I forgot to post the pictures of Ian Y. coming home for those who didn’t get our initial email.  Here are the kids waiting at the arrival gate — doing their best version of the jig in anticipation:

In our arms — thanks to Shirley who brought him up from Okinawa, and only had 5 minutes before she had to get back on a flight to take her back.

Owen’s first night with his little brother in his room — we have somehow managed to fit a pack-n-play into his room and they both are enjoying the company.

Update on fellowship of the Unashamed (see post below):  I am reading this every day.  This morning, I am struck by one simple phrase:  “my Guide reliable.”  There have been several hard/challenging events the past day or so that have driven me back to my Savior.  He has reminded me that I am safe in His arms;  I can trust Him.

It’s been a very full almost- two weeks since coming back from Hawaii… It was walking out of the airport into the parking lot that Owen said, “Wow, Santa brought us the best present EVER!”   And then, “I think God did too!”  There’s nothing like a new baby brother– we won’t try and top this one.

Through a lot of unusual circumstances and God’s clear leading, our foster baby Y.-kun is now our son, being adopted into our family.  His home-coming has been met with great joy by our family as well as our community.  Our across-the-street neighbor, who has offered to babysit anytime:

Our next-door neighbor, celebrating coming of age day and looking so beautiful.  (I was so scared that he would spit up on that kimono!):

We loved springing the exciting news on Keishi, one of our ministry partners — he laughed for a while!

During the first week, we tried out different name ideas on our Japanese friends.  We really wanted to find a name that 1) “works” in our Japanese context, particularly since he will likely go to Japanese schools like his older siblings; 2) fits with his siblings’ names;  3) has a meaning that fits.  Most of the names that we initially liked just weren’t working in Japanese!

Then, I shared the story of Y. coming back with our ladies’ English class.  (Email me if you’d like the whole story).  I got to the end of the sotry, and one of the women in the class, with tears in her eyes, said, “you should name him something that means ‘gift from God.’ ”

Her words stayed with us, and focused  our search.  Thus this week, we  decided to name our 4 month old  son, Ian Y–.  Ian means “gift from God”;  Y–, his name given at birth, means gentle or kind.  Little Ian makes more laundry and keeps our arms fuller; but this special gift from God brings boundless joy already to so many!

In my devotions this morning I read a profound  note that had been found on the desk of a young pastor who lived in my birthplace, Zimbabwe.  It was found after he had been martyred for his faith in 1990.  I keep reading it over and over, my eyes, and heart, stopping at different places.  My own challenge is to read this daily for a few weeks and let its truths take hold of my life.  This is what it’s all about.  More than other New Year’s resolutions or hopes or dreams — this is REAL LIFE and all I want for mine.

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed.   I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made– I’m a disciple of His.   I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.  My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking,  smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized,  praised,  rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few,  my Guide  reliable, my mission is clear.  I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.  I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He  comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me… my banner will be clear!

(Quoted in Brennan Manning’s the Signature of Jesus; and Catherine Martin, Pilgrimage of the Heart)

The second paragraph gets me every time.  What gets you the most?  Each time I read this paragraph, a different word catches me and makes me thank God that His Spirit is still at work in my life — I pray that never changes.  This Zimbabwean prays that God continues to give me a heart like the writer of this letter –the young pastor whose banner rose high, who was so quickly recognized  by His Savior and ushered into the loving Presence of Jesus.

Here is our top ten list from our recent twelve days in Hawaii:

10.  Having two Christmases!  Our kids jaws hit the floor when the saw the Christmas tree surrounded by so many gifts.  Christmas Eve — when Eric’s family opens gifts — was chaotic and fun as sixteen family members gathered in the living room to open gifts.

9.  Special gifts!  Annie and Olivia loved their “MyTwinn Dolls” from Grandma and Grandpa:

Owen and his cousins went around the house with the nerf guns (my favorite was the glasses that came with it):

Tina, our sister-in-law- gave us the most amazing present for Owen and Annie.  Over the past year, she has worked hard and beautifully to make them scrapbooks that cover the first year of their lives.  I knew I would never get to it — this was a gift that will last forever!

