Kaz and Kelly's Blog

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-02T17:40:00.008+09:00

Well, it has taken me 3 1/2 weeks after our official moving day to finally get some pictures together of the house. It has taken just about that long to get settled, but I can say minus a few curtains here and there we are pretty much settled in and loving our new home.

This the the front entrance. We get some great views of Mt. Fuji from the second floor. (See previous post)

This is the entrance from the street.

Here is our gate, complete with camera/doorbell.

Our name plate.

Inside the kitchen/dining.

Kitchen

Our Christmas dinner, a mixture of American and British food (brussel sprouts and Yorkshire pudding!) thanks to Nev, our soon to be brother in law.

Our first Christmas in the new house. It was just the family and a wonderful meal and memories.

Kaz and his dad breaking in the new couches.

I realize I have neglected several rooms, but that is intentional. This is a preview, and to see the rest of the house you have to come visit us!! Wishing everyone a great 2009!

Fuji Sunsets

2009-01-02T16:53:00.003+09:00

Believe it or not these are taken from the balcony of our house. You can only get these in the winter, especially around New Years when all business and factories are shut down and the air is clear.

Almost there...

2008-11-11T11:34:00.028+09:00

Lots of progress has been done in the last couple weeks. They say they have about a week more. We won't officially move until the first of December because the last week in Nov they are having an open house. We will move in after that is finished. It is really exciting, and here are some new pictures.

The out side has all been painted and we have our garage door now.

All the lights are installed now.

The bathrooms and toilets are all done!

House update 10-19

2008-10-19T19:41:00.006+09:00

Yet another house update...

2008-09-20T19:33:00.006+09:00

So I promise that we are going to do something interesting soon so there is something besides house posts up. Actually we spent a week in Singapore at the end of Aug, so I have to sort out those photos. We moved out of the Tokyo apartment last weekend, so now we are living with Kaz's parents until the house is finished in early December. Since I last posted we now have stairs and a staircase, windowsills and door frames, and they have started to prepare for the drywall. Now they are just sealing and taping. So here are the latest pics:

House Update

2008-09-01T07:32:00.000+09:00

Week 10: While we were away in Singapore they finished all the floors and have all the sheet rock up on the walls and most of the ceilings. Now that the walls are up you can really tell the shape and size of all the rooms. We also have our stairs framed in.

Week 8: National summer holiday in Japan, so nothing really happened that week.

Week 9: They have finished the insulation and have started on the flooring. There is also lots of electrical work being done. I think from this point on the outside won't change a lot weekly, but the inside will be making progress.

Week 7

2008-08-10T10:12:00.016+09:00

OK, since there has been a lot of exciting progress I decided to dedicate this entire post to where we are right now as far as building. Again, I realize that we may be the only ones so excited about every small detail, but until we get a dog or have a baby this is pretty much our life right now! Next week is Obon in Japan, which is the special summer holiday. They will be taking the week off from construction.

This is our house from the street. This will be the entrance that students use.

This is the front of our house. As you can see we have windows and doors now!

Here are our front doors. These were imported from Sweden, and are solid wood. Kaz is really happy with them.

In true Japanese style, you have to take off your shoes to enter! Actually, the construction workers have some special shoes they wear since they are climbing around on the roof and stuff, but everyone else puts on slippers before entering. (Except us, I think it is a little ridiculous since everything is so dusty and the floors are not even in yet!)

Once you walk in the front door to the left there is living dining and in the very back is the kitchen. All of the heating ducts and electrical wiring is done now.

This is standing in the kitchen looking towards the bathroom and garage. The floors and walls have all been treated to prevent termites.

Here are our windows. They open from the bottom, top and inside for easy cleaning.

We have two windows in the Master bedroom, although the one isn't much of a view with just the roof, but the other one is very nice overlooking the forest next door.

Here is the classroom:

And here is Kaz's garage, which I may or may not be allowed to enter!

And finally, the view from the living dining towards his parents house. You can just see there house through the trees. Lucky for us they have LOTS of fruit trees planted in here. There is orange, citron (yuzu), persimmon (kaki), Mandarin orange (mikan), chestnut (kuri), apricot (biwa) and a HUGE blueberry bush that is producing like crazy right now.

House Progress

2008-08-03T09:09:00.000+09:00

Week 6 (8/3): The roof is just about done. The construction workers are working REALLY hard. They are there from 7 to 7 Monday through Saturday, and it is SO HOT right now, so I really feel for them.

