A Cornucopia If You Will

CORNUCOPIA

Etymology: Late Latin, from Latin cornu copiae horn of plenty.

1 : a curved goat's horn overflowing with fruit and ears of grain that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of abundance

2 : an inexhaustible store : ABUNDANCE

The word cornucopia resounds with color and meaning. I love the images of fruits and grains, shapes and textures, abundance and variety. The Giver of Good Gifts has abudantly blessed me with laughter and rich life experiences. Why don't you go ahead and take a look at a few of the blessings that have spilled out of my cornucopia recently?

HIJIRI GIDEON STRAKER

Jon and Michiko's beautiful baby, Hijiri, is one of the most wonderful blessings in our lives! We were able to celebrate his first birthday this past January up in Hokkaido. When Hijiri got his first bite of cake (first bite of sugar!) he was forever ruined for the ordinary!

Crawling around!! This cute little tyke can take about five steps on his own now.

Talking to friends on the cell phone. He's actually called me a couple of times!

Hanging out with the monkeys at Yagiyama zoo.

OXYMORON?

"How funny is that?!" I said to Joel on the way to our neighborhood
7-11.

"What?"

I pointed to a guy in white clothes meandering down the sidewalk. "That doctor. See? He's smoking! Is that an oxymoron or what? A smoking doctor. Ha!"

Joel didn't miss a beat. "Yeah, that is funny. I guess it's kind of like a sinning missionary!"

FRESH TOWELLS
Erica's family came for two weeks in November and boy did we have a blast! Not only are Jay, Melanie, Cami and Nathan just really great, but it was so cool to see Japan and the mission here through their fresh perspectives. We did so much stuff together I can't remember it all ... but, I do remember that we laughed A LOT and enjoyed some really special moments together. And I guess that's the key word, together. They love being together with one another, and together with others. I'm glad I could be together with them.

It's a family thing: if there's not enough room on the chair, they sit on each other!

Erica, Cami & Melanie - The ladies in blue, surrounded by green, in Matsushima.

Jay loved this. He's pretty much taller than any doorway and constantly had to be avoiding "mishaps." We took several of these types of pictures ... here's one at our front door.

Saying goodbye at the airport. It's so hard to say goodbye, yet they look so happy!

INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS

No one could say it wasn't unique. Trying figuring that sentence out if you're not a native English speaker. And several of our Christmas guests weren't. They were Swedish, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese. (We also had Canadians and United Statesians.) 12 people. Hours of food, fun, and fellowship. Presents galore and hearts full of thanks.

Rumiko (Japan), Hijiri (Japan and N.America) and Gae (Thailand). It's Christmas morning!

Above: Bjorn the Bear. Also known as "Our Swedish Friend." Some say he's my twin.
Next Picture: Shi (China) and Erica (US). Sisters in Christ sitting in the sun.

Dan (US) and Joel (Canada) neighbors geographically and neighbors on the couch.

I think that this could be a Christmas card, Michiko (Japan), the Xmas tree, stocking and cell.

Jon (Canada/US) is about to find out what he got for Christmas ... it's ... ski goggles!

And here we have our other Canadian friend and fellow missionary, Judith.

WRAPPING IT UP
Well folks, that's about all I can pull out of the horn of plenty for now. There's definitely more. So I'm going to ask you to stand by while I go eat some delicious lasagna! It's eatin time!