Olivia's "Goodnight Moon" Room

Here is Olivia proudly holding her new art project. This year we've been doing the "Before Five in a Row" pre-school program with Olivia (some of you helped us with these books).

We're now reading the classic children's book "Goodnight Moon". Olivia was so excited about naming all the items in the "Goodnight Moon" room, that she decided to draw a picture of all of them.


Here is Olivia's version, with labels added to help you identify each item. (Click on image to enlarge).

Here is the original book version, to compare. Have fun!

Language Progress: On to our 3rd Textbook

Both Sarah and I have moved on to our third Japanese textbook. We feel like we've come a long way, but know that we still have so much more to learn to freely say the things that we want to say. Sarah has completed the books Hajime no Ippo and Minna no Nihongo I and is currently studying Minna no Nihongo II. She has done so well and really has progressed far since starting "from scratch" last April.

Since I had lived in Japanese previously, I have been able to move a little faster and have completed both Minna no Nihongo I & II and have started Nihongo Chukyu J301 at the intermediate level. Language learning has been going well, but I have a big challenge looming ahead of me ... giving a sermon in Japanese at our Church this November. Hopefully these 6 weeks will be enough time to get ready!

Annabella in a Big Bed

I can't believe that my "baby"Annabella is ready to be in a big bed. We are moving into a new phase of parenting now that we no longer have a little one in a crib. I am excited to have her grow up, but a little sad as well... but we have to make room for the new baby.

We started with the girls at opposite ends of the bed, but Annabella's excitement quickly gave way to tears, so we moved Olivia up to the top of the bed to be near her sister. Olivia being the nurturing, mothering type told her sister stories and sang songs until they fell asleep.
It was very sweet to hear through the door!

Our girls looked too cute to pass up taking "sleeping pictures".
Above was the first night, and below was the second night.

Yes, that is Annabella's body at the top of this picture. She loves to cover her head with her "burper" (her special blanket). So far, Annabella hasn't even gotten out of bed. We are very proud of our big girl.

Missionary Kids at MTW Asia Area Retreat

Olivia had the privilege of joining in with the older MTW missionary kids in the CMI (Children's Ministry International) kids program every day during our main sessions. She loved going to her "class" and really learned a lot!
Here is a close up of the 3&4 year old group - including missionary kids from Australia, Japan, Thailand, and several other Southeast Asian countries.
Here is a photo with her two "teachers". Even though Olivia was the smallest one there, they said that she did really well, and even helped some of the older kids with the verses and motions!

The video clip below shows all the kids reciting one of their memory verses. We were such proud parents watching Olivia's first ever group performance! (Olivia has the pink pants and white shirt in the middle).


Matt 25:31-32
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."

"Day Off" in Malaysia

All the missionaries from MTW Asia Area Retreat had Saturday as our day off and most of the families with kids went to a place called Sunway Lagoon. It was a wonderful day of fellowship and fun with our missionary friends - and the kids really loved it!


Here is Olivia playing in the sand with baby Noa (daughter of the Noll family who just joined our team a few weeks ago!) It was hard to get Olivia out of playing in the sand, and was equally hard to get Annabella out of playing in the water!


There was a great petting zoo included, and the girls LOVED playing with the animals, especially the monkey, the guinea pigs, and the bunnies (or "da wabbits" as Annabella says.)

MTW Asia Area Retreat in MALAYSIA

After the clean-up from the typhoon, we left town and headed to Chiba city. We joined with our MTW Church-Planting Team to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Asia Area Retreat (held every 4 years). Pictured in our row here is our friend and teammate Judith. There were ~35 of us all together, including children, so we made quite a lively group!

It was a wonderful time together with all the MTW missionaries from Asia (~200 total), especially to worship together and hear great sermons twice a day! We also had interesting seminars and other activities. Such a blessing to be encouraged through relationships with missionaries from many other countries.

Here are two famous places in Kuala Lumpur that we saw:
(1) The Petronas Towers (formerly the tallest in the world)
(2) The "Blue Mosque" (Malaysia's biggest). This was our view out the front of the hotel we stayed in!

Our 1st Typhoon - "Great Wind"

We experienced our first typhoon (literally "great wind" in Japanese) this week. I didn't realize what we were dealing with until I found out that it is the same thing we call a hurricane in the north Atlantic (technically a tropical cyclone)! The red triangle in the middle of the storm is just about where Karuizawa is. We had so much rain over 3 days that it apparently set a record in Karuizawa.


The normal trickle of water down the nearby stream became a rushing river and many many trees fell down all over town - including on this nearby house! We were fine, but lost our water and electricity for a day. We actually couldn't even leave town if we wanted to because the access road and the nearby highway were closed due to fallen trees and mudslides!

Before

After

From Seaweed to Ice Cream

Annabella is never one to hold back, and proudly "wears" her menu selections for all to see. Both girls love to eat NORI (seaweed) whenever we have rice, but still enjoy good old chocolate ice cream when given the option. :)

Sarah's Belated Birthday Celebration

Olivia & Annabella helped Sarah make the cake in the morning. After I got home from my classes Olivia and I decorated the cake during Annabella's naptime. Since both girls are really into the alphabet, it was a simple decision for Olivia to want to make an "M Cake" for Momma. :)
It actually was quite an adventure to find M&Ms in Karuizawa! I went to 7 different stores before finally finding them - but I just couldn't imagine making an "M Cake" without them. The Snickers bars were a lavish embellishment, but it said Sarah all over it. :)

Visit from Chiba University Student

Ikumi-chan (one of the Chiba University Students we met when we were in Chiba back in April) came to stay with us in Karuizawa for a few days this week during her summer vacation.We had a lot of fun and our girls loved having Ikumi-chan around. Though we had a bit of a language barrier (we each did our best using the other's native language) we sure laughed a lot! She is only a sophomore, so she will be around when we move to Chiba early next year.

She is not particularly interested in Christianity, but she will actually be going to the Philippines later this summer to volunteer at a Christian orphanage for a week. Pray that God uses these experiences to challenge her with the truth and life transforming power of the gospel! Pray that God will continue to us in her life in the months and years to come.

We attended a local festival and enjoyed watching the traditional Japanese dancing.