Our little quiver

When I come home from work everyday, I play with Ammon. I usually lay down on the tatami or on the sheep skin and try to get the most smiles and giggles I can out of him. I pick him up and hold him high, then low; make funny noises, sing goofy made-up songs, tickle him, and scare him - "boo!" Allthough he has started drooling, and it inevitably gets all over me, we have a great time.

Children are an heritage of the Lord...
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them...

Psalms 127:3-5

There is more to the passage than what we read into initially, but it makes it quite clear that in the Lord's plan of happiness, children play a big part. We are just starting our quiver, but what a terrible quiver we already have! Ammon amazes me and when I think about his potential I become overwhelmed. I am so happy for my friends who have simmilar blessings in their lives.

Settling In

We are all here, now what?

Everyday is a serious adventure for my sister Summer. Since she doesn't know any Japanese, she has been a little lost, but I am trying to show her the ropes (as if I were an expert). Here we are downtown, by the Nagano Eki, there is a greally good miso ramen shop nearby.

Monica is having fun speaking Japanese, and was the most popular person at church on Sunday. When she walked in and sat down she had only two friends there, and we were sitting next to her. We had a hard time leaving because when it was time to go home, there were half a dozen sisters trying to be her best friend.
As for me, I am relearning the Joys of Fatherhood and enjoying having my family with me. Sometimes I drag everyone all over town, although they have not yet fully recovered from jet-lag. I am so excited to have them here. This is sometimes a problem, because I now walk about five times faster than Monica and Summer. Here you see what they see of me whenever we go anywhere.