Mele Kalikimaka! (Merry Christmas!)

Aloha friends!

This year, in lieu of a Christmas letter, we're doing a Christmas blog entry. This is one of many changes for us this year. The biggest one being that I am writing this from our apartment in Honolulu, Hawaii. How we got here, we'll get to shortly. But before that, let me catch you up a bit on our year so far.

The start of 2010 was normal for us. Derek was working in Celebration, Florida at a surgery center. Dena was homeschooling Mia in first grade. We were very involved in Metro Life Church, where Derek leads a small group in our home every week. We were involved in events with both family and friends and normal life with our 3 kids, Mia, Ella and Jett kept us busy.

In February, we were able to take a 5 night cruise to Mexico with 3 other couples who we have been friends with since my high school days. This trip was such a treat since all 4 of us couples treasure our friendships and yet living in 4 different cities have limited time together. What a blessed time laughing and enjoying our friendship!

During a date night in April, Derek and I had a conversation where we were dreaming about things we'd like to do and possibilities for the future. Out of this conversation came to idea of possibly taking a short term travel position as a nurse in a hospital somewhere in the US. Derek had done this several times before we were married so he had an idea of what this would entail. We knew that usually these positions would be for 3-6 months. In all of our possible locations to go to, Hawaii was pretty much always at the top of the list. Derek had been working a lot of hours at his last job and the 45 minute or more commute to work and then back every day added to the time he was gone. After a while we began talking more about whether or not he should be looking for a new job. Once we had decided to look for a new job, the idea of Hawaii kept popping back into our conversations.

Over the next few weeks we were both excited and scared by the possibilities. I, for one had to battle over my trust in God. He has always shown Himself faithful, but I love Orlando so much that the thought of leaving it greatly distressed me! Leaving for 6 months didn't bother me as much as the fact that I knew so well that once we left, we could possibly see more clearly God leading us in another direction than Orlando or possibly even staying in far off Hawaii. After God so graciously showed me how I was trusting in my plan for our future more than in His, He was so kind to give me peace for the prospect. Now we just needed to trust that He would provide the details to make it happen if indeed this was in His plan for us. Time and again we were shocked at how well everything worked out: we had a job offered to Derek exactly when we wanted to go, we found a place to live there, finding someone to rent our home in Orlando and watch the dog, getting someone to lead our homegroup & a myriad of other details that all worked out so perfectly. God was once again providing and He did so in a way that was so clearly orchestrated by his hand so that if we ever doubted that this was the right thing to do, we could recount these evidences of provision.

The next few weeks were spent in a frenzy of activity preparing to leave. We celebrated Mia's 7th birthday and then in the month of August we spent a week in Atlanta with some friends and Derek's family while his brother got married. A week later the 5 of us were on a plane to Honolulu.

Before we left, we asked Derek's neice to come with us and a month after arriving, once she was out of school, Christina joined us. We have been here over 4 months now but Hawaii still feels a bit like a dream. Derek and I are out doing things sometimes and just start laughing saying how we can't believe we are here and really doing this! O'ahu is beautiful and amazing. We've taken almost every weekend to do things all together as a family around the island. We've seen 3/4 ths of the beach parks on the island, watch so many sunsets, taken several hikes, seen so many historical places and places of amazing beauty that we never expected. We definitely had some time of adjusting at first and being the first time away from home like this for me was strange. We missed all of the known things and living in a 42 story building is quite a new thing to us too. The apartment has an amazing view of the ocean from every window and is in a great area to be able to walk to everything but there are definite things to get used to. For one, it's half the size of our home in Orlando. The girls room is a closed in porch and Jett sleeps in a closet. We can make a mess of our tiny kitchen in about 30 seconds! As the weeks wore on I missed my family and friends so badly. Thankfully, my Dad is amazing and he surprised me and my mom by sending her out here to see us. Derek's Mom & Sister and nephew (Christina's family) came out to visit too. What a blessing to help ease the transition for us.

As much as the weekends here feel a bit like a vacation, there is a large amount of time that is very un-vacation like here too. For starts, Derek works 5 days a week. Also, right after we got here, we started school again. We weren't sure about homeschooling again this year, but being here for just 6 months and right in the middle of a school year, it just made perfect sense. Mia went into 2nd grade and Ella started Kindergarten. Last year was a hard year of homeschooling Mia, but this year we were finally making some progress. Her attitude about doing school has gotten better and she has also finally gotten her head around some reading. It's so cute to walk in the room and find her reading her way through a book! Mia is still our most social child. She'll talk to anyone we find. She's very proud to tell everyone that we live here now but only for 6 months and tell them everything about our day. She's getting big too. We can hardly believe that she's 7 and isn't our little baby anymore! Doing school with Ella is a very differnt thing. God has given her a love for learning. She speeds through her books and does more that I have assigned for her every day and still often comes out looking for more. Ella had her 5th birthday here and is quite happy to tell everyone just how big she's getting. She's still our more emotionally charged one but she has a happy go lucky attitude towards most everything. Jett had his 2nd birthday while we were here and is loving life. He's pretty happy most all the time. He's happy playing on his own and then he's happy following the girls and playing with them. It's a lot of fun seeing the games he's coming up with. It's definitely a boy game with trucks and dinosaurs and even when he gets the girls dress up stuff it's to use it somehow in a boy game. He cracks us up with the stuff he does and he's talking all the more now and learning to make jokes. :)

The time here has been such a blessing. The obvious is the opportunity to see the world in a way that we wouldn't be able to in any other situation! The girls have taken some hula lessons and we've been learning some Hawaiian vocabulary and enjoying learning the culture of the place. The other goals and plans that we had for here have been the most beneficial though. From the already wonderful marriage that Derek and I have, we have seen so much growth together. The time spent together and with the kids is invaluable. We've loved having some changes of habits and reading more and just loving the way we're able to be more focused here without all the distrations at home. We're hoping we've brought in some good habits that we can now take home and implement. Now comes the holidays and more time to spend together building memories. The time will fly here now until the beginning of February when we come home. My parents and brother will be here to go on vacation to Kauai with us then right before we go home. Also, Derek, Christina, the kids & I we will be taking a family trip over to Molokai and Maui. How blessed to be able to see all of that too and how excited we are to be able to get some real vacation time in while we're here too. And then, at last to be home in our Orlando! :)

Aloha & ahui hou (see you later),

Derek, Dena, Mia, Ella & Jett

One more great week down, 9 more to go!

