Here is our 2011 Christmas card and Christmas Letter:

http://102136.agwebservices2.org/?TargetPage=26710D8E-0683-4FB0-9043-745571308063

Here is a video we posted on YouTube about our first few months as missionaries in Japan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLhY9KsPgYo

November Newsletter

Follow these links to our November Newsletter:

Page 1 http://102136.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/102136/Content/Newsletter%20November%202011%20page%201.pdf

Page 2 http://102136.agwebservices2.org/SiteFiles/102136/Content/Newsletter%20November%202011%20page%202.pdf

We're home!

At last we have a home of our own! We greatly appreciate the help of our friends here in Japan in assisting us with our house hunting efforts. We found what is called a "5 DK" (5 rooms plus a dining/kitchen) available to rent at a great price. Plus it is within walking distance to one of the best parks around! This home is a real answer to prayer!


Now that we've found a home, we have been busy setting everything up. We moved in with just the bags we brought on the airplane. That has ment that a lot of time has been spent buying and assembling furniture over the past couple of weeks. While the furniture at IKEA is the cheapest stuff around (even less expensive than the local second hand shop), it does come in tiny bits. Chris spent many hours putting things together. Thankfully Thomas came to his rescue with power tools and the process proceded much more quickly!

We are not fully moved in yet, but I couldn't wait to show you around our new home...


When you first walk into our home you find this entry way. In Japan you always take off your shoes before entering the home. Our house came with this shoe cupboard, but it did not come with a coat closet. So, I assembled a free standing coat rack and added it to our entry way.

From the entry way, you go up a step and are then in the main hallway. It is a wide hallway. Because of the extra room we moved the china cabinet, that was left in the house by the previous occupants, into the hallway. This gave us some more space in the small kitchen. At the end of the hallway you can see the staircase that lead to the second story. Like many homes in Japan each room is separate and has doors as opposed to an open floor plan. This allows you to heat or cool one room at a time and saves on utility bills.

To the right of the entry way is our living room. It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but the living room is covered in a pale green textured wallpaper. I plan on hanging up the curtains I brought with me from the US on the window above if I can figure out how to get the hooks off of this curtain rod.

This photo shows our deep window sill where I have a bunch of photo frames. Now I just need to add pictures! LOL! Where the wooden chair is I now have a recliner that we just purchased (after the picture was taken) that matches the couch. You can also get a glimpse of our Air conditioner unit. Like most homes in Japan there is no central heat or air. We have an A/C unit in Wesely's room, but we don't have any heaters yet.

This is my IKEA "cubbie" that I plan to use as a TV stand. The books will be moved out and DVD cases will be moved in once those items arrive from our shipment from the Philippines. Also, in this photo you can see the sliding door that leads into our kitchen. We keep extra dining room chairs in front of this door.

Adjoining the living room is the eat in kitchen. Because of a lack of counter space and easily accessible cupboards, we got this occasional table from IKEA. We use it to house our small appliances, a few everyday dishes and for some of our food storage. I also use it as a workspace when cooking. Next to it is a fridge that a Japanese friend was kind enough to lend us (along with the convection/microwave oven).


This table folds out to sit up to 8 people. We plan to paint the chairs white to match the table. This is all of the built in kitchen that came with the house. Actually, we had to add the range. Thankfully a friend lent us one. The window sill is nice and deep and I use it to store our dish drainer, spices and canisters.

Across from the living room and to the left of the front door is the traditional Japanese room that we made our bedroom. The paper framed walls are window covers. Next to the bed behind the paper shades is a sliding glass door. As a side note, since this picture was taken we now have a lamp shade.

Our bed isn't quite finished yet. I bought a duvet and a cover for it, only to discover that the cover was the wrong size. I still need to go back to Nitori, a local home furnishing store to get a full size duvet cover. I plan to get a Navy blue one.
This photos shows the closet doors and the sliding doors into our room.


Just past our bedroom and to the left of the staircase is the sink/laundry room. The vanity is typical of Japanese homes. The walls cannot support a towel rack, so I assembled a child sized free standing coat rack on which to hang our towels.







Adjoining the sink/laundry room is the shower room. Traditionally in Japan a person showers and then once clean, soaks in the small, but deep tub. You can see that this tub comes up well past Hudson's waist when he is standing inside it. In most Japanese homes the tub is filled once and the water is saved for the entire family to take turns using it




Just to the right of the stair case is a small toilet room. Water comes out the top when you flush so that you can wash your hands. Other than that it is an ordinary toilet and not nearly as fancy as some of the Japanese toilets can be. There is also a toilet room just like this one upstairs.
Continued in part 2...

