Ackroyds in Japan

April’s Mother’s Day Talk 2011

2011-05-29T21:49:00.005+09:00

Mother's Day Talk 2011

On WOMANHOOD:

**What I think Womanhood means is to highlight the good. Point out the lovely. Emphasize the virtuous, and decorate the plain. What a boring place the world would be without women to make it more beautiful!

President Hinckley has eloquently captured what the Lord has said of His precious daughters:

"Woman is God's supreme creation. Only after the earth had been formed, after the day had been separated from the night, after the waters had been divided from the land, after vegetation and animal life had been created, and after man had been placed on the earth, was woman created; and only then was the work pronounced complete and good.

"Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth."

James E. Faust, "Womanhood: The Highest Place of Honor," Ensign, May 2000, 95 :

Femininity is not just lipstick, stylish hairdos, and trendy clothes. It is the divine adornment of humanity. It finds expression in your qualities of your capacity to love, your spirituality, delicacy, radiance, sensitivity, creativity, charm, graciousness, gentleness, dignity, and quiet strength. It is manifest differently in each girl or woman, but each of you possesses it.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," Liahona, Nov 2008, 117–20:

"To me it appears that our splendid sisters sometimes undervalue their abilities—they focus on what is lacking or imperfect rather than what has been accomplished and who they really are.

You might say, "I'm not the creative type. If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe."

**For some this means writing, others painting, music, some organizing, finding patterns in business, being a liaison, observing and research, fashion and highlighting our best physical aspects, and on and on.

On MOTHERHOOD: Sheri L. Dew, "Are We Not All Mothers?," Ensign, Nov 2001, 96 :

"Motherhood is NOT what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is "as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself."

Russell M. Nelson, "Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Ensign, May 1999, 38:

"During my professional career as a doctor of medicine, I was occasionally asked why I chose to do that difficult work. I responded with my opinion that the highest and noblest work in this life is that of a mother. Since that option was not available to me, I thought that caring for the sick might come close. I tried to care for my patients as compassionately and competently as Mother cared for me.

Many years ago the First Presidency issued a statement that has had a profound and lasting influence upon me. "Motherhood," they wrote, "is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."

**My mind certainly has been overwhelmed by the immediate joy and work of a newborn baby. I've often thought again and again about the treasure spoken of by President Packer, when he gave the parable of the two keys unlocking eternal inheritance. Because my husband and I have been faithful in keeping our covenants, we have been able to access priceless treasures (our children) together. There have been many moments over the last few months where I have gazed upon our newborn son and cried tears of joy, overwhelmed with the immenseness of the gift we have been given.

In our small inner-city New Haven Branch I was called up to the stand in Sacrament Meeting about 11 years ago, just minutes after Colleen was blessed as a newborn. I was asked what I could say about motherhood. I don't remember a lot of what I said, but I do remember saying that I had only been a mother a few weeks, and that I really didn't know a lot about being a mother yet.

I do remember a moment at our Stake conference a few weeks later, when the congregation sang together, "I am a Child of God". I looked down at a sleeping infant Colleen while sitting in those metal overflow chairs, likely because we were late in arriving, and thought, "I'm the one who will Teach and Guide. I'm the Parent, Kind and Dear." It felt as if I had stepped into a new era of life, and that I never could, or want to, go back.

I have since related to those I taught Sunday School or Young Women lessons to that there have been two times in my life when I felt especially grateful for my own mother and father. One was when I moved out of the house to begin college. Not only did I realize all the small daily things that they did for me while I grew up, but I missed the feeling of wholeness that our family made together – the influence of our home life and the fortifications it offered.

The second time in my life I was grateful for a mother was when I first became a mother myself. Scott and I had the luxury of staying home for at least 10 days in our comfortable apartment by ourselves, changing, feeding, rocking, dressing, and then cleaning, laundering, wiping, and somehow doing the other necessaries of life for ourselves during the time that baby Colleen slept. Then the morning came for Scott to go back to work, only for a half of a day. I cried as I sat in bed, still in pajamas, and I remember saying, "I don't know how I will do all of this by myself".

I had come to the realization that someone, at some time, had certainly done all of those many tiring services for me over a long period of time. That someone was my mother.

One of the blessings of being here in Connecticut for this unexpectedly extended time has been that many people out in public have watched our family as we have, well, mostly gone out to eat. Many have given kind comments, such as, "You have a beautiful family," or "You are so brave to have so many children," or sometimes even, "you are so good at taking care of your children. How do you do it?"

I have to answer with the realization that I'm not the same mother that cried when Scott left me for just a few hours when Colleen was two weeks old. Just like any other Divine Calling from the Lord, my strength and abilities have been enhanced, my capacity has been expanded, and my efforts and service have been blessed to be enough when they were given in faith. My work hasn't been perfection, but instead of pointing out my faults or shortcomings, the Lord has blessed me with understanding.

One of the things I feel is important for me as a mother is the ability to quietly recall events of the day or week after emotions are calmed. These are times when, if I'm able to humble myself and seek the Lord's help, I'm blessed with the guiding Spirit of Truth to find or try ways to lead each child toward their Divine Potential. I couldn't feel successful at all without constant Inspiration from a source that knows and loves my children even better than I do.

I'm grateful for my experience being a mother and I feel as though my greatest blessings are the members of my family. I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Watching their Testimonies bloom

2010-02-19T09:38:00.005+09:00

I know it's been a while since I blogged. We sure have been learning a lot here, and I've launched myself into a whole new set of creative activities since Christmas, including Yamato-e Japanese Painting and continuing with piano lessons. I've already started to play simplified hymns, and I'm very excited. Shortly I'll start to hand-sew a Yukata (summer kimono), and I'll hope to blog more about these experiences soon.

