Turners in Saitama

2 months ago, #2 came along!!

2009-09-11T08:04:00.019-06:00

It's been too long. We apologize for being slow. but we are a little bit busy right now. Our new little one, Jun James Turner, is almost 2 months old. He was born July 13th, 6am. An easier delivery for Yuko and everything went well. It has been a good summer getting to know him and getting used to our expanding family. This picture looks like he has no hair, but he really does have hair (unlike his balding dad). Anna is a wonderful big sister. She enjoys singing to Jun, getting him ready for his bath and taking off his sleeper (when mom and dad are not looking),starting to change his diaper when she sees he is wet, and trying to make him laugh all the time. It is so cool to see them interacting. Anna has developed into quite the Liverpool fan. She loves her new outfit, and will insist on wearing it whenever dad has on his Liverpool top, or if she sees soccer on the TV. A future Liverpool fan in the making... he he. Anna was having a good time when we went to the Canadian Embassy for Jun's Canadian Citizenhip Card. Before leaving, she was wandering arond the lobby. Upon trying to leave she walked right into a glass wall, thinking that there was nothing there. She actually wasn't walking, more running, thank god she is not a sprint specialist! After lots of tears and a little blood, we found out she was going to be fine when she drank some orange juice in the car. She swallowed and said it hurt a little, but she was okay. The middle picture is from the trip to Disneyland with Anna and some friends. It was good, except for the end of the night. We watched a Monsters Inc. special show (Anna LOVES Monsters Inc., she asks to watch the movie about 10 times a day) which was cool, except not great for those not wearing rain ponchos or prepared for the water assault! they used water cannons to shoot up water. It was a cool effect, but after being dosed with water about 30 times, the charm wore off. I thought it was funny, but Anna started to cringe and hide as the water arced through the air. This was us in the bathroom getting changed, she was happier after that. Good times, good times. This video was from this Spring, Anna was quite happy to get this big balloon. She enjoyed practicing her soccer skills and having fun with Baba and Jiji(grandma and grandpa).
A true descendent of Rick "green thumb" Turner...in the garden doing her best Rick impression. pretty funny

2 months is better than 4!

2009-03-25T01:21:00.005-06:00

Hello everybody
Decided to do some procrastinating from my preparing for Grade 3. In the middle of 3 wonderful weeks of spring holidays: waiting to start teaching a new grade, waiting for our first visitors in a long time (Adam and the lovely MAy), waiting for Spring to burst forth onto the scene, but no waiting for happy moments with my lovely wife and daughter. They are two great big bundles of joy, and I love them lots. HEre are some videos from the past little while.

this video is from last fall, notice the open balcony door, letting in the cool fall breeze. we decided to invite Steven Gerrard over to play some footie with us. Anna is a natural and has more skills at one and a half, than her old man at 32.Notice Anna's short hair (only having been cut in the summer of 2008) Yuko is lovely as ever and looks really cute in her nice top.

The next video is a real treat. This past Christmas somebody was super super nice and with great assistance from his youngest brother Daniel and super mother, had a fantastic present sent over to Yuko for her BIG present (amongst the 15 or so other presents). The recipient of this gift was almost as happy as little Anna (and of course the gift-giver who really just wanted an excuse to buy a new video game).
Anyways, Anna's full video debut at Rock Band. She is fantastic and has been begging us to get the PS 3 version so we can edit our creators and dominate the world tour scene. She does some drumming, some vocals, and some general rocking. Check it out!

The 3rd video is a two part story. the first bit is Anna eating Christmas cake (we've run out, so please Fed Ex over right away!) for the first time. For those that don't know, my mom makes an amazing Christmas cake (like wedding cake) as well as my Uncle Derek who I believe taught my mom...anyways, the cake that Anna was eating was made by my dad Richard. He's pretty good at it, getting close to equalling the quality of his two teachers. Anna loved it, and so do we!
The 2nd part is Anna enjoying her other grandpa's 60th birthday. Yuko's dad HIdeaki turned 60 in February, and it was a very entertaining little evening. I'll let you see for yourself. The part in the middle where we keep talking to Anna and she keeps ignoring us is us asking her to give her grandpa a birthday kiss, but she has her interests elsewhere.

