On the 21st, Eric turned 28… WOW! It was kind of a bummer, because me and the girls were probably at our worst, sickness-wise, on his birthday so we had to wait till later to celebrate. But we made up for it by celebrating 3 different days!! My mom had an amazing dinner and cake for him on the 23rd, and then we had a little party at our house last friday with some friends. Here are some photos:
We had temaki-zushi for dinner – Yummy! It’s pretty much make-your-own sushi and it was fabulous. The best part was, all I had to do was open our house and make the rice, and our sweet friends Ai-chan and Kumiko did the rest. What a blessing!
This is my first ever attempt at an ice cream cake. It didn’t turn out too bad, the only trouble is that it was so warm in our house that we had to be on fast motion from when we took the ice cream out of the freezer, cut and stacked it, sang “happy birthday”, and ate it. It was fun to try and Eric, the biggest ice cream lover I know, ate about 3 servings!!!
We did it big this year because on Saturday evening, Eric and I went into Tokyo for the big annual firework show. It was awesome and I wish I could show you pictures but, alas, the camera ran out of battery on the way there. I mostly wish I could show you the absolute sea of people that were there… incredible! The birthday boy was super excited to get a real American hamburger at TGI Fridays while we were out. What a treat!
Happy Birthday, Eric!
… ARE OFFICIALLY OVER!
Well, I hope they are. I am finally feeling good today and the girls, though they both are still coughing, seem to be back to their normal selves. Thank you for your prayers for our family. It’s been over 3 weeks that we’ve been battling this sickness and we are ready to be healthy. Though it’s been hard, I am thankful for some sweet times at home with my girls, just being together. I’ve also had some time to do some reading. A book that I am almost done with and have LOVED is “Don’t Make Me Count To Three – A mom’s look at heart-oriented discipline” by Ginger Plowman. It has been a tremendous encouragement to me as I feel like I have so much to learn about training my children for the glory of God. I highly recommend it to any mother.
Anyway, I just love these photos of the girls in their matching PJs from Margot and Jon. These two just get such a kick out of each other!
ok, i lied. a few more photos from our trip. i just love these two!
check out all the hugs:
It was so so so special to me to see Noa with Carly and Matt’s son, Liam. He was born just before we moved away and we have missed the three of them so much. Liam and his parents are in the difficult process of raising support to come to Japan and we are praying/hoping that the Lord will bring them here very soon.
Carly and I have been best friends since we grew up here in Japan together. When we were in college (her in Australia, me in America) God, in his amazing way, led her and my cousin Matt to fall in love and get married. We then had the great joy of being newly weds together in the same town for 2 years before we moved to Japan last August. I can’t tell you the ways that the Lord has used this sweet friend to bless and encourage me, even from so long ago. I am so so so thankful that He’s made us family and He’s allowed our paths to continue to intersect at so many of life’s steps so far. Seeing our babies together and enjoying each other was just another reminder to me of God’s goodness in giving me this dear friend, and makes me hope and pray even more that our children, who are technically 2nd cousins, will always be blessed by sweet friendship too, no matter how close or far away we live from each other. 
*on another note (because this is the only scrapbook my children have and I want to remember this detail 
, it was super fun to see how Noa just took to Carly immediately, even though I don’t think she remembered her. People have often said that she and I look alike (I know, what a compliment to me!) and so I wonder if that’s why Noa was immediately so comfortable with her Auntie Carly. Either way, it just made me smile to see two girls that I love so much love each other so much too!
Our last two and half days in the States were spent in Virginia. It was so great to be back “home” and get to see so many wonderful and dear friends. It was a whirlwind, and of course, not long enough, but still such a joy to our hearts to be with so many who have been such a blessing in our lives. My pictures don’t do the time justice, as I am missing many faces in this post, but here are a few fun ones:
Aunt Martha and Uncle Mark were along for most of our visit, which always makes life super fun. We are so thankful for the excitement that the Lord has ahead of them… Mark beginning his first semester of college at UVA in August, and Martha becoming a wife in September!
Our visit was just in time for Liam and Phoebe’s One Year Birthday Party. It was the perfect chance to celebrate these two precious children who we love so much and have watched grow from afar. Here is Liam with his Mom and Dad and his birthday cake.
It was also a great chance to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones. Martha was happy to meet Canon Reid for the first time. Look at those two sets of blue eyes!
And Noa got to meet her almost-birthday-buddy, Jude Lookabill for the first time. Another fun friend who we can’t wait to see again. We’re praying that Jude and his parents will be here in Japan real soon, and the kiddos can be MK buddies together too! 
It was also a special time of reconnecting with old friends. Eric had fun catching up with some of our fun friends, the Reid family! In our time in Harrisonburg, we loved getting the chance to babysit these guys, or just come over to hang out.
Noa loved seeing a very handsome and grown-up Paul Tongen once again. I love this photo of them checking each other out.
We love the Tongen family and it was such a joy to see them, along with many other families from our home group while we were back. What a treat!
Here is Noa connecting with BF Kathryn Sink. We have so many pictures of these two since they were babies and it was fun to watch them play together again. Here’s a big hug!
And of course, splashing around in the pool with Liam made the time even more fun!
And finally, a Noll-Cole trio! How fun to have these three, Noa and Phoebe and Martha, all just about 9 months apart from each other, get to hang out. 
Although we wish we could have played longer, it was such a blessing to get to see her for just a bit. Phoebe and her parents will move to California in a few weeks. We are so excited for where the Lord is taking them, but sad that they won’t be in Harrisonburg anymore when we go back. We pray, though, that no matter where the Lord leads our families, he will only strengthen our friendships and let these little cuties always enjoy whatever time they get to be together.
Praise the Lord! Noa’s fever finally broke sometime Thursday night and she’s improved a lot since then. She has started eating a little bit and has played a lot more than she was. She is still coughing a great deal, maybe even more than before, and her nose is running a marathon, but overall, she seems a lot better. Yesterday, when I was about to take Martha upstairs to put her down for a nap, I said to Noa, “I’m gonna go put Martha down, and then Mamma and Noa can play, ok?” Her reply was, “NO. Play Seth!” (Seth is my 12 year old brother Noa’s very best friend) A definite sign of improvement
Martha’s cough is almost completely gone, she is sleeping great again, and is just as cute as ever. Her only problem is that she’s rolling and scooting all over the place and I can’t leave her long on the floor without her getting herself stuck somewhere. Her big news is that she fell asleep in her CRIB in her and Noa’s ROOM last night. She takes naps in there sometimes, but this was their first time going to bed together. They did great, even with all of Noa’s coughing, and I think they liked it. Noa went to bed with the biggest smile on her face. Here they are, such sweet sisters and good friends!
Unfortunately, I started coughing yesterday and my throat is pretty soar… UGHHHH! Will we ever all be well again?!?!? Please keep us in your prayers, that the Lord would give us complete recovery and patience until that time. Thanks!