What brought me to blog again was just another old Wednesday night, home with the girls in the evening because Scott had a dinner meeting (this happens quite a bit lately). Bridget was wanting to watch "Barbie and the 4 Musketeers" for the 3rd day in a row, and after accomplishing the necessary room-cleaning and toy-picking-up, and after moving the kids table in front of the T.V. to eat dinner to (this is a rarity) we couldn't find the Apple T.V. remote. (Does anyone else have one of these? Whoever designed them didn't have kids, they're impossibly small!)

Bridget was on the verge of breaking down into tears for the ump-teenth time that evening, when she got that flash of recognition in her eyes and went running into her room. I of course thought she had remembered where she had seen the remote last, but she came out seconds later, saying, "I've said a prayer, so now we will find it." After a quiet laugh, we kept looking, but no luck (or, apparently, revelation). And this is why.

Bridget did cry some more, and we reluctantly moved dinner back into the dining room, and sat down to say a dinner prayer and eat (by now it was already 7pm or so). But Colleen had brought the "Friend" magazine and had asked if she could read a story during dinner (I find meals are the best time to read scriptures, too, because everyone is eating and doesn't wander off). Colleen opened up this months' Friend and began to read, with great expression, the story of "Losing Apollo" (http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=8057b3d7e4b66210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD)

*I noticed that I can "share" the article on blogger, but I've never done this before: hopefully this link works.

The story summarizes a boy feeling confident that his dog would live after being hit by a car because he felt comforted after his prayer, but his dog didn't live. He was confused as to why he felt better, but the answer he received wasn't what he was hoping for.

Colleen stopped at this point in the story and asked very sensitively, "Bridget, do you see a connection with this story and anything in your life right now?"

I had been watching and munching from my chair, and it was a very growing few moments for me indeed. I was watching Colleen be a teacher, a reflection of the things I had taught her, but on the level of having her own testimony, and being able to fluently read a magazine article, and wanting to comfort and teach her sister in a way to create a life-lesson such as this one.

Bridget was able to make the "connection", and we had the sweetest dinner we had had in a long, long time (sorry Scott).

In order to keep the blog a little on the light side, I'll tell you the conclusion of the remote story. The next morning I found it in the pocket of my robe, and Bridget said, "Mom, Jesus put the remote in your robe pocket last night!" I think all of our prayers were answered, but my daily prayers that "I'll be able to help my children reach their divine potential and find joy in watching them grow each day" were probably answered the most.

Since I just wanted to get this posted, I'll caption the pictures down here. The first is the Apple TV remote, in comparison with two of our others. I told you. The second is Colleen's room wall, inspired and created by just her. She adds uplifting messages to it almost daily.

Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-14T05:54:00.006+09:00

We made it through our first cherry blossom season. The blossoms are beautiful and fragile and don't last very long. The season seems to last about a week. The blossoms try to peak out and then it seems like all of a sudden they are in full bloom and about three days later they are beginning to fall off of the trees. We did manage to make it down to the Nagoya Castle on Sunday towards dusk and walked around. It was a really fun thing to do for a Sunday afternoon. We managed to get a fee pictures and we thought we would share.

Enjoy

A splitting day to remember

2009-04-12T16:21:00.004+09:00

Had an unforgettable experience at work. It has even taken awhile for me to get to the point where I could post it. It started off innocently as most events do a few days prior. April asked if I needed any new pants. I confidently responded that I was in great shape and proceeded to list off all of the pants that had. A few days later as I was going through my closet I came across a pair of pants that I had not worn for awhile. The conversation that I had with April fresh in my mind I decided to wear that pair of pants. They had been through a number of battles, various trips, and I don't know how many washings but they had stood the test of time and I wasn't about to abandon them now.

I dressed and talked April into letting my take the car to work that day and I was off. The day went along totally uneventful. We decided to head out for lunch and since I had a car I was volunteered to drive. Not a problem. We all went out and I got everyone seated and then I opened the door to van and swung in and ............... I heard a pop and what sounded like something ripping. I wandered what it was, everyone else was talking and hadn't seem to notice anything so I drove on still wondering what happened. As we got to lunch I was being a little cautious and let everyone get out of the van first. As I got out I did a quick double check, my coat was fine, my shirt was okay, my pants...........not okay. Needless to say it was a little breezy on my way into lunch.

For a logistics check for those who aren't familiar (which is probably everyone). It takes thirty plus minutes to drive home from work, it was already early afternoon and no one else had noticed yet (or least let on that they knew). We only have one car so April couldn't help I was on my own. I had a decision to make, do I try to hide it, or acknowledge the windy challenges I had and go home. I thought for awhile and decided I would work on getting through the day.

Once inside the restaurant I excused myself to the restroom, while most everyone else was off getting themselves some water to drink. I ducked in the restroom and took a look at the mirror, I thought might be able to pull it off, my jacket was about the same color as the pants and the rip was low enough there was hope. Lunch was uneventful and we headed back to work, throughout the rest of the afternoon it was an exercise of careful positioning. Making sure that I didn't lead any procession as we went through the various meetings of the day. I leaned against the walls as I talked to those that I needed to talk to and remained seated as people came to talk to me. As the afternoon wore one each time I would stand a sit you could a hear a little pop.

The day ended with at least no outward acknowledgement of my predicament and as we headed out the door to go home as I climbed into the van one last time and sat down the last final stitches let go. I was now completely unzipped from the waistband all the way down to the middle of my pants but luckily the day was done. I dropped my riders off and luckily pulled into the house without anyone in the building in the garage at the same time and I think I escaped into the house only to be meet by the laughter of April. However, I think I escaped the day. The only thing in question is what did the security cameras for the building see????????

