Tom and Scott

Well, as they say, when in Japan do as the Japanese...or something like that. We had a branch activity at a restaurant that also does karaoke. Tom was loving it and jumped for the microphone anytime there was a break. They were loud and awesome. It wasn't until we were leaving that we realized that the room we were in was connected to the rest of the restaurant, packed with Japanese and Americans, by only a thin wall and they were all "enjoying" the singing as well! Too fun!

You might ask, "Who is Scott?" so I must start this off with a short tribute. It started with the much needed invitation "Hey, do you want to come to dinner after church?" We were still living in the little hotel room, jet lagged and confused. Scott just happened to catch us in the hall after church and offered to pick us up to bring us back to their house for dinner (we didn't have a car yet.) The chain of events to follow is nothing short of a fantastic blessing. We had great food and the start of a great friendship with Scott and his wonderful wife Joy. In addition, we loved their house and the next morning Tom went to the housing briefing and put in a request to live here instead of over on another base where we knew some people (who we fortunately still get to see often). Our request was granted and we got our "dream house." (there aren't very many so we are very blessed to be living here.) Now we live down the street from Scott and Joy and truly I don't know how we would survive without them! Joy is an amazing friend and wonderful example as a mother, she has been my guide at adjusting to military life and Japan and my much need stress relief for babysitting, chats and even dinner. (I called last night to see if they wanted to go out to eat and ended up getting us invited over for dinner at their place!!) So, in answer to the question, this is Scott, I like to think of him as Tom's only "short" brother. Seeing as how so many of you have experience in living far from family I know you can all relate to the importance of these kind of friendships.