supposed to meet Maureen but it was VERY crowded and we happened to bump into her later on.  Neither of us had a clue what was going on.  We knew that there were two teams of guys in loincloths passing a handball around.  This handball had been blessed and cleaned in an earlier ceremony that we watched.  There were buckets of water.  The almost naked guys were throwing water at each other and the crowd was going crazy.  We did find out that there is no score and we think the winning team gets good luck for the year.  Anyhow, it was entertaining for sure!


Afterwards, Tim and I headed to Gion, a few subway stops away, to see a large Buddha that Maureen recommended.  It was a very nice temple and the Buddha was incredible!  However, since it was indoors, photos were not allowed.  I took a photo anyway and was told not to take anymore.  Put me in a grumpy mood!


That evening we went to Bayern Fukuoka, a new German restaurant.  Our friends, Dan and Jenny, wanted to introduce us to it.  When we arrived, they were about to close and were not offering food.  New Year's in Japan shuts down MANY places...early or all the way...for days!  They allowed us to get a beer and some pretzels.  We were about to leave when a regular bought us a round of beer.  He ended up paying for our bill in the end!  We've since returned numerous times and it's one of our favorite restaurants!  They know us and greet us with shots upon arrival...

Photos from our day...

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/HandballFightingInALoinCloth?authkey=Gv1sRgCLCO6I69gu-w-QE&feat=directlink

New Year's in Japan

New Year's Eve 2009

Tim and I arrived home in Japan on December 30 so that we could celebrate New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Japan.  We will most likely travel to Australia or somewhere else in Asia next year so we wanted to experience a Japanese New Year.  It is the single most important holiday in Japan.  It is all about family and friends...mostly family.  Japanese people also do a major yearly cleaning for the New Year.

We were EXTREMELY jet-lagged on December 31 and it wasn't looking like we would actually be awake to celebrate but Maureen talked us into it thankfully.  The three of us braved the cold and headed to the local Atago Shrine around 11:30pm to be there to ring in 2010 at midnight.  Japanese people go to three shrines beginning at midnight and it continues for at least three days into the new year.  We drank sacred sake that Maureen brought and stood in a really long line to wait to pray.  It was a wonderful experience!  I would have kicked myself in the rear if we hadn't gone!

After spending time at the shrine, we started walking down to head home when we saw another little shrine area with a bell.  SO glad we walked in!!!  Every shrine has a bell that they ring 108 times at midnight.  We just happened to be 3 of the 108 people lucky enough to ring the bell!!!

Tim and I had a traditional champagne toast when we got home.  Warmed us up after the cold!!!

Pictures of New Year's Eve 2009:

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/NewYearSEve2009InJapan?authkey=Gv1sRgCI_DydLyjYnpVg&feat=directlink

New Year's Day 2010

Tim and I were honored to be invited to spend New Year's Day with our Japanese friends, Max and Yuri and Max's family.  This is a rare experience for gaijin!  Max picked us up around 11am to go to his          parent's home which is nearby.  

We were welcomed with open arms and invited to sit under the kotatsu that was nice and toasty warm.  Max and his dad wore kimonos.  We started the luncheon by going into another room where they have a shrine.  They prayed for their ancestors.  

We gathered around the table for a sake passing ceremony. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious traditional Japanese New Year's feast.  The children received their New Year's money from family and played games.  The most exciting part of the afternoon was when Max's mother taught us calligraphy!  She made us each choose a word or phrase to write.  Tim chose "New Year" and I chose "Yuki" (snow).  We had to practice and practice and practice until we got it right.  What an awesome experience!

No, we didn't eat black-eyed peas this year...EEK, but we did eat traditional Japanese food and had an awesome experience!  Thank

you, Max, Yuri, and family for allowing us to experience such an awesome celebration!!!

More on the Japanese New Year (food, postcard tradition, etc.):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_New_Year

Pictures of New Year's Day 2010:

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/NewYearSDay2010InJapanWithMaxSFamily?authkey=Gv1sRgCKqk2ujnj6LIgwE&feat=directlink

"Snowstorm" in Fukuoka...January 13, 2010

Apparently, Fukuoka hasn't had this much (if you can call it 'much') snow in over 6 years.  It snowed off and on all day long but would melt instantly.  It was fun to watch but how can one possibly call it a "snowstorm?!"  These people don't know what snow is!  I had a great time being a part of Snow Storm #1 in Richmond, VA at Christmas and as I type they are experiencing Snow Storm #2 with over a foot of snow.  I am VERY jealous!!!  I LOVE snow just as much as I LOVE summer!  Hate winter but love snow!  I know...snow and summer are a strange combo!  