Bridget's Fast Shoes

2009-04-12T16:15:00.003+09:00

Bridget was proud to put on her new sandals the other day for the first time. As we were walking to the bus stop she had to stop and ask me where the fast mark was on her new sandals? She proceeded to tell me that her inside shoes (the shoes she wears indoors and school) have a slow mark on them, so that even though she is fast those shoes make her slow in PE. However, her new sandals have a fast mark and now she is very fast. Which was a very good thing since we had to run the last 50 yards to catch the bus.

Ashlynn out shopping

2009-04-06T10:32:00.002+09:00

Bridget had the opportunity to star in the elementary assembly. She gave a talk about how caring is important and told the story of when she helped one of her classmates with their coat when she was in preschool. She did a good job standing tall and talking to the whole class. I was lucky enough to not have anything pressing for work so I went in with April and Ashlynn to see Bridget perform.

After the assembly we had to stop and the local grocery store because we were out of diapers (she is working on potty training and I think we are making progress). You could tell that Ashlynn had been taught by one of the best. She immediately walked over to where the baskets are kept (they shop with baskets here not necessarily carts which makes it awkward to shop for five at once). She grabbed the basket that was here size and promptly walked up to the fruit section, calmly grabbed a carton of strawberries and she was off. Before she was done we had to put back soda, ice cream sandwiches, sweet bread, rice toppings (she thought they were candy). Not to mention that she did manage to make out with the strawberries, potato chips, and two different flavors of yogurt (I told her they were treats, she didn't know the difference).

Potty Training Trials

2009-04-04T14:14:00.002+09:00

We are currently engaged in all out war with Ashlynn over potty training. It is a battle of wills. The score today is Ashlynn 2 and parents 1. We started off the day with a bang and it has been downhill ever since.

The battle hasn't been without its moments though. Some of the more memorable moments are

- As Ashlynn is going to be on the opening night of the campaign "You be mean and I go peepy in the potty"

- Later after she had been allowed to wander naked for awhile she disappeared for-awhile and suddenly proclaimed that she went poop-poop. Sure enough there some in her potty and her pull up was no where to be found, but you can guess what really happened........

- Still later after April had thought she was making progress. Ashlynn had gone a number of times in one day, but only with April out of the room. Upon further examination (peeping through the door one time) it was discovered that Ashlynn was dipping her hands into the toilet and splashing water on her bottom and claiming she had gone peepy to get candy.

Wish us luck.........

Ashlynn's Birthday

2009-03-18T05:59:00.008+09:00

Ashlynn had a great birthday. You can ask her how old she is now and she will proudly extend three fingers (usually starting at one and counting up) and announce that she is "san sai". She will also tell you that she is a big girl now (but that it is still too hard to go in the potty - still working on that one)

She had a great birthday with a day at the park with Bridget and her kindergarten class, a whole chair full of presents, and some guests. Couldn't ask for more if you wanted to.

Well the youngest child just turned three and I have mixed emotions about that. She is growing up and it is wonderful to see but it doesn't make you feel any younger when the littlest one is three now. By next year all of the kids will be in primary and we wont' even have one in nursery. Where is my excuse to stay out in the hall???????

Bridget's Field Trip

2009-03-18T05:34:00.012+09:00

Since Scott missed the two weeks prior due to a business trip we decided to leave Colleen at school (she wasn't happy about it) and the rest of us went with Bridget on her kindergarten field trip. The destination of the day was Aichi Children's Park. We had no idea where it was or what it was but decided it would be a good family outing (along with about 35 other kids in the kindergarten and preschool)

The day turned out great as it is approaching spring. The sky was clear and the temperature actually climbed above 70. The park was really fun, it had at least three separate play areas with some of the longest slides that I think I have ever seen. A couple of the slides was actually a series of rollers that you slide down. One of them was the longest slide that I think I have ever seen. It was at least over a 100 yards long and probably more. It was a lot of fun but I can tell you from experience it leaves your bottom a little sore after going down it a few times.

We ended up spending a little over an hour at each area, along with about an hour for a picnic lunch. Bridget and Ashlynn had a great time and we ended up with only a couple of minor injuries. A scrap on Ashlynn's chin just in time for her birthday pictures later that evening was the worst injuries of the day (Other than all of the sore muscles for mom and dad)

Magic Camp

2009-02-22T20:59:00.004+09:00

Colleen starred in her first real performance. She was Zana in the local school production, a young witch with the ability to predict the future. She shared the role with her best friend Sydney. The two of them have become quite the pair and are becoming harder and harder to separate. The production was a hit and really quite impressive show with the number of scene changes and lines that they covered. Of course Bridget was not about to allow any theatrical performance to go on without a show from her, even if she wasn't part of the production.

Earthquake.............???????

2009-02-22T20:52:00.002+09:00

We experienced our first earthquake in Japan this week. It happened about 6:45 in the morning. The kids had just finished breakfast and were putting the final touches (or attempts to proscratinate - depending on your point of view) when we heard some rumbling. We didn't think much about it until a few seconds later it rumbled again and you could feel a little bit or trembling and then all of the sudden it was quiet. At first I just thought it was a large truck or something going by but the sudden quietness afterwards said it was something different. It really was a minor quake but a good reminder all the same that we should be prepared.

Science Center Visit

2009-02-01T15:52:00.005+09:00

We went to the science center this Saturday for something to do and to get out of the house. So we loaded all of the kids up and headed into to town. We stopped for lunch at a Korean barbeque place called Yummy's, which in fact is pretty yummy. By the time we were ready to leave we had managed to scare most of the other customers away. We then headed over to Science Center. It was our first time to the musuem, it is a nine story building with lots of places for the kids to play. We bought our tickets to the planterium and then headed up to the fifth floor to play in the dynamic energy area. The girls had fun playing with the water tools, filling the car with gas, and in general just running around. At 2:00 we headed down to the second floor for our first visit to a planterium with the family. We didn't really know what to expect since it was going to be in Japanese. We shouldn't have worried, we picked a great time for the show. Before we ever entered the planterium Ashlynn fell asleep. As we picked our seats we discovered they reclined (a nice option for watching a show on the ceiling) and then the lights went out and so did the rest of us. Fifty minutes later as the show was wrapping up we started to stir and we after a nice nap we were ready to finish off the musuem.

