Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Ostlund Family. We hope 2008 blesses you with health and happiness for you and for your family. We love you!

Angel or Devil?

Emma's 1st grade class sang as angels for the school Christmas program in the cathedral on Sacred Heart campus. Emma sang so sweet, for a moment I almost believed she was an angel....

Then she pulled the "talk to the hand"... ah ha... there is my Emma. Don't worry Emma, you are an angel to me.

The "Bottom Song"

Jonas' pre-school class prepared songs for a Christmas program. I asked Jonas what song he liked best. He replied, "the bottom song." What? I was confused. I repeated my question and he repeated his answer, "the bottom song." I told him his class does NOT sing a song about bottoms and Jonas adamantly replied, "yes we do!" So I asked him to sing it for me.... "Feliz Navidad. Feliz Navidad.... I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the BOTTOM of my heart." Hilarious.

(* remember that scene in Friends where Joey said that guys can turn anything into something perverted?... that may be true. Poor Feliz Navidad.)

Christmas in Tokyo

Merry Christmas from Tokyo! Many have asked if the Japanese celebrate Christmas. Based on what we have observed, they do celebrate Christmas, but not to observe the Christian beliefs associated with it. They celebrate Christmas mostly for the fun and festivity of the season. So from Japan we say Merii Kurisumasu to you!

Photo 1: Sleeping Beauty Castle at Tokyo Disneyland dressed for Christmas

Photo 2: Colonel Sanders from KFC dressed as Santa

Photo 3: Elves.... Dwarfs... what's the difference? I think the Japanese may think they are the same... very funny! The Drawfs move and dance to music ... this day they danced to the reggae tune of "One Love, One Mind... lets get together and feel alright"... pass the pipe

Photo 4: Large present stack that lites up at night at Roppongi Hills Plaza

Photo 5: We take a picture each year at the Christmas Tree lot when choosing our tree. However, this year we went to a shop called Don Quixote and bought a tree in a box, complete with built-in-lights... and of course we still took our traditional "tree shopping" picture

Photos 6, 7, 8: Our kids decorated the "boxed" tree with just as much enthusiasm, as they would decorate our usual fresh 8 foot Christmas tree

I like the Santa Hat to improvise a "Christmas tree topper"... from the dollar store (hyaku en)

December 15th we will travel to California for my sister Lisa's wedding, and then head to Indiana for a relaxed Christmas at home as a family. Merry Christmas to you!

Happy Happy Birthday Tracey Dear

Today my birthday, December 7th. I decided that turning 35 is a milestone; old enough to know something, but still young. So to take a day off from what I normally do and to officially waste time, I spent the day putting together a slide show modeling my 35 years of bliss. Of course my life is not always blissful, but I choose to focus on the positive and happy times. Remember, "in every life, no matter how full or empty one's purse, there is tragedy. It is the one promise life always fulfills. Thus happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but delight in it when it comes" (thank you Charles Dickens). Here are some of those happy moments to share with you. Ignore the vanity... hey, its my birthday!

Love,
Tracey

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Do you remember the Sesame Street song and skit, "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things are kind of the same. Can you guess which kid is doing his own thing? Now its time to play our game. Its time to play our game." While at Showa Koen I had a really funny moment when I realized how easy it was to spot our children's pile of shoes... Are Americans really this sloppy? Or is it just our kids? Believe me when I tell you, our pile was THE ONLY pile that looked like this. How embarrassing.

Its Autumn Time at Showa Koen

Japan uses amazing ideas in their parks. This gorgeous autumn day, we traveled to Showa Koen, a park in Tokyo. At this park, you ride your bike from pit stop to pit stop. At each stop, there would be a new climbing activity. At one pit stop there was a series of nets. At another pit stop there were a series of square mounds surrounded by a man-made fog. But our favorite pit stop was the large MARSHMALLOW MOUNDS to jump on... bounce, bounce, bounce. We went with my friend April and her girls and I think we spent close to 2 hours watching our kids jump on the marshmallows. Everyone was pooped out at the end of the day, including the Mommies. We ended our day with hot cocoa from the vending machine on our way out. Who knew?... hot chocolate, the perfect temperature, from a vending machine! We are falling in love with Japan