I need to do Alex's (a friend's son) snow dance that he learned in Kindergarten...turn your PJs inside out, sleep with a spoon under your pillow, and put ice cubes in the toilet!!!  A few snow days would be fabulous!


Here are pics taken at 4am when Tim decided to wake me up to show me the snow!  Good thing he did because it was only blanketed for an hour or so...
http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/SnowstormInJapan2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCOr-hK7Dzfj0PA&feat=directlink

Home for the Holidays 2009...First White Christmas that I Remember!!!

WARNING...This is a LONG one!  Also, you can click on the collages to make them larger.


Hmmm....Where do I begin?  Honestly, I wasn't overly excited about going back to America for Christmas.  I guess all of the holiday shopping got in my way of being excited.  However, when I started packing and thinking of everyone I would get to see, I got SO excited about our trip!!!  I was like a kid on Christmas Eve!


Here's how our travels went...
We left our apartment in Fukuoka at 11:15am on Friday, December 18, 2009 and headed to the airport with our huge suitcases on the subway.  We boarded on our 1:15pm JAL flight to Tokyo on time and had a smooth 1 hour, 40 minute flight.  Enjoyed drinking Yuzu (a Japanese citrus drink) on the plane.  We enjoyed lunch and a little shopping in the Tokyo airport and then endured our 4 hour, 10 minute layover in a peaceful, quiet terminal with classical music playing in the background.  Guess that was the calm before the storm!  Boarded our 7:05pm American Airlines flight on time.  The flight to Chicago was smooth but LONG (11 hours, 30 minutes)...even scored 2 small wine bottles for the price of one!  We (especially me) were SO excited to be back home in America!  Tired but our adrenaline kept us going knowing that we just had a 3 hour layover and a 2 hour flight before being snowed in with family and friends!  Got thru customs with no problems, (except for the shock of them throwing our suitcases and listening to Chicago police yell...) checked our luggage thru to Richmond, and started heading to our gate.  That's when the storm literally began!  Looked at the board and it said our flight was CANCELLED!!!  It had just started snowing in Richmond.  Why would this cancel our flight?  UGH!  Headed to the ticket counter hopeful that we could still get to Richmond that night.  Everything was cancelled to Richmond for that night and the next day out of Chicago so they rerouted us to St. Louis that night.  What was supposed to be a 3 hour layover turned into a 5 hour, 20 minute layover.  I spent most of this time angry, upset, crying, etc.  I wanted to be HOME!!!  Boarded our 8:55pm flight to St. Louis.  The 1 hour, 25 minute flight went smoothly.  Arrived at Crowne Plaza Hotel shortly after 11pm and finally went to bed around 1am after talking to family and online to friends.  Due to jet lag, Tim woke up at 4am and I woke up at 5am...guess our bodies were just ready for a short afternoon nap in Japan!


So, Day 2 (Saturday) of travel began!  Headed to the St. Louis airport knowing that our flight was on time but had the possibility of being cancelled due to the snow.  All looked fine...went thru security, got to the gate, grabbed some breakfast, came back to find out our flight was CANCELLED AGAIN!!!  Called to rebook and the next flight to Richmond was Sunday (the next day) night at 6:15PM!!!  I was getting furious!  I asked if we could fly to Norfolk or Greensboro or Charlotte...or ANYWHERE nearby!  If not, I was going to fly to Hawaii!!!  The lady said there was ONE seat on the flight to Norfolk.  I told her to put ME on it...didn't even ask Tim.  I know...I'm such a mean wife!!!  At this point I was going to do ANYTHING to get home the same day!  Booked Tim on the same flight as standby.  He ended up booking a seat on a flight to Raleigh/Durham that left 20 minutes before me so I booked standby on his flight.  Unfortunately, there was one seat available and one person in front of me in line so I didn't get on his flight.  My flight ended up having several empty seats which made us both mad!  I did score Priority Seating...sounded great but only meant that I could board first (after military).  Tim safely got to Raleigh/Durham and rented a car  and drove to Richmond.  I safely landed in Norfolk and was met by my father-in-law, who lives in nearby Virginia Beach.  It was only raining in Norfolk so I was planning on renting a car.  Bob, my father-in-law, suggested that I not travel to Richmond because the conditions were too bad.  As much as I love him and appreciated his concern, I REALLY wanted to be home in Richmond.  I forgot to mention that Tim had our cash and credit cards so I called my mom who I knew would help me rent a car.  Instead, she answered by saying that my cousin, Trey who lives in nearby Portsmouth, was bored and wanted to drive me to Richmond in his 4WD!  I was thrilled!!!  Bob kindly waited with me at the airport until Trey got there.  Meanwhile, Mom and Bill were digging out to drive to meet us halfway.  Trey and I had a GREAT time chatting and catching up on life.  There was NO snow until around Williamsburg so I wondered what all the hype was about.  We met Mom and Bill in New Kent and there was finally plenty of snow.  The highways and main roads were fine, though!  I FINALLY made it to Richmond 40+ hours after leaving Japan!!!!!  Tim arrived safely a few hours later!!!  FINALLY, we made it HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!!  YIPPEE!!!  Our luggage, however, did not arrive for a few days...

