It has been strange being in the 80 and 90 degree heat of Arizona and California to come home to coat and shoe weather. We were lucky to miss several April snow storms in Utah, and it is still quite chilly. Our kids have loved being back with their toys (it is a little like Christmas coming home, and Colin now tells us that his toys miss him when we are gone). We love to play on our driveway with the cars and trikes.

Jane has received many great second hand Doc Martins from Aunt April and Aunt Mary. When my parent's lived in England they lived close to a Doc Martin factory. Jane sincerely does love shoes.

Colin needs a bigger bike, but hard to get one when we are gone so much.

Jane got this great hat from Aunt Mary for Christmas. She was being so cute in her car.

They are such cute little friends most of the time.

AND we recently found out that we are spending a little over 5 weeks this summer in Japan. We found out it could happen in mid-April. Since we had not heard anything else we kind of assumed it would not happen but yes, we are Japan-bound. It is sure to be a very crazy family adventure. I traveled to Japan 20 years ago when my sister was living there and I am excited to get back. The stress of leaving gets on me a little, or a lot depending on the day. We found out Brian had the Japan offer the day after Jane had been up most of the night and Brian had strep. It was the worst possible day to think about a trip to Japan with two kids. Brian and I talked about maybe seeing if just I could meet him in Japan for the last week or something, but then he would be without the kids for 5 weeks and that is just too long. We just all like each other too much. So Japan, are you ready for Stuckihouse? Is Stuckihouse ready for Japan?