Week 5 (7/27): We have the entire house framed now and they are working on the roof. It is really moving fast and is so exciting!Week 4 1/2 Progress (7/24): Believe it or not this is one days progress. They had the crane on Wednesday (7/23) and got the entire first floor framed. Everyone said it would go really quickly once they started framing, but this is really fast! We may have a roof by the end of the week since the crane is coming Friday and Saturday!Week 4 Progress (7/22): We now have a crawl space with plumbing. Ready for the framers!
Week 3 Progress (7/11): Foundation is done!!

Week 2 Progress (7/6): So far so good! The only small complaint is the stinky outhouse.

Week 1 Progress (6/29):

Here is the 1st day's progress (6/24):

Summer Fun

2008-07-05T09:43:00.003+09:00

On June 28th Kaz and I met up with our good friends Marco and Miyuki who always have something amazingly fun planned. (They were the same friends who organized the hot air balloon ride) I met Marco and Miyuki several years ago in China. We were on the same tour of the terracotta soldiers in Xian, and when we discovered we actually lived within 30 minutes of each other in Japan we became friends for life. They have since gotten married and have THE CUTEST little girl named Una. They always plan these fun events and last Saturday was one of them. We first met at a community center in the afternoon and changed into Yukata (Japanese summer kimono). Then we went to a park that was prime time for Hydrangeas and Daffodils. After we all went to dinner at a buffet restaurant, and then to look for lightning bugs. We only saw one. Then we did some fireworks which was really fun. They throw the best no alcohol parties I have been to!

They Broke Ground

2008-06-24T21:41:00.003+09:00

Well it is officially official! They started building our house on June 24. Here is the first day progress. Stay tuned for more pictures. (I realize this is much more exciting for us than most of you, so I will try to wait until there is considerable progress between postings, but you will have to excuse our excitement a bit!)

Land Blessing

2008-06-08T22:10:00.002+09:00

On Saturday, June 7 we had our land blessing. It is a ceremony to appease the Earth God. It is to bring protection for the builders and to help keep everything on schedule. According to my research, the Jichinsai ceremony is a ritual intended to calm the kami (god) of the earth whenever a new building or other construction begins. It was/is believed that without going through the protocol of requesting permission from the earth kami, any building constructed would anger the kami and lead to it's destruction. Another purpose is to pray that the actual construction proceeds without any "incidents". Mr. Iwai did the ceremony for us. Usually this ceremony is a Shinto ceremony, but Buddhist priest can do it also. The construction manager, architect and sales guy were all there. To start with we need to prepare many supplies. We offered 3 types of fruits and 5 types of vegetables. Also there were several foods there for their scents such as dried bonito (katsuoboshi), dried squid (tsurume) and seaweed (konbu) as well as fresh flowers. According to Mr. Iwai, a nice scent is the best present we can give the gods. There was also salt, rice and sake for purifying the land. Once everyone arrived we build an earthen alter. First it was dirt, then sand, then it was covered in pine needles and towards the end of the ceremony there were fresh flowers. The alter faced South. Then they made a small dirt and sand pile that we would dig into during the ceremony. Surrounding the alter there were 4 bamboo trees placed around it and a special rope that had symbolic paper in it. Once we got started there was about 20 minutes of Mr. Iwai chanting and praying. He would also use a chime and even symbols. We all stood behind him. Then when it came time to purify the land we had to place the salt, rice and sake at each corner of our house. It was really interesting and exciting to see the house mapped out. At the end of the ceremony Mr. Iwai took all the offerings back to his temple and all that was left was the bamboo with the alter. Apparently once the builders come and start construction they take it down and parts of it go under the house. The following video has some pictures and a video I took from the ceremony. Our official breaking ground day is June 20th, and they are trying there best to have us in before Christmas this year. I will keep the blog updated as we progress with the house!

Here we go!!

2008-05-19T21:16:00.010+09:00

After months of planning we are actually starting to see some physical changes to our land. Here are some before after pictures. Kaz's parents had a nice garden (forest actually) next to their house and some of the trees we had to cut down were 35 years old! We had to take out about half of the trees between their place and ours to make room for our house. I know these pictures aren't too exciting yet, but it is nice to see some progress that isn't just on paper.The property you can see is half ours and half the cousins. It has been used as a parking lot for the last 15 years. The neighbors rent the spots, and all the cars have moved completely on to the cousins property now.