The foot of snow from Winter Storm #1 (of many to come) and Atticus greeted us with lots of love.  Our adrenaline kept us going for quite some time.  Tim tried to watch some football that evening but made it thru a few plays before passing out.  I forced myself to stay up a little later.  We tried to stay up late (meaning 11pm) and take NO naps (usually didn't happen) so that we could sleep in daily.  We finally were able to sleep 'til a whopping 8am on the last day before heading back!  Ah, the joys of jet lag!

Yes, we went thru hell to get home and started our vacation a few days late, but once we were there, it was worth every bit of the hassle!!!  Hate that we had to cancel plans with Jane, Lucie, and Gray and brunch with Sanjay and Ivanna!!!  The snow was beautiful and didn't cancel any other plans, thankfully!


We were busy, busy, busy during our short trip home.  When we weren't visiting with friends and family, we spent time at Mom's and Bill's lounging and chatting with them.  LOVE Hotel Hefty!  Thanks for your hospitality and 5 star accommodations!


We started out by being late to a Mexican dinner in honor of us being home (late getting up from an unplanned nap) at Sara's and Stephen's house!  LOVED seeing everyone (Sara and Baby Girl Miller-to-be, Stephen, Lenora, Mike, Jamie and Baby Riley Jean-to-be, Derek, Stacey, Tammy, Mike, Kara, Matt, and precious Mia)!  Enjoyed watching the Steelers win (sorry Mom and Bill), eating Mexican for the first time in a LONG time, rubbing prego bellies, holding Mia, and catching up on life.  So much fun seeing everyone...especially my CC's!  Thanks, Sara and Stephen! 

After dinner, we headed to the Dean's for a sleepover!  Alex was still up when we got there and greeted us at the door!  LOVE that boy!  We gave him the Shinkansen train toy and he played with it for a while and then lots more the next morning.  After Alex went to bed, we watched a movie.  Couldn't believe I actually stayed up for an ENTIRE movie!  That's a first since Tim has known me!  We all watched The Hangover...very funny!  Thanks for your hospitality! 

The next day Tim headed to The Dairy Bar to catch up with church friends over breakfast.  He had a great time!  Lenora and I met the FCE gang at Don Pepe for lunch.  Had SO much fun catching up with Teena, Darlene, and Emily.  Alex was a trooper because we talked for hours!  Got the lowdown on the latest at FCE.  Just like old times!!!  

Tim and I met Tim's gang for dinner for more Mexican at Aztec Grill...never did get tired of Mexican!  Fun to be with Alice, Ted, Kelly, Nick, Jerry, and Adam!  Thanks, Adam for organizing such a fun night!!!  Also, thanks for being our chaffeur!  :-)

Dad and Beth returned from their luxurious Greenbriar vacation with Eric and MacKay just in time to have dinner with us at their house.  We enjoyed our favorite, Kuba Kuba, takeout while catching up!  YUM!

We headed to Virginia Beach to spend a few days with Tim's family.  The big events were on Christmas Eve...Dope (really spelled with an umlaut over the o and pronounced duppa) at The Mansfields (old neighbors of the Hendricks) and Christmas with Bob, Lila, Tena, Nate, and Cael.  Loved spending time with fam...especially the Moose, Cael!  Can never get enough of our nephew!!!  Wish we lived near them!  

Here's an explanation about Dope from Tim...Dope is a Swedish family tradition that goes back many generations from the Midwest.  The family would come together on Christmas Eve and share a light lunch with root beer, glug, and pie for dessert.  It was a light lunch mainly because everything was being prepared in the kitchen for Christmas Dinner.  Over the years, it evolved to include friends as well as family where each family brings a pie...yum!

