Tokyo

Brendan's aunt and uncle live in Tokyo, so it was nice to have people help us get around and recommend places to go.

This is a picture of the Ginza district at night. It is like the Times Square of Tokyo. Tokyo doesn't have one main downtown area. It is divided up into several districts.


This was outside a temple downtown on our walk to Tokyo Tower.

On our previous trips Brendan and I were just regular tourists, but now that we have Hazel we have become celebrities. I guess Hazel was more the celebrity. You'd think they had never seen a white baby. Everywhere we went people would say "Kawaii" meaning cute. We were at a place in Kamakura where they have a big Buddha statue and there were honestly more tourists gathered around and taking pictures of Hazel than the statue. In this picture Brendan wanted a picture with the baby and the girls in their school uniforms and they all got excited and each one pulled out their camera.

This is Brendan's cousin Joshua. He loved holding Hazel and pushing her in the stroller. He is the youngest of two kids, so he doesn't get to hold babies very often. This was on the top of a huge mall near their house. I think it was around 14 stories high with a park on top.

We would pass by this bike parking lot for the daycare around the corner from where we were staying. Everyone walks and rides bicycles in the city. I love the mom bikes with a kid seat on the back and the front handlebars.

We had some really good Japanese and Chinese food at this restaurant with the relatives. I was even adventurous and tried some shark fin. They were sliced very thin and tasted like noodles.

We went to the Tokyo temple, but didn't do a session. We walked around the grounds and went inside the entrance.

Behind Hazel and I is the famous landmark bridge, Nijubshi. It is a double arched stone bridge, east of the Imperial palace.


This district is called Harajuku. It is known as a center of fashion, both high end and bargain shops. It is also an area where you can see lots of Japanese youth dressed in crazy costumes/outfits.

Fall Break

With a population of over 34 million people, Tokyo is the world's largest city. Having traveled to several other large cities, Tokyo stood out as the cleanest. In the mornings people would sweep the leaves off the patio before their shops opened up and pick up trash in the alleys. The subways and it's stations were nice and clean everywhere that we went. In fact, once after Hazel spit up on the subway, Brendan was worried about the mess it made and wanted to wipe it up with her blanket. The people were also very well groomed and clean. Usually on subways I feel kind of gross because there are so many people that are close to you, but we never had this experience on the Tokyo subway. The only time we saw people who looked homeless, was in the Imperial Palace Garden park.

In Japan, crime is also very low. In one travel book I read, it said that if you needed help finding a place to ask the police. They usually aren't fighting crime. One day Brendan left his backpack on the subway with our passports and laptop in it. Luckily we were in Tokyo, and he was able to get it back with everything in it.

The Japanese people are so kind and respectful. They bow when they greet you and are always smiling. Getting on the subway, everyone lines up to get on in an orderly manner.

We flew to Tokyo on Singapore Airlines, which was recently rated as the best airline in the world, and I would have to say it was my best flying experience. Even though we were in the economy section, we were treated like Kings and Queens. It was definitely a different experience than our flight on a Russian airline. We flew on a 747. It is a double decker plane with some nice suites on the top level with beds ($15,000.00 round trip). Hazel had her own little suite on the plane. She had a bassinet that she slept in. I was wondering how she would do on the flight because it was so long, but she was great. On the way back from Tokyo she slept from take off to about 30 minutes before landing.



We liked the uniforms they wore on the airline. The flight attendant gave us a piggy bank and a coloring book and crayons for Hazel. She said they were for Hazel if she wanted to color. I know Hazel looks big, but she definitely isn't into coloring yet.

4 Month Stats

Hazel went to her first BYU game two weeks ago. It was really cold, so she couldn't wear her cheerleader outfit. We bundled her up in her little Puma jumpsuit and some boots.

Hazel is getting big. She had her 4 month appointment and these are her stats:

Height: 26 3/4 inches 90th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 8 oz 90th percentile
Head: 40 1/2 inches 50th percentile

She is starting to get up on her knees, but she can't push off or scoot, although she does manage to get across the room sometimes.

