HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Sandi and i wish you a blessed 2007!

love ya,
andrew&sandi=)

random sightings...

on our fourth evening back home sandi and i went to a local surf shop (local motion) to listen to our friend Kainalu play. he gigs there once a week, and we were thankful to be able to go and listen to him sing! (mahalo, Kainalu...was good!!) after we were done we went to zippy's to grab a bite to eat with our friend jocelyn (who also happened to be the photographer at our wedding. mahalo jocelyn!!) just as we were finishing our meal i turned to my right and who should i happen to see, but Kevin and Pricilla.

kevin and i have been good friends for a number of years (we surfed together many times, we were both on staff at our respective churches, and he was on my wedding party 6 months ago), and i had met pricilla a few years back when we visited her church up in Seattle...before she moved to Hawaii. (she's a native "Seattalian" and was flying back home for Christmas the next day) i was scheduled to see kevin two days later (saturday) when a group of us planned to get together to pick up another good friend (Brian) from the airport (flying home from Japan). (...more on the Brian acquisition later) it was a pleasant suprise to stumble upon kev and pricilla at zippy's!

Pricilla, Kevin, Me and Sandi @ zippy's!

Anthony Quail

upon our arrival home, sandi and i made it a point to meet the newest member in the Tsumoto household...Anthony Quail. he is the latest addition to the family...and is literally a quail. if my memory serves me right, he was a gift to mom and dad Tsumoto from cory and ian (excellent gift, guys!!) he is quite tiny, doesn't really fly (unless you drop him...but then, it's more of a flutter to the ground), likes to run towards and jump on feet (which can be really awkward at first), and doesn't make any noise (unless it's 5:00 in the morning)...which makes it very hard to find him, should he ever become lost in the house.=) once you get to know him, he's really quite cool to hang out with. well...there he is: Anthony Quail! i hope that was a proper introduction. for the record, sandi and i thuroughly enjoyed meeting him!

Liliha Bakery: Cocoa Puffs!

one of the indigenous foods that we enjoyed eating is the cocoa puff from the one and only Liliha Bakery. this beautiful desert has a light baked outer shell, a chocolate-cream filled center, and a chantilly topping (tastes kinda like a creamy butterscotch spread) over the whole thing. these were definitely "broke da mout,'" and we recommend them to anyone at anytime!! (we couldn't even leave! here we are eating in the parking lot!!)

the anticipation: sandi holding our cocoa puffs...



the SMILE after the first bite...

enjoying mine...

Makino Chaya!!

Our trip home had many themes and priorities. among the top five priorities was food and friends! here we are with my good friend John Letoto and a few of his many family members. we were invited to lunch by Jeff and lisa, John's brother-in-law and older sister. for those who may not know, Makino Chaya is an all-you-can Japanese Buffet. it was sooo ono!! you may enjoy looking through these pictures (and i hope you do!)...but it will not compare with the enjoyment that we had eating all this food!

the cooked plate...


the raw plate (...so GOOD!)...

SAD JOHN: no more hamachi! (hamachi is john's favorite fish to eat. he was saddened to hear that they had stopped serving it during lunch times at the restuarant. he was even more saddened when he realized that they did serve some for lunch, and he had missed out on the initial serving)

HAPPY JOHN: more hamachi! (well, john hoped and prayed that they would replenish the platter...and they did!)

our journey home...

our journey home began on Saturday, December 16th with a 6:20pm flight out of the Philidelphia airport. we were on our way to L.A. for a 11.5 hour lay-over. this provided us with the opportunity to spend some time with some good friends. james and aya kwong picked us up at LAX at about 10:30ish and took directly to eat Pho.

it was interesting (and somewhat amusing) that james was cold...aya was freezing...and sandi was comfortable in a light jacket. she is adjusting to the cold east coast!=) anyway...it was time to party! ...grad party, that is. james had just graduated the day before with his Masters degree in Divinity from Talbot, and we (sandi and i) were buying! so we went to eat Pho...and curry...and spring rolls...and spicy stewed beef...and...other foods. it was a wonderful time with james and aya. (just for the record, i had stomach-flu-like-symptoms...and even though i barely touched my Pho...it still was great to be there)

after our meal we went back to the house, where james and aya live with ed, nora and josh! we got to meet aya's brand new taylor guitar...chat a bit with ed...and get to bed...for 6 hours (which we thought was GREAT!). at 6:15am we got up, packed up and headed to the airport. the night before we had planned to go to Panera Bread for some morning munchies. but, alas, when we got there in the morning it was closed. (closed at 6:30am??!!) so we went straight to the airport and caught our plane home to Hawaii!!=)

here we are at the house with James and Aya:



Sandi and Aya:

Me, Sandi, and Ed!

