Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Thanksgiving 2016

We are staying put for the holidays this year and we enjoyed our week off for Thanksgiving. We spent the week relaxing, eating, taking walks, taking care of our friends basset hounds, and just enjoying one another. It was great. The kids loved the basset hounds and are begging for a dog, but we will hold off on that. I do not mind dog sitting but I am not ready to make that commitment yet. Our neighbors across the street invited us for thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun. The girls performed a song for us and everyone got along so nicely. We took the girls on a turkey trot in the morning which was also a lot of fun. Our first Thanksgiving in Colorado was a huge success. We are glad we did not go far and did not have to fight all the people traveling. We simply enjoyed a quiet week.

Miss M turns 8!

It is hard to believe our first born is now 8! We celebrated with a Rapunzel themed birthday party and frozen yogurt cake with her friends. On her actual birthday we went to Denver and purchased her first American Girl Doll, whom she calls Stella. It was so fun celebrating her and I am thankful she had friends to celebrate with since we recently moved here. She is turning into such a sweet girl. She is an avid reader and loves all things astronomy. She is sensitive and in tune with the feelings of others. As much as she and her brother fight, she loves the K Man and he makes her laugh. She takes care of the J Man and likes it when he gives her a kiss. She has done so well with our transition and I am so grateful God gave us this gift to parent and entrusted her with us. Miss M, you light up our family and add such beauty to all of us. We are so blessed to have you in our family and that you made us parents for the first time.

K Man and sports

The K Man is all about sports. After finishing up his first season of flag football he moved into basketball buffs at the YMCA. I cannot say enough about how much we love the YMCA and their sports programs for kids. I love how intense he is with everything and how he listens to the coach and will do exactly what the coaches say. He got pretty good at blocking in football so his teammates could get a clear run. In basketball he always has his hands up on defense and is following the ball. He loves to watch all kinds of football. He will watch a bit on tv and then run downstairs to the basement and practice. We are lucky the basement is large enough for him to run around and we do not have any furniture so it is perfect to practice sports.

Fukuda Sensei visits

Our pastor from Tokyo was in America in October and flew home through Denver to spend a few days with us. The time was short, but very sweet. It was so good to connect with him and have him in our new home. We miss him and his family terribly so it was nice to have a piece of Tokyo with us. Shortly after he returned to Tokyo he suffered a severe stroke in his brain. By God's grace his sister, who was his nurse, caught it in time. He is completely healed and this is nothing but a miracle. We praise God for this man, his wife, and their friendship to us and that his work will continue in Tokyo. While he was here, we took him on a hike in downtown Boulder through the flat irons and out to lunch on Pearl Street. In the evening we had our new pastor in Lafayette and his wife over for dinner so they could meet each other. It was a fabulous 48 hours of fellowship together.