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  • [Life in Japan Theme Song]

  • Halloween has passed, the girls' and Nate's birthdays have past,

  • So now we get to decorate for Christmas.

  • Since there is no American Thanksgiving in Japan, we go straight to celebrating Christmas.

  • Although we still do eat turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!

  • Is this part of setting up decorations? Yep!

  • I am doing the stockings.

  • Getting ready to hang the stockings up here? Very cool!

  • I can show you when it's done. OK

  • Oh look! The lights are done and the ornaments are going up!

  • Hey guys, you should start doing over here.

  • Not too much in the back... Yeah, because...

  • No one's going to see it, but it has to go all the way around.

  • Oh fun, fun, fun! Beautiful!

  • I think I'm going to draw something.

  • Crayons? Is that an ornament?

  • Sweet! It was for me.

  • Both Japan and America celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, although in different ways.

  • These holidays have many traditions, but at the heart of these celebrations are true stories full of joy and hope.

  • With 2020 coming to a close, it's good to remind ourselves of these things and celebrate once again.

  • You're doing a new song Anna? Um hum.

  • Hey everybody! How's it going?

  • What's everybody eating? What did Mama-chan make?

  • Oh, it's so good!

  • Oh! It's extra good when someone else makes it.

  • With the Christmas tree over there, it's very festive. And when your'e hungry!

  • Is this the pork that you bought at Gyomu? It is!

  • So good!

  • So I had a quick bite to eat, and now we take Becca and Anna to jyuku.

  • What is jyuku? Where you do extra school kind-of-thingy.

  • Extra school! What does it help you do?

  • Math, kokugo, anything.

  • Do you know that last time Kenji Sensei said that you're doing so good

  • That you're already up to your elementary school level and beyond!

  • Dude! Awesome! Way to go, girls!

  • These are our little streets! Oh my!

  • Lot's of people. And traffic.

  • And it's all got to squeeze down the same place.

  • Now that's a little better, huh? That's a tiny street.

  • That's a tiny street but it gets wider here though. So that's good.

  • Japan also has it's own version of Thanksgiving, called Kinrōkanshanohi, or Labor Thanksgiving.

  • It's a day set aside to congratulate others on their hard work and enjoy meeting together.

  • OK, today, the sisters are going to go shopping.

  • And we're going to show you what it's like to do shopping just with moms and no kids.

  • OK, so we just picked up Luisa, hi baby girl!

  • You're the only child that gets to go!

  • We're going to catch the 32 to Shinjuku.

  • We're going to shop and shop and shop.

  • Now we're just waiting for Debbie to come.

  • Where is she?

  • Sumimasem! Whoa- ha ha!

  • We found her!

  • Since there's no kids, we can shop the adult section.

  • Whoa! Uh oh Ben, watch out.

  • Ha ha!

  • Look at these gorgeous scarves!

  • My kids would want that back pack.

  • An adult bib.

  • Even though we're kid free, we still do most of the shopping for the kids.

  • So, 3rd floor of H&M. Children's section.

  • Oh my goodness! Look at that! So cute!

  • Do I get Eliana 9-12 months or 12-18 months?

  • 9-12 because 12-18 she won't fit into next year anymore.

  • 9-12 months. OK, all these mommies find baby clothes.

  • So cute.

  • Let's go down, see for the men, checkout,

  • Then go... Prove that I was on this shopping trip.

  • I'm hungry already, are you guys hungry? Me too.

  • Yesterday we were playing here and we got a ball stuck in the tree.

  • But today we came back out and found it.

  • But now we threw a heavy ball, the girl's heavy soccer ball up there to get it and it got stuck.

  • So now I got a ladder and a big reacher thing to get these balls out.

  • We did it! We got the ball out!

  • Both! And this one!

  • And that one! That's the one that got stuck yesterday!

  • We've got our purchases, purchases, purchases.

  • Now we're trying to scout out a place to eat.

  • Ohhh, there's lots of places.

  • Yeah.

  • We decided we're going to eat here, this place.

  • Gotta go down.

  • Are you sure it isn't down more? Oh my goodness.

  • This is fun!

  • Small, Medium, Large...

  • Deep-fried chicken rice bowl.

  • Teriaki deep fried chicken rice bowl, now that looks good.

  • We're like in the depths of the belly.

  • I know, we are deep down there! We have to order it on a machine.

  • There's no one to take your order, you order yourself.

  • Oh, this is the one you wanted, right Ruth? Yes

  • OK, let's go get our food.

  • Oo, look at this! Look at Tia Pri's.

  • Oh my goodness! [Making baby sounds]

  • Hi Lu Lu. Hi Lu Lu.

  • Are you so happy on your little shopping trip?

  • You get to join all the girls! Yea, because you're a girl.

