Christmas 2000, New Year 2001

Dearest Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Once again, it has come time to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus and that means time for Mina to write our annual Christmas newsletter! We hope you have all had a blessed year as we have had. This year has been a time of transition for our family.

We started off an exciting year by celebrating the millennium new year with Ikuko's parents from Tokyo. In the summer our whole family got to spend time with them again in Japan. In Japan we were able to visit cousins we hadn't seen in a long time. At the end of August we had to say “good bye” to Mina as she was off to college in Tokyo. We knew this had to happen. However, when the day came, we couldn’t stop weeping. Ikuko understood how her parents felt when she left for America many years ago. This fall, mainly due to Noah's hectic schedule, our family is looking for a church closer to home rather than continuing to travel 20 miles to the old church in Berkeley, which we have been a part of for so many years and have special memories of the children’s and Ikuko’s mother’s baptisms. We feel very 'unconnected,' being temporarily without a regular church home, but know that the Lord will provide us with a new place of worship. Each of us has also had different events going on in our individual lives.

Ema is now 11 years old. She says she misses her big sister very much, but does not write to her very often. She loves to read Japanese comic books. She can spend hours reading them and then drawing similar cartoons. (She is pretty good; I would draw all the time if I could draw like her.) She has continued to attend Japanese school and to play the violin. She joined the Walnut Creek Young Performer's String Orchestra (YPSO) and plays the violin there. In April she started her 5th grade year at Japanese school on Saturdays. In June, she spent her first time away from family, as she flew to Japan alone to attend elementary school there for a few weeks. Ema also went on a fifth grade trip to the Yatsugatake Mountains with her class in Japan and thoroughly enjoyed herself. In the fall, she started the American 6th grade at Foothill Middle School. She is continuing her violin lessons, but decided that piano was too much. She also took a Comedy Acting class this fall and had lots of fun there. She seems to enjoy time with her friends the most.

Noah is a busy 15-year-old. He continues to play the violin. In the spring, he played at the California Capitol in Sacramento with his YPSO orchestra. This fall, he also joined the Berkeley YPSO in addition to the Walnut Creek YPSO. In December, he again played at the Capitol in Sacramento, this time as a member of the YPSO string quartet. In April, he started his 3rd year of jr. high for Japanese school on Saturdays. In the fall, he started his American freshman year at Northgate high school. (Yes, Noah is a high schooler, kind of scary…) He plays soccer for the Northgate Junior Varsity soccer team and seems to have fun there. Overall, he keeps himself busy with all his activities plus socializing with his friends. He says he's so busy that he doesn't even have time to write e-mails to his darling sister, far away at college. (Mina just likes to complain.)

Mina had an eventful year. She continues to enjoy singing. In February she had lots of fun singing as part of the Network Choir for their annual Supper Theater show. In March she graduated from Japanese school after attending the Saturday school for eleven years. In May she had fun at proms, and in June, she graduated from Northgate High school. In September she started college at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan and lives at a dorm on the campus. She loves college life and enjoys her classes and her new friends. She has continued singing lessons with a new teacher in Japan. Everything is exciting and new and even her part-time work is fun for her. She has not found a church yet, but has found people she can look for a church with, and that has been very reassuring for her.

Since Ikuko has finished the 6-year cycle of Bible Study Fellowship, which is a worldwide Bible study organization, she has joined two Moms-In-Touch prayer groups, one for Ema's middle school and one for Noah's high school. It is a prayer group where mothers of students at a school get together and pray for the school, the students and their families. Since September, she is also enjoying auditing an Old Testament Survey course at a local seminary, which is difficult, but inspirational. She is continuing to teach at Japanese school and is teaching 2nd graders this year. She is continuing her Sogetsu Ikebana flower arranging class. It is challenging this year because it is free-style with a different theme each week.

Rick is still a Pediatrician at Kaiser-Permanente in Antioch and still has too much work. He doesn't have much time to do things around the house anymore. He is also continuing to pray weekly with four other men from church.

Momo, our dog is doing well, but is often sleeping now that she rarely gets enough attention with Mina gone. Our new chicken likes people and always jumps up by the kitchen window to knock at it for attention. She lays green eggs, but only when she feels like it. Our turtle, Marron, is getting big, since Noah feeds him a lot.

This Christmas will be exciting as our family will be reunited with Mina visiting and Rick's parents joining us to celebrate this joyful season. We pray that your families are doing well and that you will enjoy this holiday. We always thank God for blessing us with such special friends. Please take care and may the Lord bless you. Have a wonderful year 2001.

Love,

Rick, Ikuko, Mina, Noah, Ema

P.S. In the picture, Mina is wearing the kimono Ikuko wore at her wedding reception.