Typhoon days...

Well, it's typhoon season once again, and we're in the middle of a typhoon right now... literally. :) After 8 years of living on islands in the Pacific Ocean, we're pretty used to typhoons coming and going, and now that we're in a developed country where there's not much destruction at all, we kind of look forward to typhoon days... think of it as our equivalent of a snow day. :) So right now Typhoon Muifa is still slowly moving past Okinawa... as in we've been in the middle of this typhoon for 24 hours, and the winds seem to be getting stronger tonight... it will eventually move on, but here are a few pics of how we've been spending our time...
Brian and Justin have spent hours building airplanes, airports, towers, etc. with duplos (Legos for younger children) and then they eventually let Noah destroy them. :)

making pictures of trains with stamps

playing Brian's new X-plane game

watching movies

During a lull in the wind this afternoon, Brian and Justin decided to enjoy the wet weather and get rid of some energy on our back porch...

Noah wanted to join them SO desperately :)

and tonight we even watched a movie while we ate our snack-y supper.... :)
So even though we've been a little stir-crazy at times, we're really enjoying all this time at home together... but we do want to leave the house again someday... happy typhoon day! :)

Children's Fellowship with Urasoe Church of the Nazarene

Last weekend one of the Japanese Nazarene churches on Okinawa invited us to be part of a summer children's fellowship... So about 20 of our kids, youth, and parents went to their church and enjoyed an amazing evening of fellowship and making new friends!

Urasoe Church of the Nazarene

This is Tomoyosei-sensei, the pastor of the church.
We began the service by singing songs in Japanese and English, and then Brian gave a message.

After the service, we played a game where the kids started to get to know each other.... and for the rest of the evening the new Japanese/American friends were inseparable!

making a craft together...
Justin was so excited to be part of all the big kid activities. :)
And then it was bbq time - oishii!!!!

After dinner they played one more game, and it was so great! The kids were blindfolded and given a bat... similar to a pinata, but they were hitting a watermelon in a plastic bag on the ground... when the watermelon finally broke, everybody got to eat it... so fun! :)

We had such a great time making new friends, learning about cultures, and worshiping together, even though few spoke the same language... how great is our God!

Deep in the heart of Texas :)

We had such a great time with friends and family on our short trip to Texas! Things were very busy with Brian at NYC the first week and then relatives coming to visit, but it was so good to just relax and be with family. Our first visitor was my dear friend from college, Lynette, and her beautiful daughter, Morgan!
We spent our few days together talking, shopping, playing at the park, and lots more talking, of course. It was so fun to watch our kids play together and become fast friends!

riding the train at the park!

Brian also got to reconnect with friends at NYC (Nazarene Youth Congress)...

another wonderful friend from college, Josh!

He and Acy, our good friend from East Timor, represented the Asia-Pacific region.

A surprise reunion with Uncle LeBron :)

always fun times with other NYI leaders from around the world :)

AND he got to hang out with our friends from Asia-Pacific!

He had a great time, but he was very happy to meet up with us again in Texas.... and then the relatives started coming. :) We were so blessed to see Brian's parents, his brother, Justin, my sister, Jessica, and her boyfriend, Andy! So, what did we do with them? Well, Noah spent most of the trip being held by adoring family members....



And Justin almost never stopped moving... He was so ecstatic to have a yard to play in, new things to explore, and endless new friends to play with...

He learned how cool and fun Uncle Justin is...

And he got to build a bird feeder for Grandma Jill with Papa Dwayne!

He had a blast with Aunt Jessie....

playing games....

reading books...

and throwing rocks in the river!

Justin and Noah also got to meet Jonah, the adorable son of my childhood friend, Marcy... As I look back through the pictures of them together, there are none of them looking at the camera... they just had too much fun playing!
We love being with family... thanks so much for coming down to Texas to see us, but now it's your turn to come to Japan! :)