Christmas 2003, New Year 2004

Dearest Family and Friends,

It’s good that Rick didn’t finish the newsletter on time while Ikuko and Mina were in Japan over Christmas because now we can tell you the great news. But first the sad news about Ikuko’s father’s injury in August. He had bleeding around his brain with a significant decrease in his capabilities, and spent two months in the hospital before being transferred to a nursing home. He is often confused, but sometimes remembers and understands. Ikuko and Mina went to visit him over Christmas. It was hard to see him in this condition, especially because he always had such a sharp mind. The great news is that the day before they left, he said that he was ready to accept Jesus as his savior after Ikuko again spoke with him about her belief in Jesus Christ. He prayed a profound prayer and exhibited an understanding of Christianity when two pastors visited him. He will turn 90 on January 1 as a Christian. Ikuko has been praying for this for years. Her mother was baptized here in the U.S. in 1996.

This year has been an exciting year for Ema. She started taking jazz dance and was in a performance in the spring. She made it into advanced drama at Foothill Middle School, and was in a play called ‘South Pacific.’ She went to Japan in the summer and attended a middle school there for a couple weeks. She came back and started high school at Berean Christian High School. She is taking ballet and jazz dance, and is in the Young Artist’s Symphony Orchestra. She was in beginning drama at school and is in a Christmas play. She continues to play violin and to go to Japanese school every Saturday. She is getting more involved in the high school youth group at Northcreek church. She hopes to have a good year in 2004.

Noah has had a great year. He just turned 18 on the 17^th of December, and is in the 12^th grade at Northgate High School. He is taking many honors classes, but this is his easiest year of high school. Noah decided not to join an orchestra this year, but is still keeping up his violin practice. He also decided to run Cross Country on the high school team instead of playing soccer this year. He is now training for the Track season, which is this coming spring. Noah is the president of the Christian Club at his high school. The website for the Christian Club can be accessed at http://www.christianclub.faithweb.com . He graduated from his weekly Saturday Japanese school this March after eleven long years. During this last Spring Break, he was one of the student leaders on his youth group’s Mexico mission trip. This year he is helping organize the trip for next year, and is very involved in his church’s youth group. Noah has applied to a number of colleges for next year and just received the great news that he has been accepted at Wheaton College in Illinois.

Mina has been blessed in many ways this past year. After returning to the U.S., she took classes at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. It was a new experience to commute to college from home. She took the English and math classes required to transfer to a state university along with several music classes. She even took two classes with Ikuko! She worked at Barnes and Noble in Walnut Creek for a few months until her parents convinced her to quit. During the spring, she got the chance to travel a little to audition at different schools, which included the blessing of being able to visit her junior high advisor from church, Susan Brady, who graciously allowed her to stay with her for a few days in New York City. She spent part of the summer in Japan visiting grandparents and college friends. In August, she transferred to San Jose State University as a vocal performance major. She moved in with Rick’s cousin, Joan Anders, and her daughter Cathleen, and three cute dogs in Cupertino, about 15 minutes from San Jose. She is enjoying studying music very much.

Ikuko still works as a third grade teacher at the Japanese school in San Francisco. She continues her music study at California State University, Hayward. Her day goes by quickly because the commute takes 4 hours, plus there is homework and practice. Ikuko now worries about her mother living alone and taking care of everything by herself despite her poor health.

Rick still works as a Pediatrician at the Kaiser-Permanente clinic in Antioch, which remains very busy because people continue to move to the Delta area to raise families. His side job continues to be computers in medicine, which is getting busier as Kaiser begins the switch to a paperless medical record. Rick’s big trip was to accompany the church youth group on a mission trip to Mexico over spring break. He went as a carpenter on the construction projects, but of course his side job was the resident doctor for the group. Rick’s father had his knee replaced, but is back up and around after physical therapy. The family vacation was a trip to Yosemite National Park where this photo was taken in front of Mirror Lake.

May the Lord bless you in the New Year.

Love,

Rick, Ikuko, Mina, Noah, Ema