Catching Up

Okay, brace yourself for a six month update in a 5 minutes post! I'll do this mostly with pictures. I think that's mostly what you all want to see anyway!!

First of all, we moved in June. Please email me at kingdomprep@gmail.com if you do not have our new address! Here is the view from our upstairs balcony, looking toward Pearl Harbor. It's hard to believe God blessed us with such a beautiful home with a fantastic view!! I'll post a pic of our home once we get it decorated for Christmas.

MEXICO! Kat and Austin went on a Mission Trip to Mexico in July. It was an incredible experience for both of them! Here are some pics from that Spirit filled trip:

Austin made some wonderful little friends on this trip. He still talks about the children from the orphanages.

The group's major mission was to take VBS programs to the remote villages near Puerto. This picture was taken during one of those programs (Austin is up at the top, clapping his hands):

The group also presented a skit in the churches and open markets. The skit portrayed a young woman succombing temptations and ultimately coming to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. God used this skit to touch many hearts in Mexico (Kathryn played the young woman, bottom center; and Austin was one of the "temptations", top left.)

KAHOOLAWE: Kat and Austin were very busy over the summer. Three days after they returned from Mexico, there were off to participate in the Kaloolawe Restoration Project. I can't find the disc with the pictures at this time but will try to add a few to the blog when I locate it. Harry went with them and they all came back with great memories. The island is basically uninhabited and the group of 20 basically had it to themselve. The did about 6 hours of restoration work each day and used the remainder of the time to explore the beauty of the island. It was a trip of a lifetime as one can only visit this Hawaiian island if invited!

Camping at Bellows in August:

Kat, Austin and their friend Ross visited the studios of a the NBC station thanks to their producer friend, Tommy. (Arkeo is a local Christian Rock band of whom Kat, Austin and Ross are their biggest fans!)

For Callie's 10th birthday in October, Kathryn and I treated her to a "Girl's Day Out"! Callie had her hair cut first (and decided to donate her locks to Locks of Love), then Kathryn surprised her with a trip to Claire's to get her ears pierced. But that's not all! We also had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then took Callie on a shopping spree for a new outfit!! I think she was quite blessed that day.

In our school this year, we have gone back to the Ancients in our study of History. We spent some time learning about Jewish Feast and traditions. A few other families who are also studying this time period came to our house one night to have a Seder, which is the Jewish Feast of Passover. It was an incredible time of learning about the Jewish AND Christian Faith. The fellowship was great too!

This is James. He is an Army soldier who we have sort of adopted into our family. Here he is with A.J. at a Blue Angel Air Show we attended in November. After I took this picture, James told me "send this to my mom!" I guess I still need to do that! Anyway, you all can be praying for James, he will be deployed for Iraq soon. We sure will miss him!

For A.J.'s 7th birthday, he wanted a Superhero Party! We had 8 other boys over dressed as their favorite Superhero. They had a blast playing games fit for their characters. At the end of the party, they even surprised us by rounding up a group of burglers (aka Austin's group of air soft friends) with silly string!

Well, that just about makes us current. I should do better now at keeping our blog updated more frequently. Part of the problem was that I just let it go so long I didn't know how to catch up! I'll leave you with a picture of our Cockateil. His name is Kuali, which is Hawaiian for Morning Glory. Aloha!