The last video shows Anna at her most recent, yesterday (MArch 25th, 2009). She has grown up lots, is quite chatty (mostly in JApanese but the odd English word sprinkled in). She loves, and I mean LOVES, to sing and dance. Here is after shower time, getting ready for bed, where she decided to start singing and dancing. She gives her great mom a big hug and kiss, then tries to balance. the 2nd clip is her doing some more dancing, and hanging out with mom again. Yuko is pretty tired because her report cards are due and she is like me, she leaves it to the last minute! BUt soon enough she will have spring holiday, then maternity leave, then another wonderful baby coming. We pray and hope she/he is as much fun as the 1st one!
Hope you are healthy and happy wherever you are viewing this from.
So long for now

Beginnings and Ends

2009-01-13T20:17:00.017-07:00

SuRprise, suRprise, another long gap with no publishing. I always think I will make more of an effort when I post the most recent post, but it just never happens. I think those kind of lofty ambitions need to be brought to an END.
The last part of 2008 was good to us here in Japan. Lots of good times with friends and family. We met up with Yuko's family quite often before Christmas and just after New Years. It was nice to see everyone, and as usual, the food was superb. Thank you Chez-Masako:)

The second picture is of Anna drinking apple juice out of a little sake cup. We all were drinking sake (I think it was with breakfast on January 1st...can't remember) and she decided that she needed one. WE indulged, and she was quite funny downing the juice like other people were downing the alcohol.

These pictures are from boxing day and December 27th. We went to an onsen (hot spring) with Yuko's parents. Just the five of us, and it was awesome. the place we went to had just received a huge dump of snow, so it kind of felt like Christmas. I was super happy for that...I even enjoyed having a snowball fight with Yuko and her Dad.

The last set of pictures are just various sets that mark the end of the holidays and the beginning of working in 2009. Meeting up with Yuko's brother Yoshiaki and his lovely pregnant wife Kaori (due in the Spring), Masako's father and Masako's brother, his wife and boy Tomo.

It's been a long time...

2008-09-16T19:44:00.030-06:00

To all who still check this blog, It has been far too long, and I have been getting questions from both sets of grandparents...when is their going to be an update? when can we see pictures of the summer holidays? well, no real excuses, just busy busy busy. Canada was fantastic. 6 weeks enjoying the company of family, friends and food. We enjoyed the meals, the drinks (thanks Al, Ryan and MArk) and the laughs. One of the best holidays I have ever enjoyed, and I thank my lovely parents and brothers in Canada, as well as my fantastic wife and baby girl. Can't wait for the next holiday! WE spent lots of time relaxing in Airdrie, hanging out with the Turner family that was home. We helped building the new log cabin a little bit, but most of the work has been finished and the early starts limited our efforts! (sorry Ricky!)

One of the highlites of the trip was seeing Anna playing with water. She went to splashparks with her friend KAi, played in the backyard near the garden with a bucket and measuring spoon, enjoyed the little pool that Grandma & Grandpa Turner got for her, playing in a pond (with Auntie Therese's dog) in the mountains when we went on our golf trip, and running through the sprinkler. Definitely one of my favorite memories was running through the sprinkler with her while she squealed in delight, and also doing the same during a summer thunder shower. the sheer happiness was amazing.

Rick and Michele watching Anna in the pool

Anna in sprinkler

Waterfall in pool

Trying to eat apples in the pool

Running through the sprinkler with Grandma Turner

Airdrie Splashpark

Some other fun memories were playing with her cousin HAley in the bath, crawling around the kitchen with Uncle Luke, swinging in a tire swing, chasing chickens, getting pulled in the wagon and pushing eachother in the wagon, and laughing lots. She also had fun with all her uncles, who were usually nice to her, but being Turners, they also were quite good at teasing her. I think Uncle Daniel or Uncle John are still her favorites! She loved going to the local parks, swinging on the swings and going down slides. We enjoyed watching her play in the almost finished log house that my parents are building. thankfully she didn't fall off the side of the deck or through a hole in the floor! She is getting better at chin-ups though!

Uncle Daniel trying to feed Anna at the land...nice work

Two cousins

Crawling with Uncle Luke

Meeting up with different friends (Brett&Heather, Nina&Ryan, Al, Ryan, Gen&Chris&Kai, and various counsins) was awesome. Lots of laughs, a few good night of drinking(you can see in the pictures which nights were drinking nights) and great memories.

Lastly, some of my favorite pics from the summer. It was great seeing Anna with all her uncles, her grandma & grandpa, and all the people who were nice enough to stop in and say hello. She was VERY, VERY happy to see her Auntie Dalia and Auntie LEah. Although it was only for a short time, I know she loved it:)
Thanks to everyone for a great summer, and hopefully the updates are more regular from now on.

