Easter Sunday

Our Resurrection Sunday was terrific....filled with dear friends. We spent the day with our new friend Teju. Teju is a student at Osaka University, we met her at the Hanami party a few weeks ago. We are in love. She sang Lili an Indian lullaby to go to sleep one night....and now Lili asks for her song....Teju you may have to move in with us.

Marina was again our hero egg hider! After church and while we were eating lunch she hid all 70 easter eggs outside our place.....contents of said plastic eggs and coordinating lovely clothes are compliments of our amazing family back in the States and our dear neighbor Celina. (We did miss our Aunt Christi and cousin Evan this year!)

Sunday evening the youth in our church had a wonderful Easter concert. A worshipful end to a great day...celebrating continually all that Jesus did for us. He is risen indeed!

Gran, the dresses are so lovely eh?!? I think Noa looks like little bo peep with her swinging little bell dress....I need to find a little lamb to follow her.

Tomorrow evening we are off to the Philippines. So I won't be posting for a while...but look out for some great photos upon our return. We are attending the Celebration (aka Festival) of Will Graham in Naga City. While there Mia will turn SIX....my sister sent all the 'fixings' for a doggy birthday party and Allison is getting the cake all coordinated for us. Also while there we will get to take part in an Operation Christmas Child give away. (For those of you who aren't aware: the ministry we are apart of collects donated shoes boxes (8 million last year) full of toys, toothbrushes, candy, etc to give away to poorer children in the world - here is the link if you want to see more http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ ) I cannot wait for my littles to see God's love in action! AND THEN....we are off to Boracay! A lovely little island nestled among the big islands of the Philippines. Looking forward to loads of daddy time and just being together.

egg hunting with friends....

sandbox patio!

The birthday celebrations have begun and a veterinarian is on the rise. Bennis family you ROCK!! She has been healing stuffed animals far and wide.

You know you've been abroad too long when you start feeding your kids the local food. Noa loves sea kelp!

Chewy fishy stuff....but full of iron.

wee petting zoo we came across....

bunnies, chicks, dogs, llama, goat, sheep, guinea pigs....so fun!

Our Sakura Days....

Over the last months Chad and I have been praying, discussing, wondering what God had in store for our next few years...feeling the need to settle for our sakes as well as the kids....we had looked into and prayed about Thailand amoungst others. God seemed somewhat silent and yet we were at peace....waiting...

...and then catastrophy just north of us. Chad, representing the Billy Graham Assoc and the Samaritan's Purse Disaster Response Team along with teams from Japan Missions Center (which included our church) were there within the week with 92 tons of relief supplies and volunteers...teams have been there ever since. Franklin came for a site visit to Sendai and Chad was able to spend some time with him...listening to his heart for Japan and watching it grow. During his visit he asked us to stay for another year or two as he would like to see more poured into Japan....relief, rebuilding, restoration....but mostly a chance to share the Good News of Jesus to a people in despair, who desperately need to hear that the God of the Universe loves them and knows and cares for their every need on this ever shifting planet.

Prayers answered. Chad and I both feel in our bones that this is God's plan for us, at least for a while. What a unique time in Japan's history for us to be here. And I am thrilled....not to be moving right now, not to be saying goodbye to friends who have become dear to us, maybe to learn to communicate a bit in Japanese, to be staying in our cozy home surrounded by neighbors we love... Digging deeper roots is nice....I usually have such a temporary mindset......as a result of our decision, I am going to: purchase a Costco membership and figure out how to get there, create a little sandbox oasis on our front patio (with twinkle lights compliments of my dear Carolyn), buy a houseplant or two (we have been given a few but I have not bought any myself), put new curtains in Nykolas/Yaya's room, sign myself up for once a week Japanese classes, find piano, ballet and art classes and maybe even soccer. ....feels so right.

Hanami (literally: flower viewing) Party with new friends

A group of international students from Osaka University invited us to join them for their football and cherry blossom viewing party at Banpakukoen....fun was had by all (especially Nykolas as the guys let him play with them!)and new friends made who are already booked for dinner at our place next week!

The up side of expat living is all the friends you make from all over the globe.....you have instanious common ground with people from all walks of life just because you are both foreigners...the down side of it is your lives are transitional and therefore include far too many goodbyes. We met Chris and Lee Hill (Grace and Lucy) at a train station last year both headed in different directions....upon seeing English speaking little people the same age we made a play date right then and there. The Hills have been a part of our Osaka life ever since. Alas, their years in Japan have come to an end and they are headed home to New Zealand.

Goodbye Hills. We wish you all the best as you embark on this new phase of your lives. You will be sorely missed!

wheeeeeeeee!

hangin' with out favorite people....