If you follow this link, you can see our wedding pictures taken by Erica Dick. She did a
wonderful job and we love it!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081260&id=161501693&l=df80dd99dd
There are two different albums.. this is the link to the second one...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081261&id=161501693&l=8c9cd2e1e3
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Fall, the best time of year! ;)
Hey folks! brrr it is chilly in this room right now. Even though we are
still waiting for the leaves to change completely, and our fall is still going on,
we had our first snow here in Sapporo today! It was a very wet snow with
big fat flakes that melt as soon as they touch the ground, but one of the ladies
in our church said that by her house (on the mountain side) they already had
snow accumulation!
I can't believe October is almost over! Keisuke and I have been married for
a little over 2 months now! I can't believe how fast time goes.
Last Sunday night we had a few friends from church over for dinner. It was
our friend Shibuya san's birthday, so we had a little party. It was lots of fun!
We really enjoy having people to our home! So please come visit at any time! haha
Last week Keisuke went on a business trip around Hokkaido. He drove
to 5 different cities looking for cameras to buy to sell in their store here in Sapporo.
He said that there weren't too many good cameras but he was able to get some.
He went to Takikawa, Asahikawa, Kitami, (stayed overnight in Kitami) then went
to Kushiro and Obihiro. Look on the map if you like, it is a good way to learn the
geography of Hokkaido. :) I looked on the map while he was gone trying to
figure out where he was, so it was a good learning experience for me of Hokkaido's geography.
I wish I could go with him too! :) I need to be his navigator and waker upper (is that a word?)
when he gets sleepy driving. ;) maybe some day~~~
He was gone from Tuesday till Thursday evening. It was not fun having to be separated!
But I am glad he is home now.
I have been joining in on a Japanese class with Alicia and Chris at the church.
Our teacher's name is Mr. Miura. He is also an English student at our church, but he
is a nice man. He teaches us lots of interesting Japanese culture things and the Japanese
mind. He says he wants us to learn Japanese well so we can teach the Japanese
people (especially young people) the truth that we believe about Christ and God...
He said Japanese people (especially young people) are lost and need truth. I
wish he would believe for himself!!! He has the right idea, but needs to make his own
decision about believing in Christ and accepting the gift of salvation!
But that was interesting when he was saying that.
My English classes are going well on the weekends. This week is a break week however.
I have a new application on my iPhone that takes really neat pictures, I have loaded
them on Facebook, but to those of you who can't see those, I will load a few on
our blog...
Keisuke and I are going on our honeymoon in November! The dates finally were decided.
We only have 4 days :( but we are excited to even have that!
We will go from November 20th till the 23rd.
The first day and night we will go to Mie prefecture. Keisuke's mom is from there, and
Keisuke was born there. It is on Honshu. (the main island of Japan) We will visit
his grandma and family there and spend the night. Then Sunday morning we will leave
early and go to Kyoto. There is a church there that the pastor is a friend of Pastor Kamidate.
We will attend Sunday worship there and then tour around Kyoto.
It is the peak season for fall leaves and touring in Kyoto during that time, so we thought
we wouldn't be able to get a hotel, but Keisuke just reserved a room today!
We will spend one night in Kyoto, and then go to an onsen called Yamanaka onsen.
We will stay one night there, and then on Tuesday the 23rd fly out of Toyama
and return to Sapporo. It should be pretty fun! But busy! haha since we don't have much
time.
Well, I better start thinking about dinner.... I will post a few pictures...
by the way, I am sure you all know by now, but we have a new nephew!!
Aaron and Debbye Biermann (my sister) had their 2nd son on Thursday the 21st!
His name is Jarrett Robert Biermann and he is such a cutey!! I wish I could
hold him!!!! That makes 24 nieces and nephews for us! What a blessing from God!!
Ok, I am going to say goodbye for now!
still waiting for the leaves to change completely, and our fall is still going on,
we had our first snow here in Sapporo today! It was a very wet snow with
big fat flakes that melt as soon as they touch the ground, but one of the ladies
in our church said that by her house (on the mountain side) they already had
snow accumulation!
I can't believe October is almost over! Keisuke and I have been married for
a little over 2 months now! I can't believe how fast time goes.
Last Sunday night we had a few friends from church over for dinner. It was
our friend Shibuya san's birthday, so we had a little party. It was lots of fun!
We really enjoy having people to our home! So please come visit at any time! haha
Last week Keisuke went on a business trip around Hokkaido. He drove
to 5 different cities looking for cameras to buy to sell in their store here in Sapporo.
