Introducing...the new snowboarding champion!

We had a blast on the slopes of Nagano, Japan last month (yes, it's been way too long since my last post).  I will spare you the boring details, but will include our photos and a shortened version of our trip.

We stayed at a place called Alpine Wind run by an Australian man and his Japanese wife.  We were in an area called the Japanese Alps, and it sure felt like it with the style of buildings and everything so full of snow.  I had to keep reminding myself that we were still in Japan because of all the English-speakers around.

The first day we were on the slopes, it was gorgeous...sunny and clear.  But of course, the day we had our camera it was snowing and foggy.

Bron's first encounter with snow.  Of course the first thing he does is eat it.

Where was Bronson during all of this snowboarding business?  Well, the first day we put him into the nursery/daycare center on the slope.  It actually turned out to be pretty affordable.  But we came out on this trip with some friends with little girls.  So, one of the days, we just took turns skiing and watching the kids.  It turned out to be a great setup.

This was our little group.  We couldn't quite get everyone's smiles coordinated.  :)

 

On our way home, this was our view of Mt. Fuji.  It was beautiful out there away from the hustle and bustle of the crowded city.

New Camera for Christmas

Credit goes to Luke for this one.

Just loves to get on his feet now.

Would not hold still

Look at those teeth!

The Bron Monster

Bronson has been crawling for about a month now.  He's quick, quiet, and inquisitive.  In other words, he's into EVERYTHING!  Don't get me wrong.  It's great.  I'm having a ton of fun with him.  He loves to play and interact.  I could spend all day watching him figure things out and playing with him.  It's amazing to watch each little development.  He changes before my very eyes.  But it's so much work!  Buying, wrapping, and packing Christmas presents has been quite a feat.  He just loves the brightly colored paper.  Today, I was making some phone calls, and Bronson escaped from the living room while I was occupied.  I got off the phone and thought it was eerily quiet.  I went searching for him and found him sitting in front of the dog's food bowl with handfuls of food.  He had crumbs all over his face, and after further inspection, found that he had a piece of dog food in his mouth.  Yuck!  I guess he's all boy.

Here are some pictures long overdue.

This isn't a great pic, but I found him behind the furniture.

Thankful

We have gone through a lot of changes and challenges this past year.  There are too many to list, and I wouldn't want to bore you anyway.  But I have been reminded of 1 Samuel 12:24 which says, "But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him.  Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you."  And with the theme of thankfulness going on right now, it has gotten me thinking about "all the wonderful things he has done" for Luke and I.  I am very thankful even though Luke and I have to spend this holiday apart (and poor Luke will probably not get any kind of Thanksgiving dinner).

God made a way for us before we moved by putting friends in Japan to receive us when we arrived.  We were taken care of by everyone here by driving us around to get all of our things done.  They made appointments for us and gave advice on car buying and house searching and where to go to buy certain items.

God provided us a house within walking distance of the base, the train station, and the grocery store.  We moved in within just a few weeks of getting here.  That was such a blessing to be in a home in such a short amount of time.

He kept Bronson healthy.  We have avoided so many complications and sickness that could have happened during all of our transition and traveling.  He was without any kind of sickness until just a couple weeks ago.  What a blessing!

God has thoroughly provided for us financially through all the bumps in the road throughout our entire marriage, but especially during the last few months of adjustment to different financial demands.  We have not been in want during this entire process, and I am so grateful for that provision.  It is something I have always struggled to not worry about.

He has been our companion through the times of separation.  God has been there during moments of loneliness and sadness.  What an awesome thing to always have someone there to talk to.

God provided us with wonderful parents to set examples and guide us through our growing years.  This has become more and more apparent to me of how important this is as Bronson gets older, and seeing the impact every one of our actions make on him.  It is such a blessing to have parents who have been great examples of what a good parent looks like.

He has not given us anything we cannot handle.  There are not even words to describe this.  In everything, I have had resources put in front of me when I was in need (a Bible study, a friend, a book, a verse).

I am so thankful!

A Parents' Night Out

The last weekend before Luke went out to sea we decided to get a babysitter one night and go out and do something fun.  We ended up meeting up with a group of friends for a concert in Tokyo.  It just happened to be our friend, James' birthday, and it was super fun to celebrate with him.  We saw Owl City in concert.  Neither of us had really heard of him except for his song, "Fireflies".  But we enjoyed the concert immensely and decided to do some more research on this guy.  It turns out that many of his songs have Christian undertones, and he is a neat guy.  We could not get over how much he sounded like Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie.

 

 Big  fast moving sea creature carousel that we could not resist

 

 

We actually became quite a spectacle on the carousel.  The Japanese who were around crowded around the carousel to watch and wave at the big American adults riding.

 

It was a very fun night.  I had a hard time knowing what to do with myself because I've gotten so used to being attached to a baby.  It was very nice to give Luke my full attention for a full night before he left again.  I'm looking forward to another date night in the future.