Circus in Kitakyushu, Japan

This blog is an old entry that didn't get posted when the event occurred. This was mid to end of April. Samuel was 2 1/2 months.

Golden Week is a set of 4 holidays within a week's time celebrated in Japan. It is celebrated every year in the last couple days of April into the first week of May. Many people have off of work and travel to vacation or visit with family and friends. 

This year April 29 began Golden Week with 'Showa Day.' April 29th is the former emperor Showa's birthday. Showa died in 1989. May 3 is 'Constitution Day' and on May 3, 1947, the new postwar constitution was put into effect. May 4, is 'Greenery Day.' This day is dedicated to nature and the environment. May 5 is 'Children's Day.' In Japan, they have a Boy's Festival and a Girl's Festival. The Girl's Festival is celebrated on March 3. The Boy's Festival is celebrated on this day during Golden Week. On this day, families with boys are to pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up streamers and putting out Samurai dolls which symbolize strength, power, and success. 

During Golden Week a circus was held and it was free, so we decided to check it out. The Circus was held in Kitakyushu, which is an island near Shimonoseki. We took the train from Shimonoseki to Kokura Station. It was about a 40 minute train ride. This city has about 1.3 million people in compared to Shimonoseki that has about 300,000 people. 

During Golden Week, there are many food stands in Kokura Station. 

A view of the entrance to the station. 

Walking to the Riverwalk from the Kokura Station to the indoor circus. 

There are many beautiful sites in Japan. 

The Riverwalk is a shopping, restaurant, business area all in one. This is the fountain inside the entrance. 

Introduction

All of the people watching the Circus. It was a free showing twice a day. 

There were no animals at this Circus, it was more dancing and acrobatics. 

2 men did a routine with on this mat and see-saw, sorry didn't get a photo of them. 

Eri and I. She is a church member and works at the Riverwalk in Graphic Design. She was 'working' taking photos.  

From the second floor in the Riverwalk we could see outside part of the Kokura Castle. We hope to make a day trip back this summer and tour the castle. 

Koi fish

First...

Second...

Third times a charm, we were both finally looking :)

Krispie Kream, newly opened in Kitakyushu.

Yummy goodness!!!

David took this photo when we returned to Shimonoseki Station. This is just one train car, Eri told us it's rare to see just one car alone!!

Shimonoseki Aquarium Kaikyokan

For our anniversary in January we went to the aquarium here in Shimonoseki. It was something we had wanted to do before Samuel came and David planned the time for us to go and then we went out to eat at a restaurant on the boardwalk down from the aquarium. After supper we walked on the boardwalk and checked out some things in downtown. 

Getting ready to drive to the aquarium. 

I love this face!!

At the entrance.

So cute

Using all of our senses, hearing, seeing, touching, and smelling the penguins, but no eating :)

They are training the penguins. 

The view of the strait!!

We saw these after we had entered the aquarium, but they were at the entrance. 

Cute little guy.

They had 2 of these tunnels, super cool. 

View of the bridge and strait from the outside pool. 

We had a great time and look forward to going again in the summer.

The Lost 4 weeks

David posted a blog in mid June giving an update on us. I wanted to thank everyone who prayed for us and my recovery during this time. Since David's mom left, June 14, I have been resting and recovering. I have been trying to gain back strength and weight lost during my time of sickness. I think sometimes God allows us to experience things so that we remember that He is our rock and strength. During this time I clung to verses from Psalms about finding rest in Him and to trust in Him at all times. I Praise the Lord for His healing. I trust that He is in control even when I can't see the whole picture.

During this time, I let a few things go unattended too, such as our blog, May email update, and some written letters. There was almost a month of time that I couldn't do very much. We have a few blogs written that date back as far as January that have not been posted yet. I will begin posting them soon; so sorry if they seem out of order. However, we just sent out via email our June newsletter and I will do a picture post of various happenings in the next week or so.

We have been trying to get back into a regular routine as I feel better with each new day. I will end with a photo of David and Samuel:

Thanks again for your prayers and thoughts, Stephanie

The forgotten blog....

It may seem like a long time since we have posted anything and that is because it has been a long time. We have been stretched quite a lot over the past 1 1/2 months but as always God had been faithful. So much has happened in May and the first part of June that one blog post simply cannot suffice. Stephanie may write more later but for now I will attempt to get everybody up to speed.

It all started a little over 4 months ago when God blessed us with an amazing little man whom we are so very thankful for.

The birth started out normally but 14 hours and an emergency c-section later Samuel was in the NICU at a local hospital and Stephanie was still asleep from the procedure. Fast forward one week later and God gave healing to both Stephanie and little Samuel and they were both able to go home. 

Around 3 months after the birth some complications began to manifest themselves in the form of Stephanie being in pain, as well as being overly tired and weak. The pain began to increase, so we decided to return to the doctor. They ran some tests and decided to give her some antibiotics and pain medicine and told her to rest at home. Six days after this it was apparent she was not getting better but actually getting much worse. We returned to the doctor a day before our scheduled follow up and at that time they decided it would be best for Stephanie to be admitted and to receive antibiotics by IV. Stephanie was in the hospital for a total of 5 days during which my mom was able to travel to Japan to help watch Samuel. At the end of the 5 days she was released with a tentative clean bill of health and given an appointment for a different doctor at a larger hospital. 

We met with this doctor (who praise The Lord speaks very good English) and she suggested a rather minor procedure be performed to make sure that Stephanie would not have any further complications. On Thursday the 13th the procedure was performed and everything went well. Stephanie came home on Friday the 14th and she is doing well. She is continuing to rest as home and is slowly regaining her strength. 

We praise God for His healing hand on Stephanie and ask for continued prayers for both her and Samuel as she tries to regain her strength.