Noa, who is obviously picking up on my weepiness of the last several days, as she cried real tears just told me,
“I want to go back to Virginia, so I can play with Paul [sob sob sob].”
Oh, Paul, how we miss you!
To read about Paul and his cool parents and brothers, you can see their family blog here.
I can’t believe this tiny little baby:
is now this big, beautiful girl:
(who just had a hair cut * and learned to hold up four fingers).
We celebrated with a family dinner and birthday cake with our down-the-street cousins on Monday, her birthday. 
And then had a little picnic party at the park with some friends (some of whom are also cousins, of course 
)today. 
We went to one of our favorite parks that has some fabulous playgrounds and a splash pad as well.
We had a wonderful picnic lunch.
And of course, some birthday cake. She requested a rainbow this year. 
Happy birthday, my big, sweet girl! How I praise the Lord for your life and celebrate who He made you to be!
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*I cut the girls’ hair the other day in hopes that it would help it thicken up a bit, and, in Martha’s case, eliminate the mullet effect. Here are some photos:
We went to the Aquarium on Monday, with our friends, the Dingles, to celebrate Alee’s first birthday. It was a great day, with beautiful weather and lots of fun things to see. Half of the excitement was riding there on the train and exploring a new place. It was a fabulous day! Enjoy the photos!
We are in the middle of "Golden Week", a week where several national holidays fall right in a row. Monday was Greenery Day, and Tuesday was Children's Day. All the fish that we see strung up everywhere, called "Koi Nobori", are decorations for Children's Day. They're beautiful!
handsome Titus
Beautiful Hana Meg. *on a side note: the other day when I got off the phone with Rebecca, Hana's mom, Noa said to me in a very sad voice, "But mom! I wanted to talk to my friend Hana!" She loves that girl!
Noa watching the Penguins swim. They were so fast and always came by the window in a big group. She was still getting used to the idea of being underground and watching all these new animals so cose to her face.
Martha was missing a morning nap, but that didn't stop her from being amazed at what she saw.
She would point and say, "Wow!"
One super cute One-Year-Old! Alee was also missing a nap, but she stayed happy and sweet all day long. It was amazing to see.
The Aquarium is right by the bay, so it was fun to look out on the water.
Stopping for a snack. Martha is getting really good at smiling for photos. She even says, "cheeeeeese" sometimes.
These two were so funny riding in the double stroller together (see what I mean about Alee being happy all day?)
such cute little friends
It was a great day, but we were certainly tired by the end of it!
SERIOUSLY!
The Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are everywhere and it is breathtaking.
We went on a walk with our friends the Pfeils yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful blooms.
And tried to get some photos of the kids with the flowers.
Later, we spent the afternoon with our friends, the Stewarts, helping them pack and clean their house, as they head back to the States in just a week. We will miss these good friends!
After we were finished, and before dinner, Lydia and I gladly volunteered to take the kids to the park, one of our favorites because of it’s fabulous slide. An added bonus yesterday was the tree-lined bike path in full bloom.
Noll girls. On a side note, the littlest of us, Martha, has been taking several steps lately. I wonder if full-fledge walking is right around the corner? We sure hope so, as playing outside would sure be more fun!
Not that she lets her inabilities keep her from having a grand ‘ol time on the playground.
We were at the park for quite a while, so long that the moon came up. Noa, my daily “moon-spotter” (she finds it any time of day, if it’s visible, even if it’s a white thumbnail at midnail, she’ll spot it). She and William loved this little hill for rolling/falling down.
Seriously, it’s the most wonderful time of the year here in Japan. With the warm weather getting more beautiful by the day, the flowers that I planted last fall coming up, and cherry blossoms everywhere, though a little late this year, still promising that winter is truly over. I love this time of year!
If you have a minute, check out this video of us sliding down our favorite slide at the “Stewart’s park”:
Continue reading about It’s the most wonderful time of the year
“Mommy, go to Dingles’ park? Play Titus, Nana. Baffa play Baby Alee?”
You probably know by now our good friends and teammates, the Dingles. We have loved that they live only a short walk from our house, and they have a great park a few doors down, affectionately called, “Dingles’ park”. A few weeks ago, before our sunshine went into hiding, we played with the Dingles several times at the park, and now Noa can’t seem to wait until we do it again. She must be like her Mama, in that the sunshine is just so intoxicating and leaves me wanting more and more and more and more. Thankfully, it seems like spring is on the way and we are ready for more out-of-doors days in our near future. If Martha would only master walking, we’d be really good to go…
While we’ve waited out the cold rain, Noa has often followed the above statement with,
“Go Titus, Nana’s house? Play?”
Rainy, cold days are not so bad when you have good friends to enjoy them with. In the past week the girls have fallen asleep at the Dingle’s house 3 times as we have played games, had English worship, and left the kids to be baby -sat while we went out on a triple date with them and the Stewarts. Although Titus and Hana (Nana) are several years older than Noa, they are always so patient and kind to want to play with her, share with her, and help her keep up with them. Alee, the youngest Dingle, and Martha are getting more interactive with each other and are learning to play gently with one another. As for us adults, Eric and I are so thankful to have friends who are a few years ahead of us in parenting to watch and learn from, and good friends to watch 24 with (if we ever end up watching it instead of chatting the whole evening away ).
Titus, Hana, and Noa at "Dingles' park"
Alee and Martha on Super-Lydia's lap
Thanks for being such great friends, Dingles! We love you guys and can’t imagine our lives here without you. I’m sure there will be many more conversations in this household concerning the Dingles.
