christmas time is here!

okay, i just have to let me holiday spirit bust out!

i am thrilled that it's chrismas time! i love the sights, sounds, smells and meaning of this holiday. i am also thrilled that Japan celebrates christmas, well in some cultural way, i guess... check out these lights from a shopping area that is just a few minutes from our house!

it is surprising to have the familiar "feelings" of christmas around us. but also weird to realize that this holiday is just as commercialized here as it is in america. we truly desire to embrace the gift and truth of this time of year and to share the love with those around us! i love it!

and i had to throw this one in as an added bonus! the roods recently left for america for two months. here's a shot of the kids (josiah, abbie, and kayla) on the way to the bus station the day they left. too cute! we miss them a ton!

giving thanks

last week, kyle and i were able to celebrate thanksgiving with our team... we are starting to miss family more in the midst of the holiday season but we are increasingly thankful for the "family" we have here and especially for families back home who love us and support us being here. we miss you all!

the goedken family tradition: a veggie tray! what mother wouldn't be proud? :) everyone worked hard to provide a true american thanksgiving... mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, pumpkin and of course:

the bird!

the women on our team plus mary's sister who was visiting!

the whole gang

kayla anxiously awaiting cheesecake for dessert :D

we are indeed blessed! thank you for being a part of our lives across many miles!

conference time!

we spent this past weekend at a conference for best club students and staff.

on of the speakers, dick, and his translator, tomo.

some fellow foreigners we have a lot in common with: they're from iowa and were junior high sweet hearts :) dick and linda spent 30 years in japan with our organization, they were a great encouragement to us!

the midtermers from around the country

our tokyo crew: joanna, megumi, kie, jen, mary, mark, norio, kyle and stephen

yukari, a new friend who studied at iowa state and now lives and works in tokyo!

time well spent!

hi there to all of our faithful readers! sorry, we know it's been awhile. over the last couple months our computer broke, was sent to American, fixed and sent back to Japan. now it's much easier for us to upload our pictures and let you know what's happening on our end of the world!

here's some shots from Keigo's family's visit to our house this weekend. we had such a good time with them and hope for much more time with them in the future!

enjoying life...

Making plans with Kie, Asako and Megumi

the Rood's kids and their friends enjoying shaved ice. Kyle teaches English to the boy, Shunsuke, twice a month...

Keigo, Masashi and Kyle having fun while barbecuing in our backyard

Saaya and Jennifer hanging out over summer break


Kyle and Yaya cleaning up

...and there's never a dull moment with the Rood family around :)

here's some shots from Jin's birthday party...

Kayla blindfolding herself because she wanted to play the game too. The game: basically blind folded charades, where animals or objects were called out and the blindfolded person had to act it out.

Yaya perfecting his monkey rountine, trust me, it's good...

Getting the birthday girl in on the action!

The next game: While blindfolded, Jin had to guess which of her children was kissing her. Kayla went for the open mouthed smoocher!

because you can't just study all the time...

more highlights from our time in shizuoka...

kyle and junpei who is now studying UT Austin!

marifu and jen flashing the peace signs!

outside the house where we stayed during our language study

our teacher's daughter, mariko. she was a delight!

be sure to continue scrolling down for pics from our language classes!

Japanese 101

here's a couple shots from our recent 2 week Japanese refresher course!

Natsukosensei reviewing Japanese sentence structure

hittin' the books :)

summer camp style #2

goofy poses with fresh veggies :)

enjoying the fruits of our labor from the garden!



smiling faces at the beginning of the trip back home. six hours later we arrived after driving through the mountains in a typhoon. oh yeah, and did we mention jennifer was driving on the highway for the first time since coming to japan?!? :)

summer camp style!

ahh, the fresh air of NaganoNorio, a Tokyo BEST alum
picking potatoes at Norio's parents' farm
Kyle in his element

enjoying the beauty of the countryside
the guys at dinner
the setters organized a fear factor game. the ultimate challenge: a raw egg, whole octupus, sports drink and raw carrot chunk in a glass. bottoms up!
Kyle and Mary recovering after eating half a raw onion. Kyle hasn't eaten onions since!
Rebekka and Chris bobbing for limes in a bowl of yogurt mixed with wasabi and hot peppers!