Our Family Continues to Grow!

Ok so you might be wondering why we would announce to everyone on our blog that our family continues to grow.... Well, we have Mom (Dre) Dad (Z) Brother (Hos) Baby (H.Z.) and Auntie Goober for a total of 5. We are excited to announce we have a NEW member. Armani, yes the same as the designer brand. :) He weighs in at 2.4 kilograms and is growing like crazy. He has black hair and the cutest dark brown eyes. He is sleeping for about 3 hours each night. Such a cute boy. The older brothers are ecstatic about him. They love to play with him and tease him. We are working with H.Z. on being nice to his little brother. He is a bit jealous! We can understand as he will be turning 2 years old this next week. We know it is a bit early to have a new addition but we are only getting older. WE will post pictures shortly. He is such a great addition to our family!

We love you all!

Our New Chapel

Upon making our decision to move to Japan, Andrea agreed with one condition, that is that the meetinghouse that we would attend would need to be and feel like we were in Utah. She wanted the convenience of being able to walk to the church if she felt like it. She wanted the atmosphere of a meetinghouse in Utah. Well.... We are blessed to have our current meetinghouse just a 5-8 minute car ride away. Right after we arrived we were told that we would be blessed to have a new meetinghouse built. The current building is a rented space on the 3rd and 4th floor of a very old building. We were extremely excited about the news. We learned shortly there after that the new building would be built less than a 5 min bike ride from our home. The building would be able to handle about 50 cars in the parking lot and the chapel would be able to seat around 120 people. The building plans were shown and to our surprise and delight the building looks just like a "mini chapel" that would be in Utah. We are only lacking a cultural hall in the new building! We are sooooo excited! I know that the members here in Marugame have been praying and working so hard to get a new building. They have been meeting in the same old, smelly, building for as long as I have been alive! Yes.... 37+ years!

I am so grateful to a Father in Heaven who is willing to answer the prayers of the faithful saints here in Marugame. He is also willing to answer the prayers of a faithful mother willing to be as a pioneer of old. Pack up her family, sell her belongings and travel thousands of miles from Salt Lake City to a new land. A land where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is little known. Where Christianity is the minority. Where she would need to adjust to a new way of living! This mother is willing to support her husband in his calling in building the kingdom here on earth. This mother faithfully prays and reads scriptures with her children even when dad is not available. She is a true example of her Pioneer and Native American ancestry. She is willing and able to make her home a heaven on earth! I love this woman! She is an inspiration to me and my children!

Here are some pictures of the building progress of our new chapel! We will keep you updated with more!

Our new building is scheduled to be completed in February 2010! What a blessing to the Saints here in Marugame Japan!

Spencer Hos is HOME!

I just wanted to post a quick update on Hos and a big THANK YOU to you all! Hos was able to come home yesterday (Friday, our time) after a week in the hospital. He is still on his medications, but he no longer has an I.V., stomach cramps, or nausea. There are a few lingering "red spots", but we are hoping we are the tail end of the HSP. He still is on restricted activity to help reduce the chance of any more "red spots" and his immune system is still really compromised, so he has to wear a face mask and can't go out "more than necessary". It doesn't help to have 100+ students coming in and out of our house each week, but we are trying to confine Hos to the family room and disinfect as often as possible :) He now has the appetite of a ravaging beast and has already gained back 5 lb. of his 9 1/2 lb. loss. His kidneys seem to be looking better and they will continue to monitor them for the next 3 months or so. He still has almost a weeks worth of steroids left to take and will be on a blood thinner for about three months. IF all continues to go well, he will be able to try to go to school the week of Sept. 14th, with a face mask and on limited activity level, but it's been almost 2 months since he has seen any of his buddies, so I'm sure he won't care what he has to do to go.

Thank you so much for all your prayers, thoughts, and love! We are so grateful to have such great support and we have felt all of you over these last 3 weeks. We love you all! (I will get some photos this week and post them ASAP!)

Please Pray for Hos

So, I know my blog is extremely behind and hopefully I will get time to update you all soon as we have had some good times. But right now things are a little crazy! Hos came down with what I thought was a stomach flu just as we were leaving Utah to come back home to Japan. I figured it would just take a couple days to recover but unfortunately a couple days home it got worse. After not eating much, and what he did eat came back up, we took him to his pediatrician. We had noticed some little red spots all over his feet and ankles, but I thought they were freaky japanese bug bites. Zack was wise enough to mention it to the Dr. and it was the clue that put the puzzle together. He was diagnosed with Henoch-Scholein Purpura or HSP. They don't really know that much about the illness like what causes it or why some people get it. They do know it is an inflammation of the small blood vessels in the body which leads to bleeding, hence the red dots. Really all they can do is try to treat they symptoms and keep the patient comfortable. The first couple days we did IV fluids and Hos seemed to get a lot better. But then the beginning of last week things got bad again. Aparently the sickness is cyclical and usually occurs in phases so here was the second phase. This time around was a lot worse, so the Dr. decided to admit Hos to the Children's Hospital this last Friday.

