Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Scrapbook day June 16, 2016

On scrapbook day this month we tried a new park called Peter Pan Park. It was a very hot day but we still had fun. I think the beauty of this place has helped on the days we are lonely and miss our community in Tokyo. God is doing amazing things to confirm we are where He wants us. We were able to find a church plant to be a part of in our suburb, and this church is part of the same church planting movement that our church in Tokyo is from. It was so encouraging for us to find this new church as being a part of Grace City Church Tokyo is one of the best experiences of our lives. We hope we have a similar experience here. The kids are adjusting for the most part but it is clear they miss their friends. We are looking forward to moving into the house in August so we can develop neighborhood friendships and community. Enjoy the pictures from beautiful Colorado.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Eldorado Canyon State Park

We visited our first state park on Saturday and learned the ropes a bit. We tried Eldorado Canyon State Park. To say it was beautiful is an understatement. This park is known for rock climbing so the kids saw tons of people rock climbing to the top. I told the husband we need to find a babysitter for the daytime so we can try some difficult hikes. We found a nice spot to picnic by the S. Boulder creek. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek and feeling the extremely cold water. We took onigiri from an organic grocery store nearby that makes fresh rice balls so that was a bit like Tokyo having onigiri for lunch. There is one shaded hike that is flat for kids. We started it but turned around at the half way point when mama saw what looked like a rattlesnake sunbathing on a rock. We are still not sure if it was an actual rattlesnake or a bull snake which is mistaken often for rattlesnakes but I did not want to stay around long enough to find out. Needless to say we were researching what to do if bitten by snake. We learned that Colorado only has 3 snakes to avoid and the key is to not panic and get to a hospital. Ok then. :) it was a fun day exploring our new surroundings.


Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Boulder Bound


The day after Memorial Day we ventured cross country to our new home state via St. Louis, Missouri and Hays, Kansas before reaching our final destination of Boulder, Colorado. While in St. Louis we visited with friends we met in Tokyo and went to the City Museum. If you are ever in St. Louis you must go there, and be prepared to climb and play, even for adults. After two nights in St. Louis we pushed the drive 8.5 hours and made it to Hays, Kansas for the night. The final day we drove 5.5 hours to Boulder. We have been here less than a week and have lots of emotions. The kids are doing really well and enjoying the space. We spent the evening last night with the one family we know here and the kids jumped on the trampoline for 2 hours. We are so grateful to have one family here to be a lifeline of community and support to us. We've visited lots of local parks, checked out a church over the weekend and downtown Boulder, and are simply trying to familiarize ourself with the area. The husband has started commuting into theDenver office. It is beautiful here and everywhere you turn you see the mountains. We have a list a mile long of parks and trails to check out this summer before the winter hits. As much fun as we are having, we miss Tokyo, our community, and "normal" life, whatever that is. Reverse culture shock has set in with chai areas, but we knew this would happen and understand this is part of the re-entry process. We joke that we have a love hate relationship with Tokyo.However, deep down it holds a special place in our hearts and is not easily forgotten.