Lots of love
MAtt, Yuko and Anna

Modelling in Ginza

2008-06-22T06:49:00.000-06:00

It has been too long since our last post. End of term and all that comes with it, plus Yuko enjoying her last month with just Anna before she returns to work in September. Should be interesting in the Turner house once we are both teaching again and Anna is being taken care of by Yuko's lovely mother. Looking forward to it.

Today we went to Ginza, one of the posh districts of Tokyo. In the Sony building, where they show all their new gizmos and gadgets, we saw our little girl on display. One of Yuko's friends works in the showroom and she took some video of Anna to display on some of their new products. It is a cool little video that is on constant replay for the next month or so. It shows Anna in our house, at the park, laughing, walking, crying, and being pretty cute. As soon as we walked into the 4 floors of showrooms, the staff recognized the little starlet and asked us if this was Anna-chan. It was kinda funny. Anna brightened up once she saw herself on the big TV and computer screens. quite an enjoyable afternoon. here are some of the pics that the Sony guy took while at the showroom, and made a CD for us right there. i must say that he is a better photographer than myself, or maybe his camera is just a lot nicer. anyways, we thought Anna looked quite pretty. If you are in Japan and have the time, check it out.

Can't wait to be home, only a little while longer. counting down the days Mama T, soon it will be single digits. hope to see everyone that is back in Canada while we are there. 6 weeks of Canadian sun, so there is lots of time for visiting. hope all are well

Matt, Yuko, and Anna

1st birthday video!

2008-04-29T08:17:00.000-06:00

It has taken a week,but the video of Anna's first birthday celebration are up and running. There are two videos. The first deals with a JApanese tradition, 'Mochi motsu'. This translates into carrying the mochi. Mochi is a japanese food that is made from pounding rice into a sticky, glutinous substance. Quite tasty, and heavy. Anna had to try her luck carrying a 2kg mochi ball...see how she made out.

The 2nd video is Anna enjoying her first birthday cake. Interesting stuff for her.

hope that all is well. WE are doing great, and looking forward to the summer. only 2 months to go.

take care all
Anna, Yuko & Matt

Spring update

2008-04-12T08:35:00.001-06:00

A few different shots put together for your viewing pleasure. Anna doing her best in trying to stay awake and get some food into her stomach, then a clip of Anna with her Grandma Takahashi enjoying the cherry blossoms, and finally a clip of Anna trying to feed herself. She is turning into a wonderful little girl, 1st birthday coming up all too soon:)

Hope everyone is well. lots of love,
Matt, Yuko, and Anna

walking, wrestling and making us laugh

2008-03-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

this was the night of March 3rd, Anna was a little reluctant to go to sleep. she is a little bundle of joy.
hope you are all well

Matt & the girls

Girls Day 2008 (Hina Matsuri)

2008-03-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

little video from girls day here in Japan (Hina Matsuri). 4 different clips showing Anna, her dad & mom, great-grandparents, and grandma & grandpa Takahashi. great day, wonderful food (thanks Masako, Yuko, and Great-grandma Takahashi), and pleasant company. good first girls day for little Anna.

love to family and friends wherever you are

Yuko, Anna, & MAtt

The first of a few more videos (we hope) enjoy

2008-02-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

Some videos of little Anna at home in Japan. Lengthy delay, but better than never, right Adam??
picture quality isn't great, but we'll try working on it. i'm just amazed that some video i take at home here in Saitama, makes it to wherever you are watching this now! miracle of modern technology eh Rick!:)

another video, Anna and Yuko acting quite, well... interestingly. enjoy, I liked it.

Emergency Broadcast

2008-02-07T23:47:00.001-07:00

Emergency emergency! Beast is loose! Nothing is safe!
She is coming, she is coming!!!

Our Christmas holidays

2008-01-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

On December 8th, we finally got to meet Haley. She is a freaking cute and happy baby! She was smiling all the time, even after Anna beat her up.
After the fight they took a nap together. They are wonderful cousin. It was a very short time, but we had a great time with Luke, Dalia, and Haley. Thanks for stopping.

The three of us went to Singapore to visit family and friends(Adam, May,Heather, Brett, and Dave).
It was not as hot as we expected, but still too hot for us. A short visit but full of good times.

