Amelia Kay

 A post coming soon about her birth.

        Happy New Year!!!

Back in America!!

I know it's a little late, but we've been traveling and time has just flown bye. We returned to the US on the evening of Monday, July 28th. We reported to our mission agency (Fellowship International Mission) the following week and have been visiting family as well as supporters. It has been wonderful to see and visit people in person. We are back in NC getting settled, and getting back into our home church, First Christian Church of Ramsuer. We are in the process of reconnecting with our prayer and financial supporters as well as looking for new churches and individuals to partner with us as we want to return to Japan. 

We will still send out email and newsletter updates with our progress and time spent here in America. We will also be updating our blog with life updates and pictures of our time in America. 

Hayride at the Cook Farm

Two Cooks: Plus Two

Two Cooks: Plus Two: That's right one more little 'cook' is on the way. We couldn't be happier to have had Samuel and now to be blessed with another child, we are overflowing with joy and excitement. We found out on Good Friday, April 18. We've been keeping this secret for quite some time. We had thought about telling family on Mother's Day because we told them on Father's Day last time, but for no particular reason, except that we wanted to surprise family, we decided to tell them when we returned to America. We knew we would be almost half way through the pregnancy, but I didn't really begin to show until 20-25 weeks last time anyway so I knew I could hide any baby bump until then!!

We are expecting a little girl around December 28, 2014. Last time Samuel was a few days late, so we could even be looking at January 2015. Either way Christmas and New Year's just got a little more exciting for us :)

Grocery Shopping in Japan

I've always wondered what grocery shopping would be like in other parts of the world. In Japan, there are small groceries or 'stands' all over the place. Usually, you pick up what you need on your way home from work or right before supper time. In the states we went to the grocery once a week maybe once every two weeks. However, here we have to go at least every other day. Packaging is smaller and so is storage space.

The first picture is of the grocery, about 50 meters from our apartment building. This is usually where we go to get everyday items. We shopped at Costco once a month or so for cheaper bulk items. There is a little white truck in the left of this picture. About every 6 weeks this 'yakitori' truck sells various meat on a stick. It's super yummy!! 

I think every grocery and convenient store I've been in has a 'bento' section. This is where you can buy a pre-made lunch. Very healthy and very delicious.   

Part of the fish section.

Milk is on sale for 137 yen ($1.30) for a 1000 ML carton. 

Eggs are sold in plastic containers for 198 yen ($1.95) for 10 eggs. They are not sold in packs of 12 and the refrigerators  are made for the pack of 10.

Part of the vegetable section.

This did not look very appetizing to me.

These food trays are really good!!

This was our last post in Japan. Even though we are back in NC now on our first furlough, we will still update our blog. We will still send out newsletter updates and emails and try to keep everyone informed with what we are doing while we are back home for this next year. 

Picture Post

Our life has been very busy since the Pre-School went to five days a week in April. However, we have tried to make the most of the time that we have together as a family. These pictures are from the past few months. 

They don't have baby swings here, so we swing with Samuel and he laughs the whole time, he loves it!!

A 'child's plate' at a local restaurant. Samuel could never eat that much food right now so we got to enjoy some of it :)

Playing at a park.

Sleeping guy.

Samuel's robe given to us from the clinic he was born in. 

Blueberries, veggie medley, and apples. I made all of Samuel's food until he finally got some more teeth and he's beginning to chew more things.

Checking out the Pre-School bus. He's the same size as some of my 2 1/2 year olds :)

Wisteria Tunnel, Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan.

Mother's Day 2014

I wanted to go to a park and let Samuel walk around. I think he enjoyed it. 

So thankful and honored to take care of this little person. 

Walking around near our apartment.

Water play on the balcony!!

Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe!! A rare treat :)

Some college students we had over, most of them studied English and we enjoyed a great lunch together.

Father's Day 2014-When out in an area called 'Mojiko' we saw a 'Fish Spa' and decided to try it out. These little fish ate all of the dried skin off of our feet. It felt very ticklish, and was quite fun!!

Our friends watched Samuel, so we enjoyed the 'Fish Spa' for about 20 minutes alone. 

Fun with Daddy!! 

On the boat ride back to Shimonoseki from Mojiko. 

Spending the last few moments of Father's Day watching the World Cup!!

Well, that's all for now. We currently have about 5 more weeks of classes then a week to pack before returning to the U.S. Please pray for us as we finish up teaching and prepare to return for our first furlough. Thank you.

April and May 2014 Update

Well, it looks like we missed the entire month of April for our blog. I guess that tells you how busy we've been. The Pre-School began full-time and both David and Samuel were sick. I have been wanting to do a picture post full of Pre-School pictures and give an update, However, I realized that I've been doing that on our Facebook page. You don't have to have Facebook to see the Pre-School's page because it's public. Just click on the link below to go to this page. We upload pictures and videos at various times throughout the week. It will give you a look into the classroom, activities, and events that we've done in the month of April and so far in the month of May.

New Beginning Preschool

Stay tuned for a blog about grocery shopping and some updated pictures of us and Samuel from the past few months. Until then, I will leave you with a picture of us visiting the  beautiful Wisteria Tunnel, Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan. More to come...

May 5, 2014

Japanese Lunch (Bento)

Making a lunch for your child in Japan is not very easy if you are a foreigner. In the states we take sandwiches, chips, cookies, fruit, leftover suppers etc. In Japan, it seems to be an art to how lunches are prepared. They call their lunch 'bento.' Which sort a means 'lunch box.' Almost every bento includes rice, if no rice then a bread of some sort. There is a certain lunch box used, and for the food there are certain colors, order, and things that are included in the bento. I haven't quite figured that one out yet, but hopefully soon. Below I will show some photos of bento's and my feeble attempts at creating them for my lunches at the Pre-School. 

First attempt at a homemade bento.

Normally the lunch box is wrapped up in a handkerchief of some sort and placed in a lunch bag.

I finally bought a real bento box 

I've been taking leftovers and sometimes buying pre-made meats and sushi rolls for my bento. You can pack a lot of food inside these small lunch boxes and maybe it's my American appetite but I'm usually still a little hungry!!

What a Japanese bento should look like:

What I wish my lunches could look like :)