The next area we explored was the human body. They had a number of good displays but Bridget was drawn to the area on child development and baby birth. Needless to say different cultures have different opinions on what is appropriate to display and Bridget probably learned more about how babies come than she ever bargained for. So far she seems to have recovered well.

For a break we then headed up to the children's play area where they had fun making bubbles, playing on the musical instruments, and building blocks. Bridget wasn't so sure about the stability of her seat but she was a good sport to seat in it while we built a castle around her.

After the castle was destroyed by a giant earthquake (fitting for Japan) we decided we were hungry and stopped by the local hang out for a basket of fries and a Brownie Sunday. Sometimes you still need a taste of home.

A brand new Bridget

2009-01-20T18:24:00.002+09:00

Bridget decided that she wanted to try out her sister's wet to straight appliance. After some serious work April was able to get her hair straight. Many people including here kindergarten teacher were grateful the next day to see her curls starting to pop out again. It is going to take something beyond the wet to straight to conquer Bridget's curls.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-01-10T15:24:00.005+09:00

Even though Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in Japan we tried to keep as much of the tradition alive as possible. Scott stayed home from work and after sending the kids off to school we started out preparing the bird, trimings, and desert. The kids were picked up early by a family friend from the ward and we had dinner for fifteen and more over for desert. We were truly thankful as we had people from five different countries gather together for the common cause of giving thanks for the bountious blessing that we have received was a truly humbling experience.

Champagne Ball

2009-01-10T15:13:00.004+09:00

We attended the local gathering of expatariates for the annual Champagne ball just before Thanksgiving. It gave an excuse for everyone to dress up and have a good time. April got to experience 3D art for her nails and toes. For many the chanpagne was flowing freely. The music was loud and the food was good. We had a good time (but when is a few hours without kids not a good time?)

Ashlynn and her chopsticks

2008-12-16T18:29:00.002+09:00

Ashlynn is slowing being assimilated. She was asked by a local member of the ward how old she was and she answered ni-sai, or two years old in Japanese. She then further announced that she was having ningens, or carrots in her lunch. But the icing on the cake was when we stopped at a local noodle shop after an outing and she proceeded to start to use chopsticks to eat her noodles. Where will she end up after this all done???????

Colleen at the talent show

2008-11-29T18:10:00.002+09:00

After Thanksgiving, Colleen helped us all get into the holiday spirit by singing When Christmas Comes to Town at the local ward talent show. She did a beautiful job and was joined by other members of the ward and the missionaries. It was fun to see her back on stage and signing.

Day Trip

2008-11-24T06:58:00.013+09:00

Fall colors in Kinkatsuji garden

We finally decided it was time to get out of the city so we packed the wagon (or this case the minivan) and decided to head out to Kyoto for the day, and to see if we can see some fall colors. Kyoto is the old imperial capital of Japan. It was the capital for about 1000 years before it was moved to Tokyo a couple of hundred years ago. We decided we would go and try to see the gold temple. It is an ancient Japanese royal residence that was turned into shrine. The exterior is completely covered in a gold leaf paste.

The Kinkatsuji shrine

As with all adventures we had to have something go wrong so about a half an hour into the drive(it was only supposed to take two hours) Ashlynn all of the sudden said she spilled, and needed a wipe. Looking back she had through up her breakfast of pancakes. Of course we had just got our brand new lease van (needless to say it didn't smell like a new car anymore) so we didn't have any of the essentials beyond a thing of wipes. No change of clothes, no extra bags etc. We decided to push on, and drive with the window down.

We only caught Bridget's pigtails in this one

We found Bridget

We arrived in Kyoto in the midst of a traffic jam, finally worked our way down to the train station and found a place to park under a department store. For some reason a four story department store did not carry any kids clothes. It was entirely teen and above, believe me we looked. We finally found an LL Bean store at one of the subway exits and we finally able to get Ashlynn some new clothes. Needless to say she was wearing the most expensive outfit of the day (including mom and dads outfits)

Ashlynn in front of the waterfall

The kids

It turned out to be a really nice day and we had fun walking through the Kinkatsuji ground and looking at the grounds. There are a number of nice things to see in Kyoto but our dynamics limited us to one. Towards the end the kids were tired but Bridget could still be Bridget. You just have to look at the pictures in succession. It is a good characterization of Bridget

After we made it back to the car, and some kids feel asleep for naps we decided to make the trip over to Costco. The closest one is about two hours from our house but only thirty minutes away from where we were. It immediately reminded us of the Costco from home. The place was packed and you end up spending way more than you ever planned on. However, it was very similar to home and it was a lot of fun wandering back through and picking up some things that we can't get elsewhere. We ended up getting most of the Thanksgiving fixings we were missing so it was a good trip.

As with previous disclaimer Scott wrote this post so if you think it is brilliant it is due to my natural abilities, if you didn't like it I am sure I can come up with some excuse, just give me some time.

Sports Day

2008-11-24T06:06:00.013+09:00

It is strange here that the school holiday schedule does not line up with Scott's holiday schedule from work. So far to date we haven't had either one line up, but this one worked out well as he had the day off and was able to attend the school's sports day. The school was split into two teams and they competed throughout the entire day for points, both in group events and age appropriate events, of course Bridget was on the green team while Colleen was on the white so no matter which team won the school flag we would have one happy girl and one sad girl. The weather was great and Ashlynn loved just running around.

