Safe and Sound

Oh, it sure feels good to have all my chicks under one roof again!  Michaela took off from Grandpa and Grandma's house about 8pm our time on Tuesday.  We were able to have brief contact with her (over sketchy wi-fi) while she stopped over in Beijing.  Then once she got to LA she had her cell phone to use to call us.  It was so good to hear her voice and know she was safely on U.S. soil!  She said she kept trying to speak Japanese to everyone.  Ha!

Unfortunately she had some delays at LAX, but it wasn't near as bad as when the rest of us flew in last month.  We had all planned to meet her in STL, but as the delay stretched on and on we decided it was best for just Benjamin and me to drive to meet her.  She finally landed at 11:45pm and we couldn't wait to see her.  She was a bit emotional, too!

These two missed each other a lot.  They are so funny together.  I love the relationship they have!

Johanna and Ami had made this sweet sign and wanted to make sure I would still take it to the airport without them.  Also, notice the heart bracelet I'm wearing that Ami made for me to give to her big sis. 

When we finally arrived home at 2am we woke everyone up for hugs.  I think most of them remember it!  She is still soundly sleeping this morning, but we're anxious to have her up and chatty.

Michaela packed back some treats for us, including our favorite cream filled rolls.  They are a bit squashed from their long journey, but I'm sure they will taste yummy just the same!

Six weeks was a long time for this mama to have her eldest away, but it was 10 weeks for Daddy.  Having Skype made all the difference and sure helped the miles between us seem not so many.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this experience has shaped Michaela.  I already know it has given her a big boost in confidence and independence.  Now on to her senior year of high school!

She's On Her Way Home!

Father's Day

So Father's Day isn't quite the same without all the kids here, but we were able to Skype with Michaela and got a picture with her on the iPad.  :)

Chris enjoyed some extra love and gifts, and also got to choose where to eat out for lunch.  We are definitely blessed to have such a wonderful daddy to our five treasures.  He is a wonderful provider, game player, repairer, spiritual leader, tech supporter, date for kids or mom, and so much more.  We love you, Chris!

Memorial Day Weekend

We decided to get a  pool membership again this summer since we will be around and not off on a long road trip.  The kids enjoyed it so much last year, so we'll be poolside a lot again.  The water hasn't quite warmed up yet and I only had 3 brave souls venture in, but we had fun.

 
With the public schools out, Ami and Johanna have enjoyed lots of extra play time with the neighbor girls.  Ami and Sofia were having a blast belting out songs with the keyboard and microphone.  So funny!

We made our best effort at going to the Memorial Day parade, as we have for many years now.  We were walking up to find our spot on the route when news broke that it had been cancelled due to impending rain.  I love this parade each year.  It's not full of advertisers, candy, or anything else except for focusing on honoring past and present service men and women.  We are so very thankful for those that have served and are serving our country!

In other news....Michaela is still up in Ishinomaki with my sister's family.  Today they had a dedication of the new Nozomi House, a building for the jewelry project I have posted about before, and had a very special guest that led worship for them....Jeremy Camp!  He was in Japan helping with relief efforts and graciously came to take part in the dedication.  He didn't even have his guitar with him on this trip, so bought one in Japan to use.  Fun experience for Michaela, and a neat encouragement to the mission team there in Ishinomaki. 
 

A Very Long Day

We got up at 5am Friday in Osaka to get ready to head to the airport. 

We made it to the airport fine and got checked in.  It was a relief to get all the checked bags out of our hands and only have to worry about counting kids and backpacks after that.  

Good byes are never easy, and especially when you are hugging your 16 year-old daughter for the last time in 6 weeks. We squeezed lots of hugs and tears out and finally made our way through security and onto our first 3 hour flight to Beijing.

When we arrived in Beijing we got off the plane outside and transferred on a bus to the terminal.  The air was SO gross and you could even see thingies floating around in the air.  Yuck.  But it was fun to be in China again.  We got some Starbucks and waited a short bit for our long connecting twelve hour flight to LAX.