He said that there weren't too many good cameras but he was able to get some.
He went to Takikawa, Asahikawa, Kitami, (stayed overnight in Kitami) then went
to Kushiro and Obihiro. Look on the map if you like, it is a good way to learn the
geography of Hokkaido. :) I looked on the map while he was gone trying to
figure out where he was, so it was a good learning experience for me of Hokkaido's geography.
I wish I could go with him too! :) I need to be his navigator and waker upper (is that a word?)
when he gets sleepy driving. ;) maybe some day~~~
He was gone from Tuesday till Thursday evening. It was not fun having to be separated!
But I am glad he is home now.
I have been joining in on a Japanese class with Alicia and Chris at the church.
Our teacher's name is Mr. Miura. He is also an English student at our church, but he
is a nice man. He teaches us lots of interesting Japanese culture things and the Japanese
mind. He says he wants us to learn Japanese well so we can teach the Japanese
people (especially young people) the truth that we believe about Christ and God...
He said Japanese people (especially young people) are lost and need truth. I
wish he would believe for himself!!! He has the right idea, but needs to make his own
decision about believing in Christ and accepting the gift of salvation!
But that was interesting when he was saying that.
My English classes are going well on the weekends. This week is a break week however.
I have a new application on my iPhone that takes really neat pictures, I have loaded
them on Facebook, but to those of you who can't see those, I will load a few on
our blog...
Keisuke and I are going on our honeymoon in November! The dates finally were decided.
We only have 4 days :( but we are excited to even have that!
We will go from November 20th till the 23rd.
The first day and night we will go to Mie prefecture. Keisuke's mom is from there, and
Keisuke was born there. It is on Honshu. (the main island of Japan) We will visit
his grandma and family there and spend the night. Then Sunday morning we will leave
early and go to Kyoto. There is a church there that the pastor is a friend of Pastor Kamidate.
We will attend Sunday worship there and then tour around Kyoto.
It is the peak season for fall leaves and touring in Kyoto during that time, so we thought
we wouldn't be able to get a hotel, but Keisuke just reserved a room today!
We will spend one night in Kyoto, and then go to an onsen called Yamanaka onsen.
We will stay one night there, and then on Tuesday the 23rd fly out of Toyama
and return to Sapporo. It should be pretty fun! But busy! haha since we don't have much
time.
Well, I better start thinking about dinner.... I will post a few pictures...
by the way, I am sure you all know by now, but we have a new nephew!!
Aaron and Debbye Biermann (my sister) had their 2nd son on Thursday the 21st!
His name is Jarrett Robert Biermann and he is such a cutey!! I wish I could
hold him!!!! That makes 24 nieces and nephews for us! What a blessing from God!!
Ok, I am going to say goodbye for now!
Keisuke's band
Mine and Alicia's English class combined for a short birthday party last week.
Shibuya san's birthday party
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
October!!!
I can't believe it is already October 12th! Time goes by so quickly. (when you are having fun, and when you are busy!)
I am trying to remember what all has happened since the last update. The weather is turning cooler and cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colors here in Sapporo. It is kind of hard to know how to dress everyday with the weather going from mildly warm to cool. :) But I love the fall.
Last week I started English classes. I have 3 classes. One on Friday, and two on Saturdays. I have had all of my students before, so it is fun to be reunited with them. Hopefully I can remember all my English! haha it is good practice for me. :)
Keisuke is busy with work. He works every day but Sunday. Sunday we have Sunday morning Worship service (at church) and then in the afternoon we have Gospel Reihai. It is a service that is kind of like a mini concert with a short Gospel message from the Bible. It is good for people who are interested in the Bible, but don't have much previous knowledge. Keisuke is on a band for it, and I am in a new team (3 girls!) so we are kind of doing a simple, Selah style. (Is our goal!) It is a lot of fun. Keisuke's team is 6 guys! They are really fun too. Keisuke plays the electric guitar and sometimes sings harmony... (he also uses his classical guitar sometimes). Hatakeyama san is the lead singer for their team, and he has a really good voice. Then there is Chris' team. It is composed of 4 young men. They are really good too! More of a contemporary rock band style (not really hard though) :)
Last Sunday we took our friend Alicia on a drive to see fall leaves (for her birthday present).
We drove to Jozankei. It was mine and Alicia's first time there. Keisuke used to go fishing there with his dad... He said they never caught much, but sometimes saw these huge salamanders that are rare and only found in Hokkaido. (I think my brother Tom saw a National Geographic documentary on these a long time ago, and he had told me about them. )
It was raining on our drive, but the leaves still looked pretty.