Headed back to Richmond on Christmas Eve night to spend the night at Dad's and Beth's house.  Tristan, Pam, and Rebecca also joined us (and Reebs' 3 dogs and Tris' 1 dog and Zoe and Pi!).  Spent our first Christmas as a married couple waking up as I usually do on Christmas...at Dad's.  We used to have a tradition that we could NOT go downstairs before 7am.  Thankfully, we all sleep later than that now (just barely with jet lag)!  We also used to all sit at the top of the stairs while Dad went downstairs to light the fire, fix hot cider/hot chocolate, and see if Santa came.  He used to take way too long and we would get SO excited!  We still keep the tradition of waking up there on Christmas morning...this time it was a WHITE CHRISTMAS!  Started off the morning with a little Champagne while opening great presents.  Always love spending time with my daddy and Beth and the rest of the gang!

Midmorning on Christmas we headed over to Mom's and Bill's.  We started a new tradition this year, Christmas morning brunch with scrumptious homemade crab quiche (with TONS of lump crab meat) and Mom's famous fruit salad.  YUM!  Hope we keep up this tradition!  Opened lots of fun presents with Mom, Bill, Reebs, and Tim after brunch.  Later, the Hefty kiddos came over to exchange gifts and we hung around while they opened presents from Mom and Bill.  Love having such a large family!  Really loved giving gifts from Japan this year!!!  Fun times at the Hefty household!

Back to Dad's and Beth's for Christmas dinner with June, David, Jake, Sarah Coxen, Holly, and Bob, Pam, and Tris.  Felt like Thanksgiving with turkey...been a while since we've eaten that!  Yummy!  Delicious dinner topped off with Sarah Coxen's famous desserts!  The chocolate banana cream pie was the BEST!  So much fun to chat with June and David about Japan!!

On the 26th, we headed to Portsmouth with Mom, Bill, and Reebs for our annual Evans' Family Christmas at Judy's!  Always have so much fun seeing our extended family and eating yummy food.  This year since Tim and I were married, we got to give gifts to the little ones.  The hit of the night was squishy Sumo wrestlers!  

After dinner, it was back to VA Beach to spend more time with The Hendricks' gang.  The next morning we went to Grandma Hendricks' house to have Christmas with her and Uncle Peter/Aunt Judy.  Cael and I received our home made stockings from Aunt Judy!  Guess we're officially part of family!  Very special!!!  Enjoyed brunch as a family after opening gifts.  Spent the afternoon with Cael and the family before going back to Richmond.  

Ate dinner at our favorite Mexican spot, Cielito Lindo, when we got back.  Nope, never did get tired of Mexican!!!

 

Spent our last day in Richmond shopping with mom and using our Christmas giftcards!  Got 5 pairs of shoes, jeans, and lots of other goodies from REI, etc.  LOVE spending time with my mom!!!  Had a fabulous dinner of scallops with Mom, Bill, Reebs, and Jamie.  Great way to end a fast, furious, but fun trip home for the holidays!

On our way back to Japan, we flew 3 hours to Dallas/Fort Worth, short layover, 14 hours to Tokyo, 5 hour layover, and 2 hours to Fukuoka.  LONGER flights, but THANKFULLY uneventful on the way back!!!


We love and miss everyone bunches!!!  Come visit us especially since we will not be home for the holidays in 2010.  We'll be in...THAILAND!!!

Here are all 500+ pics from all of our different events and Christmas'...

I'm really mad because I wanted to download them into different folders so the batch wouldn't be so large and so I could separate each event.  Picasa wouldn't let me.  UGH!  Oh, well!  Sorry!

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/Christmas2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJvQl9yDmsuMeg&feat=directlink

Welcome to the Hendricks' Humble Abode...in Japan!

Tim and I got married on August 3, 2009 in Italy and honeymooned there for two weeks before coming back to the States for a whopping 3 days before starting our married life together in Japan!  We want to finally share our first home with you!  I know many of you have been waiting a while for this!  We've been slowly furnishing and we're still decorating!  Please come visit anytime!!!

By the way, the address in the video is WRONG!  I don't know what I was thinking!  :-)

It's...

Sarah and Tim Hendricks

2-4-45-416 Momochi Sawara-ku

Fukuoka, JAPAN  814-0006

Photos of our Apartment...

http://picasaweb.google.com/srhendricks78/TourOfOurJapaneseApt?authkey=Gv1sRgCM77s6uZoO2EZg&feat=directlink

Enjoy our Hollywood VIDEO tour!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwYUc4aEVa0