Dangerford

Drop Dead Legs

2012-01-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

In preparation for the upcoming holiday we are crafting all things Valentine. My favorite so far are Scouts 'sock leggings'. A good sport about most things that I do Scout is shaping up to be an amazing girl, real best friend material. Not only does she let me dress her in ridiculous outfits (note the above outfit). She also thinks everything I say is funny and applauds my dancing. A real self esteem booster.

Under A Blanket Of Blue

2012-01-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

It may not be a confession to many of you but something I rarely willingly tell people....I have a woobie (a blankie). I have had it since I was about 4 and I take it everywhere. Before Scout was born I made her a woobie and I think she loves it just as much as I love mine. She willingly goes to sleep as long as woobie is by her side, rubs her face into it and just closes her eyes and falls asleep. But after a few minutes she looks like this....just a woobie with hands and feet. Don't even think about removing it from her face she immediately wakes up and puts it back. This however is something she inherited from Peter.

Last Of The Steam Powered Trains

2012-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

We had a great MLK weekend outside. Growing up in the desert I never appreciated cactus and gravel landscape, but now I love it! It is especially beautiful after a wet summer. It was so green, with huge rolling hills of grass. The fresh smell of Creosote in the air was amazing.

We went to McCormick Park for the first time in ages. I always loved the pueblo depot and old time stagecoach as a kid and was excited to see them still in use. Scout really liked waving to the people on the train as they rode by while we were picnicking in the grass. Needless to say, it was a great family outing.

2012-01-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

Castles In The Air

2012-01-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

We are really taking advantage of the AZ winter weather and getting outside. This weekend we went to the Arizona Mystery Castle, it is an Arizona must see. Super crazy place, its built out of cement and rock and everything else you can imagine. This old lady actually lived here up until a year ago, which would gross me out to death. Everything is dusty and she had a lot of stuffed animals my 2 least favorite things.....and my ultimate nightmare dusty stuffed animals.

I Still Want A Hula Hoop

2012-01-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

Peter and I have a serious love of the holiday season, much to my families dismay. We have been watching Christmas movies since Thanksgiving and upped our holiday movie collection to a solid 25 holiday films. We love buying gifts and doing anything holiday related. Scout had a blast picking out her gift for the cousins gift exchange, we figured this face meant she liked it.

We love having papa pete around, she just loves her dad. 4 weeks is just not a long enough break, and we are seriously dreading next Monday when life goes back to normal and everyone goes back to work and school.

Merry Christmas Meat Man! I hope you keep us all well fed through 2012 with smoked meat.

Thanks to the Haught family we were able to spend a night in Greer and then hit the slopes for some light sledding. It was so fun to get all bundled up and play around in the snow. However, I am glad that I don't live in the snow anymore, getting Scout all bundled up was miserable, mittens should not be part of a babies wardrobe.

We had a great Christmas and New Years, looking forward to lots of changes this next year. Hopefully they will all be good.

New Years Resolution:

Decide what I need to do to be happy everyday!

Hoop-de Doop, Dickory Dock

2011-11-28T16:56:00.001-08:00

holidays = fun!

parades, candy, bike rides, Santa, sleep, fires, food, hats, family and a deep fried frenzy.

unable to contain ourselves waiting for the abc family 25 days of Christmas, we have watched most of our Christmas movies already, and im sure we will watch them another 3 times before Christmas.

looking forward to temple lights, tamales and gift giving.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Sugar Baby

2011-11-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Peters family is really big on dressing up together for Halloween. This year was Star Wars. Darth Vader, a Jedi and a baby ewok what a family. Having a baby is a holiday dream come true. I can finally trick or treat again. I made sure to grab the good candy too. If you hand me a bucket of candy I'm taking the Reeses, Snickers or 100 Grand. Dont think that just cause im holding the bag of a 5 month old that im going to take a dumdum.

Our little ewoks; Scout, Caroline, and Claire.

After trick or treating Scout got her second wind and was cracking me up. Im not sure what it is about other babies but Scout just loves them.

Spooky Scary

2011-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Scout "finch" Dangerford, our girl in overalls. I always have great ideas and think things like going to the pumpkin patch will be so much fun and that Scout will have a blast. But without fail every time we have something planned she decides to not nap and be fussy. So going to the local pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and hangout in overalls ends up being a chore to keep our girl awake. Also, I was very disappointed with the pumpkin selection and we walked away empty handed.

But she looks so cute, right?

Before Scout was even born for some reason I really wanted her to be a cub Scout for Halloween, I'm not sure why. I just want her to be comfortable and warm.

This is what Scouts face looks like most of the time these days. You would guess that with all the drool she would be teething but you would be wrong she is just really gross that way.

After collecting all her candy loot she was sacked out and fell asleep in Dads arms on the walk home.

*is it wrong to collect candy for baby who wont actually be eating it, i was getting some comments about it while trunk or treating. first baby first halloween we are trick or treating folks. am i right?

You're My Best Friend

2011-10-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

i love how much scout loves her dad.
peter just walks in the room or gives her a look and she giggles and
he knows how to hold her just right to make her fall asleep.

who wouldn't love those smiley faces....twins right?

Ballad Of A Teenage Queen

2011-09-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

my girl is growing up. unfortunately for me she thinks she is a much older baby. scout no longer wants her bottle, she sits up (kinda), and likes to stay up all night.
next week: walking.

I Took My Baby Home

2011-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

it's official i am a stay at home mom.
here are some reasons why:

- i wear the same shirt all week, even though its covered in spit and puke
- i talk in a voice that is 3 octaves to high, and everything has a rhyme (one of my favorites being "ready spaghetti" and "don't be a saddish radish"
- i regularly don't brush my teeth till 11 am
-i take early morning walks and wear ankle weights

Colorado Bound

2011-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Peter caught himself a baby bear cub in Colorado.

No its a baby.
However, this baby got really good at playing dead in her bear
suit just in case of a real bear attack.

Wolf Creek Pass with Grandma and Aunt Lynda,
and hiking the falls with dad.

Peter aka "Rock Pushing Pete" really got the job done out at Nanny's burial site. The cemetery was beautiful and very rustic. Once it was all said and done, everyone was really proud of how it looked, especially Papa. Scout is already developing a love of the woods like her parents.

The bakery in Pagosa Springs is definitely something to write home about. This, of course, is made obvious by Peter's strange expression in this picture with his breakfast sandwich.

Needless to say, after our trip, Peter and I have decided to become snowbirds by the time he turns 35 and own some property somewhere in Colorado.

At the end of the day Scout quickly fell asleep with her old friend Jem.

Lawdy, Miss Clawdy

2011-07-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be the one to post tons of baby photos. I thought I would have tons of other things to post blogs about I thought I was more
interesting than that....but I'm not.

How can you not post photos when your baby makes faces like this.

Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?

2011-07-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

Im an inexperienced mom i know but i felt terrible today at the mall when i had to wrap my baby up like this...

because underneath she looked like this.

I just thought i would check if she needed a diaper change there was a pea green poo explosion everywhere all over her clothes...everywhere. I felt so bad, we walked around the mall like this until we could find some new clothes.

Thankfully not too many people noticed.

Swimming Song

2011-07-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! Check out this girl swim. Scout is really upset she has to miss the girls trip to Mexico next weekend now that she has a killer summer beach bod. That unsightly umbilical cord was really getting in the way of her rockin' a bikini this summer.

Wes and Peter got really ambitious and made fried chicken and hot wings, I can't think of anything more patriotic.

Just my milk drunk baby.

