[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 toys — the 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 look — and 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 one — aw, 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.