Sorry for the absence

Sorry all, for not posting more pictures sooner. I can't believe that the VBS is my last post until now. Lots has been happening. The following pictures are for those of you that keep asking me, I hope you enjoy them. They are not the best but they are of the boys.

Please keep us in your prayers we have a very busy season ahead, as most do with the holidays coming. Glenn is getting sick again and thinks what ever he had, is back, please keep him your prayers. This week we have the Harvest Carnival on the 31st. Please pray that we would be light to our neighborhood and that we would be able to share the love of Christ with them. Next month will be extra busy. In the month of November we have a two baby shower, a bridal shower, a wedding, Glenn will be in Tokyo for a conference, we have a Marriage Retreat, Thanksgiving and Rick will be taking a group to Israel. We will be very busy but we are looking forward to all that God is going to do. Please keep us in your prayers.

We love and miss you all.
farah

Caleb My Gentle Giant

I don't know who took this picture but I thought it was so funny. He looks so big.

Here he is is with his favorite, the green apple (from Jonah's apple tasting below).

This week Caleb did some science experiments with yeast. So at the end of the week we made bread for dinner. He asked if we could have spaghetti for dinner to go with the bread we made. It was fun and he was such a big help in the kitchen.

This kid can eat and he loves spaghetti.

Yuck!

Yuck, says it all. A dear friend of mine ordered these owl puke pellets for VBS but did not use them all. She so kindly offered them to us knowing that we are homeschooling, as a science project. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! I was so grossed out...It took me a while to get into this one. Caleb and Jonah really wanted to do it and so eventually I helped. But it was hard and not fun for Mom.

Here is part of the pellet taken apart. We were trying to pull out the bones so we could figure out what type of animal it was. Yuck!

We had a rodent. We didn't find every thing. Luckily the kids lost interest. Plus We had more than one skull, so I think we had two of most things.

This is what it would have looked like if we found everything.

Jonah Lost His First Tooth

Jonah had two very exciting things happen this week. He lost his first tooth. Which he has been wiggling at for weeks. He also read his first book. He was so excited that he could read. He can read 'Mat' in the BOB books series and 'Cat' a Hooked on Phonics book. We are so proud of him.

More Ethan

Ethan on the computer his second favorite thing to do. After he plays with his Lego's, he usually wants to play Elmo's Art Workshop or Starfall.

This is the new Ethan pose. He is saying, "Don't you think I'm so cute and so sweet?"

Jonah

As most of you know we are homeschooling the kids this year and Jonah started Kindergarten. He has been doing great. Our curriculum give us lots of projects to do with the kids to reinforce the letter sound and then we learn information about the picture associated with the letter. This week we learned the Aa sound and about apples. This is Jonah helping me make apple sauce. It was delicious but unfortunately my children have never been big applesauce fans.

We also did an apple taste test. In Japan we only have two or three kinds of apples; fuji, red or green. And when we went to the store they only had red and green; so we added Nashi (a Japanese apple/pear) and persimmon. Jonah's favorite was the Nashi and Caleb loved the green apples best. It was also fun to cut the apples in half to see the star design in the middle.

Here is Jonah with his favorite.

My Little Builder

Here is Ethan with one of his many creations. Every morning he builds me a new one, while his brothers are doing school. And he never gets tired of building new things, it's amazing to watch.

Isn't that cool!

Vacation Bible School 2009

Dear family and friends,

Please pray for our summer VBS. We will be having it in English and Japanese. The dates will be from July 27-31.

• Pray that the neighborhood children would come, here the good news of the gospel and come to know Jesus.
• Pray that God would continue to provide helpers.
• Pray that God would bless all the preparations.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Caleb's Big Day

Caleb's class went on a field trip to the zoo on Caleb's birthday. After the zoo Caleb and Glenn got to spend some time together at Family Fun Land and then they came home for dinner, cake, and presents. It's hard to believe that our little man is 8 years old. Time flies!

"Uncle" Josheph's Visit

This is Joseph Totsis, an awesome friend and brother in Christ from Montebello California. Joseph took his vacation to go on a missions trip to Cambodia, but was able to squeeze a couple days into a visit to Oki. Joseph has been to Okinawa more times than I can recall and has been a HUGE supporter of the ministry and our family. We love him dearly. You can't see it in this picture, but Ethan is tugging on Joseph's beard.

Jonah took this picture when we weren't looking. He loves taking pictures. Thanks for coming to visit us Joseph, stop time anytime you can. God bless!

My husband loves me

One day my sweet husband brought home these flowers for me. I love hydrangeas and these are a beautiful deep pink. Aren't they pretty.

A little tree monkey

Here is Jonah, doing one of his favorite things, climbing a tree. He looks so sweet in this picture.

Comprehensive Park with some friends

We had a great day at the park with some friends.

Field Day at OCSI

Jonah cheering his brother on; look at that cheesy grin.
Mrs. Bailey, Caleb's adorable 1st grade teacher.
Ethan.
Caleb is in the middle, they are doing the "over under" game with a wet sponge. They would fill the sponge with water, then pass it over their head and then under their legs until it came to the last person in line. The last person would squeeze out the water. The group with the most water won. The kids were soaked but had tons of fun.

Caleb in a ping pong relay. The kids had to carry a ping pong ball on a wooden spoon, walk a set course, then pass the spoon and ball to the next kid in line. It was fun to watch.

our sweetie pie

Ethan combing his hair

Ethan and Daddy

Even with the chickenpox he is still smiling!

Cupcakes!

Thanks to Mimi we had fun with sprinkles. These are my dinosaurs on strawberry frosting hill.

This guy is so BIG!


Jonah and his cheesy grin.



Ethan at work.



He only ate the top.

My three stooges

Dad was gone one night and we had pizza. It is so rare that I get all of them in one picture. They are getting so big...Caleb is almost 8, Jonah is 5 and Ethan is 3. They are so cute and so different.

Our little Jonah

Yesterday Jonah was complaining of a sore leg, later that day I found several spots on his body, we ended up going to the doctor because he had a low fever. When we went to the doctors he told me, "oh, Varicella.' I had no idea what that was and couldn't wait to get home to google it. Chickenpox! Yes, we will be house bound for a while. Jonah has the Chickenpox. Please keep him in your prays, as he is very miserable. This is him this morning while he was still feeling okay. He is now cover with spots and not happy about it. Unfortunately, both Jonah and Ethan missed the Varicella (chickenpox) vaccination, so I am sure Ethan will be next. Please keep us all in your prayers, as we have really been hit hard by this flu season. I think we have had every bug.

On a more joyful note: This is Jonah enjoying a yummy chocolate bar, for his 5th birthday. I had to be quick with the camera because that candy bar went fast. I thought maybe he would eat it slow and share it but no, he devoured it.

Phipps Family

Here is Yvonne (Glenn's mom) and Grandma Lily

Glenn Sr. and Glenn Jr.

Grandma Goose and little Glenn. We had a great time visiting with the family and playing games.

Phipps/Iszler/Speedie Family Pictures

Dear All,

I am sorry that I have not updated the blog in forever. We had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends, in the states. While there we took some family photo's that I thought you might enjoy. The kids are getting so BIG, especially Caleb. Caleb will be 8 soon, Jonah is 5 and Ethan is 3. The top photo is my little sister Jenn and her husband Allen. Then the boys, My parents, Jenn, Allen and us.

Farah