LDHQ: Easter 2012: Part 2

Our church family has been such a big part of our love for Okinawa. After 3 years of watching others come and go, it was weird to finally be that family standing at the front with the mic, talking about what we'll miss and what God has taught us during our time in Okinawa. When we first arrived on island, we were approaching our 2nd year of marriage, with our first baby on the way, and it was our first duty station -- life was already extremely different from when we were back home. But God knew the kind of support we needed and didn't fail to provide it! We found our place amidst a small intimate church where we connected with families young and old, where we could be influenced and nurtured by those more experienced than us, and we even became close friends with our pastor and his family. Easter with our church was the perfect time to spend some last moments with everyone.

Here's our Pastor and his lovely family. We've never become so close to our church pastor before (quite hard to when always attending large churches!) so we're definitely thankful our paths crossed and that we could serve together. We'll sure miss you guys and the great times hanging out, chatting late night, playing the game Settlers, and of course our awesome arrangement of swapping babysitting! Leyna will definitely miss her best friend Justin!

After a great celebration service, we had the annual big Easter event at Comprehensive Park, with games, egg hunts, potluck picnic, and just good ole lounging around in the beautiful Okinawan weather(thankfully we were rain free this year!)

The wonderful Fernandez family was in our first small group, so they've watched Leyna grow since before she was one. Leyna was always drawn to their daughter, Danielle, so naturally Danielle became Leyna's first babysitter and a great one she was! They're a solid family of the Word and we've gained so much valuable parenting advice from them. We're definitely thankful for their wisdom and support!

Our friend Joe and his cool kids (his lovely wife Wendy isn't pictured). Joe's a super dad, Pampered Chef rep, great scuba instructor, and has been an awesome spiritual accountability for Danno in our church's men's ministry. Leyna had a blast with their family when Courtney would babysit her. Their family's fun spirit is always uplifting and contagious - never a dull moment!

April and her sweet daughters. Her husband Zach had been deployed at this time, so we missed him, but he safely returned just after we moved off the island (Welcome back Zach!). Their family had been part of our 2nd small group this past year and it's been such a joy to know them, laugh with them, and grow as a family with them. We always loved to see Leyna having such a great time with the girls and we know she'll miss the good times with them too.

Shastity, Jeremy & Jr. were also in our 2nd small group. They're another wonderful family rooted in Christ and have been a huge blessing and spiritual support to us. Shastity grew to become like a sister to me - a rare friendship you don't come across often, and surely one to value for a lifetime!

Leyna's new classmate, Kaia, started coming to our church so Leyna really enjoyed playing with her friend. The two were having endless fun just jumping in place!

Here' pics of Leyna with her best buddy Justin. Leyna lights up hearing his name, and when they're together, they've got amazing energy that could easily outlast the Energizer bunny! Babysitting is so easy when they're together.