Part 2 of We're home

On to the upstairs...

Adelaide's room is the first bedroom at the top of the stairs on the right. It is a traditional Japanese room made up in a non-traditional way! Addie wanted her room to look like she was outside. It has a princess garden theme. We placed a green shag rug that looks a little like grass over the traditional tatami floor. We also used foamies to make a flower boarder around the wall. Wooden butterflies are attached to the wall and the picture frame above is awaiting pictures of the family.


















Across from her name and butterfly wall, right next to the door is her bench. It doubles as a desk, perfect for her many art projects. Not shown in the pictures is a large closet that store her toys and also has a built in wardrobe for her clothes.

This photo was taken before we had finished assembling Addie's bed. It's a double bed. Adelaide's room doubles as a guest room and Addie is willing to give it up to anyone who wants to come and visit. ;) Above the bed is her flower night light and now (not shown in the picture) there is a mosquito net to add a princess canopy feel. Also not shown in this picture is the small live ficus tree Addie insisted on getting for her room. She is very dedicated to taking care of her little tree. Addie is delighted to once again have her own room.


We never expected to have a house large enough for Hudson to have his own room. In fact, we thought all the kids might have to share a room. The children's prayers were answered when we found this larger than expected home. We were able to turn the office (it's a small room without a closet) into a bedroom for Hudson. His room has a car and airplane theme.

An end table and a bench make a nice kid size desk that is just right for Hudson. Since this picture was taken we have added a small dresser and moved the basket from the "desk" to the top of the dresser.

Hudson bed folds up into a chair and gives him some floor space to play on. You can see his bed folded up in the picture where Hudson is sitting at his desk and in the picture below see it folded out.
The final stop on the tour of our new home is Wesley's room. This room doubles as a school room.




Since some of my homeschooling friends may be interested in how I have set up our school room, I'll fill you in on the details. We have US history and geography area with a USA map, poster of all the American president and a geography poem. We also have 3 tall bookshelves that are pretty empty now, but will be very full once our shipment from the Philippines arrives. I have a couple of non-fiction shelves, shelves for their favorite series, easy readers, Five In A Row books, holiday books and other books. I also have a basket on a shelf that holds our math manipulatives, one that hold art supplies, and one that holds language arts and preschool manipulatives. Two small containers are used for storing pencils, calculators and other school supplies and a basket is handy for recycling paper.

Inside the large closet we have a shelf for games, my teaching files in a tote and a tote for science kits and seasonal craft supplies. Wesley also keeps his toys and we store hand me down clothes for Hudson in this closet. One one side there is a built in wardrobe where Wesley keeps his clothes. A multiplication chart in on one closet door. I plan to put a weather chart and graphs on the other.

Also in one photo you can see Wesley standing in the window sill. This leads out to the balcony. All the children have window entries to the balcony. This is a small balcony that's main purpose is for drying laundry (it is to expensive to run a dryer and we, like most Japanese do not own one).















Wesley's bed folds into a chair (as seen in the photo) and folds out into a bed. It is the same bed that is in Hudson's room. This provides a lot of extra floor space and a handy spot for reading stories.
School time in this room mostly takes place at this table. It is another piece of furniture that was left by the previous occupants. While it is a bit small for mealtimes, it is just right for schooling. Soon our new school computer will be placed on this table.

Now you've had a preview of our house. I wish I could have you all over for a tour of the real deal, but I'm afraid that for most of our friends and family in America (and other countries of the world) this will have to do. Setting up house is still a work in progress here. We'll be sure to post more pic's as we go along.

Car Hunting?

This one is too big.

So, since the last blog we've been busy: car shopping, house shopping, furniture shopping, honko shopping (don't ask—it would take too long to explain), grocery shopping, doctor shopping...well you get the picture. As a man—having the inclinations and aversions bestowed by nature—I do not enjoy shopping. The one gleaming sparkle of light in an otherwise dark and foreboding week was of course the car hunting—not shopping...HUNTING. There is nothing like test driving, looking under hoods, and of course the new car smell. And the beautiful thing is that thanks to Speed the Light and the youth of Alaska, when the kill shot comes, and the salesman says “let's fill out some papers and get this loan going.” I get to stare him down and simply say, “do you take cash.” (I'm not joking about the cash thing. In Japan, they don't take checks. They really just carry around piles of money.)

The back seats are too low.

