Love the new pics Alex. Everything is so beautiful over there. Thanks for sharing

 

Those are great pics Alex. The pic where your daughter is giving the Japanese tourist a dirty look is priceless!

 

^ :rofl:rofl They were actually Korean Tourists and that was the 3rd group of guys saying how pretty the girls were and wanted their picture taken with them. Mia had enough of it so Bryce had to get in the picture with them so she wouldn't freak out :rofl After that, they got into a conversation about baseball and the guy in the striped shirt gave Bryce a big hug and told him they were good friends now because they liked the same player :rofl

 

I will never tire of seeing those cute little faces!! :love

I'm so happy to see more pics, I love it! What a great adventure. :jumping

How are the girls coming along on their Japanese?

 

It is really coming along. For the most part, they refuse to talk to me in Japanese but I can tell they understand when Japanese people talk to them. And a few times hubs has asked them what certains words mean (like chotomate ...spelling is way off) and they know. It is amazing. I am in absolute awe of them when they translate for me.

And they are still loving school and have made lots of Japanese friends. I'd have to say, we have more Japanese friends than Americans.

 

Alex, loved seeing your new pics. They are really amazing. The Hello Kitty park must have been so much fun! And the animal park was very cool, that crazy monkey kinda freaks me out though!

 

lllloooovvvveeee these pics alex!!! you and your family are soooo beautiful!! i wanna go to japan so bad now omg, i need to go to hello kitty land!!! i would be in heaven

 

gorgeous pictures! the one of you with your girls in matching pink outfits sitting on a bench overlooking a beautiful mountain view is a really lovely one!

 

It's been a while since i updated. We just got back from our trip to Himeji, about a 9 hour drive North of where we are. Very close to Kobe and Kyoto. With limited time though, we only did a quick stop in Iwakuni at the Marine base there and then spent 2 nights in Himeji.

There was a beautiful castle there. One of the few that didn't get destroyed during the late 1800's like most Japanese castles did.

Majestic as it was, there were so many steep steps and lots of walking to do. As we were leaving we saw Kendo fighters practicing on near the castle grounds. Kind of a neat way to end our tour of the castle.

here is the write up about this well that was once said to be haunted :bigeyes

but, my camera didn't capture any orbs

inside (no shoes allowed, we all wore slippers, girls wore their socks)

wall of weapons

view of the Himeji City

I love these fish tiles

the steep stairs

Then there was this amazing cemetery, amazing structures over looking the entire city.

And finally, something we should have done much earlier in the day, the Mountain of Prayer. Not too many pictures, had to take a ropeway up and had to climb another 1 mile or so to the top of the mountain. Needless to say, my pregnant body was not happy.

 

:eyebug Wow! What amazing picutres, Alex! Thanks for sharing

 

Omg that is gorgeous! I would love to see that in person! Thanks Alex :flowers

 

can you bring me along on all these outings/trips Alex??? :jumping
loooving the pics!!

 

Beautiful pictures!!!! :love Thank you for sharing.

 

Gorgeous pictures Alex!!
The details on that castle are amazing.

 

Stunning pics Alex! I love going on your adventures through your pics! Thank you for sharing!

 

Thank you all for the sweet comments

Carol, you can come along with me on any of these site seeing adventures! :love

 

It all looks gorgeous, Alex! Thanks so much for sharing those pictures - I don't get to travel nearly as often as I'd like, so I love seeing pictures of far away places!

 

More pics - yay! You are looking fabulous and the girls are as cute as ever!
They remind me so much of me and my sister. :love

 

^ Are you and your sis close in age? I hope the girls grow up being close. I'm glad I have these pictures of them, hopefully it'll bring back fond memories for them when they are older.

Thanks everyone for commenting love

 

Yes
We're about a year apart and she is my best friend.

Over the holidays I was looking at old photos of us and it reminds me of the pics of your girls here. :love

 

Awesome pics Alex!!! You are SO pretty and your family is so cute!!! :love

 

Jess, it's been so long since i've looked at these pics. /i can't believe I started this 2+ yrs ago. Some of the time has dragged by but looking back, where has time gone...The girls look so little in many of these pictures. I miss Mia's litt chubby face :roflcry And so much has happened... I'm excited about our move to TN in November love It'll be awesome to be stateside again.

 

I'm so glad that you get to come back to be in the U.S. and closer to your families!! :magwink But what a wonderful experience for you girls to have... they've got to see places that most adults never see their entire lives!!