Packing and our last Japan camping trip 09

Hello All,

Again our lives our being lived out of boxes. As the days and hours some closer to our departure, we are all thinking of our time spent here, as well as our new... new beginning. That is when we have the time. Pack-pack-pack, recycle and sort more. These are the days of our lives. hahaha!

Well we are all packing and making those, let's cross the Pacific with everything we need to live decisions again. Even the kids are making those decisions. 

Last week we took a 4 day break from this fun, and went camping some good friends and their kids. We went to Mt. Aso, which is a large volcano here in Kyushu. It was a 4-5 hour drive with plenty of traffic for the Golden Week Holidays. 

The first day was nice and hot. The second started like the first, but it got cloudy midday. From there it was drizzly to rain till the day before we were to leave. This was not all so bad though. We had lots of time to talk and the kids to play, not to mention side trips and a different onsen (hot spring) everyday.

The last day we awoke to a beautiful sunrise and just a gorgeous morning. We had breakfast and started breaking down camp, getting everything out in the sun drying out. At this point we decided to go to get some gas and head to the volcano's vent for a look. While at the gas station though, the men decided that maybe it would be nice not to have to work after going to the top, so we convinced the women to go back to camp and pack first. 

Well it took about 1.5 hours but we had everything at the back of the vans, and ready to go in. This is when we felt the first small drops, then a few moments later we heard the thunder. Well I told Shiho it was going to come down, and we better hurry it up. We pretty much throw the kids in and I throw the rest of our gear in. We were set, but our friends had a lot of stuff down on the ground still. This is when the more serious rain and small hail fell. I was helping get our friends stuff in, and Shiho started yelling for the keys to roll the windows up.... hahaha, so exciting.

Okay, I like the rain, and we were almost done... then it really started coming down. The hail was at least 1/2 and inch now, and I could not hear Shiho yelling from our car. We had everything in except for what we holding, and Kochun and I were trying to stay as far under the van's hatch as possible. We decided to put the last few items in our van, and then it was like someone pushed pause in the clouds. With only light hail and rain coming, I decided to run to the protection of my open hatch back. I got there, and someone pushed that GO button.... it was amazing what can come out of the sky. The hail was now more than an inch, and I could hardly understand Shiho yelling from the front passenger seat to me. Well after a few minutes of my legs getting hit, the ground getting completely covered, and now these huge hail stones were actually bouncing all the way into the front of the car.... I decided to close the hatch and run for it to the front. It hurt, but it was very exciting. 

We actually could not hear each other in the car. The sound of the hail hitting the car was that loud. Since the ground was white with hail, I thought it better to head to the main road, before we got stuck. We did make it to the main road, but I would say barely. 

I thought I had it bad, even though I know it could have been worse. The power of nature had us all amazed for the end of our trip. Us guys were also very happy we went back to pack the vans. We decided to skip the top and head down, and this is when I felt even luckier with my situation. On this windy, slick, white mountain road, there was a woman on a cycle just drenched and still riding down the mountain. I would not have been riding still if it were me, but I can understand her reasoning. She left in the morning on a beautiful day, and got hammered by these huge hail stones. Maybe I would just want to get off the mountain, too.

Anyways, it was a great trip, and we stopped for dinner and a nice bath on the way home. 

Hope you are all doing well, and we shall see you soon. Only 17 days till we get back.

Take care, Steve & all

PS: Pictures are coming soon

coming home

Hello All,

It has been a while. We have been pretty busy with the kids finishing last semester, and starting the new one. Trying to do some things duringthe break, and just raising getting ready to come back to the US. Actually I just bought tickets to bring us all back to SF on May 29th. They are round trip, since this is about $2000 cheaper than oneway. 

There are some more pics up, so check out picasa when you have a chance. Japan13 and 14 are the latest.