Our READING Christmas

sandi and i celebrated our Reading Christmas early this year. we gathered together to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to open our gifts on Friday, December 15th. this is because we would fly out of PHL, HNL bound, the next day. just to let you know, we had more gifts than the ones we gave each other. we had some local Reading gifts. and we were suprised by boxes that arrived from Hawaii in time for us to open them on the 15th! (mahalo to those who blessed us with Christmas gifts) here are some pics of us around our tree before we opened our gifts...




three of these four books (below) were gifts to me from sandi. (can you guess which one she got for herself??=) all three of these books were recomended reads from Bob Kauflin's blogsite: worshipmatters. these books--"True Worship," "Music Through the Eyes of Faith," and "The Enemy Within"--prescribe biblical guidelines for worship that honors and exalts GOD, and helps individuals involved in corporate worship times to evaluate their actions and motives so that they do not take away from the worship of GOD.

the book sandi got for herself is written by Carolyn Mahaney (wife of C.J. Mahaney). i've never read the book, but i've heard that it is wonderfully written to encourage women in becoming more godly wives and mothers. my prayer is that sandi will be strengthened in and by the things she learns, that her joy and delight in God would become a firmer foundation in her life, and that she will gain confidence as a woman who fears nothing but the holiness of God.

i am so blessed to have a wife who gets me gifts like these for Christmas--books that contain wisdom and truths that will last beyond this lifetime, and have the capacity to encourage and build up God's people...his Church. thank you sandi for knowing what is truly important in this life. and thank you God for showing sandi and me that YOU are more valuable than anything we can ever hope to possess in this lifetime. God is truly kind and gracious with his wondrous gifts to me!! i am blessed...

Jack Johnson: No Other Way

my sister sarah REALLY likes this song! ...i like it too! enjoy...

a special 6 month anniversary...

last monday made 6 months since sandi and i have been married! (yeah...i can't believe 6 months have come and gone that quickly either!!) it was a special day for many reasons. it was an extra special day in that we got to celebrate our 6 month anniversary for 27 hours. yup! as we traveled from the east coast to the west coast we gained 3 hours!! so, sandi and i had a very "unique" and wonderful 6 month anniversary!!

pictures from our honeymoon: the "darker" days...






a picture of us in Philidelphia on July 4th...the "lighter" days...

God has kindly given us many great days together, and we trust that there will be many more to come...

in anticipation of the "surf crew reunion"

SPECIAL MAHALO TO JACK JOHNSON!

Short Trip to BC

last monday sandi and i left on our fast and furious journey to Vancouver, British Colombia. i say "fast and furious" not because we drove anywhere at dizzying speeds, but because we set out on our journey knowing that the hours we would be traveling would outnumber the hours we would spend at our destination. yup...we traveled for a total of 33 hours (including layovers and a 2.5 hour delay in Chicago), and we were on BC soil for only 29 hours.

why this crazy trip, you ask? we were on our way to meet my dad, mom, sister, and grandma on the campus of Trinity Western University, where sarah, rachel, and i all attended for some length of time (and where i recieved my undergrad degree). the occasion was the giving and recieving of a painting--from my parents to the school--in Rachel Anuhea's honor. the painting, entitled "Quiet Storm," was one that Rachel was strongly drawn to and eventually ended up purchasing when she was home in Hawaii. it's painted by a local Japanese painter and is quite stunning. if you ever find yourself in the Vancouver, BC area and would like to visit the painting i'm sure the school would welcome your visit.


two tired but happy travellers!!

we had heard that it had snowed the week before...but we had no idea that so much would still be around one week later! here's a mini-van that was parked in the Vancouver Airport parking structure...

here's a view out the window on our 40 minute drive from the airport to the school...

On campus...