We've been decorating our little Chrsitmas tree and getting in the Christmas mood. It's definitely odd here without it being cold pretty much ever and not having our typical Christmas decor, family nights, work & homegroup Christmas parties and such. What we miss in our normal life back home, we're making up for by extra time together as a family. The 5 of us and Christina took off to a drive up through the middle of the island to the North Shore to check out the surfers. The waves were bigger than we'd seen them yet, but we're still waiting for the really big ones! We checked out a few more beach parks on the way back down the Windward coast where Christina dropped off Derek & I and took off to play wiht the kids. Then Derek & I took a 3 mile hike up through Sacred Falls State Park. A few years ago there were flash floods and rock falls that they deemed too dangerous to keep the park open, but all it takes is walking around the gates and you're in. These quieter closed sections of Hawaii are fun because they are more local secrets. We still saw a dozen or so people on the paths but it was for the most part very quiet. The hike took us along and over a stream and up into the spectacular Ko'Olau Mountain Range. After crossing the river a few more times, we found ourselves in the valley with tall cliffs up both sides of the river and then turning the corner to see the amazing Sacred Falls in front of us. What a spectacular hike and the views were again amazing. After getting back with the kids, we all went to the nearby Kualoa Ranch where some of my favorite show "Lost" was filmed and the kids got a chance to do quick little rides on the horses, which of course, they loved. It was so fun to watch their reactions to being on the big horse. :)

The wonderful and busy month of November!

Thanksgiving weekend. While being away from home and family during a holiday is not ideal, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Since we've always been with family, I've never had the opportunity to cook the entire meal in my kitchen (and a tiny one here too!) With Christina's help (and a bit from the girls too!), we accomplished a great meal and have been enjoying lots of leftovers ever since! Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving either without the Macy's day parade and I was so happy to see that it was on here at the right time too! After our big meal, we took our pies down to the pool deck and were able to share them with some neighbors and some of our security guards too. Black Friday shopping is tradition to me too and this year I had no babysitter, so the kids joined in with me at the mall... that made for an exciting day- nope probably won't try that again either! :) We picked out a tiny 3-4 foot tree for our apartment and are working on decorating it island theme too! After taking our kids out to see the movie "Tangled", we explored Moanalua Gardens and came across some of the most amazing trees we've ever seen. The trees here have been some of the most surprising and amazing things we've experienced. We love them! Our last bit of exploring for this weekend came in going to the far reaches of the Leeward (West) side of the island. There used to be a road that wound up and around the top tip of the island to the North Shore but the waves every year are so big that they destroy the road and in the end they never rebuilt it. So, we drove till the road ended and set ourselves up at a quieter beach park at Kaena Point State Park. Once again, the mountain backdrop was amazing. I just never get sick of being with my family and looking at these amazing island mountains!

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November 21st. A few fun things before I talk about the pictures. 1- The girls were eating apples at the table and I had cut up both Granny & Red Delicious apples for them. They remarked how the green ones were sour and when I told them they were called "Granny" they both immediately decided that the red ones must be called "Poppop" apples. I love how a Granny doesn't work without a Poppop and how when they are so far away they can find ways to remember and miss their Great Grandparents.

2- The sunsets recently have been amazing! The whole time we've been here, the sun would set directly behind the buildings across the street. This week we noticed that the sun has started setting in between the buildings so now we get to enjoy the sunset from our apartment! We are pretty dumb when it comes to things like this apparently cause we were dumbfounded that that was able to change! :) We count it as another of God's blessings though.

3- Another evidence of God's grace. Across the street from us every Friday is a music and hula show and fireworks. We've seen it lots of times and the kids know that at the end of every show they give away a dozen or so flower leis to people in the audience. Ella got one on her birthday cause I told them it was her day, but Mia had desperately wanted one for weeks. She kept hoping that she would get one and we tried to help her guard her emotions so as to not dissolve into hysterics if she didn't get one. They passed them out and she was looked over again. She was quietly crying and Derek was talking to her and started praying with her that God would provide her with a lei one day and that she would trust that He was good and loved her. Just as he finished, a lady walked over to Mia and asked her if she wanted her lei that she had been given. She had been on the other side of the courtyard and we were sure couldn't have heard our conversation and we were able to thank her kindly and rejoice with our little surprised Mia at God's grace in providing this for her.

Now on to the pictures! These are some random pictures of our times around from the past few days. We've had a chance to explore a few cool places near by. First, we took the kids out to a nearby resort. They have sting rays and turtles and dolphins in pools on the property and we enjoyed exploring the beautiful grounds and watching the animals. Second, we went to Punchbowl Volcanic Crater where the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is. Being at the top of a volcano has its benefits when it comes to views, but the grounds were beautiful too, not to mention the somberness that comes in viewing the graves of all those who served to keep our country free.

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November 13th. Our dear Christina was so joyfully willing to serve and watch the kids for us so we could have a night away. What a wonderful and relaxing time. Derek & I drove out along one of the most beautiful drives in O'ahu to the Windward (East) side of the island. We stayed in a cute little inn on a peninsula. How relaxing to be away from the kids for just a few hours! We woke up early and went to the park down the road to watch an amazing sunrise then went back to have breakfast and take a 3 hour nap. Now that is starting a get away right! We checked out and took a quick kayak trip into the sea to see the beautiful coast from the ocean. Afterwards, we drove along to Kualoa Park. An island called "Chinaman's Hat" lies just off the beach there and since it was low tide, we walked across the coral in waist/ chest deep water to explore the island. It was phenomenal... one of the coolest experiences we've done while here! After getting back to the beach we had an enjoyable time just sitting in our beach chairs and napping (Derek) and pulling out my paints (Dena) to try to catch a picture of the majestic mountains behind us. Just a few hours with my love and him alone is so refreshing. We had such a wonderful time talking about ways we can grow in our marriage and training our kids and just enjoying being with each other- our best friends. He is probably the only person I know who I can spend endless amounts of time with without needing a break from him eventually. I wish I could just be with him forever!

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November 3rd. We've got a half day free, so we try for the top of Diamond Head crater. We enjoy the beautiful view of diamond head from our beach all the time, but we enjoyed parking inside the crater where lava once flowed and then climbed up the inside of the crater along a path then up about 225 of so steps, going through a tunnel and ending up with a breathtaking view of southern O'ahu. We were able to remind Ella of an evidence of God's grace too. Just 60 seconds up the hike Ella (my hiking partner) started whining and complaining and crying constantly. We reminded her about how in the past hikes she'd have a good attitude when we got to the top and she saw that her hard work was worth it. After a few more minutes we had to forbid her to talk or whimper unless she had something joyful to say. I was discouraged since we hadn't even gotten to the hard part of the stairs yet. Within a few minutes, just as we were starting to climb the stairs, God gave Ella a change of heart. She was joyful, excited and practically running ahead of us. What a fun opportunity to point out to her the evidence of God's grace in Him helping her to turn her attitude around!