This was a shed that the family used for storage. The cousins tore this down about a month ago and all that is left is the concrete.
This is looking at the property from behind. All the really tall trees are surrounding Kaz's parents house. The really tall ones we didn't have to cut down, but pretty much every thing right of the tall loner tree had to go unfortunately.

Here they are removing the trees. Dad said it is too bad they couldn't use the wood for the house!
Tomorrow they are tearing out the concrete, and our lot will be officially ready to build on!
We were able to save a couple of the small trees. Hopefully the transplant will take, and we can enjoy the Japanese Maple and (I have no idea what the left one is called) in the new house.

2008-04-24T21:51:00.003+09:00

From April 11 to April 20th I went to Singapore to visit Tracy and Regis. We had a wonderful time. We went to Bintan Island in Indonesia for 4 days and really enjoyed the beaches. Since we were there Sunday to Wednesday there were not many people at all at the resort, so we really felt we had the place to ourselves. I really enjoyed Singapore and seeing Tracy and Regis's new life. Here are some pictures.

In addition to all the sightseeing I was also able to see Tracy and Regis's Bollywood dancing debut. Here is the video:

New House

2008-03-28T11:08:00.004+09:00

I have been a little late in announcing our latest news because we have realized over the course of our relationship that when we make a plan it doesn't always go accordingly. That being said, we have decided to build a house here in Japan next to Kaz's parents and stay in Japan for a while. It is quite an experience, and right now we are in the planning stages. They are estimating to break ground on May 30th with a finish date of Nov. 30. They built a mini model of our home and here are some pictures:

Then, the inside is actually a model too!

We have a classroom because some day we hope to open a small English school and I will teach out of the home.
Here are some pictures of the surrounding area. On one side of our house we have Kaz's parents house.
Then behind our house and to the other side we have fields and a forest. That is an elementary school to the right.

As you can see we are really surrounded by nature which is great. It is amazing that Kaz is only 45 minutes by train from his office in downtown Tokyo. Anyway, that is the latest from the Moritas!!

Tokyo Marathon

2008-02-18T23:33:00.002+09:00

Well I finally completed my long time dream of running a full marathon. It was very hard, but I really enjoyed it. I can say that now that I am finished! I had really great support along the way. Kaz rode his bike pretty much the entire way taking pictures of me. I finished in 5:35 minutes (although it took me a while to cross start). I can't say for sure that I will ever run another one, but I also can't say for sure that I won't. I really want to thank Kaz, Tari, Janet, Kaori, Danny, Kaz's parents, Ruth and all the IAC people for their cheering during the race.

If you can't see my comments click on the white balloon box at the bottom left of the slide show.

To see a video of me coming in the finish go to this site: http://www.ntv.co.jp/tokyomarathon/goalmovie/
And then put in my number which is 51336 and hit search. I am at the end of the video wearing a yellow jacket.

Hot Air Balloon Ride

2008-02-18T23:16:00.002+09:00

On Monday February 11 (a national holiday in Japan) Kaz and I were lucky enough to join some friends who have some friends whose hobby is hot air ballooning. It was the first time for both of us and was really fun. There were 10 of us that rode, but the balloon could only take 3 passengers each time. The girls went first, then Kaz's group of guys. I had about a 15 minute ride with a max height of 300 meters, and Kaz's group had about a 25 minute flight with a 600 meter max height because the overshot their first landing area. It was really great except we both had a little bumpy landings, but I guess that is to be expected. Kaz's basket even grazed some trees!

If you can't see my comments click on the white bubble square at the bottom left of the slide show.

Snow Day!

2008-02-18T23:11:00.002+09:00

On Sunday February 3rd we had a huge snow storm come through Tokyo. It was already white when we woke up, and it continued to snow ALL DAY long. It was really fun to see a "White" Tokyo. Kaz and I walked to Rikugien which is a Japanese garden and was really beautiful with all the snow.

If you can't see my comments click on the white bubble box at the bottom left of the slideshow.

Idaho Christmas

2008-01-05T18:16:00.000+09:00

We spend Christmas and New Years in Idaho this year. It was a fabulous holiday. We did just about everything there is to do and had such a great time with Mom, Dad and Ryan. Here are some pictures and video clips from the holidays.

If you can't see my comments for the pictures, click on the bubble box at the bottom left of the slide show.

And some videos:

Pepper opening his Christmas Present.

A 360 degree view from the top of Baldy Mountain in Sun Valley.

