Dancing Queen!

It's not often that I get the opportunity to quote the king of American Idol's dog pound, but I do believe that Randy Jackson would have said that Cooper's performance at Little Sprouts Playhouse was absolutely "off the chain!"  Linda, Coop-Coop, and Daddy spent a couple hours last night gettin' our schwerve on at the first ever dance party for toddlers at a friends' business here in Kapaa.  DJ Jazzy George (Zoe's dad, and one of the proprietors of little sprouts playhouse) spun some sweet tunes while my daughter worked the dance floor like the diva that she is...  I'm posting some video to prove it, but I'm really not sure that it will do the entire spectacle justice.  Special shout outs to George and Jadah Sellner, our friends who had the stroke of genius to open up such a unique business right down the street from us!  

Video #2 is just cute... it's Cooper lookin' for her peeps in the guest cottage.

This one's for Alice!

Here's some video... requested by Al the Pal!

Too Soon!

The past few days have been pretty sad around here because we had to say goodbye to another visitor after an awesome week of island fun.  Our friend Alice (Al the Pal) flew out to spend some time while she was on spring break!  After a turbulent arrival that involved the worst case of Jet lag we've seen since living with the six hour time difference and marathon plan ride, Al jumped right in to the swing of island life.  Not only did she surf like a champ... but she bodyboarded, snorkeled, hung out on the beach with Cooper, saw waterfalls, rainbows, the holy trinity of Kauai wildlife (sea turtles, whales, and endangered hawaiian monk seals) AND se managed to take some incredible photographs of the visit!

One of the hardest parts of having so much fun with the people we love is the fact that it must come to an end.  Whenever someone visits, the old timers who have spent their lives on Kauai always say "too soon" whenever someone has to leave... doesn't matter if they are here for a couple of days or a couple of months.  That's exactly what I think whenever our loved ones leave... "too soon!"

But on the flip side of that coin, we are getting to spend some quality time with people that we normally wouldn't get to see for that length of time.  And... we get to show them all the joys of living in this special place!!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

We love Aunt Kristin!!!

Most of the blog-o-rama faithful know this already, but Linda and I have a very unique relationship with our friends Kristin and Hendree.  We like to joke that Kristin married a boy that thinks just like Linda, and I married a girl that thinks just like Hendree.  It's no wonder that we're all such dear friends, we are each partnered with the other one's partner (p.s.  Kristin and I share a brain sometimes, too).  

We are so grateful to have such amazing people like Kristin and Hendree in our lives, and not a day goes by that we don't think about them or miss them.  Most days, I talk to at least one of them just to check in... even if it is only about things like Jalepeno Kettle Chips and their delicious crunchy goodness.

Hendree and I have an almost daily conversation about the joys and frustrations of being thirty-something priests in the Episcopal Church, and the absolute craziness of being called to such a wonderful (and sometimes bizarre) vocation.  So... when my partner in crime called me a couple of weeks ago with some scary news about Kristin's health, I didn't quite know what to say or what to do with news that he was giving me.  

I was in Honolulu at a diocesan meeting when Hendree told me that Kristin, his wife, (and Cooper's Godmother, by the way) had been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.  They were waiting to hear what the course of action would be for treating the beast with which most of us have such terrible associations.  Little could be said, other than we love you and we're saying our prayers.  Linda instructed Hendree that he needed to buy his wife an iphone... which is funny in their world.

Two weeks passed, and nobody could really say what treatment would look like, but I was just sure that it would involve chemo, huge challenges, and the scary prospect of Uncle Benny shaving his head in solidarity.  And then...  almost as quickly as it began, I got another phone call.

Again, I was in Honolulu when Hendree called to tell me that the pathologists in Nashville had informed Kristin's doctor that what she had wasn't cancer.  What?  Not Cancer?  How is that possible?  It's not like the first set of Doctors took a guess... they knew what they were talking about... they had taken tests...  it WAS cancer... Right?  Nope.  Definitely something for the scientists and the medical journals, but not cancer.

So, what does this mean... 

Well, I don't know anything about oncology.  And I don't know very little about medicine or science.  But I do know a thing or two about the hundreds of incredibly faithful people who lined up to show Kristin how much they love her.  I know that in my congregation, in my family, and in my circle of friends, there were prayers of intercession and prayers of frustration put out there over and over again.  Who's to say if this was a miracle or not, but I know that I've never been more proud and excited to say that what I saw and heard in the voices of my friends was nothing short of miraculous.  

When we asked Hendree and Kristin to be Cooper's Godparents, we knew that we were trusting them to help us bring her up in the life of faith.  Little did we know that they would be such good examples.  They are (and have always been) living examples of God's good grace, and we (and the entire world) are better for having them in our lives.  Yea Kristin and Hendree!  We love you! 

p.s.  Linda still thinks Kristin needs an iphone.

Where ya been?

Well, it's been a while, but we are still hanging tough in the
islands. For the past few weeks, the church has been hoppin' with
vestry retreats, annual meetings, and all sorts of fun stuff. We've
also had a visit from Gigi (Linda's mom), some friends from
Chattanooga, and had several trips to Oahu for church stuff.
So... With that in mind, here is a quick update on some of the other
things that are going on.

Our neighbor continues to raise roosters. Not chickens. Roosters.
For cockfighting. We live in town.

Cooper is walking everywhere. Like both of her parents, she is a
bundle of energy. She is in constant movement like Linda and is into
everything like me. She is also fearless. Waves,heights, strangers,
animals, weird noises... Nothing scares her. She did not get that
from me.

She is also talking quite a bit. Not anything that makes sense to
most of us, but chatter-chatter all the time. Especially at night
right before bedtime- that she gets from Linda. It's pretty darn cute.

Linda is really active in her moms club activities. Her group, called
the Ohana Mamas, does something almost every day. Music classes, play
dates, girls' nights, date nights (there is rumored to be dance video
out there somewhere) are just a few of the events that we have attended.

As for me, I'm really settling in to my role as rector of this little
church. The people continue to be fantastic and the preschool keeps me
on my toes every day. But in all of this, my greatest joy is coming
home to my girls and taking some wagon rides on the beach path. In
fact, I think I'll go do that now! A hui hou!