Here we are with Sam and Torie and their very healthy baby boy, Bennett!! Sam was the very first person from Trinity that i got to meet and speak with. he was doing a college fair in Hawaii before i had made my final decision to attend the school and we were able to hook up. i tell him he's the X-factor that sealed my decision to attend!! ...it's true=) (and now, he loves spam musubi, shoyu chicken, lumpia, and many other local favorites)

sandi and me with Dr. Calvin Townsend. both rachel and i had him (seperately) for the same 400 level class...Influential Christian Thinkers of the Western World. it was wonderful to talk with him again...

me with Tim McCarthy...godly man, song-writer, director and overseer of all the chapel worship teams (usually 4-6 per year), and proud father of 5 children!! (two are twins) congratulations Tim and family!!

This is me and my 2nd year Greek prof...Dr. Kent Clarke. though it is difficult to pick our a favorite prof out of the many wonderful professors i had the privilege of learning under, i thoroughly enjoyed learning from Dr. Clarke. as his smile conveys, he is always excited and energetic about what's going on. (he's a tremendously busy man/husband/father, yet his joy is deeply rooted in the foundation that can only be found in Christ) sandi and i were only with him for about 5 minutes, but it was such a rich 5 minutes. ...and sandi and i walked away encouraged and blessed. Mahalo Dr. Clarke!!

this is Robson, the jr./sr. housing building where i lived with Will for 1.25 years! good memories! good friends!! good times!!! good food!!!!=)

sandi and me in the snow...

on our first...last...and only morning in Langley, BC, sandi and i had the great honor of having breakfast with Pat and Cherry Sczebel. Pat is a humble friend, pastor, teacher, song-writer and primary worship leader at Crossway Communtiy Church in Cloverdale, BC where i attended for 2 years. it was the first time that they and sandi had met. not only was the food great! ...in the short time that we spent with them, they encouraged, cared-for, taught--for lack of a better term--"pastored" us so wonderfully. it was so good to visit with great friends! Mahalo Pat and Cherry!!

and if you thought that was a lot for 29 hours...i didn't even mention Amy's birthday party that i crashed at the Walsh's on Teusday night! (and that was after dinner with dad, mom, sarah, grandma and sandi at the Olive Garden...they had to get their fill...NO Olive Garden in Hawaii!) it was great to see old friends and meet new ones. God is growing His church in Cloverdale! what a wonderful group of people! sandi and i are definitely planning on returning to BC in the near future! there's a lot more people that she need's to meet! ...a lot of places to visit! ...and a lot of food to eat!! thanks be to God for such an amazing trip!!

Gingerbread Home Construction

last saturday sandi and i were invited to build gingerbread houses with Luanne and Leah from church. Dan, Luanne, Josh and Leah have been so kind and generous to us...we feel as though they have welcomed us into their ohana. so...GB home construction it was!

originally the plan was to bake the walls and roofs from scratch. in the end, however, the "wall and roof recipie" proved elusive and was nowhere to be found. oh well, plan B: GB houses in a box. i didn't even know they sold those. but apparently they do. all sorts and sizes can be purchased in a box complete with icing and candies for decorating. this may sound like cheating, but let me tell you, it consumed a good amount of our time and energy. (perhaps next time we'll set aside a WHOLE day and build it from scratch!)

well, it was a great day...lots of fun (and eating on the job=). ...i didn't realize how competitive GB home building could be!!=) ALL of the GB houses turned out BEAUTIFUL!! see for yourself. mahalo again to Luanne, Leah, and Dan (the REAL home builder/extender). it was great spending that time with you!!

Our Christmas Tree

we've had our tree for some time now. just a visual update to keep you in the loop. Merry Christmas from our home to yours. enjoy...

getting ready to bring the tree inside...


the tree is up and getting watered...

the lights go on...

final touches by sandi...

ALL PAU!! sandi is pleased with the final look...

next step: the ornaments! we'll keep you posted...

hobbies...

this past thanksgiving sandi decided to bake. now, for most people baking can be an added burden during the holiday season. for doctor's, however, the stress of baking pales in comparison to the daily demands of being a doctor...so much so, that detailed/precision baking (like the turkey's below) is exciting and very enjoyable. ...yes, even restful. here are some turkey's that sandi REALLY wanted to bake for our care group. they turned out wonderful!! and though she was concerned that people and children would think that they were too cute to eat, people (including myself), and especially children, had no problem wolfing them down. thanks sandi for making such delightful treats for the families in our caregroup! you're an outstanding baker!! ...and an amazing wife!!