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We have had such a wonderful year and we are so glad to have Takahiro in our lives. You can see our little Santa's helper below and our 2012 Christmas card. Hope you enjoy them. 

Thank you for all the prayers and support and Merry Christmas to you all!

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Today was Takahiro's dedication day. My family came down to support and celebrate Takahiro!  We had a wonderful weekend.  Taka was such a good boy.  We arrived at church a little early and got in a couple photos.

Taka's friend, James, was also dedicated today.  Here are the boys and their proud parents.

Taka loves his Aunt Robin.

I love Taka's Aunt Robin, too!  Yay for sisters!

After we sang a couple songs, we were presented to the church body.

We prayed over Taka and then the church body prayed this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Together, we pray that our children's minds will know Your wisdom.

Their eyes will see Your glory

Their ears will hear Your words

Their mouths will speak Your truth

Their hearts will be Jesus' home

Their hands will do Your work

That their knees would bow only before You, the Lord our God

And that their feet would follow You in the way of Jesus all the days of their life.

Amen.

Tim gave another awesome message (how does he do that?)

And, then we got to celebrate.

Our good friends, Chris and Becca, joined us for a picture after church.

My family.  Of course, Taka was being awesome and cried just for this picture.

It's difficult not living in the same city as your family so it's extra special when they come visit.  We are so grateful they were able to spend this special day with us.

And, the last picture of the day goes to Roger!  Thanks for coming, family, and spending time with us.  We love you.  And, we love Takahiro!

It's difficult to find the time to do anything when you have a baby, let alone blog.  But, alas, here I am, albeit a little behind schedule.  My girlfriends, Laura and Becca, hosted an open house for us on October 7th. I want to introduce Taka to so many people but I tried to keep the invites focused on our church family.  I hope you will still come visit Takahiro, if you haven't met him yet.  I really think he has gotten bigger and is smiling more each day!  Here are a few pictures from our shower.  I wish I had taken more pictures of our guests but I was busy visiting.  Laura and Becca did an amazing job and I am so thankful for their friendship!

Here is the food spread.  We had fondue, meatballs and little cakes from Three Women and an Oven.  I've heard so much about Three Woman and an Oven over the years but haven't ever tried them because they are so far away but, holy cow, they were absolutely delicious!

Taka loves it when Grandma is holding him.  I think Grandma likes it, too!  :-)

Our dear friends, Lud and Rebecca, were the first to arrive!

JAPAN FESTIVAL

Below are a couple pictures taken from the Japan Festival, October 6th.  We had a blast.  We ran into so many of my students, who were very excited to meet Taka.  My mom was able to come because she was already in town for the baby shower.  It was great having here there because I've been attending/volunteering for 12 years now and it was nice to be able to share that with her.  I probably should have explained to her what cosplay was before the festival, though, as there were quite a few people walking around in costumes!

Other fun pictures of Takahiro:

Takahiro is growing so much!  He is smiling more and cooing.  He watches my face so intently and tries to copy me.  I think laughter is just around the corner.  Typically, morning, just after he wakes up, is his best time for smiles but today he also had smiles for me in the afternoon and evening.  It was so fun.  I always spend time talking with him and forget to get pictures.  Below, are some of the picture I have managed to take to showcase some of his moods.  This first picture expresses how he feels about bath time.  You will also see the boy has found his thumb.  I think we have a thumb sucker!