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October 31st. Derek's Mom, Sister & Nephew were in town for 1 last day, so we took off to the North Shore to see waterfalls, eat shaved ice & watch an amazing sunset while enjoying our last few hours with them before they head home.

The Walley/ Plouff Vacation Continues

It hardly feels like we've stopped while Derek's family has been here. We've had a few things that we've done for the second or third time but we've also gotten to do a few big new things too. We had a brief visit into China Town. It looks like quite an interesting place to visit, but apparently not at night. The homeless are plentiful around here and it seems even more so in China Town which isn't one of the best places. So, we'll visit again during the daylight but for this trip stopped in and had an authentic Chinese meal. Renee even ordered the shark's fin soup. The girls were pretty grossed out but Jett enjoyed it a lot! The girls had a night out shopping and we took the trolley to Hilo Hattie's to get a little hula rhythm into Renee & Freddye. Freddye's birthday was last Wednesday and we went over to the lagoon to try out Paddle boarding and then ended her special day with a trip to Puu Ualakaa State Park for one of the most amazing sunset views across the west coast of the island. We've visited the Bishop Museum again- we got season passes to it. This really is an amazing museum. We've visited it twice now and haven't covered more than maybe a quarter of all there is to see. They have such good hands on stuff throughout for the kids too that it's perfect for all of us to go to together! We also spent one day driving up the east coast of the island to the Polynesian cultural center. As a last minute stop we went to The Valley Of Temples to see the Byodo In Temple. The setting was amazing and the fog like clouds in the mountains behind it made the place stunning. Afterwards we went to the theme park which covers 7 island nations- Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, etc. They do shows and demonstrations for each and then we had a luau afterwards and then a wonderful show at the end full of hula, dancing and a great story. It was another tiring and beautiful day!

Walley/ Plouff Family Vacation

Derek's family has come to visit! His Mom & Sister and her son (Christina's family) are here for 13 days and we're almost half way through the trip now. I am so blessed by Derek's family. They have loved me and welcomed me into the family so I feel just like one of their own and they are such a blessing to me! We're having such a good time showing them around the island- maybe too good a time since we're pretty exhausted from all that we're trying to do! Poor Derek & Christina are going to just be completely wiped out at the end of the trip cause they are doing everything with us that they can and working too! We've taken them to a dolphin cruise, done Sunset picnics, hung out on beaches, seen the Royal Hawaiian band play on the lawn before we toured Iolani palace, went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, went hiking on the Windward side of the island (Renee, Freddye & I took the kids on a kid-friendly hike while Derek, Christina & Mike went on a longer one- pictures from that are to come soon!)... good times!

Date Nights & Discoveries

Derek & I have had a few wonderful date nights together recently. We tour our Hawaiian tour books advice & drove 15 minutes to Puu Ualakaa State Park where we were treated to an amazing view of almost the whole of Southern O'ahu at Sunset. A...mazing! We also were able to get away for a bit to tour Iolani Palace. This is the only Royal Palace in the USA and the tour gave us some interesting view into the history of Hawaii & the royals. I love architecture so I was in heaven touring the beautiful big place! Derek & Mia and Ella & I took off at different times to have some date nights together and the girls were adorable! :) They especially loved getting Daddy ready by doing his hair and picking out his clothes! We've all gone out together (with Christina too of course!) to 2 new beaches. One was ok, the other was simply amazing. Ko Olina resorts has 3 lagoons where the water is perfect because the waves are small and the snorkeling is good. Apparently this is normally quite a crowded area but was practically empty the day we were there and it was so peaceful and wonderful!

Friends from England!

Almost a year ago we were touring England and I was meeting old friends from Derek's days of living there. We stayed with Andy & Yadge outside of Manchester and when we said goodbye to them we had no idea that we would be seeing them again in less than a year! They were touring Hawaii on a cruise for their 35th anniversary and we got to play tour guide and take them all around the island. It was such a pleasure to see our friends again and we loved every minute of the much too short day!

Welcoming A New Family Member Into Our Home!

For those of you who may be wondering about the title of this post... no, I'm not pregnant! Nope, we've adopted a lovely 24 year old niece for our Hawaii trip! When we were in Georgia for Derek's brother's wedding the week before we left for Hawaii, we asked Derek's sister's daughter, Christina to come live with us. Things fell into place pretty easily once again and she agreed! She took a few weeks to finish her semester of school then flew out last week to join us for the duration of our trip. What a blessing it is to have her here with us already (and not just because we can now have a regular date night- though that is AMAZING!) and our kids have already informed her that she's now their sister. :) She doesn't start work at Starbucks for a week and a half so we're trying to get in as much fun stuff together as we can before that happens! We started off with Surfing lessons on Waikiki beach. None of us had tried it before so it was a pleasant surprise that we were all able to get up on our small beginner waves and have a wonderful time surfing. Sadly, exhaustion set in extremely fast and by the time we were done we were all quite exhausted. The next morning all of us were so sore and personally, it took days before my arms and shoulders felt normal again. All that paddling to get out to the waves definitely took it out of me!

The day after surfing we took it a bit easier by starting off the day with a parade. It was Aloha Week here and there was a parade going right past our apartment building. We just crossed the street and sat on the curb looking at our own place and had the best seats in the house. I must say that living in the city is so fun to me right now because I can't imagine ever doing it again. I was kind of picturing myself in "Miracle on 34th Street" being able to watch the parade from my city apartment! I couldn't remember the last parade I had ever seen that wasn't a Disney parade. This parade also had princesses in it, but they were real Hawaiian Royalty riding on their horses and adorned in capes & leis and my girls were going nuts! Over and over they kept telling me, "It's a REAL Princess, Mom!" It is odd to think of our country having royalty and a Royal Palace... only in Hawaii! After the parade we jumped in the car and headed a mere 15 minutes away from the city into the mountains for a mile hike through the rain forest to Manoa Falls. The falls were so pretty and of course, so was the entire hike. We ended the day muddy and tired but quite satisfied with our day.