Hope you are all doing well, 

Steve, Shiho and the kiddies

2-21-09 Joshua is 3 weeks old now

Hi everyone,
Well Joshua is almost 3 weeks old now, and he and Shiho are doing fine. Although we are mostly on our own this time, the kids are an incredible help. They really do help out a lot. This also gives us a chance to think about how much our friends and family helped us out before. So thank you to all those that helped us so much with the last 3 kiddies. It is amazing how much difference the little things you do make, in the lives of busy parents.
I think Hanano is taking the hardest. I think she is okay during the day, but at night she only wants Mama. I touched her this morning, and she slapped my hand and started yelling “Mama-Mama-Mama.” Then when she got out of bed, she jumped on top of me, and wanted me to carry her around the house on my back. At least she wants me during the day!
Shiho did take Miyabi and Joshua to the dermatologist yesterday. Joshua had pimps on his face, which we thought were okay, but just being careful. He is fine by the way. Miyabi had a rash on her hands and arms, that looked like a burn. We thought she might have gotten into something at school, but she said she had not. It ends up that Miyabi just had severely dry skin. I have the same thing, with cracks all over my hands and fingers, but not as bad as Miyabi. She really looked like she had a burn on her hands.
One thing I will miss about Japan, is the health insurance. Although I think that the medical system in Japan is not quite as good as in the States, their National Health Insurance is much better. If you want to go to the doctor, any doctor or specialist, you just go. For the kids, it is usually free, and for us, it is just a small fee of $10 or $20. We pay a small amount each month, but it is almost nothing.
On the down side, you usually have to wait for a long time. They usually do not take appointments. Flu shots are very expensive ($30-50.) usually.
In any situation like this though, there are many pluses and minuses. If only I could change things about each of these programs to the way that I think would be perfect, then they would be,... since I know everything. (^8
The other news is that I got my black belt in Aikido. It was a while ago, but things have been pretty busy. I really am not so good, but it sure is fun. The average person that I work out with has 20-30 years experience in this art, and they are really good. I am in awe (and sometimes pain) every time I go to class. The head sensei of my dojo was a student of the creator of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba sensei. When I practiced in the States, it was very interesting, but this is another level.
Hope you are all doing well,
Steve, Shiho and the kiddies

New Kenyon in the family

Hello All,

Well at 3:57PM, Joshua Seichigi Kenyon meet his parents for the first time. He weighs 3818 grams, or 8.4lb. Shiho and Joshua are doing great, with no problems. 

Joe, Miyabi and Hanano are doing great at our friends house. They are spending the night there with their 3 friends and their parent Chisato and Kochun. They saw a picture a few minutes after Joshua was born, via an email, but they will meet tomorrow afternoon.

Pics from first day are here....

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/JoshuaSeichigiKenyon13109#

Enjoy and best wishes,

Steve, Shiho and the 4 kiddies

Shiho gets away for a few days.

Hello All,

The kids and I just finished dinner. We had curry rice and soda. Shiho fixed it for us this morning. Pretty good, but Shiho had French food tonight. Not to bad for hospital food. 

Shiho is spending the night at the hospital tonight, and the baby should be here on Saturday here in Japan. I will post the news and some pics when I get a moment then. A friend is going to watch the kids Sat and Sun morning for us, so we should be done by then hopefully. I will be heading to the hospital in the morning, as soon as our friend pics up the kiddies. Exciting, but a little freightening too. My Japanese is so bad, I don't think I can talk much. or understand very much of what is going on. Well it is our 4th time around, so I might have a little idea of what is going on.

Last weekend the kids were in a show for there kindergarden, and it snowed most the weekend. Here is a link to some pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/KidsKindergardenProductionJan2009#

Take care and enjoy,

Steve, Shiho and the kiddies

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I NEVER POSTED THIS??? Sorry, Steve

Well a litle late, but best wishes to you all. Hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season. 

We spent Christmas in our house in Kitakyushu, and the kids had 3 present each to open. Very simple, but also very special. We went to our friends house, and we made 2 roasts with carrots, onions and potatos. Also on the menu was sweet potatos with marshmellows and green beans. Nice little dinner for 14. It was a little work, but a lot of fun.

Here is a pic of dinner. Not exactly how I wanted it to come out, but everyone liked it.

New Years was at Shiho's moms house. We had avery quiet and relaxing holiday with Shiho's mom and sister. We had snow most days, and the kids had  lot of fun playing.

Check out the pics here...

URL...

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/Christmas2008AndNewYears09#

Best to you all,

Steve, Shiho and the kiddies