Welcome to ITO NEWS

Well, I don't know how things exactly work in heaven, but it seems that soon after my mom arrived in heaven, she found her way to the fertility department and asked God for a favor--a blessing for us! This little blessing will (Lord-willing) arrive October 4th! We are very thankful and excited (and a bit nervous--on the mommy-to-be's part) and ask for your prayers for a healthy baby and safe pregnancy and delivery.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1: 17

First a little report on the "body building" that is going on here! Everyone keeps telling me that it is a good sign to be nauseated and fatigued, so I am trying to be thankful for these pregnancy symptoms (as well as those lovely mood swings), but I am hoping that they subside soon as I enter the second trimester. Can't wait for Dr. appt. next Wednesday when I get to see the little booger! We found a clinic 10 minutes from our house and the doctor speaks good English, so that is a huge blessing--I can go there by myself! We told the church people on Sunday and I immediately got a whole host of advice--between Chinese old wives tales and Japanese old wives tales, I can't do anything--no hanging up wash (reaching above my head), no working on computers, and for sure, no driving (that is a big one with some Japanese). I try to take all the advice kindly, but I can't help smiling--especially when one lady tells me I need to wear 3 or 4 pairs of underwear to keep my body warm--uggh! Srping has sprung here and it is too hot to wear that much underwear!

Anyway, enough about that. They started tearing down our old house last week. It has been a lot slower than we thought--I kinda wondered when the head boss had a 100 yen coin in his ear--what kind of person is this?! Anyway, here are a few pictures of the progress for about 5 or 6 days of work. They are taking the storage shed down piece by piece. Then they can park their machine in that space to take down the concrete office.

Will hope for more "drastic" pictures next week!

Last night we got an envelope in our mail box from a police department in another prefecture. Inside it stated that they wanted to talk to Akihiro about a dead body they found in a suitcase in another prefecture--yikes! We conjurred up all kinds of ideas--did this body live in this house before, did someone involved in the crime live here, on and on. It was a bit creepy to say the least! Well, it turns out that the suitcase that was in question can only be purchased from Cainz Home (kinda like Lowes). There were three of these suitcases bought from our local Cainz Home, so the detectives were visiting all of these people to see their suitcase. So the detectives came this am, flashed their badges, examined our suitcase, asked some questions, and went on their way--whew!

Last Saturday they removed the piano from the second story of our old house. We are thankful to the Klaus family for letting us store it in one of their sheds until the new house is built. The piano movers were very efficient and skillful with their special crane truck--as you can see!

The office area of the house is ready for demolition by a big machine now--hopefully this week it will all come down! You can see how they had to take out as much as they could before they would tear it down.

One day on my way walk back from the house to check on their progress, I saw this elderly man in the park. I have seen him before, but never had the luxury of a camera! He walks on his hands until he reaches the little blue bundle!

These white bushes are also really pretty!

Today I read in II Corinthians about "glorying in one's infirmities." I decided it was time to look at my bothersome pregnancy symptoms in yet a different light--sorry if it is TMI--too much information! Instead of complaining about the profuse amount of "gagging" saliva I seem to be producing, I should "glory" in my new-found ability to spit! (I hadn't been to proficient in the past!) Along the same line, I should be thankful for the ability to burp--and let me tell you, I do "glory" in a good burp--yikes, I am losing my lady-like-ness! I am glorying in the fact that I can figure out a half way healthy small snack to eat every 1.5 hours or so to keep my nausea under control. But, the thing I glory most in is that last week I got to see the baby on the sonogram--wow, what a cutie--and a busy body! God is good! Our baby was rocking around and moving his/her arms around like crazy--no wonder I am wiped out all the time--I provide the energy for this little person too! Anyway, I was very thankful and excited to see the baby and hear the strong heart beat--it makes all of the pregnancy symptoms worth it! Still, that said, I am hoping they let up soon--at least by April 20th when we plan to go to America for a week!

We are heading to Okinawa to take Grandpa Kimura and Akihiro's cousin for a two night trip--will be nice to get to some nice warm weather, even though it is getting warmer here!