Sending aloha in a shoe box

Calden Kaeo and Kea Aiona from Kamahameha School's Keaau Campus do some back to school shopping.


Kids on the Big Island are learning something surprising about back-to-school shopping—it is not just a time to fill their book bags and closets, it is also a great opportunity to fill shoe boxes to help children in need around the world.

It may seem like an unusual addition to the annual back-to-school shopping spree, but through Operation Christmas Child families can make a real difference to a child in need by simply keeping the box from their new school shoes and filling it with small gifts. Operation Christmas Child plans to hand-deliver shoe box gifts to more than 8 million struggling children in 100 countries this year. An effort that massive means the project needs the help of Big Island families, not only during the holidays, but also right now.When Back-to-School shopping remember that just a pencil, and a notebook could mean a child in need can attend school this year. Such a small gift can make a big difference!.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, encourages volunteers to fill simple shoe boxes with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and hand-written notes of encouragement. The gifts are then shared with children worldwide who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty. For many of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first gift they have ever received, letting them know they are loved and not forgotten.Why now—months before the holiday season?Operation Christmas Child is not limited to just a few weeks a year. It is a year-round project, requiring months of organization and preparation to reach millions of kids around the world.

Here on the Big Island keiki and adults have been working with our local team to send aloha to hurting children all over the world!

How can I help? It's Simple!

PREPARE—Help enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take advantage of back-to-school sales by collecting discounted school supplies for shoe box gifts.

PACK—Fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items, hard candy and a letter of encouragement.

Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org.For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call Nell Quay (808)987-7373 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 15-22; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.

The Sound of Music

Jeri Gertz and Kealani (and Ursula)

When I was nine I was in The Sound of Music, directed by Jeri Gertz, at the UHH Theater. Here is Kealani with her at age 10. They just finished The Music Man at the Palace Theater. Jeri was Eulalie Makecknie Shinn, and Kealani played Amaryllis.

The Sailboat = Ultimate Green Transportation

Sailing 2009

I love the way sailboats look,
all happy, and free
bright, cheerful, serene
untethered, simplicity
independent, adventurous,
I stare into the ocean, and dream of sailing away where ever the wind could take me.

Hawaiian Paradise Park

Photos by Sunny and Isaiah Berg

Imiloa

The Great Titanium Cones of Hawaii

The kids were at the Imiloa today.

Shoe Boxes!

We hope you you can join us as we get ready to send shoe boxes filled with love to children in need around the world!
We are thrilled to have, Matt Foster, Operation Christmas Child Regional Director of South and East Asia as our Guest Speaker.
Matt works with the National Leader Volunteers and oversees the distribution of gifts through the local churches in countries including: China, India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Philippines. He has lived in China and Thailand and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
You will hear how God uses our simple gifts to change the life of a child, a family, even an entire village.
Learn how a shoe box allows the gospel to be proclaimed in the most unreached, unrecognized segments of society in Asia.
Operation Christmas Child promtional materials that will help you to achieve and exceed your shoe box goals in 2009 will be available.
Leave inspired,challenged and equipped!
Please extend this invitation to your church, group, family and friends. We hope to see you there!
This exciting event will be Monday August 17th 6:30 pm Hilo Missionary Church.
For more information or to help, contact: Heather at 969-1953 or heybooboopeace@aol.com
OCC National Collection Week Nov. 16 - 23, 2009

Hilo Bay from above the Scenic Point

Hilo Bay 2009

I took this picture from a home I showed. I took the kids with me when I went, and they were trying to talk ME into buying the home while we were there!
It is a renovated Hilo home, in a quiet neighborhood, and as you can see, it has awesome views of the bay.

2009 photos

Mauna Kea Beach 2009

This is my favorite picture so far, this year.

Isaiah

Isaiah's 13th birthday 2009
Photos by dee photography

We ate fresh Waimea strawberries, thanks to Nancy, fresh salad from the Ko's farm, pizza(Isaiah's favorite)tender rotisserie chicken, from Noelle, potato salad, and two kinds of cheese cake, New York style which took 7 hours, and a lovely little cheese cake that took 10 min. to make, then 3 hours in the fridge haha!
Oh, and adult guests enjoyed two kinds of home made wine from the famous Claudia Riley.

