Nozomi

I've shared on Facebook about a neat ministry that has grown out of the recovery efforts here in the Ishinomaki.  In short, Japanese ladies are making jewelry to sell, using shards of pottery and dishes that have been found along the beach in this area.  This has provided not only needed income for these ladies, but also a place to share life together post-disaster, and to be encouraged by Jennifer and the other teammates working here to show Christ's love to them.  Nozomi means hope, and the opportunity to work and be together has helped immensely with the healing process. 

This video is a few minutes long, but it is a great documentary about the Nozomi Project.  If you can take the time to watch, you will certainly be blessed:

So, today Johanna and I had the opportunity to help with a few things next door where the Nozomi ladies are working.  It was such a treat to be able to meet and chat with them.  Each of the ladies has lost a family member in the tsunami, and a line of jewelry is named after that loved one.  I especially enjoyed chatting with Yuri.  Jennifer sent me a necklace at Christmas that was made by Yuri and I pray for her every time I wear the necklace.  These ladies are hearing about God's love, are studying the Bible, and their lives have been profoundly impacted through this ministry.

Shards of pottery are cleaned, sanded, polished, and turned into beautiful pieces of handiwork.  Their business has really exploded and they are working hard to keep up with the demand.  A neat problem!

Please check out their website and feel free to make some purchases  :)  http://nozomiproject.com/

The 10 Crazy Cousins had plenty more fun today.  Gideon regularly visits a grandma next door.  She has suffered and lost much from the disaster and was very discouraged.  She said that having Gideon's visits have cheered her up so much and given her reason to carry on.  Ami went over for a visit with Gideon and ended up spending about 5 hours with her today!  They went out for lunch, got fed lots of treats, played games, watched some cartoons, and just had a great time.  Ami has almost no Japanese language, but Gideon, at just four years old, is pretty fluent.  They had a great time!

Here at the house the kids made slime, played games, played outside in the rain, and just enjoyed being together.  Chris helped get some more work done at the park.  This evening Jennifer and I fixed dinner for 24....our fourteen, plus four volunteers, plus a teammate's family that was in the process of moving to a new home today.  Jennifer has become quite talented at preparing dinner for mass crowds.  I admire how she just goes with the flow, always welcoming whoever comes to the door (which happens SO many times a day), is constantly interrupted by calls and texts that need answering, etc.  Chad and Jennifer have such a heart for what they are doing here....amazing, and only through His power that they can sustain the pace at which they go day after day.

Looking forward to sharing more life together tomorrow with the Huddlestons and the beautiful Japanese people that they are serving here!

Snowboarding

When you don't live near the mountains, you make the most of the snow that we get.  The kids love sledding down from the top of our backyard way down into the woods.  I often wonder if I should make them wear helmets, for I fear they will some day meet up with a tree.  Ugh.  We've also acquired some snowboards that they have had fun with.  Now Benjamin is into building ramps.  I took some pictures the other night, but it was dusk and snowing....thus the dark lighting and blobs of white you see. 

Sorry, the videos are dark, but at least I posted some!

YoSemite Videos

I have a handful of videos from my backpacking trip.  It's easier to just give the links to youtube rather than to upload them directly to the blog.  I wish I had taken more.  These are just tiny pieces of an amazing experience that I had.  Oh, how I long to go back.  "The mountains are calling and I must go."  (John Muir)

"Little" Sadler Lake Camp (8-12-12)

Isberg Pass (8-12-12)

Mount Ansel Adams - Rainbow (8-13-12)

Thunder - Mt. Ansel Adams (8-14-12)

Merced River (8-16-12)

Douglas Squirrel (8-18-12)

Nevada Falls (8-18-12)

Silver Apron Vernal Falls (8-18-12)

Michaela's Baptism

Here is a video of Michaela's birthday into God's family from a couple of weeks ago.  You will have to turn the volume up a bit.  And sorry for all the sniffing in the background.  :)

Baptism

(Sorry, I can't get the embed link to work right now.  So just click on the link for now.)

Japan

Although it's been over a year since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, there is still a great need.  My sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer and  Chad, moved up there last fall from Osaka for roughly a year to be among the people there.  They have been joined by a couple of families who have felt led to move there permanently.  They have had hundreds of volunteers come through and help.  It seems to be an overwhelming task, yet each house that they help clean out, each bag of food they share, each life that they touch has a lasting impact. 

Here is a video put out by an organization that has come alongside Chad and Jennifer and their team to help.



Chad and Jennifer have huge hearts for the people of Japan, and especially now for the people of Ishinomaki.  I would ask you to pray for their stamina and strength as they continue to wholeheartedly serve those that they live among. 

We love you, Chad, Jennifer, and cousins.  We are so proud of you!

Anything is Possible

EDIT:  Thanks to all of Ami's fans that have written that they haven't been able to view the video.  I was trying to tweek some things and still am not happy with the final result, but for now you can view it.  I'll get tech support in to help and maybe I can publish more videos.  :)

Yes, even getting Ami to perform on video for me is possible.  She has been singing this song SO much that we all have it stuck in our heads.  It's from one of her favorite websites to visit, Strawberry Shortcake.

Ami was okay with being recorded, but upon watching and listening to herself, she is concerned that her voice sounds higher-pitched that she thinks it should be.  She says it was not her best performance either.....just so you know.  :)

Boys Will Be Boys

Earlier today I heard Benjamin say to Elijah, "Come on, let's wrestle before I can't for two weeks!"  Elijah was more than willing to oblige.  I don't know what it is about this pink blanket, but they love messing around with it.

I tell ya, never a dull moment around here, never.

