Europe 2014- Part 1- French Family Fun

This place.

Five Generations have loved and enjoyed this home. We count ourselves so lucky to be a part of that group. In our lifestyle of moving and changing, this is one of the few places that hasn't changed in our entire marriage. There is a sense of home and family that is always here for us. I know I just married into it too, but I love to look at all of the old pictures of generations past and Noah doing the same things in the same spots when he was a baby.  This has to be the most beautiful little French village ever, and truly the one we love the most! We are so grateful for it, and all the family that comes with it!

We were blessed enough to be able to go visit again for Spring Break this year, after a couple of years off. Language training and moving put a damper on traveling for a while! We were thrilled to be back to say the least!  This vacation was just what we needed! Lots of great family time, fresh country air, delicious food, relaxation and some new adventures too! 

Porter learned how to make Pomme de Terre Roties-

an essential life skill for us

We got to see Pepe Henri again, which always makes us happy! 

(Ronan was not in a picture mood, but did give him hugs and kisses at other moments so we'll just have to remember those in our minds:) We are grateful for every chance that these kiddos get to see their great-grandparents.

Miles and his namesake…

so Handsome, both of them!

We also always love seeing Noah's cousins and aunts and uncles!

Sadly, I somehow missed getting any pictures of half of them. We did absolutely love getting to see them all though, including G, M, M, and R (not pictured in this blog)!! Along with cousins C and A(pictured below), Noah's Aunt and Uncle and other awesome cousin also came and visited, and we had a great time full of delicious meals and great conversations around the table! Next time I'll be better with the camera I promise! 

Can you tell which two of these awesome people have spent some formative years in Japan?! ha!

Love it! 

Of course there were some good Foosball matches out in the barn!

And after plenty of concrete jungle this year, we had promised the boys some Moo Cows! 

Luckily in the French Countryside there are plenty. 

We then of course had to hit our favorite neighborhood Chateau! 

Pompadour we love you. 

We have a picture of Porter by this sign every time since he was a baby! Now he is getting much more creative with his posing! He's being the Lion this year. Cute boy!

 These blossoms were an awesome combo of purple and pink.

Matched my jacket. My kind of tree!

We took the classic family pictures in the driveway. 

Nailed it!

Love these darling boys of ours.

I do actually really love this shot! 

My four handsome D boys, this place is in their blood. 

We also got to see Noah's parents too! 

Noah's Mom flew in from the States so we could all be together! 

The boys love seeing their Pommy and Papy!

This picture was taken by Miles.  Not too bad for a 2 year old!

He is very into taking pictures "all by myself" lately.

And we couldn't leave without visiting Meme.
This was the first time we'd been to visit without Meme there.
 It was pretty sad for us, but we loved that she got to stay close and we went to the village cemetery to say hello and tell her we love her.  It helps that she is with the rest of the relatives.
The family crypt:

I had forgotten what a beautiful view the cemetery has. I am standing directly in front of our families' spot here, and looking down into the village. This is certainly an amazing view of the French Countryside, to have from your final resting place! This picture doesn't do it justice!

We miss you and love you Meme!

After we left Pepe's house, we headed up north to visit more family and eat more great food!

Food is always involved when we are in France. And it.is.goooood.

We hit up our favorite ice cream of course with the cousins!

It was as delicious as always!! 

Miles went hardcore with the rest of us this trip and wanted multiple cones too.

That's my boy!

Pornic, France

Where ice cream and Heaven collide

yummmmmm

We had a great time with these guys as always, and loved every second! It's always so fun to see all the cousins, and bonus this time- J got a drum set that he generously let the boys play with! ha! They were loving it!! 

Last, but not least we also headed out to the Safari Park this time around. We hadn't been yet, so we were very excited! It was a zoo with the up close and personal style, and the boys loved it all! I sadly once again, don't know how I missed getting any pictures of M,N and P- but we were so thrilled to get to go together with them! I really will have to pick up my game and get better pictures of everyone next time! 

I'll admit, there were times I was a bit nervous that there seemed to be only a thin fence between us! We were all just fine though, and had an absolutely fantastic day. The weather was amazing, and the zoo was so awesome too, combined with great company! We'll be going back next time I think! 

