Maui Living!

It's been 3 weeks on Maui and we are slowly settling in. Everything is SO different and we're making adjustments quickly. The thing we LOVE is having a cool mountain breeze flowing through our home 24/7. It's like being outdoors but we're sitting in our living room. From our front porch, we watch the sun rising over Mt. Haleakala as it lights up the sky in beautiful reds/oranges. It's breathtaking! We received a warm welcome from the whole Asato clan when arriving a few weeks ago.

Ryan and I spoke at Grace Bible Church Maui and the following weekend at our Wailuku Extension Church. We shared about what God has been doing in our lives and how He brought us to Maui. Ryan did an AWESOME job speaking and sharing about God's goodness.

Lucas is exploring every nook in our home. He climbed into the sink and soaked himself!

We celebrated Jocelyn and Malia's birthdays!!

Friday's have been our "family days". We pick up the kids from school and head to the beach to end the day together in the sun and waves. We eat musubi's (seaweed, rice, meat) and treat ourselves to shaved ice(snow cones). Then we end the night watching old home movies.

Here's the girls on their first day of school. Riley is starting Kindergarten at Emmanuel Lutheran and Malia is in preschool at Grace Bible Church. They LOVE it!! We are so blessed to have 2 wonderful schools. The girls are transitioning well!

Sunday nights is family dinner with the Asato's. It's usually at Great Grandma's house but this time we went to Kamaole Beach in Kihei to watch the sunset.

Riley, Caedon, Alexis and Malia

Hopefully I'll get some pics of our home and the views up for the next posting!!

Cadillac Weekend

We spent last weekend in Cadillac with the entire Husted family! Kent & Becky hosted all of us at their new home!! Becky is amazing and was able to pull off hosting while being pregnant and recently moving in. Kent shot a skunk with his shot gun, we played a ton at the beach, visited with the whole Husted extended family and spent quality time together.

We celebrated Malia's 4th and Brandon's 6th Birthdays at the Beach!!

Uncle Kent held a gun lesson to show the kids the dangers of guns and that they are tools and not toys.

The boys ran a friendly 5k race together!! What a fit bunch!

What a fun time together as a family!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Riley went to her first dance at our church and dad was her date!

She was so excited and walking on clouds to have a special day with dad.

Here they are getting ready to leave the house...

Here they are having fun at the dance....even Ryan got into it!!

Riley sat right by the prize table and had her eye on this bucket the entire night. She was so happy when she finally got to pick a prize!

It was a memorable night for Riley and she even got a special card from Dad to take home.

8 Days til MAUI

I can't believe that we have just 8 days til our big move back to the islands. We've enjoyed quality time with friends and family over the past few months.

July 4th weekend, we spent the day in Portland with the Husted clan...playing water balloons/sprinklers in the yard and going to the Portland parade!

One night, we did fireworks with the Nickel clan. We put them down to bed at 7:30 and woke them at 9:30 for the fun!! Betsy made yummy smores and the kids had a blast!

We went to the Delhi Rocks Carnival where Jenna and Riley rode ponies and Peyton and Malia rode the trains.

We also hosted a birthday bash for Mom Husted! We grilled burgers, hot dogs and had Mom's favorite strawberry cheesecake. Yum!

Quick Update

I haven't had much time to blog so I'm going to give you a quick update on the latest...

This was our last gathering with the Boss's, Redd's, Jarvis', Love's & Coleman's. We will miss everyone and the sweet friendship that we've shared!

We enjoyed a beautiful 70 degree day on the lake at Hawk Island! Malia was freaking out on the row boat...she thought we were going to tip over and Luc didn't like wearing his life jacket. Everyone was happy on the paddleboat though!! All laughs and squeals!Luc has one drawer that he's allowed to play in and he makes himself at home!
The girls love to take care of their little brother. He doesn't like it so much.

Our Michigan Home

We estimated shipping our things to Maui and it'll cost more than what our things are worth. So.....we're selling EVERYTHING and taking just 2 suitcases each. Starting all over on Maui!!

Our kids were born in Michigan and we've lived in the same house since the birth of our first child, Riley. I'm posting pictures so the kids will always remember their first home....

Moving from Michigan to Maui!!

After 17 years living on the mainland, we're making the big move back to the islands to minister alongside the Asato family on Maui. To better understand our heart behind this move, see my dad's letter to our Michigan staff team below.....

April 12, 2010

Dear Trinity Leadership,

I want to, first of all, thank you for the incredible impact you have had on my daughter, Sharina Husted, over the past 8 years. What she has experienced with you has produced in her a great love for God and a passionfor ministry that, as a father, has brought great joy to my heart. Because of you, she has grown in her faith and desire to serve the Lord. I cannot thank you enough for the investment you’ve made and the fruit it has born in her and her family.

As a family, we realized that every time she returned for vacation her excitement over what God was doing at Trinity made it impossible for her to consider moving back to Maui. We were happy and excited at what God was doing in your church and in her life. Currently, our church is in need of the gifts God has given Sharina. Sharina’s brother will soon assume my role as Senior Pastor. Though he has incredible gifts at leadership, preaching and vision casting, he lacks Sharina’s gift of organization and administration.

Sharina has always desired to serve together with our family on Maui, but it was never a financial reality. Over the past week, God orchestrated events that clearly showed us that God’s time had possibly come. To answer the question of financial reality, the recent passing of her grandfather released inheritance funds to provide a home and income for Sharina and her family. This would allow her to serve in ministry with us and she is open to this possibility.

Sharina has always carried a burden for ministry in Maui. During her recent visit, she sensed the same Spirit’s call for Maui that she became familiar with at Trinity which characterized every new challenge she assumed over the past 8 years. Our family concurred and it was confirmed through many financial miracles.

I would like to formally ask for your blessing to have Ryan and Sharina join our ministry team on Maui. As a father, this is a dream beyond anything I could have imagined. God is doing tremendous things in Maui. Last year, Maui eliminated hunger and became a prototype for many to follow. The marketplace is being impacted and Christians are assuming greater roles in government. Something special is stirring on the island, but the church lacks a net for the harvest that Sharina’s gifts in structures and systems can help create.

Her ministry will have an impact beyond our church and will impact the island.I truly believe that what God does here will affect the Pacific Rim and many other nations. I humbly ask for your further investment in Sharina by releasing her and Ryan to serve in Maui. The deposit of your life through her will impact nations around the world.

Sincerely,

Pastor Edward Asato

Lucas 1st Birthday

Lucas turned 1 last weekend!! I can't believe how quickly he's grown. He's a bundle of joy and constantly has Ryan and I in stitches. Here he is at his first birthday party! Papa, Nana, Aunt Becky, Uncle Chad, Aunt Angie, cousins Brandon and Eli all joined us for the fun! I baked a baseball jello cake with cool whip frosting. I had a store bought back up cake just in case things didn't turn out.Lucas got a bunch of "summer clothes" as we're packing up for Maui soon.
Can't get MSU wear on Maui!!

He's pretty excited about his first bite of cake!!

Getting ready to jump in....Messy & Happy fella...

He lights up our life! Can't have a bad day with this little guy around.