Bidding Farewell

On January 2nd we had dinner at Satoko and Hide's lovely new home. It was also kind of a "send-off" for our dear friends, Taku & Mari and their little girl, Micah. Mari is the one we had the baby shower for two years ago this May. She and Satoko also coordinated my "Welcome Joshua, Luncheon" the day before he arrived. Anyway, we have been sooooo blessed to have this time in Kobe together! We are especially sad to see their family leave us, but very excited how God has called them to Okinawa, where Mari is originally from. We're excited to see what God has in store for them and look forward to keeping in touch and opportunities to visit in the future.







On January 3rd, we said good-bye to another family from work that has essentially lived our same neighborhood. Yui & Yuki and their son Yuuga (one month older than Joshua) are now living in Indy, very close to where we lived when we were first married! We're very happy for them, but again, sad to see them leave. Yuki was a great help to me (Kendra), giving me some of the scoop about navigating life with a baby here in town. I'm confident they'll do well and have lots of wonderful adventures in the States. We'll miss them, but also look forward to seeing them again and letting the boys "pick up where they left off!"


Joshua trying to explain to Yuuga why the Boston Red Sox are so cool (thus, why he picked a Red Sox baseball to give Yuuga.)






January 4th: Happy Birthday, Jonathan! Good-bye to an eventful year!

Joshua couldn't keep himself awake for the birthday cake festivities, but he gave his Daddy a "present" of sorts, by taking his first steps on this day! He took several steps with his right foot, while his left foot remained planted on the ground. He did this at least twice, once that Mommy saw and once that Daddy saw :-) We were very excited, and made sure to tell Uncle Dan, as it was his birthday too!