Sleep Late, My Lady Friend

2011-06-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

i thought people were kidding when they said all babies do is sleep and eat and surprisingly scout is sticking to the mold (for now anyway).

scout getting her nails cut by one of my seasoned sisters, i thought i might cut off her fingers. summer you did a fine job.

everyone loves a baby. it's nice having so many people around to take care of my baby. i'm pretty sure will likes her the most, finally someone smaller than him.

here is one of my favorite pictures, showing off the fact that scout is already papa pete's little girl.
we are so glad she is here.
we love you scoonts!

Scout-a-rama

2011-06-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

After 15 hours off laboring our stubborn girl decided she was too tired to finish what she started so the doctors had to take her c-section. Just like her mom she had the cord wrapped around her neck. She hung in there like a champ and we ended up with a beautiful baby.

8 lbs 6 oz and 22 inches long, I was shocked. We are still trying to figure out where all of her features come from. She has her dads furrowed brow and her moms chin, but beyond that we can't decide.

Grandma Dee was first to meet Scout this morning and Scout was so wide awake and happy. The girl keeps her eyes open the whole time she is awake, such a mature baby.

Graduation Day

2011-05-27T10:48:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we headed up to Thatcher for Matthews graduation. I can't believe that he is 18 years old and graduated. Matthew is the greatest kid always so sweet and kind.
Matthew we love you!

-Garrett just 2 more years.

Nanny I Love You!

2011-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

I have so many memories of Nanny. Camping was something we did a lot. Family reunions or just a weekend in the mountains nearby Nanny was always so much fun to go camping with. She taught us tons of card games and how to play chicken foot. I used to love going to her house and playing with her wooden Noahs ark with tiny metal animals. Every time I was at Nannys house she always kept me full of those little lemon creme filled cookies. She is an amazing woman so strong and hard working. I loved the story of her and grandpa building houses in both Sadona and Colorado, I hope to be like her someday. My Nanny is an amazing woman she taught me so many things in life.
We Love You.

-Love Peter, Lacy and Scout

Recently

2011-04-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Every time I ride the light rail I always want to stop at Knock Kneed Lobster, a Ford family favorite, and before you ask its much better than Pete's Fish and Chips.

On our way to the Suns game we stopped and walked over to get some dinner. It was a bit of a walk and I almost didn't make it. I hope its due to the 30 extra lbs im carrying around and not a sign that my heart is going to explode.

We went to two games last week and we won tons of prizes. Peter won a Raja Bell signed jersey and I got a signed Amare Stoudemire signed ball. Then the players were throwing t-shirts into the stands and Peter and I both caught one. Fan appreciation night did the Dangerford's well.

We finally got a chance to meet Mr. Orange.

I'm pretty sure I was grossing out all of surrounding patrons with my relaxing positions.

Los Rayas De La Torta caught Peter's eye during an episode of Diners Drive- In's and Dives. I got a chicken avocado torta, it was delicious!

Peter and Wes tackled the monster of a torta which contained chicken, ham, chirizo, hot links and a bunch of other stuff. I was surprised but they finished it.

I hid Peter's Easter basket so well that it took him close to 30 minutes to find it.

Here's the kids cracked out on candy and soda.

Finally Peter found the basket. However after this weekend he has decide no more candy! More for me right?

Be Careful, There's A Baby In The House

2011-04-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to all my sisters and mother for the wonderful job on my baby shower. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and decided to be 50 degrees and rainy! Seriously its April? I think that was the coldest weather and most rain that Gilbert has received in the past year.

Thank you all for coming Scout loves you!

Where Did My Spring Go?

2011-03-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

We took the bikes down to Tempe Town Lake to ride around and fly some kites, unfortunately kites don't work in Arizona. Peter didn't let that stop him from trying, we found out kites stay up if you keep running.

Because of Peters obsession with BBQ these days we decided to cash in our groupon and enjoy some BBQ, after an afternoon at the park. Lunch just proved that Honey Bears can't compare to Peters smoked pork smothered in Papa Pete's Poison.

We decided that we were spending too much money on QT donuts and sodas. So in an attempt to cut back we decided to make our own chocolate cake donuts. Peter I'm still convinced no one has ever heard of a buttermilk bar.

Thanks to glowing diva we had a bang up spring break. Our hiking trip to Sedona was a pizz-a heaven.

Look at that gut, who knows how I managed that thing there and back. At one point we had to cross the water. We were told the water would be 'slow and low', however it was anything but. We were gonna brave it then quickly remembered that I was 7 months pregnant and Matt had Olive strapped to his chest. So that is when we turned around and headed back.

AMOCOCO, the inflatable blowup light exhibit made me feel like I was wondering through a network of veins.

Spring break was just a tease, I can't wait for summer time.

Big Black Smoke

2011-02-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to play a little trick on Peter for his birthday.

The month before his birthday I kept telling Peter we needed to wait to buy his bike till we had all the money saved, But I was planning to buy it for him as a surprise all along. So, on the day of his birthday I bought the bike and stashed it in the back yard. When he got home from school, I informed him I had changed my mind about buying the bike and we should do it right now. He was so excited as we headed down there, but I knew full well that the bike is no longer there. His heart sank like a stone when they told him it would be a few months till they could get another one. We left empty handed (wink!).

I think it's only me who thinks things like this are funny.

Then after hitting up Joe's Farm Grill and Krispy Kream, the first leg in the birthday trifecta, we went home to pick up bicycles and ride to Joe's BBQ and Liberty Market. That's when he found his bike nicely placed in the backyard.
And that's when I was deemed the best wife ever.

Peter fell in love with the bike when he realized it was a good 3 inches larger than your standard cruiser. Can you see the size difference?

I hope Joe realizes people like the Dangerford's take advantage of his $10 free birthday dinner by hitting up all 3 of his restaurants.

Happy Birthday Peter!

Love Lacy and Scout

There and Back Again, a Fat Tale

2011-02-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

All I'm missing is the acid wash jeans and plaid scrunchie.

I've really been missing my "let it all out" days. So I'm bring it back. Haven't quite hit my moon face phase, but I'm really hoping to reach it by bikini season.
Cross your fingers.

We're Back In Action!

2011-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

After a "brief" hiatus the dangerfords felt it was necessary to start up the ol' blog.
After enjoying dinner at the Thai Elephant, Peter took me to my first Suns game so I could fulfill my wish of asking Marcin Gortat if he wants to be my best friend. Unfortunately, he declined my request.

I have come to the conclusion that it is always best to accept offers for free face painting.....well at least I think it was free.

Thanks to Peters friend Megan we got these great seats, nice and padded. Although the extra padding made it so that my feet were 5 inches from touching the ground....which made for a very uncomfortable evening.

Hey remember when Nash did that....

Ps- I even got to see Siler play, what a night.

Pss- I'm pregnant!

Holiday giveaway!

2010-12-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

Try and win some cute holiday giveaway baskets in time for the holidays!
at ohmyhandmade.com

You Say It's Your Birthday!

2010-08-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sophie wanted a rainbow birthday so I had to try to make Cicilys' famous rainbow cake.

I decorated will so he fit in with the rainbow theme. He loved the lick'm stick'm gummy bears.

I wanted to do cake first I was really nervous about how it would look. But it totally looks like a rainbow.

Princess Sophie wearing her new outfit that Alex made.

Twistin' the Night Away

2010-08-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Passing up a trip to Tokyo was well worth it, getting to see Lachelle and Manasseh was super. Only great friends let you take over their apartment asking little in return, Manasseh the checks in the mail what is the total now.... $20,000?

My favorite was wondering around Central Park with Peter our blood boiling and faces melting. But the trees and beauty blew me away and how despite the heat EVERYONE is outside doing things... tennis, walking dogs, and just walking.

The food....Oh the food! This is nothing compared to the banana pudding or carrot cake donut. And that black and white cookie.

