O Come Let Us Adore Her

We love to see that Mika is loved by so many people! Our church family has been praying for her from the moment they heard I was pregnant, and they are so happy now that they can see her. Everyone flocks to the babysitting room after the worship service on Sunday to ooh and ahhh. It's so cute. And now, if I am not with Mika when someone sees me, the greeting I get (instead of "Hello") is, "Eh? Where's Mika??" One of the youth boys greeted me that way on Sunday. cute:) We also love to see the joy people get in seeing Mika. Last week, we took her to a kind of senior center for their Christmas Lunch. One of our church members volunteers there and Taka went to share a Christmas message there. We also sang Christmas carols with them. Afterwards, during lunch, one of the men in charge took Mika from me and carried her around to show her to everyone. When the event was over, Taka & I stood by the door to say goodbye as people left, and everyone stopped to look at Mika and their faces lit up. We're happy that she brings a little cheer into people's lives.PHOTOS:The first 4 photos were taken in the babysitting room at church. The first one is from her first time going to church. (you can see Taka's mom in that photo...she's the one closest to the wall, looking on with pride:) The last three are from the Luncheon that we went to. The first of those is of Taka when he was sharing the message....the 2nd is of of women stopping by to have a look at Mika...the last is of the man who stole Mika from me (in carrier) to go show her around to everyone:)

Mika & Family

Mika was born into a family that loves her dearly. Here are some pics of her with the fam. PHOTOS: Grandma & Grandpa Crouch came halfway around the world to visit their first Granddaughter...Taka's Dad with Mika when her Great Grandmother met her for the first time....Uncle Hiroyuki (AKA Taka's bro) chillin with Mika....Baachan & Jiichan (Grandma & Grandpa) Asada visiting Mika at our place.

Mika Jamie Asada

Sorry for the LONG delay in this announcement...(we figure most of you know). We've been a little busy for some odd reason...hahaha. We are happy to announce that our cutie Mika (pronounced like the "Mi" in "do, re, mi") Jamie made her way out into the world on October 15th, the day before my birthday (I can say I was a year younger than expected when she was born:). We are doing well back at home after a one week stay in the hospital. We're a little groggy minded, but each day gets a little better. My parents have been here to help. My dad went back to the States last week and my mom is going back to the States on Wednesday:( We sure will miss having them around! Don't know what we would've done without them. Mika is good, we can't stop kissing her:) We'll take her for her one month checkup tomorrow! Time flies when you're having fun (and half asleep every day...:) Hope you enjoy these pics:) The first three are from the hospital. The 4th one is Mika looking at a picture of her parents. She likes to look at that, especially when daddy is at work. The last is of Mika chillin in her papasan swing...eyes open!

Broaddus Family Farewell BBQ

At the end of August we had to say goodbye to the Broaddus family (Brian, Yoko, Naomi & Sara). We were quite sad to see them go as they've been a big part of our church for many years. Brian, especially,was a great encouragement to Taka as they colabored in the English ministry & "one-anothered" in general. God has called the Broadduses onto minister in other parts of Japan. These pics are from a farewell BBQ that one of our church member's hosted in her yard (having such a big yard...or any yard at all...is rare in Japan). PHOTOS: Taka & the youth boys manned the grills......Two of the Takeda brothers liked to make things "well done".....Yoko & Sara Broaddus (after Sara had fun in the dirt)...Sara Broaddus enjoying her food...Brian Broaddus sitting with some of the church members....Aki w/Noriko....Aki's belly & a church member who had just approached her in astonishment at how big her stomach was (always love those comments!)...The 3 Takeda bros enjoying their food after serving as grillmasters....a summer night is not complete without fireworks (legal in Japan)

Birthing Class

A couple of weeks ago, Taka & I went to a birthing class that the hospital offers. They gave us a brief overview of the stages of labor, showed us the labor & delivery room...then showed us how to bathe a newborn. They demonstrated on a real 2-day old baby (SO cute!), then had Taka practice on a doll. SO, we had to share these pictures with you to bring you a good laugh! Isn't our "baby" cute? Hopefully our baby will be as cooperative as the doll...but I don't think she'll look like that. PHOTOS: Us with our "baby"... Taka showing his bathing skills...Taka got to put on an 8 kg (16 + lbs.) pregnancy suit to get a feel for how I feel (uhhh...I may have gained a little more than that!)....Our birthing class members & nurses