Now it was Sunday. We have visited a few churches but not found the one that we'll be staying at yet. We all got up and dressed and in the car and simply couldn't find the church. It was pretty funny but since we were quite literally all dressed up and had no where to go, we figured that we could find somewhere pretty easily! So off we went to the Bishop Museum. This was a very cool museum. We didn't cover near enough and will have to go back. We did a show about the Hawaiian sky & constelations and toured a few rooms of the museum about the Royals & the old Hawaiian culture. They've got a great area for kids too where they have lava demonstrations and you can explore a fake volcano and learn about it. This absolutely counted as a school day! :)

The weather here has been amazing. We hardly sweat unless we're doing something active and then if you step into the shade it's immediately perfect. The rain here is so different thatn Florida's thunderstorms. You can quite seriously open the blinds in the morning to see an overcast drizzly day and by the time you've filled up sippy cups and put 3 bowls of cereal on the table it's cleared and is the most perfect Hawaiian day yet. These last few days have differed in being much more rainy. The rain here has hardly surpassed a drizzle but it's kept at it for a few hours each of the last few days. Poor Derek, who rides his bike 2 or 3 miles to and from work each day has come home quite soaked a few days. Yesterday the weather returned to it's normal and hopefully we can now convince Christina that was a fluke! We went down to Ala Moana Park & walked around and walked to Magic Island to watch the sunset. We've been here several times to see it set and it's been different every time. We just don't get sick of it!

Today Christina had to work but as soon as she was home we set off to get her out of the city for the first time. We drove 30 minutes out of the city to the East and stopped at Lanai Lookout Point. This is my favorite spot on the island so far. We've stopped a few times but not been in good climbing shoes. We made sure to be this time and we climbed down the rocky hills & cliffs and explored all around. We didn't leave this small area for a good few hours but it was amazing to watch the waves pound the cliffs and spray water sky high and see all this beauty close up. We found a small cave hole and climbed in it. There at the end of the hole was a good sized exit that went out into the side of the rocks where the waves were spraying. It was a very cool spot. The kids were amazing in sticking close to us and being troopers and going carefully when there were drop offs and slippery gravel and it was such a fun experience to share with them! Once again, we went home tired but happy!

A wonderful week with Mom!

Mom is leaving tomorrow and we've been so busy that I haven't had time to post! We've been quite active! While Derek was at work we spent a few moments of normal life around here- doing school, going to the grocery store & Target, etc. But we also stayed busy showing her around. We took her to the North Shore where we went swimming in Waimea Falls. The rainfall in the mountains hasn't been as much as the past few weeks so the falls were much less full but that made it perfect to coax Ella into swimming out to them with us. Also, last time we went it was quite packed but this time we had the falls to ourselves. It was so peaceful and wonderful and of course, Mom loved the plants, flowers & birds! We also stummbled across the filming of the new Hawaii 5-0 show and it was fun to watch that happen for a bit- unfortunately no sighting of my Lost actor- Daniel Day Kim... bummer... no stalking today! :) We took Grandmom shopping & to the zoo too.
On Friday, Derek had the day off and we took off to Haleiwa on the North Shore. We stopped for delicious (ono) shaved ice- which is quite popular here. We also went to the beach there and rented a paddle board so Mom could try that out. We enjoyed trying it out on the open ocean too. The beach was so quiet- there were only a few other people on the beach and there were a lot of sea turtles out there to snorkel to and check out.

On Saturday, Mom & I took off alone and went to Pearl Harbor to tour the USS Arizona Memorial. It was so sad hearing the facts and traveling back into World War 2. There are about 1,000 men still buried under the sea in the Arizona and the memorial spans over the boat whose deck lies just 8 feet below the surface after it sank in 9 minutes taking 1,177 sailors and Marines with it. It was a quite sobering sight seeing oil leaking out of the surface of the water still. Then we had a wonderful treat when my Mom took us out to dinner and told us that my wonderful grandparents sent money along to treat us to dinner. That was such a fun gift! Mahalo Poppop & Grandmom!

Today we drove to the Leeward (West) side of the island to Waianae to take a dolphin watching tour. Just minutes out of harbor, we found ourselves inside of a pod of 50 to 75 spinner dolphins. They had several of their tiny babies with them and they put on quite a show playing in the surf behind the boat, racing in front of the boat and jumping and spinning out of the water. It was amazing to see that many dolphins together out in the open sea. We toured up the coast and saw more amazing beaches and mountains and views which we'll now have to find from the island side. It was wonderful to see them from the water side though!

All in all, this time with Mom has been amazing. It was such a blessing to have her with us everyday and I know that I'm going to hate having to drop her off at the airport again tomorrow. It will be another 3 months until we'll be together again when both Dad and Mom get to come out. What a blessing to have a Mom who is such a good friend and who loves me and my whole family so well!

A surprise for my birthday girl!

Ella's 5th birthday was this last weekend so we had some special 5 year old type activities planned for her. We kept telling her that Bumpa (my Dad) was going to send her something special for her birthday and we were going to have a lot of fun playing with it the next week. On her birthday I told her we would get it later that day but first I was going to go buy her a lei. The airport has great lei stands so we headed down to pick one up for each of us and on the way I informed them about leis and how people get them on special days and use them to show welcome and love to someone. So I told them we'd head into the airport to see if we could see people giving them to each other. Once in there I told them that we were really there to pick up Bumpa's special gift- Grandmom- who would be there any moment! They were stunned silent- which is saying something and then they were so excited! It's so fun to show my Mom all around our normal lives- our apartment, grocery stores, parks & beaches and the punch buggy games that don't stop even once we get inside! (They sit at the window and call them- they are in endless supply here and even Jett chimes in with the random "Punch Buggy Red" call). The kids have been her constant companions and I've been having to fight them for time with her! We took Grandmom over to the hotel across the street to watch the Hawaiian song and dances and fireworks that they have on Friday nights. Every show, at the end, they give out Leis and my kids have been so disappointed to not get one but this week I told them it was Ella's birthday and she got one. She has never been so proud! While Derek had off for the weekend we toured her around to several tourist spots. We started Saturday a little slower for her- making sure to keep room in there for nap time! We toured the Waikiki aquarium which was a bit of a let down but had a few interesting things like the Chambered Nautilus & the Lauwiliwilinukunuku'oi'oi and Humuhumunukunukuapua'a fishes (what great names, right!) Of course we had to take her to Waikiki beach too. The next day we donned our swimsuits and drove towards the windward coast to go scuba diving at Hanauma Bay (the best snorkeling on O'ahu). It was a volcano cone that had caved in and then eventually the rose to fill it in creating a perfectly sheltered bay with amazing coral and marine life! The snorkeling was great- Derek took turns going out with Mom, Mia & myself. The highlight for me though was seeing the two sea turtles swimming right in knee depth water and being able to snorkel right along side with them! After tiring ourselves out in the ocean we drove up the coast for a long way home and were awed at the amazing scenic mountain and ocean views. It looks like Jurassic Park land for sure! A tiring weekend for sure but we'll give her a bit more down time before the next busy weekend!

