Doraemon

Recent photo of "the triplets":

I'm still catching up on some trip photos, but need to tell everyone that Doraemon passed peacefully into cat heaven yesterday. He was not doing well, so I made the hard decision to take him in. Our vet knows him, so she was very kind and let us take plenty of time. She was sad to see Doraemon go, too. He was a wonderful "old man son" for the almost 2 years we've had him. I'm glad I at least had a week to cuddle him after we got back.

Phoenix with Alice

Mom met us in Phoenix. She also got to visit with Pat, and we played tourist. It was great to see her!

watching fountains outside the mall


at the Desert Botanical Gardens

It was a labryinth of cacti, yucca, and agave!

"Auntie Pat"

Ariel & I stayed a few days with our friend Pat in Arizona. She is also the mom of my friend Tricia. We had a fun time visiting with her! Thanks, "Auntie Pat"!

special friends

A couple weeks ago, Ariel & I stayed with some friends in Arizona. We had a great time with them playing, coloring, acting out movies, and swimming!

one year ago

we met Ariel! Here are a couple photos from that day. Ariel & I spent the day flying home to Japan and catching up with the cats. Ralph is doing well. Doraemon is looking rough, but can still jump the baby gates.

evacuees of Escondido

While we stayed in Ramona, our Yokota friends Anna & Noah ended up in nearby Escondido. We had a stress-relieving reunion at Anna's aunt & uncle's house.

This photo is out of order, but a cute one of Noah and Ariel playing together. Ariel likes to push wheely things, while Noah likes to pull and study the wheels.

Getting some sunshine by the pool. They were still jet-lagged, so the sunlight helped.

little buddies

Hoping for the 3 dogs to come downstairs!

We had a relaxing trip to the mall, where Ariel wanted to climb into Noah's stroller. He kindly pushed/pulled her. We had lunch at the 3rd floor food court, where the floor jiggled. It had us a little worried, but we determined it was normal mall jiggling.

Thanks for the fun visit, Anna and Noah! Hope to see you back at Yokota soon.

more hotel room fun

This was at our hotel in Ramona, California.

picnic on the patio

We had a beautiful view of the mountains and golf course. In Ramona, the sun is almost always shining.

hotel play

Ariel hides from herself in the mirror at this hotel by Aunt Debbie's:

Anaheim adventure

We stayed a few days with new friends from our China adoption network. They were kind enough to put us up in their guest house and play with us.

At the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. This is his birthplace and childhood home. We also learned about Patricia Nixon. Ariel naps with Molly the cat.

Our sweet hostesses, Laura, Laina, and Min

fun with relatives

I'm catching up on some photos. These were from the last week in March when we visited our LA relatives. Goofing around with Aunt Bunny

Lunch with my Aunt Bunny and Uncle Rubin. It's been about 6 years since I've seen them, and was glad they got to meet Ariel on this short-notice trip.

with super-fun cousins Esther and Sam

getting in on the family look

Phoenix

Enjoying time with Mom and friend Pat in Phoenix.
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Off to Arizona tomorrow after a great visit with Debbie and the gang. Ariel can now blow kisses and feed herself graham crackers. Aunt Debbie is a fun babysitter, and I got to run outside and enjoy the mountain scenery. Ariel finds her human and canine cousins very interesting!

Our future whereabouts are still uncertain. I sure do miss the cats.

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