Japan 2

Monday- exploring Sendai!

In the morning I took the fam to the Sendai Eki (train station). It was so crazy to be there with my family as a tourist! Matt and dad got their Diet Coke fix and bought a day supply of poky sticks and hichew!! Oh, and of course we went and took a few purin kura :o) Lots of fun memories at the eki...
















The Furukawa's picked us up at 9:30 am with Tomoko Shimai. Tomoko Shimai is the the most darling 72 year old ever! She was baptized when Heaps Shimai and I were serving together in Sendai. The 3 of them were our Sendai tour guides. First stop--- the mission home and mission office!

In front of the mission office with the whole gang.

It was so fun being at my mission home with my husband :o)







After the mission home, we stopped for lunch at a tonkatsuya san!! it was delicious! Even mom thought so :o) We ate soooooooooooo much food---even the boys couldn't even finish.

















Next stop.....MATSUSHIMA!!

Unfortunately it was a little rainy this day, but we still had a blast at Matsushima. It's this beautiful group of islands with pine trees everywhere. There were also some Zen temples and other cool buildings we were able to look at. It was gorgeous!!


First we took a boat ride around the islands. The best part about it was standing on the back of the boat feeding the crazy birds!! Here's a little video....

After the boat ride, we walked around. It was still beautiful, even in the rain!

You can't even tell how pretty it was in this picture, but it was the only shot with almost everyone in it, so i had to put it on here :o)

Rain or shine, we can always pose for a picture :o)

In the winter, they tie ropes to the trees so the snow doesn't ruin the branches...dad got a real kick out of this :o) It kinda looked like Christmas decorations!

Tomoko Shimai was worried I was going to 'catch a cold' so she gave me her scarf...she's so adorable :o)

Ring the bell and make a wish... or pray or something like that :o)



Saying goodbye to Tomoko shimai...

And the Furukawas....

We had such an amazing day with them!!!!

Next, it was off to dinner with Saki chan and Yamaguchi Shimai :o)

They made the BEST lazagna and these amazing desserts!!! We were absolutely stuffed!!

Saki chan is an amazing little girl!! When she was 9 she told her mom that she wanted to go to church. Her mom and dad had been inactive for years! But mom and Saki chan started going back to church. Then Saki decided she wanted to get baptized. We taught her all the discussions and she convinced her dad why she should get baptized. He wasn't too excited but gave her permission. She was baptized and bore the sweetest most sincere testimony I've ever heard!

Brother Yamaguchi didn't have dinner with us but he drove us back to our hotel. He couldn't speak English very well but he used to be a musician, so he and my dad had a great chat on the way home! :o)

I love this little girl!

Hopefully Saki is going to come do a home stay with matt and me in the next few years :o)

What an amazing day!!! the end of day 2....and more to come! :o)