Here is Hos on Saturday night after the fluids had kicked in and the medication was working. He is in a funky large crib-like bed, which is a necessity for children who have always slept on the floor on a futon! Ha! Ha! Ha! Luckily, the rails do drop down : )


This photo didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to, but the darker parts on Hos' ear are the "spots" I was talking about. His ears by far look the worst that we can see on his body.


This is a photo of the "spots" on his knees and feet. Usually they get a lot larger, so he is lucky that way. Unfortunately, I think his abdominal cavity is taking the brunt of it.


But he is feeling a lot better and he is finely eating and keeping things down. There are some complications that they are keeping their eye on and we are hoping that he does not have any other more occurances. If you can, please keep him in your prayers! I will keep you updated as often as I can! Love you all!

Kyoto day 2: Zen Heaven, Kinkaku-ji & Toji

So it's been a month and I apologize for leaving you all hanging on for photos of Day 2 in Kyoto! I've got a lot of catching up to do!  Here we go!

We started off at Ryoan-ji Temple.  They were doing renovations so the scaffolding made for difficult viewing, but we all had a shot at enlightenment!  One of the world's smallest famous rock gardens is this little one on the table as you enter the temple.  Did I mention that one of Holden's favorite things is rocks?  Well he headed straight for the table and we barely snatched his hand in time before he made history of this display!

Now the white  sand is usually a respresentation of water, ie. ocean, and the rocks are other elements found in nature, ie. animals, mountains, islands, and sometimes boats.  I was just mesmerized by the perfect little circles surrounding these little stones.  Then we headed for the main attraction!  This is the most famous Rock Garden in Kyoto.  There are 15 rocks and if you ponder long enough you are supposed to reach enlightenment!

This is the end that wasn't obstructed by construction scaffolding.  Part of me wanted to go back to Marugame and start raking our dirt.  I am still envious of the perfect sand lines!

Here are Holden and Hos on the observation platform.  This is their version of ENLIGHTENMENT!  I was just happy it didn't involve picking up forbidden rocks!  After pondering the Rocks until we were all satisfied, we headed for a stroll around the garden.

This is a path from the garden up to one of the temples in the area.  Unfortunately my pictures can't do the beauty justice!  Hos kept saying, "Mom, it's so green!"  Holden was just ecstatic to be walking around and he finally could pick up the ROCKS!

We usually give him a maximum of one rock per walk.  But I couldn't enforce the rule with this face!

This is a bamboo fountain to help with the sounds of nature and encourage "Zen Enlightenment".  

Here's another natural water element, one of Hos' favorite, full of Koi at a deeper part.  Rocks were added to help increase the sounds of the running water.

Once this Zen garden was over we headed to Daitoku-ji.  This is like a whole complex of Temples, but usually only about 4 are open to the public.  

This is Zack, Hos, and I at the main entrance.  Holden is passed out in the stroller.  One of the most famous temples here is Daisen-in.  The photo below is at the main gate into Daisen-in grounds.

Here is Zack, Hos, and Julie (Holden still in the stroller).  The granite stairs and cobblestone walkways were beautiful, just not too stroller friendly.

This is the grounds around the entrance to Daisen-in.  All I'm saying is I want a RAKE!  This temple was by far our favorite Zen Temple.  Inside is the best Zen Garden, Hojo, we have seen thus far!  They don't allow you to take photos inside, but it put Ryoan-ji's garden in as second easily!  There weren't many people there either, compared to the masses at Ryoan-ji!

This is a shot of the Daisen-in Temple from the main gate.  

After basking in the glow of Zen we headed to Kinkaku-ji Temple.  This was once a summer home for one of the Shoguns.  Here is Hos at the entrance to the temple grounds. 

Yes, that is a mask on the face of the person behind Hos.  Unfortunately, the mask didn't prevent the outbreak of Swine Flu in the area 10 to 14 days later, but there still was a massive shortage of masks at all the drugstores!  

I had to get a photo of this tree.  Japan is famous for training and supporting their trees to grow into the shapes they want.  This tree had to be hundreds of years old, but even more amazing is how the bottom limbs are supported so they can grow like that!

Here is Zack, Holden, Hos, and I and some random tourist who snuck in, hahaha!  So, have you figured out what "Kinkaku" means yet?  Yep, "Golden".  This temple is covered in gold leaf inside and outside on the second and third floors.  You would think it would look really out of place, but it's actually really beautiful with the surrounding pond and garden.

