Ben's bday and more travel

Wow I didn't realize how busy our summer had been until I started updating the blog. I realize a lot of this is boring for people reading, and they don't know who most of the people are, but I have to remember this is for me to remember stuff and document our goings on. I feel bad my blog is not funny or exciting, but I don't feel bad enough to do anything about that:)

Once again, Ben's birthday fell on July 4th. He is funny and said we either had to do a small family thing with just us or invite a bunch of people as he did not know who to exclude. So he requested I do a luau. Fortunately and unfortunately, many people are busy on the 4th so we only had about 20 people and a ton of leftovers. It turned out to be a fun time with people from the ward and good food.




The next week we celebrated our anniversary and went to Cheesecake Factory in Walnut Creek, my fave. We then rushed next door to watch Transformers 3 in 3D and then rushed to Oakland for a baptism.

The next week Kimiko and I took a trip down to Lompoc to our parents' house. Our good friend Tristan was able to come up from Mexico to visit. She has been down there the past 10 years due to silly U.S. laws restricting her Mexican husband from re-entering the country. This was an exciting time as he was able to obtain his Visa once again and it was the first time they were able to all come up and visit. Tristan's family, the Rhines, were the first people we met when we moved to Lompoc. They eventually moved off to Washington, and she moved to Mexico, but they have always been a special family to us. When we first moved to Lompoc, we all kind of had a hard time and didn't know anyone. A few weeks after arriving my older brother, Kenneth, suddenly passed away. Scott Rhine was Bishop then and very supportive, and his wife, Verna immediately came over with food for our freezer so we didn't have to worry about little things like that. They took us to the beach, girls' camp, and befriended two shy preteens who really didn't want to be there.

The Rhines later inherited some inlaws from church, the Heaths. I worked for the Heaths in high school as a general assistant in their dental office. They are wonderful people and helped jumpstart my career in dental hygiene.
It was great to see all these good people who left positive marks in our memories.

Utah trip June 2011

Whew! The moment the Nishimoto reunion was over, we left the next day (Father's Day) for Utah. Poor Ben spent his Father's Day in the car, and then we (I) accidentally left the laptop at the hotel in Reno.

But we made it safe and sound to Lehi where we spent time with Ben's mom, sister and her family, and brother. We barbecued at family friends and had Cafe Rio.

We also spent some time in Provo at our good friends' the Jensens and enjoyed making s'mores in the backyard. And I got to get my teeth cleaned and visit with my old dental office in Orem.

Then on to the northern part of our trip in the Brigham City area where we visited with Grandma Christensen, Benny's great grandma and saw the Brigham temple. We attended my nephew Jared's wedding. I got to see my cousin Brooke who is having a baby boy in October and my old roommate Heather. My parents and I visited my niece Amanda who had just given birth to her first little baby boy the day before. And finally we celebrated my brother-in-law Chad's 50th birthday. And then we jumped in the car and headed back to Cali. And yay, we were able to retrieve the laptop in Reno:) And then we breathed for a little bit. Just a little.

Nishimoto reunion June 2011

We finally had our 5 year reunion on my mom's side. We don't hold it very often since a lot of people have to travel from Hawaii and it gets pricey. I was disappointed we didn't actually hold it in Hawaii as originally planned and had it in the Bay Area, but it turned out to be fun for everyone.

My siblings came out a few days early and we all (minus my brother who didn't make the reunion) went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We saw marine animals and shows and rode rides. I was sooo thankful to my nephew Connor for taking Benny on all the rides so I didn't have to.
Benny and Mayumi won matching puppies from a balloon dart game. I was impressed at Benny's skills as he won all by himself.

Day 1 of the reunion we all went to dinner and then gathered at the church for pictures, talents and family updates. Clockwise from top left: my mom's brother Sam's family, my mom's family, 1st cousins who attended, mom's sister (deceased) Yuriko's family, and middle is the 3 out of 7 surviving siblings including my mom. There is one more but she didn't make it.

Day 2 of reunion we met at Tilden Park in Berkelely for lunch, chatting and activities. My sister Janice made awesome shirts which Benny is modeling. He is also showing off his slug friend in one of the pictures. It was all exhausting but a lot of fun.

Spring break April 2011

It's been so long it's getting kind of blurry. But we took a coastal trip and went down to visit my parents and Ben's dad.

We went to the mission in Lompoc:

And then to Surf Beach to look for sand dollars. Ben illegally grabbed one from the restricted bird preserve just for me. It was so freezing and windy at the beach that Benny started crying so my mom took him to the car. Definitely not a beach to go lay out or swim



.

Then on to Cambria to visit Ben's dad. His stepmom stayed home in Bakersfield as she prepped for surgery a few days later.
The seals swam right by us.
Benny pretty much stayed this way forever poking anemones and picking up crabs.


More fun at the tide pools:

View from Grandpa Tom's beach house. I could get used to life at the beach:)

Pure joy (part 2)

We appreciate so much all the people who have prayed for us over the years. Miracles don't happen without faith, and we have definitely seen them in our lives. We have had so many interesting growth experiences and feel humbled and extremely grateful.

Pure joy (part 1)

It's been a great week. After being partially potty trained for almost a year, he finally decided he would go #2! We had tried everything. We bribed him with everything imaginable, and nothing was worth pooping on the potty to him. Until last Sunday. When we saw he was really going to do this, we came up with a reward system. He could go to the $ store the next day and pick out a bunch of things as a reward each time he went. Then we made a chart that would fill up maybe a month or so of successes, and each time he earned 7 he could earn a big prize. We knew he had been ready for a long time and was being stubborn and hoped this would finally work.
Well, it sure did. That little turkey decided he really could do this and wanted all the big prizes as fast as possible and has gone more times than I could fathom. But I guess when you refuse to use the potty and hold it inside that long it all has to go somewhere.


And here is the proud owner of some new fire boots. Big prize #1 was new fire gear. He earned it so quickly the rest of it hasn't even arrived yet.
Everyone said it would click one day, but he was being so incredibly stubborn we couldn't see it happening. Well it clicked, and he's a pro now, and life is good.

I know this needs to be updated, badly. I'll really try in the next few days.
For now, here are the latest Benny-isms:

Yesterday:

Ben: Benny, today was Mother's Day, a special day for moms when we tell them how much we appreciate them. Is there anything you'd like to say to mommy?
Benny: No.


Today:

Benny: Mommy, can you get me some soy milk?
Kari: Yeah, it's on the counter where I already told you it was.
Benny: Oh, can you bring it in here to me?
Ben: You can go get it yourself. Mommy is not your personal slave.
Benny: Yes, she is.


Oh this boy