Looking Back

before moving on into the new year, i want to look back and recount some of the wonderful things God did for me and my family. last january saw me flying to indiana to meet hannah, and to see josh, karli and tabitha. it was such a blessing to see all of them, the home God has blessed them with, their church and go sledding with tabitha and hold our precious hannah. josh and karli and the girls came for a visit in the spring so that grandpa could meet hannah! tabitha was happy to introduce her to him at the airport. last summer was so much fun having jamie home to work for me at ep. she did a great job at ep and as the vbs director. it was so much fun to watch her and aldie's relationship grow and it was hard to see them leave in august to go to california for jamie to her senior year at cbu and aldie to begin his studies as a junior at eternity bible college. during the summer it was also apparent that randy was renewing his relationship with kelsey and we were very glad that they began dating again when kelsey returned to hilo in august. dr. matsuura discovered i had cancer in my foot and did surgery, praise God it's a type of cancer that doesn't matastisize. ken and i made a quick trip to arizona and california to see our parents before sarting school. school, well that's another story. God had several surprises for me at CLA this year. i got to go to california on an all expenses paid tour of christian colleges and spend time with jamie, aldie, jenifer, tracy, cathy and my folks. it had been a dream of mine to visit jamie at cbu and God worked it out so that i got to be there several times for some very special events and spend time with aldie too and meet his roommates and go to cornerstone church. it was such a blessing. back at CLA i was asked to be the elementary principal after frank took an emergency sabbatical. that was something i never expected and it's tough at times but i believe God has me where i'm at for a reason. we had our first house guest for Akea Lani. amy craig, arrived from oahu and lived with us for four months, it was wonderful to see God work in and through her life and we came to love her and are so thankful for the time she was here. recently it was discovered that our grandaughter hannah has a hole in her heart and is seeing a pediatric cardiologist in february, tabitha may need tubes in her ears, and years of working for a small christian school is taking a toll on our finances so i'm not sure where we are headed in 2009 in those areas but i know God is able and we trust He will take care of all these things. november and december were fantastic months for jamie. she went to new york on a missions trip, she was named ms. cbu, she said "of course, i mean yes!!!" to alden's marriage proposal, and made straight a's! while jamie and alden were home for christmas we had several family dinners with our new family and began making plans for a june wedding. larry and lyn brought mom for a visit and we all had christmas dinner for the first time in many years. my college roommate, mona, and her family came for a visit and we had our annual new years eve party, a fun ending to our year. God blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined and i can't wait to see what 2009 will bring!