Here is Kaz and Dad tubing in the South Hills.

Kaz riding the mechanical bull on New Years eve. He was really not bad at all!

Enjoying the Fall!

2007-10-31T22:46:00.000+09:00

Last weekend we (Kaz and I along with Ruth and Dan Nixon) decided to get away from Tokyo for the weekend and enjoy some nature. Unfortunately on Saturday the weather wasn't very enjoyable as a Typhoon made it's way through the area, but that didn't stop us adventurous types! Here are some pictures of our weekend.

Note: To see picture comments click on the white box at the bottom left of the slideshow.

Europe Pictures

2007-09-04T22:26:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures from Europe. I did my best to edit them and only show the best ones. What a fantastic trip!!

Croatia

Croatia

Amsterdam

Germany

France

And were home...

2007-09-04T22:02:00.000+09:00

Well, actually I have been home for a week now, but am now just taking the time to sit down and organize photos. It is quite a task when the entire trip was over we had over 750! Don't worry! I am only posting the edited of the edited. Anyway, were I left of in Europe... I went to Grenoble, France to visit a friend of mine from our Tokyo bike club. She was home for the summer vacation. She arranged a bike for me to ride, and ride bikes we did! The first day we did a 60 km up and down some incredible mountains with even more incredible views. I even saw Mont Blanc which apparently is quite a treat. The second day we climbed Alpe d'Huez which is one of the legindary climbs in the Tour de France. It is only a 14 km ride, but over 1100 meter climb! Apparently Lance completed in a mere 37 minutes which took us over 2 hours to complete including 3 breaks. Doing that climb was definitely one of the top 10 experiences I have ever had, including climbing the great wall. The views were breathtaking and you almost forgot that you were gasping for air moving just fast enough that you didn't fall over on your bike. Anyway, France was amazing and I was really pleased to have been able to spend time with Anna and her lovely family and friends. After France I was back to Germany for one last weekend. On Friday Nev and I took in Cologne and it's amazing cathedral. I actually climbed 150 meters to the top of one of the towers the day after Alpe D'Huez and I really thought my legs might fall off! On Saturday we headed down South to wine country. We stayed in a very pleasant little town called Rudesheim and did lots of wine tasting. On Sunday we took a river cruise on the Rhine river back towards Dusseldorf and Yasuko's home. There were so many castles along the river that you could really imagine old magical Germany. I then came home to Tracy and Regis and spent a very nice 3 short days touring around Tokyo with them. Yesterday I finally started back to work (yes I do work sometimes!!) and am finally getting back to normal life. Europe was amazing and Kaz and I will never forget it. Stay tuned for pictures!

After Amsterdam

2007-08-22T05:47:00.000+09:00

Well, I sucsessfuly rang in my birthday in one of the crazies, yet most beautiful cities in the world. On Saturday morning everyone had arrived at the hotel by 11am, so we left for some sight seeing. We did a nice walking tour of the city before hitting the Heinkin brewery. It is a very interactive tour, with lots of beer stops. After the brewery, we decided to rest for a couple hours before hitting the night scene. We had a delicious Greek meal and then went to some pubs. On Sunday, everyone was moving a little slower than usual, but we had a nice breakfast and then a canal tour of Amsterdam by boat. We then had to say good bye to Matt and Jenny and headed off to the Rembrandt museum and the Van Gogh musuem for a little culture. Jon then headed back and Kaz, Yasuko, Nev and I went to a very nice Indonisian restaurant for my birthday dinner when at the end of the meal they gave me the best present by announcing their engagement. On Monday we dropped Kaz at the airport to head home and I went to Osnabrueck with Nev. It was a lovely town, and today we toured around Munster before heading to Yasuko's place in Dueseldorf. Tomorrow I am off to France. To quote a good friend "The road goes on forever and the party never ends!"

Good bye Croatia!

2007-08-18T05:55:00.001+09:00

Well, we left Croatia today after a wonderful week of sun, fun and surf. Everyday was beautiful, and we did lots of amazing things, including a day trip to Mostar, Bosnia. We snorkeled everyday, and the water was amazingly clear. Had fantastic dinners everynight and great wine. We are now in Amsterdam for the weekend, and will be meeting Kaz's sister and friends from England tomorrow. Well, with one minute left, I will try to get more details in later!