Joseph

Elijah's best buddy at the Philip Hayden Foundation in China was Joseph.  We have several pictures of the two of them together.  He is the same age as Elijah and now has less than two years before he ages out of the system and then will no longer be available to have a Forever Family.  His paperwork has been on China's list for quite some time now, he is ready and waiting, asking his nannies for an American Family.  We have prayed for Joseph from the time we started to pursue Elijah's adoption, knowing that it would be hard for him to be left behind.  Will you please join us in praying and advocating for him before time is up?

A  fellow PHF friend set up a blog for him:  http://hejustwantsafamily.blogspot.com/.  Feel free to pass the link on.  We have much more information about Joseph that we can pass on to anyone who feels their heart being tugged towards this sweet 12-year old boy.  EVERY child deserves a family.

Day 2 With Cousins

After finally getting everyone settled in last night about 11 o'clock, most of the kids slept in a bit this morning.  The cousins have done great as far as not much jet lag.  It was fun just to watch the kids run around and play all day.

Michaela and Anika went to work immediately on their Girls For God e-zine 

Caleb squealed with delight when I pushed him on the rope swing.  I was his favorite "pusher".  :)

Gideon, my cute "Barney" that I shared a bed with in Japan!  We had fun playing games, shucking corn, and getting the mail together.

These two were pretty inseparable all day.

Oh, the sword fighting and boy play that is so different from girl play.  

 

Currently, Aunt Jennifer and the older three girls are out doing some American shopping.  Anika was anxious to hit the mall and get her ears pierced!  What great memories are being made.

Eyes, Mud, and Music

You know, when I'm trying to catch up on blogging it's difficult to make a themed post, so the title just portrays the variety of things that I caught on camera this week.

Ami had her first eye appointment and I'm thankful to report that she is seeing everything just fine.  Hopefully her genes are better than what Chris and I passed down to some of our kids.  She was excited to go through the processes that she has seen her older siblings go through at their annual exams.

We're still enjoying the spring weather (except for torrents of rain!) and here is some of Elijah's handiwork made from good 'ole Missouri clay.

Michaela had two musical performances this last week.  On Thursday she played with the band at our local Christian school where she has been involved for the past five years.  She also performed two duets, one being part of Stars and Stripes.  It was super!  (The video doesn't do it justice.)  The second song was one that she had composed as a duet for her and her friend to play entitled The Flowers of Yesterday.  She had kept it as a secret to us and we were very much impressed.  

 

On the way home from the concert the kids saw this rainbow and said it was a sign that we needed to stop for a celebration treat.  Chris agreed.  :)

On Saturday was Michaela's second performance.  She played a duet with a friend at her piano recital.  It was a beautiful arrangement of Here I Am to Worship.  We are very proud of you, Michaela.  Your hours of practice have not been in vain and you are making beautiful music that pleases Him!

And She's Off!

After a "new" bike, some encouragement, going back to her old bike for a bit, then more encouragement, Ami is off and rolling on just two wheels!  We're still working on take off and landing a bit, but each day her courage is stronger and she is going farther and farther.  Ami is a pretty coordinated kid, so we knew it wouldn't take long, it was just a matter of her telling herself that she could.  It's been fun to watch her siblings help her and cheer for her as usual. 

She's all business in this video:

Microwave Scramble

This video just doesn't do the "real" thing justice.  Just watch, then I'll try to explain.....

 

My kids (usually all but Michaela) have been doing this for weeks now.  I'll even be downstairs and hear Benjamin upstairs by himself setting the microwave, then running to the closet until it beeps.  I have now idea how it got started, but it's hilarious to me!  They will put something in the microwave, then when there are about 30 seconds left they'll all run for "cover", even going so far as to running to a downstairs closet to hide.  Then when the microwave beeps they come out safely and declare that anyone that was left in the kitchen blew up.  What?!  Who's kids are these??  Never a dull moment I tell ya, never a dull moment.

And yes, that's a pretty normal lunch time at our house.  We all heat up leftovers or make sandwiches.  It's quick and easy! 

More Beautiful Snow!

The kids have been anxiously awaiting the beginning of another snow storm today.  We have about 3 inches so far and are expecting at least that much more tonight, so there is lots of fun to be had outside.

Benjamin created a welcome home for Chris, but instead of seeing Chris pull up in his truck after work, we looked up the driveway and saw him walking down!  That was not a good sign.  Fortunately he did not end up in the ditch like many others he saw on the drive home.  We live up a long curvy hill, so he just parked at the bottom and walked rather than attempting to get past the two vehicles ahead of him that were already stuck on our road.

With homeschooling we don't necessarily take snow days, but our rule has always been that if Dad can't get out to work, then we will have a snow day.  It's looking like it may be that way tomorrow.  Yippee!

Lots of fun to be had sledding......

And lots of snowballs to be thrown.....

.....yes, the SMACKING is our poor boys being nailed.  Ha!

It was fun watching Chris be a kid again...first slinging snowballs at the kids, then sledding down the hill, and then I looked up just in time to see him go "skating" past the living room windows on the slick deck.  :)

Gotcha Day Videos

I was looking back in our archives at our time in China with Elijah and was surprised to find that we never posted any video from our Gotcha moments.  Here are a couple of quick segments from that very special day.

Band Concert

Michaela is now in her fifth year of playing flute, and third year of piccolo. She plays at a local Christian school that only goes through 8th grade, but they’ve allowed her to continue one year longer (she’s 9th).  It has been a good fit for her and the small group has been almost as if she’s in private lessons.

Last week we attended the Christmas program at the school and enjoyed hearing the talents of the young people.  Michaela also played a couple of duets with another flautist that were just beautiful.