Sembe Corners

Our boys have developed quite the appetite. Among their favorite things to eat is sembe, or rice crackers. Their insatiable appetites for the crunchy soy creations has led to some problems. Jarom pulls things off of tables and shelves looking for it, and Ammon takes bags of it and hides in order to eat more of it than he is supposed to.

It is taboo to eat at times and in places when others are not eating in Japan. It is especially taboo to feed our kids at church. Because the drive to church is far and the hours long, many families bring rice balls to eat after the meetings are all finished. We have started bringing food too. However, last week, the little stinkers got into our stash, and the two of them hid in the corner and ate their goodies during one of the meetings.

Confrence Weekend with Jarom

I have always loved conference weekend. Though my reasons for liking it have changed, listening to the Prophet speak is a wonderful thing, as a kid, as a young man, or as a young father.
I first may have liked conference weekend because we could all have a relaxing day in our pajamas while we listened to conference and weren't required to do yard work on Saturday or wear church clothes on Sunday. Later I enjoyed going to Priesthood Session with my cousin, my uncle sure to treat us with a buffet dinner afterwards. We would give each other high fives if we were able to be the first ones in white shirts and ties to the restaurant.
As I've matured spiritually, listening to our Prophet and other leaders of the Church speak at General Conference has become more of a buffet of light and knowledge. Nevertheless, curling up in a warm blanket with my little boys playing next to me on a quiet Sunday morning will never loose its charm.

Passport Baby

Have you ever seen a drivers license picture and thought, "Oh my, that is flatering," and not been sarcastic? Not likely. However each photo tells a story, regardless of whether it looks like you went strait from the beauty parlor to the DMV or if it looks like you were tortured for several hours before having your picture taken.

A couple days before Jarom was born I had filled out the necessary paperwork: passport application, expedition forms and waivers, visa applications and copies of certificates. I had everything ready to go except four things. The baby's birth certificate, a special notorized document, passport photos, and most importantly a baby. Monica and our midwife did a good job of seeing to it that we had a baby. Grandpa Mike Hoxsie did a good job of heckling the county recorder to get the birth certificate in time. However, I struggled in fulfilling my duties.

Getting a day old baby to pose for a photo is not easy. It is particularly difficult when both ears must be visible, and both eyes must be open. In order to take this passport legit photo I tried everything. First I tried making a funy face with no success. Then I jiggled him to get him to open his eyes. I propped him up. I sang to him. I tried to scare him. I was nice to him, and then I gave up and tried to hold him down. This tactic did not work at all.

Eventually we had a passport legit photo of our then two day old son. It didn't quite capture the feelings of love that we have for him. It didn't tell of our trip across the Pacific for his well being. I could find it discouraging how the photo omits the most important parts of the story. Yet, I choose to see it as the photo that enabled us to be together again – as a family – worth more than any Picaso or Michælangelo.

Back 2 Japan

The morning we came back to Japan heavy snow fall set the stage. We had lots to carry, loved ones to say bye to, and people to thank. It reminded me of going home after a big family Christmas party. Our stomachs hurt from eating too much, we had more to carry than we had hands, Ammon needed to be spanked and put to bed, we had to say goodbye to loved ones we wouldn't see for a long time, and we had a gift in our hands we were very thankful for. I don't think the pilot's name was Rudolph, and the little baggie of peanuts didn't stack up against gingersnaps or figgie pudding, but there seemed to be some magic in the air when we flew through the sky that night.

It's funny what you find to amuse yourself with while strapped to a chair for twelve hours. Monica is magic when it comes to bringing the best out of life, and in a little video clip you can see how she worked her magic on those ¢82 headphones you'll find in the seat in front of you. Monica and the rest of us in rows 26 through 32 were highly amused by our boy and his little dance.

Jarom could hardly have been more pleasant. We also lucked out and were given our own row though we only paid for two seats. Once we arrived, the child loving head of the immigration office at NRT personally saw to it that Jarom's papers went through without a hitch. I knew we were receiving nothing less than devine help when our car started after being burried in snow for nearly a month and a half. We made it back to our little apartment in Kawanakajima so smothly it would have made Santa jeleous.

The New Addition

Bets had been placed and we were all awaiting some good news. Monica had been having false labor pains off and on for about a week. One day they seemed stronger, and more frequent. It didn't seem like this was it because Monica was bearing it a little too well - making me think this was going to last through the night and into the next day. I attended to Monica throughout the day, putting the crib together or sneaking a bite to eat when I wasn't by her side. We laughed through American Idol, and then started doubting whether it was time or not. We still decided to ask our midwife Chris to bring the birthing pool over - just in case. My mom had gone home disappointed, and Monica's parents were calling it a night along with Monica's sister Kaitlin. I went out to the garage to grab some tools for the pool. It seemed we would go to bed that night without a new baby...

With tools in hand I came back into the house to hear Kaitlin shouting for me to go to Monica. I ran to find that her water broke. Chris said, "We're having a baby right now! Put down the wrench and get ready to catch that baby!" I dove to my knees. 15 seconds later Monica had another contraction and Chris said "Push!" Amazingly the head came out just like that. Chris told me to get in position to catch the baby, 15 seconds later I joined in and shouted "Push!"

There in my hands was our second born. I raised him up like Kunta Kente's dad and shouted "It's a Boy!" then handed him to Monica before shouting it again so the whole neighborhood could hear. If I had been there any later I might have missed the birth! It took only one minute or so from water breaking to baby, boy oh boy am I glad I hustled!

We feel very blessed and we express our love to our friends and family who have given us so much support especially these last few months.

Welcome to Our Blog

Good News - you are invited to spend some time with us in Japan. Bad News - it'll take up to 30hrs and $1200 per person just to get here. With this in mind, we'll do our best to bring Japan to you, while including as many photos and stories of our two little boys as possible.

Our previous blog was http://littleammon.blogspot.com and with the birth of our second son, we felt it necessary to change the address. Stories from about Aug of 2005 until Dec of 2006 are located there. From Jan of 2007 forward, you will be able to find us here (at least until we need to change the address again).

Love the Johnsons,
Spencer, Monica, Ammon & Jarom