Sakura in Bloom

We have been having a great Spring so far. The cherry trees or sakura were beautiful and we had a number of opportunities to get out and enjoy them. Last Saturday we spent the day with Yoko's dad, her brother, and his family. We were celebrating Yoko's dad's retirement. We started at Shinjuku Gyoen enjoying the sakura along with half of the people in Tokyo (to see a bigger version of our spring slide show, click here). We ended the evening with a meal of traditional Japanese food, Yoko's dad's favorite.
We also recently took a 23 mile/37 km round trip bike ride to see the Tulip Matsuri. One down side to all of Spring's beauty is that Yoko's allergies are in full swing. She has itchy eyes, uses tissues by the fist full and is very good at sneezing.
Some of you may have heard that Erik has been looking/applying for a teaching job. So far nothing has come about. Since we are returning to Arizona in August, it is hard to find something that is short term. However, he continues to substitute teach for a language school when needed. Erik's Japanese language learning has changed from formal language school to a community program that meets 3 times a week and is free. Also, with Yoko, he is reviewing the book that he studied in language school. This is helping reinforce those things that he learned some time ago.
For Yoko, in addition to putting up with Erik, she continues to teach at a nearby cram school and work on her graphic design/web development.
Sunday we had a wonderful Easter service at church. It was an all day event. We left at 9:00 pm and even at that time it was still going strong. After the "normal" morning service (11:00 -2:00) we had lunch and then there was baptism. This was the first baptism that the church has had since we have been there. In total 58 people were baptised. It was a wonderful time celebrating the new life the comes through a relationship with Jesus because of His Resurrection. After the baptism there was a break for dinner and then from about 7:30 on (we don't know when they finally called it a night) was a time of worship and sharing.