We loved the new waterproof, shockproof Canon camera that Eric’s family gave us –finally a camera for our family!   Look at these amazing photos:

Even the non-water photos had beautiful color — this one was taken by Owen at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

8.  Sharing about our ministry two different weeks at West Oahu Christian Church.  We made a new video (woohoo!) — coming soon to a blog or website near you.  It was a really good process to think through what we want to share and to put it into a video and into a message that we could share with people who really care about our ministry.

7.  Time at the beach — even the grumpiest person would become happy by being with our kids when they get to go to the beach.

6.  The food!  I’ve learned that there’s no shortage of delicious meat when eating with Eric’s family… New Year’s Eve was an amazing spread of food that provided leftovers for the next few days.

5.  New Year’s Eve fireworks — I don’t think our kids have ever stayed up until 12:30 — but they did this year as they joined the rest of Hawaii in smoking up the skies with the most amazing assortment of pyrotechnics.

(Can you believe how big those boxes are?  Costco Hawaii sold these…)

4.  Watching Eric work REALLY hard all week with help from some family on a challenging undertaking… and finishing it finally on Saturday night:

3.  Being with and praying with Auntie Noriko and Uncle Dennis.   They are close family friends;  Auntie is struggling through cancer with much courage and hope.

2.    Getting in some fun reading.

a) My favorite vacation magazine “O” (true confessions!) – two good things I gleaned:  a) Michael Pollan who said he never buys anything from the grocery store with more than 5 ingredients in it (what a novel concept!):  “My mantra is seven words:  Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.” ;  b) baby steps for New Year’s resolutions — maybe i’ll blog about this one later.

b)  Organic Church by Neil Cole.  My favorite quote (you’ll hear it again in our new video):  “If you want to win this world for Christ, you are going to have to sit in the smoking section.”

c)  My first Jan Karon novel — her new series, Home to Holly Springs – the main character quotes Chesterton:  “There are no words to express the abyss between isiolation and having one ally.  It may be conceded to the mathematician that four is twice two.  But two is not twice one;  two is two thousand times one.”

LOVE this quote.  Who in my life needs an ally right now?

1.  Being with family — it doesn’t happen enough, and it’s been so fun for our kids to get closer to their aunties, uncles, and cousins who live far from us.

We leave on Thursday and get back to Japan Friday night (we lose a day).  We pray that all of us are ready to return to Japan and all that the Lord has for us this New Year .

Olivia and I went on a whirlwind six-day trip to Los Angeles to attend our dear friend Laura’s wedding.  I felt absolutely sick after the wedding when I thought I had downloaded my photos, went ahead and deleted them, then discovered that they really hadn’t downloaded yet.  UGGHH.  I had so wanted these photos to show family and friends the amazing experience we had just had at Laura and Ryan’s wedding.

Today, thanks to a tip from our friend Peter, I found a download that for a sweet price allowed me to find the deleted pictures!  You don’t have to be on CSI to do it- if you have a credit card anyone can.  Some of the photos had already been written over, but I was so happy to get some of the pictures, and Olivia watched the photo slide show over and over and over again….

Olivia loved being with Laura in her wedding!  I was nervous about whether she would pull off the flower girl thing, but she loved her dress, her snazzy boots, and being with all the girls.  And I loved watching Olivia, but even more, watching Laura.  She was an amazing bride.

I loved that each bridesmaid picked her own champagne-colored dress – and they all had matching high boots!  Olivia loved her shiny brown patent boots…

This was the most intimate wedding I’ve ever been to — even with 220 people!  It was also the wettest wedding I’ve ever attended.  It started pouring — pouring!! – about thirty minutes before the ceremony.  Even still, Laura and the girls took their photos outside, before the wedding began, and no one really minded getting wet.

