KyleYates.com

Christmas has come and gone, but the meaning behind the special day will never fade away. Hope you had a very blessed Christmas Day wherever you were.

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!

We drove down to Okayama today, ate lunch at McDonald’s, parked our cars in front of the port and unloaded our bags, then caught the 1:20 ferry to Shiraishi-jima.

We are now enjoying a quiet afternoon overlooking the ocean 150 meters away!

And even though in the far-off distance we can see smokestacks from factories spewing out chemicals and filling the air with smoke, this place is peaceful and beautiful and we are going to relax and enjoy three days of Golden Week away from horn and work!

Today, Denise’s mom, Joyce, is arriving from Hawaii. We have been anxiously awaiting her arrival for several months after learning she would come stay with us for Christmas and New Year’s.

Denise and Noah will take the train to the airport to meet and pick her up and ride the train back to the house with her. Mia will join me for a few of my English lessons tonight. My students will love that! Of course, so will I.

We will pick Denise, Joyce and Noah up at the train station later tonight and our visit by Grandma will official have begun. Our next visitors are Marc and Ria, Denise’s brother and his wife. I’m still not sure if her older brother, Kevin, is going to join us or not. We will have a full house for the next few months, but it will be well worth the line for the bathroom and shower.

It has been a long time since we’ve had any family members come stay with us. It’s a welcomed change! Anyone else want to come visit and stay with us? Better reserve now while you can!