We had a picnic in the car and then we went to an onsen. (a.k.a, naked baths). It was a hotel in Jozankei. I had seen the pictures of it on the internet, and it looked really nice, and big! It was big, and spacious, but it didn't have a fun onsen atmosphere really, so we said we want to try a different place sometime. :)
On Monday it was another holiday here in Japan. (I am not sure which one) haha, but Keisuke still worked at the store. On holidays he gets off at 5 instead of 7. (wahoo!)
We had other couples over that just got married this year too... The Washimi's got married on July 31st, the Yoshio's on August 7th, and then we got married of course on August 21st. So we all got married around the same time. We had a pitch-in type dinner party. :) It was really fun. They stayed till around 10:30, and we had fun conversation and fellowship. I will put a picture on from our dinner party. :)
Well, I think that is about all the new news.
Hope you are having a wonderful fall! Leave a comment and tell me how you are doing! We miss everybody! If anyone wants to Skype, just give us a time that you are available!! Love, Laura and Keisuke
Keisuke, Yoshi, Washimi
(from far), Rutsu, Midori
I am trying to remember what all has happened since the last update. The weather is turning cooler and cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colors here in Sapporo. It is kind of hard to know how to dress everyday with the weather going from mildly warm to cool. :) But I love the fall.
Last week I started English classes. I have 3 classes. One on Friday, and two on Saturdays. I have had all of my students before, so it is fun to be reunited with them. Hopefully I can remember all my English! haha it is good practice for me. :)
Keisuke is busy with work. He works every day but Sunday. Sunday we have Sunday morning Worship service (at church) and then in the afternoon we have Gospel Reihai. It is a service that is kind of like a mini concert with a short Gospel message from the Bible. It is good for people who are interested in the Bible, but don't have much previous knowledge. Keisuke is on a band for it, and I am in a new team (3 girls!) so we are kind of doing a simple, Selah style. (Is our goal!) It is a lot of fun. Keisuke's team is 6 guys! They are really fun too. Keisuke plays the electric guitar and sometimes sings harmony... (he also uses his classical guitar sometimes). Hatakeyama san is the lead singer for their team, and he has a really good voice. Then there is Chris' team. It is composed of 4 young men. They are really good too! More of a contemporary rock band style (not really hard though) :)
Last Sunday we took our friend Alicia on a drive to see fall leaves (for her birthday present).
We drove to Jozankei. It was mine and Alicia's first time there. Keisuke used to go fishing there with his dad... He said they never caught much, but sometimes saw these huge salamanders that are rare and only found in Hokkaido. (I think my brother Tom saw a National Geographic documentary on these a long time ago, and he had told me about them. )
It was raining on our drive, but the leaves still looked pretty.
We had a picnic in the car and then we went to an onsen. (a.k.a, naked baths). It was a hotel in Jozankei. I had seen the pictures of it on the internet, and it looked really nice, and big! It was big, and spacious, but it didn't have a fun onsen atmosphere really, so we said we want to try a different place sometime. :)
On Monday it was another holiday here in Japan. (I am not sure which one) haha, but Keisuke still worked at the store. On holidays he gets off at 5 instead of 7. (wahoo!)
We had other couples over that just got married this year too... The Washimi's got married on July 31st, the Yoshio's on August 7th, and then we got married of course on August 21st. So we all got married around the same time. We had a pitch-in type dinner party. :) It was really fun. They stayed till around 10:30, and we had fun conversation and fellowship. I will put a picture on from our dinner party. :)
Well, I think that is about all the new news.
Hope you are having a wonderful fall! Leave a comment and tell me how you are doing! We miss everybody! If anyone wants to Skype, just give us a time that you are available!! Love, Laura and Keisuke
Friday, September 24, 2010
September 24th, 2010
Hello from Sapporo.
It has really cooled down here and feels like fall! We have been busy this past week but are doing well.
A missionary couple and their daughter came to visit our church last Friday. There names are the Bloughs.
Pastor Blough now pastors a church in Hoonah, Alaska. He is 77 yrs. old and did evangelistic missions here in Hokkaido more than 30 years ago. He is the person who led our pastor, (Kamidate Sensei) to the Lord.