Taka @ Friendship English Camp

These are some photos from the annual Friendship English Camp, an outreach put on by some churches and missionaries in a different part of our prefecture. Taka went with 4 of our youth boys and 1 girl, Megumi, who is not a Christian but sometimes comes to youth group. During camp they had morning devotions, English classes, games, small groups, and each night a Japanese pastor shared a message. Taka, always looking for a chance to tie up his boys, illustrated sin & how it entangles by tying up Ryuji, who is a strong track and field athlete. He had him run a little race against one of the missionaries who was not tied up. Guess who won... You can see Taka tying Ryuji up in one of the photos. Other PHOTOS~ GETTING READY TO LEAVE FOR CAMP: "Our kids'" parents dropping them off at church (and Taka's dad getting ready to drive the gang to camp), praying for a safe trip (& good behavior!) before leaving....AT CAMP: Taka speaking, Taka during small group time, Taka playing

Our Little Bakery

Here's a picture of our little bun in the oven:) The bakery that is named after us:) We saw this when we were at Hiroshima station, so I had to take a picture. I see their products in grocery stores, but this is the first time I've actually seen a shop on its own. Pretty neat:)

Students

This is a photo of me with one of my students, Shin, and his mother. I have been teaching Shin for about 2 years. He has special needs so his mother always joins the lesson. As you can tell, she's fun. It's been challenging but good. Shin is REALLY good at memorizing words. The day this was taken was my last lesson with him as I am teaching less and less as I get closer to my due date. You may notice my hair is kinda wild. It's really hot and humid here and I tend to not stray too far from where I can have a fan blowing on me!:)

In Living Color

Earlier this month we posted (See One Day Picnic post) a pic of Taka with Takeshi, a local artist who sometimes comes to our International Cafe outreach. We also mentioned that he was supposed to be doing a caricature drawing of us (that was what he was doing at the "picnic" but since he was so busy, we ordered ours but said he could give it to us anytime). Well, he came to International Cafe the other day, so we got it! We're quite impressed! It's so rare that caricatures actually look like the people! And we like his creative use of colors. Hope you enjoy!

Happy "Sea Day" (Umi no Hi)

Today (July 21) is a national holiday, called Umi no hi (literally Sea Day). In honor of the holiday, we thought we'd post some pics from our recent lunch outing to support one of our church member's exhibition at a local Italian restaurant (One of her pieces had a sea theme). Noriko is the same one whose chalkart we posted a picture of earlier this month (See One Day Picnic). She was able to display her work at her friends' restaurant for 2 days. She enjoys using her gift to spread God's Word. PHOTOS: 1) posting this one in honor of Sea Day & the One who created it....2) Mayumi & Yoko (Yoko & Noriko had been doing a seeker's Bible study with Mayumi)...3) Us with Maris (our friend from the Philippines who is sadly leaving this week)

July International Cafe

These are some pics from our International Cafe outreach that we had on the 19th. The theme was "Paradise" and we had table discussion about what "paradise" means to everyone...then each table shared their thoughts. There were some really good discucssions & most concluded that paradise cannot be found on earth. Then we showed some movie clips from "Narnia" followed by a look into paradise in God's Word. PHOTOS: 1) Taka translating & facilitating discussion time...2&3) Table "reps" share about what their group discussed...4) candid shot of the tea time at the end of the night...people stuck around chatting till 11!

Wedding

July 12th, we had a wedding ceremony for Dai & Sayuri Fukuda. We posted photos from their engagement ceremony in a previous blog (last year). Sayuri is a dear member of our church family. She had just started coming to our church when Taka and I arrived in Shimonoseki. Taka really enjoyed his Bible studies with her & Yoko (in one of the photos). Dai is like an adopted member of our church. He would usually stay at our place when he would come to visit Sayuri. (Dai is from Kobe, which is almost a 3-hour bullet train ride from here.) And he would always be willing to play guitar for worship whenever needed. We're so happy for them, but we're sure gonna miss Sayuri being around (they'll live in Kobe from now). PHOTOS: Us (we celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 10th) with the bride and groom...Taka's mom with Yoko @ the reception table....the bride & groom during the ceremony & walking back down the aisle...some shots of Taka who was the MC for the reception.