September is upon us!...and I think we need the break. Our July and August were whirlwinds of travel and activity as we visited friends and family in Canada and the US. Ger headed up to his old stomping grounds of Calgary, Alberta to see family up there and pop in to visit a few church friends. A little later in July Deb had fun seeing chums from her high school days during a reunion at Biola Univ. in the LA area.
Then, at the end of July, we both headed east to TEAM's Reentry and Orientation week in the Chicago area. To top off the summer we joined our kids and Deb's family in Portland, OR for a family reunion and time to catch up with ourselves before flying back to Japan. A neat plus was the chance to visit with Aaron's wife Amanda's folks, in town from Singapore - that's the four of us here in this pic.
Back in Tokyo on August 8 we did a quick turn around and headed out the door again on the 10th for our field conference. That was a week of encouraging messages and discussing mission business.
After that conference Alecia joined us for a week's real break in a rented cabin in the Sendai area, about 2/3 of the way to the north end of the main island here. It was sure cooler than Tokyo, and the combination of green-sided hills and sandy beaches was a great way to wrap up a hectic summer.
And now heeeeeeeeere's September!!