On Christmas day, the Turners(Anna, Yuko, Matt, and Adam) were victorious over the Non-Turners in a thrilling game of Cranium. We were losing badly but the clouds parted we could see clearly and we won easily. Later in the day Heather got revenge and destroyed everyone in cards. Matt was the worst and Brett reminded him often "Some people shuffle, some people don't, but I do." (a stupid line that MAtt came up with after being asked why he shuffles so much when he is losing)

New massage for Uncle Adam
He really liked it.
The winning Turner team

Her eyes are still pretty blue eh?

Cute Santa outfit from Heather

Her first christmas morning getting shoes from Auntie Maymay

Anna in Haley's Bambo chair
It was a tight fit.

Dave standing proud after getting Anna to fall asleep. It was one of his favorite moments in this holiday.

Thanks for making wonderful brunch, Heather and Brett!
Two headed Turner, a new species...

Anna's first 'OTOSHI-DAMA' from Auntie Mieko
Thank you very much.

This baby octopus looks good eh Michele??
Bye bye everyone. Thanks so much to Adam and May for taking care of all of us in Singapore, and a HUGE thanks to Luke and Dalia for letting us stay in their place. It was awesome. apologies for the lengthy delay in the update, maybe it will be better this new year.
Love you all lots

My bad...Apologies to Daniel & John

2007-12-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

After reading the comments for the most recent post, I realize I failed to give credit where credit is due. Daniel (and partly John) are to thank for giving me the great idea of taking Yuko to see Maroon 5. Thank you guys for saving me and providing a chance to take Yuko to our first concert together (where she can see how much of a chump Adam Levine really is). I hope that my coach (DAniel) will continue to provide me with lots of good advice and guidance.
Sorry for not acknowledging it beforehand. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
MAtt

November fun

2007-12-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

It has been about a month since the last post, and the monthly reminder from Rick in Canada has arrived. Yes DAd, we will try to get the posts up on a more regular basis:)
Things are going great in Japan. Yuko and I celebrated our respective birthdays and although a year older, we are both still young and full of energy. For Yuko's birthday there was a little treasure hunt for her plethora of presents, the big one being tickets to see MAroon 5 next year in Tokyo (she dreams about Adam Levine, the lead singer, so I thought it would be nice to let her see how he pales in comparison to myself...hence we are going to the concert to see him in the flesh).

OR

Yuko suprised me for my birthday by inviting her parents, brother and sister-in-law(Kaori) for a wonderful dinner at our aparment. It is a treat to have the Takahashi's over for dinner. We have only had her parents join us for dinner once before, and her brother and Kaori joined us for the first time. It was a great night.

Anna is doing great. She is 9.9kg (22 pounds) and is 74cm long. Another 85cm and she will be the same height as her mother. Isn't that crazy?? I love my girls. Her first two teeth are coming in slowly. The two middle teeth on the bottom row.
She caught her first cold courtesy of me, and I felt quite bad as she was not very happy and developed a bad runny nose. SEeing her blow little snot bubbles when she got excited was hilarious, but a little bit disgusting! Might get video of that up at one point in time, but for now, we'll just show you a bunch of pictures from the past month or so.

(Do you like Anna's Liverpool hat?? SHe loves it!)

Practicing her stretching...touch them toes

Lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Takahashi

Anna's hair is looking good

Pictures from October

2007-11-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

Our little angel started eating solid food since 3 weeks ago. She eats rice, vegetables, and fruits once a day. She enjoys eating like her parents.

She can already hold a cup by herself! She is more talented than Matt, but not cuter than him. (Matt forced me to write that. I think they are both super cute.)

One sunday morning Anna was happy with dad. But he started playing PS2 and ignoring her. So she got tired of him and fell asleep.

We went to Halloween party at Matt's school on October 26th. Anna's first costume was Pumpkin. She wore the orange sleeper from this summer, but it was already too tight for her.

Big wonderful memories in Canada

2007-10-12T22:36:00.000-06:00

We finally tidied up the pictures, so we decided to put some here.
This summer we had a very very good time in Canada with the Turner Family.

and with Anna's favorite uncles:)

"Blue Steel"... looks so cute!!

Thank you so much Turner family for our great summer.
Lots of love,
Yuko, Anna, and Stinky Matt

Latest pictures

2007-10-01T05:54:00.001-06:00

Matt left us behind last weekend, because of soccer games, so we stayed over at my parents house and had a good time.
Anna is getting stronger and stronger. Recently she stands up if we help her a little bit, and also she can enjoy reading serious novel.
There are pictures with great grandparents, and the super young looking Hideaki (her grandpa). They love Anna so much just like her Canadian grandparents do. and now Anna is trying to type something.

