Simple Life

It is Halloween weekend and we are spending it in Lake Chelan. We come to the lake every summer, but this is our first time being here in the fall. This may be my new favorite place to be this time of year. It is absolutely beautiful here, the colors of all the leaves and the crisp bite to the air really make it feel like fall. We are enjoying our daily walks into town, the occasional leaf fight, and some quality family time. Yesterday we took the kids to a local farm where we went on a hayride to the back of the orchard and ran through a corn maze. The next stop was at a row of Ambrosia apple trees where we could pick all we wanted to take home. We were encouraged to sample the apples, straight from the trees. That apple yesterday had to be the best apple I've ever had. Standing in the orchard, sun warming us in the cold air, shoulder to shoulder with the farmer. Amazing. So many people never get to experience anything that simple, yet wonderful. It was great. Next, o

I haven't written in a while - there's been a lot going on in the Ostrer lives, and not much at the same time. For starters, we are still in the US, and will be through November. We are being told that our paperwork should all be done by then and we should see Japan by December. We are hoping that this is accurate! There have been a few small silver linings to us being here now. While we'd rather be away doing our thing, we have to look for the bright side! My parents had decided to move about a year ago but hadn't found the right house until now. Since we've been here we've packed, packed, and packed some more. Jason has been amazing! I would only expect him to work this hard and be this patient for his own parents. I'm sure my folks would have gotten it all done without us, but I think that in a small way, we've helped. On the 7 th of October, Todd Ostrer , a cousin of Jason's, passed away at the age of 43. Todd had been recovering from

Today we took the kids to a jumpy place - not sure what it's called, but it's a big room full of blow up slides and jumpers for the kids to play on. I sat in the corner, quietly re-reading "The Shack" while the kids ran around playing, bouncing, racing, and basically just letting loose. There were a couple really great moments in that 90 minutes of play time. At one point I looked up to see Lily being the first born that she is. She had taken it upon herself to befriend a 2 year old and help her climb on all the toys and play safely. Sitting and watching her I could just see the mother or teacher that she will become, and be so great at it. She is a natural nurturer, which I sometimes mistake for maturity. She is a motherer , but that doesn't mean that she doesn't still need a mother too. She is only nine. Sometimes I struggle between pushing her to grow and mature, and recognizing the little girl she still is. Later, Lily and Jaxon were both playing