Video & Pics: Christmas Eve in Tono

Some Pictures of Christmas Eve & Day

Video: Scallops for Dinner

The Legend of the Raven

Merry Christmas everyone! Thought we might share this:



"A long time ago, the raven looked down from the sky and saw that the people of the world were living in darkness.
The ball of light was kept hidden by a selfish old chief.
So the raven turned himself into a spruce needle and floated on the river where the chief's daughter came for water.
She drank the spruce needle.
She became pregnant and gave birth to a boy, who was the raven in disguise.
The baby cried and cried until the chief gave him the ball of light to play with.
As soon as he had the light, the raven turned back into himself.
The raven carried the light into the sky.
From then on, we no longer lived in darkness."

As told by "Marilyn Whirlwind", Northern Exposure, Episode 3.10, "Seoul Mates"

This caused us to read John 1:1-14 in a new light.

Charlie Brown's Christmas

A classic...never gets old:

Watch Charlie Brown's Christmas

Circle Christmas '07

Merry Christmas Everyone! This is a little video from a party we went to last night with some wonderful friends! We had a great time! Hope you enjoy the video!

Snowball Fights!

At Mom's
At Dad Craft's
At the Yoshida's

Video: Hoshigaki & Train Ride Home

Steph happened to catch locals drying persimmons at one of the five rural train stations she passes through. She took some pictures and videos and we put them together with some local autumn folk music. You can also see some of the mountains and seacoast of our area on her train ride home. Hope you enjoy!

Video: Light In Darkness

It's getting dark early these days...it's a tough time of year. Tonight we watched an episode of Northern Exposure. This is a clip from that episode. It's one of our favorites.

Video: All Saints Day 2007

Last Sunday we went to Tono to see our dear friends, the Yoshida's. We were able to join then in worship at Tono church for All Saint's Day. Here is a video of our Sunday. There were some amazing fall colors and the sky was astounding.

Video: Halloween 2007

This is a video from the Halloween Party we attended last weekend in Murone village. Our friend Greg, from North Carolina, and his wife organize this Halloween party every year. We had a great time!



And if you would like to see the pictures check out this online album.

Ikebana and Tea Ceremony

We recently went to a small culture festival in our town. Here is a movie we made of the things we saw there.

Michigan! (Video: Summer '07 Part 2 )

This summer we had the joy and pleasure to visit our family in Michigan. It was a short trip but we were so happy to have been able to see our loved one's there. It was Steph's first time to go there and it was the first time for both of us to meet our cousin Emily(a very cool young lady)! Our Aunt's planned all kinds of fun stuff to do and best of all we got to celebrate Grandma & Grandpa William's upcoming 60th wedding anniversary----and of course get lot's of hugs and kisses.

Climbed Mt. Iwate (岩手山)

10/15/07 Update (some pictures!):
Pictures from my camera
Pictures from Steph's Camera




We climbed Mt. Iwate last Saturday stayed on it overnight and descended it on Sunday... it was amazing and we'll try to put up some pictures and maybe a video soon. This photo is of it in spring.

Texas! (Video: Summer '07 Part One)

Hello Friends & Family!
Here is a short teaser from Part One of our summer.... TEXAS!
Lot's of family fun and AWESOME FOOD! We ate, swam, skied, ate, swam, talked, laughed, hugged, kissed, and ate some more!

Video: Our Wish of Peace for You

Gabe here... I made this little video to share this beautiful piece of music.

Video: Practice of Centering Prayer

Most of you might know that Steph and I practice Centering Prayer (a Christian form of contemplative prayer). It's not for everyone and not a replacement for other types of prayer but it has been a blessing of peace in our lives. Recently Stephanie and I made a video together that introduces the practice and would allow anyone to give it a try.

Video for Centering Prayer Method & Session (20 Minute Meditation)

For more information about the method Centering Prayer see this link that tells basically "what it is and is not":
http://www.centeringprayer.com/methodcp.htm

Image of Pentecost

Hi all. Gabe here.
I've been messing around with photos a little bit today.