The last three pictures are of Akie(Yuko's cousin) and Kaede(Anna's cousin). Kaede is 2 months younger than Anna, but they are best friend already. Kaede is teething now! in these pictures Anna is trying to be J-Lo with her new leg warmers.

Rolling rolling rolling

2007-09-27T16:49:00.000-06:00

So I said "this week" but what I really meant, is within the next few weeks for the next post going up!!
HEre it is, 11 minutes of Anna, her Great-grandma, her grandma, her cousin Kaede, her Aunt, her mom, Anna, her giant octopus, and no pictures of her dad.These clips are from the end of August when we returned to Japan, to last night, Sept. 27th.
If you like watching Anna lying on the carpet, moving around, and learning how to roll, this video is for you. If you don't, who are you????

Hope you enjoy everyone. she is an official RORBer!!!

End of Summer-building a house!

2007-09-17T00:41:00.000-06:00

Seems that I can only manage to post every 2 months or so...not a great record. We'll try to improve that a bit.
Today's video is of the Turner Land house, a stackwall log house that we started building this summer. It is a project 20 some odd years in the making, and it was one of the coolest things I have every helped on! Another video with more Anna will be posted this week.
Enjoy and keep the comments coming! We love to read them!

Canadian summer fun

2007-07-28T11:35:00.000-06:00

It has been around 2 months, but finally we have a video to post. Not sure about the quality, but the quantity is full of good stuff. Enjoy and leave your comments if you have the time.

Uncle Daniel & Uncle Johnny!

2007-05-29T05:42:00.000-06:00

The first two Turners to meet little Anna arrived on May 25th from Canada. Taking a trip around the world for a month, their first stop brought them into contact with Anna.
I think they are big fans of her, as you can see by the pictures.

We went to the local Shinto shrine on Sunday morning to have Anna blessed. Tradition is that you go to the shrine approximately 1 month after being born to have her blessed. It was interesting, but it would have been better if we had known what exactly the priests were chanting. oh well, good experience anyways.
Went out for dinner with Hideaki, Masako, and Hideaki's younger sister and her daughter Akie. As you can see, Akie is also pregnant, so Anna's first little cousin will be arriving in June, with another coming soon to Singapore in August.

We will definitely be sorry to see the boys move on to Singapore. They are a HUGE help, as you can see by the last set of pictures. It has made them visiting so much fun, and makes me super excited for the summer. only 4 weeks from this Friday Micheley!
lots of love to all, hope life is going well for you wherever you are.
MAtt & the girls (with special guests John and DAniel)

some recent pictures

2007-05-15T06:05:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of little Anna, Yuko, and a banged up Matt. First soccer injury ever. Trying to play goalkeeper Adam, and I jumped for a ball, but had stepped back too close to the net. Head met crossbar, lots of blood flowed, and 7 stiches later this is what I look like. Not the highlite of my soccer playing days, but what to do.
Anna is doing well. still pretty quiet, makes both of us smile lots, and we are enjoying her. Yuko is looking great, can hardly tell she had a baby almost 1 month ago. I apologize to the Turner's abroad and in Canada. It was an oversight to fuel Adam's raging ego, yes they have the same initials, but she is DEFINITELY NOT little AT.
hope everyone is well

It's movie time!

2007-05-05T02:26:00.000-06:00

Thank you for your patience (for those that were waiting)
I have finally put the first video compilation of Anna Sakura Turner. She is looking cute (or at least both her parents think so)!
It is a tad long, almost 15 minutes, but I thought this was better than a bunch of short videos. Enjoy at your own leisure.

Anna's HERE!!!

2007-04-29T14:04:00.000-06:00

My apologies to all...little Anna Sakura Turner is a week old, and I have yet to update the blog! She was born April 23rd at 1:30 am. She was 3798 grams (8.3 pounds) and 52 cm tall. Yuko went into the hospital on sunday morning around 10:30am. She was feeling discomfort and we went in, her serious contractions didn't start until 7pm that night. Her mom, Masako, was great as she came and helped give her massages and keep her company. Hideaki also came in as soon as he heard.
They moved us into the delivery room at 11:30pm, and it was the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of. I didn't see very much, but just to be present when this precious little baby came into the world was the coolest thing I have ever experienced. If you ever get a chance to to experience it, DO IT!!!
Yuko was a trooper and survived what I can only imagine was terrible pain. She never cried or got frustrated or blamed me for it, she toughed it out like a true samurai warrior. I am a lucky man...cute, smart, funny, lovely, and tough as nails!

