No American Idol? Are you kidding me?

So, I think this is the first time I've really contemplated coming home. When we saw online that American Idol had started it's new season and we were able to see clips of some of the rejects we could tell it is going to be a good season and are deeply saddened that we aren't going to be able to watch full episodes. What we sacrifice for the lives we are called to....

We had a fabulous time in Shizuoka. We stayed in a resort called Tsumagoi. It was a beautiful resort with a ton of activities to do, but we were so busy we didn't get to do them. Dana was able to go to an onsen, which is a public bath. That's right, he got naked! Going to the onsen is actually a Japanese custom that you do with your friends. Dana won't usually get to go to an onsen because of his tattoos, so he decided to take the opportunity with all of our missionary colleagues. I was invited to go with all the ladies but I opted out. I just really didn't want to make anyone jealous....:) Instead a couple of gals and I went and sat in massage chairs. It was so relaxing. Afterward we decided to put our feet in these machines that massage your feet. Big mistake! I completely spaced the fact that my feet are like double the size of the Japanese women's feet here and my feet were nearly crushed and disfigured by the machine! They're the size of the Japanese women's feet now!

Caden and Ashton had a great time at Tsumagoi! While Dana and I were in sessions the boys were being well taken care of by a volunteer group from the states. They used their Vacation Bible School material to teach the older children during the day. On the last night of our stay there they had the children perform for us. It was so cute! Ash's class didn't do anything since he's so young, but Caden's group sang a song and danced to it. Caden did very well, and didn't seem shy at all.

We are back in language school and I have found myself really pumped to be back. Being on vacation for 3 weeks was just too long. I had my first test and I did well...84/100. Hey, that's pretty good when most of my points were docked for using hiragana instead of katakana. At least I was speaking correctly! Dana was fortunate and did not have the idea of a test hanging over his head, though he did have a surprise oral exam when we returned. He got 100%! He's jumped right in with ease, as always.  The highlight of my week so far has been this morning. I dropped by Starbucks after dropping the boys off at hoikuen to pick up coffees for Dana and I. I made small talk with the girl helping me but I'm always a little hesitant because I don't feel like I know enough and I want to get what I do know just right. Well, they ran out of receipt tape as my order was going through and were having difficulties replacing the tape, but I couldn't leave because they needed my signature. So, the girl and I spoke to one another in Japanese for a whole 10 minutes! I couldn't believe it! She was asking me what I did for work and when I told her I was a student she asked what I studied, where, and it just went on from there. It gave me such a confidence boost that I do know enough for a conversation, even if it's only 10 minutes. Dana blows my mind everyday with how much Japanese he is speaking. He's made phone calls in Japanese!

Praises:

1. Safe travel to Shizuoka.

2. Our Japanese is coming along! Yay!

3. We are overall healthy, though Dana is battling a cold presently.

4. The Lord is with us!

Prayer requests:

1. Whatever the Lord puts on your heart this week for us.

Love and prayers,

Amy

Happy New Year!

Wow! Is it really 2009 already? It's hard to believe how fast 2008 flew by, but why wouldn't it have felt that way? In January our oldest son turned a whopping 3 years old, and about to turn 4 in 20 days! In March our second little one came a long. In April we were appointed with the IMB. In June we quit our jobs. In August we moved to Virginia for 2 months for training. In October we finally moved to Japan and then November and December just flew by. Where did the year go?

This week was a tiring one. Both of our boys were sick this week with what we thought at first could only be chickenpox but turned out to be some funky virus. Both are better now but Caden's appetite is still trying to catch up. Ash recently received his top front teeth and this week I noticed that his two teeth on either side of the top front teeth are coming in as well. That mouth will be full before we know it! I'm sure he's more than excited because that boy is constantly hungry. I don't know where he gets it from. :)

We had a good week spending time with the S-sans. I think I already posted that we had them at our house on Monday for dinner and then we were invited to their house on Friday for dinner. It was a very laid back evening with us making our own personal pizzas. T-san also cooked mochi, which is rice cake. Imagine dough that has been chilled in the fridge. For New Year's the Japanese make udon and put the mochi in the udon broth and let it soften. I am a huge texture person and don't really care for mochi unless it's mochi ice cream. Then it's firm and filled with delicious vanilla. Thankfully Dana had told T-san that I wasn't a huge fan of the mochi so she wasn't going to be insulted if I declined the offer. However, I wanted to appear to be up for anything new and so I did try the mochi and I also did not finish it. Not firm, no vanilla, no good. Dana had seconds. 

On Tuesday M and Y-san came over with their kids No-kun and Em-san. We had a great time together and the boys get along really well. They brought us a gift: a huge bag of Peanut M&Ms!! I've never loved Peanut M&Ms more in my life! The bag is almost gone. Its been really good to munch on while I drink my Vanilla Caramel coffee. Thanks Kellers!! We are praying that we can really make an impact on this family. M made many references to God and how he really feels like God is blessing us and watching over us here in Okayama. Please pray that we can convey that He wants to do the same for M's family. 

Tomorrow we are loading our family onto the bullet train and heading for Shizuoka, which is outside of Tokyo. We are having our annual meeting with all of our colleagues here in Japan. We are very excited to meet those that we have yet to meet and finally meet those we haven't had to the chance to meet yet. Okay, I just read that and have been laughing about it for the past 2 minutes because I realized it said the same thing in it twice. I think you know what I was trying to say. Wakarimasu ka?

Please pray for:

1. Safe travel as we go to Shizuoka.

2. For our study time while we are not meeting with our senseis.

3. For the friendships we have been building here.

We love you all and appreciate you so much!

Love and prayers,

Amy

Christmas Pictures

Leaving the goods for the big guy!

Watch our Spider-Man!

Spider-Man has bigger problems than Sandman!

Enjoying the view from his new seat on the back of mommy's bike.

The aftermath....