This is a view from the Highline, its an old train track above ground that they have turned into an urban walkway. New York has really figured out how to take advantage of their limited space and utilize old infrastructure. They are turning an old shipping dock under the Brooklyn Bridge into a wave pool!

Peter is a real task master when it comes to the museum viewings. We spent over 7 hours in the Met I thought I was going to die. Here is Peter at the Guggenheim, I think we were here for 2 hours which was the shortest amount of time spent in a museum on this trip.

Relaxing in the park. "Hey man, nice umbrella!"

The Dakotas.

Lady Liberty was beautiful but surprisingly small. Interesting fact about the Statue of Liberty the copper is actually only the thickness of 2 pennies.

My first Broadway plays, Wicked and Promises, Promises. Unfortunately for me I'm short which means that no seat is a good seat. I'm too prideful to use a booster.

Lachelle and Manasseh were able to take us to the Natural History Museum it just made me want to go the the zoo. But here is Peter and Manasseh admiring dinosaur bones or as Manasseh calls them "lies".

Never pay to go to the Empire State building, because I promise it is not as glamorous and romantic as Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks make it appear. After a series of rope mazes and lines for elevators we finally got to the top. It was not worth the wait, but I'm glad I did it.

Thanks you cousin Niki for getting us into a Capitol tour it really made the trip. We also saw the Smithsonian, Holocaust museum, Air and Space, and many monuments like Lincoln Memorial were I was able to sit on Honest Abe's lap. However, I was a little disappointed to find out that the Mall wasn't an actual mall for me to do all my shopping.

Heidi and Bryan thanks for letting us come visit. Next time we know look across the street before you assume your car has been stolen, so logical DC.

I thought I was going to dry up and die right there in Arlington Cemetery it was so hot. I about gave up and lay down in the grass but got really nervous of Peter leaving me behind and heading back to Brooklyn without me. Saying goodbye is never easy just check out this face. Goodbye boy and girl cat Langtimm.

Saying goodbye is never easy just check out this face. Goodbye boy and girl cat Langtimm. I will miss the middle of the night wake ups.

Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

2010-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Dangerfords finally made it to Montana Peter is now on board to move there as soon as possible

Montana was awhile ago but here you go....

Finally, able to get the new car out on the road this is were she got her new name, White Fang, she was such a trooper going up and down Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Haystack Falls

McDonald Creek from Going-to-the-Sun

The water is so blue and I think we could have got in if I wasn't afraid of the undertow.

The bridge where I lived those many summers ago

Hidden lake

Logan Pass

I really wanted Peter to hike the Highline Trail but unfortunately it was closed due to the snow. So we hiked Hidden Lake which was covered in snow too but its not on a mountain face so if you fall you don't die.

Avalanche Gorge

Avalanche Lake

This is why it's called avalanche

I really needed to hike Mt. Brown and I knew it was hard but 6000 ft in 6 miles is a lot harder than it sounds. Especially when your in a crunch for time and you run out of water and you get blisters and.....

Peter collecting water for the hike back down. He thought we would get sick from this run off but Glacier didn't disappoint me everything is better than Gilbert water.

Iceberg Lake is one of my favorite hikes in the park and it kinda blew Peters mind. Peter got in to everybody of water even the iceburg filled ones. I got in ankle deep and I thought I feet were going to fall off.

I loved showing Peter everything that makes me love Montana

like the Peak Cafe and its pie

St. Mary Lake, Wild Horse Island and Paramount Mt.

the wide open spaces

Heavens Peak

Lake Josephine and the tiny rocks that create its shore

this tent

mountain goats

the sunsets

the view from Many Glacier deck

the continental divide

laying on this beach and swimming in this water

The Family And The Fishing Net

2010-07-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Train rides...

Swimming....

Kayaks...

Zip line...

and fires....

We had a great time in Dolores, Colorado with the Backus family. Peter was the hit of the reunion, all of my aunts commented on how amazing he is. He really does have a way with the kiddos.

Remember The Alamo

2010-07-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

It has been 8 months but its felt like forever since we have seen the Thompsons. In true Dangerford/Thompson fashion our days together were jam packed. First we went to San Antonio were Peter threatened to fork stab Manu Ginobili if they crossed paths.

Then to the Alamo where we were able to show homage to Davy Crockett.

We ended in Austin which is an Amazing city, I really think I could live in Texas. Especially after viewing the 'Keep Austin Weird' 5k run. This is something I can get behind.

Bringing It All Back Home

2010-06-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

There is that levi blanket I had been missing for so many months, and those super cute kido's I really missed too.

Our family had a mexican fiesta for us as soon as we landed, look at pappy's famous smoked pork tacos and those beans so delicious and refried.

I about died as I watched my mom and sisters play just dance, which is ok cause they probably laughed equally hard at me. We all know I walk like a duck I'm sure my dancing is a very attractive waddle.

We got to see Wes, Spider Man and a very spooky witch.

Peter and I got to go to a baseball game with Bee and Alex. I love baseball but to be honest I have never lasted past the 7th inning. Fortunately, it was an amazing game and the Diamondback broke their loosing streak, take that Braves.

I hate the Braves and their stupid chopping and chanting.

Sophie had the magic tough with the bubble wand I gave Will for his birthday, I just got soap in my eyes.

Gus got to wear this snazzy speedo, which isn't a speedo at all and is in fact Jersey's bikini bottoms. Way to forget his suit Cic.

On our way home from Cicily's house I noticed this restaurant, Takamatsu, what are the odds that Chandler, Arizona would have a restaurant named after the city we lived in while in Japan. I never found any food in Takamatsu, Japan that I was too thrilled about but we have to go eat there, right?

I'm Big In Japan

2010-05-22T00:54:00.001-07:00

Piyuki Bloda you haunted my dreams for a year, but I have my money and my family and friends are waiting for me to come home.

Some Mother's Son

2010-05-09T18:47:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I shaved for you.

Bento Means New Love

2010-05-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows of my love for tiny things and organization. So, when I arrived to Japan I quickly fell in love with bentos. I have finally found myself the perfect bento to eat all my future lunches in. Now all I need is the cute little animal toothpicks, silicon cup dividers, and cookie cutters to cut all my food into nice shapes. I have learned that its not a bento unless everything is molded into shapes.

It even comes with a pair of chopsticks (I am still learning the art of how to use them but am excited none the less).

Mrs. Gold and Mr. Mud

2010-05-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

We kicked off Golden week with a trip to the Fukuoka temple with our district. We now realize how fortunate we are to have always lived so close to temples.

Despite the lack of sleep we had a great time.

With a week off of work and only three weeks left in Japan we decided to take a trip to Kyoto.

Here is Peter at the main gates of Sanjusangen-do

Sanjusangen-do is known as the "longest wooden structure in the world". I have noticed that Japan likes to claim most world records.

Peter and I climbing the steps to the Kiyomizu temple.

These three fountains are near the Kiyomizu temple. There is a huge line to drink from there waters which are said to promote either: health, wealth or beauty. With everyone drinking out of the same cup we decided against the germfest.

During holidays or when visiting temples a lot of Japanese will get dressed in their Kimonos to go out. I love how traditional they are here in Japan.

Kiyomizu-dera was our favorite site. It is set on the side of a mountain and the view is simply amazing.

One of the most visited sites in Japan is the Golden temple, or

Kinkaku-ji temple. To be honest, with the way everyone talks about it, I was expecting something a little grander.

This was the general feeling for the trip.

With Kyoto being so close to Osaka we couldn't pass up the chance to go to the Osaka aquarium and see the two whale sharks that live there.