Here we are in Dubrovnik

2007-08-13T14:19:00.000+09:00

Well we have arrived and the vacation has officially started. We left Friday morning for Amsterdam, and arrived after a 12 hour plane trip. We flew KLM which had supurb service, space and food compared to what we are used to with United and North West. We arrived Friday afternoon Europe time and checked in to our hotel and then headed to the city for dinner. We had a nice bottle of wine and tapas. Saturday morning we left for Croatia. We had two flights to get here, changing in Vienna. We arrived at our hotel in Dubrovnik Saturday afternoon, in perfect time for a dip in the Adriatic. Our hotel is in a small bay, so the water is very calm and the snorkeling is excellent. The beaches are not sandy, rather small pebbles. This makes laying on the beach a little less comfortable, but the trail of sand that comes in everywhere is not missed. We had dinner at this fabulous restaurant on the beach and watched an amazing sunset. Yesterday was our first full day here and we rented a scooter for the day and did some sightseeing. We headed to the old town and then up to some more remote beaches. We soon discovered the remote beaches also have less people who wear swimming suits! Anyway, we are having a great time so far. Today we have kayaking and scuba diving on the agenda. The food, wine and sunsets are amazing. I have no way to post pictures yet, but rest assured we are taking lots of them!!

We are going on our honeymoon!

2007-08-06T23:47:00.000+09:00

I realize that a lot of time has passed since I have used this blog, so most people have maybe given up on it, however, I am back! We are taking a late honeymoon/Kelly's 30th birthday trip to Europe in just a few days, and what better way to keep you all posted on what we are doing. Our first stop is Dubrovnik, Croatia. Kaz has always dreamed of going to Croatia. Croatia is mainly known for it's beaches, and we will be staying right on one for the first week. We plan to do some diving, kayaking and exploring while we are there. After Croatia we then head up to Amsterdam for a long weekend to celebrate my big 30. Kaz's friends from England, Matt, Jenny, Jon and Dan will fly over for the festivities as well as Kaz's sister and boyfriend, Nev. After Amsterdam Kaz has to head back to work, but I will stay for another week. I will head back to Germany with Yasuko and Nev and tour around Germany. In the middle of the that week I will fly over to Grenoble, France to visit a good friend of mine I know from our Tokyo bike club. She has already arranged for a bike for me and she is planning some amazing rides. A wine and cheese bike tour of Southern France. So stay tuned for Kelly and Kaz's European Adventure!

Fireworks Festival

2007-08-06T22:43:00.000+09:00

On Saturday Aug 4 we rode out with our bike club to a spectacular fireworks festival. Most people wear the yukatas and have a picnic while they watch the fireworks. It was really amazing. Here are some pictures.

Fireworks Festival

I made a movie of the finale, but it doesn't come close to doing it justice.

Wedding Pictures

2006-10-23T23:43:00.000+09:00

I am trying a new photo site called Flickr. Click the links to see the pictures.

Hawaii Week
Here are some photos from the week before the wedding in Maui. Everyone in the Wagner family stayed at the Beach house and Kaz's friends from England were with us the week before as well. The Miciaks, good family friends of ours from Twin, were also around the week before for many of the activities. We saw the sunrise from Mt. Haleakala, went scuba diving, surfing, did lots of snorkeling and went to a luau all before the wedding stuff started on Thursday.

BBQ Pictures
On Thursday, the day before the wedding we had a big BBQ with everyone who had come for the wedding. We had American dishes, Japanese dishes and even German sausages thanks to Yasuko. The BBQ was such a great chance to actually spend time with everyone before the big day.

Wedding Day Pictures

And here are pictures of the big day! The photographer's pictures are included.

Here is a video of Kaz just a few hours before the wedding ceremony. Doesn't he look nervous??

When it is all said and done...

2006-10-23T22:54:00.000+09:00

Well, it is really hard to believe the big day has come and gone, and now we are 2 weeks into married life. So far so good! Anyway, I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to our wedding, and also everyone who couldn't make it there physically, but kept us in your thoughts on our special day. It truly was an amazing event and we feel so blessed to have so many friends and family together for our special day. Now that the wedding is over I suppose I should change the name of this blog to just the Morita Blog or something, but I do hope to continue to post so everyone can keep up with what we are doing. I am currently working on a way to link Hawaii photos from here, so if there is no photos yet, check back soon.