  • Hello! [Baby farts] Oh!

  • We got that on video!

  • Are you going to be happy now that you pooped?

  • What did the kids want to eat on their holiday today?

  • McDonalds. McDonalds!

  • Oh my.

  • It's not a true shopping trip unless you stop at the Sketchers store.

  • Tia Pri wants gold shoes.

  • Limited Edition, you better buy them!

  • Well, we had a very successful trip.

  • I got my Sketchers. Yeah! Debbie got Sketchers.

  • Yea! Two pairs.

  • Oh! There's a monkey! That's a little freaky!

  • Well, we did it! We did it!

  • Now let's go home.

  • What do we have here, huh? We have a beautiful store.

  • Money!

  • You need to give one. OK.

  • OK, I have some money! Thank you.

  • You do I get for my money?

  • Um, you can get anything that you want.

  • Here's the toysthe Mario guys.

  • And here's all the food.

  • Could I have a Yoshi please?

  • Yep! Do you want two of them?

  • Ah, one of them will be fine, thank you.

  • I'm going to get the big one because you're a daddy. OK.

  • Here you go! Oh how nice! Now I have a Yoshi!

  • Now do you want something to eat? Of course!

  • There's no pizza, I'm so sorry. There's no pizza?!

  • What is there? Let me see.

  • Could I have bread and lettuce and tomato?

  • And sushi please.

  • This one? Yeah

  • It looks like a fish. What about French fries?!

  • Do you have French fries? We only have one.

  • Oh! French fries, please.

  • Kamihikoki (Paper Airplane)

  • I'm going to cook it ok?

  • Here you go! Thank you so much!

  • Oh, that was so nice!

  • Oh, here's everything I ordered.

  • French fries. There went the French fries!

  • Let me eat it real quick.

  • Ah! Sushi!

  • I'm going to put it in some soy sauce!

  • Now some lettuce, munch, munch.

  • Tomato and bread.

  • Ah, oh! So good!

  • OK. Joshua the cameraman! Good job, dude!

  • I didn't drop it! You didn't drop the camera? That's important.

  • Yeah, that was hurting my arm! 300 yen please!

  • I bet! It's heavy!

  • 300 yen please! 300 Yen? OK.

  • One of the traditions around the Reutter household for the holidays is baking

  • And Ruth's getting all the kids involved this year.

  • What are we mixing here? Frosting for the cookies.

  • Wow!

  • Becster-Booster's got whatsters?

  • Yellow or orange? That looks very yellow to me.

  • It's for all of the stars. No, it's for Thanksgiving.

  • Oh, it's Thanksgiving! Gotta get your seasons right.

  • This isn't for Christmas yet, is it? No.

  • I did it Mommy! Is it like this? Good job.

  • Mommy, is it like this? Good job.

  • Oh lookand it goes in the bags.

  • I'm going to put it right here.

  • The yellow is just like mommy's shirt.

  • And mommy made a turkey.

  • Can I see?

  • These are pumpkins, and there's flowers.

  • Oh yeah, look at that! Me?!

  • How does a turkey look?

  • I need a picture of a turkey.

  • Oh cool Anna! Is it like an egg?

  • Oh, nice egg!

  • Look at that happy pumpkin! Oh my goodness!

  • Wow, that's festive! He loves frosting!

  • OK, don't put too much on, Joshua. We don't have very much.

  • Look at this! Oh that flower is nice, Sarah. Good job!

  • Look at my cookie! Is it so cute? So cute.

  • Oh look at that! The turkey, huh? Nice.

  • There's a turkey head. Does it look like a turkey head?

  • Gobble gobble! Not really, but it's supposed to.

  • Getting ready for Thanksgiving! What's in the oven now?

  • Pumpkin Pie.

  • This is a tapioca jello salad.

  • Oh my! We are busy!

  • Busy!

  • All of this work was leading up to the main event: Thanksgiving!

  • This year we pulled the kids out of school for a day for a very special celebration.

  • Hi! Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Look at the baby crew here! Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Oh my goodness, look!

  • Oh my goodness.

  • I'm bigger than the last video when we were here.

  • So is Anna! So is Becca!

  • Silvia! Do you want me to take the foil over?

  • Sure, I have two actually, you can just keep it there. OK.

  • So our whole Paz team came out here. Most of us are related!

  • We're going to celebrate Thanksgiving out here.

  • Everyone has there own cabins and we're going to have a nice big meal together.

  • Is this the man zone here?

  • Fire! Man zone, alright!

  • He's like "Who's this guy?"

  • There's nothing quite as soothing as a good campfire when it's cold out, huh?

  • Hey, man zone! Hey Joshua!

  • Manzone!

  • Bad toss. Bad toss.

