Well now that we have been back for a little over a month, life is looking a little more normal and is developing somewhat of a routine. If the weather is nice and not raining, we try to go to the park every afternoon, (sometimes twice a day!) to get out and let Brayden run around and play baseball a little. He has been very into baseball lately...he asks me to play every hour it seems! We have made a few friends at the park, so we have both liked seeing some familiar faces there. On Tuesdays and Fridays I have started studying Japanese again with the same tutor and friend that I had last year. But this time, she comes to my house...isn't that nice? We study for two hours while Cooper takes his morning nap and Brayden goes to a nearby daycare. So about the daycare...it is literally 2 minutes walking distance from my house. The main reason we have decided to take him is so that he can begin to learn some Japanese and interact with some other kids/make friends. He goes for about 3.5 hours two times a week. They daycare is very small, its just one large room, but I have learned that all the daycares here in the city are small like that. They do get to go on walks and go to the park occassionally, so thats good! The first few days he went were hard, he did not want to go. But just this week he did not cry when we walked in. Whenever I pick him up he is always so happy and says he had so much fun.
So I know he enjoys it and that it will take him some time to get used to it.
So about half-ish of our team has returned to Japan now. 3 other teammates (one couple and one guy) are settled into their apartments here in Nagoya, and one couple just arrived two days to Okazaki to begin language studying! We went to Okazaki on Tuesday night to get their apartment ready for their move here. It was so fun getting it set up for them to begin their journey here! It was a late night though...we didn't get home until almost 2am. But we were so glad to be able to see them right away. They are still trying to get over jet lag and settle in, AND they start school tomorrow! Wow, they are tough!
The day after we were out so late, we pretty much laid around the house all day. It was rainy ALL day so we couldn't go anywhere anyways, and it was just one of those lazy cozy days. The reason it was so rainy was because a typhoon was on its way. People kept saying it was going to be the worst typhoon Nagoya had had in 10 years. My neighbor even gave me her phone number in case we needed her in the night and drew a map for me explaining that if a window broke, to open an opposite one so that the air could move about without destroying things inside the house. It was supposed to hit at midnight. I was scared and excited! So about 11:30 we fell asleep...and the next thing I knew it was 7am and the rain had stopped. So my whole family and I slept right through it! In the end, the storm didn't turn out to be as bad as they had predicted.
I also celebrated my birthday on Monday! We did some fun things as a family during the day (eating at a little bakery, shopping, starbucks) and then in the evening our teammates, Jay and Caitlin Geer and their cute 5 month old son, Rowen, came over for pizza and cake. I had made pumpkin bread and cider for dessert (because I LOVE fall!) but they ended up bringing a cake. I loved the cake...Jay designed it. It had an army tank with a pink dinosaur coming out of it. And the number 26 was written in a grenade. I have no idea why he drew that, it was just a part of Jay's imagination I guess...but needless to say, it was hillarious and I loved it!
So, I know this post is very random and rambling, but my point in all this was just to share with all you the kinds of things we have been doing here lately. :)
Please pray for our teammates who have just arrived and for God's Spirit to be active through us to bring people to him! We are on the hunt for a good location to begin holding church services...please pray for that as well. We are so excited to have a place to meet!
