The first jumprope challenge was to jump as a team as many times in two minutes. Mia’s team had a hard time because the rope turners didn’t do a good job. They didn’t advance.

The next challenge was to jump rope as a team but they had to one at a time run through the jumprope and do it as many times as they could in two minutes. They did well the first time and perfect the second.

Unfortunately, I do not know the rules so I have no idea how they did in the competition even though they did well.

Now the kids are playing with their friends while Denise and I sit in the car eating our lunch bentos Denise made this morning.

I feel like I am camping!

We had a nice little Christmas party at church last Saturday, and then on this past Wednesday night we went to the Underwoods’ house for another one. That will be the last time we will have a Christmas party at their house! I can’t believe it!

It sounds bad, but it wasn’t. It was a great little party. But unfortunately they will be moving away to another country next summer, so Christmas at their house next year will be out of the question.

On another note, Grandma Joyce is here with us this Christmas. She was here last year for two months, but could only come for one month this time. Her friend, Eileen, is also here with us staying for two weeks. They and Denise have been going out and about around Kyoto and Osaka seeing the sites and eating.

Having them here for Christmas and New Year’s is such a blessing for us. The kids are enjoying their time with Grandma and so are we…although, Denise gets to spend more time with Joyce than I do, mostly because I have been working.

However you are spending Christmas and New Year’s Day, we hope you have a fun, safe time. Praise God, we have gotten through another year in one piece and now are about to go into 2010. Pray we continue to do God’s will in Japan and grow closer to Him on a daily basis. We hope and pray you do, too. God Bless!

In Him in 2010!

A few people planning to join us on the trek through the north eastern part of Kyoto called to see if we were still planning to go. I assured them we would still go and that the weather was most likely going to be fine by noon.

All of my information was based on the agency’s report.

Most weather reports are not reliable. However, my experience with the JMA is they are almost always correct in their predictions.

I ususally use their six-day forecast and then check out the radar map. From there I can discern what the weather will be like in the next few hours.

Saturday turned out to a picture-perfect day. The weather began clearing up right around noon and by the time we all met up at Gion-Shijo station at 1pm, the weather was perfect. The temperature was cool and there was a nice breeze. Most of us had light jackets and didn’t really need them. I walked around most of the day in just my short-sleeved shirt.

The only thing that would have made it a better day would have been for Denise to have been there. She had to go to singing practice for worship service on Sunday. So she couldn’t make it.

So why does the mainstream media paint the picture that fighting for freedom is almost always a losing battle and usually never worth fighting for? Positive news doesn’t sell.

Take for instance the latest news about Afghanistan. If mainstream news stations were to talk about President Karzai and the fact that many Afghanis are going to have to vote again against all odds of threat and Taliban attack as another step toward true freedom, people wouldn’t be as interested in reading the article or listening to the report. It is a fact among journalists, especially liberal ones.

Bad news is more likely to attract a casual reader’s eye than good news. It’s a secret journalists have known for years (and in fact, we even succumbed ourselves to the negative slant when we posted the story here): bad news gets more attention than good news, meaning more people are likely to read a story if the headline implies something rotten rather than something wonderful. Doesn’t mean people want for bad things to happen, of course — just that they’re more inclined to want to read about them. Bad News Sells Better Than Good News

The mainstream media are good at selling bad news as good news. Yet, in recent years, many mainstream news stations and newspapers are taking huge hits in viewers and readership. Is Internet the cause? The liberal media would like for us to believe so. But something else is causing these companies to lose viewer interest other than Internet influence.

What has been the norm for many years may be changing. People around the world are losing their appetite for bad news and looking for good news. Why else would so many people from nations around the world be expressing such interest in a world leader and peace? They are tired of bad news and want something different than the daily diet of negative news. They want good news!

One company has caught onto this: Fox News. They run more positive news than most other media outlets and rank #1 in the industry. However, in a predominantly leftist liberal news world where unbiased news knows no value, Fox News organization has come under fire and is taking punishment for not toeing the line like other news networks.

The White House has recently taken aim at the organization saying Fox News is "not news at all", but merely a conservative mouthpiece. Why? Is it true? No way! All you have to do is look back at what Fox has presented as news and anyone with half a mind can see they are a sincere news organization. It is no wonder why they are #1. They are the only mainstream news organization that still practices reporting news as news and lets the viewer and reader make their own opinion.

