Special Time with Grandparents in America

With Grandma and Grandpa Pfeil in Hilton Head, SC


With Mimi & Papa Harrington in Richmond, IN

Olivia and Annabella had such a special time with their grandparents while we were in the States for Sarah's brother's wedding. The girls got to have tea parties, play "golf", play with water in the sink and in the pool, make special crafts, and just enjoy being together as family making lots of special memories.

We are so blessed by our loving, gracious, and generous parents who are such wonderful grandparents to our girls. What a joy to spend time with them, but also sad to say goodbye. Please pray that God would give us all continued creativity and grace as we seek for them to continue to be an integral part of Olivia and Annabella's lives, even halfway around the world.

Mom is halfway through her Chemo treatments

So the time has come. Mom (Liz Pfeil) is halfway through her Chemotherapy treatments, and her hair has decided to part ways with her. Dad gave Mom a nice trim with the shaver to help them on their way. Mom provided a photo for us, and in her own words ...

"It really doesn't look bad, in fact it may even make me look younger." :)

Mom has been blessed with minimal side-effects in this process and has about 5 weeks to go. It was very spceial that we could come visit her during the start of her treatment at the end of July. Olivia and Annabella were great "medicine" for her heart.

Please do continue to pray for Mom's healing and for God's sustaining grace for both Mom and Dad during this time.

Sarah's Brother's Wedding in NYC

We travelled back to the States to share in the celebration of Sarah's brother's wedding on July 29. Jon, Sarah, and Olivia were officially in the wedding party, while Annabella was 'officially cute' in matching dresses with Olivia.

The new couple: Chris & Leanne Harrington

Sarah and Annabella on way to the reception.

Jon and Olivia had fun blowing bubbles together!

Annabella & the Buddha

Not much to say here ... other than that Annabella seems to have taken a real "hands on" approach to engaging the Japanese culture.

(This was a little train set for kids to play with, complete with a plastic miniature of the giant Kamakura Buddha.)

Our First Visitor from the States

We had the priveldege to host Rebecca Sup from Cornerstone Church (my church in Milwaukee 1998-99) for a day recently. She was in Japan to visit her sister in Tokyo, and it worked out for her to come visit us in Karuizawa. She was very brave and took the Shinkansen (bullet train) by herself for about an hour to see us. What a pleasure to welcome her!

It was very encouraging and even 'validating' to have someone from a supporting church come and see first hand what our life is like here in language school. We had a lot of fun together showing her around, and telling funny stories, as well as recounting stories of God's faithfulness to us in these first 4 months.

We look forward to welcoming other friends in the future. :)
Please come and share in this vision God has given us for Japan!

Jidoukan Summer Festival

Here are some photos of a festival that we went to at the New Karuizawa Jidoukan (local play-place for kids). Can you spot Olivia and I in the crowd? (Enlarging the photo will help!) We all had lots of fun playing all the special games and singing songs - although Annabella took a nap during most of it. Actually, Sarah and I traded off watching Annabella sleep, and joining Olivia in the games.


Check out the genkan (entrance area where everyone takes their shoes off). All these shoes from so many kids made it tricky to find your own pair!

Fun with my new friends (by Olivia)

Hi, this is Olivia. I want to tell you a little bit about my life here in Japan.

I had a fun time a few days ago with 4 of my new Japanese friends from the nearby Jidoukan - a play place for kids like me! My friends invited me (and Momma) to come to a special place called Omocha Ookoku (Toy Kingdom). It is a fun little amusement park only 30 minutes from our house. They gave us free tickets too ... that made Daddy happy!

This is a photo of the 'Heart Princess' that we met. She was so beautiful and we wanted to take our picture with her. I was so sad when she had to leave, but Momma told me 'that the princess had to go take a nap'. I guess even princesses need nappy-naps too. :)

This place had so many fun things to do. Little cars to drive in, huge play stores with lots of play food, play shopping carts, and even little play rice cookers! For lunch we all ate lunches that we brought. Momma made me a peanut butter sandwich, but the rest of the kids all had obento lunches. They had little onigiri (rice balls wrapped in seaweed) which their mothers had made into happy little faces with little vegetables pieces. They were very cute.



This final photo is of all of us looking at the Merry-go-Round. It was so special! We could have watched it all day long. Our Momma's all let us ride on it, and it was so fun! My very own horsy ride!

Annabella's 1st Birthday!

Our little Annabella just turned one years old on June 16! We had a special birthday celebration at home in the morning, and then had a party later that day with friends.
Sarah made a cute elephant birthday cake, upon Olivia's request, and we had lots to share with everyone. Our Japanese friends couldn't believe it!
(By the way, Olivia has already decided that her next birthday cake will be a Zebra cake. We'll see if that holds up for the next 8 months!)
Annabella had fun openning gifts, and was so sweet, playing with the tissue paper.

Olivia's 1st Portrait Drawings

Well, Olivia is a talent in the making. At the ripe old age of 28 months, she has finally ventured beyond lines and circles, and into the world of quality portrait drawing. People do it on the street here in Karuizawa for ~ $20/ drawing, so we think this could be a real business opportunity for her.

The above drawing (please click on it to enlarge) of Grandma & Grandpa Pfeil is an excellent display of her 'almost' full body awareness. A large head with legs, arms, and a few well placed hairs sets the stage for a bold artistic statement - placing the nose below the lips. (No those are not beauty marks.) Picasso would be proud.

The small drawing above grandpa's head is of her sister, Annabella. Apparently she chose to portray her in the zygote stage of embryonic life. We'll have to get her thoughts on that one later.

This next piece includes a heartfelt drawing of her Mimi (Sarah's Mom) as well as a touching self-portrait. Upon completion of the drawing of herself, she literally hugged the paper and said "awwww ... My O-ia".

Mom's Cancer Treatment Update

Jon's Mom, Liz Pfeil, had an excellent recoverery from her surgury, and now has clarity from her oncologist on the next steps of treatment. She will have 4 chemo treatments, 3 weeks apart. She will get the port implanted July 11, then begin full chemotherapy on July 20.

In God's great providence, our family of 4 will be back in the States this July, visiting for Sarah's bother's wedding. We will actually get to be with Mom & Dad for several days before and after her first chemotherapy treatment. What a blessing to be right there with them in the middle of it all, even though we usually live on the other side of the world!

Please pray for Mom's body, that she would be strong during the treatments. Pray that she and Dad would clearly know God's pressence during this difficult time. Pray also that we would be a blessing to them during our July visit. Thanks!