A record of the events -

Bridget trying to get through the hula hoop while holding hands with her neighbors. Bridget's team won this event.

Bridget might need some help on her form but she competed well.

Ashlynn was more than willing to collect the rebounds

Colleen of course has to spend at least some time socializing. This is her friend and cohort in chatting crimes and their Japanese teacher.

Ashlynn wasn't interested in socializing, this was sports day after all, not chatting day. It was time to practice sports. Anyone need a goalie?

The second to last event was pyramid building. Fourth graders made the base, third graders the second row etc., until the first grade caps the pyramid. Colleen is wondering if it would have been better to be back in first grade and not towards the bottom. (Just wait next year she is slotted for the bottom)

The pyramid is finally complete.

The final event was the tug of war. Bridget's age group went first. There seemed to be a bit of confusion at first as to why she was just standing holding on to a rope.

But she soon figured it out, even if it wasn't time to start yet.

After Bridget's example Colleen figured out what to do, but unfortunately they were outmatched and couldn't quite pull this one out for the white team.

The day ended with the green team sweeping the tug of war and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Leaving Bridget very happy and all too willing to remind Colleen that her team one. We had to intervene on that one after a few minutes.

Side note since it is six in the morning and I have been up with Ashlynn since four thirty I (Scott) do not take any blame for misspelled words and bad grammar, unless of course you liked and then the early hour had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Our dancing queen

2008-11-14T06:32:00.002+09:00

Bridget was in rare form this day. She decided to dress herself in black diamonds and chains, complete down to black socks, black jewled headband, and dark blue shoes (she doesn't have any black ones). I am not sure what suggested this outfit to her but what are you going to do? Notice that she has to dance with one hand to keep the hair out of her eyes.

Trick-or-Treating

2008-11-01T19:48:00.000+09:00

We had fun last night; the girls went Trick-or-Treating with about 15 other kids to about, well, 8 houses. Most of the Japanese haven't caught on to this great tradition yet. But at least each house gave us handful of candy, so the girls were happy! P.S., can you spot them? Clue: Bridget switched to a more weather-appropriate costume.

Bridget & Greta

2008-11-01T19:45:00.000+09:00

It's been great that the girls have made friends so quickly. This is Bridget's friend Greta; her family is from the Cincinnati/ Kentucky area. Alot of the ex-pat families here are here for Toyota jobs.

Halloween in Nagoya

2008-11-01T19:40:00.000+09:00

Hey, being a day ahead of you all, am I the first to post Halloween pictures? Awesome! See if you can spot Bridget with her fellow kindergarteners....

2008-11-01T19:34:00.000+09:00

We live in the Yagoto prefecture of Nagoya, and we're a half mile away from one of the biggest and oldest Pagodas. It's five stories high and dates back to the early 1800's. This particular festival is one where the Japanese write the names of their ancestors on blocks of wood and cast them into a huge fire at the top of the hill. I think the idea is that the ashes then float into heaven... it was nice to watch them do this, as it obviously was meaningful for them. After the festival was over, the girls got to help blow out the rows and rows of candles.

2008-11-01T19:18:00.000+09:00

We went to the Nagoya Samauri parade a few weeks ago, and I just had to post this picture especially for our good friend from Connecticut, Jackson Chaffin. Last week I read he was singing, "the Ninjas on the bus go Hi-ya! Hi-ya! Hi-ya!...(you know the rest)". Actually, I guess these are Samauri Warriors, but close enough...

2008-11-01T19:11:00.000+09:00

Some of you have been asking for pictures of "Japan". Well, truthfully, it's city living, with tight spaces and lots of cement, but if you get a little on the outskirts where the kids go to school, you get to see neat things like this. We were waiting for the younger two to finish their naps so we could go to dinner, and we watched this little old man go back and forth on his rice harvester. Pretty cool.

Crowds at Tokyo Disney....

2008-10-19T00:13:00.000+09:00

We'll remember in the future that October is busy time for Tokyo Disneyland - but the weather was perfect! We still managed to get in at least 15 rides over the two days, and we at a special lunch at the Blue Bayou. Ashlynn got to go on at least half of these, and we did the take turns holding her sometimes while Dad went with one older daughter and I took the other... it was actually nice to spend some one-on-one time with them. Can you believe Bridget went on both roller coasters and Splash Mountain and she loved all three! She may tear up easily at small stuff occasionally, but she's got more moxy than you think. We'll visit Disney again soon, I'm sure... we're going to CA Disney with my parents in January when we're home... I wonder if the kids will ever get enough?

Happy Birthday, Bridget!

2008-10-19T00:06:00.000+09:00

Well, it's official. Bridget is now 5, and she has had three opportunities to blow out candles from a cake. The first one I made the night before we left for Disney, and it was a disaster (Hope Lori Gilmore's not reading...) I guess I put too much oil into the mix, then added more flour, and well, it had several earthquakes in it by the time it was fully cooled. Then I discovered I hadn't brought powdered sugar with me, so I was searching online for recipes for frosting made with marshmallow creme... the kids loved the end product, anyway!
This cake was much better, and custom made for us as a gift from the Hilton Tokyo Bay (it helps to stay a few weeks at the Nagoya Hilton, you become friendly with the general manager there). Anyway, we had a great time at Tokyo Disneyland.