Here's auntie Goober and Hos tying Hos' wish on the line at the exit of the temple.  Wishes are tied here are said to come true...we'll let you know if it does!

Here's the Kinkaku-ji Temple from the overlook point, see what I mean about not looking out of place!

We were off to our last temple of the day, but Holden was not going further.  He wanted Starbucks (just as auntie had trained him) and his jacket was too hot!  Zack was just trying to find Starbucks to get the little monster a "juice"!

And here is Holden in his "happy place", a soft chair with his favorite juice at Starbucks!  Yes, auntie Goober is in big trouble for this little habit!

After our little juice break, we finally made it to Toji!  This is me, Hos, Zack, and Holden standing in front of the tallest wooden structure in Japan, the 5 storey Pagoda at Toji!  We were even luckier because the pagoda is only open a couple times a year and this happened to be one of those times.  So we were able to go inside and see the paintings and statues!  

Toji is actually a whole complex of old wooden buildings with more beautiful gardens.  This shot is across the pond towards the main hall.  

I had to get a photo of this Japanese maple.  They're my favorite!  So, a great ending to a fantastic trip to Kyoto!  I thought I would save my favorite photo for the end!  This is Zack, Holden and Hos walking along the wooden lecture hall at Toji! 

Golden Week in Kyoto

Golden Week is a HUGE holiday here in Japan and for us it couldn't come fast enough! We all love teaching and we love our students, but we were struggling to keep up our pace. We also promised Julie we would take her to Kyoto when she came back to Japan last Oct. So, time to make good on our word!
Kyoto is one of my favorite places here in Japan! As the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years it is full of beautiful temples, gardens, traditional houses and stone-paved streets. Since Zack put me in charge of the itinerary, we started off at my favorite Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera.


Here are Julie, Hos, Zack, & Holden in front of the main gate (on the left) and the 3-storey Pagoda (on the right). This temple is set up on a hill with mountains behind it and it overlooks the whole city.


This photo was taken looking in to the main hall. You can see some of the huge logs they used to make the building. This priest was ringing this huge "bowl-bell" as people would go up to pray. Hos has gotten over his fear of drums and bells that sound like "the Huns" (from Mulan) but Holden still has a fear of priests dressed in black robes with drums or bells. I think it comes from the Japanese kids show he watches in the morning with a Japanese poem reading. 3 priests come out and read a poem, granted it freaks me out too, but now he thinks any black robed person making loud noise is scary!

This is me (Andrea), Hos & Julie squishing in for our photo op. This photo is taken from the second terrace looking back at the main hall. It's kind of like a giant tree house up on stilts. It's a little freaky looking over the edge because you're so far up.


There's been a temple here since 778 when a priest came across this spring. A sip of this water is said to cure any illness, bring you wealth, or improve your love life, but the monks here say that any prayers said at this temple will come true. So Julie, Hos, and I decided to play it safe and drink the water along with saying our prayer!


Here's another photo of Julie, me, and Hos at the Otowa waterfall after our drink : )
After our little jaunt through nature we headed back down the hill via Sannen-zaka, an old cobbled lane with traditional houses/shops, some as old as the 1800's. Some of the coolest traditional craft shops are along here.


Here is Julie in front of some of our favorite shops right at the bottom of the stairs. And yes, cars do drive up and down this road, just not past the stairs of course!


After some great shopping and a delicious lunch in Gion, we jumped back on the city bus headed for Sanjusangen-do. Zack enjoying the ride with Holden, Julie, and Hos!


The pond and garden area here was beautiful! I told Zack when we first talked about moving to Japan that I would if 1. I could have a Mr. Miyagi house, 2. with a beautiful Japanese garden and 3. drive a Vespa with a sidecar. So I took this photo as inspiration for our yard, Ha! Ha!


This is the end of the main hall at Sanjusangen-do. The main hall is 118 meters long and is full of 1001 gilded statues of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. They wouldn't let us take any photos inside because they are sacred to Buddhists, so you only get the outside.


This is a photo of the side of the hall. In the early 17th century this veranda was a popular place for the samurai practice their archery. It evolved into an archery competition called Toshiya, where the archers had to fire arrows from a squatting position along the length of the building, without hitting a pillar, to the target at the end for 24 hours. The record holder was an 18 year old boy around 1680's who shot over 13,000 arrows, over 8,000 hit the target! That breaks down to 544/hr, or 9/min. for 24 hours!

The last stop on the list for our first day was Fushimi Inari Shrine. Julie and Hos are standing in front of the main gate. This shrine has fox statues all over because they are the messengers of the god Inari, who is now associated with the grain crops ie. RICE!