He and his wife Marlene have 9 children and 33 grandchildren. They are a really neat family who loves the Lord Jesus and have served Him faithfully for many years. We were so encouraged by their testimonies of God's provision and guidance in their lives. We were also challenged by the things they taught us. They had so many fun stories and since they were in a place where there were no other foreigners living at the time, (Rumoi, Hokkaido) they were often in newspaper articles, t.v. shows, etc... We got to see a recording of a t.v. clip from 40 or so years ago. It was so neat! :) They left to go to another part of Japan today, so we were sad to see them go.
It made Keisuke and I want to visit Alaska some day!!! :)
Since the Bloughs were here this past week, we did lots of fellowship events at the church and also a few evangelistic outreaches. Keisuke and I got to sing a song together at the Outreach service on Monday.
It is a song called, "Kimi no inochi no tameni" (For your life)
(talking about if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul or your life, what value is there in that? If you don't know Jesus, there is nothing lasting forever in your life...) It is a song that Pastor Kamidate's friend wrote after his friend died at a young age without believing in Jesus.
On Tuesday I went to a Sapporo Ham Fighters game with the Pastor Blough, Vickie, and a few other church members. I was asked to join for helping with translating. (the Blough's (especially Vickie and Marlene) spoke Japanese very well, but they hadn't been here for 33 years, so sometimes they needed help)
It was fun to go with them. The game was pretty long, but had an exciting ending. :)
On Thursday Keisuke had the day off. It was a holiday, and even though Keisuke usually works on a holiday, his dad took the day off on Monday while Keisuke worked alone, so his dad gave him Thursday off. Woohoo! :) There was a pitch-in lunch at church for the Bloughs which we joined. We also played basketball. :) It was fun! :) (I was doing pretty good yesterday, but now I am feeling it! I am so sore and tired!) Pastor Blough even joined us! He is good!
After basket ball Keisuke and I went shopping at Costco. Then we came back to the church for Let's Enjoy English. We had many people come to talk for the free English conversation hour. Some people said they wanted to come back to the church for the Gospel service on Sunday! Praise God! :)
Yesterday (the 23rd) would have been my sweet mother's 64th birthday. It was a little sad thinking of her and remember she is not here on earth with us any more. But I am so thankful that she is in Heaven with her Savior, Jesus Christ. I bet she had the best birthday celebration ever this year!! (I don't know if we celebrate birthdays in Heaven (since it is eternal, I don't think there is time, or days, but I know she is still having a blast!!) :)
If I think back to last year at this time, it was such a hard time in my life. Around September last year, we were just starting to realize that the reason I was getting so sick was from living in the church building that has mold in the upper floors. Last September we had finally decided that I needed to come home to figure out treatment and didn't even know if I would be able to come back to Sapporo! (and not to mention didn't even know what would happen with Keisuke and my relationship!! (and was scheduled to go home in October) Then my mom was hospitalized on September 22nd in critical condition. I ended up rushing home to see my mom, and Keisuke came with me for a month. God gave us 4 more months with our dear mother, and it was such a special time. It has been such a hard, blessed, special, crazy, and happy year. All throughout God has been in complete control and had a wonderful plan in mind, even though we didn't know it at the time.
It has really cooled down here and feels like fall! We have been busy this past week but are doing well.
A missionary couple and their daughter came to visit our church last Friday. There names are the Bloughs.
Pastor Blough now pastors a church in Hoonah, Alaska. He is 77 yrs. old and did evangelistic missions here in Hokkaido more than 30 years ago. He is the person who led our pastor, (Kamidate Sensei) to the Lord.
He and his wife Marlene have 9 children and 33 grandchildren. They are a really neat family who loves the Lord Jesus and have served Him faithfully for many years. We were so encouraged by their testimonies of God's provision and guidance in their lives. We were also challenged by the things they taught us. They had so many fun stories and since they were in a place where there were no other foreigners living at the time, (Rumoi, Hokkaido) they were often in newspaper articles, t.v. shows, etc... We got to see a recording of a t.v. clip from 40 or so years ago. It was so neat! :) They left to go to another part of Japan today, so we were sad to see them go.
It made Keisuke and I want to visit Alaska some day!!! :)
Since the Bloughs were here this past week, we did lots of fellowship events at the church and also a few evangelistic outreaches. Keisuke and I got to sing a song together at the Outreach service on Monday.
It is a song called, "Kimi no inochi no tameni" (For your life)
(talking about if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul or your life, what value is there in that? If you don't know Jesus, there is nothing lasting forever in your life...) It is a song that Pastor Kamidate's friend wrote after his friend died at a young age without believing in Jesus.
