Birthday and Adoption Day Boys

 We recently celebrated Jeff's birthday and Ralph's adoption day!

(Ralph really is happier than he looks in these pictures.)

eating on the couch

It's great to have Jeff home to cuddle with and help!

Jeff's home!

We picked him up yesterday at the airport!

juice video

Ariel ate quite a bit of her healthy dinner.  Until I offered her an open cup of juice:

Nene's world

Nene's "nanny" Susan came through to visit us again.  Nene was happy to see her.

my little people

more fun things

 These are some ladies (and a man) of the 459th.  It's the squadron Jeff flies with sometimes.  So while he's gone, I'm part of two spouse groups.  The 459th has been busy lately with socials, going-away parties, etc.  Several of them are my neighbors, and it's always a joy to hang out with them.

Making kinpira for Halloween.  The funny-face veggies are renkon (lotus root.)  They taste like potatoes, but are firmer and tastier.  Kinpira is a Japanese stew, and this recipe was from Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet.

Let's see if the baby naps long enough for me to enjoy this.

Tofu scramble with cilantro, kinpira, and icy wine.

More cooking adventures on Ralph's Vegan Kitchen.

Okay, I stole this from a friend's Facebook.  Tey (the friend) was having Norma and Scott over for Cambodian food.  Scott works with Jeff, and they are both our friends.  They're leaving Japan soon, and we'll miss them.

Jeff's last day

Hopefully, today is Jeff's last day in Afghanistan before he starts the journey home.  Wow.  Finally!
Still feeling sadness for Yaoyao and family who lost a close friend in Kabul a while back, and for the others who were killed in Afghanistan in recent months.  We will be so glad to have Jeff home and safe!

nashi

 Ariel loves the Japanese pears (nashi) that are in season now.  If I peel and start to eat one, she likes to take it from me.  Pear-eating keeps her occupied for several minutes.

Halloween!

Ariel was an Afghan princess.  She also had a dinosaur outfit, but preferred her jingly dress.  Tiara and wand were gifts from our friends, the Belts.

We ran into a little pirate named Theo and his daddy, Mike.

We also ran into Katherine & Mike, Mika & Robbie.

And we hung out for a while at a roadside potluck with Darcie and Megan, and their families.

All in all, a fun Halloween!  We missed trick-or-treating with Jeff, but glad he got to join us last year.

fun things

Lately Ariel likes to stack blocks.  I found her making some impressive towers all on her own.

Ariel and Theo had an outing to Ome Railway Park with their mamas.  We had so much fun at the park, which has trains to climb in and little rides, that I forgot to take pictures.

Seeing off our friends

Back home in Tokyo, we went into the city one day to see our friends Beth and Amanda.  They're moving away soon, so we had one last playdate.  Ariel & I caught the limited express train into the city.

Ariel & Amanda

We had nice weather, and Beth even fixed us a picnic lunch.  Amanda has grown into quite a talker, and is excited about the move.

Amanda's Stevie Wonder dance

Amanda and Beth

Thanks for being our friends!

ryokan breakfast

 Each morning, our hosts fed us breakfast in an elegant tatami room.

Ariel especially liked the tofu, rice, and pears.

 They made the breakfasts vegan (for the most part.)  We got our full day's serving of fruits & veggies just at breakfast! 

Ariel wanted to try the chopsticks ("o-hashi").

See more photos from Nagano on our Flickr photostream (look right and scroll down.)