The photo below is a map of the shrines covering the surrounding hills. The paths are lined with Red Torii. There are thousands of them. A Torii usually signifies an entrance to a scared area and at this shrine each one represents a family that donated a large sum of money! These foxes aren't going hungry!


This is the beginning of the first Torii "tunnel". Hos & Julie stopped for a photo. (I'm still not sure why these foxes are wearing capes, but when I find the answer I'll let you know :) )


We took the stroller as far as we could, but there are areas with quite a few stairs and wooded areas that aren't paved, so Zack & Holden didn't go the whole loop.


Zack & Holden were bringing up the rear, so when I turned around to take this photo I noticed the names written on the backs of the Torii.


This concludes Day 1 in Kyoto...Day 2 to come soon!

Catch All Catch-Up

I have been feeling a little guilty that our Blog was last updated in February, so I thought I would post some of the photos of the boys so you all could enjoy them as much as I do!  Holden's "new trick" is to go to Starbucks with Auntie Goober and follow the proper ordering and drinking procedure.  He has endured many strict training sessions and is almost as well trained as Goober's dogs back in Texas!  Here he is enjoying his favorite juice mix after the a perfect performance in his selection and ordering procedures!

He even knows which chairs are the comfy ones and he has down the "one-handed" drinking method better than most Starbucks customers.

Have we mentioned that Spencer Hos' japanese obsession is Pokemon?  It rivals his american obession with Scooby-Doo!  Holden is now Hos' closest shadow and follows obediently almost every move.  This is the back of an abnormally large Pikachu at the arcade.

Holden is trying to explain that it's not time to go yet, despite dad's boredom!

We try to avoid letting them climb inside unless we are weighed down with loose change and an extra 45 minutes to burn.

Holden has started to really enjoy books.  He likes to look at them himself and he jabbers away the conversations the animations are engaged in.  

One of his favorite spots to read is in his brother's bean bag!  Strategically placed next to the bookcase, he can enjoy hours of endless reading!  Or destruction, as Hos likes to put it.  Hos isn't so keen on Holden using his bean bag.

Or perhaps it's the mess Holden leaves behind that really gets Hos upset!  (Yes, that is Hos beloved Pikachu doing a death drop off the bean bag)  But for now, Hos is at school and Holden has free rein of the coveted bean bag and bookcase!

Despite any differences earlier in the day, Hos and Holden both love to play together on the futons when we are setting them up for the night and they love to read bed time stories.  It's part of their bed time ritual!  

Changes in the Jackson Family

It has been quite some time since we posted.  Dre has been a "slacker"  ok, so have I.  It is not like we are trying to run a business or something right?  

Spencer Hos started his second school year at the local kindergarten.  He really wanted to be in the "blue hat" class.  Well.... he is in the "yellow hat" class.  Bummer but a good learning experience for him.  He has a few of the kids that were in his class last year.  He is excited and loves to go to school everyday.  He is learning more and more Japanese each day. I am amazed at how quickly he is picking up the local dialect.  YIKES! We were afraid of "down home" English well, we have a winner here with his Sanuki Japanese.  He is a funny kid.  

Holden is Holden.  Stubborn like no other.  He is just saying "maaaa and daaaaa" when he wants something. I could swear that Hos was speaking at this same age but call me forgetful.  He doesn't seem to want to sign anything other than "please".  He did begin the "hot" sign and uses that like crazy now.  Auntie got him to give high fives and now if he does anything he wants a high five.  He is funny.  He wants to be big like Hos and now thinks he has to carry his and everyone else's plates and dishes from the table to the sink.  GREAT helper.

We have had several blossom viewing parties.  They have been very enjoyable.  The weather is warming up and Dre and Julie were amazed at the beauty of the cherry blossoms.  It really is difficult to express how stunning the blossoms are unless you experience them.  

Dre and I went on a temple trip to the "nearby" Fukuoka temple. It was a wonderful trip.  Long, and really tiring but such a wonderful trip.  We left Marugame at 11 pm and arrived at the temple the next morning at around 5:30 am.  We did a marathon sessions and did some family names for Dre's family.  It was really nice as the Navajo DNA is close to Japanese.  :)  The temple president did the sealings in English for us.  It was a wonderful time.  

We "broke" down and purchased a bed.  We thought it was huge compared to our futon, only 10 cm's wider.  We tired the the largest size they had at 160 cm's wide and decided on the 150 cm wide.  It is a HUGE change/downsize from our KING size in America to our just slightly bigger than a full size bed.  We have been SLEEPING like babies since the upgrade.  The futon on the tatami mat was not good for our shoulders, hips legs etc. NICE investment.  We are sleeping well now.

My grandfather passed away just before Easter weekend.  I will miss him greatly.  He was a good man.  I am grateful for the knowledge that I have being a Christian.  

We miss everyone and look forward to visiting Utah this coming summer.