Christmas Fun

We had some Christmas fun on Saturday. It was a really fabulous day. Kan stayed home with the K Man most of the day and Miyako-chan and I came in and out to feed him. We started with our church's Christmas party for kids. Miyako's best little friend came with us to the party. From there, we came home for a quick lunch and some singing with starfall (Mel, you should see these two sing to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and the color "red"). After feeding the K Man, the ladies headed back out to a puppet show at our local play area and a snack at our favorite bakery. We came back home and Mama went for a 40 minute run along the river and then got ready for our December Girls Night Out. We went to a really cool area of town known as the French Quarter. It was really nice with cobblestone streets. Our meal was fabulous (for those of you local here in Tokyo, check out the review at this site - http://www.bento.com/rev/1883.html) and the atmosphere was perfect. We were in our own private little room and sat on these comfy couches, low to the ground. The food was delicious - we tried a bit of everything from sashimi, to minced pork, grilled fish and a very smooth sake. After dinner, we enjoyed some wine and cheese at a small little wine bar, one of many in this part of town. Not only were we celebrating Christmas, but also my friend's birthday (see picture). E has become a dear friend of mine here in Tokyo. Our families get along fabulously (except for when her little boy is trying to hug Miyako and she does not want to be TOUCHED!) and I am so grateful for her friendship. We both moved here around the same time and met at a local park, hitting it off from the beginning. It is nice to have friends you can be at home with and I so enjoyed helping her celebrate her birthday. Not a bad Saturday at all huh?

We are gearing up for Christmas - did the online shopping last night at amazon.com.jp. We plan to have a low key holiday with a nice Christmas Eve dinner with friends here at the apartment and church on Sunday after the festivities of a big family breakfast, singing Happy Birthday to Jesus with birthday muffins, and opening presents. Miyako is really into Christmas this year and LOVES the decorations. Hopefully this year she will actually open her gifts - last year she opened like two and we were still using some as potty training toys in November of this year! Work for the hubby slows down a bit at Christmas so it will be nice to have him home after the holiday for a staycation.