Chris spent this last week in Las Vegas for work, so was able to fly from there to LA to meet up with us.  He was there to greet us when we came through customs.  Four weeks is a long time to be apart.  I don't know how military families do it, makes me appreciate them all the more.  We Skyped twice a day and were able to text, so that definitely helped and made us feel not so far apart.

We were scheduled for a 5 hour layover, so that also gave us time to meet up with my brother again.  He works only 15 minutes away from the airport, so he brought In-N-Out to us again for lunch.  It was his birthday, so we joked that we flew in just for him, but he had to bring the birthday dinner to us!  Even though our time together was short, it was great to be with him for a while.  Thanks for meeting up with us, Jonathan!

After lunch we had quite a bit of time left, so we sat outside for a while.  It wasn't the quietest or cleanest area, but we enjoyed some "fresh" LA air and sunshine.  Johanna and Ami rested for a bit on some unused luggage carts.  I really wanted to join them, but restrained myself!

So tired, and little did we know that the long day was about to get even longer...

We found a good corner of our terminal to camp out in for our remaining layover.  Chris and some of the kids spent some time in a back hallway....the only place they could find outlets to charge electronic devices.  I can't believe such a huge international airport doesn't accommodate customers better!  We were just getting ready to board our last 3.5 hour flight to STL when the airline announced that there were mechanical problems.  The best they could do was fly in another plane (from STL!) and our departure time would be delayed 5.5 hours!  Instead of getting in at 10pm, we would not arrive until 3:30am.  We made the most of it, used our meal vouchers to get some supper and coffee, and continued our camp out in the terminal.  Some of us caught a few winks, but not much. 

When we finally arrived in STL we had to wait almost 45 minutes for a shuttle to take us to long term parking to get our van.  We finally got on our way and arrived home about 6:45am.  We had originally expected that Chris would feel like he was on PST and have no problem driving us home and that we would be home by midnight.  Now, he was on "jet lag" with us.  In the end, we should have had the airlines get us a hotel in LA and fly home the next morning, but we were just ready to push through and get home.

The kids were so excited to see their 4-week old kittens that they had only seen through Skype.  Cute!

Tomorrow - Heading Home

Bags are packed, kids are tucked in, lots of hugs have been given.....we head to the airport early tomorrow morning.  Can't believe the time to leave is here.  My heart is full, but it will be hard to leave, as part of my heart is always here in Japan. 

We got a lot accomplished today.  Kids enjoyed playing a bit more before taking apart their fort.  I went next door to say good bye to Keiko.  She has been given less than a year to live.  We shared some memories with each other, prayed together, cried together.  I will miss her.

Dad and Mom treated us to dinner and then we came home for our last evening devotion time together.  Dad and Mom have been so good to have us here for seven weeks.  We are all at home here and the kids have been great helpers with dishes, chores, cleaning and trashing, and more.  We are blessed to have the relationship that we do with them.  I am so thankful that despite the miles, our kids have great contact with them and know their grandparent's home in Japan.

Good-byes at the airport will be hard, as always.  But it is time to go home, time to be with my amazing husband again, time to get back into the groove of life at home.  God has been so good to us, so very good.  Thank you, Dad and Mom.  Thank you, Father.  Thankful.....

Packing Up and Making Memories

Today was the last day of Japanese class for Benjamin and Johanna.  We have been so blessed to have six hours of lessons a week for FREE.  The volunteer teachers at the library have been so kind to our kids and have enjoyed having them.  I went in at the close of class today to say thank you and they were so sad to see Benjamin and Johanna go.  They asked if we would be coming back next year for a visit.  I wish!  Michaela will continue on with lessons for her remaining six weeks here.

Aren't they the cutest teachers?  At 5'3" and 5'4", even Michaela and I feel tall here! 