You can imagine my surprise and dismay when I discovered that buying a car in Japan is more like being invited to a tea party than striking out with a hunting party. First of all, we did most of our car hunting without an interpreter. Understand that Lindsey, Wesley, Adelaide, and Hudson can count to 10 in Japanese; while itinerating, I did Rosetta stone and read some grammar here and there. So basically I can count a bit higher than 10 and generally get myself into more trouble than the rest of the family. So we would go to a car dealer, and things would go something like this: “Good afternoon. We arrived in Japan last week. I'm very sorry, but I only speak a little bit of Japanese. Do you speak English” At this point the greeter would begin talking, “Only little bit English...Blah blah...car...blah blah a few...blah blah...here...inside...blah blah blah blah...tea, calpis, water...blah blah.” Along the way, I keep saying “hai” = “yes” whenever it seems appropriate. About now I am thinking, what in the world does tea have to do with cars?; but I say, in my best Japanese, “Hai, here is a car. We need a new one of these things. It must seat 7 persons.” The sales person responds incredulously, “7 people?...1...2...3...4...5...there are 5 people here.” Not knowing how to say we would like to be able to take more than just our family in the car, I say, “hai 3 kids, 2 parents, 2 grandparents.” The salesperson says, “hai, I understand.” Now instead of actually looking at the cars, we are whisked away to the CAR-LESS “showroom.”

This one is too small!

At this point, we are invited to place our tea orders. After several minutes, a waitress comes out bearing a tray of drinks and snacks. Now the salesperson makes an entrance laden with color catalogs. Now we are greeted again, “good afternoon, do you speak Japanese.” I say, “as for Japanese, I only speak a little bit.” The response: “hai, hai...my English not too good either.” For the next 20 minutes or so, we are shown a plethora of pictures punctuated with lots of, “blah, blah, blah, expensive, blah blah, red, less expensive, this one is good, blah blah.” I could only take so much before somewhat sheepishly interjecting, “isn't this car right over there, outside?” Response: “hai, hai, right over there.” So, I say, still in my best Japanese, “couldn't we go look at it?”

With a quick “hai” we are ushered out the door to inspect the vehicle. We kick tires, move seats, pop the hood, sit in the seats. Then, I ask, “as for this car, how much does it cost.” Ohhhh no! Its back to the show room! After another 45 minutes or so of wrangling with the language we get a quote. I ask in Japanese, “kono kuruma ga ikura deska...subette koni” which I suspect means something like “what does the car cost with all taxes and dealer fees included? This is followed by yet another flurry of activity. Awhile later, I receive a number. Now I ask for the quote to be formalized on paper. When the paper finally arrives, I want to confirm that the figure includes all costs. So, I repeat the question about everything being included. This meets with, “just a moment.” She comes back and says we can take 80,000 Yen off. Of course I say, "Hai, Hai, Hai!"

There are some obvious lessons here: 1. everything takes a long time in Japan so pace yourself 1 dealer a day--max; 2. when buying cars think “tea party” and leave it to your wife, if possible; 3. keep asking the same question in bad Japanese over and over again and the cars will get cheaper and cheaper.

 
 
 

Ahhhh, this one is just right.

The good news is that after enduring only a half dozen such tea parties, we finally did decide on the Nissan Lafesta Highway Star, and we even invited the sales lady to church. The bad news is that in Japan, you pick the car you want, then they build it. “So sorry Kaata San, please wait 6 to 8 weeks!”

We made it to Japan! We landed late Tuesday afternoon after 20 hours of travel. Then we had to navigate our way through customs with our 18 checked bags, 5 carry ons, 5 personal items, 3 car seats and 2 strollers. This was quite the feat! Even Wesley helped out pushing a luggage cart. The suitcases were stacked above his head and Chris had to call out directions to him as Wesley could not see where he was going! Thankfully the customs people were very friendly and helpful.

Picture above is of the kids in front of the 777 we flew on the way to Japan.

Once we finished with customs we met up with a missionary friend, David. He drove us to Tsukuba and the apartment in the church where he pastors. Staying at the church will save us money while we house hunt. David got us settled in before leaving us and driving the hour back to Tokyo.

This farmer is working in his field that is next door to the church.

Wednesday we were pretty jet lagged. We woke very early and took in the views of neighboring rice patties. In the afternoon one of the International church members came and showed us around town. He took us to register as aliens and then to the grocery store. We knew that the cost of groceries were very high here, but we were still shocked to find cantaloupe cost $12, two apples cost $6 and a very small bunch of grapes cost $5. I guess the kids are going to have to eat less fruit!

