Happy to be HOME! What a year - July 2006 - July 2007!

Grampie and Xan look happy.
Brianan is very happy to see Jim in his "starry starry necklace". I am thrilled to see Danya and Colleen.
Ailis gets a tight squeeze from "her favorite brother-in law", Jim.
Andre woke up for the party! I look a little jet lagged...but happy!

Back in the USA! Flashing lights, flowers, and flags!

Lea with Meme and Ed.

Hurrah for the red, white, and blue!
Natalie likes giving Xan some 'ears' - me too.
Wingaersheek Beach - the best beach in the whole world! I love Wingaersheeeeeeek!
Thanks for the paella, Tara and Mia.
"Yeah! Lea and Jim are home!" (I think that's what they are saying)

We arrived home on July 1, 2007!

Our son, Xan, met us at the airport. Before we knew it --- we were being seranaded with

"God Bless America" by all the Donovan cousins and my parents at Wingaersheek Beach -

a fabulous welcome home! What a great feeling to be home.....

Surprise! ...at the Tokyo airport!

Good Bye - Keara! Wow - what a lot of baggage!
We had a great time in Japan with our daughter. She was heading back to the USA -west coast. We live on the east coast, so we were taking different flights. We had lunch together in Terminal One and then headed over to the American Airlines counter in Terminal Two. We opted to go early - just to be sure to get there on time!
I was waiting for the nice ticket agent to issue me the boarding passes when I felt someone come up from behind me, grab me and give me a big smooch on the cheek! Astonished, unsure about looking around - I knew it was not my husband and could not for a minute imagine who esle would do that to me in the Tokyo airport. I dared to peek around and immediately realized it was my brother - in - law - Chris from Florida! Wow! What a surprise! What was he doing in the Tokyo airport? He was actually at the next ticket agent getting his boarding pass when he looked over and saw me! Neither of us knew we were even planning to be in Japan!
Jim saw me chatting and laughing with someone and came up to join in the surprise encounter. Chris travels to Asia with his work on a regular basis, but we did not expect him or remember that. He thought we were still in Australia. He did not expect us! He did not know of our travel itinerary on the way home! We had not seen each other since last July. What fun!

We had time to catch up as we waited for our flights. We flew to NYC from Gate 72 at 5:50pm and Chris flew to Chicago from the nearby Gate 77 at 6:00. Amazing! We had the same airline, same gates, same time! I am not sure we could have planned this any better.

Lucky for us Chris will be in Gloucester for July 4th. We can laugh about our surprise encounter at the Tokyo airport again! Keara is also flying east to join us for the fun and fireworks!

Crazy times like this make me sing a few verses of "It's a small world afterall........."

Sensing Japanese June Flowers

Cherry blossoms might be amazing in the spring, but as we "listen to the fragrance" of the gardenia hedges, "taste the sparkle" of the water lilies, "see the coolness" of the moss gardens, "smell the beauty" of the hydrangia bushes, we "feel lucky" to be here in June.

Going bonkers in a bamboo forest - Kyoto Japan

The Philosopher's Walk - Kyoto, Japan June 26, 2007

Zen Garden
Big fish swim all along the Philosopher's walk.

Time for sketching.
Dinner with our new Kyoto friends at the Gojo Guest House - June 27, 2007.

Ryoan - ji - Kyoto, Japan

Our last day in Kyoto - we enjoyed visiting the Ryoan - ji and Ninna -ji temples.

Kyoto, Japan

We love Kyoto!

Keara is a great tour guide - finding many interesting sites and restuarants.
Winding around ancient lanes - visiting old temples and gardens - poking in and out of small shops - feasting on great food - meeting friendly people - using easy public transportation - enjoying the fabulous sights - staying in nice guest houses - and sketching/painting/journaling about all this makes for a great time in Kyoto.

(no pictures - sorry)

Iris Garden at Meiji-jingu - Tokyo Japan

Mitsu and Leo gave us an amazing tour of Tokyo in their new "old" Toyota. Toyota is celebrating their 60th anniversary by producing a replica of their first car.

We loved our stroll through Meiji-jingu - saw a few Japanese weddings - met fellow painters and photographers enjoying the June Iris garden - sat for a while in the cafe near the huge "torii" (gate) made of Japanese cypress.

Jim and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on June 25th- tomorrow! We leave Tokyo today - taking a train to Kyoto.

Tiananmen Square - Beijing - China

Our tour guide asked us what came to mind when we thought of Tiananmen Square. Everyone on the bus called out; "tanks", then "students". The tour guide answered, "Well, we are not really supposed to talk about that." He gave us the dimensions of the huge square which I can not recall. He described the buildings and monuments and their purposes. I remember a very imposing and forboding place - stark - cold (on a steamy June day) - very serious. Jim and I tried to "lighten up" and be a bit "free" - remembering the students and their dreams.

Behind the big gate is the Forbidden City which is the Emeror's Palace with 9,999 rooms!

We climbed the Great Wall of China

"If you come to China, and you do not climb the Great Wall, well, then you really have not been to China." proclaimed Kevin, our tour guide. He also said that anyone who climbs the wall is a hero!