I was having a lot of trouble getting photos of the whale shark, this is the only one that gives you a good idea of how big they were. I was hoping they would be a little more wild like a great white shark. But they are so tame and gentle. I was hoping for some Deep Blue Sea action.

These are Japanese Giant Crabs. These photos really didn't turn out either but I wanted you to see how big these crabs are in comparison to our bodies. They look like something out of an Aliens movie.

I love the way a jellyfish moves.

Our 24 hour trip to Kyoto/Osaka was up there with my favorites since we have been in Japan.

One Family Under a Groove

2010-04-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

It's been three years since we got married and almost 11 since we met. This year had to be the craziest of all, thanks for sticking it out with me.

Your my favorite!

Animal Farm

2010-04-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Whenever we go to the grocery store I always get really excited to find fun new candy to try. These are my new favorites. They're little cookies with animal faces on them.

Monkey face.

Other animal faces include: hippo, cow, cat, bunny, hedgehog, bear and mouse. They're all too cute to decide which one is my favorite.

I think the boxes are sometimes more fun than the candy inside.

Homeward Bound

2010-04-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

PETER GOT INTO ASU FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL!

UNCROSS YOUR FINGERS, HE DID IT. THE DANGERFORDS HAVE OPTIONS AND ASU IS MY VOTE!

Church House Steps

2010-04-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

We recently got a new church building, this is not it. This is the building that we used to meet in. It was dirty and cold and had no redeeming qualities.

Here is Peter teaching sunday school in the old building. I really just put this in to again remember how beautiful he looks with that long beard.

This was the bathroom, notice my photo is taken from outside in the hallway from a window that looks into the bathroom.

Here are some of the branch members getting ready to take a photo on our last Sunday in the old building. My favorite little girl isn't in the picture. I have been trying to get her to be my friend for months now, but to no avail. I think this is the month she will finally succumb to my friendship. She kinda looks like Shelly Kesler as a small chubby girl, but Japanese.

This is the new building, isn't it great? I wish we would have had it for more of the winter seasons. It is the first building I have been in here that has double pained windows that keep out the cold.

Its close proximity to McDonalds is nice when church meetings run a little long. Unfortunately, you have to walk right by the chapel windows in order to get there.

The Old Australian Crawl

2010-04-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

This is our bathtub. I love these Japanese bathtubs. I imagine you were all like me when you were younger and always wanted to fill the tub up to the tippy top and let it flow over the edge. It was as fun as I thought it would be.

Don't be alarmed by the transformer next to the tub that is not what we use to shower. Although, what we do use is almost just as bad.

Ps- Peters beard got to be about 5 inches long, but he recently cut it. It shed all over the tatami floor.

I Want To Break Free

2010-04-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

A treat that I never thought too much about but still loved was the KitKat. Japan has taken the KitKat to the next level with its variety of flavors. But in true Japan fashion the flavors are only seasonal, lasting 2 weeks to 2 months. Here Peter has purchased a KitKat out of a vending machine. They come in a glass jar and are really cold, it's great!

Most of the time I can't read the flavors and sometimes have a hard time guessing what it is. Like this one, that to me looks like a mochi ball filled with ground beef. I later learned that its some sort of curry ball. It tasted like peanut butter.

This one was vegetable juice. ITOEN (printed in the bottom right corner)is a veggie juice similar to V8 splash. I didn't really like this one.

Here we were trying mango and Japanese plum drink.

Most recently we have found green tea sakura flavor.

Other flavors we have tried include: apple cider vinegar, lemon vinegar, strawberry, banana, dark chocolate, tart orange, orange, passion fruit & raspberry, flan, maple and rose. They have this one that is called Calpis, it is a very popular drink here in Japan that one is next on my list.

We Belong Among the Wildflowers

2010-04-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and the Dangerfords are happy. Finally able to spend some time outside we are taking full advantage of the season. Sakura or cherry blossom season is beautiful here in Japan. The mountains are covered with pale pink and everyone is around. One thing that I love about Japan is their love of the outdoors. I have seen more gaijin (foreigners) in the past 2 days than I have my entire stay here.

Funny story: While visiting a local park at night for the sakura light-up, I was in the restroom washing my hands when a male gaijin walked in. We both stared at each other for a good minute, knowing good and well that the other spoke english. For some reason I couldn't think of what to do, as if he wouldn't understand me if I told him this was the ladies room. It was very strange.

I love looking at Peter from behind.

Marugame castle is one of our favorite spots here in Japan. There are castles everywhere, but this one has beautiful grounds were you could actually sit in the grass. Grass is extremely rare here in Japan. One thing I am really looking forward to when we return home is a picnic in a grassy park with my levi blanket. I really miss my levi blanket.

I love these flowers they are huge and grow on these trees that have no leaves just flowers.

This kid was cracking me up.

Have I been in Japan too long or is walking a cat on a leash strange in the states too?

And check out this all-star in his denim one piece. I could never dream of being as fashionable as Haru here.

Who Am I?

2010-04-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

After a feeble attempt of starting this novel while traveling through Southeast Asia over the winter break, I finally made it through the unabridged version of Victor Hugo's literary masterpiece, Les Miserables, yesterday. And despite the fact that I have read some amazing books in my life, I feel like this one now stands alone at the top of my favorite books list. I know it sounds pretentious, but this is a novel that is filled with so many profound life lessons that it will truly inspire you to evaluate and change your life for the better.

Ever since I first heard the music from the play and my cousin Erik gave me a day long ten-year-old's abridgment of the story (Circa 1992) I have wanted to read through this classic, but it has taken me awhile to find an actual interest in taking on a 1,500 page novel. I have always figured that there were so many other great works of literature that something like that was a bad use of my time. I was completely wrong. Now, I am not saying that all long novels are more profound or better written than other, less sizable, novels. All I am saying is that this novel is one that I would encourage anyone to read through. You will run into several hundred pages of historical tangents and question their relevancy, but it will all feel necessary in the end.

Here is a quote from the preface that I believe explains the importance and value of this novel:

"So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age — the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night — are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless."

I have often thought about the value of my literary degree and how it is often only viewed as a steppingstone to something more lucrative, such as law school; but this is the type of novel that shows the true value of what a literary education teaches you about life. My love for literature and my learned ability to analyze the world through a variety of lenses is something I will always be grateful for. I strongly believe the world would be different if more people took the time to sit down and read through an inspiring book, watch a meaningful film, listen to some great music, analyze a beautiful piece of art, or bother with anything with artistic value as opposed to obsess over the kitsch and meaningless stuff the media continually tries to pass off as valuable. That being said, I will now step down from my soapbox.

I encourage you all to go out and read a good book.

- Peter

The Great Salt Lake

2010-03-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

Congratulations PETER! Peter was accepted into another school, the University of Utah. He is so amazing and any school would be lucky to have him.

Friends and family don't worry ASU is still our number one choice.

Out On The Weekend

2010-02-18T03:26:00.000-08:00

Hoboin' Tip #17:

Overnight Jumbo Ferries are a great place to sleep while drifting. But watch out, they don't like stowaways.

America has Mickey Mouse and Japan has their beloved Totoro. Just like classic Disney, all of Hayao Miyazaki's films have become canonized in this country. I am not too big of a fan, but everyone else is bananas about them. Here is that cuddable feline (type thing) in bread form. With this dessert you could choose regular or cream filled. We went with the cream. It was fantastic!

Upon seeing the name of this restaurant and the three story fish statue next to it, Peter couldn't stop laughing hysterically. Maybe it was because we were only going off of three hours of sleep, but all of us cracked up at the lack of creativity in the name and the enigmatic asterisk next to the word "cafe". It makes it sound like this place didn't know whether or not it wanted to actually serve there fish (exclamation point) or provide a place for people to relax. We couldn't figure it out. You decide. Maybe they just thought the little star looking thing brought some needed pizazz to the otherwise boring name? In that case, we must agree. It certainly caught our attention.