The ceremony was supposed to be on a remote beach in northern Santa Barbara, but as the rain poured down it got moved to the nearby reception site — a wonderful, rustic barn that held us in and the water (mostly) out.

The ceremony started with a few hiccups as everyone made the quick adjustment to having it indoors.  Olivia, Laura and the birdesmaids all waited inside Laura’s car, parked outside the barn door, to make their grand entrances.

Olivia was MOST excited that she got to walk down the aisle with Tucker — Ryan’s yellow lab.

She managed to stand still, up front with the groomsmen, through the whole ceremony.  I was amazed.  I think we need to see if Tucker can start coming to church with us…

Here are a few ceremony and after shots.  Laura’s mom Barbara looked amazing!  Our good friend Jack — Laura’s dad — led the ceremony, which was so great.

Olivia didn’t mind having some of Ryan’s military friends take individuals photos with her…

But she DID mind being told that it was time to come in from out of the rain and go to the reception…

Olivia and “Uncle Jack”:

You can find the REAL photos from the wedding at Braedon’sBlog.com and also a special feature at OnceWed.com. (Look for Laura and Ryan).  Amazing, amazing pictures.  I think what I love is that they capture the joy of Laura and Ryan, and their ability to take the dampness of rain on your wedding day and turn it into a thing of beauty.  Because they didn’t mind getting a little (or a lot) wet; no one else seemed to either.  I watched Laura glide through her photos with an umbrella and realized what a great life lesson she was teaching me — it really is a choice.  You can choose how you are going to respond to the disappointing and hard things in life.  Her pictures will forever show how she chose to respond on the most important day of her life.  We may or may not have photos to show how we respond on those less-important days, but it still matters.  OK, Olivia — go play in the puddles with those new boots!

On Sunday we celebrated Owen’s birthday — one week early.  Tomorrow, Olivia and I are flying to L.A for a short, five day trip to participate in our friend Laura A.’s wedding (Olivia will premier as a flower girl).  It is also an important trip because upon entrance into LAX we will go through special immigration so that Olivia can become a U.S. citizen.  (Please pray for us as we make this short trip, and especially for Eric as he stays back with Owen, Annie, and Y.!).

Owen wanted to have a Super Mario Brothers theme (if you don’t know who Mario is, like I didn’t until a year or so ago, ask any boy 5 years or older!)… He was SO SO excited!  Two hours before the party he made signs all over the house (in Japanese) with labels for each room.  (Below:  toy room;  kitchen)

The highlight for the kids was the surprise Mario pinata!  This was a first for all of us in Japan- and a great delight.

Imagine our surprise a little while later when Mario and Luigi came waltzing in!  (our dear friends, Mr. and Mrs. I — who are like our children’s Japanese grandparents).

Then, there was little Mario….

We had a fun taco soup dinner…

and then it was cake time!  With Eric’s help I made a Super Mario cake, surrounded by “mushroom” cupcakes.

It was so great to celebrate Owen.  We’ve been proud of how hard he has worked at school and learning Japanese language, writing, culture, stories, etc.  Even though he is still behind his classmates in reading and writing, he has a cheerful spirit and continues to improve.  Pray for him, and for us as we spend a lot of time in homework and helping him move forward.

Having little children greatly aids in the continued mystery and joy that Advent brings.  Each new decoration that has gone up over the past week has gotten supreme praise from Olivia:  “Oh! Mommy!  That red ball on the tree is BEAUUUUUUTIFUL!”  It makes me feel like Martha Stewart is doing the decorating and temporarily allows me to forget that Martha would not be surrounded by baskets of unsorted laundry…

Last year a special gift allowed us to purchase an Advent house while we were back in the U.S. For years I had wanted some kind of calendar that could help the children anticipate Christmas with a daily ritual — we were thrilled to get this one on sale and bring it back!

