It's my party...

Birthday Cheesecake



I did just what I wanted to do yesterday, RELAX!
(I didn't even need to think about what to wear, Blade picked out my clothing for the day)

Dave cooked steak and asparagus for supper and he did an excellent job, I ate it all.
My family knows that I NEED a cake to make my birthday "a birthday" (they learned that the HARD way one year) and we had a gourmet cheesecake done up right thanks to Chef Nicole.

Blade doing what he loves to do...getting in every shot.

Capturing the moment as Nicole uses her new camera. I don't see it out much and so it was good to see her using it.

The other thing that makes my birthday complete is a call from my Mom and Dad, and siblings...and it was a COMPLETE birthday!
I talked with Mom before, during and after my birthday, Sheila earlier in the day and Doug in the evening. Nicole and Chay were saying that Auntie Sharon didn't love me because she hadn't called. I was quick to respond that she was on a cruise and I didn't expect her to call me while she was on a cruise. And I really didn't. But to my surprise, while we were watching "American Idol", Sharon called to wish me a Happy Birthday from the ship! So Nicole and Chay, Auntie Sharon DOES love me!

I actually started celebrating Valentine's and my birthday early. It's kind of like being born close to Christmas, you just group it all together. Friday night Dave surprised me by taking me out to eat and kept "threatening" that we were going to be out late dancing. I knew that we weren't going dancing because that would NOT be a fun time for me...and even in the dating days, Dave didn't like to go out dancing when I kind of did.

I didn't push the issue and ask what we were going to do when he told me it was going to be a late night...I just enjoyed the moment. Well, after we ate, we walked away from the car and headed towards the University of Utah campus.

I was genuinely surprised when we walked up stairs and saw a huge banner with Bill Cosby's picture on it! Dave and I had seen Bill Cosby on the U campus 20 years ago! We had seats center stage and up close...Dave had planned this way in advance! That in itself meant a lot to me because Dave is a spontaneous type of guy and this was any thing but spontaneous! He must have been online or calling when the tickets first went on sale to get excellent seats at a sold out performance.

And to add to the night, I spotted a friend/former roommate from my BYU days a couple of rows in front of us. I hadn't seen her for 16-17 years. It was all like going back in time... and all of us looked just the same....

And then on Monday (President's Day Holiday here in the USA) we went out for a Birthday dinner complements of Grandma! My kids love that! Thanks Grandma!

GRANDMA pulled through (again) as always with a Valentine's card arriving before Valentine's Day! Blade was so excited to get his mail and as soon as I walked in the door from work, he ran to me showing me all his Valentine's from Grandma!

Earlier in the month, Chay decided that he wanted to shave his mustache. So Dave educated him in the art of shaving and Chay took care of business.

The BEFORE and AFTER



(I don't know what was going on with the hair, it was obviously his "morning" hair and apparently Chay sleeps on his right side)
Chay decided that he likes "with" the mustache better so it's growing back in.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes I received! Thanks Alana for a special blog entry!

I forgot to mention something else that added to my birthday. In the mail came the official documentation that Nicole, Chay and Blade are CANADIANS!! Three more dual citizens to add to the records. Now that that is all taken care of, I guess it's time for me to study and do the paperwork for me to become a dual citizen.

Welcoming 2010 Japanese Style

This year we did something we've never done before for New Years!

We made sushi and tempura.

It felt like the good old days when I was growing up and getting together on "the farm" with Grandma and Grandpa Shimbashi, my Aunts, Uncles and cousins AND eating a lot of food. I remember being young and feeling so good when I got a shrimp with eggs! We even played Bingo, but there weren't any prizes...

Nicole rolled her first roll of sushi.

It turned out looking great!

Apparently I haven't exposed Blade to rice bags before...
He started eating it from the bottom and was in a dilemma as to how to eat it with rice falling out from both ends.

I'll admit it, I also had a couple of sushi making kits and the kids tried them out.

Triangular sushi look impressive also.

Blade attempted making a mini roll.

AND Dave was home for New Year's Eve (instead of at work) and we were awake to welcome in the New Year (minus Blade who fell asleep shortly before)! We had our Sparkling apple cider in champagne glasses so the evening was complete.


Dave had to go to work the next day but the rest of us were able to get some tasks checked off our list of things to do before heading back to school.

Blade received an unstuffed "Build a Bear" tiger from Chay for Christmas and we headed to the mall to stuff the tiger. We even used what was left on the Build a Bear gift card that Chay gave Blade last Christmas. Blade chose to put a Jonas Brothers recording in the tiger's foot (which turned out to be in the leg).

Blade and his Police Officer Tiger

Next on the agenda was to go sledding!
SugarHouse Park was packed and so tried out some new hills. They turned out to be so much better and no crowds.

It was a nice day, pretty bright with the sun reflecting off the snow (thank goodness for Asian eyes....)

It brought smiles to my face just seeing the kids enjoying themselves as they came flying down the hill. With my camera I was good for one shot per run. It would have been a perfect time to try out Nicole's new camera.

I think Chay go some "air" in this shot!

When we went sledding last year Blade had a look of fear on his face when he came down the hill.
I loved the look of pure joy on his face this year!

Another example of me getting a different picture than what I anticipated when I pushed the button...but enjoying a good chuckle because of the results. Why Nicole is the one always caught in a unique pose is beyond me...fate I guess.

And this is an interesting expression on Chay...

LIGHTS again...(and I'm still here)

Finally, an update from me!

Mom, I wanted you to see what we've been up to, so that you could feel as if you were here, or be thankful that you were there...



