We passed!!!!!

Yes, we now are the proud owners of official Japanese driver's licenses!!! Thanks SO much for your prayers! We were both nervous going into the test early this morning... we both said many times that we didn't expect to pass the first time, this was just another good practice and time to see what they really want. But we did our best and miraculously, we passed! Oh, and the reason we look kind of goofy in the pictures is that in Japan, you're not supposed to smile for pictures like this... we're still trying to overcome this instinct and the result always ends up being a goofy expression. ;)
After we passed we had to do some more paperwork and go to different stations in the driver's license bureau before we were finished. The greatest part was that all the officials smiled and congratulated us when we presented our 'passing' paperwork... maybe it was great because it's not always usual to see such spontaneous, warm reactions in extremely formal and polite Japanese culture... or maybe it was great because sometimes you just need a little encouragement that, as a foreigner, you did something right, and it's one small step closer to connecting with our new home.
This seems to be the last 'big' thing we needed to do to really 'settle' as official residents in Japan... we have visas, health insurance, a car and car insurance, city registration, and now driver's licenses... last step - learn to speak (and read and write and understand) Japanese... our next lifelong adventure. :)