Cursed

The curse of bad car luck continues in Japan! Ack! For the past 2 years, every time Fox and I would leave our home and drive out of Logan, something would happen to our car (well, cars--3 cars died on us!). We had so much car trouble every time we tried to go someplace, and now that bad luck has followed us to Japan!
Yesterday was our first evening off, so we drove 45 minutes to Marugame, our old city, to go to a R.S. activity (me) and to hang out with old friends (Fox and kids). On our drive back, we were stopped at a light, and some guy on his cell phone rear-ended us! Can we never leave home without a car incident? Maybe our luck is turning, though, because our car was not damaged at all--it is a tiny Jeep-like thing with the spare tire on the back that acted like a rubber bumper. So, yay! And no one was hurt! But still...come on car gods!

In other news, we had 3 earthquakes this week! They were all little, but Fox has never experienced earthquakes before. He's been quite shaken up this week! Literally.

We are still doing great and can't wait to share pictures once we figure out how to get a cord for our camera!

P.S. Fox and I had to speak in sacrament this morning, and Fox gave his talk in Japanese--go Fox!!

We're Alive!

Hi everyone! We haven't posted in a while, but we are alive and safely settled in our new city of Kanonji, Kagawa, Japan. I wish I could post some pictures, but sadly, I have no idea where the cable for my camera is.
Our trip to Japan with 2 toddlers was a great learning experience for us. Mainly, only bring carry-ons that you can carry. 8 carry-ons and various blankies and lovies made going from flight to flight very tricky! Luckily, there was a nice Japanese family on board with kids, too, and they helped us out a ton. They let our kids play with all their gadgets and helped carry our stuff. We are forever grateful! Also, the midnight flight was a good choice--our kids slept several hours!
We are still exploring our city, but we live within easy walking distance of my favorite stores--MaxValu for groceries, Daiso for household and craft stuff, and Shimamura for clothes. Yay! We are also a couple of kilometers away from the beach and a huge sandy park. Our apartment is bordered by the fire station, the high school, city hall, and a new nice library with books for children in English. Double yay!
Most importantly, there is a beautiful cake shop across the street called "The Establishment". It sells cream puffs and tons of French pastries and is lit up in twinkly lights at night, so that is the view from our window.
We are so happy to be back and having an experience this time in a country that is no longer very foreign to us. It makes for a much easier transition, especially with kids. I am patting myself on the back for learning Katakana before we came, which means I can read words like "shampoo" and "soap" on all the various bottles. Now to actually learn the language this time!