Isaiah got to show off the potato cannon he built himself. The cannon works well, especially if you like your potatoes to be flaming, and loud. He also let off a few fireworks. The young guests swam till late at night, and then had a sleepover.

Kealani's Birthday

Kealani's Birthday 2009


She is now 10.
she sparkles
her eyes shine
she is beautiful
effervescent
laughter
excitement
lovely smile
jumping
writer
lip gloss
she cares
helpful
deep thoughts
tree hugger
she is strong
musical
sings for Him

What I am hearing with my ears

i hear hysterical laughter
humming humming hum hum
Sufjan Stevens
singing singing singing
strum
i hear dancing feet,skipping,and running run
falling falling down
being too loud
wrestling, and jumping
making a sound
what was that sound?
redemption
violin
piano
the ground
hummmmming
tears,hysterical crying,sighing
i hear a joke
i hear smoke
i hear a frown
now a smile
i hear coldplay and a contradiction
a giggle
a trip
slam
7 pieces of beethoven
ingrid michaelson and a contraposition
i hear brother bob dylan
a son
a daughter
hummming
drumming
snapping
water

January Sun

More chickens!

Now we have Silkies! Basil and Rose. Kealani is with Rose, and Isaiah is holding Basil.
My hope is that one of them really is a hen, and she will sit on eggs for us. Silkies are known for being eggcellent mothers.

buckets and tap shoes

For a field trip today we drove to the Kahilu Theatre, in Waimea, and got there just in time to see Buckets and Tap shoes. Their music was a combination of excellent live jazz, and street music. They incorporated tap dancing with magic,rap, and odd ball percussion instruments like 5 gallon buckets,chimes,cymbals, and a cowbell. The kids said it was the best show at the Kahilu Theatre so far.
It was a beautiful day for the drive, and the kids (my kids and the Ko kids)played in the warm sun at the park after the show too.

Snow in Hawaii

My dad took my cousin Jessie and the kids to Mauna Loa yesterday. We have snow in Hawaii too. The nice thing is you can come down from the mountain and leave the snow behind.

Ponys with a ocean view

We got to see two lovely animals on Sunday. One is a just a pasture mate because he is lame. You can see our friend inspecting his legs. He is a Hawaiian pony. The other is a beautiful Welsh mare,7 years old, and trained to let children ride her. She is also trained, and loves to pull a cart. They live in a beautiful pasture overlooking the ocean. My camera did not pick up the ocean in the distance. You will have to use your imagination.

Me and the tiny baby boy

Flash back 12 years ago.

As I type this my 12 year old son is in the pool swimming with a friend.What a contrast. When I look at my giant child it is hard to imaging him wearing a fuzzy teddy bear bunting.

Doing a little morning reading

This is how I found her early one morning.....reading the dictionary.

Waipio Valley

The hike down the valley road on Tuesday was very hard on my legs, but the beautiful scenery made up for it. The kids had fun playing in the river,in the waves, and digging in the sand. The beach is a black sand beach. Because of the volcanic rock on our island we have quite a few of these. I sat in the sand next to one of the many streams that flow through the valley. The sand has green sparkling olivine in it that you might not notice unless you were as tired as I was. I sat staring at the green glittering sand, the silver stream, and a dark cherry colored wild horse eating water hyacinths on the edge of the water.His mane and tail were dark black, and he had a white star on his forehead. He slowly sauntered down the river until he was about 20 feet from me, and then he slipped into the water, and gracefully swam across to the other side. I guess the hyacinths were greener there? The boys carefully crossed the river, and ran down the deserted side of the beach to swim in the waves there. The hike back up was so easy for the kids. It was a little more difficult for me hmmm, and felt like I was hiking straight up a wall at times. I was glad we had a good breeze, and the clouds shading us overhead while we hiked. We had Kealani and Arah pushing us up the hills too:-)Thank you Sarah and Y.B. for the photos!