Little Anna came into the world, took a little while to take her first breath, gave a few cries, and opened her blue-grey eyes to examine her new world. I expected her to cry like a banshee, but she was pretty tame. took a while for the doctor to clear out her nose and mouth, Yuko and I were a little anxious, but we soon calmed down when we heard her cry out and move around. She opened her eyes a few seconds after that, and has been flashing her big eyes ever since.
I'm writing this now on Monday morning, April 30th. Yuko and Anna have come home after a 5 nights in the hospital. This is standard in Japan as they give the mom some time to adjust, get used to the baby, learn about feeding and taking care of the baby, and have a break from cooking and all that. I had a few days off last week so I was lucky enough to hang out in the hospital with my girls. We came home on saturday afternoon, and it has been a learning experience ever since. We are getting used to the patterns of Anna (sleep, wake up crying, eat, change diaper, fall asleep, and start all over). I'm sure by the end of this week (called Golden week...a string of consecutive national holidays that are a "golden" time to be traveling) we will have adjusted better than our first day/night. I love holding her and I try to help Yuko out as much as I can. But as most people know, men's nipples do not yield any milk. (and no Adam, I did not try it...and neither should you!)
Have included a few pics. The first one is Anna 15 minutes old, then one of all 3 of us. A few pics of Yuko enjoying motherhood and then some cute ones of me holding her while taking a picture. Don't worry mom, I was supporting her neck and it was very safe!

I am working on getting up a video compilation of the first few days of Anna. I will do my best to get this up asap. Thanks for all the congratulatory emails, we are very thankful and blessed to have so many people thinking of us. Please check back here for new pics and new developments.
Love,
MAtt, Yuko, and Anna Sakura Turner

Finally...

2007-04-18T05:58:00.000-06:00

we are able to make a post. But, it is not the one i think most people are waiting for. Yuko is still pregnant, and we are both still waiting patiently for the little baby to arrive. The due date of April 17th has come and gone, and it is 9pm on the 18th, and not looking very likely to be a birth today. I personally am a little anxious, but Yuko is fine and carrying on as normal.
We can see that the baby has dropped in her stomach, and it definitely is not as active as before, but it is still a waiting game.
Like all good things, it takes time! Apparently a little more than the 9 months.

Will try to post or email or call as soon as we hear anything different. Love to all and hope you are smiling. We both are:)
ps- cute baby eh? not ours, but darn cute

Y & M, 1st video!!

2007-03-24T21:07:00.000-06:00

IF all goes well, the first video upload will be successful, and you will be able to see the first Turner grandchild LIVE! (as an ultrasound, but still pretty cool!)

Video taken Friday, March 23rd, in Saitama, Japan.

Lots of love to everyone
Y & M

One month and a day...

2007-03-16T01:46:00.000-06:00

So it is March 16th, been slow this week on getting a post up. End of term, scrambling to get things ready for Grade 1 next year, and the blog kind of fell to the wayside. But it is Friday, last day of my first year at Columbia. Good school, loads of good people (teachers and students). Leaving the junior/senior side of the school will be a little sad, but I am definitely looking forward to doing my best in Elementary. Grade 1 here I come!!!

Here is the cutest mom in the whole world. She is a trooper. The past few weeks have been a little tough on her and the little gaffer. Her back and legs are really bothering her. I do my best with my mediocre massage skills. Sometimes they are good enough, but sometimes they do not measure up and I get an earful from quiet, timid, innocent Yuko!

She went for her checkup on Tuesday the 13th, the doctor said our baby was quite large. Not sure if they are international standards (my guess is no!) but he said the baby's head was at the size of a 40 week old baby. Great, except we still have 4 more weeks! Hopefully it was just a growth spurt and that the baby will stay around the same size as he/she is now.

This is Yuko's picture of her pondering is it going to be a girl or a boy! We still have not asked to know the sex of the baby, pretty exciting. We can't wait either way, as long as it is a healthy and happy baby. It is pretty crazy to think that little tiny Yuko has a really really big belly!! I can't tell you how much weight she put on. She thinks it is a crazy amount, and I told her I thought she hadn't put on enough weight. Different backgrounds obviously! Hearty eaters in the Turner family, dainty, rice and fish in the Takahashi's family.

