This year was my 17th year dancing. Can you believe it?! I've got these dances down, man. They threw 3 new songs at us this year, though, so that kept practices interesting! We went to two practices this week to prepare for tonight!
Putting on a kimono is no simple task. It is quite the process, actually, but my sweet grandmother takes it upon herself every year to iron out our kimonos and then dress us properly. All after feeding us a delicious dinner, of course!
We are so grateful to our sweet granny who does so much for us!
As per tradition, we got some pre-Obon pictures. Someone had a great idea this year to use Grandpa's corn as a backdrop! I love how all these pictures turned out!
After we were all ready, we headed up to the Japanese Buddhist Temple in Salt Lake City. We met up with Auntie Corinne who joined us for her first year!
Also waiting for us there was Kylie's family as well as Bailey's! Bailey took the camera in order to get some dancing pictures of us. Dancing pictures rarely turn out good because we are moving. Plus it was overcast and getting dark, so that make the shutter speed even slower!
For my round fan this year, I used the silk fan I bought in Suzhou!
All of a sudden we started noticing a ton of lightning in the distance! Then the wind picked up....
And then the rain! Oh my gosh it just poured! We had only made it to intermission when we decided to not risk the lives of our $80(!!) fans. In what felt like a hurricane, we rushed back to our car parked in the parking garage.
Sad! We were SO excited for Obon this year, and were disappointed to have to leave early. Especially on the year that Kylie and Bailey's family came too! However, being rained out 1 out of 17 of my Obon years is a pretty good record. And, we did have fun for the first half! It's such a gorgeous festival with all of the bright colors and lit up lanterns! The Obon Festival is a festival to honor our ancestors, which makes it extra special.
We weren't ready for the night to end so we went over to the Salt Lake Roasting Company for some lime Italian sodas! Going to the SLRC is an old tradition of ours. We used to go every year until they changed their hours three years ago! Now we can never make it in time before closing. Unless we get rained out during intermission, of course.
There I was able to get a picture with my handsome Bailey. I think he looks so cute in the happi coat!
We then returned our traditional clothes to Grandma and headed home for the evening. Overall it was a fun and enjoyable night!
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