S U M O

We were lucky enough to have gone to Japan during a sumo tournament. Chelsea used her Japanese skills while we ventured up to Tokyo where the tournament was taking place it was so fun to have her with us. The sumo match was one of the funnest sporting events we've ever gone to. The guys were HUGE and the crowd was going crazy. So we joined right in and acted crazy ourselves. Jeff really got into the yelling and cheering it was a blast.

Fish Market

The fish market was so amazing to see. As you walk through they had buckets and tanks that a lot of the fish were being kept to keep them alive. Talk about a fresh catch. At one guys stand there was a huge octopus and it was alive. There were two in a bucket together I leaned down to have my dad take my picture next to it and the next thing I know the guy told my dad to tell me to pick it up. I was very hesitant and the guy could tell so he told my dad "tell her to face her fear" so I decided to pick it up. Jeff was shocked I picked it up so quickly, but hey I'm in Japan live it up right.


Me and my octopus friend

Jammie Time

The girls were trying on our pajamas we had just got that day and we took a picture. Then all the sudden in busts my Dad he snuck away to put his jammies on cause he wanted to be part of the party. Jeff had some jammies and so does Addy but they were in bed.

Kanazawa

My parents had zone conference while we were there so we tagged along with them up to Kanazawa. We went around the amazing garden they had there called Kenrokuen Park it's one of the more popular gardens in Japan. We stayed over that night in Kanazawa and the next day we went to one my favorite places called the Tojimbo Cliffs, it just happened to be my birthday on that day. It was a great way to spend your birthday Japanese style.

Yum

Just a highlight on a few of the places we ate. We really enjoyed the food there. It wasn't what you typically think of when you think of Japan. We had yummy noodles and a meat buffet you grill yourself at your table, we also had really yummy chicken wings and breaded pork. However one of the restaurants was a sushi bar with a rotating belt, you picked the sushi of your choice as it went by you. Jeff decided he needed to get the most exotic one there and it definately was. The little squid bodies popped in his mouth as he ate it. Delicious.

Toyota Factory

We went to the toyota factory it was pretty fun. They wouldn't let us take pictures inside the factory so we only had a few of us sitting in the cool cars. The mini car is real similar to what the Japanese typically drive because their roads are small and so are their parking spaces.

Ninja Village

We drove through the best canyon on our way up the ninja village. It reminded me so much of Utah. The ninja village is located in the mountains above Nagano which was where the winter olympics where held. The ninja village was fun, they had a lot of activities that allowed us to do as the ninjas did.







We got to throw ninja stars at some targets, if you hit your target 5 out of 7 times you would get a special prize. Jeff and Elder Soleburg were the winners.

Nara

Nara is a city just out of Kyoto we took a trip down there. It's crazy there are deer everywhere. Jeff got deer food and they all flocked to him as he was feeding them they would nibble his fingers and they kept ramming him with their antlers.


This is the Todaiji temple which houses a gigantic budda statue weighing in at 550 tons and is 49.1 feet high. This picture doesn't do it justice at all, it was so big!


This is one of the most famous pagodas in Japan it's called the Kofukuji pagoda.

WE ARE HOME!!!!

After 3 weeks in Japan we are finally home we loved loved loved it. We didn't want to come home but it's time to get back to reality. Addy did great on the flights. We hauled her so many places and she was such a good little girl. I have so many pictures so it will take me a while to post them all but they are coming.

Kyoto

We were very lucky. My parents got special permission to leave their mission boundaries and take us to Kyoto. It was so full of Japanese culture. We went to the golden temple and it was pouring rain but it was still so pretty.


This was one of my favorite shrines we went to. You walk up this street lined with shops and at the top is a budda shrine with the most amazing view. The shrine is called the Kiyamizdera shrine.




This is the outside of Nijo Jo castle and as you walk through it the floor squeak. It isn't an annoying sqeak it sounds like little birds chirping it was so they could hear if Ninjas were coming.


Addy takes on Kyoto. We stayed the night in Kyoto and the next morning we woke up and this was our view. It was funny because Addys crib was right by the window it looked cool to have the city in the background.

Nagoya

The first few days in Japan my parents took us around their hometown of Nagoya. A few of the things we went to were: the Nagoya castle, Yabaton restaurant and the Sky Promenade.



Addy warmed up to my parents really quickly. She started doing big cheesy grins for the camera.

This restaurant was so YUMMY. They took us into our own room. It was Japanese style where you sit on the floor but they had it so we could put our feet down.


This is the Sky Promenade. It's the building that houses Toyota's business headquarters. It's a very tall building with an amazing view of Nagoya City.