Temple Square Tour

Hazel had her first Temple Square tour given by Whitney of course. Whitney just got back from Maryland earlier this month and hadn't seen Hazel yet. My sister, Dawn, and her family came into town for the BYU football game and scheduled a tour for all of us.

Murder Mystery

For almost two years now, we have had a monthly dinner group with some of my friends from work and their husbands. We try to make it fun by having themes sometimes. The last one we did was a murder mystery dinner where we were required to dress up as our characters. It was a lot of fun. The pictures didn't really turn out because Brendan figured out that his lens broke in his luggage on the way back from California, but I still thought they were fun.





I was a flapper and Brendan was a high class gambler.

Happy Hazel

BYU's newest cheerleader.

We bought Hazel a tummy time mat, and she loves it. She's been scooting around in a circle lately and got caught in the curtains and fell asleep.

I gave Hazel her parrot rattle and it ended up on her shoulder three different times.

Hazel has discovered her hands and loves to put them in her mouth and pick things up. She also just likes to observe them.

Brendan with Hazel.

After Hazel's bath, I put her on the bed and was looking for an outfit to put on her and when I turned around she was out. She likes to suck on blankets and put herself to sleep.

California

After our Sandpoint trip, we were home for only a few days and then headed to California to visit my family in Sacramento for a week.

Hazel's first plane ride. She was excellent. There were about 10 people on the plane so the flight attendants hung out by us adoring Hazel.

Enjoying mile high mud pie at Red Robin with my little sisters.

We canoed down the American River with my family while my mom watched Hazel.

We made some stops along the way to cliff jump and go off a rope swing. That's me!

Brendan did a little dance with his feet in the air as he jumped off the rope.

We took my three little sister to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and had a blast.

Hanging with Taz.

Enjoying the giraffes.

We stopped in Davis to visit our friends that moved from Provo. Brendan is holding Hazel and their son Lukas.

Brendan and I stayed a night in San Francisco and enjoyed the city.

Sandpoint, Idaho

Besides camping, this was our first vacation this summer. We drove 12 hours to visit my sister Dawn and her family. They live a block away from Lake Pend Oreille in Sandpoint, Idaho. It is so beautiful up there. Sandpoint is about 45 minutes from Coeur D' Alene.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great while we were in town, so we only spent one day out on the lake. The rest of the time we spent hanging out with Dawn and her kids. The kids just loved holding Hazel. My favorite quote from the trip came from Brinlee. We were at a BBQ and she was holding Hazel while talking with me. She said, "Brendan is so much fun. Dana, I just never knew how much fun Brendan was. I think Hazel is really going to like him when she gets older".

One day we drove to Liberty Lake, Washington which is near Spokane, to visit Dawn's sister in law and her family. They live right on the lake, so it was very beautiful.

On our way back home, we stopped in Coeur D' Alene to go to lunch with my cousin and his wife. It was a great time!

Brendan, Hazel, and I in Liberty Lake, Washington.


Brinlee holding Hazel, and Sicily is on the couch with her.


Having a campfire on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille in Sandpoint.


Brendan taught the kids origami, and they loved it! Here is Brinlee with her hat, Sicily with her bow, and Reed with his beak.

Dawn with her four kids on the boat. From left to right: Jonathan, Sicily, Brinlee, and Reed in front.

Me wakeboarding. I'm not doing anything special but staying up.


Brendan wakeboarding.



Brendan on the boat holding Hazel.

Lunch with my cousin Justin and his wife Letesia.

Carribean of the Rockies

Camping, sailing, and fresh raspberry shakes were all part of our fun up at Bear Lake over pioneer day weekend.

Hazel's Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago we took Hazel to get some pictures taken in her blessing dress. I actually didn't even post that picture because it looked really bad. She looked like she was asleep in a casket. She was kind of in an in between age. She isn't a small newborn that is asleep in all of the pictures and she isn't old enough to be smiley and sit up by herself.