Don't need money. Don't need fame. Don't need no credit card to ride this futuristic Japanese ship. After waiting around for Marty, "Doc" Brown, and the flux capacitor to emerge from this space machine, we were sad to find out that this watercraft wouldn't actually take us back to the future. Although, I must admit that the maritime museum had an excellent selection of nautical crafts that kept our attention for at least an hour. We really enjoyed walking around the sea port.

This picture is a perfect representation of how excited Peter gets when we eat really good food. On this particular occasion it was the world famous kobe beef. We ate at this place called "Steakland" that was poorly named, but actually provided us with a fantastic high-end dinning experience. We ate it for lunch, so we didn't have to pay the outrageous dinner prices. All around, it was an amazing meal.

Peter really thought this statue looked like a Japanese replica of Al McCoy (of Phoenix Suns fame), so he had to get a picture in front of it. And although you can't really tell, he was saying "Shazam" while I took the picture. In true Japanese fashion, there was a figurine you could buy, but we couldn't justify spending the five hundred yen they were asking for it. Peter really wanted to get one for all of his fellow Suns fans back home. You know who you are.

We spent most of the day walking in some wicked Japanese rain. Here is a picture of Peter trying to weather the storm. He is using my umbrella because the rain had quickly defeated his. It snapped like a twig. The reason he got the umbrella was because we foolishly brought our computer in his backpack in order to watch movies on the Jumbo Ferry. We later regretted the decision. By the way, directly after this photo was taken the rain made mincemeat out of my umbrella as well. It was seriously poring on us. But, although it was miserable at the time, it has made for an endearing memory.

Costco in Japan anyone? I know it sounds lame, but just being in this store made us all feel like we were home. It was just as big and just as awesome as we remembered.

Costco even came through with providing their fantastic food court. The hot dogs and pizza were all at their usual low low prices and we couldn't have been happier. Although, in this picture I've captured the look that Peter has on his face every time he is in a large crowd. He really hates them. Nobody bothered to tell us that Costco is a madhouse on holidays. No joke, there were at least 3,000 people in that store. It was driving us all bananas. But honestly, even if we would have known it was going to be crazy, we still would have gone. Peter and I scored some refried beans, good American cheese, Nature's Valley granola bars, and a big bag of chocolate covered pretzels for Peter's birthday present (their his favorite).

Even though it was raining really hard and he had just had a Costco hot dog and churro, Peter had to get a slice of pizza for the road. I know it sounds gross, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We were never going to be back at Costco in Japan again, so he had to go for all the marbles. Sure we all looked like absurdly strange foreigners running through the rain, Peter with his pizza and our friend Heath with a box of a dozen glazed donuts, but that is what you have to put up with in order to feel normal in this country every once in awhile.

At the end of the day, we all sat down to an all you can eat dessert buffet. This place was truly amazing. There had to have been at least thirty things you could choose from. Needless to say, it was a really nice way to finish our trip. We thought an idea like this would be great in the States, but then we realized that the US wrote the book on all you can eat buffets and probably already has something like this or better. If you ever find one, we would suggest jumping on the fan wagon.

PS - This is a Peter blog and was not actually written by Lacy. Peter likes to do that.

-Lacy

You Say It's Your Birthday

2010-02-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

Top 5 reasons I love Peter to death:

1. His love of great country music.

2. He will always eat the food I make even if it tastes nothing like what it was supposed to. Tonight it was the zucchini bread. He also likes to bake with me.

3. He will offer to pluck my eyebrows when they get out of control. It's probably only because he is embarrassed of me, but I love it anyway.

4. He is amazing at everything he does. Sports, school, his work; I really admire him.

5. He can grow a very handsome beard.

Happy Birthday Peter, I love you so much!

PS - Peter got an acceptance letter today from the University of Denver, along with a $20,000 scholarship if he decides to go there.

PPS - This is a recent picture of him that was taken right after he took his first bite of genuine Kobe beef during our trip to Kobe, Japan last week. I love it!

Shangri-La

2010-02-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

The Kingdom of Angkor.... here it is. We have so many pictures it was really hard to decide which ones to put on the blog. Unfortunately I was also really disappointed with how a lot of them actually looked after I posted them. For some reason they looked really washed out. This first photo is the famous Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was an early wake-up and a long wait, but well worth the effort.

It was by far one of the most amazing temples due to the size and detail of the place. We were blown away with the carvings on the walls of all the temples. Literally all the walls were engraved with pictures and stories of ancient history.

We explored Angkor Wat for about 2 hours it was so huge. It has many buildings and they let you climb all over it, which made things very interesting. Many countries from around the world have decided to help with the restoration of certain temples. So many of the temples were under construction while we were exploring them which was a little frustrating when trying to get pictures. I had to be careful to avoid scaffolding.

This is the entry way through a wall that surrounds a large section of the city. I always thought that that was the face of Buddha but it is actually the face of the King.

The king had his face all over this temple, the Bayon. I think we counted about 50.

So many elephants, this is called the parade of elephants.

Some of the steps got too tiny and steep (and were covered in a fine dust) I didn't dare go up this one after our tuktuk driver told us a man from Korea fell last week and had to be air lifted to the hospital. For those of you who remember the Mooney Falls episode I had, remember I do not do well with heights.

The Silk Wood trees were my favorite they really add to the mystique of the temples. We felt like Indiana Jones.

Isn't it amazing how large these trees have grown since the city has fallen?

I wish these pictures didn't get so small and washed out this picture is beautiful. My blog doesn't do it justice.

Another favorite spot.

Peter really wanted to try a coconut because everyone said that they were delicious. So we decided we need to try one and thats when we found out coconut juice is terrible. I had to throw it out of the tuktuk because neither one of us was willing to drink it and it was splashing everywhere, they hold a lot of juice.

This was a door way.

This sight was amazing. Although it was extremely far away, required a long hike and led to an interesting argument with our tuk tuk driver it was worth the effort. The river was engraved with religious symbols for ritual purposes.

"I ain't lyin' , it's the Bayon." Peter was really wanting that to post his new catch phrase. Don't tell him but I don't think its that funny. Cambodia was our favorite part of the trip we have so many stories and details about the temples that I was not willing to write out. I really just wanted everyone to see the pictures and get an idea of the adventures that we had. I am sure Peter will go back and edit my post and input information about all the temples.

Mekong Delta Mama Blues

2010-01-23T04:59:00.000-08:00

Immediately after arriving in Vietnam at the Siagon airport Peter and I knew Vietnam was going to be a difficult leg of our adventure. While at the Visa station they gave us an incorrect currency exchange, from yen to dollars. So Peter was already in a bad mood, then we tried to pull cash out of our bank account containing most of our money to use on this trip, and it didn't work. Come to find out our bank card had expired 1 month before our trip (the one thing we forgot to check). This made for a very interesting trip. Finally, while trying to catch a taxi we found out that Vietnam is a very aggressive and sassy country. Nobody would cut us a break. They all wanted to overcharge us for their services. We had only been in the country for 2 hours but we were already exhausted.

Our first day out was spent exploring the Cu Chi tunnels. This is me getting into one of their entrances. As you can see, it was extremely small. I was the only one brave enough to do it.

Although, you can't really see how small these tunnels are they are super tiny, you had to squat to walk through. They have even been enlarged to allow us oversized westerners to crawl through them. Unfortunately, due to my fear of small spaces and some really strong B.O. coming from the couple in front of us Peter and I weren't able to make it all the way through the tunnel. These tunnels were used by the Vietcong to hide from the American soldiers. It was a very difficult place to visit being the only Americans on our tour and having a tour guide that openly hated Americans. But we love America and held our hands high when our tour guide asked, "Are there any Americans here today?"

