Surprise package From Japan

What a wonderful surprise! We received a gift package from Japan and it was full of the most delightful treasures!  Don opened the box carefully in case a giant snake might jump out at him.

But there was no snake, thank goodness, there were delicious treats and toys!

Here are just a few of the exciting treats we received from our friends in Tokyo: Hajime, Naomi, Atsushi and Miki.

And best of all, all the treats were wheat and gluten free, so Don could enjoy them! The ones below were so rich and creamy - they just dissolved in your mouth!

These were crunchy:

This is the Japanese version of the gum drop, but their fruit flavors really taste like fruit and each drop is carefully molded into a tiny little fruit shape.

The rice crackers below were Don's favorite. They have a little bite to them and we think they are seasoned with persimmon seed. They came in a beautiful tin.

And these were my favorite. The Japanese make all kinds of wonderful sugared beans. These are fava beans that were absolutely delectable!

Here is a picture of the contents of the box. Some of the treats weren't edible, like the very useful back scratcher and the bamboo foot massager! The massager works really great! We also got an antenna pen and some white out (which I never have enough of around here!). I wonder if my friends got tired of seeing all my words that were scratched out in my cards to them! (smile).

The absolute best part of the package, though, was not useful or tasty, because it fed the soul. It was art. Our friends Hajime and Naomi had produced beautiful drawings for us.

This one from Naomi had a thank you message written in English.

Hajime's was a gorgeous seascape with fish and a really impressive eel.

Unfortunately the camera did not pick up the fineness of the details. Here is a closer shot, so you can see the eel and sea urchin a bit better.

On the back of Naomi's thank you note, she drew a lovely portrait of Don and me. She also appears showing us her expertise in ballet.

The place of honor in every American home is well known to parents. Our new pictures now greet us everyday where we can see them and have happy memories of our visit with our wonderful friends.