Hey all, Andi here, writing from Wyoming. Bard is back in Japan, hopefully not trapped under a pile of rubble. If you haven't heard yet, there was a fairly large earthquake (6.8 or so) in our region yesterday. According to the news, the death toll is up to at least 9 and there are a dozen people missing, lots of landslides, and there have been over 470 aftershocks associated with the quake, at least 15 of them over a 4.0. Needless to say, our families are happy we are here in the US instead of in Japan. Please keep our friends in Japan in your prayers (and if you want to throw out a prayer for patience on my part, I'm itching to see if anything broke in our apartment). I'll make sure to update you all when we get home ("home" as in Japan.)
As for our vacation, we had a great time in Minnesota. We got to go to a Mommas' Reunion (the support group primarily comprised of former Bethany girls that are moms, moms-to-be, and some-day-moms), visit a few friends, eat LOTS of yummy foods, and do a little shopping (Dan gets an A++ for his JC Penny's trip that he spent $96 and SAVED $104!!! Good job Dan!!!) Most of all, though, we really enjoyed spending time with our family out at the Chateau Jaspersen on Lake Hanska. Although the weather was less than idyllic during the week, the weekends were perfect and one day could have skied on a flat as glass lake ALL DAY. No kidding. Dan eased back into his slalom skiing for the first time in about 3 years. He had a few aches and pains, but for the most part kept up with the rest of the gang. I found a favorite new water activity: kayaking! Our sister-in-law Jenny and Dan's dad Dennis got kayaks for Christmas, so Jenny taught me the ropes. It is AWESOME. I can't wait to get back out there, do some training and then someday go out on a Boundary Waters camping/kayaking adventure with Jenny. Someday...
Kai did pretty well with the travel, all things considered. His night was day and day was night, so he was awfully confused the first few days, but he and I settled into a decent enough routine. Unfortunately his nights of sleeping through the night are gone for the time being, but I'm hoping we will get back to "normal" in a few weeks (once we do the jet lag thing AGAIN.) Flying was decent, but I'm not looking forward to the trip back. YUCK. Anyway, Kai has enjoyed getting to know all his aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, godparents, and oodles of friends. Kai also has a new milestone under his belt... his first cold. Holy buckets, did he get sick when we got to Wyoming. We're pretty sure that his cousin Jensen shared a few germs (to be expected) and Kai and Dan were pretty miserable for the first few days out west. They both are feeling better now, but Kai has a cough that just keeps hanging on, poor little guy. He still has plenty of smiles for us now though. In some ways, I think his cold was harder on Mommy than it was on Baby!
Wyoming has been fun. We saved most of our shopping for here (the limit on baggage made our trip a little harder). Just boring stuff, although I bought a few new pairs of pants that were
much needed after losing baby weight. A nice problem to have, but a hassle and a half when you live in Japan in a gaijin body! We went out to dinner in Loveland with our Japanese cousins that live in Denver, Yasushi, Mieko, and their 6 year old son Taiga (and a little girl in Mieko's belly!). Kai's godparents (Dan's cousins) Christopher and Kym Poetter met us too. I'm a bit jealous that the Abe family invited the Poetters over for sukiyaki (my favorite Japanese dish)... hopefully next time we're in town we'll get to all get together again!
Tim and Dan went out to the BrewFest here in Cheyenne last night and had brother bonding time while Tim's girlfriend Cami and Mom and I watched a chick flick (we watched 27 Dresses... not a bad movie, but not really that amazing either...the girl time was nice though!)
Father's day has been nice. Mom, Dad, Dan, Kai, and I went to church (and Kai met his Cheyenne branch of his fan club). Neil was here when we came home, so after lunch, the guys went out and built a ramp to help Dad get the roof back on the barn. Now we are just hanging out at the house and trying to stay cool.
We've got a few more days here in Wyoming and then we head back to the island. Dan's going to call his supervisor to ask her to check in on the apartment, just so I can have a bit of piece of mind after the earthquake. Until then we're going to have fun with Nonna and Grandpa and Chris and Kym are coming up for a "mini-get-away" and time with us! Yea!
We'll write again when we get back home for sure, if not sooner. See ya!
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