Basically this is an interpretation of the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus' disciples a Pentecost. I took this digital picture from an annual church bulletin book we were given at church.
I altered the image adding a warm "lomo-ish" effect using http://www.picnik.com/
I like the way it turned out.
I really love this image. Very Japanese-looking ("wafu" - 和風) 。

Here (below) is the original picture that I took:

The Poetic & Mystical Account from Acts 2:1-4 (KJV)

1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Video: Sakura Memories

The sakura (cherry blossoms) have been gone for two weeks, but we still have the memories:

Emoticons (Smileys) in Japan

"HAPPY"
In English :-)
In Japanese (^_^)

"SAD"
In English :-(
In Japanese (;_;)

Here's a list of many more Japanese smileys with examples from Japanese comics. It's like a whole different language! I'm hoping to make new and more interesting emotions flashcards for my classes with these.

And, I recently read this interesting little article that proposes that Americans read faces a differently Japanese people. I think there is a bit of truth in it.

Video: Sumita 3-Year Festival

Yesterday we "went back home" to Sumita for a very special festival that is held once every three years. Gabe and I lived in Sumita for three years and often miss the wonderful friends and neighbors in that beautiful little town. We were so happy to see so many of them. I made this video from the videos and pictures we took:

Videos: Ofunato 5-Year Fest & Picnic

We had a really nice day today. Here are some videos of what we did.

Video of Ofunato 5-Year Festival Highlights (about 3 min.):


Video of the picnic we had afterwards:

Actually, this style of hand made sushi "Temaki-zushi (手巻き寿司)" was taught to us by our friends. It's a real casual way of eating sushi and our favorite because you can customize the flavor to suit your taste.

Our Name in Japanese

Kurafuto

“Craft” in romaji (a way of writing Japanese with roman letters)



クラフト

“Craft” in katakana (symbols for foreign words). This is the way I usually write my name.



蔵太

“Craft” in kanji (Chinese Characters).

In Japanese, this roughly means “you will be able to get a-lot of wealth”
The first character “蔵” symbolizes a rice storage building.
The second one ”太” means “wide” or “fat”. Ha ha…

It is actually a great honor to receive a kanji name, as many people who come here do not. The first school where I worked thought up this one and we really like it. It makes us feel less like outsiders and more accepted as equals in Japanese society. People here always like it too.
And, by the way, I also usually introduce myself as "Craft" as people usually go by their last names here.

Video: Steph's Bday Thank You Movie

Hey everybody, I made this little video to share some memories from my birthday weekend. Thank you everyone for making it so special! Hope you like it.
Also, you can see the inside of a really old traditional Japanese inn where we stayed. There are video clips of the fancy dinner and breakfast we had there too.

Gabe in Video Contest

Gabe here... I entered my "Office Fun" video in a contest. I'm such a geek.

You can Watch & Rate my video here.

Video: Easter 2007 Sunday School

Hey y'all, Gabe here...
Hope you all had a blessed Easter. Steph put this short film together of the movie clips and pics I took. You can see Steph's sunday schoolers experiencing an easter egg hunt and singing during yesterday's service. I asked her to include the movie clip of her singing too (sorry though, the end of the song she sang is cut-off)

Video: "Rajo Taiso" by Gabe

Hello friends, Gabe here... below is a liitle video I made today from some clips I took over the past few weeks from "radio taiso time" in our office:

Video: "Spring Has Sprung" by Steph

Hey Everybody!
Gabe here,... I'm proud to introduce the first "Peanutbutter and Pickles™ " production ever!!!

Today, Steph made a short film which will give you the "nickel tour" of our little home here in Ofunato. There's also some silliness at the end too...

Just click the play button (you may have to pause it and let it "buffer"---just let the grey bar get to the right side) and enjoy the goofery.

Shrimpy Got Featured

Our little Shrimpy got featured on a Japanese website called WiiTube...
If you like you can check it out here: Shrimpy on WiiTube
(And, to give shrimpy a good rating you have to click the balloon that has Japanese in it followed by an exclaimation point)

Sunday School

Hi everybody....just wanted to show you some pics of my Sunday School class. We have been having a lot of fun lately. Last weekend we had a St. Patrick's Day party. I made lime Jello for the kids and we drank melon cream soda! I think the kids had fun...I know I did. Anyways, the weather is nice and warm today. More like spring weather, unlike the last couple weeks of unseasonably cold winter weather. We are really looking forward to the cherry blossoms which should bloom a little early this year due to the warm winter. It is one of my favorite times of year because everything seems so cheerful with pink blossoms everywhere. I love when they fall too because it seems like it's raining pink butterflies or something... Anyways. Here are the pics. We love and miss you all!





and here's a few pics from a couple of weeks ago. We decorated flower pots and planted seeds.