Speaking of T & T, she did finally change her name. She is officially a Turner!!

Anyways, two weeks of holidays. Hopefully we will have a new computer and video camera by this weekend. Hope all of you are doing well.

On the upswing...Top 10 list

2007-03-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

So crappy week last week, but life is moving on, and things are getting better. Here is the "Top 10 list of why life for Yuko, Matt, and coming-soon Turner is on the upswing"
#10 My Soccer team,Saitama Jets FC, finally won a game after 4 months of losing close games. We won 2-1 on Sunday against the 3rd place team. check out the TML link

#9 Sun is shining this morning and Fuji is looking gorgeous!

#8 The number of people who have entered their guesses for the "baby Turner naming sweepstakes". Yuko and I are having second thoughts, but it's out there, so we are going to leave it out there. the 8 people are: Dad (April 18th), Mom (April 20th), John (April 10th), Auntie KAren (April 24th), Chris Jennings (April 17th am), Daniel (April 19th), Liz Turner (April 17th pm), AT$ (April 16th).
Where are the rest of you??????

#7 Spring is in the air...had a couple of 19 degrees celcius days this past week. SWEET!!!

(that's 66 F, pretty warm for you Americans who don't understand celcius)
#6 Plum blossoms are out in full force, finished in some places. This means that the legendary cherry blossoms are soon on their way. Can't freaking wait!

#5 The number of teaching days left for me in Junior High. with final exams and graduation ceremonies at the school, this chapter is coming to an end quickly!!

#4 My friend Brett can count to 4 AND complete tangram puzzles. This one took him like 40 minutes to finish, but he did it all by himself. Well done big guy.

#3 Entering into the 3rd month, with plenty of changes on the horizon. Baby on the way (1st for us, 1st Turner grandchild), changing to Grade 1 (scary but exciting), weather is starting to warm up, Spring is freaking gorgeous here...and I have two weeks off starting on the 16th!! (of course I'll be scrambling to get things ready for Grade 1, but it is still a holiday!)

#2 Liverpool beat out last years champions league winner, Barcelona FC, in a great game this morning! F*#%ing awesome!

#1 My Queen Yuko is the greatest woman on the planet. Love her sooooooo freaking much! She's so great, at 8 months pregnant, she still gets up at 5am to watch the game with me. What a trooper!

Sh@*ty night!

2007-02-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

So yesterday Yuko and I had a bad night. I went to the Fall Out Boy concert with my friends Brett and Heather (amazing concert, highly recommend seeing them if you can) and had a good time. Coming home, got a phone call from Yuko.

She had just gotten home, and the door was not locked and a few of the rooms were awry (that means out of place Adam!). She got a little panicked and left the apartment to call her mom and the police.

Yes, somebody broke into our apartments. I got there 10 minutes after the police did. I finally saw some Japanese policeman doing some policing. They did the whole fingerprints, pictures, looking for clues outside with flashlights, etc. (They even took me and Yuko's prints to compare against ones they found!) Kind of like CSI, but not really all that cool cause it was our stuff they were investigating. The jackasses that robbed us, went through our drawers and stuff in our bedroom, opening drawers and throwing stuff on the floor. They did not trash the place, but the violation of knowing they were in our house is more than enough for this cat!

Took a bunch of cash (our savings for our flight home this summer), Yuko's computer (all our pics and files....fu*#ing idiots!!), our cordless phone (that is useless without the base phone).

The saddest and most frustrating part...they took the engagement necklace i had given Yuko, the pearls she wore at our wedding, and the 1 year anniversary diamond necklace I bought for Yuko in December. (Adam, can you help me find another one??)

The money, computer, phone, I can live without. But what a kick in the balls to lose the necklaces. Can not be replaced!!!

Only positive thing I have from this is that Yuko was not at home when this happened. I don't even want to think about that scenario.

So if you have a chance, say a little prayer for us that Yuko stays calm and doesn't get paranoid, that it never happens again to us or anyone else (unrealistic I know, but humor me please), and that the people who robbed us see the error of their ways and stop being jerks OR have their hands chopped off in a freak train accident so they can never steal again (hopefully you choose the latter, because this is how I feel right now!!)

Congratulations to Dalia and Luke!!