Last Weekend!

Last weekend seems so far away already! How does that happen when we haven't really been that busy! We've been a bit busy during the days this week. We're trying to double up our school days so we can have a bit more down time while my Mom comes for a week and a half. The kids don't know that she's coming yet so it's bound to be very exciting (and loud!) when they see her on Friday! They just think that they're working so much on school because of Ella's birthday on Friday and I keep telling them that I have some fun things to do next week because of a fun gift Bumpa (my Dad) is sending them!

So, last weekend we decided to head up to the North Shore to explore a bit. Before we left town we stopped at Leonard's Bakery (a classic store in town) to pick up some Malassadas (basically a very "ono" (Hawaiian for delicious!) Portuguese donut of sorts- though we told the kids that it was a seaweed and fish egg breakfast). It was here that my Dad called and told me that he had just surprised my Mom with sky miles for a plane ticket out to see us. Needless to say, I'm definitely homesick out here and would be happy to have anyone I know to talk to, but having my Mom- who, other than Derek, is my best friend- out here with us for over a week is such a treat! My Dad is the best... even letting her come and not having her there on his birthday cause no other time would work! They are both already planning on coming in December when my Dad has off work but it was so far away so I am so thankful for my wonderful Dad loving both me and my mom so much!

Now in a fantastic mood, after breakfast we drove up the middle of the island to Waimea Valley on the North Shore. The Park had quite a lot of activity this weekend with a "Heal the spirit Festival" or something of that sort. There were lots of Indian tribes & native Hawaiians there doing dances and exhibits and it was quite interesting. The girls loved the dancing and Mia found it hard to believe that these were REAL Indians. She confided in me later that she always thought real Indians would be meaner. So cute! I guess we are reading "Little House On The Prairie" right now and at this point in the book Indians are a bit of an unknown threat! :) They have a beautiful hiking area and Jett surprised us by wanting to run and explore everywhere. We figured out that if it was a normal paved road he refused to walk on his own without a tantrum but if it was a dirt path or stairs to a more woodsy area he was off at a run! What a little bugger! :) The whole area was beautiful and we especially loved that this was so clearly a "Lost" TV show filming area. There was a beautiful river running along the path that was the typical stop for water or have a flaming arrow attack spot in the show and then at the end of the hike was the gorgeous waterfall which in and of itself would have been worth the hike but made it even better that this was the falls that Kate & Sawyer found the briefcase in and that Jack jumped off of to rescue Hurley & his guitar case too. I'm in Lost Fan heaven! :) I was so bummed that they don't let you jump off the top anymore but it made my day completely to be able to swim out to the bottom of the falls and sit on a ledge there and just let the water run over me. It was a beautiful moment! Mia was so big and swam out with me and though she was a bit nervous by it all just loved it too! Ella took a bit of persuading but she at least tried to swim out with Derek (the kids have to wear life vests in the park) and then just got too tired of waiting for the other people to take their turns in the waterfall. After leaving Waimea Valley we drove just a minute or two down the beach to 'Ehukai Beach. It was such a nice beach with hardly anyone there and tons of sand for the kids to run and play in. The water here was crazy since it was over our adult heads in just about 4 or 5 steps out but it was a great place to begin to teach Mia to snorkel. The waves hit hard right on the shore but after getting through that first wave Mia loved getting out and learning how to breath through her very own snorkel. We'll have to come back to this beach in the winter since this is where the Banzai pipeline is and the expert surfers will do their thing! This was a great day to play in the sand, digging big holes and burying each other and over all getting ourselves completely pooped out!

Thankfully we had a long holiday weekend so we had a relaxing next few days. We took a walk along the Ala Wai Promenade right by our house. It runs next to the Hawaii Convention Center which was named the most beautiful convention center in the world. It made for some fun pictures and our kids loved climbing up all the stairs to the waterfall fountains. I definitely love having all this special time with our kids doing things together as a family... it would be perfect if we could just get a date night out without them sometime soon! :)

Longing For Home

Homesickness is an interesting thing. Here we are in a tropical paradise, living amidst a daily beautiful scene where I regularly find myself gasping "Wow" at the amazing sights around me. Derek & I are finding both our family growing closer and our relationships with God growing as well. Yet, we long for home; we long for Orlando. To be back to the place filled with family... friends... our church... known roads... our big comfortable bed... ah, there is so much to miss. What a reminder that Honolulu is not our home. What a reminder that Orlando is not our home. Heaven is our home. How is it possible to live as though this is home but know it is not? How is it possible to long for a place we've never even set eyes on? We can trust in God's promises. Just living day to day in all this beauty sets my imagination on fire. If it took God just 6 days to prepare this world and we are amazed by it's beauty and His creativity, then what will be in store there? All this time He has been preparing a place for us. Unleashing his creativity for hundreds and hundreds of years to prepare a place for us. The gasps when we catch our first glimpse... the tingling and excitement... meeting our Savior face to face... being able to worship without distraction or exhaustion! To think, "Who am I to deserve this? I who hated You and nailed You to the cross with each sin! Thank you God for saving me!" What a moment as we are ushered into our home... the place we are made for. Being uprooted from my temporary home has begun to teach me to long for heaven. To be homesick for my home with my Savior. To view this earth as my hotel or apartment that I'm in until my Dream home is finished. As uncomfortable as it is for little imperfect me to be waiting in this imperfect place, it will be worth it to be with Jesus!

Adventures in Cooking!