Challenges and Blessings

2008-10-08T20:46:00.000+09:00

Of course, things have not been all fun and games. We're able to laugh a little now, but we got lost on the way to the village, and paid 600 Yen 3 times to get on an expressway that we ended up not taking to get there after all. We also had trouble finding dinner that night - Japan is a very cash carrying society and I had left my wallet home that day, so we were stuck with eating for about 1000 Yen or finding a place that accepted credit cards. We were just about to give up and drive home when Scott found a Japanese - Italian place that took plastic. Hurray! They even served up their pasta dishes from giant Parmesan cheese wheels.
Yesterday was a real doozy. After picking up the girls at school (Colleen had gotten sick after spinning out on the tire swing) I opted to head from the grocery (the school nurse said she was fine). I had all three at the end of the day, what was I thinking? You bag your own groceries here (Aldi style) so I thought I had it together with all 8 bags, but 1 fell out of the basket in the elevator (they only have tiny grocery carts here so we have to use two, which hold two baskets worth). As luck would have it, it was the bag with our eggs. I decided to tie up the bag and clean the mess up at home, but after being loaded into the van, taken out again, put into the double stroller to wheel to the elevator, taken out again because the stroller had to go up 4 stairs first, the grocery bag had all it could take, and dribbled out uncooked scrambled eggs right in front of our elevator all over the marble floor.
Wait, it gets better. I told Colleen to get the stroller with the groceries into the apartment while I sat there, trying to figure out what to do with the mess, and who should walk in but the wife of the professional baseball player that lives in our building. I had to tell her to watch out for the eggs. My kids were screaming in the elevator shaft, "Mom, we need help!" She said, "I just live on the first floor. I'll take the stairs. Nice to see you again." I dashed upstairs, pushed the stroller and the kids into the apartment, grabbed some Windex, paper towels and another plastic bag and shot downstairs again. I started spraying and wiping, when when I looked up to see the Australian Consulate. She also lives in our building and her husband is a stay-at-home-dad with their 2 year old. I hadn't met her yet. Only I didn't catch her before she... stepped in the eggs. The only comment I could manage after "sorry" was "I think we'll switch to delivery from now on" (Costco in the next city over does deliver groceries for a reasonable fee). I'll have to admit some embarrassed tears escaped in the kitchen after that.
But I did save the best part of the day for last: Bridget wandered off while we were at the store. Now, if you've been reading, Ashlynn's already done this once and we found her very quickly, so I wasn't as worried this time. After about two minutes of calling her name I started wheeling over to customer service where they make general announcements, and I found her on her knees on the green turf of the flower section. I started to scold, but after just a second, asked, "What were you doing waiting in the flowers?" She replied, "I just said a prayer to Heavenly Father that I lost my mom and please help me, and I was waiting for you to come." It was one of the sweetest moments I've had in a long time. I got to hold her for a full minute before we went back to shopping. So I supposed the moral is, maybe we're not always supposed to keep perfect track of our kids at the grocery store and maybe other people's impressions of us really don't matter that much. What really matters is that our children are learning to have faith, and we must be doing something right during these days of recycling dishes and laundry, even if it is only cleaning up eggs.

Meijimura Village

2008-10-08T20:33:00.000+09:00

Scott made an executive decision to get out of the city last weekend, and we visited a re-creation of an old Japanese village. This included old artifacts from turn-of-century and before that were much more touchable than any museum I've been to. The girls liked climbing up into this old rickshaw. Wonder who rode in it? We also saw open mansions of old Imperial Military officers, complete with old Noritake sets of China, that again, you could actually touch! It was really inviting. The change of scenery was nice, too. The village also included an old Congregationalist church that had something unexpected in the basement - a steep ramp on the floor with a carpet that was perfect for sliding down! The kids thought this was the highlight of the whole place! My mom has already requested a trip here when she visits.....

School Days

2008-10-08T20:23:00.000+09:00

It's started raining here at least twice a week, so Bridget finally got to wear her rain gear! The girls have settled so well into a nice school routine. They both have male teachers this year and are learning alot. Colleen is taking Japanese which she enjoys very much. Bridget's highlight of the season was when one of the class bug pets (a praying mantis) ate the other praying mantis...during class. The kids released the victor outside after the event. Ashlynn's having fun staying home with Mommy and having free reign of the house, including doll houses, kitchen sets, and dress-ups.

Walking to subway stop to catch school bus

2008-09-17T08:13:00.000+09:00

We all went to the subway this morning to go to the bus stop. Ashlynn
is usually sad to be left behind but she did a good job today. Other
than the fact they were walking down the middle of the street.

April's encounter with the law

2008-09-15T17:12:00.000+09:00

We are getting closer to finally making into our final residence. I had Monday off while the Bridget and Colleen still had school. It was kind of fun having a day off with two of the kids busy for the day. We spent the day moving stuff from our temporary house over to the permanent apartment. It wasn't without incident. Our final house is in an apartment building with a security system and video entrance camera. After a nice Indian food lunch I took Ashlynn back to the apartment while April ran to get a few last things. When April got back to the apartment she rang the bell I went to let her in but there were three buttons; which one should I push? I tried the first, nothing happened, tried the second one, nothing happened, so I thought it must be the button above the video monitor. I pushed and a red circle started flashing and I could hear an alarm going off. Of course after a short panic pushing all of the buttons I couldn't figure out how to get it to turn off so I just went done to the lobby to let her in. As I get out of the elevator I was greeted with the nice blaring of the horn and lights flashing where the doorman meets people. Not a good sign. I looked around and couldn't see anyone so we just headed upstairs. After fiddling with the monitor for a couple of minutes the alarm turned off and I figured no harm no foul so I was off to pick up the kids from the bus stop and I left April home with a napping Ashlynn. When I got back I was informed that April had a personal visit for the neighbor policeman, baton, bullet proof vest and all. Luckily he didn't speak English and April didn't speak Japanese so all he could do was reset the alarm and April apologized. Some times timing is everything.

2008-09-14T20:37:00.000+09:00

The girls had fun making "soup" with salt and pepper after our dinner was done...

Shabu-Shabu Dinner!

