Snow Day

We had promised Kara that for her birthday, we'd go to the snow. But there had been no rain and no snow. It did rain while we were on vacation... So we got back from Hawaii and decided to take advantage of the short drive to Kings Canyon National Park.



The kids had fun stomping in the snow, sledding down small hills, climbing up snow covered rocks and just rolling around in the snow.



And of course we had snacks! What a fantastic day!

Shaved Ice Every Day!

Before the trip, the kids said they were looking forward to having shaved ice every day... and we could not dissapoint! Our days went like this: breakfast at home, the beach, trying various plate lunches, finding a different shaved ice stand, and then dinner. Yeah, vacation!



Jason started eating rice cereal recently and the poor guy kept watching the spoon go right over his head... Ben said, "Jason's missing out the good stuff." One of these days, Jason...



Here is their tribute to Hawaiian shaved ice!

Happy Birthday to Tantie!

How lucky we are to be able to celebrate Tantie Miwa's birthday in Hawaii! Kara asked to get a lei for Tantie because "we love Tantie and she is our family." Kara is genuinely sweet, but I think she was also hopeful that by getting Tantie a lei, she would get one of her own. She's a smart cookie!

Dinner at Roy's to celebrate and enjoy being together...

...and the unexpected gift we got is Ben asking to eat ribs! As parents of picky eaters, we were thrilled that Ben wanted to try something new and delicious!

Yeah for our self-proclaimed carnivore! Can't wait to see what's next.

Poipu Beach Day

With the beautiful weather, we had to get some beach time in. Kara and Ben loved playing in the water and they made friends with all of the other kids on the beach.

Even Jason enjoyed laying out on the beach. Despite the onesie, he is definitely a medium or large order :)

Who knew that you could find brontosaurus neck bones in Hawaii! Ben is excited to have such a rare find to call his own.

Aloha!!

We took our first family airplane trip and we survived! Ben and Jason had never flown and we're happy to report that everyone did well. Ben said, "This was my first time on a plane." Cubby, the bear, and Rexy, the dinosaur, also did well on their first trip away from home.

What everyone has been talking about and waiting for.... shaved ice! In preparing for the trip, the kids have been telling everyone, "We're going to Hawaii and we're going to have shaved ice every day!" Remember, this is vacation! A few extra calories are allowed, right?

YUM!

We moved to Kingsburg!

After a quick sale of our Sherman Oaks home and a short stay with Grandma 'Rene and Pampa, we moved into a rental house in Kingsburg. The house is in the country and walking distance to Clay School, which is where we wanted Kara to start Kindergarten in the fall.



The home's owner, Jeff, was worried that moving from Los Angeles, we might not like country-living...



But the kids are loving all of the wide-open land, being able to walk through the fields (like they did at Grandma and Pampa's house) and being able to see their cousins and friends more easily.



Ben and Kara are experienced fruit pickers and we pick oranges from the tree outside of the house at the end of our excursions.

We're adjusting to life in the Central Valley, missing friends in southern California, but feeling very lucky to have some new friends here. Today Kara asked Jeff if she could put her carseat in the back of his truck :) She may turn out to be a country-girl yet!

Ringing in the New Year!

We were invited over to the Arakawa's on New Year's Eve, which was fun because I haven't celebrated a New Year's with Andrea since high school! Kara loved the chocolate fountain...



... so much!



And though it wasn't midnight, I never miss a chance to give Jason a big kiss!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Catch-Up

It wouldn't be a Kozuki Christmas without sugar cookies! This year, Ben and Kara decorated all of the cookies and managed not to make too much of a sugary-mess!



Kara is really into patterns, so many of her cookies had a similar color scheme.



Fun Uncle Todd helped supervise the decorating while Tantie Miwa was rolling out dough and cutting out the cookies.



On Christmas day, the kids opened presents and stockings and we headed over to the Hiyama family gathering for a little B-I-N-G-O because it wouldn't be a Hiyama Christmas without it!