It has 25 little doors around the four sides.  Thanks to a wonderful idea and resource from our friend Kristin, we have been putting a personalized bible verse in the door of the day – one for each child.  The verses are special promises from Scripture that have the children’s own name in it.  For example, here are a few of Owen’s recent verses:

December 2:  ““Dear Lord, I pray that Owen will trust you with all his heart, and not depend on his own understanding.   May Owen seek your will in all that he does, and allow You to direct his paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

December 3:  “I pray that Owen’s identity may be firmly rooted and established in Christ’s love and that he may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide, and long, and high, and deep, is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, and that he may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:17-19

December 4:  “No matter what plans I may desire for Owen, or that he may have for himself, let your purpose prevail in his life.” Proverbs 19:21

Each day the children find their verse for that day behind the door that is the date, and then they also find another small surprise hidden randomly behind a different door.  We read the verse together, and then pray for it to be true in their lives.  Even though some of these verses are a bit difficult to understand, it has been neat to try and explain it and then pray it over them and with them.  (If you’d like the document with the verses on it to alter for your own family, I’d be happy to email it to you).  I hope this is a tradition to last for many years!

This season our friend Mary is teaching a 3-week Christmas English bible class on the meaning of Christmas.  It is many of my former and present housewife students.  On Wednesday I went as the craft teacher, and had fun this year pulling together a craft that a) was simple enough to do in 45 minutes;  and b) could liven up their homes with Christmas spirit (but c) would probably never make it into the Martha Stewart show).

We made jigsaw puzzle Christmas crafts!  I made ahead of time a sample wreath and Christmas tree:

Most of the ladies chose to make Christmas trees — here is one completed:

Our  close friend and neighbor Naoko actually took  her daughter out of school that day to come and participate:

It was a fun project — I’m hoping to have our kids make their own for gifts this weekend.

Without doubt the most wonderful Advent gift came after the Christmas craft — I went to lunch with Naoko and another friend from our church.  We talked through lunch about marriage — each of us sharing challenges and victories.  And we began to talk about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.  Naoko and several friends and I did a number of informal bible studies together, and many different Christians have spoken into her life.  On this day, the third day of Advent (at least as the Takamotos are counting Advent!); Naoko decided to begin an eternal relationship with the Wonderful Counselor.  Christmas has come early to our home!

While many of you are frantically trying to defrost the still-partly-frozen turkey or searching for that favorite pie recipe, we are two-days full on leftovers and trying to find creative ways to remake turkey.  We celebrated Thanksgiving here in Japan on Monday, which is a national holiday and a more natural time for missionaries and expats to celebrate one of my favorite days of the year.

This year we had Thanksgiving at our home, with eighteen friends and family in attendance.  It was a really special day.  We loved having our friend Megumi — she’s really part of our family! –who came down from Tokyo for three nights with 3 of her great friends from the U.S.– Jeff, Christie and Micah.

Micah and Christie (photo directly above) are photographers, and took some fantastic family portraits.  Here are just a few to whet your appetite for cards/newsletters to come.  (Look at their great blog at:  micahgilmore.com)

Monday afternoon friends came over after one for appetizers, and then we all went down to a park below our home.  At my stubborn insistence the last few years, the plan was to play football with everyone.  But with a number of back injuries it was wisely suggested that we switch to kickball- and a great time was had by all!  We humorously created appropriate Thanksgiving teams — the Pilgrims versus the Indians.  No offense, please– but we had just about the number of whiteys and darker, Japanese ethnicity players to divide up evenly.  Although the Indians were winning most of the game, in the end the Pilgrims ruled….

The highlight of Thanksgiving for many of us who have now celebrated six Thanksgivings together in Sanda is our thankful tree.  It started initially with everyone writing on a cut-out leaf what they are thankful for, and hanging it across the room on a string.  It has now become our Thanksgiving tree; in which all the participants each year add a leaf (that is later laminated).  Look at how our tree is growing!