Wedding Gifts

2006-08-31T22:03:00.000+09:00

We have also had several inquires about wedding presents. We truly feel that your presence at our wedding is gift enough; however, since people have insisted we have registered at Target and a local Twin Falls shop called Rudy's: A Cook's Paradise. For Target you can shop online or at any Target by logging into the ClubWed and searching for Kelly Wagner or Kazuhiko Morita and the location in Hawaii. Rudy's is a small local store, so you would have to call them and talk to them in person about our registry if you are not in Twin Falls. Due to the location in Hawaii we are asking that all wedding gifts be shipped to my parents house in Twin Falls, ID. The address is:
Kelly Wagner
3228 Meadowridge Ln
Twin Falls, ID 83301

What to wear

2006-08-31T21:49:00.000+09:00

I have had many people ask about what to wear so I thought I had better address this in the blog. NO SUITS!! That is basically the only rule. We are recommending Aloha wear, which pretty much means anything goes. Any kind of Hawaiian shirt and pants or sundress would fall under Aloha wear. It may be warm when the ceremony starts and cool down a bit when the sun goes down so that is something to keep in mind.　If you don’t already have this type of shirt or dress there is tons if it in Maui and it is very reasonably priced in most shops.

Update

2006-08-31T21:48:00.000+09:00

So I realized it has been a couple months since I posted so incase you haven't heard Kaz and I had a slight change in plans for our immediate future. I moved back to the US in May and we planned on me getting a teaching position from this fall, then Kaz was going to move to the states after the wedding. We found out the end of June that due to a new requirement on fiancée' visas they are now taking 9 month to a year to get approved rather than the 4 months we were told when we first applied. We were pretty sure that Kaz wasn't going to get his visa in time for the wedding and as long as they are processing a visa application you are not allowed in the country; therefore, he possibly would be denied entry into Hawaii. Rather than taking our chances with the speed of the US immigration we decided to cancel his petition and I returned to Japan. I started a new job at a college that is prepping students to transfer to US and UK universities. It is in downtown Tokyo, and since Kaz works downtown also we will get an apartment in Tokyo. So... That is what is up with us. When the time comes to move to the states will reapply for a spouse visa which apparently takes much less time.

Meeting Kaz's Family

2006-05-23T05:54:00.000+09:00

On April 29th Kaz's parents had all the relatives over for a meal and so Kaz could officially announce our engagement and I could meet the family. There was about 20 people in all and it was great to meet all Kaz's aunts, uncles, cousin and even grandmother. She had just turned 90 that week, and if all goes well will be attending the wedding in Maui. Everyone seemed really happy for us and very accepting of me. It was a great experience.

My Japanese Bridal Shower

2006-04-21T22:01:00.000+09:00

Becki and Ruth threw me a Bridal Shower on Saturday, April 15th. It was very beautiful and incredibly memorable and special. The shower took place at a Japanese tea house near Matsudo. The official shower started at 1pm, but the area is very historical, so 6 of us decided to do some sight seeing in the morning. Kaz's Mom, Aunt, Becki, Ruth, Tari and I all met at the station at 9am. The plan was to take the old fashion boat across the Edo River just like they did in the olden days. This has become somewhat of a tourist attraction. The morning was a little windy, but luckily the boat was running and we could ride across the river. We then walked to the tea house for some Japanese tea and sweets. The tea house had a beautiful garden that we could walk around. The area next to the Tea House is very famous from a long running movie series that had a goofy actor called Tora San. We went to the Tora San museum and then walked around the temple and shopping district where they were filmed. Along the way we met my friends Harumi and Miyuki. At 1pm we met back at the tea house and were joined by Masami, who I taught with and Kotoko, the little girl I have been tutoring for 2 years and her mother, brother and grandmother. There were 13 of us total. We started with a very traditional Japanese lunch which is served in a box. It was very delicious. Then we moved on to games which were really fun. Finally we had presents with Ruth's homemade cheese cake. The gifts were even more special because everyone had a small card and wrote the reason for the gift. They all read the card to me after I opened their gift. There was so much great advice and happy wishes. There were also messages from Mom, Tracy, Grandma Pearl and Yasuko (Kaz’s sister) since they couldn't join. The cards were then compiled into a little book I can keep. Four o'clock came much sooner than expected. A wonderful time was had by everyone and thanks again to Becki and Ruth for all the time and planning they put into it. Take a look at the rest of the pictures here: Bridal Shower Pictures

Near By Accommodations

2006-04-19T13:47:00.000+09:00

The Wagner family, as well as Kelly and Kaz, will be staying at the Beach house for the week of Sept. 30 through Oct. 7. There will be many activities and BBQs happening through out the week that we hope you can join. Here are some hotels and condos all within walking distance (less than 1 mile) of the Beach house. October is not the high season in Maui, however I would encourage you to book soon to ensure your choice lodging and the best rates.

