Home for Rent

Since Chris will be staying in Japan a while, he's looking for a good renter for his nice home in a wonderful Bountiful neighborhood (mine!).  Their friends who rented it for the past two years are buying a home here.  It has been a good arrangement.  They loved the home, the ward and the neighborhood.   Sad to see them go.  Pics here.

Japan update

Another large aftershock quake in Japan. Waiting for word and praying for help getting them out ASAP!  I know Jordan would like to finish this school year and complete his exams, but we're worried!  We need help with the State Dept. and details.  Ken knows someone in Orrin Hatch's office and we're hoping she can steer us in the right direction for getting answers.  Since the Japanese don't abandon their elderly parents, they need to get help expediting Kiyomi's dad for permanent resident visa so he can retire here with them.  It's the way they do things in their culture.  Also, Kiyomi has been out of the country for more than a year since she originally went to spend time with her mom before she passed away.  INS has rules that you can't stay out of the country even on a valid green card for that long and still retain it for re-entry in the U.S.  Hers is good until 2016 otherwise.  They have to renew a few of their passports too which is very expensive and requires travel to Tokyo  - also very expensive since it requires an overnight stay and bus fare - 11.5 hours each way.  They have tried to get answers from someone to be sure they have all they need to apply but can't get an answer. Of course they don't want to go to the trouble, expense and time off work only to find they decided there was an additional paper needed or something like that.

Well, that's all I know for now.  Not sure if they have power for computer or phone service.  I'll try again soon.

Update

Chris is home; family fine!  The Lord is good.

They experienced only minor damage and we feel very blessed.  Many prayers have been offered in their behalf.  There is power here.  Continued prayers to those who have been harmed in any way in this disaster.  We are praying for a family Chris was close to on his mission - Hoshi is the name.  They live right on the ocean front and could have been swept away.  These are wonderful people, as most Japanese are.  Chris has no way to contact them at this time.  Prayer is all we have.

I just can't express our gratitude for the safety of Chris and his family, including Kiyomi's dad.

If you want an eerie feeling, read Natalie's blog post of March 1st.  We know warnings often come.  The lesson for us here is to update and make accessible our food and commodities storage.  Keep the gas tank full, cash on hand (some smaller bills; not 100s) and don't forget the toilet paper.

Great news to learn all the LDS missionaries in Japan have now been in contact and are OK. This is a blessing.

Earthquake, Tsunami, & Aftershocks

Pray for them.  Chris is in Osaka - flight turned in midair to return since they couldn't continue north and now he can't get home - no trains, air travel, etc.  Kiyomi and their family are OK but outside (midnight) because of aftershock risks.  Can't talk to them by phone, all lines are down, etc. We're praying for them and all the others affected by this disastrous event in Sendai, Japan.

Blessing in Disguise!

I woke up to a flooded basement so I ended up with an unexpected vacation day off work.  I spent lots of money too and Chris is here on vacation.  Guess how he got to spend it today?  You guessed it - he and Ken were the volunteer labor.  I appreciate their help very much.  It set me back $600 but would have been much worse if I had to pay for labor to install it and remove the old one.

Here's the silver lining in the deal.  They discovered this damaged ductwork which is here to vent the gas water heater (take the C0 out of the house via the big duct you see here that goes up to the roof).  Apparently we were in a really prime position to die by C0 poisoning.  Lucky for us the leaking water heater needing replacement got our attention (thanks to Ken).  We think this probably happened while we were roofing the house - the vent pipe fell down (that's why it broke the adjoining pipe and is hanging low).

Fixed...

 Shopping...

Chris and I on "vacation" - I spent lots of money and he came here from Japan.  Thinking of sending a postcard to Kiyomi, "wish you were here" 

The finished product.  New water heater and moved water softener.  Works much better this way.

Welcome, Chris!

It's been more than two years and some of the kids didn't even know their Uncle Chris but were anxious to hug him!

 Nat, Chris, Me, Avery and Noah

 Chris and I

 Nat, Chris, Avery, me,

 Nat, Chris, Avery, Emma

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

A birthday gift to me - Chris is coming to Utah after a business trip to San Francisco in January!  Unfortunately the rest of the family can't come with him but at least we can see him for about 10 days.

And one of my favorites - still-dreamy Paul McCartney


Totally spoiled on my birthday. Gifts include: digital photoframe, clean house (yes I did - even scrubbed bathroom!), my 18 grandkids' picture frames hung, new kitchen towel set, Susan Boyle's second album, beautiful work of art (photography), book, dinner, calls and FB wishes, cards, cash (from mom), special B&B lotion and a visit by my home teachers... Wow!

No April Fools

My commute today - hey, it's April, already!

Happy Birthday, Fred! Hope your year gets better and better.

Now, the good news and the bad news...

Chris got a new contract for teaching junior high this school year (in Japan the school year starts in April and runs through March). 

So the good news is he can pay his bills in Utah (house, etc.)

The bad news is this means another year in Japan.  Kiyomi is risking losing her Green Card because of being out of the country for so long, but they can't afford to come back without some definite income here.  He is still working on his project to launch a new business so he feels he can teach while continuing that.

We can only pray they will be able to make it here next year at this time.

U.S. Immigration Made Easy

Immigration Law and Procedure in a Nutshell (Nutshell Series)