Church Christmas 2013

K and I prepared our food the day before. We made a few different things, including wheat thins.

毎年に教会がクリスマスのパティがある。前の日にKと準備した。このクラッカーを作った。

Here they are finished.

これが終わった。

Everyone brought something so there was tons of food!

皆は食べ物を持って来たから、いっぱい食べ物があった。

M and Y.

MとY。

More food.

食べ物いっぱいあった。

My younger church sisters. One lives far away now, so it was fun to see her. One is the same age as my little sister.

教会の妹たち！１人は遠い所に住んでいるから、とても嬉しかった。１人は私の妹と同じ年。

A reindeer came to visit!

鹿が来た！

We said goodbye to C that day. She went back to Germany.

Cはドイツへ帰った。

All the small kids performing.

子供たちの発表。

The S family performed with their adorable kids.

Sの家族の発表。子供たちはとても可愛い。

Y can eat a lot of oranges.

Yはたくさんみかんが食べられる。

A surprise entrance from the guy in red.

赤い服を着ている人が来た。

This family played the bells.

鈴をできた家族。

Y was watching the band.

Yは音楽を聞いた。

The ladies from the gospel choir sang for us.

ゴスペルの合唱が歌った。

There was a magic show.

魔法の発表。

Ummm . . .

え？

Some friends and a goodbye before K left for Canada.

Kはカナダで大学へ行った前の写真。

Christmas Concert

In early December, there was a Christmas concert and my choir sang.

１２月にクリスマスライブがった。合唱に歌った。

It was fun to sing and it was fun to hang out with my choir friends after.

歌って合唱の友達と話が楽しかった。

Christmas music

After my post the other day, it finally snowed!

前のブログの後に雪が降った！

I love weather like this.

この天気が大好き。

I went to my school that was the farthest away and I listened to Christmas music the whole way there and the whole way back.

今日一番遠い学校へ行った。行って帰ってずっとクリスマスの音楽が聞いた。

I put my favorite Christmas songs on shuffle. I had forgotten how much I like this song.

大好きなクリスマスの音楽がシャッフルした。この歌があった事が忘れちゃった。

It’s such an amazing reminder that Christ came to die. But death couldn’t hold him. He lives. Reflecting on that all day has made me so thankful.

この歌からキリストの事思い出した。死んだのために生まれたけど、死ぬまで終わらなかった。よみがえられました。だから、今日ずっと感謝している。

Seems like a good way to spend Thanksgiving Day.
アメリカの感謝際にいいでしょう。

Christmas Dessert

Today is the last day of school before winter vacation. Often this day is actually Christmas, but for some reason or another this year school ends today.

As a fun thing for Christmas, many school lunches serve "Christmas Dessert." This is what my students and I got for lunch today.

In other exciting news, only 3 days till I leave for America! 

Coming home

It's been a little while since I updated my blog. Updates about the past couple of weeks to come soon, but first . . .

I'm coming home for Christmas next week!!!

Or for an exact time until my plane in Sapporo takes off:



It's going to be fun to see my family. My mom told me this evening that my littlest sis had said that one of the reasons Christmas is her favorite is because she gets to see me. I can't wait to see her and give her a hug!

Advent Conspiracy 2011

Just watched this video:



Though I didn't know the numbers, I had no idea how much more Americans spend on Christmas than is needed to provide clean water for everyone on earth.

If we gave even part of what we spend on our loved ones and ourselves this Christmas toward that cause or any other cause, we could make a huge difference in so many people's lives.

The crazy thing is, it quite closely follows what God and I have been wrestling with lately: How much do I need? How much can I give to those who are in need? 

Decorating for Christmas

Last Sunday, my church started decorating for Christmas. We started by taking the tree out and starting to try to piece it together.







It slowly got put together, each piece needing to go in a specific place, like a puzzle.



Streamers were hung from the wood panels above the windows.



Hanging garlands and making funny faces over a window.



Putting the star on top of the tree, it was always my favorite part as a child.



Another silly-faced pose . . . no wonder I get along with this church so well.



L hanging streamers.



More garland hanging, along the wood trim.



A cute smile, rather than a funny face.



Another cute smile. This is one of the little girls I claim as my church little sisters. She’s about the same age as my actual little sister.



Another one of said church sisters.







And another funny pose. Christmas-bell-boy?



Then of course, I had to get decorated here’s one of our hair.



And one of our faces.



A photo as shot by the one in the blue turtleneck.



The three of us with L sneaking in.



After all the Christmas decorations were taken out of my hair, I was given a very Japanese style hair-do.



It was loads of fun working with everyone to decorate our church for Christmas. Unfortunately with all the hair antics, I missed out on getting a shot of the outcome. I’ll try to get one next time.