Hos is 5 and Alive in Japan!

The one thing that Spencer Hos has talked about since we arrived in Japan is getting a BIKE! I promised him that if he would sell his bike in Utah he could get a brand new one once we moved to Japan. So being the elephant he is, he begged and begged to go look at bikes. We (Zack & I) thought it would be a great surprise if we got him one for his 5th BIRTHDAY on July 16th! The only problem was the bike shop we bought his bike from is CLOSED on Wednesdays and that was the day his birthday fell on this year. Once the store owner realized it was for our son's Birthday, he said he would make accommodations. I love the Japanese hospitality!

Wednesday, July 16th, came and we didn't say much to Hos except Happy Birthday and we told him we would have Birthday Cake after dinner. He was sad he had to wait until after dinner for gifts, but he was excited. Around 4 p.m. the door bell rang and we told Hos he needed to answer it for us. When he opened the door the store owner told him to come outside to get his package. This is the first photo we took of Hos realizing what his "package" was. That is our friend and office manager, Yasuko, taking in the excitement!

Once Hos saw what was on the bed of the truck he started dancing! I think he had perma-grin for the rest of the afternoon! Dad came over to join in the fun and Hos didn't miss a beat.


Here is the Prized RED Bike! I think the store owner was a little shocked by Hos' reaction, but amused too! (yes, that is a "truck")


As soon as the bike was on the ground Hos jumped on to try out the size. Since we picked it out without him we weren't sure if the size would work. It was a little tall for him but he can still manage!


Here he is taking it for a maiden voyage! He did Great! He was so excited because it is a bike like Dad's with gears. The brakes on the handle bars instead of the pedals made him a little nervous but it didn't stop him from trying it out!

News from Us

We just wanted to let you all know that we are LOVING Japan and we are having great ADVENTURES! The most recent adventure began this Sunday as Zack accepted his church calling to become the Branch President in our little Marugame Branch! We are so humbled by this calling. We are so grateful for the members in our branch and we are especially grateful to be here in JAPAN! This photo was taken Sunday. Left to right is Holden, Zack, Spencer Hos, and Andrea. We all tried to get Holden to look at the camera, but this was as close as we got!
We love you all!

1,000 Steps to Kompira-san

One Sunday afternoon at the end of July we decided to head to the nearby town of KOTOHIRA to see an ancient shrine called KOMPIRA-SAN.  This shrine is for the spiritual guardian of seafarers and is a challenge to reach especially if you have a 10 KILO baby to carry.  They say there are 1,000 STEPS to get to the main shrine.  This is a photo of just the beginning!

In the middle of the stairs is Auntie Goober on the left in the white t-shirt & brown pants, then Zack is next to her in the blue striped-shirt and Hos is in the red t-shirt on the right.  We all took turns LUGGING Holden!

Here is a photo of the O-MON where the shrine grounds begin.  This wasn't the end of the stairs though! 

Zack is on the left, then Hos, Julie (aka "Auntie Goober"), Holden, and Andrea on the right at the entrance to the shrine.  Along the way, Hos found a DOG statue!  I think it was to guard the Treasure House, but I'm not sure.  It made Hos' day!

Hos said this photo was so his family & friends back home could see they have DOG STATUES here in Japan.  So this is for all of Hos' FANS!

A few more flights of stairs and we reached the ASAHI-NO-YASHIRO, Sunshine Shrine.  

Here is Julie, Holden, Hos Zack & Andrea (left to right).  Don't look too close, by now we were all sweaty from the CLIMB.  We still weren't to the top yet!

Finally, up some of the steepest and tallest stairs yet, we reached to main shrine HON-GU.  Here Julie & Hos are in front of the main building.  In the back to the right you can see the taiko drum.  As we were climbing the last flight of stairs one of the priests was hitting it and Hos wondered if we were getting ATTACKED!  Good thing we weren't, after all those stairs none of us could have escaped!  

Street Smarts

One of the amazing things about Japan is how conservative they are with their SPACE!  Take for instance their cars.  This is a picture of Auntie Goober & Hos in front of our MAGIC MOBILIO.  I say MAGIC because this little car can fit 7 people.  
Even though it is smaller than a minivan we still find ourselves doing more than 3-point turns in places.  This is a picture of our MAGIC MOBILIO pulling out of our driveway onto the street. We haven't hit the pole YET, but I can't say we haven't come close!

Another sign of their conservation of space is their ROADS.  The 2-lane roads here are often as wide as paved walking trails in Utah.  Sometimes passing cars can be tricky.  One morning when we were driving home we saw this car.  So much for getting to work on time!
This car landed right in the gutter.  The water you see is not the gutter, that is an empty rice field.  But the gutters are deep as you can see below : )
Good thing they drive on the left side of the car or this guy would have fallen right into the rice field.