President Obama and his administration are upset that they cannot control Fox like they do ABC, CNBC, CNN and BBC so they have resorted to name calling and smear tactics, the usual liberal response to anything or anyone that does not fall in line with their views.

The White House and Liberal mainstream media want Americans to believe that Fox is a company unlike other news organizations; out to make a profit and the bad guy. Yet, which one of the aforementioned is non-profit? None! Typical liberal smoke and mirrors coming from the White House. They paint their adversaries as something they are not, trying to throw people off their bad scent in hope the people listening and reading are idiots.

However, the opposite effect is happening to Fox. Their ranking as #1 stands strong and their viewer numbers are soaring. More and more Americans are learning they are going to get a more precise news story and unbiased report from Fox than any other new source.

Unbiased news exemplifies American freedom at its core. Companies would do well to realize this as Americans have realized that Fox toes the line for freedom not for the White House.

We use our friends when we need to most and even when we shouldn’t. Sometimes we use them to bounce ideas off of. Other times we use them to lean on. Friends give us advice, an ear, a shoulder, their heart and mind. But best of all friends give themselves.

Some people pretend to be friends, but are not. They are only in the friendship to get and not give. They take, take, take. It’s a characteristic that true friends cannot continue to hold onto if they truly want to be friends.

Sure at times friends act selfishly or hurt one another, but a true friend realizes their wrongs and apologizes. They work at their friendship and never give up.

If you have someone still standing by you through the thick and thin of a bad situation, sometimes taking the brunt end of the bad but still hanging tight with you, they are a true friend and you are blessed to have them in your life. Reciprocate!

The Underwoods friends’ parents have a little house on the lake they use for vacationing on weekends and holidays. They are big water sports fans, have a boat and many other boating accessories. I would love to spend a weekend or longer with them at this place to do some fishing, skiing and wakeboarding. Their son just won some contest in Japan and is doing competitions around the country. He wakeboards every weekend.

The father took everyone out in the boat for a ride and then blew up a big three-man SkiDoo float and pulled us around the lake for a while. He pulled the kids very slowly. But with Gwyn, Ponga and I inside the thing, he cranked up the engine and tried to throw us off. Surprisingly, we stayed on and never tipped over although we did come close a few times and got airborne a few times as well as sideways. We held on like it was an 8-second bull ride! Afterwards, we were all sore and Ponga and I had sore necks.

Back on the beach, we ate tons of barbecued chicken, fish and steak. Ribs would have been good too come to think of it. Maybe next bbq event!

For the birthday boy, Noah celebrated his birthday with a huge brownie cake Kayoko made lit with 8 tall candles. Then we made S’mores that Denise brought. Later on when it was dark, we shot off our fireworks we have had for two years. Fortunately, we had some very nice policemen tell us they were illegal to shoot off in front of our house.

That night, we ate spaghetti and sat around inside the house chatting and snacking on leftovers from lunch. Thanks, for the spaghetti Ponga! It was delicious! Kayoko and Gwyn, thanks for inviting us. I hope we can go again sometime.

The light version is a good download to try the app out, but know this, nothing you create remains there the next day. In other words, everything you create while testing the app, notes, folders and/or drawings will all disappear at the strike of midnight. So don’t put too much time into what you create. Test it and either buy it or move on!

What I love about the app is I can write with my finger, which enables me to get down more on paper so to speak than in typing mode. Sure there are other apps out there that allow this same feature but this one is more feature-rich compared to other apps.

The screen goes portrait and landscape with the better layout being landscape. This enables you to write longer words on the screen unlike other apps.

If you make any mistakes, all you have to do is double-tap a word and select backspace then rewrite the word. Or you can do the same double-tap and then write in the second writing area and add onto the sentence or paragraph; two things other apps don’t offer.

It’s great for taking notes, drawing and organising everything you write into folders. You can create folders and folders under those folders and so on down the line for a limitless hierarchy.

If you don’t like using your finger you can always opt for one of the writing pens now available for iPhones. It may improve your writing if you generally have chicken scratch. But that depends on how bad your chicken scratch is!