After Japanese class, Michaela and I picked up bentos and had a lunch date at the park.  It was beautiful today!  I am trying not to think about not seeing her for the next six weeks (although I have been remembering to use my waterproof mascara this week!).  I am so excited that she has this opportunity, yet it will be hard to hug her good-bye on Friday.

This afternoon we finished up some clean up in the yard from all of our sorting and trashing.  Then this evening we celebrated by going out to eat at sushi-go-round again.  This was kind of a last hurrah to thank Grandpa and Grandma for their hosting and to take them out for an early Mother's Day and Father's Day treat. 

Gotta love ya some baby squid sushi!  Yes, that would be the tentacles hanging down.  :)

Oyster sushi:

Salmon sushi:

We also made one last stop for one of the kids' favorite treats....taiyaki.  It's sweet red bean paste or sweet custard cooked in a batter.  They love it!

Another great day to fill up our memory banks.  We got a lot of packing done today, but our last full day here is tomorrow.  Even though I miss my husband dearly, it is going to be hard to leave, so hard.

More Kittens

No, we didn't find any more in the garage, but the kids did get to hold some at the pet store.

Look at that face, she's just beaming!

The morning after Chris arrived home last month, he woke up to our Twix with two kittens in her box in the garage.  We knew that she looked a bit pregnant when we left, but were hoping that she would wait until Chris got home.  That was close!  Anyway, we Skype Chris each morning and he has patiently taken his iPad out to the garage for "kitty cam" time.  Oh my, the squeals and "awwws" from the kids has been crazy!  So, the kitten rescue from yesterday and holding kittens at the pet store has help to fill a little bit of their desire to be at home with their own kitties. 

Here are a couple of signs for you:

I can't read all of this sign, but it's either offering pet wedding ceremonies, or memorial ceremonies.

Hmmm...

Animal Rescue Heroes

This was a day made in heaven for Johanna.  My dad has had problems with feral cats once in a while and unfortunately one found its way into my parents' garage and decided that would be a great place to have some kittens.  The garage is not used for parking, it's used for storage, so it wasn't until Michaela saw a cat go in through the rafters and we heard some meows that we knew there was a problem.  The bigger problem was that the kittens were way up high and not easily accessible.  After much effort, Johanna rescued two kittens (the mama ran off).  Oh, she was beside herself with joy, pity, and concern!

The kids all got to love on the kittens for just a bit and then Grandpa kindly put them in a box at the back of their yard.  Within 15 minutes, the mama had returned to claim her babies and carried them off to a safer place.  Phew!

But wait!  There's more!  Dad and Mom were hosting their monthly Int'l Night again.  Guests were just starting to arrive when more meows were heard from the garage!  So, it was back to hunting for yet another kitty.  Johanna was allowed to search for a bit, but we had to get inside and carry on with the evening.

We had over 30 guests with folks from Japan, Brazil, China, Honduras, Canada, USA, Ghana, and probably more that I'm forgetting.  Johanna and Ami had also invited the three neighbor children that they have been playing with and they came.  It was a fun evening of games, fellowship, singing, and devotions.  Dad and Mom have always had a gift of hospitality and have hosted countless people in their homes over the years. 

Most of the guests left by around 10:30, so then it was on with the kitty rescue.  This last kitten had fallen down in a very tight spot between some old barrels.  It was impossible to reach and would have taken moving a huge amount of stuff to get to it.  Through great efforts again, Grandpa and Johanna were finally able to coax it out.  It was definitely the runt and had been without its mama for at least the whole day.  It was pretty pitiful looking and shaking, but snuggled right up to Johanna's comforting.  Grandpa even took pity on it and offered to let it stay in a box inside overnight!  We decided the best thing for the kitten was to place it in a box at the back of the yard and hope that the mama would rescue it.  Sure enough, she did!

That's my story.  It will go down in history for Johanna as one the best days of her childhood, I'm sure.  That sweet girl has an amazing heart for animals and will either end up with a career involving animals and/or Chris and I will be visiting her farm/zoo when she has her own place!