Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We recently returned from spending time with our families in the States. It was great to get to see everyone though we are sad we did not have more time. Best to you all in 2010!



We were met at the airport by Reid and Christy, and Uncle Aaron gave Reid a ride to the car.


Ansley Lynn (illegally cute)

No one can get enough Ansley love!

Kelly Belly and the kids Christmas Eve Day

Family Photos

Then it was off to Greensboro...

Mom and the kids (Christmas Eve night)

Christmas Morning

Paw-paw and Bryce

Christmas night

Hutchens Christmas party

Uncle Aaron and Bryce

Aaron and the boys

Back to Atlanta...Goodbye Aaron

Ansley's Baptism

Seriously can we get any cuter?!

After my dates with the kids it was adult time...

After being in the States for a month, it was hard to go, but I was glad I got to stay for so long...maybe next year Aaron will get to stay longer too!

Tokyo

Tokyo was our final stop, and it was all we had imagined and more. Here are a few highlights.

Asakusa

Shibuya

Shibuya

Shinjuku

Tokyo tower and yakatori bar

Looking at the hair squad it is no wonder why they need the store above ;)

A few fun ads

We had a great time throughout Japan. We highly recommend going, but maybe not during August!

Nikko is Nippon

The advertising slogan for Nikko is "Nikko is Nippon," and it lives up to the slogan. With beautiful scenery, ornate temples, and refreshing onsen, Nikko certainly holds all that is the essence of Japan.

Kamakura

Once we had our fun in the sun, we moved on to Kamakura, a small city outside of Tokyo that has the largest bronze Buddha. We arrived late so we walked around town, and then got ready for dinner. While in Atami, Kelly found what appeared to be an aloe plant, so she took a leaf to put on Aaron's sunburn. The night we arrived in Kamakura before dinner, she coated him up. He insisted that he felt funny, but Kelly shrugged it off. While at dinner, Kelly began to feel strange, and then she realized she hadn't washed her hands after applying the "aloe." As you might have guessed, it wasn't aloe. We still do not know what it was, but we had an interesting, overly hilarious evening.

Buddha and his enormous shoes, in case he needs to go somewhere?

Inside the Buddha is hallow, so for a mere 100 yen we got to go in.

Atami

After Fujisan we wobbled to Atami a famous hot springs resort area near Tokyo for some much needed relaxation and a good night's sleep. We were lured by the word resort, so we broke out the credit card and booked a room. What we did not understand was that a Japanese resort is NOTHING like an American resort...so we ended up sleeping ondol style and eating traditional meals. It was quite the cultural experience all in all, but I imagine we would have enjoyed it much more had we been able to walk properly!

Aaron had a wicked sunburn from the mountain, so first on the agenda the next day was to find sunburn protective beachwear. Once we had Aaron decked out, we headed to the beach...a bit crowded and dirty, but once you swam out deep the water was gorgeous!

A few hours on the beach and we were ready for some sushi! So we started walking around searching for a sushi restaurant...not as easy at you might think. When we did find one, it was well worth the hike, perhaps the best we've ever had!

After lunch, we did a bit more touring around in order to find a proper bed to sleep in for the night. On our way we spotted "the photo spot" and some drying fish...not as delicious as the sushi we had earlier ;)

Above is a picture from our second hotel room in Atami.

With a good night's sleep on the horizon, we were feeling pretty good about the last few legs of our trip.

Fujisan

After Kyoto, we left for Fuji to climb the 3,776m mountain on the Fujinomiya trail. It was an unforgettable experience, one we never plan to repeat!

We started at station 5 (2400m) and hiked for 2 1/2 hours to the 8th station for a night's sleep in a cabin, the most expensive, dirtiest place we had ever slept but well worth the experience! The next morning we woke at 2:30 and continued to the top by sunrise around 4:30. We then continued to walk around the crater unsure if we were still on Earth in some places.

We made it to the bottom after a slippery way down exhausted and ready for a proper meal!