We've had over 3 weeks here in our strange new lives! One of the goals I had for this time was to be trying out recipes that I've accumulated but never tried and to also be feeding my family more healthy foods! Like with another goal of ours, watching little to no TV, I was prepared for the worst but we've seen so much grace from God for change! The kids have only even asked about the TV a few times and that is really saying something! They are adjusting to the different menu too! We've cut out our previous breakfast of choice- cereal and now save that for the weekends. Instead I'm serving a lot of eggs, home cooked muffins, oatmeal, fruit salad, etc. and they are loving it! For lunches I've tried to cut out all of their goldfish, animal crackers, chips, etc. that they were used to and replaced them with yogurt, applesauce, fruit & veggies. They are doing amazing! I've even been making some snacks for them! I've tried Butter Popcorn, Caramel Popcorn, Cheese Its & Graham Crackers! (Thanks http://www.realfoodclasses.com for lots of ideas!) I'm loving making all these things! So, eating well during the week allows for our weekends to be more of a splurge. I'll get them a box of cereal and sodas for all of us and make a special desert for the weekend too. I am feeling like I'm in the kitchen a lot more right now but I also have a full freezer that we're beginning to be able to delve into to just pull out pre- frozen snacks or meals. It's also provided opportunities to meet our neighbors and building guards as we take them pans of Cinnamon Rolls too! It's a lot of fun and I can't wait to see the stack of recipes that I've gone through and have new favorites to add to our typical menu lists when we get home to Orlando!

A very 2 year old weekend!

My little baby turned 2 this weekend. I'm not sure where the time went but he definitely got big fast! We did a lot around here that would be especially fun for him. We started at the Ilikai hotel next door to watch the fireworks then on Saturday morning headed over to the Honolulu Zoo. It was a gorgeous zoo with beautiful landscaping and views of Diamond Head and tons of open picnic type areas. Since we're only 2 miles down the road and it was only a few bucks more, we promptly bought season passes. That totally counts as school! We live off of one end of Waikiki but we hadn't been down to the other end which is the more touristy side of it so we promptly too a trip down there and of course, it was beautiful down there too! Sunday morning we went to a local church. My heart was aching already for all my dearly loved friends and church family at Metro. We really are so spoiled with the rich worship and depth of teaching in the Gospel at Metro and we were so hoping that a Sovereign Grace church plant would have made it's way to Oahu before we did. Sadly it didn't. However, the upside is that I've never actually looked for a church, so I think it will be good to see God working in so many different places and experience what else is out there... the good and the bad. It will make me ever so much more thankful for my beloved Metro too... if that's possible! :) So, we'll probably be visiting several local churches in the next few weeks and will be praying that God will make it clear where we need to be calling our church home for the next few months!

A fresh confidence in Christ!

Every so often I will find myself running through a list of questions in my mind. Questions to search out where my true joy, confidence, peace comes from. Trying to root out any idols or areas of floundering in my life may be. Is the Gospel- that which I say is of most importance- really proving to be of most importance in my life? If so, my actions, thoughts and such should line up in a clear line pointing the way to Christ being of utmost importance to me. Unfortunately, often I find that my life gets derailed by things of small importance. Majoring in the minors as someone once said. This time here is somewhat designed to help root out those minors and replace them with the Major.

I knew there would be differences here but never having lived more than a half an hour away from my childhood home, there were some things that I have never thought of or had opportunity to work through like I have already here. These last few days have been more of a struggle. I've never been away from home for more than 2 weeks and even during that vacation we had my parents along! This clearly is not a vacation though. We are living real life... cooking, cleaning, going to work, grocery shopping, teaching school, disciplining, getting into conflicts, etc. As much as parts of being here feel like a vacation, it's not. It's all so different.

Last night my sweet husband allowed me to get out without any kids for a while. I hopped in our car and drove down 9 floors of parking garage to get to the street and followed my friend, the GPS, where she told me to go. What should have been a 10 minute trip turned into a 5 o'clock traffic jam of 45 minutes. I made wrong turns, I sat at 1 light for probably 15 minutes. I was frustrated. I finally arrived at Target. I didn't realize it till I was in the store, but Target and Sams Club are kind of a home away from home. Aside from parking in a parking garage to get there and them stocking a few things- like SPAM- that I don't often see in Orlando's stores, I could almost be shopping right there in Casselberry. It's peaceful. I know where I'm going. I feel at home. Apparently too much at home, I looked down at my watch and realized painfully that it was getting dark. I checked out and loaded up my car and drove out of the parking garage into the dark. *Sigh* this is what I was hoping to avoid. I flipped on my headlights. The car alarm chirped in joyfully. Happy to be let loose again from where we confined it, it sang the whole way home. We went swimming with the key fob a few days earlier and that broke the alarm. We got it to stop but if the lights are on, then so is the alarm. Derek just didn't have the right tool to disconnect that just yet. It was rathers mortifying. Driving home with the background noise and off put looks of the pedestrians everywhere, I found myself anxious over something else. During that noisy ride home, God was so gracious to reveal to me an area that I was finding confidence in instead of Him. Finances were bothering me. I had just spend $100+ at Target... again. A normal quick grocery trip in the past would have been $25-$50 but here, I can't seem to leave a store without spending $100- $150! I have prided myself in the past at being able to grocery shop and provide good meals for my family on a meager budget. I love the fact that my home is furnished and decorated beautifully but frugally. Is that a necessity though? Here, we are in an apartment that has everything to meet our needs. Yet I find myself staring in anguish at the white walls and the furnishings and curtains that wouldn't be my exact pick. I am spending hundreds of dollars on groceries and other miscellaneous things that we need to set up the home. Am I a failure for having to do so without saving tons of money?

God is revealing slowly to me that my confidence as a wife should not be in making a beautiful home or an extravagant meal at a great price. I have been depending on these things that he has gifted me with and only as I am seeing my expectations for myself crashing down am I realizing that in these small things, I have taken God out of the equation! Oh the blessing to see this! Thank you God for taking the time to disarm me and make me once more dependent on you in an area that I have trusted in myself. I was so encouraged this morning while reading “Valley of Vision”:

“Giver of all graces, I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me, for it is hard to practice what I believe. Strengthen me against temptations. My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin, a river of corruption since childhood days, flowing on in every pattern of behavior; Thou hast disarmed me of the means in which I trusted, and I have no strength but in thee... keep me sensible of my weakness and of my dependence upon thy strength. Let every trial teach me more of thy peace, more of thy love. My the Spirit confirm my trust in they promised help, and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee, for Jesus' sake.”

Two weeks in and God is just prying open the topmost layers of my dependence on myself and the smallness with which I view Him! What a journey lies ahead I am sure! One that is worth every bit of trial and the massive homesickness that I feel already! Thanks for being here with me on this journey!

School days have begun!

I gave myself a week to settle in and then we started school up yesterday. This is Ella's first year and she was super excited! Mia was definitely less so than El but considering how much she loves telling people that she hates school, I was glorying in the somewhat excitedness! We're starting off slowly, working on flash cards and bumping up practice on anything that Mia had a hard time on last year. We also learned about balance. We talked about how differently if feels to be standing strong and standing on one leg and then we went down to the lagoon to practice how it feels to be standing on something that moves beneath you! I've been watching the paddle boarders since we got here and I was itching to try it! So, we rented a paddle board and took off into the lagoon. A little more practice and we may be ready to try it on some waves! I'd say that was a fun school day!