There are several other thanksgiving recipes too that have helped create traditions for us in Japan on Thanksgiving.  I wanted to share a few in case you’re looking for something new…

Yummy Crab Wontons

(This is a Sue/Eric original– the inside of the wontons is basically from a recipe my mom used to make for a warm crab dip)

Mix together:

• 1 package cream cheese
• 1 can crab meat
• about 1/2 teaspoon or so of horseradish sauce
• 3 TB milk
• salt; pepper to taste

Spoon about 1 Tablespoon into a wonton wrapper;  using water on your fingertip fold up wrapper into triangle shape, making sure it is closed well.

Deep fry wontons;  serve warm with sweet chile sauce.

CORN PUDDING (with a sweet top!)  (from allrecipes.com; adapted slightly)

I love making this Corn pudding in our crockpot (our ovens will only fit one medium-size turkey in it so we have to find creative ways to cook/heat the other dishes– rice cookers work great to keep the mashed potatoes/stuffing warm!)

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, flour, baking powder and sugar. Add corn and pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes.
3. In a small sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, water and flour. Cook until clear. Once corn mixture is cooked, remove from oven, pour butter and sugar mixture over top and serve.

(NOTE:  I do it in the crockpot– Double the recipe;  put all of #2 ingredients in the crockpot, cook for about 2-3 hours on high; the last hour add ingredients of #3 after it has cooked clear and cook for 30-60 minutes in the crockpot).

I always make a cheesecake of some kind.  This year since someone else was bringing pumpkin pies I made a new one– it was a pretty awesome recipe– Cheesecake Factory’s White Chocoloate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake.  (Except we couldn’t get raspberry preserves so I used blueberry/cranberry preserves, which tasted good and added to the November spirit).

Here’s the recipe (from creativehomemaking.com)

White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs or 20 crumbled Oreo cookies (filling removed)
1/3 cup margarine, melted

Filling:

1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/4 cup water
4 8-ounce pkgs. cream cheese
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Optional Garnish:

2 ounces shaved white chocolate
whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large pan or oven-safe skillet filled with about 1/2-inch of water into the oven while it preheats. This will be your water bath.

2. Combine the raspberry preserves with 1/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 1/2 minutes on high in your microwave. Stir until smooth. Strain to remove the raspberry seeds (toss ’em out), then let the strained preserves sit to cool, then put the bowl in the refrigerator until later.

3. Measure 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (or crush 20 Oreo cookie wafers — with the filling scraped out — in a resealable plastic bag) into a medium bowl. Mix in 1/3 cup melted margarine. Press the crumb into a 9-inch spring form pan that has been lined on the bottom and side with parchment paper. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumb mixture flat into the bottom of the pan and about 2/3 the way up the side. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath. Put the crust in your freezer until the filling is done.

4. Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs.

5. Remove the crust from the freezer and sprinkle 4 ounces of white chocolate chunks onto the bottom of the crust. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Drizzle the raspberry preserves over the entire surface of the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese. Just a couple passes is fine, you don’t want to blend the raspberry and cream cheese together too much. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust.

6. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool. When the cheesecake is cool, use the foil from the bottom to cover the cheesecake and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

7. Before serving, sprinkle the entire top surface of cheesecake with 2 ounces of shaved white chocolate. To serve, slice the cheesecake into 12 equal portions. Apply a pile of canned whipped cream to the top of each slice and serve.

Makes 12 servings.

Finally- my favorite recipe for Thanksgiving — cooking up a storm with my sweetheart, Eric, and hanging out with some of my favorite people in the world.

We have had a really good, full two weeks with our friends Becky (who stayed ten days) and Praise, who stayed about 2 1/2 weeks.  They came from L.A. and led our childcare program during our fall conference, and then spent the remaining time with us in Sanda. 