Video: Daichi's B-Day

Our good friends the Ozawa family invited us to celebrate their son's (Daichi) birthday. They are always so kind to us and we just thank our Lord for their friendship... I made this little video and uploaded it to Google Video. (To watch, press the play button in the lower left corner)

Thank you Ozawa family! We love you! Gabe & Steph

Live chat and message

Hey ya'll,
We have a neat little feature on the right side of this page that allows you to leave messages and/or chat in real time with us or anyone that is on the site. It's called "Yaplet" (see the white box with green logo?).
Anyone can use it... Just type your name and message. Simple and fun. Cool.

B-day Movie & Karaoke

Hey ya'll,
Gabe here,...
Just wanted to share some of my video goofery...
Our friend Alli recently had a birthday. Her husband Dan (a great guy) really worked hard to pull-off a big surprise party for her. I cobbled together this little short memory video for their blog with Windows Movie Maker and just wanted to share.
We really had a great time. Lot's of food, drinks and fellowship,...then, of course, KARAOKE!
In the movie you can see us in a "Karaoke box". Karaoke in Japan is pretty cool because you get a private room for your party...

Video: "Japanese Toilets" by Gabe

Finally, "It's a Snow Day"

Hi family and friends, Steph here....just wanted to show you some pics from our lovely snow day here in Ofunato! We woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland! It's a little late but better late than never! Now I just want to watch the movie Elf and drink hot cocoa! "First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle." (The perfect snowday as planned by Buddy the Elf) hehe!


My little sister Madelyn really wanted to make a snowman this year but they only had a few snowflakes and a lot of ice in SA, so this one's for you Maddie!

Frozen flower buds
Our house in Ofunato and our neighbor's car covered in snow
Snow cone anyone?

This one's for the Texan's! Thanks for the hat Bubba!

An Inconvenient Truth

Steph and I watched this movie the other day:
"An Inconvenient Truth"

We both agreed that this is a movie everyone should see regardless of personal politics.
I suppose it's available for rent in the USA, or you could buy it here at Amazon.

Girl's Day

In Japan, March 3rd is Girl's Day ( 雛祭り, Hina-matsuri)
Here is a picture of Steph from one year ago. This was taken at the Setamai Kindergarten where Steph has been a volunteer guest teacher for 3 years.

Steph wrote a really nice post last year about it.
Click here and check it out.

And...

CARS for Maddie & Sashimi

This is for you Maddie! Love, Your bro Gabe

And, if you liked that watch these other ones I made for you:
"Mater & McQueen Act Like Meanies"
"Mater Drives Backwards"
"McQueen Gets Ready To Race"

And, last night we ate two kinds of sashimi (raw fish) for dinner.
Check it out:

Guestbook

Please feel free to sign and /or add a picture. By the way, there is no need to provide your email address. Thanks!

Making "O-mochi" at Church

Last Sunday, our church made "O-mochi"...

To preview the videos click the below play button. Or, to watch all eight short videos (less than 2 minutes total) click here.




"What the heck is mochi??" Click here to find out.

Yamakake

Old School Arcade

Steph and I have been messing around a little with old video games lately....

Simon:


Frogger:


We found the above games (free to play online) at http://www.neave.com/games/
We stumbled across it last night by clicking the link on our little suprise at the bottom of this page (scroll to the bottom of this page--anyone can play and leave their score).

Party at Kazekobo!

One of our good friends, Kazue Sato, threw a party recently. All of the local English teachers from foreign countries were invited and it was held at "Kazekobo" (the restaurant and stained glass worksshop owned by our good friend Kayo).There were plenty of delicious dishes, drinks, & unrehearsed silliness!

Dan & Gabe singing a little:


Enzo pretends to play guitar:

Ecumenical Service 2007

This past Sunday our church (UCC Japanese Protestant) was the host for the annual Ecumenical service in our city. We worshiped with our local Catholic and Greek Orthodox parishes and it was a beautiful experience.

