Recent Events and Thoughts

March 11th's earthquake reminded us how fragile life is on this earth and all we have can be gone in an instant. It gives us all the more reason to have a light touch on our possessions and to have the right perspective concerning everything, "don't sweat the small stuff". Jesus said to store up treasures in heaven, not here on earth, and we see that even more clearly now. Our church is taking an active role in helping with the relief effort. If you would like to give financially to them or just follow what they are doing, here is the link to their site Japan Earthquake 2011.
The aftershocks have subsided quite a bit. We do have a few a day, but they aren't as big or as often as they were. The power outages we were told to prepare for never happened. A current challenge is deciphering the news concerning the nuclear power plant. There is a lot of fear that has been created by the media. Gas is still somewhat limited, but we have been able to get back to our daily activities with quite a bit of normalcy.
Sunday, Maika reached 8 months. She gets more and more mobile everyday. It is entertaining to watch her scoot/crawl around, exploring her ever expanding world. The weekend before the earthquake, we took a road trip to see Sarah. The drive over was an all day event as we detoured off the main route to drive the scenic Mt. Fuji route. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. We were in the car about 6 hours, but Maika did great. Staying at Sarah's was also the first time for Maika to sleep in a new place, and she had no problem with that either. The day we were to drive back, we awoke to find 8.5 in/ 22 cm of snow on the ground. Thankfully the roads were cleared by the time we left mid afternoon.
Mt. Fuji and Maika's stuffed Mt. Fuji


Getting stuck at Aunt Sarah's

Enjoying the fresh snow in Suwa