This is a video of our awesome church in Japan! On this Valentine’s Day, we are thankful for God’s love displayed through the members of our church. You guys are awesome! Enjoy the video!
Archive for the ‘family’ Category
Happy Valentine’s Day
February 13, 2010
Virginia Family/Lifestyle Photosession: Dave and Emily
January 15, 2010Another highlight of our trip back home was hanging out for one week with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Even though they have 4 kids of their own, Dave and Emily were great to put us up for a week, bringing the number of kids under four years of age to seven. Needless to say, it was a lively house. Plenty of good times! Dave and Emily are great parents and a fun couple to be around. A week is simply not enough when together with Dave and Emily. Dave and Emily, our Christmas and New Year’s were special this year because of you. Thanks! Love ya, guys!
In front of their new home. It’s over a hundred years old!
I love their neighborhood! No problem finding beautiful backgrounds.
This is my favorite.
Fukuda Family Session Winter 2009 – Bridgewater, Virginia
January 13, 2010
One of the highlights of our U.S. trip was taking along our good friend, Mrs. Fukuda, and her son, Akira, to experience American Christmas. Mrs. Fukuda was there at the birth of all three of our girls. Her family and our family have spent countless meals together. She is without a doubt a very special part of our lives. And we continued to build great memories: caroling, Christmas Eve service, turkey and ham dinners, Christmas sweets, holiday shopping, opening Christmas presents in pajamas, etc. The images below display Mrs. Fukuda and Akira’s bright and fun personalities. You can also see the strong mother-son bond they have. Mrs. Fukuda and Akira, thank you for your friendship. I was honored and happy to capture the images below.
Their smiles are contagious!!
Anne’s younger brother, Dave, snuck in on some of the shots in his pajamas and had some fun with the Fukudas.
I got in some individual shots of Akira.
We also went to Virginia Beach and Akira was able to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
2010 Happy New Year
January 1, 2010
We wish everyone a Happy New Year! May your year be filled with peace, love and joy.
The 7th Annual Hibikino Campus School Festival 2009
November 10, 2009The annual school festival is one of the events I look forward to every year. Food stalls, games, events, concerts, people, etc. The students work hard planning for this event so when it’s finally here, there’s a lot of excitement and plenty of positive vibes. Below is a short video of the festival and the faces of the beautiful people you will encounter at this time of year. Even Santa and the Power Rangers came out for the event. Good times!!
Mikan (Mandarin Orange) Picking
November 9, 2009Last Tuesday, Anne and I took the kids to a “mikan” grove. “Mikan” is the Japanese word for mandarin orange. It is also commonly called a “satsuma”. Trivia: Did you know that the towns of Satsuma, Texas, Satsuma, Alabama, Satsuma, Florida and Satsuma, Louisiana were named after this fruit? Mrs. Itoh came along with us and everybody just had a great time as you will soon see. The girls must have eaten at least 20 oranges. You can eat all the oranges you want for a measly 3 bucks! It was a beautiful day for such an outing. Okay, time for the pictures…
Pajama Walk Part 2
July 25, 2009As promised, here are more pics of the girls enjoying a nice walk around our neighborhood in their pajamas. It was fun shooting as the walls and gravel have a nice texture after it rains. To see more pics, see the slideshow at the end of this post. Enjoy!
Pajama Walk Part 1
July 25, 2009After the storm, Mia and Abby decided to go around the neighborhood in their pajamas. I’ll post part 2 tomorrow.
Prayer for my dad
July 11, 2009Hello everyone,
I want to share how thankful I am for all of you who have offered up prayers on my father’s behalf. Some of you have asked how you can specifically pray for my dad so I will share what’s going on.
My dad (Robert) has been battling colorectal cancer for a little over a year. When it was diagnosed, the cancer had already reached stage 4. This is the advanced stage and means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the kidneys, liver and lungs. The doctors prescribed chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Last Friday, my dad was hospitalized because he had shortness of breath. They found out that he had water in the lungs. Well, the water in his lungs caused him to catch pneumonia. This, in turn, made his condition worse. This past Tuesday, the oncologist told my dad that if his pneumonia doesn’t go away, there is nothing they can do for him. He was told that it could be days weeks, or one month.
My sister had just picked me up from the airport when we got a call from his doctor asking as to come in right away as his vitals were dangerously low. We were told that afternoon (Thursday) that the worst case scenario is that his condition would rapidly deteriorate and he would not last through the night. The best case scenario is that his body will respond to the antibiotic treatments which would mean that we are looking at days.
The good news is that later in the day he started feeling better and became more responsive. By the evening, he was entertaining the guests with jokes and singing! It was a big turnaround from the day before. His vitals were looking much better. Also, my dad had been hallucinating the last couple of days but he hasn’t been hallucinating since I arrived.
Today (Friday) a team of doctors came in to examine him. The head doctor told my dad that he gave us quite a scare yesterday. He further said that he is happy with my dad’s condition but he is still not out of the woods. They will keep a close watch on his condition during the next 48 hours and then will decide the next course of action. My dad still has pneumonia but the antibiotics seem to be working. And the water in his lungs seem to be resolving.
Please pray that:
1) the pneumonia will completely go away
2) all water will leave his lungs
3) my dad will have appetite to eat
4) his body will be healed miraculously
5) he will be able to breathe better (he’s been wheezing today)
6) his spirit will continue to feel uplifted by the love and support people have been giving him
7) I will make the most of the remaining time I have left with my dad as I fly back to Japan Sunday afternoon.
That’s all for now.
May God’s will be done,
Riz
Here’s my dad with his children. Please remember to pray for him. Thanks!