Kihei Beach Resort
These condos are just .59 miles from the beach house. The daily rate is $155-$165 and the weekly rate is $145 to $155 per day. Now there is an Internet special with the 7th night free. Each condo can sleep 4 to 6 people. There is a minimum 4 night stay, however you can stay less and be accessed a cleaning fee.

Kihei Bay Vista
These condos are .68 miles from the beach house. The daily rate is $105 and the weekly rate is $665. They have a maximum occupancy of 4 people.

Aston Maui Lu Resort
This is the closest hotel, only .35 miles away. Prices start from $97 per night when booked online. They can sleep up to 4 people.

One more option...
Located directly behind the beach house on the same property is a Guest House. It can either be rented as a 4 or 6 bedroom house. The rates are either $500/day or $600/day with the Ohana. It must be rented for 7 days and there is a $300 cleaning charge. As of this posting it was still available.

Wedding Location and Dates

2006-04-18T15:15:00.000+09:00

We have rented a beautiful beach house for the week of Sept. 30 through Oct. 7th. The wedding and reception will take place here on Oct. 6th. The house is located in Kihei, Maui. Kihei is about 10 miles from Kahulai airport. It is on the corner of South Kihei Road and Ohukai Road.

Driving Directions:
From Kahului Airport follow signs to Kihei.
This will bring you to Route 380. Turn left
on Rt 350 at the Assembly of God Church. Follow this road to Piilani Hwy. Continue through the traffic light to S. Kihei Rd. (one block). Turn left on S. Kihei Rd. Continue on this road for about a half mile until you come to Ohukai Rd., the Estate is located on the corner of S. Kihei Rd. and Ohukai Rd. The entrance to the main house is the 1st gate on your right. Number #16

Pictures: To see pictures of the house please visit http://www.dcmaui.com/estate.htm

And the families meet...

2006-03-22T15:10:00.000+09:00

Mom and Dad were in Japan from March 10th to the 19th and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend time with Kaz's family on a couple of occasions. The first was on Sunday, March 12th. They had Mom, Dad, Doug, Nancy and I over for a Hinamatsui Party. This is to celebrate the Japanese dolls. Kaz's Mom and Aunt dressed Mom and Nancy in Kimono and then we had a fabulous meal of tempura, salads, rice dishes and hand rolled sushi. Unfortunately Kaz's sister was in Germany so she couldn't make the party, however we had the next best thing and we were able to talk to her using Skype (an Internet telephone service) and she could see all of us using a webcam. The picture was taken at their house. Kaz's Mom is the one wearing glasses. We then met them again the following Saturday for dinner in Tokyo and it was another wonderful evening. They were then nice enough to help drive everyone and luggage out to the airport on Sunday when everyone left. Our families are really blending nicely despite different languages, cultures and geographic locations. We are truly lucky.

The Proposal

2006-03-08T10:51:00.000+09:00

So, as you probably already know, Kaz purposed on Valentines Day 2006. It was a normal work day for both of us so he had told me to meet him at the station near his office at 6:30. This was all the information he gave me. He met me at 6:30 we got on the subway. I kept asking where we were going but he wouldn’t tell me. Once we got off I was pretty sure I knew where we were going because it was near the restaurant we went to on my birthday. The restaurant is called Aqua and it is on the 46th floor of the Dentsu building in Tokyo. It is a really neat restaurant because the floor is basically water, with bridges as walkways and the tables are on islands not to mention the amazing view. We ordered the Valentine’s Day course which was a 6 course meal and very delicious. Right before dessert, Kaz proposed and gave me a beautiful ring. Of course I accepted and the rest you could say is history.

We're Engaged!

2006-03-07T19:00:00.000+09:00

Ok, well I have heard of people using blogs for wedding information, and since we are having a destination wedding I thought this would be the best way to relay information about our engagement and wedding plans. At this point we don't have an official date or place yet, but hopefully we can get that all set when my parents are here. They will be in Japan from March 10 - 19. They will officially met Kaz's parents on the 12th. But we are tenatively thinking Maui in October.

Some pictures of us

2006-03-07T17:44:00.000+09:00