Merry Christmas 2010

Dearest Family and Friends,

What a year this has been!!!!  As most of you already know, we are now island dwellers.  About this time last year, Joshua was feeling a very strong push from God, to move on from his position at Westwind Aviation.  He decided to put in his application for Mokulele Airlines, not expecting to really hear back from them, but more just doing it for the heck of it.  Needless to say, he was hired.  In four very short weeks, I (not we, as Joshua was already in Hawaii) packed up six large boxes to check onto an airplane and sold all our other belongings.  The boys and I boarded a plane at the end of February headed to the Big Island of Hawaii, to meet up with a VERY missed Joshua. 

We truly feel like we are in paradise here!!!  There are so many adventures to be had on this island.  We still have some to check off our list. 

Although we do live in paradise, there are prices you have to pay for living here.  The electricity, gas and food are quite expensive here.  The major concern we have though, is that the health care here is about 10 years behind.  Definitely not a good thing when you have kids who need the most current and topnotch care!!!

Thus, we feel like our stay here may not last much longer.  Joshua is constantly searching for pilot opportunities and we know in God's timing we will be moving on from this place.  In knowing our time is short, we try to fill our days with as many adventures as possible.  Joshua actually says that he feels like he is on a working vacation.   Most weeks, he has more than 2 days off and he is home every night.  Thus, we have plenty of time for FUN!!!

Healthwise, we have been all doing very well.  Although, I did have the "privilege" of taking care of Joshua for 6 weeks, as he healed from a broken foot due to skim boarding.  Such are the dangers of living close to beaches.

The boys have been doing awesome.  Both boys are growing, although we wouldn't mind seeing Ethan hit a HUGE growth spurt.  Their lungs are in great shape.  We, in fact, have had clear sputum cultures for a year.  Prior to this, Ethan had not had a clear sputum culture for at least 4 years.  We are quite sure that the changes we have made to their diet and the nutritional supplements we give them have a major part in that!

We are doing well in our second year of homeschooling.  Ethan Sky (seven in February) and I have figured out a system that works very well for us.  Although, if you interrupt our system, there is sheer chaos!  Caleb (four in September) does very well at playing on his own while brother is doing his homework, but he is also doing a little schoolwork here and there. 

We have found a church here in our little town of Waikoloa, that we feel is just what we need.  Caleb has just begun going to Sunday School with his big brother and they enjoy their time there thoroughly.  Ethan Sky has numerous times this year,  been commended for his vast knowledge of biblical facts.

All in all, we have had an absolutely wonderful year!!!!  We can't wait to find out what God has in store for us in 2011!!!!

Blessings to all,
Melissa and the Family