JAPAN!!

 

Dad served his mission in Nagoya & Kobe Japan. He has been home for 23 years. From the beginning of our dating relationship, I loved hearing about his time in Japan. When we got engaged, we talked about going there together someday. After starting a family, we thought taking the whole family would be amazing. We figured the best time would be just before Kaden went off to college or a mission of his own. So we planned the trip, booked the tickets and got super pumped to go to Japan! Perry, Josie, & Charlie were all sooo psyched out to go! They grew up hearing dad's stories, loving Japanese food & culture, and loving our neighbor Toshiko Lloyd when they were little. This is an adventure we have looked forward to for 20 years for dad & I, and all your lives for you kids. :)

Kaden ended up not coming and made other plans. It was really hard not having him there, but he is 18 now and is choosing his own path. So the day before we were to fly out, we canceled his flight, and will use the ticket money to bring him home for the holidays while he is at BYU. 

We flew straight up & down on a short hop to Chicago, before taking the longest flight ever to Tokyo!  From there we took another plane to Osaka. It was very late local time, and our body clocks were totally upside down. I didn't sleep much on the plane. None of us did, really. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life! So grateful for dad being able to read Japanese and communicate enough to get us around. It wasn't easy for him, but he did amazing! We ended up having to get a taxi to get to our rental house in Osaka. But no taxis were big enough for the 5 of us. So I had to share a seat belt with Charlie and squish close to him. Not ideal or safe. But it was the best we could do in the middle of the night. We immediately said a quiet safety prayer once we were all inside the car. 

We were so happy to get to our rental! I'll write more on that in the next post. So tired and so grateful we traveled safely and get to sleep in cozy beds.