Makapuu Beach, Lighthouse & The Windward Coast

This post should officially bring us up to date. We've only done a small bit of exploring of the island but as we've now gotten most of our shopping & setting up house stuff done, we were able to get out yesterday and explore part of the island. Our plan would be to take each Saturday to do something touristy in the way of exploring, hiking, driving, snorkeling, seeing something new & exciting this island has to offer!

We drove east towards the windward side of the island to hike up Makapuu Lighthouse Trail. It was an easy hike because it was paved but hard because it was uphill and we had 3 kids in tow! Thankfully, it was all so beautiful and of course, all downhill on the way back! The drive towards the windward coast was fantastic and we stopped at one scenic view to do a bit of hiking down some rocks towards the beach. (I am a huge "Lost" fan- the tv show- and love exploring and seeing places that were used in filming this show! The place we stopped along the road just looked so familiar to me that I knew it had to be used in the show- and I was right! It's so fun!)

After getting all hot hiking, what better to do then to hit Makapuu Beach Park right down the road. This is a great body surfing beach and though the water was fairly rough so the kids didn't get in too far, Derek had quite a good time in the water. Mia even tried out a few smaller waves in the shallows and was loving it! She has really turned an adventurous corner- loving the body surfing and every time we turned around she was trying to climb up or down some rocks to explore everywhere! Ella started off this day very timid- freaking out unless she was holding someones hand and refusing to go anywhere that looked the least bit scary! But, something clicked about half way through this day and then she was off like her sister doing it on her own and generally starting to scare Mommy! Jett meanwhile seems to think that we're going to leave him and pretty much won't walk anywhere on his own. He is fine being pushed in the stroller or being carried or hanging out near us if we set up to stay somewhere but if we're walking and try to set him down to walk on his own- whether in the hallway, elevator, along the beach, etc... oh my... we've gotten our fair share of temper tantrums! We're working on these and hopefully we'll have a break for our arms soon once he realizes that we have no babysitters here! :)

So, check out the pictures below! What an amazing beach to be on! I just sat there enjoying the sun and white sand of a totally different texture and amazed at how gorgeous it all was!

We're city people now!

I can walk to the grocery store! OK- it took about 25 minutes to get there cause I was pushing Jett in the stroller and the girls were walking and we stopped by a park on the way too... so I may not do it again with the kids... but still... it's an experience I would have never tried in Orlando! :) Here's some pictures along the road. It turned out to be a good teaching experience. We learned about homeless people and why some people sleep in the park :) and we learned about Banyan trees and how their roots grow from the tree branches down to the ground to make new tree trunks. These are actually some pretty awesome trees! That night we went across the street to see some Hawaiian singers and hula dancers and fireworks. Fun!

Pictures of our new home!

Now what have we been doing for this last week?

So I noticed that for some reason the date for my last post was not correct... who knows why but since I have very little idea what I'm doing, I will just leave it alone! I know I'm getting a bit behind already cause a lot can happen in a week, so I'll give you a brief happening of all we've been doing and then go from there!

The flight went great- especially since we were preparing ourselves for the worst! Jett snoozed for an hour or two on the first flight and since he was a lap child we were so excited to have an extra seat with us too for him to use! Not so easy on the second flight. It was packed out so he got to ride in our laps and sit with the girls for this flight. Oh well! On this flight out of LAX we had very wired children and no show on the plane for them to watch. Thankfully we had a laptop with enough battery for them to be occupied for a while with a movie! Ella finally fell assleep for an hour and woke up just as we were coming into view of Hawaii and Mia didn't sleep until we had landed and people started getting off! (We were on the very back row though so she had a bit of time!) The airport was exciting! It was 7:30pm Honolulu time and 1:30am Orlando time. I couldn't believe our kids held it together as much as they did! Getting the 8 large bags as well as our 5 or so carry ons/ purse/ etc and the stroller & 2 car seats was interesting. In the end, Derek put me & the kids and some luggage on a bus to the hotel & then went and rented a car and met us there. There just wasn't enough room for us and all the stuff!

Waking up in Waikiki was great! We were able to go on our balcony and see the apartments across the street that we knew would probably be our future home and a beautiful view of the mountains behind. Considering the time change, our kids did great again... up at 6am. We got our first taste of the cost difference in Honolulu when we went to breakfast and split 3 meals with just water to drink and paid $35! We took a look at the apartment and it looked like it would work perfect for us! It's across the street from the beach, within walking distance to grocery stores & shops & within biking distance to Derek's work. We found God to bless us again with this because this apartment had closed in the good sized balcony and it was a whole separate room which we use as a bedroom. We're paying $2,100 a month for this 2 bedroom + enclosed lanai apartment (which actually is a very good deal!) and just what Derek's work pays us to go towards housing and we couldn't afford to get a 3 bedroom anywhere close to the beach! The apartment has it's own parking, pool, hot tub & gym too as well as pretty awesome views!

We were able to immediately get into our apartment and after a few trips across the street Derek had all of our luggage here and the unpacking and sorting began! Unfortunately, what we didn't count on was not having internet in our new place. For some reason it didn't work right for the first several days so the next 3 days were spent finding WiFi to try to figure our where we were going, finding a used car to buy, finding the best route to work and so on. Oh how we missed the at homeyness that we feel by being able to use the internet and contact friends and such. We were so happy when it got fixed! We did buy a car. We took a trip out to the- gorgeous valley between 2 mountain ranges- middle of the island and found a somewhat old beater of an SUV that we thought would suit us fine while we're here. Unfortunately, with not having a mechanic able to look at it for a few days to just check it out and having to send our rental car back soon, we just decided in prayer to walk in faith that this would be what we need. I think our exact prayer while going to pick it up was: "God, we're trusting in you to provide again. If this isn't what we should be doing and this car is not for us, just please stop it somehow from happening and protect us from it." Though of course, those prayers are easy to say, they are not always easy when they happen! We bought the car and did a wire transfer to pay for it since we don't have a local bank here. As we drove off Derek inspected the title closer and discovered that this was an insurance rebuilt car after an accident... uh oh... don't like that at all. Then we went into Walmart and bought insurance and a few other things and came back out and, what is going on? Our key won't open the front door. It looked like it had once been jimmied and the only way to get in was to pop the back of the SUV and let Mia climb through to unlock the doors. We were a fair bit disappointed. The next morning Derek got a call and the previous owner informed us that the wire transfer hadn't worked. Derek tried it again and it wouldn't still. Then he started trying to pull out money each day to get enough cash to pay for it. At only a few hundred a day it would take a while. Finally, Derek's card got stopped. He called the bank and it turned out that they thought it was suspicious activity so they stopped his card in case it was stolen. At this point we thought that perhaps God had answered our prayers. We called the guy we bought the car from and apologized profusely but said our bank had been having some issues and since we couldn't get the money to him right away we would give the car back- plus it was a full tank and detailed and everything now. What a hassle getting it back out to him and all of that but also what a relief! A few days later, we found a van in town that seems to work fine. (Except funny enough, today... Derek forgot the keys were in his swimsuit pocket and went in the ocean. When we got in the car to leave, the alarm went off and the key fob wouldn't work to turn it off! We tried everything but in the end drove home with the alarm beeping on and off the whole way! I'm sure the 1/4th of the island that we drove past thanked us for that! We got it to stop when we got home- that is, unless the lights are on- then it beeps away... oh well, we'll save that fix for another day! :)

