April 6th '11

After all the events of the past 3 plus weeks, it has been hard to blog about ordinary things. Jill said that I shouldn't worry about posting mundane things because at least then she knows we are alive and well! So here goes with some of the things that we have done lately. This is a little Japanese McDonalds that we passed on the way home from Costco. Our wonderful Elder Aoyagi on his birthday!

Meiko, me, Ling Sun (A Chinese girl with is going on a mission to Australia) and Risa after one of our Friday night dinners.

This baby is just like a doll! Here Sister Watabe holds her at church. Her parents have 3 other girls and a boy and are in our branch.

Here are the Scoffields - Kelly and Jo. They invited us to dinner one Sunday. He is a counselor in the branch presidency.

OK - get ready for LOTS of cherry blossom pictures - this one is blurry but just look at this tree!

Can you imagine being able to park this close to a wall? And since this is Japan, the driver probably backed into this space! They are amazing (of course, most cars have that wonderful camera that show them how close they are to objects and beeps when they are getting too near).

This magnolia tree is outside our window - gorgeous!

Mia Ohata - the bishop's daughter who came to dinner before baptisms for the dead on Friday. She loves American (my) cooking!

Some of the senior missionaries in the office building. What a great group!

We were putting labels on these boxes of protein drinks that were donated to be sent to the devastated area. Cindy Grames made this quilt top during the week that her husband was up in Sendai helping the people who were involved the disasters.

Here are some of the ladies helping to tie one of the quilts that I made. It has now gone to help in the Sendai area.

Spring! - these knobby trees will be starting to put out leaves very soon.

We walked through Sacred Heart campus today to see the beautiful cherry blossoms (sakura). Here is one of the old buildings we saw.

Another one ...

Just look at the beauty!

We thought this tree looked like it had a nose so Rulon is pointing to his!

Springtime in Japan!

Grames ...

Fillmores ...

The gate to Sacred Heart ...

Here is Elder Grames looking at a tatami shop (those are the floor mats for homes).

Sideways picture of the bindings that go around the mats.

Rulon got a call as we were taking our walk.

Here is a little welcoming kitty at the tatami shop.

More beauty - skyscrapers and nature combined.

These are the first dandelions I have seen here! There is usually not any piece of ground that isn't cultivated or has a building on it! Really, I had to get a picture of these shoe/boots and socks that I saw on a girl in a shop.

So there are some of our activities lately. Things are settling down here and life is getting a bit more normal. Spring brings hope!