After an extremely disturbing stop at the Vietnam War Museum (Seriously, I really don't even like talking about it. I thought that it was terrible and completely biased) we took a ride on a couple of cyclos. I was really enjoying being among the chaos of the streets of Siagon, but Peter was very suspicious about his driver (notice the furrowed brow). That guy ended up short changing Peter by giving him back 4000 dong instead of the 40,000 dong he owed him. It's really the difference of like 2 dollars, but that's not the point.

The streets of Siagon are out of control. They say there are 10 million people in Siagon and 8 million motorcycles. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but the number of motorcycles was blowing our minds. Crossing the street would just about give anyone a heart attack. No one ever stops. You just have to throw caution to the wind and walk while the motorcycle swerve around you. You would see 5 or 6 people on one scooter (i.e. a dad driving, a mom behind him with an infant in her arms, a toddler in very front standing between the dads legs, a child pinched between the mom and dad and quite possibly another child behind the mom holding a dog.

Ever seen a cock fight? We have. Don't worry it wasn't to the death, but it sure was strange.

While on our tour of the Mekong Delta we stopped by a couple island villages. This one is big on raising snakes to eat and make into cute wallets or snake skin boots.

Peter is the cutest. Just look at that beard. Isn't it beautiful? This photo was taken while riding from island to island on long boats. I now understand why these hats are worn all throughout Asia. They are extremely functional.

Vietnam's love of Ho Chi Minh was out of control. Doesn't he kinda look like C3PO in this photo?

We were able to visit a floating market. The kids are extremely cute, but their parents use them as a marketing tool to lure foreigners in. And, of course, our sympathies made us all buy at least one bushel of bananas from them.

Better late than never on the vacation posts I will try and get the Cambodia section up soon.

To Live Is To Fly

2010-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Even at 4 o'clock in the morning, the only word that could describe Lacy's feelings about leaving Japan on our big vacation was "jazzed". Notice the hand.

This was our first day in Bangkok. All we had with us was our travel guide and our backpacks. Like any other first-timers, we made our way to Khao San Rd. where we found a decent enough guesthouse to stay in and a melting pot of international travelers. With street venders taking up every inch of the sidewalk, it felt a bit crowded; but the spread of cheap pad thai, fresh fruit, and excellent turkish kabobs made Khao San Rd. a Dangerford favorite.

Getting lost was something that happened a lot, but no matter where we got lost there was always something amazing to see ... or eat. This is just one of the great neighborhoods that we stumbled upon while wondering around. I loved how colorful it was and the big trees.

Had we thoroughly read through Lonely Planet we would have known how to better deal with tuk tuk (kind of like a taxi) drivers. Unfortunately, we believed the man that told us Chinatown was closed until 11 am and let him take us all over town. After the tailor shop he did take us to "the giant buddha" which was neat.

Unlucky for me, that unfortunate experience with the tuktuk driver made Peter ridiculously paranoid that everyone was trying to screw him over. He was very hesitant the rest of the trip to trust anyone (sometimes it was a good thing).

We finally made it to Chinatown and realized how foolish we were to believe that it was closed. Its a town! I think we were just a little overwhelmed and probably a little tired. The first night we spent in Bangkok they had fireworks going on literally right above our hostel till 3am, it was shaking the building.

Here is a picture of a tuktuk. When the owner of this vehicle saw me taking a picture of it he proceeded to tell us that the license plate for his tuktuk cost 100,000,000 baht (thai currency). Converted into dollars that is over 3 million dollars. I think he wanted me to pay him for taking the picture.

The next day in Bangkok we set out to find the Grand Palace, again we were told "it's closed for... eating and praying things." We decided to check it out for ourselves and found that it was open.

The entire palace is covered in gold.

Sorry for taking so long to post about our trip we have been pretty busy. Part 2 "The Depths Of The Cuchi Tunnels" will hopefully be up soon.

Christmas Came Early This Year

2009-12-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

After much anticipation the Dangerfords are leaving on our Christmas vacation to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. We are thrilled to get a little distance between us and Japan and to see more of the world. Thanks so much Shanna and Kyile for all your help and advice. We would be lost without you, this being our first (and defiantly not our last) backpacking adventure.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love you!

-The Dangerford

Super Lungs

2009-11-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

Since being left by ourselves to explore Japan, we have been a little lazy. Peter is busy working on his graduate school applications. However, we have found a little time to relax and play. Here we are on our bicycle. In Japan boys ride their girl friends around on the back of there bicycle, I always think its super cute.

We found a yakiniku restaurant close to our house. We were very excited because its our favorite food in Japan, really the only food I like in Japan. Who doesn't like grilled meat.

This is our new sandwich shop. Its amazing we can get a sandwich that tastes like America and doesn't have a fish, seaweed or teriyaki flavor. They even gave us an olive and pickle, my first in 6 months.

While Peter has been working on his applications I have had to keep myself busy. This is proving very difficult due my clingy nature these days. But thanks to Courtney and Chris I have inherited an oven and a sewing machine. This is a picture of my $12 pumpkin bread.

The Dangerfords have a deep love of anatomy. So I decided to make myself a cadaver sweater. Kidneys are in the works.

Now its time to make some Christmas crafts!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

These kids made the cut, they were my favorite of the day. Except these first two but I just had to tell you that the chica on the left thinks I am ultra scary and won't come to my class alone.

Enjoy!

Oh Lacy!

2009-10-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few reasons

why I love my wife...

Her irrational fear of Ostriches

Her sassy attitude

Her strong inclination to be a vagrant

Her underwater sense of humor

And, of course, her uncanny ability to hide behind trees

Like I said...

These are only a few reasons why

Lacy Dangerford

is the love of my life

We live the life we love and love the life we live.

2009-10-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

I am about a week behind on my blogging but have vowed to pick up the pace. So, here are some pictures from our adventure last weekend.

I think Courtney and I found four different locations to test out these springy-animals. They were everywhere in and around the island of Shodoshima, which is where we went kayaking. This one, oddly enough, was on the ferry that we took out to the island. It only made the ride that much better.

We have decided to pick up kayaking when we return home to America. Moving to Montana for the summer and kayaking on Lake McDonald (as long as our plans work out, and I am confident that they will) would be an ideal situation.

How can you not love that face?

Chris lost his wedding ring while playing in the water, so the boys went diving for it. After about 30 minutes our guide became intrigued by what they were doing and asked what they were looking for. He then jumped into the water and immediately pulled up the ring. It was bizarre.

It was an amazing day to be out on the water.

I am really trying to get Peter into more tank tops these days. Granted, he is only wearing a life jacket, but I love this look.

Taco rice anyone? Mexican food is unheard of in Japan, but due to Chris' food allergies our guide bailed on his original fish idea and cooked a real mexican feast. It was wild, our kayaks were packed with all this cooking material and we didn't even know it. Taco rice is basically a burrito without the tortilla and it was amazing. He even had salsa, which was a huge surprise. And it wasn't the salsa you get out of a jar either, this guy makes his own salsa. It was delicious and we were very impressed, to say the least.

This is us on the ferry home. We were really tired.

Our Mother the Mountain

2009-10-10T00:14:00.000-07:00

We know we have shown you a lot of rafting pictures but our latest rafting voyage was by moonlight. We got on the river around ten and finished around two in the morning. The water was low and the experience was cathartic. Period.

It's taken us 5 months but we finally got to Mt. Ishizuchi, the tallest peak on Shikoku. Taking the ropeway half way up the mountain to begin our hike was beautiful. The fog was so thick we couldn't see where we were going or where we had come from.