Miles usually doesn't mind the adventure, as he is our daredevil- but this time the giraffe was a little close for comfort.... ha!

Now that's a safe distance. Ronan LOVED the giraffes, he could have stayed all day!

Daddy teaching the boys to "speak Lemur". It is one of Noah's many languages. 

The boys totally believe him too. It's so cute.

The Ringtails are our favorite

It was springtime at the zoo as well, so there were tons of baby animals! This baby Rhino was perhaps the cutest thing I've ever seen though. Love those crinkles!

And now Miles in true fashion, feeding the monkey! He loved it! This kid is our risk-taker! Not sure if that is really a good thing? ha! 

All in all, we had a marvelous time with all of the family and had some fun new adventures as well. The boys played and played and got tons of fresh air! It was the perfect break with family and relaxation from the big city. A break we were definitely needing! After spending such a great time with the family we also headed out on some new European Adventures before we headed back to Tokyo, but those will be a post of their own.
Until next time, we love you and miss you all!

Grosses Bises!

Kindergarten Graduation!!

Mr. R Graduated from Kindergarten!! What a year! This year was full of struggles and new found strengths, and most of all lots of growth and some really special and wonderful teachers that went above and beyond to help Ronan learn and grow!!  He did really great for his graduation ceremony (after they practiced it multiple times at school), and I was so proud!! I might have been crying a little (or a lot)- tears of joy that he made it through his first year of school!!

His wonderful teachers, Miss Etsuko, Mr. Morgan and Masa!! They were heroes this year!! Ronan loved them all, and they were all so patient and loving with him!! 

Who Wants to Meet the President?

Top photo courtesy of Noah's colleague 

Well, after an intro by our lovely Ambassador

 (who's pretty awesome too),

and a short speech-

Porter was lucky enough to be in that small group of people who have ever had that chance. 

Now, most of the time in life being a kid doesn't get you the big perks of life. In diplomatic celebrity land though, that is where you've hit the jackpot! Tokyo is a rather large Embassy, so although we were all invited to come to the Meet and Greet,  it was basically known that the kids were going to be the only ones that really got most of his attention. The children who were old enough to stay unattended were sent up in the very front section where President Obama shook their hands. He had a pretty tight schedule, (and tight security) so this was done kind of "campaign stop" style. Behind the children were the other 500 adults, so essentially most of us parents were relying on others who had been able to get the closest from the adult side for any relevant pictures. Luckily we were able to get a few good ones from one of Noah's colleagues who was generous enough to share! And, it's a good thing too. It was kind of chaos up there, but we have it:

Photographic proof of Porter's encounter with the 

President of the United States

Almost didn't see him there, huh?! But there is his darling head. I'd know that hairline anywhere! 

Love my boy. Thankful someone got some kind of picture of him!

 (and Yes, we are sure it is him, as he was standing right behind that sweet redhead who is his friend.) 

 One last picture from Noah's colleague- 

 Noah was on airport duty, so I was single-momming it for the event.  M and R weren't quite up for being in the front with the rest of the kiddos, so we hung out at the back of the room. It's always a good time playing "hurry up and wait". Thank Heavens for IPads. That's all I have to say. 

That, and seriously- the carpet in this room was the best carpet ever! 

If I ever need to plan an event in a banquet room in Tokyo, I am picking this one! ha!

This is the one shot I got on my own camera of Porter up in the kid's section. You can see the Presidential Flag behind him. I had to push and shove my way to the front for this pic though! Sheesh! 

 Super-zoom on my camera over everyone's heads, and bad lighting.

 Presidential Seal. 

While we were doing that, Noah was doing this:

He was assigned to Airport Duty,
and enjoyed some quality time with AF1.

 He also got this sweet pic of the
 Pokemon plane parked right behind AF1.

I think there is only one Pokemon plane in their fleet, so it was pretty sweet coincidence that it was parked there right then! Only in Japan do you get a Pokemon and AF1 pic. Love it.

Wheels Up! 

Good Job Sweetie! Working hard!

Now I guess we can check POTUS off the bucket-list!

 That was quite the experience!

