Here are my kids in the parade and carnival at the American School. Jacob is a donut (costume, handmade by him). The principal and staff are the Blue Man Group. The middle school didn't get to participate, so I think Marie was somewhere standing in the sidelines.

Halloween in Yoyogi-Uehara

Halloween is fast becoming popular in Japan. This year I stood at the entrance to our apartment building and handed out 200 glow-in-the-dark bracelets to Japanese children trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It was so fun watching them stand in single-file lines and say, "Trick or treat" to me while I put on their bracelet. Then, with a little bow and "arigato-gozaimasu," they were off.

Our children collected a variety of senbe (rice cracker), pencils, and small little trinkets. Some Japanese homes made goodie bags filled with toys and treats for each child.

BYU-Hawaii Speech Contest

I was asked to be a judge for a national speech contest co-sponsored by LDS Church Public Affairs and the Japanese Government. They invited Japanese high school students from around the country to speak for four minutes on the topic of family. Finalists were invited to Tokyo to compete, with the winner earning a two-week summer course at BYU Hawaii. It was a fun, no stress event for me. I loved these kids!

Sammy turns two

Samuel Sebastian turned two on November 8th. He is the most kind-hearted, wonderful little boy to have in our family. I took him to Arisugawa park near the temple to see the ducks and he loved watching them. He ever started to climb over the fence to get a little closer.

Food Storage in Tokyo