Thanksgiving and the start of Advent

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving is always a hard holiday to be away from family... however, we marvel at how the Lord has provided "family" here in Osaka. We remain grateful for the opportunity to spend a day praising and thanking God for His many blessings.

playing Jenga while we waited for dinner. We may have hit a new record with 32 rows!

Phillip and Ponga carving the birds! They were delicious and Jeph was esp. excited to be able to have enough leftovers for a turkey sandwich the following day.

Here we are skype'ing with Andrew and Amberly. They spent the weekend together in Cambridge (Amberly had to work). Kristin was graciously welcomed into the Ernst family festivities in PA. Although it was sad to not be all together, it made us that much more excited for when we are all together later this month!

First week of Advent

Here's a pic of our Advent wreath-Osaka version. Advent has always been one of my favorite seasons (I love having time set aside to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the birth of our King and Savior ) and it has also become a favorite family tradition as well. Each night during the four weeks leading up to Christmas, we light a candle(s), take turns reading special Scripture passages, pray and end by singing Christmas caroles and hymns.

I have to admit, this season of Advent is the time I miss being gathered around our dining room table more than ever, yet we rejoice! Not only do we have the kids' upcoming visit to look forward to, but far greater, the time when we will celebrate His return- Come quickly, we pray!

Joy to the world.. the Lord has come!