Special Times with The Harrington Clan ~ America

We were able to spend some good quality time with the Harrington clan during our time in America. The girls hadn't been to America in eighteen months. They were so excited! Sorry for all of the pictures...these are for the family.

Waiting to leave our house. All packed up!

About to board the airplane.

The whole Harrington clan ... what a good looking group!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with everyone.
Uncle Chris and Aunt Leanne with the kids ~ all decked out in red and pink.

Making special scones with Aunt Angela and Uncle Matt

Our little bakers!

We did a surprise baby shower for Aunt Leanne.
The girls loved having tea together.

Olivia loving on Uncle Chris!

The Indianapolis Children's Museum

This was Annabella's favorite....the sand!

Calvin loving on himself

Sweet little boy!

Annabella and Uncle Ben

Calvin loved playing trains with Papa

Mimi and Calvin riding the carousel

Papa and his girls

Our little knight and Aunt Emily

Calvin kissing Mimi

So sweet!!!

The girls loved having tea parties with Mimi.

The girls loved baking with Papa.
Annabella poured and Olivia stirred.

Calvin loving his first cupcake.

Aunt Molly with Calvin at the park.

Uncle Matt and Annablla

Harringtons...we had such fun with you! We love you and miss you.

Just five short years ago

Just five short years ago my baby girl was born.
Where has the time gone!

She is such a beautiful young lady now.
She is my oldest child and definitely a huge help to me.

She chose a bunny cake...made by myself and Uncle Ben.
Good job Uncle Ben!

My sweet girl has definetely grown up. She decided that she was too excited to open her presents before breakfast. She wanted the excitement to last a little longer,
so she opened her presents after breakfast. Are the girls different or what?

Mimi's german pancakes...YUM!

Olivia received a special scrapbook of her first five years of life.
It is so fun to remember what she was like as a baby. God has been so faithful!

We had a fun family lunch out to McDonalds. Olivia even tried a hamburger for the first time. She didn't like it, but we are proud that she tried it.
I love you so much Olivia and celebrate you!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela's Place

Our second trip was to Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela's house.
It was a blessing to see their home.
We bought Calvin his first pair of shoes while visiting West Lafayette.

The girl's favorite part was making home-made icecream.

Licking the mixer was the best part!

Uncle Matt had this great big exercise ball....all three of the kids loved it!

We love you Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela!
Thanks for letting us come and invade your house!

Visiting Uncle Chris and Aunt Leanne

While Jon was in Arizona, the kids and I took a road trip to visit
Uncle Chris and Aunt Leanne. It was such fun to see their home
and experience some of their life in Cleveland.

We made calzones for dinner ... Annabella loved eating the flour!

Uncle Chris made "Uncle cakes" for the kids ... including M & M's and Reeses Pieces, YUM!

We went to a park the morning we left for home.
The kids loved it even though there was snow on the ground.

My kids with their crazy hair!

We love you Uncle Chris and Aunt Leanne....Thanks for sharing your home with us!

February Homestay Trip to America

We're catching up on the last few months ...
One of the BIG things we did was lead a 2-week "HomeStay" trip to America with 6 non-Christian students. It was a great opportunity to experience life together while also intentionally going deeper with them. They stayed with Christian Host families, experienced Church life, and also joined in 5 investigative Bible studies with us along the way.

Our first stop was Richmond, Indiana (partnering with Christ Presbyterian Church). We visited the surrounding area...this is the Cincinnati skyline.

Of course, just hanging out with the kids was fun, too! We really developed close relationships with the students.

We went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. This is Jun and my brother, Ben about to slay the dragon.

My brother Ross with Ryota

The Newport Aquarium...Check out the shark behind Kon and Jon.

Petting baby sharks ... a little scary for me!

Kon loved feeding the birds at the aquarium!

My sister Molly helped teach the students the "Zacchaeus" song. We had just studied about Zacchaeus's life that morning ... I heard that they sang that song about one hundred times! Thanks Molly!

Making origami with a Charles Elementary school class.

We tasted many new foods ... we had to have Cincinnati Skyline chili!

Visiting Navigators Christian Fellowship at Miami University

The second leg of the trip was to Arizona. We partnered with New Valley Church in Tempe, AZ.

Visiting the Grand Canyon was definitely a highlight!

We are so thankful that we were able to take this trip. We could see God's hand throughout our time. We had so many great conversations together, and many of the students showed real interest in Christianity. They were "moved" by their experiences with their Christian host families, and saw that there was something that they were missing in their lives.

Since retuning to Japan, we've been able to start a weekly Bible Study with 3 of the students. Please pray that this regular exploration of God's Word would lead to their lives being changed by the transforming power of the Gospel!

Calvin the Walker!

Calvin has technically been able to walk for over a month now, but he has finally started really moving. Here is Calvin "walking through traffic" at our house in Chiba. Notice how he carries his phone ... :)
.

Here is a funny one of Calvin on a collision course for Momma. :)

Calvin can belly-slide!

At the airport, returning to Japan from our time in America, we found a great play area for the kids. We can now remember the Seattle-Tacoma Airport as the place Calvin learned to slide by himself. We were so surprised that he just figured it out! :)

Calvin's Baptism at Oyumino Christ Church

Last Sunday, Oyumino Christ Church (which normally meets in 3 locations) gathered together for year-end Joint Worship with over 200 people in attendance! The service included the public profession of faith and adult baptism of a young couple, the covenant baptism of their two kids, the infant baptism of 3 other babies (including Calvin), and the transfer membership of another young couple. What a celebration!


Our MTW Team Leader and pastor, Dan Iverson, baptized Calvin ... in Japanese!
Here is Calvin with the other two "men" who were baptized. Mr. I and his 4 year old son.
Here is Calvin with our Japanese pastor, Dedachi-san and his daughter Seira (same pronunciation as Sarah in Japanese) who was also baptized.
Here is Calvin with his little friend Martha, daughter of another missionary family the Nolls.
Pfeil Family photo of five after worship. :)

Thanksgiving....yes a month late!

We had a fun Thanksgiving party with our friends about a month ago. I know, we are slow to put the pictures up, but anyway, here they are!

Sara-Beth and I had such fun cooking for our Thanksgiving feast! We sent all of the kids over to the Noll's house with the guys while we cooked. It really worked out well for us! :)

This was the crew. We served about 23 people (including kids!).
Somehow, we fit in our living room.

Jon explained about the first Thanksgiving.

We finished out the evening with a fun group game.

We had to get a group shot before everyone went home. It was such fun to share this holiday with our friends...even though we missed our family in America.