EYB Photos & Design

As of June 22nd, Yoko is now another year closer to 30. Yet, you would never guess it if you observed her in her Body Pump class. When it comes to the leg portion of the workout, she lifts more than anyone in the class. Seniors, house wives, business men, 20 somethings, and even the instructor cannot keep up with her. Needless to say, Erik is proud of Yoko.
We officially have a date set and tickets purchased for our return to Arizona. On August 25th we will be back in the land where the humidity does not stay above 80% for weeks on end. However, our return to Arizona will be short lived. We are returning to Japan in December and will be here for at least another year. There are 4 primary factors that lead us to this decision, and no, it’s not because Erik has started liking natto, playing the shamisen, or practicing kendo. 1. We feel the Lord wants us to be here to continue reaching out to Yoko’s family and others that we have contact with. 2. Erik needs to keep working on his Japanese. The Japanese language turned out to be a greater challenge than he originally thought. He had high expectations for himself but soon found out that it’s going to take some time. 3. Yoko would like to give birth here in Japan (no, we are NOT pregnant at this time). 4. Teaching jobs that provide housing are plentiful. If you would keep us in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it. On the right side of our blog we have a section titled “Prayer Requests”. There you can find specific things to pray for.
Other than the above news, we don’t have anything major to report. June 23rd was the 3 year anniversary of our engagement. Yes, we are still newly weds and keep track of all those meaningful days. The below picture was taken from the spot and right before Erik proposed to Yoko.
Recently Japan has been very wet. We are currently in the rainy season which will soon give way to the hot, humid, typhoon season. Even when the weather man says it is only going to be cloudy, we must be prepared for rain at any moment. Erik has learned this the hard way.
The Japanese government gave us money to help stimulate the economy. We were pleased to receive a notice that Yoko would be getting 12,000 yen (about $120), but we were really surprised when we found out that Erik would also receive the same amount. Thanks Aso!