In August, we took Sara to the Kyoto Yuzen-en place where you can paint your own Japanese design on cloth.  Sara wanted gifts for friends Stateside so she chose handkerchiefs.  Henry and I each did one for her. The way it works is this:   The design has several stencils that the artisan puts on the cloth, then hands you a brush with colored paint on it.  You then use circles and paint over the open stencils.  When that's done he changes stencils and gives you another color to paint.  This is done several times.  The last color added is white which brings out the highlights of the overall design.  He then irons the finished piece and you are done.  

I have made several T-shirts using this method, two are of blue butterflies and another is a floral print.  I also have a medium sized bag with a kimono print on it.  I love doing this as I "made it myself."  

Sara is painting her design. 

Henry is doing the same.

Finished painted design

White being added 

Final product

Benjamin Ward

          Little Benjamin Foster Ward in his suit on the way to his first Sunday at church.  

Here he is resting on the Word of God  

His T-shirt says  "I have the best uncle."  Who it was from, I don't know as there are six Uncles in the family.  :-)  

Grandpa and Grandma Reeves with their three grandchildren: Elorie, Arianna and Benjamin with their mom, Jewel in the back. 

Happy siblings in their back yard. 

 

Jewel took these photos of each child when they were first taken to church, shortly after they were born.  

We will be visiting the States in December/January this year and can't wait to see all the family.  :-)   

First Grandson, Benjamin Foster Ward, has arrived!

  

Proud parents Peter and Jewel and big sisters Arianna and Elorie, plus Jewel's entire family welcomed little Benjamin on  July 7th at 4:45 pm Central Time (Nebraska, USA) weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces and 19.5" long.  We got to talk to them within a couple of hours of his birth, so that was exciting to greet our  f i r s t   grandson.  

                             

                      Happy parents a few hours after birth

Grandma and Grandpa Reeves, Sisters Elorie in front and Arianna in back

For the first time, Little Ben and his family at church on Sunday, July 9th--two days old.  

We are planning to go to the USA in December/January, so we will get to meet this little guy soon.  God is good!  :-)    

Visit to Okinawa May/June 2023

We have been in Okinawa for two weeks (our second time here) filling in for a fellow missionary on furlough.   On May 30 a typhoon was coming up from the Philippines.  On Friday, June 2 we woke to the aftermath of strong winds and rain sweeping through the Nago area (northern part of the island of Okinawa).  The above is the canal across from the church at nearly flood stage.  

This is across the street from the church just above the river. 

The shed was standing at the back of the church building.   The padlocked door was busted open and the contents spilled out.  Henry and I managed to take all the stuff out and righted the plastic shed and put things back in.   It was an experience not to forget. 

When I took out the trash at the back of the building from the street side, I saw the shed was blown over and around the corner of the building.  

 

 

Family Update

These are Peter and Jewel's family Easter photos.  Jewel is expecting their first son in July.  Arianna is next to her and Elorie is next to Peter

Sitting on the platform in front of the church pulpit

Here are the "egg heads"    :-)

Elorie and her balloon friend

Arianna in kimono 

Picnic day

Arianna invited her friends to ride the bus to Sunday School.  

 

Bridge Building in Ono and Kato across the Kako River

Work on the new bridge about 3 km from here continues.  Here are some recent photos of putting the steel structures in place.  It is supposed to be done next summer and the other bridge will be taken down sometime.  It has been interesting to watch the work over the last 1 1/2 years.

Approaching the bridge from the Ono side, we cross on the left side of the crane.  The crane lifts the steel structures and puts them in place.

The steel structure is in front of that traffic cone.  The white cement on the right is where the bridge will end.  

This is from the Kato side across the river.

These steel bars are for workers to get in place .  Here two of them are holding the crane that has the steel structure to anchor it in place.   

More later as things progress. 

First Snow of 2023

January 25, 2023, we woke up to snow on the ground, about an inch of thick and sticky snow, very rare here in Ono City.   These are photos taken around the house.

                                          Looking right out the front door

                         Our heater/AC unit with lots of little ceramic figures.

   Looking left out the front door.

                                          Driveway and our two vehicles 

                                                 

                                       This is the garden gate of our 

                                    neighbor across the street

                                      The corner of the house next 

                                    to the cars

                                            Sunrise after the snow stopped

                                                    Behind the house

                               Our neighbor put old used carpets 

                                on the ground to prevent weeds 

                                  This garden is in front of the

                                   house next to ours.  A huge 

                                   evergreen bush was cut down

                                   last week next to the snow-covered

                                     plate over the ditch

                                                From the 2nd floor window

Lunar Eclipse November 8, 2022 Blood moon

It was a very clear night to see the blood moon.   This is facing East out our backdoor in Ono .  My camera and phone camera did not take the best photos, sorry.  

                Partial eclipse getting dark from the bottom 

                            Here you can see the reddish moon 

  This was toward the end of the eclipse.  It rose higher in the sky as the moon turned red