On Tuesday I went to a Sapporo Ham Fighters game with the Pastor Blough, Vickie, and a few other church members. I was asked to join for helping with translating. (the Blough's (especially Vickie and Marlene) spoke Japanese very well, but they hadn't been here for 33 years, so sometimes they needed help)
It was fun to go with them. The game was pretty long, but had an exciting ending. :)
On Thursday Keisuke had the day off. It was a holiday, and even though Keisuke usually works on a holiday, his dad took the day off on Monday while Keisuke worked alone, so his dad gave him Thursday off. Woohoo! :) There was a pitch-in lunch at church for the Bloughs which we joined. We also played basketball. :) It was fun! :) (I was doing pretty good yesterday, but now I am feeling it! I am so sore and tired!) Pastor Blough even joined us! He is good!
After basket ball Keisuke and I went shopping at Costco. Then we came back to the church for Let's Enjoy English. We had many people come to talk for the free English conversation hour. Some people said they wanted to come back to the church for the Gospel service on Sunday! Praise God! :)
Yesterday (the 23rd) would have been my sweet mother's 64th birthday. It was a little sad thinking of her and remember she is not here on earth with us any more. But I am so thankful that she is in Heaven with her Savior, Jesus Christ. I bet she had the best birthday celebration ever this year!! (I don't know if we celebrate birthdays in Heaven (since it is eternal, I don't think there is time, or days, but I know she is still having a blast!!) :)
If I think back to last year at this time, it was such a hard time in my life. Around September last year, we were just starting to realize that the reason I was getting so sick was from living in the church building that has mold in the upper floors. Last September we had finally decided that I needed to come home to figure out treatment and didn't even know if I would be able to come back to Sapporo! (and not to mention didn't even know what would happen with Keisuke and my relationship!! (and was scheduled to go home in October) Then my mom was hospitalized on September 22nd in critical condition. I ended up rushing home to see my mom, and Keisuke came with me for a month. God gave us 4 more months with our dear mother, and it was such a special time. It has been such a hard, blessed, special, crazy, and happy year. All throughout God has been in complete control and had a wonderful plan in mind, even though we didn't know it at the time.
Last year at this time, I would have never thought that Keisuke and I would be married a year later, and would be living in Japan. God was at work even though I couldn't see it at the time!
I am so thankful to the Lord for His wonderful loving hand at work in my life.
Well, I am going to work on some more dinner preparations.
God bless you and write if you have time! We miss you all!!
Friday, September 17, 2010
September :)
Keisuke and I are doing well here.
We are almost done with all the needed paper work. I just have to get my name and address change on my Japanese driver's license. But I can do that pretty easily (or so they say)
Keisuke and I had some guests in our home (on Sunday evening and Monday afternoon).
It is fun working together to entertain people! We love doing it. We hope and pray that our home will be an open place that people can find encouragement and rest in. (so you are welcome any time!) :)
The weather is turning a bit "fall-ish" here but still has some room to improve. :) I am excited for the cooler weather.
We have been busy at Church with haifu (passing out Gospel flyers) because there is a special evangelical outreach event on Sunday and Monday. Keisuke and I are singing a song together for the Monday service.
There is a missionary visiting right now who ministers in Alaska. He did mission work here in Japan (many years ago!) and was actually the person that God used to lead our Pastor (Kamidate Sensei) to the Lord.
He seems like a really neat man. He is 77 now!
That is about all I can think of for now. Hope all is going well with you all! Write a note and tell us how you are doing and what is going on with you... Much love to all!
We are almost done with all the needed paper work. I just have to get my name and address change on my Japanese driver's license. But I can do that pretty easily (or so they say)
Keisuke and I had some guests in our home (on Sunday evening and Monday afternoon).
It is fun working together to entertain people! We love doing it. We hope and pray that our home will be an open place that people can find encouragement and rest in. (so you are welcome any time!) :)
The weather is turning a bit "fall-ish" here but still has some room to improve. :) I am excited for the cooler weather.
We have been busy at Church with haifu (passing out Gospel flyers) because there is a special evangelical outreach event on Sunday and Monday. Keisuke and I are singing a song together for the Monday service.
There is a missionary visiting right now who ministers in Alaska. He did mission work here in Japan (many years ago!) and was actually the person that God used to lead our Pastor (Kamidate Sensei) to the Lord.
He seems like a really neat man. He is 77 now!
That is about all I can think of for now. Hope all is going well with you all! Write a note and tell us how you are doing and what is going on with you... Much love to all!
pictures of our new home :) x 2
Also a picture of Keisuke's music team practice, and just one of Keisuke and I that I took with my phone. :)
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