2007-02-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Look who's having a baby now???

Omedetto to my (much) older brother Luke and his lovely wife Dalia!

They called this weekend to tell us the great news. They are expecting a baby, due date is August 30th. They waited a few months to tell us, but we still love them anyways. Well done Luke on keeping a secret...you are growing up young Skywalker.

All the best from the other soon-to-be parents in the TUrner family.

MAtt & Yuko

Pregnant Yuko and baby naming contest

2007-02-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

So two pictures of a very pregnant Yuko. She is mad at me because she has increased her weight, but duh...that is what happened when you are pregnant right???

I love how her little belly button sticks out, it is really cute. LIfe is good, only 5 more weeks of teaching until Spring break, then it will be two weeks to scramble and get ready for the baby's arrival, and to prepare for my new teaching position...GRade 1!!!

Is anyone interested in an online pool to see who can guess the arrival date? We were thinking this might be an interesting way to help with naming rights for the new baby. The brothers all believe the baby should have their name in some sense. For example: Little Adam (first name only), Lucky Luke, DAniella, Moose, Big John.

So the baby is due April 17th. If you can guess the day of arrival, you can choose the middle name. Contestants must choose the correct day (Japan time). If the same days are chosen, you must choose a delivery time and the closest person will win. If the baby is born on the day you choose, you can choose the middle name.

Contest is open to anybody that I know and approve of. Post your expected date of arrival in the comments with your own name. You can tell us the potential name or keep it a suprise in case you win.

MAtt & Yuko

ps-in case you think this is me being an idiot without Yuko's approval, you are right and wrong. Yes I am an idiot, but no I am not doing this without Yuko's knowledge. She is sitting beside me and she said it is fine. (She is playing a video game which can consumer her attention, but she has said she is fine with it. I have asked her 3 times).

pps-If the baby is born Friday April 13th, JAson is not an option for the name.

Adam and MAy-MAy week

2007-02-09T06:06:00.000-07:00

The lovely couple-Adam & May

He can be a clutz...

NEver know if you can trust a...

TURNCOAT!!!

Just wanted to say hello to all of you Adam&MAy-MAy fans. They are getting a chance to hang out for the next couple weeks before she moves to Australia. Yuko and I are big fans of her, we are hoping she can smarten him up and make him give up his turncoat ways.

Have a great week you two, and we wish you nothing but happiness and good times. Long distance is tough, but Yuko and I survived 20 months of it, so I am sure you guys can be happy as well.

M & Y

a few more pics

2007-02-06T02:02:00.000-07:00

sweet tasting butterhorns
our christmas lights display

cutting the turkey for the first time. looking good eh??
fantastic dinner, but the gravy was terrible

Candace in her new kimono (bought at a flea market for dirt cheap) and Ty (smiliest guy I know). great to have them visit. They were both virgins to Asia, and it was Candace's first trip outside of North America. how cool is that??

anyways, i should be working.

I will try to post a more recent picture of Yuko and her swelling belly. I love her bellybutton...so wierd how it pops out, but it is soooooo cute.

again, i should be working

Various pics from the last few months...

2007-02-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

some pictures from our first Christmas together as a married couple (hmmmm, that turkey was good!). Thanks for the great jacket Johnny!

some of our visitors from the past few months (Luke and Dalia in the summer, Adam, and Candace & Ty)--Sorry AT, I couldn't find any pics of us together!!

Watching the Liverpool game on New Years Day that we were supposed to be at. Was a lot more fun watching it in the comfort of home! how good do we look? Our little baby should be a ravid Liverpool supporter eh?

Enjoy

2007-02-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

First pic to be uploaded! MAtt(who needs a shave) and pregnant little Yuko. We are matching our outfits and preparing dinner for our friends CAndace and Ty (who took this picture). Life is going well,and hopefully we can get some other pictures uploaded to keep those looking in up-to-date!

Yuko has two more days of work, then she is on holidays till God knows when. Will be good for her to be finished at school. She is still full of energy and doesn't complain (except at night when her legs are usually bugging her). I do not know if she is enjoying the pregnancy, but she is definitely a good woman to put up with me and the little one kicking around inside her. Only 10 more weeks...holy smokes!!

Take care all

M & Y

First post

2007-02-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Just trying this out. Not sure if we will stick with it, but maybe we will finally get some pics up on the web.
Might be a good way to keep people posted on the development of the first Turner grandchild.

MAtt