I look happy here but like at Moony Falls in Havasupi by the time I had reached my destination I was sweaty and angry. Watching little old ladies (weighing no more than 85 lbs or 38.5 kg) climb these "God Chains" only made us feel worse. I hate heights.

Peter at our stopping point for the day. Due to time constraints we couldn't reach the real peak. No one was really up for a full day anyway, due to our late night rafting, "God Chains", and the stairs (they felt endless).

Peter is finally starting to use the camera. Its nice getting pictures of myself once in awhile. I am easily the cuter one in this relationship.

Isn't this a great view? The picture doesn't show the half of it.

I love you Peter!

I definitely think you are the cuter one in this relationship.

PS- We will miss you Chris and Courtney! It's been a good ride.

Let's Go Away For Awhile

2009-09-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

Our most recent adventure in Japan was by far the most memorable to date. We rode 45 miles on bikes from Shikoku to Hiroshima across a series of beautiful islands and large expansion bridges. And all we took with us was a change of clothes, a tent, and woobie.

Here are Peter and Chris. They may be smiling in the picture, but thanks to some really uncomfortable bikes everyone's butt fell off soon after mile 5.

Luckily we were able to find our butts at this nice rest stop.

Even though our booties were really sore (and we mean really sore), the bike ride was actually really fun. Peter and I were able to stay in high spirits the entire time. Honestly we were on the road for 12 hours. By the time it was all over, we were zonked.

Hoboin' ain't easy.

Peter is now an adventurer.

I never believed he could go so many days without a shower and prepared meals. So, everyone needs to send all future mail to Adv. Peter Dangerfield.

This is the photo shoot location of Chris and Peter's up coming comic book. Details coming soon!

You know how sometimes they say you look just like you feel.

Here is one of the many famous pagodas in Japan.

In Miyajima, the second stop on our trip, deer roamed the town like pigeons in New York. Paper was only one of the many odd things that we saw the deer eating. Chicken, plastic, wooden sticks, clothing and butts (seriously) to name a few.

One of the most visited sights in Japan is the Itsukushima Jinja Shrine, also known as the "Floating Torii".

At low tide you can actually walk out to the torii. Because we spent the whole day there we were able to see the torii at high tide, low tide and at night.

All we are saying, is give it a chance.

Even though it was raining on us while we were looking at the paper crane display, it was still inspiring.

A-Bomb Dome. Hiroshima.

The only building left after the dropping of the atomic bomb.

We were blown away by seeing pictures and models of what the bomb actually did to the city. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum was eye opening.

Peter was bugged by how many times I rang the peace bell. There was a line, but I wanted this picture and I really love peace.

Eating at Subway may seem like nothing, but finding a good sandwich in Japan is next to impossible.

In all honesty, this trip felt cursed in some way. Nothing seemed to go right. Needless to say, we weren't too surprised when it started raining while we were at the Peace Park. Thank heavens for the 100 yen store and its cheap ponchos.

Due to the rain, we had to cancel the bike ride home and hopped on a Shinkansen Bullet Train home.

Sure, a lot of things went wrong...

Bad Bikes

Sore Butts

Expensive Water

Missed Ferries

Japanese Food

No Blanket and Only One Pillow

Everything Shutting Down at 5:30

Bad Walking Shoes

No Banks

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Not Speaking Japanese

Being Socially and Racially Profiled By Most People

Lying Hotel Managers

Indecisiveness

But trips are always more memorable when things go wrong.

It was great.

Our Quest to Kompirasan

2009-09-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

While we have shown you pictures of this place before, our second ascent up the 1,400 steps of the Kompirasan shrine in Kotohira, Japan was nothing short of epic. For on this day a deep-rooted rivalry finally came to a head in a fantastic display of martial arts (in a fighting style similar to that of Street Fighter 2), minds were melted by the infamous Kompirasan "Mirror of Confusion" (similar to any mirror found in a fun house), and two young lovers were united in a passionate, yet refined, kiss atop this holy mountain as the Japanese sun slowly sank into the western sky.

On any other day Peter "Ryu" Dangerfield and Chris "Ken" Thompson would appear to be, at the least, civil co-workers. Some might even goes as far as calling them friends. However, on this hot day in Kotohira, a tenacious battle was fought for alpha male supremacy at the Kompirasan shrine. This photo is just a small taste of the incredible event, but if you look close enough you can see the word "Hoduken!" coming out of Peter's mouth.

In all honesty, the panoramic view from the largest lookout point is incredible. As for the expression on Peter's face in this photo, I believe the word "pining" comes to mind. As for Lacy, she simply can't help herself from being fun and innovative with her posing.

These stone blocks may look really cool, but the truth is that they are nothing more than potential billboards. No, seriously, it's true. They can be purchased by anyone who is willing to fork over a ridiculous amount of donation money to the shrine. Neither of the Dangerfords actually speak (or read) Japanese, but we have been told that some of these cool looking stones will have company names on them. Kind of like when people donate money and get there names engraved on a brick in America, but on a much larger scale. We don't know about you, but we find it a little bizarre.

Is your mind melted yet, or are you just shocked by how much this mirror emphasizes Peter's receding hairline? It was strange, mirrors like this are somewhat a dime a dozen, but on this particular day all of us couldn't get enough of the way this mirror was distorting our bodies. Maybe we were all just in the mood for a laugh, but this mirror was absolutely mesmerizing. Kind of like Peter's thinning hair.

Love is free, free is love.

Love is living, living love.

Love is needing to be loved.

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

2009-08-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

While we know that most our posts aren't particularly structured, this one will be even more chaotic because that is exactly how our week (and most of our time in Japan for that matter) has been.

First of all, this is a picture that serves as an excellent representation of any store in Japan. Be it a small shop around the corner or a bigger department store in a mall, it is all fairly chaotic and filled to the max. Indeed, every possible space is occupied by some sort of trinket, snack, dirty comic book, odd imported good, or one of the few standard products that you can find in any Japanese store.

Lets talk Trolls. Honestly, one of the best things that we've seen in Japan since our arrival has been there dedication to the outdated. For example, just yesterday we found the first complete season of Alf in a store that came with a complimentary t-shirt for $130. We then found an array of Rat Fink memorabilia (hats, shirts, posters, action figures, etc.) all selling for no less than $30. And last but not least, we were fortunate to also stumble upon a huge display of Troll Dolls, and when we say Troll Dolls we are not just talking about a few dolls here, we're talking at least 50 different types of Trolls. Sure, you can still find this stuff in America, but here in Japan it's everywhere.

So, we don't know about you, but we never actually knew how rice grows. We would never have assumed that it's similar to wheat from all the pictures of those murky rice patties, but here's the proof. It's just like wheat, except for the fact that it thrives in swampy mush.

Peter just inherited a bike. It's old and it's rusty, kind of like him. We couldn't be more happy to have it. We went for our first bike ride together in our new and fancier city Takamatsu. It was a blast!

This is me. I know I look sleepy, but this is actually what I look like when I am really hungry. I'm just lounging on a bench at our favorite Indian restaurant "Khana Peena", were we've eaten three times in the past two weeks. A little embarrassing, but we'll do anything to avoid the Japanese cuisine and besides, Peter's got me convinced that the owner likes our business.

Finally, we've got to introduce you to someone. Out of the utmost respect and awe we have dubbed him "The Dude". His stomping grounds are our old city, Sakaide, and he will be missed dearly by both members of the Dangerford family. Anyway, after four months and five repeated drives around the same block (in twenty minutes mind you) I, Lacy Dangerford, finally mustered up the courage to capture this man's soul in one and a half photographs.