No matter what your political ideals may be, I am so thankful and realize how blessed we have been from Noah's job and the opportunities it has provided us to meet some of our leaders. For better or worse, they are living proof of a Democracy and Freedom, and the choice that the American people made for themselves as to who would lead them. Freedom to choose is such an incredible blessing, and we are so proud to be Americans! I hope Porter always remembers this special opportunity he (we) had.

Pinewood Derby Premiere

So we have finally gotten up to speed, and started Porter in Cub Scouts!

our little troop didn't really get going for a few months after we moved here, (and Porter turned 8) so we took a little while. As I was sewing on his patch, it struck me again what a crazy little life this guys has! I love the dragon patch. Never in my wildest dreams though would I have ever thought he'd be starting out his scouting in the "Far East Council". I'm also feeling grateful for the opportunity we have to be in a city like Tokyo, that has a good scouting program for Porter to enjoy. He is really liking it so far, and I love that he still gets to do the same things as his other friends in some ways. 

Porter had his first ever Pinewood Derby, and he did a great job!

He wanted a Skylander themed car- and he did a great job painting and decorating it!

It didn't win the overall fastest car, but it did win two heats. 

He was pretty excited about that!

He named it "Sky Roller"-

 (although, I'm not sure what letter he was trying to write underneath!ha it certainly isn't a "k")

He won the award for "Most Detailed" car!!

He was thrilled about that, as our little guy is always the artist.

Sorry for the blurry picture, courtesy of iphone and being bumped at the same time by someone else, but it's all I got.

 He's still a cutie!

He did a great job, and had a fun time!

 He can't wait till next year!

An exciting day at the office...

The Big Guy came to town- so we all had the chance to go meet him! Noah had to stay at the airport for airport duty though! 

I took the littles to the hotel for the meet and greet though, sans Noah. It's not every day you get a chance to meet the President! All in all, I think the boys were less enthused by the whole experience than Mom and Dad. ha! At least we took some pictures though:)

waiting, and waiting, and waiting...... good times!

Blossoms and Bunnies

 Springtime in Tokyo is incredible. 

It truly is. 

When the weather is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G, and the blossoms are out, it can not be beat!

It may not last forever, (as just a few short weeks later I can sense the humidity creeping back in), but wow. Seeing the Cherry Blossoms while we are actually in Japan was an amazing experience! 

They are everywhere, throughout the city- and just gorgeous!!!

We went on a family vacation for Spring Break (a post of it's own still to come), and I was so worried that we would miss the blossoms. Although, we did miss the first few days, we were back in time to still see most of the trees in bloom! Nailed it.  Best of both worlds- tulips in Holland and Sakura in Japan all in one week! Yikes. sometimes I truly need to pinch myself. Both were stunning.

I took these pics in the late afternoon- but no filter.

I wanted to capture the skyscrapers in the background- but now all I see is that crazy blue sky! 

Like I said. When the days are good, they are gooood. This was such a great day to be outside with my boys at the park!

  

Now the only problem to all of these amazing blossoms is that all of Japan comes out to enjoy them together! Now that's A LOT of people at the park at once. Ha! 

For this year's adventure we opted to just enjoy the ones by our house. We are lucky enough to have a fantastic park on the compound that happens to have it's own incredible set of mature cherry trees all it's own. 

Not to shabby, huh? We'll take it! 

Gorgeous blossoms and the place to ourselves that day! 

 Then we had a little Easter Bunny action as well.

This is Miles' reaction when we asked him what was going on. ha!

 Egg Hunting 

 And finally our little puzzle pro doing his new Babar puzzle. 

Ronan looooves puzzles. We loooove Babar at our house! Win. Win.

Good Job Easter Bunny!

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of us before church this year. Although we weren't coordinated or anything, just spring colored ties. We did thoroughly enjoy the chance, however, to enjoy a beautiful Easter Sunday with a wonderful and inspiring day at Church, that reminds us always what Easter is really all about. We really enjoyed watching some of the LDS Church videos about Christ with our little family, including this new video; which is simply incredible. It was a wonderful family time and Porter for the first time this year I think started to really grasp the concept of Christ's sacrifice for us all. I love these moments of love and learning with my sweet little family. Happy Easter everyone!