Cupcakes...

I recently made guava cupcakes for my co-workers.

I brought this tray of 17 in to work. I had 1 cupcake and let the 3 ladies in that day have the rest. By the end of the day they were gone! They were so yummy!

Japan 2009

Our Japan trip was perfect! The weather was perfect and we were there just before the mosquitos started to come out. It was wonderful being with Matt 24/7! It was so much fun being together and being in his old mission areas. I was so glad Matt spoke Japanese and it was so helpful! It definately made our trip run a lot smoother. He did an excellent job planning the trip and I LOVED every minute of it.

(Disclosure:Sorry for such a long post and any typos)

I had to post this picture. Guess which bag is mine? The one on the left! It weighed only 20 pounds! Don't ever call me high maintenance again Granite or Matt. I was perfectly fine with what I packed and didn't forget anything. The weeks leading up to the trip I made a list and even searched on Google how to pack light.

Land of the Rising Sun.

Once we landed in Japan we were anxious to get off the plane after a 13 hour flight...But then health workers came on dressed like this with infrared cameras checking if anyone had "fever." It took an hour and I was getting so anxious to get off the plane!

After getting off the train and walking to our hotel my wheel broke! My bag didn't even make it 1 day. I ended up dragging (then shredding) my bag around the rest of the trip. When we arrived back in Utah we threw it away.

Left: Our hotel the first night in Japan. Right: The view from our room.

The next morning we woke up at 4 am and went to the fish market. The warehouse was HUGE and filled with TONS of fresh fish. The tuna were huge and ran about $7,000 each. Tons of people were gathered to bid on the fish.

Right outside of the fish market there are tons of sushi restaurants with the freshest fish. The shops lined up behind Matt are ALL sushi places.

These restaurant places are sweet. You pay for your meal outside at the phonecard-looking machines, then take you ticket in and the workers prepare your meal.

After Tokyo we rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. We saw Mt. Fugi on the way and I thought all the colorful tiny houses were cute. The oncoming trains passed by so fast and so close.

While in Kyoto we met up with Matt's old companion Tachi. He took us to the Nijojo Castle.

And after he took us to eat Okonomiyaki (it was so good) and then to the Kiyomizudera temple/shrine. It was so beautiful!

Matt and I rung the bell for good luck. Tachi and Matt were able to lift the "sword in the stone" and every clapped when they did.

I spotted this guy at the train station. His shirt says "Navajo" so I just had to take a picture. (All them men sport the Man Purse)

We then Matt's first area--Nishiwaki. The Kunimoto family took us to dinner with a few other couples from the ward. The members were so nice and wonderful. I loved that Matt was able to reconnect with the old members. He seemed to really enjoy himself.

Our next stop was Hiroshima. Our room was so cute--2 (very hard) twin beds and bean bag pillows. We went to eat sushi and Matt cleared about 15 plates! He sure can eat.

While in Hiroshima we went to the Peace Park and A-Bomb Dome Memorial. As part of the memorial people make, string and hang tons of paper cranes as a sign of peace.

This lady was sketching a picture of the dome and was nice enough to let us take a picture.

The Hiroshima Castle.

They have funny English and their stores are over-the-top!

Japanese really know how to do dessert. I LOVED the crepes and the pastries. They had dessert buffets (about $15 a person) and I wanted to go so bad but we didn't have time.

Where's Waldo? Can you spot Matt?

We were able to stop by the mission home in Hiroshima and visit with the APs.

Left: Pachinko! Matt was so excited to try it since he was "forbidden" to try it as a missionary. Pachinko is like a pin-ball version of a slot machine. Right: Purikuras! I loved these photo booths. They were so fun. You can take silly poses with the green-screen behind and draw on on the pictures after. Below are a few of the purikuras we took:

Following Hiroshima we caught a ferry to Miyajima. Miyajima is home of the world's largest rice spoon and is famous for the Itsukushima Shrine (bottom right). At dinner Matt and I met a Buddhist Monk from the Mt. Misen temple. The next day we took the long hike to the top of Mt. Misen for a tour from the monk (top left).

We visited another area of Matt's--Kurakishi. Obata (top left) was so nice and took us to dinner and arranged a room for us at a traditional Japanese hotel. It was so nice and Matt and I had so much fun with her. We toured her husband's music studio and visited the ward house.

The following day Obata and Tongu took us to the Okayama Castle and garden. We were able to dress up and take pictures.

Shopping in Osaka.

I rode my first Ferris wheel in Osaka. The Hep5 Ferris wheel.

We went to the Osaka Aquarium with Matt's mission companion Izui.

As a last minute decision we went to Universal Studios Japan. It was so fun!

For our Anniversary Dinner we ate Yakiniku! It was so delicious! Matt did an excellent job cooking up the meet.

Our waiter gave us two custard filled strawberries for our anniversary.

The Tokyo Temple

While in Tokyo we went to Tokyo Disneyland! We had SO much fun! I love Disneyland with Matt. He's the best vacation planner.

...more Disney....

Matt and I went to the Ueno Zoo. I was a little sad because I was excited to see the pandas Lhinglhing and Whangwhang. I came all the way to Japan to see these pandas and when we arrived a sign was hung that said, "There are no giant pandas at this zoo." It turns out the pandas died 3 years ago! The only giant panda I got to see was the stuffed one I'm sitting on (top left corner).

During our last night in Japan we rode to the top of Tokyo Tower.

While waiting at the airport I decided to wear my mask the flight attendants gave all the passengers. I thought I blended in quite well with everyone else.

I was so tired on the flight home that I poured ranch dressing on my salad...But when I took my fork to eat it I noticed there was Saran wrap still covering it. Oops.

Finally!

So...our 1 year anniversary was a couple weeks ago, but the other day I was taking some meat out of the freezer and I remembered...our frozen cake top from our wedding!

Finally! Every time I open the freezer I see this and think 1 year is so far away! But 1 year came and we both forgot about it. I was so excited when I remembered.

We didn't know what flavor the top would be (bottom: chocolate, middle: guava) but we cut it and found it was strawberry! Matt and I ate a few slices of the yummy cake. It was still moist and tasty!