Last Thursday we had a great cooking and hula class — Becky taught delicious eclairs;  Praise taught everyone how to dance hula to a Hawaiian song.  It was a great way to continue relationship building, and even to make a few new friends.  One of our friends, Suga, brought her sister, Rika, and niece, a high schooler.  They had a great time, and invited Praise and I over this week for lunch.  We had a great 3 hours, and the niece shared that she studied the Bible and is interested in Christianity.  Rika then invited Praise and I to go on her last night in Japan to the hotel where her husband is a manager that is in a famous hotspring town near here, Arima, and use the hot spring there.  We were thrilled!

So the two sisters, Suga and Rika, picked up Praise and I and we went on a wonderful evening adventure.  It was probably the nicest onsen (hotspring)I have ever been to.  Without the free tickets, it would cost $25/person to enter… that is an expensive bath.  But oh… so much more than a bath..

Here we are in the parking lot with beautiful “light-up” maple trees behind us, and the very Japanese-style building in front of us — all part of the experience.

We were given three different outfits over the course of the evening.  Here is our first one.  (I kind of thought we looked like prisoners a bit- the different colors help a bit…)

We couldn’t bring a camera past this point, but I did pull a few photos off of the website.  From here, we went to the “hot rock sauna.”  The four of us were given different outfits (suitable for lots of sweating); a bamboo pillow, and a BIG key that unlocked a small door that led us into our own private sauna.  We laid out our towels and pillow and laid down on warm rocks with warm dry air coming into the room.  

For fifty minutes we hung out in this room, every once in a while going next door to the “cool room” when it became too hot.

During the course of that time, we had some very fun conversations, and even managed to do some group yoga together that Praise taught us.  It was so fun to sweat and talk and rest and – bond together.  

Then, we went to the bath.  It was actually two different stories of many different kinds of baths… gold copper baths; 

a silver bath… i

indoor and outdoor baths; and our favorite — a peppermint aromatherapy bath.

After we were sweated, soaked, and all cleaned up, we sat and enjoyed a Japanese parfait together.  What a perfect evening!

As we were leaving the hotel, I asked Praise if she had been told about the stone tradition.  She hadn’t, so I quickly filled her in.  Near the front entrance there was a small rock garden, with white smooth rocks neatly raked into a zen-like formation.  I told her that Japanese always take a big handful as they are leaving, go outside, and throw the rocks over their right shoulder.  She asked if I had gotten mine yet, and I showed her my fist that looked full of the stones.  Praise got on her shoes, then went to the indoor rock garden and got a big-ole fistful.  I had gone ahead of her outside and was talking with our two friends.  She came out, and asked where to throw them.  I said we could do it together right there, and Praise turned around and gave her stones a big toss over her shoulder.  Of course- there were no stones in my hand… I was nearly on the ground shaking with  laughter.   Praise is probably the first, and last person, to pick up rocks from that rock garden and throw them over her shoulder outside, though she is not the first nor the last to be a participant in a Sue prank. She is a great sport- we laughed half of the way home, and several times since.

What a great experience.  Only in Japan can you  spend four hours — bonding while taking a bath!

Last weekend we had a chance to go to nearby Sasayama for our organization’s church planter’s fall conference. The whole conference was a time of wonderful fellowship; vision and prayer time; and even practical training that included CPR. One huge highlight was the care that our children received from the four women who came from L.A. to minister with us. We loved watching them and hearing their stories! Here is just one photo from one of the fun exercises they did (this wasn’t even halloween!) It really is an important time for our children to enjoy being with other missionary children, as well as to get spiritually fed.

It was fun, too, to be with a group of our North American friends and celebrate Halloween with a harvest party. We were so sad that our friends the Johnstons could not come because of influenza, but we were really grateful for Nozomi’s work in planning the party anyway. Here are a few highlight photos (you have to be impressed in realizing that most people flew in for the conference and packed their costumes!).

We had a few cuties in our family…Y.kun, the sweet pea (or Japanese edamame)

A cowgirl…
And my personal favorite- the grand prize winner– my Halloween princess! (Rumors have it the princess bribed the judges…)