It was a real shared and collaborative experience. Our curch hosted the site this year but the actual worship service was truely an action of unity. We all sang hymns and read prayers and creeds of each tradition accompanied by a sermon given by the Priest of the Catholic church and even a chant from Genesis by the assistant priest of the Greek Orthodox church. Steph also sang Ave Maria too.

If you'd like to watch a few video clips from the service click here.

And, Steph's Sunday schoolers are still doing wonderfully!

This past Sunday's lesson was the creation story.

Steph taught it in English AND JAPANESE! She's my hero.

Below are the lyrics to the song that they learned:

Izakaya

Below is a video inside a Japanese "izakaya (居酒屋)" restaurant. We recently attended a welcome party fro a new teacher from the USA who came to our town. We had a great time...drinks and lots of delicious "snack" food.

Click here for an explaination of Japanese izakaya (居酒屋)

Ave Maria Warm-up

Hey y'all... I'm sorry this took so long but we were finally able to load the video of Steph at the Christmas Eve service. Sorry it's so short but YouTube kept rejecting the full version because it was to long.

Onsen Trip

For our 3rd year anniversary trip we stayed at a Traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan) which had an "Onsen (hot spring)". The town where we stayed is called "Hanamaki" and it is famous for onsens.

Above is the name of the hot spring hotel where we stayed. Below is the the "rotenburo (outdoor hot spring)" where we soaked about 4 or 5 times a day....




Tea House with foot bath:



Inside the tea house with foot bath(below):





Dinner:


Sashimi(raw fish) & other delicacies:


Dinner Video 1:


Dinner Video 2:


Dinner Video 3:


Inside our room:


A little Japanese television:


Breakfast:






A nearby hotel where we went for coffee:




Here is the website of the Ryokan where we stayed: Misuikan

Steph wrote a nice entry about onsens a year ago. To read it click the link and scroll down the page a little to "Onsen Mania"

New Year's Day at The Yoshida's

Reverand and Mrs. Yoshida have been such good friends of our these past three years and have always treated us just like family. They have shown us so much of our local area and a-lot about Japanese culture and we always have a great time with them. Rev. Yoshida was the pastor of our church for 10 years. He is retired now and he and his wife live about an hour away from here. Every year since we have been here in Japan, they have invited us to celebrate New Year's with them by having special Sukiyaki lunch on New Year's Day.
The Japanese New Year's Holiday is one of the only times when almost everyone can take vacation time so it's a really precious time for families. This year, the Yoshida's three daughters were able to visit them on New Year's Day and the Yoshida's also asked us to come to their house to celebrate with them too. We were so happy to visit with their daughters and we really felt honored to be included. And of course, the food was amazing and we all had a great time too! Below are some videos... enjoy!

Reverand Yoshida (Jenga Master):




Reverand Yoshida Making Sukiyaki (short):


More Sukiyaki and other New Year's Food:

3 Years of Marriage

Today we give thanks for 3 years of blessed marriage! Each year on our anniversary we are reminded of all you who made our wedding so perfect and we think of each one of you with love and give thanks. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and support. Love, Gabe and Steph

And,...thanks to Jesse for taking these video clips!

Video of pictures after the wedding:


Video of our last dance at the reception:

Christmas Eve Morning Service & Santa

Hey Y'all, Gabe here,.. here are some pics & vids form the last month. LOVE YOU ALL!

12-24-06
Christmas Eve morning at our church in Ofunato (the city where we live now). You can see Sachi lighting the last Christ candle of the Advent wreath. Sachi is the daughter and eldest child of our dear friends the Ozawa's.



After worship we had a big pot-luck:


This video is "The Doxology/Glory Be" in Japanese:


Steph's Sunday School Sings at the Christmas Eve Lunch Party
AWESOME KIDS!


Sunday School's Nativity: The kids learned The Christmas Story and madethis Nativity.


**Stay Tuned** I have tried a few times to load the video of Steph singing at the Christmas Eve Candlelight service but YouTube has been really busy...So, I'll try to post later.

12-9-06
Tono Church Kindergarten Christmas Pagent





Tono Kindergaten Santa




Who's that Santa? Well, it ain't Steph... I was Santa two days in a row for two different cities. Afterwards, we both got really sick. Ho Ho NO!