At work on Monday, things were slowing down around 4:00 and there wasn't really a need for all the nurses to stay so I called Dave, had him get the kids together, and pick me (NOW) so that we could make it to the zoo by 4:00. Timing was crucial because I'm "Frugal", and wanted to get into the zoo with our zoo pass during regular hours so that we wouldn't have to pay separately to see the zoo lights.

WE MADE IT just in time!

The playground was empty for some reason.
Blade went down the slide but I made him stop after the first run because that metal slide, cold weather and just jeans didn't seem like a great idea to me.

Hot chocolate inside however, did sound like a great idea....
The hot chocolate was correctly titled that night, HOT! But at least that made us all sip instead of guzzle.

These heaters felt very nice.

You just never know what shot you will get when you push that button due to lag time, and when I saw this picture after I took it, I actually laughed out loud. The look on Nicole's face is priceless. The boys are intently watching the monkeys, one which pooped and peed (monkey that is, not one of the boys).

The baby snow leoperd has grown alot since we last visited and it was so cute to see him playing with Blade running along the window with him and pawing at the glass at Blade.

Chay's okay! It was a little slippery and with Blade around who knows what happened but, Nicole did have a safe hold on Blade.

I loved the look of this tiger welcoming us to the cat area.

AND Santa was there...

Actually later we walked past a building that was having a "dinner with Santa" and Blade saw Santa and walked up to the window, put his face up to the glass and watched Santa. He so wanted to be inside there and we had to tell him that it was only for people that that bought tickets earlier so that they could have dinner with Santa, and we couldn't buy tickets now, it was too late.
It was a cute picture but by the time I got close enough with the camera, Blade was coming towards me.

This pretty much captures life with Blade.

We couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a picture of Dave with his "favorite" pink flamingoes.
...at least these ones weren't plastic....

see...I DO exist.
I was surprised by the proportions of this picture because I look so "small" next to Dave, and Chay (who is taller than me) is very short in this picture. Well, notice the lean? We were on a downward slope to I don't know where...

For some reason Blade picked up this chunk of snow/ice and carried it around, and wouldn't drop it. Later I saw him licking it! I quickly told him that that snow was dirty and in a zoo, who knows what animal may have peed on it. He dropped it just as quickly.

I actually enjoyed the zoo lights, and was impressed with what they did with the lights. Alot were synchronized so that animals were climbing trees/playing, Santa and his sleigh moved over the walkway, water was moving...the zoo did a nice job.
The zoo was empty when we arrived but by the time we left, it was packed.

One of the neighborhood gifts we received was a Pecan roll from a friend who has a catering business and is of course an amazing chef/cook/baker, and after the zoo, we were just passing it around and taking bites from it. It was sooooo good...mmmmmmm

Wednesday, Nicole and a couple of her girlfriends decided they wanted to dress up alittle and go out to eat. They all looked very nice. I told Nicole that it was such a compliment that she wanted to emulate me so much that she dressed like me, actually wore MY clothing and boots (okay, right now I can't fit into those pants but there was a time...)

Dave bought a new heavy duty shovel and Chay had the chance to use it. It's amazing how at Chay's age it was a chore to shovel and at Blade's age, he couldn't get his coat and boots on fast enough to get out there to shovel.

I told you it was heavy duty.
When we were leaving Costco one day, Dave saw it is someone's chart and was eavesdropping as that person was telling someone else about it. And so that last time we went, Dave had to get one. And when we waiting to get our hotdogs and drinks, a man was eyeing my shovel and I called him on it and gave him the info I knew. He thanked me and I think I sold him on it.

Icing sugar cookies for Santa.

This Christmas we had an elf join our family. Every morning he was in a different spot watching over the kids and then reporting their behavior back to Santa.
We couldn't touch him and that's why Chay and Nicole are lifting Blade up so awkwardly, I guess.

Blade initially name our Elf "Elfie" but later decided his name should be "Fastelf". The book is titled "Elf on a Shelf" and there is a cute story that goes with it that tells about the Elf's purpose. In the morning the kids (okay, Blade) try to locate where Fastelf is and Fastelf watches during the day to see how Blade is behaving and then at night, he reports back to Santa and returns to a new spot in the morning. When Fastelf was in the bathroom, Blade made sure that he always shut the door so that Fastelf couldn't see him in the living room, or any other part of the house.

Koshi got her gift early.

Putting the cookies (3) out for Santa. He ate them all.

Nicole was very happy to get a "real" camera, a Canon Rebel (X10?).

Chay happy about his new phone.

Nicole received this gripper thing in her stocking because when she was little and saw Grandma's she wanted one...she finally got one.

Nicole gave Chay a Disney "Sing it" and the kids had fun with that. They decided that they need another mike.

It was so cute, and sad, to see Blade playing with his transformers by himself. It's times like this that I feel bad that my kids are so widely spaced.

...but then Dave woke up (he's working nights this week) and played with Blade. It warmed my heart to hear him say "this is sooo much fun".

The kids playing Blade's fishing game with tires. All I was hearing was that Chay was cheating...

This year we did something different and had prime rib for our Christmas dinner. It was good. It was like being at home visiting Grandma and Grandpa because they always serve us prime rib.

The kids now playing Movie Scene It, a game Nicole was looking for every time we went to a toy store and could NEVER find.
And did you notice that Nicole was wearing a green blanket in most of the shots throughout the day? I was shocked when I saw her without it. It's an "original slanket" with a pocket like a hoodie and a pocket to slip your feet into. She had been talking about making snugglies since seeing her cousin's blog about making them. She and Chay saw a snuggie and were very disappointed by the thin fabric and cheap quality of it but was very happy and surprised by the thickness and softness of this slanket and the pockets! She may belt it and wear it to school.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
Miss you Mom and Dad, wish we could have been there with you for the Holidays.