Christmas Program

My three wise men, Joseph, Mary and angels

Angel Esther

Angel Layla and Wise Man Mao

Backstage, pre-performance

"Joseph" and "Mary"

Wise Man Keito and "Mary" Mao

Nativity

It wasn't perfect, but they were cute!

Exeunt

Finished, yay!

Some of the kids and teachers of Okinawa Christian Academy (try to spot me, I know it's hard.)

Post-performance pictures

Yeah, I'm totally blinking

 Just some pictures so you could see my cute kids at Christmas time!  It was fun practicing with them and putting their costumes together.  (For those who know my wardrobe, you may notice each of the wise men is wearing one of my belts as an accessory. :)  The kids did a good job, although they were more nervous in front of a crowd.  It was weird to practice for so many weeks when the actual performance only lasted like 10 minutes.  It was over so quickly, but I was relieved to be done.  Sorry it took me so long to share these pictures.

December fun

Mao's 5th birthday

We had the party at my house because we also decorated my tree

It was a delicious fruit and cream cake

Everybody enjoyed it!

This is my tree that they helped me decorate

Today was busy but fun.  We took the 3 minute walk to my house from school where the kids all helped me decorate my tree for Christmas.  They did a good job too.  We also celebrated Mao's 5th birthday with a delicious cake and milk.  It was fun, and I think the kids just thought it was novel to go to their teacher's house.  :)

Thanksgiving party

My Pilgrims and Indians

Last minute adjustments

Welcome (good thing I don't get nervous talking in front of people

Telling the Thanksgiving story

Singing

Our Thanksgiving lunch, it was delicious!

 With the help of our school secretary, Kawaguchi-san, I planned and organized our the kindergarten Thanksgiving program.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were great.  They helped me tell the Thanksgiving story and sang three songs (all in English).  Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had lots of yummy food.  It was a blessing to be with my kids and their parents.  Unfortunately one of my boys was sick (you can see his pilgrim hat sitting on the piano off to the side).  I was sad that he and his mom had to miss our party, especially since all the kids did such a good job practicing.  But he is feeling better now.  And now we have our all-school Christmas program to look forward to.  I am thankful to be here in Okinawa and be able to teach such amazing kids!

Two birthdays: Seeing the difference

Birthday 2010

Birthday 2011

Perhaps it's hard to see the change in the kids from this picture, but they all look much older.  My look too is drastically different.  I like the difference because it reminds me how much the kids and I have grown over the last year.  I pray that we will all continue to grow into closer relationship with God, understanding his grace and his love and desiring to live lives that are pleasing to him.  God has been doing a lot of work in my heart over the past year.  His refining work is not complete, but I believe he has continued the good work that he started in me and that will one day be complete.

Second Birthday in Okinawa

I had a wonderful birthday. On Friday Makiko-san (the sweet secretary at work) made an amazing cake for the kids and I to enjoy. Then that night I went out for French food with Makiko-san, Nana-san (my former housemate) and Mariya-san (my current housemate). The food was delicious and it was fun to hang out with such wonderful ladies. Praise God for a blessed birthday!

Appetizer: delicious!

Me and Mariya (my housemate); yummy soup

Mariya's present to me and delicious dessert

Makiko-san, Nana-san, me and Mariya-san: wonderful ladies

Cake at school

It was delicious!

Pajama Day

We had a Pajama Party on Friday.  The kids were very excited, I'm not sure if the parents knew what to think since wearing Pajamas anywhere outside the house is definitely not a Japanese thing. =)  But they were all supportive.  We read stories about making pancakes and then proceeded to make and eat our own.  They were very yummy. Then we played some Pajama Party games and at the end we had a rewards store where they could buy prizes with fake money they'd earned.  It was a lot of fun.  I think all the parents and my co-workers were all a little surprised and amazed to see me wearing pajamas too. =)