So, the last new thing this week was Derek starting work on Tuesday. This whole week has been orientation. Pretty boring honestly, but it has also been a wonderful break from the non-stop busyness and constant phone ringing & problem solving of the last few months. I'm praying that this time of having no management responsibility at work will be a welcome rest for Derek!

The Adventure Begins!

"What are those crazy Walleys doing in Hawaii for 6 months?" you might ask. It's a good question! As I write this we've reached the end of our first week here and it still doesn't feel real. Yet, I can, with unquestioned confidence say that God has brought us here. It was only about 4 months ago that the thought even entered our minds but it took hold rather fast! Here's what has happened: Derek's work had come to a point where we thought that he may be working a bit more than we'd like. He was already commuting 45-60+ minutes through I-4 traffic everyday to get home to us and the 4 day weeks that had originally been promised hadn't worked out. So, with the thought of looking for a new job sometime soon, the thought of travel nursing came up. (For those who don't know, there are many companies who specialize in getting nurses to travel to different locations throughout the world to fill a gap in a position in a hospital, Dr's office or surgery center. These positions can range from 3 months to a year and they provide you with funds for a place to stay, getting there, etc.) Before we were married, Derek had traveled to several different cities in the states to do just this and had enjoyed it. The thought of doing something exciting like this and getting to live in and explore a different area for a short time was what originally appealed to us. Hawaii was always at the top of our lists but we weren't sure if it would really work out to get there. All these ideas began brewing in our heads for a month and we started talking more earnestly about it. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit had been prompting both of our hearts in similar ways in areas that we would like to see change. As we began talking, it became clear that not only could this be an opportunity to see some of the world and have an adventure, but this could be a unique opportunity to allow God to work in our hearts and lives to see change and growth in a way that would be much more difficult at home with all of our old responsibilities and distractions and habits. The questions of should we really be doing this?... Could we?... began to be clearly answered as God provided every need. It became clear... this was really happening!

The next few weeks were a blur of God's provision. Everything we needed was provided. What will we do with our house- could we possibly find renters for only 6 months- could we leave it furnished so we don't have to move everything out? Provided- some friends in the church needed a furnished place for a few months! What do we do with our pets? Friends and family are caring for them! We don't want to lay down our home group and make everyone spread out! Provided by dear friends leading it for us in our absence. We would like to be able to go to Derek's brother's wedding, so can we find a job that doesn't want us until after then and could that job possibly be in Hawaii like we would prefer? Yes and yes! They wanted us a bit earlier than we would have liked at first but allowed us to come later! Can we find an affordable furnished apartment big enough for us? It just fell into place- even having an extra space that we could use as a 3rd bedroom so Derek's grown niece, Christina can move out with us! One could say that this was just fate, but we know it's not so. God's hand is all over everything in just the little details that He has set up and provided to bless us. We couldn't be more thankful and now even more faith filled that if He has provided all this for us surely we can't allow ourselves to fear any of the other problems we can dream up!

Now on to the details. While we're away we will be praying for our church and friends and family who are so far away. We covet your prayers too. Change is hard. We are sure there will be struggles. Yet we are in faith. We are praying for Spiritual growth. We would love to see our personal devotions & family & quiet times as a couple grow in consistency and to see our desire for God deepen. We've gotten lazy in the ease of turning on the TV instead of talking or reading together or on our own. We brought a huge stack of books from our church bookstore to be diving into. We would like to be more purposeful in our conversations and training of our kids and viewing them with much more enjoyment than as sometimes burdensome. In short, we want to be more disciplined in the way we spend our time so as to see God as our undeniable priority in what we do, talk about and think about. Death to apathy and laziness in our spiritual lives... life to seeing and savoring the God who is bigger than we could ever imagine! We're just so thankful that God has brought us to this place. One could say that we're over reacting. Life isn't so bad for us. It's true. We are very blessed. It hasn't taken a point of our lives falling apart to see need for change or become desperate for God. No, God has graciously saved us from great despair and turmoil in our lives to make us desperate for Him. However, He has brought us to great despair in seeing how greatly we think of ourselves in our finding ourselves trying to live with less and less of Him. This is what we are desperate to change!

The fact of the matter was that all of what we're hoping to see change in our lives could have been done at home but with just a bit more work involved. We just couldn't pass up this change to be in Hawaii while doing the work! So, hopefully, through God encouraging our hearts and His work bringing change in our lives, we can inspire you, our dear friends from far away... to evaluate where you too have become apathetic and lazy in your spiritual lives. Even though we're not there with you, we can take this journey together and mutually encourage each other. Our God is faithful and if we seek Him, we will find Him. He will make it possible to become more like him and we're walking out these next few months knowing that change is not always easy, but He will give us the grace we need! So, come with us friends, continue fighting against the lure and ease of this world. Break out of the areas that you have become comfortable. These 6 months while we are away will only be a momentary aloha and then we'll be back. We are confident that this time will go by so quickly and we look back and see that it's over and all our fighting will not have been in vain. We are in faith that God in His grace will bring us back different and more like Him. Every second of pain as we put our flesh to death will be worth it. Just as we will look back at this time and see that it went by so fast but it was worth the fight; so we will at the end of our lives be looking back at our time on earth here and see that it too was momentary... a flash! And then this beautiful paradise here in Hawaii will seem dull compared to the paradise that awaits in being in the presence of the God who has unnecessarily saved us and made it possible for us to turn from our sin!