2008-09-14T20:36:00.001+09:00

We had a great dinner last Thursday with our friend Megumi! The Japanese call this style of meal shabu-shabu, because you put the raw, thin meat strips and vegetables in boiling pots of water heated by electric plates on your table, and they think it makes a sound that sounds like, "shabu-shabu". What service! The ladies in kimonos were pretty patient with the kids (although I wouldn't mind leaving them home next time). Even the food is very-detail oriented and always a work of art in Japan. The ladies arranged our cooked vegetables with a maple-leaf shaped carrot on top, and I just had to have my soup and eat it, too!

2008-09-14T20:35:00.000+09:00

This is a regular hang-out for Ashlynn and I, because my chiropractor is right at this subway stop. There's a nice shopping center here and a place for the little ones to play. This week has been a little bit of a trough in my stay here (I guess it had to hit sometime). I missed the schoolbus twice this week! Once was due to city traffic (took 15 minutes to go 700 meters) and the second time I got lost at TWO subway stations (once I got off too early and once I got confused about where to transfer to a connecting station and realized after a few trips that I was going up the elevator and down the escalator - repeated 3 times). Oh, well, things are still going well overall. We are still in our temporary house, and looking forward to being in our permanent apartment next Monday! Hurray!

Oh, yes, for those of you who wanted to hear about our anniversary dinner, it was wonderful. We ate at a Tempanyaki-style restaurant on the top of the Westin Hotel, overlooking Nagoya Castle. This means Habachi-style cooking (Benihana) without the fancy tricks. Scott's secretary had been kind enough to make us reservations and we got an anniversary package, which included our own personal chef! We had 11 courses in all (maybe someday I'll get the menu and the photo scanned in and posted). The third course included a lobster that had been cut vertically down the center while still alive, and an abalone that was still alive, as well. We only discovered this when the chef sprinkled fresh ground salt on them and they started to move! The rolling action made by the shellfish really took me by surprise, and I think the cook was, too, because the abalone moved so much that the shell rocked a little bit! It's definitely a memory we'll never forget, and I asked if they would wash out the shell for me so I could take it home. Abalone is the material that mother-of-pearl comes from, so it's quite colorful and beautiful. And most important, we'll smile whenever we look at it!

Kimono shopping

2008-09-07T21:14:00.000+09:00

Here's the kimono picture! The first one, anyway; this is a try-on at the street market. We shopped last night at an open-air market in Nagoya called Osu. I can tell you that the Japanese dress a little bit more wild on Saturdays than they do for work the rest of the week. Plus, this place has a reputation for being a little crazy. It has festivals with dancing, music, street food and general community gathering at least once a month.

Church is getting better each week. We have Primary and Relief Society/ Preisthood first, then Sunday School, and last Sacrament meeting, from 10am-1pm. The older girls have an adult interpreting for them in their individual primary classes, and so they just have to get through Sharing Time in Japanese. The primary will even sing a few songs in English just for them. Colleen and Bridget have at least two of their classmates that speak English, so they're making friends and doing well. Bridget's teacher takes the time to write her supplements in both languages, which is just one example of how accommodating the Japanese are. Ashlynn has nursery leaders talking to her in Japanese the whole two hours, which she usually requires a couple of breaks from. Meetings for us are going well; I've been able to make a few comments in Relief Society with the help of a translator (usually missionaries). We have had combined R.S./Priesthood meetings with visiting leaders from the stake or area authorities, who of course give great lessons. I was worried that we wouldn't get enough out of our meetings to be spiritually fed like we're used to, but so far we have been very blessed. Today was fast and testimony meeting and the little kids ALL got up and said the same thing, "I know that God lives. And I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was quite an experience. The adults gave wonderful testimonies with faith-promoting stories; visiting the temple, being closer to their less active children, the men trying to get home earlier from work. All are saints who are trying to live the commandments the best they can. They even cry at the pulpit like we emotional Americans do.

Ward Choir is a hoot. I had Megumi (my interpreter friend) write down the syllables I'm supposed to be singing next to the kanji on the copy of the hymns we're singing in Stake Conference in a few weeks. Our choir director is a professional, and not your standard Japanese. He's an artist with huge expression and long hair. Megumi says her friends call him Beethoven. She said that he got so into directing when the general authorities came to visit that his glasses fell off during the song. It's amazing how choir directors are the same, no matter where you are in the world.

A couple of things happened to me this week that really made me feel welcomed by the Japanese: first was, Bridget dropped my new I-phone and the screen died, and I only had it a week. I was worried that I would have to pay to replace it (which would have been just) and I told the phone store honestly what happened, and they said they weren't sure. They sent me to the Apple store, and the man was so friendly, that he met me at the door, and said, "I think this is an LCD problem. The warranty will cover this." I patted his arm and told him he was my new best friend. I'll have to be more careful with this one.

The second almost-misunderstanding happened when I tried to order a hamburger for Ashlynn with no toppings on it, and I guess the restaurant thought I wanted a discount for that, or something, so they came back and said that I would have to get the "standard" version of the avocado burger. I was a little frustrated, but just said, fine, I'll take the stuff off myself. I went upstairs while I was waiting to the 300 Yen store, and when I came back they had drawn me a little picture on the back of a receipt. I'm hoping to scan and post it so you all get the full effect, but it said, "We made one burger like this (showing all the toppings) and one with meet only (drawing of a plain burger) and we will give you back 80 Yen". It was so sweet of them to keep trying even though they weren't sure what to do. The Japanese are often torn between keeping the letter of the law and making people happy, especially Gaijin (pronounced "guy-gene", their word for foreigners) like us.

Well, I probably blabbed too long again. I'm still getting used to this blog thing, so forgive while it still sounds more like an e-mail. I loved all who commented last time, so don't be shy! Tell me what I could do better, or what I'm forgetting. I'll try to post more pictures, and of course when the girls wear their new kimonos for a special occasion with their hair done and everything I'll take more. I'll have to write about Scott & my anniversary dinner sometime soon; it was quite an experience! Let's just say our abalone dinner almost got up and walked away from the table when the tenpanyaki chef sprinkled salt on it! Write more soon!

