Christmas - Santa knows where Takanezawa is!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. We all miss you. We are planning our home leave in August when I have shutdown so hopefully, everyone will have a little time to share with us. We had a nice Christmas, but as we are finding out, Holidays are not exactly the same as they are in your own country. The Christmas hype in the U.S. seems to start about Halloween/Thanksgiving time, but here, Christmas came and went fairly quietly.

New Years is a significant holiday in Japan, but most of our friends are busy with their own activities so unfortunately, we didn't get to experience much of their culture.

HOWEVER, Santa does in fact go around the world to visit children on Christmas. Santa Claus even showed up at Denny's yochien again this year. I had the day off work, but I didn't get to see Santa. Denny said that Santa came to his school, answered questions that the children had and then went to each class to take pictures. Every child received a small stocking with candy inside. Denny even said that Santa sounded a bit like me, but we think it is because he spoke mostly English...

Who's this old guy with the pipe and no hair? Oh wait, that's me... I mentioned it before, but we can't help ourselves on opening presents as they arrive int he mail. I received a new Italian pipe and Swedish fish (I am a world traveler, you know...) from Mom and Dad Herr. I have used the pipe often during shutdown and somehow the Swedish fish disappeared. I think they were taken away since the little ones were pilfering them while I was at work.


My dad came to visit us over the holidays. This is him getting off the plane after about 13 hours of travel. I have been there many times. I always feel fuzzy like when the way you feel after you stay up all night.













Savannah opening one of her first presents... the big ones go quick at our house. If you can't see through the bag, she received a keyboard from Santa. She wanted one really really badly. She has been feverishly practicing new songs.







Everyone received electric blankets. If you read my previous post, you know WE DON'T HAVE CENTRAL HEATING!!!! It is cold in the morning. Usually, the method is "heat the room that you are in". Elin hooked ours up last night and it was sooooooo nice. The kids' blankets were on their beds after a few days so they have been enjoying them for about a week.






This is Elin showing off her Jade earrings. The kids and I also bought her a jade necklace. I have always thought jade was a typical stone in the Asian culture, but I was sorely mistaken. There were only a few choices at each store which made it difficult. Also, they have a wide price range. It seems to me that pearls are a more popular choice, but Elin already has those.







Denny with his new "I Stink" book. He borrowed this from the library many times back home and he got a new one for Christmas this year.

We have tried several dollar stores for spatulas... all of them have ended up in two pieces in our frying pan. I was at Cainz Home Center and saw these. I know, I know, not the best Christmas present, but we will definitely get use out of them.

A picture of Elin and Savannah during the present opening. You can see the electric blankets and also our kerosene heater. Thank goodness for the kerosene heater. Did I mention WE DON'T HAVE CEN.... oh wait, I did mention that already.

Savannah on Christmas morning. By the look on her face, it looks like Santa did a pretty good job...

Savannah with her new keyboard. The house is already filled with the sounds of 'Mary had a Little Lamb'.

The Christmas aftermath. We continued the tradition of using newspaper as our main wrapping paper to get one more 're-use' out of it before trashed it.

I can't remember if I put a picture of our Christmas Tree on the blog, but here it is. This little guy was 1000 yen ($12). It jumped about $12 for every 6 inches you increased the size so Denny and I went for the little one. I was already told that when we get home, we are getting a new one, so the little guy will have to do for now.

Denny and Savannah playing with their new toys. One of Denny's toys from Santa was the marble building set. I added a video below. Notice he is standing on a chair so we were able to get it about 5 feet high on the first day. We will see what we can do to maximize the height.

Savannah with her keyboard. Check out her shirt. Elin found these on line and bought one. Hope you all had a nice, relaxing holiday. Good Luck in the new year.








Denny's marble game.




A SOCCER BALL!!!!! AND IT'S BLUE!!!!!!

A SCOOTER!!!!! YIPPEE!!!! Have you seen the new Charlie and Chocolate Factory movie when Grandpa Joe says "Whoopee!!!!"? We laughed at this about 10 times when we were reviewing the movies for the blog.

Healie Shoes. Shoes with wheels. ER, here we come.




"Star World"? Huh? Someone teach this kid some pop culture.




National Geographic animal book from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Wayne.