The beautiful green of rice patties that surround us.

Thursday we took the train into Tokyo. Hudson was so excited to ride on a train. Once we got to Tokyo we met some of the other missionaries for breakfast. Then we took a tour of the missions office, the Japanese Assemblies of God headquarters, and the Bible school where Chris will be teaching (once he learns Japanese).

It has been an exciting, exhausting and fascinating few days. It is like starting a whole new life in a new world. It has new smells and new foods to try. New brands and labels that I can't read are on every item that I shop for. Even trying to wash my hair and brush my teeth takes a little bit of guess work. Is this shampoo or soap? There is so much here to explore and many new things to learn. We are especially looking forward to making friends with our Japanese neighbors. How blessed we are to be on this adventure!

Road Trip Tips

We've been on many road trips. In the last year and a half we've driven 86,000 miles! This includes a drive from Florida to Alaska and back! Some of my on-line friends have asked for tips to help with long car trips, so I thought I'd share some here.

One of the best things I have found are books on CD. These really help pass the time. Our favorites are the Focus on the Family Radio Theater. You can often check out books on CD from the library, just make sure that the labels on them won't cause the CD to get stuck in your CD player.

We also have played travel games like...

-Travel bingo, a game with game boards that have pictures of things you would typically see on a road trip ( a pick up truck, a red car, a barn, a traffic light, etc). You can buy these, print them from off line or make your own

-Travel scavenger hunt. This is much like the game above but instead of trying to get bingo you try to find every item on your list. I made this game for my kids on index cards with pictures. As they found an item they gave the card to me.

-The license plate game. See how many license plates you can find from different states.

-Animal list. We made a list of every different type of animal we found (living or dead, lol)

-The ABC game. Find each letter of the alphabet on signs or license plates, in order (although not in all on location) until you find them all. This can be done as a group or as individuals as a race.

-Animal guessing game. One person thinks of an animal. Then the other family members take turns asking yes or no questions in order to figure out what the animal is.

-I spy

The above games are especially good for kids that get car sick as they are all looking at things outside of the car. You can also play the following games if you bring a shoe box or other small box to hold discarded cards or dice.

-Crazy eights

-Phase 10

-Uno

-Go fish

-Yahtzee

Arts and crafts projects can be done in the car as well. I've worked on hand sewing a quilt on some of our road trips. Our kids like to color on sticky notes, play with stickers and when I'm really desperate I give them rolls of masking tape to play with! One of the best craft items for kids are the Color Wonder markers. Unlike crayons that melt when left in a hot car, or markers that loose their lids and bleed into the upholstery , Color Wonder markers only mark the special paper that comes with it.

A few new toys can go a long way in keeping boredom away on road trips. The dollar store is a great place to find these. I've also picked up party prizes at Walmart like paddle balls, sticky hands, and mazes.

Snacks of course are a road trip necessity. With so many hours on the road, we get tired of gas station junk food. Instead we like to eat the following...

-dried fruit

-fruit leathers

-nuts

-crackers

-string cheese

-apples

-pears

-grapes

-bagels

-banana and pumpkin bread

-rice cakes

-mini carrots

-bell pepper

-celery sticks

One final thought on road trips. We've found that taking a break to visit point of interests, play at a

play ground or go to a museum are well worth it. Even though adding a stop makes the trip longer, it feels much faster with a break in the middle. On our many road trips we've taken time out to visit national parks, a presidential museum, children's museum and other museums, see a bug collection, play at parks, walk near rivers, dip in a hot spring and view wild life. These added stops have given us many great memories.

Our road trips days are over for now and we are all glad to have a break from the car. Still we have enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time together as a family, meeting new people and seeing new places. With just a little planning road trips can turn from a chore into a wonderful memory making adventure!

One Last Long Road Trip

Last week we went on one final rode trip in the USA. We spent the week in San Antonio, Texas. There we visited several churches and were blessed to meet fellow believers who are also excited about reaching the lost.

Of course we had to take the kids to see the Alamo! We watched the video, toured the grounds and snapped a few photos. Most of our time in Texas, however, was spent enjoying the KOA campground. We weren't brave enough to face the 100+ temperatures in a tent, so we stayed in an air conditioned cabin. Daily swims, campfires, and relaxing on the porch swing were a fun part of the experience. Memories were made. :)

While our many road trips this iteneration have been a great way to show the kids the USA, we are ready to leave the road behind us for the adventures that await us in Japan. We can hardly believe that we will be headed out next month!