Meal time

2008-09-06T14:24:00.000+09:00

On Friday we decided we were going to try and be authentic. We went to on Japanese restaurant it was full so we just walked into another. They did offer us an English menu but it didn't really help a lot. Even though it is in English I am not sure what beef habuyaki is, or what constitutes pork fondue? After we ordered them we found out that they were dished that you cook at the table and they were actually pretty good. Even Ashlynn enjoyed the egg drop soup.

Saturday came the kids decided that they wanted something American for breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes were on dock. I agreed knowing that April had been shopping and bought some pancake mix I agreed. We got the table cleaned up and I found the mix and flipped over the bag to read the instructions and .........I had no idea what it said. I finally found in the upper left corner a picture that looked like egg, milk, the mix, and a bowl however there were four lines, I couldn't tell if I needed oil or not but we decided to embark. I found the measuring cup for what looked like 200g of mix opened the bag to be reminded that I now live in Japan. The pancake mix bag had four separate bags premeasured and sealed at 200g a piece. We mixed the batter hopeing that fourth line wasn't important. (and it wasn't they were very good pancakes).

We also had our 13th Anniversary this week but I will leave that meal experience for another day, it was one we will never forget.

Staying alive in the land of Nippon

2008-08-31T17:23:00.000+09:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Well it has been over two weeks since we landed in Nagoya (and over two months since we left Connecticut) and we are settling into a routine. Boy, is it tiring to get around in this city! Scott and I started driving right away (we've been blessed, I think, because the Japanese drive on the left and steering wheel is on the right). It takes a while to get anywhere because of stoplights (city driving) so most people take the subway, ride a bicycle, or just walk. All of these wear you out!
Scott's work is going well, and besides his commute, his hours are better than the native Japanese, but still late for Americans. The girls are enjoying school, but it's a long day for Bridget. She's been bringing home pictures that show a sad face because, "I miss my mom". I suppose she'll get used to the long day soon. It's extra long right now because we're in a temporary house until our permanent apartment is ready for us, and the school bus doesn't stop anywhere near here, so Scott takes the kids down to the subway at 7am to catch the bus a few miles away at 7:45. Then I drive to pick them up from the same stop at 3:45pm. We don't get home until 4:30! So we're still getting used to this schedule, but it will be a bit better after our final move in a couple of weeks.
So what have we learned? Lots of things. Even if we were to go home now and never return, life would never be the same. Most Japanese o the street are much more composed than I thought they'd be, keeping sort of a "poker face" as we walk by. Some can't resist exclaiming over the blonde, curly-haired girls, though, using the Japanese phrase for "so cute!", "Kawaii!". This seems to happen more with school-aged girls or older Japanese "grandmas". It's nice to have interactions with people, even if you can't understand. That's been the hardest thing for me is not being able to to talk that much to people. I'll start Japanese classes in the evening soon, I hope. The Japanese have a need for details, or some Americans would call it obsessive-compulsiveness. I love it! They have special Q-tips that stick to the wax and pull it out of your ear canals, cleaners that mop the subway floors, and they even have toilets that wash your bottoms (never have stinky panties again - even the kids use this one!).
It has been HOT here, and I mean convection oven-type hot. I've never had sweat run into my eyes and nose and mouth from walking a couple of blocks up the street, but I do now. It's a good thing they have drink machines on every corner, and I love the drinks here! They have light and carbonated sports drinks that you can't find in the U.S.. Our favorite is called C.C. Lemon, which is a carbonated super Vitamin-C drink that even Ashlynn asks for by name now. Everything is smaller, because space is really tight here. Often in public restrooms they have a tiny little sink that's on top of the toilet tank, and that's where you wash your hands after. The parking is really challenging, and I even asked the man who runs the Japanese Bar/BBQ next door to park for me the other day. To ride even a few kilometers on the freeway here costs 12.50 in tolls, so we avoid that when we can. Gasoline is about 1.70 per liter, which converts to about 6.50 per gallon. It cost us 115.00 to fill our little rental hatchback 2 nights ago.
The grocery store is quite an experience. We haven't gone to the Costco that's about 2 hours away yet (they'll deliver, also) so I've paid about 4 dollars for 4 oz of maple syrup and Hersheys syrup. It's amazing how many layers of packaging is on everything, especially considering that they divide their garbage here into about six different types: burnables (paper and food scraps), plastics (wrappers, cups, straws), non-burnables like rubber, and separate recycling containers for the plastic drink bottles, cans, recycle-able cardboard, and glass. Crazy! Anyway, the store still involves alot of guessing. Scott thought he picked out some nice beef fillet mignons, and we really got thick pieces of salt pork. Oh, well, we'll get it eventually. Eating has been pretty good, with Colleen trying most new things (she even fights me for the sushi!) and the other two girls eating a lot of white rice. There's still cold cereal here and I even made pasta with sauce and chocolate chip cookies this week, so they're doing okay. Right now the girls are watching Annie on TV. The mission president's wife just called to tell us she's coming over for FHE this Thursday and to invite us over for a dinner party to say goodbye to the current senior missionary couple and hello to the new senior missionary couple. The mission home here is really nice - a comfortable place for evening firesides and nice accommodations for the missionaries during transfers. It's a good thing that there's another American family in the ward to talk to (from Indianapolis) but they're leaving in December.
Well, I'd better stop this sometime, because you all have busy lives to, and probably not much time to read. Any hellos would be great, and I'll try to keep the e-mails coming as often as I can. We do really miss all of you, but we're doing well, and the Lord has blessed us to adjust in many, many ways.
Love,
The Ackroyds