Just thought you needed a little update on how the pregnancy is going. I am now about 4 1/2 months along and am showing some. Seeing a small belly make everything seem much more real. I haven't feel the baby kick yet, but it should be happening in the next few weeks.


A week and a half ago Dan layed a new wood floor for my parents in one of the sitting rooms in their house. It took him about 20 hours and now it looks beautiful!! He did a great job!

Here is my parents backyard today! It looks very different from the sunny wedding day we had a year and a half ago! Still, it looks beautiful with the frosty trees.

Seriously...so GREAT!

How can you not love these kids to death. I just got some new pictures of my nieces and nephews. They are getting so big and look more and more beautiful everyday! I'm so proud of them and thankful that they have such great parents who are bringing them up so well!
Miss Ingrid... Holly's 9th Birthday!

My Lovely Plumbers

(VERY FUNNY-PLEASE READ)

This morning as I was getting out of the shower I heard someone say, "Konichiwa?" (Hello)Great!! I am in a towel and my plumbers are here! I asked them to hang on, threw something on and put up my sopping wet hair. I went out to the entry to see these two older men talking Japanese a 100 miles an hour. I had no idea what they were trying to say to me! So I asked them to hang on and I called my "Everyday Angel," Junko Sensei. She hurried over to talk with them and tell them the problem. After hearing what was wrong they went right to work.

As the morning progressed I would occasionally look outside to see what they were up to. One time I looked out to see that my lovely plumber was peeing in my evergreen trees... I laughed! The next time I looked out, I saw my lovely plumber enjoying a smoke. As he finished it up, he ever so carefully dug a small hole in my flowerbed and BURIED his cigerette butt. I mean, COME ON! Just throw it someplace where I don't have to DIG for it later! Trying to keep a positive attitude about these guys, I looked outside after lunch to see them hard at work. Thankfully, no one was peeing on my evergreen trees.

My Lovely Plumber....
Digging....

Scrapbooking

This weekend Bonita Nordaas and her husband came to Sendai for some business and stayed with Dan and I. Over the course of three days Bonita worked on a wedding scrapbook for one of her friends. She started and finished the WHOLE thing in three days with some help from Yoko and one other girl. The two girls wrote out all the comments in Japanese. I joined them on and off, chatting, and worked on one of my own pages, but was mostly busy with other things. After all was finished they had had a great time together!

Plumbing problems

Boy, did we wish my brother, David was here yesterday. We had plumbing problems and Dan was trying to unclog as much as he could, but there was more than he could get to. David!!!!Help!!!! I haven't washed laundry for five days because it keeps backing up and leaking all over the floor. What a mess!! At least we have a clean floor now! It should get fixed today or tomorrow, hopefully....! At least my wonderful husband is doing as much as he can!

Manami's Graduation

Manami Sato has become a good friend of mine and Dan's. On Tuesday evening we attended her graduation ceremony from seminary.
Manami receiving her diploma.
These were some beautiful flowers given to her by some other friends.
Friends; Hiromitsu, Koki, Manami and Dan

Florida Bunch

These are my cute nieces and nephews that live in Florida. They are my oldest sisters, Lisa, kids. Holly, Eric, Brett and Ingrid. Can you tell Ingrid is the character in the bunch!

Goodbye Bob and Karen

We said goodbye to Bob and Karen this morning and this is what the weather was like as they left. What a huge change from last week! We are so happy that Bob and Karen were able to come over to visit us. We had such a wonderful time with them and made some great memories. Thanks Bob and Karen for everything that you brought for us and that you brought back for us! We are so lucky to have parents like you!

Sunday Morning

This morning we all went to the Shingakko church for the morning service. It was very interesting for Bob and Karen to be a part of a church service that was all in Japanese. Our Pastor spoke for 1 full hour. It was long, luckily, Bob and Karen had a translator. I'm sure they have never sat through an hour long sermon in the states! After the service the whole church got together to take a picture, then had lunch together in the dining room. It was really nice.

Chinatsu's Going Away Party

One of my students, Chinatsu, will be moving to another prefecture (state) next month, so yesterday instead of having class, we threw her a going away party. It was wonderful! One of my students showed up in her Kimono and brought along her Koto. It is huge! She played music in the background while the rest of us prepared food and got everything ready. We ate Okonomiyaki. It's a mixture of cabbage, flour, egg and pork, topped with mayo and another sauce. It was a hit! Everyone liked it, including Bob and Karen.

Tokuko-san playing the Koto, a tradional Japanese instrument.
Masayo-san, Hiromi-san, Noriko-san, Chinatsu-san (she's the one leaving), Miho-san, Michiyo-san.

Wednesday Tea

We decided to have another Tea Party for Bob and Karen since my students enjoyed the last party so much. On Wednesday 12 ladies showed up and we enjoyed a morning of sweets and tea. It was wonderful to welcome these ladies into my house again. Bob and Karen enjoyed meeting everyone and were really blessed! I was too!

Imperial Palace Gardens

On the last day in Tokyo, we met up with Tomoko and her fiance, Uwe. We grabbed some Starbuck's coffee, then headed to the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was a beautiful day while we were walking around the gardens. I even had to take off my jacket I was so hot. It was wonderful to spend time with Tomoko and Uwe. Bob and Karen really enjoyed seeing Tomoko again and meeting Uwe. We ended the afternoon with some lunch at an Italian resturant, then went to their church at 2:00pm. It was so nice to hang out all together!

Asakusa in Tokyo

All of us relaxing at a coffee shop.

Visiting Sensouji Temple

This is a five story pagoda

The streets were full of people. We bought lots of souvenirs and had a great time looking around.

Bob and Karen's Arrival!

We were so excited for the arrival of Bob and Karen! They came into Tokyo early evening on Thurday the 1st of March. Their flight went smoothly and they arrived at Narita about 40 minutes early. We spent a few hours near Ueno Train Station, in Tokyo, where they got to see Cherry Blossoms! We were all so happy to see them blooming early! We ate curry for dinner, which they really enjoyed. Around 8 p.m. we headed out towards my cousin, Lila's house, where we stayed for three nights and travelled around Tokyo.

Who said missionaries were normal?

Ok, so we may be a little crazy once in a while...but for the most part we are pretty normal!

Akita Mini-Retreat

This weekend Dan and I were up in Akita for the English Programs Annual Retreat. We were joined by all the English teacher and both missionary families in Japan. John and Kathy Wile were our speakers for the weekend and they were so encouraging! It was great to worship in our own language and to hear from the Lord in English! We really appreciated the time away to reflect and be fed! Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Eating and relaxing....

Teaching time with the Wile's was awesome!

Our room and the morning sunrise.

Visiting Akita city and having dinner at Surprise Donkey resturant.

Fellowship time.