Snow Festival - February 2009

We drove up into the Nikko mountains, about an hour and half, to enjoy some snow. The drive was beautiful.
We saw a wild monkey walking along side the road on the drive up. It ran off before we could grab the camera. It was really weird to see a monkey and not be at the zoo. The girls were thrilled!


The snow festival was fun. The igloos are lit at night and it's suppose to be quite a sight, but we couldn't stay that late.


Avery enjoyed her first sledding experience.

Actually this was Rylee first time sledding too. They both had a good time!

Instead of building snowmen, we built a small igloo.

Rylee really enjoyed putting her snow boots to the test. She would have jumped in the slush all day if we would've let her.

I decided to get brave a try fish on a stick, you eat the bones and all.

It was actually pretty good.

Avery really enjoyed it too.

I ate the whole thing except the head. You could see it's teeth and I just couldn't do it. But amazingly right after this photo was taken Rylee snatched it out of my hand and ate the head. We were shocked! She said it was good. Maybe I will try the head next time?

Yochien Open House

Rylee's pre-school had an open house this month. It was really neat to see what she has been working on these past few weeks.
Rylee's classroom

All the student projects



Rylee's mask that she made.



And her doll picture.

Happy Valentine's Day

Grammy and GrandDad mailed us a cake mix and all the cupcake fixens for Valentines. We had fun decorating and eating!

The girls in their new Valentine's Day pajamas from Mimi and Pops. Avery sharing her Valentine's pancakes with her new cat from us and doll from Grammy and GrandDad.

Yummy! Avery does pretty good with her fork and spoon and yet is still some how the messiest eater. She gets romaine noodles and sticky rice (two of her favorite foods) in places you wouldn't believe.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Making Valentine's with the new stamps Grammy and GrandDad sent.

We had beautiful weather on Valentine's day so we decided to go to a park for a picnic.

We shared a great day together!

Oya Temple

Oya Temple is located about 5 miles outside Utsunomiya. It is said to have been founded by Kobodaishi in 810. Inside there are 10 merciful images carved in the rock face. We were not allowed to take photos inside.





Cleansing before you enter.

The park surrounding the temple was beautiful, I look forward to visiting again in the spring.

Near the temple another huge image of the Heiwa Kannon stands about 88 feet high, which was carved out of the wall of rock after World War II to be dedicated to the war dead and world peace.

This was a great day trip for us. It was only 30 minutes from our house. Just enough time to see something interesting in the morning, get some lunch and head home for naps.