New Years Pictures

On New Year's Day we took Violet to the shrine by our house so that she could see what people do on New Year's Day here. The morning started out with drums and flutes being played throughout our neighborhood. She loved it and continues to talk about it to this day.

There is a bell that people ring when they say their prayers.

Violet saw a plane and to this day she will randomly talk about this day saying "big nose" (referring to the mask inside the shrine) "airplane" "fun".

The next day we went to an onsen nearby with Mark and his two boys Conan and Leif. Violet really loved playing with the boys.

After the onsen we went to a shark museum.

Getting ready to walk in.

Violet is touching shark skin.

Here is a little Blow Fish that fell in love with Violet.

Sharks!

Look Daddy!

Touching baby Cat Sharks.

The next day was our 7th wedding anniversary and we went to an onsen over night with Violet. On our way there we stopped at ToysRUs.....We bought Violet this little kitchen set and she LOVES it!!! She cooks all the time for us!

Wearing mommy's slippers.

Ozōni 雑煮: Traditional New Year's Food

ozoni
Originally uploaded by G&S Eco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoni_soup

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくおねがいします！

New Year's Day at The Yoshida's

Reverand and Mrs. Yoshida have been such good friends of our these past three years and have always treated us just like family. They have shown us so much of our local area and a-lot about Japanese culture and we always have a great time with them. Rev. Yoshida was the pastor of our church for 10 years. He is retired now and he and his wife live about an hour away from here. Every year since we have been here in Japan, they have invited us to celebrate New Year's with them by having special Sukiyaki lunch on New Year's Day.
The Japanese New Year's Holiday is one of the only times when almost everyone can take vacation time so it's a really precious time for families. This year, the Yoshida's three daughters were able to visit them on New Year's Day and the Yoshida's also asked us to come to their house to celebrate with them too. We were so happy to visit with their daughters and we really felt honored to be included. And of course, the food was amazing and we all had a great time too! Below are some videos... enjoy!

Reverand Yoshida (Jenga Master):




Reverand Yoshida Making Sukiyaki (short):


More Sukiyaki and other New Year's Food: