Abby's 4th Birthday

Ever since Halloween last year Abby has been in love with the Wizard of Oz.  She wears her Dorothy costume and constantly asks to watch the Wizard of Oz while carrying around her toto dog.  It came as no surprise that she would ask for a Wizard of Oz themed birthday party.  We ordered some great stuff from the TomKat Studio online and started preparing for her first ever friend birthday party.  I wanted to make it really special so I tried to copy many of the cute ideas I found online.  I had so much fun printing everything out and putting red glitter on the dorothy shoes for the cupcake toppers, place cards, food labels, and banners. Instead of providing each girl with a goody bag full of junk items I decided to send each of the girls home with something fun and useful.  Each girl got their own ruby red slippers to wear and my friend Ginneice helped me make the cute personalized gingham aprons so they could use them as dress ups later on.  We had a cute little table set out for the girls with white plates and doilies and lemonade in cute little canning jars.  I set the food table up like we were in Kansas with small hay bales.  The boys were so impressed when they came down to look at the food spread that I figured it must have looked pretty cool if my boys were commenting on it.  All morning both Abby and Emma were beside themselves with the excitement of the party.  When Abby's friends finally arrived she was so excited to show them their aprons and red shoes.  After the girls got on their aprons and shoes we played drop the clothespin in the jar while listening to the Wizard of Oz soundtrack.  Then we sang to Abby while she blew out her number 4 candle.  All the girls piled their plates with goodies and sat at their fun little table.  It was so much fun to watch the girls enjoy all the treats.  I must admit that the cakepops were pretty tasty.  It was my first time making them so I was a little unsure how they were going to turn out.  I loved watching Abby lick the frosting off her cupcake instead of eating the cupcake itself.  After their tummies were full we played musical chairs.  We played it so many times which was a good thing because when the birthday girl gets out first three times in a row she is not a happy camper.  It's a good thing she ended up winning with her friend Melissa the very last time we played the game! 

Melissa, Callista, Abby, Emma, Ali, Aislynn

Opening presents was such a riot.  Abby made the most hilarous faces while opening her presents.  It was just so much fun to watch.  It was hard to not bust out laughing.  She was so over the top excited by each present.  She was crazy about all her gifts but especially her new American Girl doll from mom and dad and her Sylvania Family Treehouse from Grandma Ann and Grandpa Franz.  I would say she had a great time at her very first friend birthday party.  It was a blast to put on this birthday for Abby but boy am I glad that the next friend party won't happen for two more years! 

Tennis Lessons

I have never been very good at hand sports like basketball, volleyball and tennis.  I played basketball for one season when I was in 7th grade and it was kind of a big deal because I didn't run track that year.  My coach was not too happy with me.  Lucky for him I stunk at basketball so I didn't play the next year and stuck with the stuff I was good at like running.  I didn't even start soccer until I was in high school.  It's funny but I grew up watching my parents and my older brothers play tennis while we were on vacation but I guess my younger brother and I were too young to really play so we were the ball runners.  Because I never really learned how to play tennis I just automatically didn't like the sport very much because I was not good at it.  I remember watching Wimbledon with my family as a kid and liking it but it didn't fuel any desire for me to learn how to play.

Mike, on the other hand, is great at tennis.  He grew up playing tennis and has become quite good at it. He has such a powerful serve and he is pretty accurate in where he hits the ball.  Even though he is already a good tennis player he tarted taking lesson to improve his skills.  In an effort to be able to play tennis together we both decided that the boys and I needed to start taking tennis lessons.  I was a little skeptical at first that I could be taught how to play tennis.  The first couple of lessons were pretty pathetic on my part.  I jumped right in with some other beginners who had already been playing for some time so I really felt like the odd wheel.  I learned very quickly to laugh at my mistakes and move on.  After a month of lessons we had a few rained out days.  I was on my way to a make up day when it turned out I was the only one who showed up.  After talking with coach Noguchi he finally realized that these lessons where literally the first time I had ever played tennis.  He decided to start from ground zero and teach me how to correctly swing the racket.  We spent most of that hour just practicing my form.  It was the best hour ever because I started to finally understand how to properly hit the ball across the net.  I surprised myself and even Noguchi was surprised by some of my hits.  A whole new world opened up to me and it's not surprising that I started to really enjoy playing tennis. It definitely doesn't hurt to have a husband who can be my coach on the side as well.  He is super fun to play with. 

Andrew and Peter have really enjoyed taking tennis lessons as well.  They take lessons after me with two other brothers.  They have both picked up the sport fast.  Andrew is quick and Peter is accurate.   They both love to play and for now that is all that matters until they start to learn better form.  Hopefully the heat of the summer doesn't deter us from continuing on with our lessons.             

Family History

I don't believe it is a coincidence that I am living in Japan again.  Interestingly enough one of my ancestors on my dad's side was one of the first missionaries in Japan.  On September 1, 1901, four missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints humbly gathered to dedicate Japan "for the proclamation of the truth and for the bringing to pass of the purposes of the Lord." Of those four missionaries, one of them was Louis A. Kelsch who is my great great grandfather's brother.  Louis, along with Elder  Heber J. Grant, Horace S. Ensign, and Alma O. Taylor walked to a secluded spot in Yokohama and knelt within a small grove of trees.  Elder Grant who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the time and the President of the Japanese Mission, offered the dedicatory prayer.  Concerning the prayer, Elder Taylor wrote, "His tongue was loosed and the Spirit rested mightily upon him; so much so that we felt the angels of God were near for our hearts burned within us as the words fell from his lips."  There is a monument that now stands at the first church building in Japan as a commemoration of a century of devotion by faithful members of the Church throughout Japan, and as a beacon of hope that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to bless the people of this great land.   

We have been fortunate enough to see the work of the Lord progress in Japan.  The first time my family was in Japan back in 1980 (I was only 2 at the time), all of the English speaking members (both military and civilian) were organized into one stake.  By the time we moved to Japan the second time in 1998 the military wards were separate from the Tokyo Ward members and had their own Military District.  The Tokyo members were combined with the Japanese stake.  Our one English speaking ward split into two wards and by the time I was ready to leave to go to college they split into three wards.  For the past two years our not so small Branch has functioned much like a ward and our District has functioned much like a Stake.  We were only a Branch and District by name only--one of the few in the world that was given special permission to do so.  Recently we have had some great changes happen in Japan for the English speaking members.   All of the English speaking  members are going to be organized into one stake and 5 out of the 7 branches will be organized into wards.  The English speaking Stake in Japan will consist of 3 military wards, 2 military branches, and 2 civilian wards.  We range in distance from the north of the Honshu Island of Japan to the south of Honshu Japan.  It is an amazing time to be a member over here.  Many great things are taking place and the missionary work is moving forward.  Mike will be made Bishop over our Yokosuka Ward and I know that we will continue to learn and grow as he serves in this calling just as he served as Branch President of our Branch.  I do believe we are here for a reason.  It is a great time to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ in Japan!     

Louis Kelsch left (born 1856), Alma Taylor center, Heber J. Grant right