"The Dude" can be seen at any time of the day wandering the streets of Sakaide with an umbrella and at least one bag in his hands. He will always be wearing this sharp, yet casual, outfit and always looking this cool. Goodbye Dude, you will certainly be missed.

Monkey Mountain Mayhem!

2009-08-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

Our ferry ride to Shodoshima this past weekend was something you can get over really fast here in Japan... everyone wants a picture with Americans. This is one of the many groups of kids that hesitantly approached us in hopes to use some of the English they've learned in school and take our picture while we were relaxing on the ferry.

Of course you have to do the peace sign, right?

Here is the first monkey we saw on Monkey Mountain. His red face really through me for a loop. Honestly, I was buggin' out from the very beginning.

So, it turns out that the monkeys get really wild when you feed them. They are constantly fighting and pinching to get at the food in your hand. This monkey was being particularly rude, which should be clear by the wild look in his eye. Needless to say, I refused to feed him on principle.

This picture was just too cute for me to pass up, even though it took me forever to get a good shot. They warn you not to look the monkeys directly in the eye, and so it becomes pretty hard to get a good photo when your eyes are glued to the ground.

That's Peter inside the cage feeding the monkeys. It seemed pretty bizarre that they had you get in a cage to feed them, but otherwise you were just walking among the monkeys. However, the reasoning behind that became very clear when the monkeys began freaking out about the food. I ended up leaving the cage because they were just too loud and I thought one of them was going to grab my ankles. There are tons of monkeys behind those boards on the ground and they were all fighting with each other. It was seriously nature at its worst.

Once we climbed to the top of Monkey Mountain we decided to hike to this huge Buddhist statue on a trail that was obviously rarely used. We didn't really know what we were doing, but everyone in the group was game and so it turned into a most excellent adventure.

Here is Peter hiking up Monkey Mountain as we began our journey to the statue. Oddly enough the vegetation on the island was different from anything we've seen thus far in Japan. It was strange, it almost had an Arizona feel to it. I loved it.

After a few scrapes and falls in the thick trees we were having to navigate through, we finally made it to the road.

Here are Peter and Kristen looking really tough and tired. We were all very proud of ourselves for conquering that trail.

Once we got to the statue we found out that it is in fact a fully functional shrine and that you are actually able to climb up into it. This is its necklace that we are poking our heads out of. I am not sure we were allowed to open the windows or climb out for that matter, but that is one of the reasons I have refused to learn Japanese. The Japanese are very hesitant to approach foreigners no matter how bizarre our behavior may be. It's a perk.

Meditation is the Dangerford's thing! Japan has really changed us into a new sort of people.

Shelly that last comment was for you I hope you caught it.

Camping in the Canyon!

2009-08-21T03:45:00.000-07:00

So I know these pictures are not in any sort of order but I was just so excited to finally figure out how to post more than four photos that I had to do it. Anyway this is a snippet of our Obon weekend.

This is me trying to steal a bit of Peter's potato, tofu, and unknown gelatin on a stick. Of the three choices I went with the potato, a decision I immediately regretted. And not because the others were better, but rather because the whole thing was sick. Peter wasn't too satisfied with the purchase himself, but he is trying to be more adventurous with the foods he eats. I'm still sticking with what I know. Japanese food grosses me out.

This is a photo of the canyon we camped in.

Thank you Courtney for not forgetting your camera. Camping by the river brought back a flood of Montana memories, the good and the bad. For what it's worth, the scenery was breathtaking.

This is a picture of us up on the so-called "vine bridge" which, I will tell you, is not really a vine bridge but a cleverly disguised cable bridge. We were all a little disappointed by that, but it was still very scary to walk across. For me anyways.

Can you see the fear in my face? I was seriously terrified to be on that bridge. The gaps were so big I promise I could have easily fallen through.

This was a little swimming hole close to where we were camping. The water was so blue and refreshing. It was really nice to get into after everything with Happy Raft was all said and done.

Here is Peter with his grilling face on... you know the furrowed brow, where he kinda looks angry. Rie and Katsumi are next to him eating some dinner after a long day on the river. Rafting seemed like a bit of a shock to both of them, but they were really fun to have around.

Me at an early morning duck feeding. I was later joined by an old man that seemed to do this every morning. The experience as a whole was pretty cathartic. Although I will never know how those ducks were withstanding that current. That river is pretty intense.

More pictures to come of our weekend in Saijo, rafting and canyoneering.

I Get It I'm Out of Shape!

2009-08-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post this really "hot" picture of me after a great run, which I plan on never doing again for the following reasons:

-my shoes give me blisters

-its all up hill

-my "keep me cool" necktie doesn't "keep me cool" long enough

-my running coach is too cute and i get distracted

-all the sidewalks slant towards the road

-i get angry when im hot

and

-i look like this afterwards

A Night In Turns Into A Night Out

2009-08-03T02:35:00.000-07:00

After spending the entire morning, afternoon and evening inside reading, watching Beverly Hills 90210 (the older years), and making egg rolls I needed a treat before we started our bedtime movie, "The Watchmen". So Peter walked me to Circle K, but on our way we were stopped by a big party in the streets of Sakaide of all places. It was wild! Drums were pounding, people were dancing, and of course venders were selling a bunch of crap. If Japan has one thing goign for it it's the great sense of communal unity, there is always a party.

Here is Peter pre-party making delicious egg rolls.

Thank goodness I had already had dinner:( Squid on a stick anyone? I'll take a hot dog please!

The kids catch eels in a shallow tank with a hook on a stick. One kid just shoved his hook through its gills. I got real pukey! Eels kinda scare me too, they are very suspicious looking.

There were about 10 of these float-like things lined up next to each other. I think it was some sort of float battle.

Although our day inside was amazing, getting out is always nice too.

i love you even though your a MONSTER!

2009-07-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

I live with a monster... a sweat monster. His name is Peter. His favorite food is hot dogs and he likes to be sang to sleep. After 2 hours in the non-air conditioned Sakaide Elementary school, Peter looks like this. Its not enough that as he leaves 50 naked five year olds (due to swimming lessons) ambush him with hugs. He has to go home like this. Notice the sweat along the top of his shorts.

I still love you sweat monster!

Yoshino River Rafting Trip

2009-07-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

We went whitewater rafting in the Yoshino river this past weekend and it was, hands down, the greatest day that we have had in Japan to date. The water was perfect, the scenery amazing, and our river guide a New Zealander with a seriously heavy accent. Does it get any better? Needless to say it was an excellent time. We went with some fellow GEM School teachers who we have become fairly fast friends with, Chris & Courtney Thompson and Hans & Suzie Stephensen; and we can proudly say that everyone made sure to bring their "A" game to the river.

One of the most entertaining parts of the trip, however, was not actually on the raft though. Rather, it was the small cliff jumping that we were able to do periodically as we made our way down river. It was nothing too high or spectacular, but they were cliffs that both the Dangerford's could handle with ease. And For those of you who had the frustrating pleasure of witnessing Lacy's hesitancy to jump off the small cliff at Navajo Falls in Havasupai, be sure to congratulate her on the recent jumps that she conquered. Not only were they much higher cliffs, but they were into a pretty fast flowing river. It was a amazing.

Here is Peter jumping off the first cliff in all of his gear, including the borrowed Chuck Taylor's. Cool, Collective, Excellent Form. Peter.

It was agreed among the entire group that although Lacy looked like a small doll jumping into the river, she was the best jumper of the bunch. Little, Confident, Toy Like. Lacy.

This is a picture of us just before we hit some seriously gnarly whitewater. Notice the confidence. "A" game.

In order to cool our jets after the rough water our guide thought it prudent that we all took some time to just relax and float down stream.