  • Joshua, you playing frisbee with your buddy Seth?

  • Whoa, kind of.

  • Some throws are better than others.

  • Oh, good throw!

  • Did you guys do a puzzle or something? Yes!

  • You did it already? We've done two.

  • It's upside-down.

  • Wow, look at those little puppies!

  • And this oneaw, nice.

  • Hey Becca! What are you going to do?

  • Make a fire! Aw, nice!

  • Bye! Hey guys, let's go make a fire over there!

  • Are you getting all the firewood ready? Yep.

  • Can I do it?

  • Rip it up into a lot of little pieces like that.

  • Like this?

  • What's going on? [baby whines]

  • Oh, I'm sorry. Hey, let's watch them build the fire, OK?

  • Will that make you happy? Let's watch them build the fire.

  • Oh, there we go! I told you!

  • Nice.

  • Look at this. You see, just like that. Give it a little oxygen.

  • What do you think? Your dad knows how to build fires, huh?

  • What was that, coming to me?

  • Sarah's not going to get any smoke in her eyes.

  • Me too. Oh, you too!

  • Cabin #1 — let's go see.

  • Are you guys helping get setup? Yep.

  • Good job!

  • There it goes. There it goes.

  • Toot toot!

  • So Silvia's almost ready to go over...

  • Anyway, I've gotta go undress the chicken.

  • It's a big moment here!

  • Got the turkey... The turkey is done!

  • Costco pulls through again... Ah, Costco, thank you!

  • Walking behind you I can smell it!

  • OK, let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for this beautiful place that we can have our little vacation,

  • Thank you for this wonderful meal that you provided

  • And all the people that worked so hard to make the meal

  • And most of all Father we just want to thank you that we can be your children,

  • Thank you so much for sending Jesus to the earth, and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins,

  • Thank you that He rose again and He lives within each one of us now.

  • So Father we thank you so much that we can become a part of your family,

  • And on this day of Thanksgiving, we thank you for all of the blessings this past year,

  • And even through all this pandemic, You've been blessing us and protecting us,

  • In Jesus' name, Amen!

  • Whoo! Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Happy Thanksgiving!

  • Whoa! Whoa!

  • You guys ready for some food?!

  • Yeah, look, I'm cutting it! Thanksgiving!

  • Who made that?

  • Maybe Silvia? John and Silvia?

  • Yeah, I think so.

  • There's mashed potatoes.

  • Gravy, biscuits, That's turkey, that's chicken.

  • Green bean casserole! Ahhh!!

  • And all kinds of awesome salads, pumpkins, squash...

  • This is very good traditional Thanksgiving here.

  • Oh! Becca, what do you think about Thanksgiving?

  • Favorite so far? Favorite food so far?

  • I didn't taste it all. Oh you didn't taste it all yet.

  • What about you Antony? Do you have a favorite?

  • Whoa! This is my favorite!

  • Oh, it's a mountain of goodness!

  • I got one of those too! You got one of those too?

  • Yeah. Oh nice.

  • Here is my plate, I've got the turkey, the biscuits, the gravy and potatoes!

  • The green beans! Got Becca across from me, and Antony, and Anna!

  • Both Japan and America have Thanksgiving,

  • and although we may celebrate it different, at the heart of it is a thankfulness to God for his blessings in our lives.

  • Whenever we take a moment to stop and count them all, we realized how truly blessed we are.

  • A grateful heart is a healthy heart.

  • OK, give it to mommy.

  • Upstairs, your bed's upstairs.

  • Up we go.

  • I'm the only one over here.

  • Hi Sarah.

  • Hi girls! Hi.

  • Wow, we're camping out upstairs, that's so cool, huh?

  • Mommy's making pancakes. It's already on the table.

  • They're already on the table? And some eggs.

  • [Over computer] We got Japan in here somewhere?

  • Yeah!

  • The whole family is on a big zoom call.

  • Ruth's grandfather is 99 years old and healthy,

  • so we had a video call with her family from all over the world.

  • It's amazing that we can be together in such a way!

  • What are you doing to your cousin?! Oh my goodness!

  • Wow Izzy!

  • That's amazing, huh Anna?

  • Youchien sei (Kindergartener)

  • Oh, that's the bike? You're right, that's the bike.

  • Alright guys, hey! We have some few extra passengers! I love it!

  • Where we going guys? To the park

  • There you go.

  • Wait!

  • You know what else I'm thankful for? The amazing country and people of Japan!

  • I never could have imagined that I would have so many friends here.

  • As always, thanks for watching and interacting with us!

  • Let me know what you're thankful for in the comments,

  • and until next time, we'll see you on Life in Japan. Bye bye.

  • Yeah. Clear the way!

  • That's what helps Thanksgiving dinner move through.

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

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