FIve Crazy Weeks

I haven't put anything on this blog in a very long time. Life has just been so crazy lately! Just take a look at our last 5 weeks...

Week One
-Sunday: We speak at Services in Poplar Bluff and Puxico, MO. After church we receive a phone call informing us that Chris' Grandmother had passed away.
-Monday: We 6 hour drive home.
-Tuesday: We get a phone call telling us that the funeral is on Friday; both Chris' sisters would be flying out, and the family wanted Chris say something at the service.
-Wednesday: We drive 12 hours to the Fargo area of North Dakota.
-Thursday: We drive another 4 hours to Chris' Grandfather's home.
-Friday: We attend the funeral.
-Saturday: We drive 15 hours home.

Week 2
-Sunday: Chris speaks at church services in Fredonia, KS and Raytown, MO.
-Monday & Tuesday: We catch up on laundry, errands, etc. and get the newsletter in the mail.
-Wednesday: Drive 12 hours to my parent's house in Universal City, Texas.
-Thursday: Chris and I have meetings with two churches.
-Friday- Sunday: We visit with my parents and celebrate Easter.

Week 3
-Monday: Chris flies to Alaska to attend district council while I stay in TX with the kids and visit my parents. I take the kids to the Science museum and plan to spend the week relaxing and having fun with the kids.
-Tuesday:My plans change. My mom has a meeting with a surgeon about her pressure sore. He says it's too difficult and he won't preform the surgery. My parents decide to move to Springfield where my Dad has a job waiting and mom can look for a new doctor there. Dad and I start packing.
-Wednesday: Dad and I do more packing, and I speak at a church.
-Thursday: Dad and I spend the whole day packing. Also, Addie and Hudson decide that crayon makes a good substitute for sidewalk chalk. They soon learn otherwise!
-Friday: Chris returns in the afternoon after a red eye flight. He and Dad load the moving van while I clean the apartment. Early that evening we start the move with Chris driving the van, Dad driving in his car and me in our car.
-Saturday: We get back on the road. 9 hours later we arrive in Springfield. We leave my parent's at the Smallwood's (their former pastors and good friends) house. We join them for a quick dinner, say goodbye to my parents and get back on the road. 5 hours later we spend the night at a hotel in Wichita.

Week 4
-Sunday: We give a window at a large church in Wichita. After lunch and a meeting with the pastor, we have a 3 hr drive home.
-Monday & Tuesday: We spend a couple of days catching up on things around the house.
-Wednesday: The kids attend their first homeschool soccer class. Wesley comes down with a fever and a cold. Chris speaks in Colombia a couple of hours away, and I stay home with the kids
-Thursday: I see the heart surgeon. He says I do have a problem. I need to find the cause and not just ignore it. He doesn't think valve surgery will help, and that I should check and see if I have a parasite that is making me malnourished and causing me to have irregular heart beats.
-Friday: We clean house and pack for another night away.
-Saturday: We attend the arthritis walk in Lawrence, Kansas so that Addie can see that she is not the only kid with Arthritis and that people are looking for a cure. Addie wins a door prize of a gift certificate for new shoes. After the walk and shoe shopping, we drive 3 hours to El Dorado, KS to spend the night. Addie comes down with a fever and a cold that night.

This week
-Sunday: Chris speaks at a church in El Dorado. The theme was missions and mom's complete with sunglasses and a pretend Japanes breakfast (it was actually Chinese). It was a fun service. After church, I came home with the kids, and Chris went on to speak at an evening service near home.

-Monday: I went to the local family doctor to see if she could help me figure out if I have a parasite. Being that we live in a suburb in Missouri she doesn't have much experience with parasites. Still, she gets me started with some tests. I also did the weeks grocery shopping and a library trip.

-Tuesday: I spend most of the day calling churches about supporting us. Chris and the kids work on catching up on the laundry.

-Wednesday: The kids have a homeschool soccer class. We all have dinner and Chris speaks at a church in Galatin, MO (about 1 1/2 hours away from home). I enjoyed spending talking with a new believer and fellow parent while watching the kids during the service.

-The rest of the week: We spend the next couple of days passing around a cold, catching up on house cleaning, calling churches, and running errands.

-Tomorrow: We are speaking at a church in Lees Summit and Archie, MO.

So that was a peek into our lives recently. As you can see we've been exceptionally busy! Hopefully things will slow down a bit and I'll get better about keeping up with this blog.