The Faith of Our Children

It is a busy time for the Kawa'a family!  Kamalani has waited two years to enter her first solo hula competition, Hula O Na Keiki.  Competition is now just two weeks away!  We are preparing her physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally for this special opportunity.

This picture was taken in New York City.  Kamalani is sitting at the window of our hotel room at the Westin.
This is the day I found out Kamalani would be the next Hula O Na Keiki soloist.

As she prepares, we still have three other busy children with football, Scouts, activities, music gigs, and more.  Inevitably, this can cause schedule conflicts.  For instance, Kamalei's last football game, which also happens to be Homecoming and his first game playing after a four week academic probation is the same night as Kamalani's Kahiko presentation for her competition!  Initially we encouraged Kamalei to be on the field with his team, but recently he has been having other promptings.

If you know Kamalei, he is a very unselfish person and thinks of others before himself.  He is also very reflective and contemplative.  He shared with us tonight that he has been praying about it and he feels he should be there for his sister.  Both Llewellyn and I and even Kamalani were surprised to hear him say that.  Kamalani immediately encouraged her brother to play his last game of the season, but Kamalei answered saying that he will continue to pray about it.

I really admire both of Kamalani and Kamalei.  They both have showed tremendous love for each other through the support they extend to each other.  Kamalani is in the stands every football game with hand-made signs cheering her brother on.  She is there even when Kamalei isn't playing!  Kamalei, in return, is having a hard time thinking of his sister on stage at her first solo competition without him there.  I think it really is affecting Kamalei because he has been through this competition, and won!  

Kamalei - Master Hula O Na Keiki 2008

I continue to be amazed at the decisions my children make.  I am so thankful that on their own, without us telling them to, they pray for answers to their questions.  They already have a testimony of petitioning the Lord through prayer.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted these special, valiant, righteous spirits in our care as they are examples to me each day!

LDS Tech 101

Well, as you can see, I spiced up our blog today!  Since I am home sick and can't do much, I decided to focus on learning more about blogs and how to add your own flare.  I am still learning, but I think I did pretty good so far.

Hi, I'm Luana, and I'm a Mormon!

As I was viewing other blogs to get ideas, I browsed through some LDS blogs.  I noticed that many of them had a gadget that linked to their mormon.org profiles.  I thought this was a great idea!  I had started a mormon.org profile a while back, but never completed it.  I finished it today and now I have a pretty gadget on my blog that you click on and it links my blog readers to my mormon.org profile!  What a great way to spread the Gospel.  The mormon.org profile also allows you to link to your blog, facebook, and twitter.  It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father is using technology to share His Gospel!  Click here to create your profile!

LDS APPS

For those of you who are into phone apps, there are some great LDS apps out there. Here is a list of apps I use and highly recommend - 

• Gospel Library - provides a vast selection of LDS materials including the full quad of scriptures
• Scripture A Day - this is a widget that shares a new scripture each day
• LDS Youth - a wonderful new app with links to youth material and music
• Mormon Channel - talks, music, radio

The best part of all is that these apps are all FREE!

LDS TOOLBAR

The LDS Toolbar can be downloaded for free.  The toolbar gives you access a wealth of LDS online resources.  In adddition, the search mechanism is filtered so you will never pull up inappropriate sites when doing a search.  You can even listen to BYU Radio and other LDS stations right from your toolbar.  I found it fascinating just browsing through all the LDS sites! Click here to download the toolbar now!

May we all use technology in meaningful ways that help in our efforts to build the kingdom of God!

Righteous Youth

Righteous Youth meets "Da Green" at Teen Expo 2011.
(Kamalani, Nawai, Kamalei, and Kamaehu)

After our temple trip in March, Kamalei (Bubba) shared that he had a strong prompting to start a band.  He shared how Sister Haroldeen Ortiz had taught a lesson in Seminary about sharing your God-given talents.  She shared a personal story about not using talents wisely and losing that gift.  It made an impression on Kamalei, even thought Sister Ortiz probably thought he was sleeping through all her early morning lesson! LOL Kamalei said, "Mom, I don't want to lose my talent.  I feel like I need to share it and not be shame!"  A few weeks later, Righteous Youth was born.

In the past seven months the band has been so blessed!  They met Nawai'eha Kala, who is now one of their brothers.  They added Kamalani to the band, bringing a sweet, distinct female voice.  They lost some members along the way, but those were lessons learned.  They have gained powerful mentors.  Lukela Keala "Uncle Kela" of Ekolu has become their greatest mentor and example and through his support, Righteous Youth had the opportunity to open for the CD release party of Manali'i at Lulu's in Lahaina.


They have been blessed with many "gigs" and have started to actually get paid for their music!  Here is a list of "gigs" they have done so far:

• Graduation Parties
• Birthday Parties
• Weddings
• Family Gatherings
• Pono and Zabrie's Grad Party
• Maui Mall Talent Night
• Fourth of July Fireworks Show in Lahaina
• Teen Expo (Opened for "Da Green")
• Mahina Santiago's First Birthday
• Justin Paredes' First Birthday
• Wimberley Wedding

And that's just the past six months!  The best thing about the band is that they are all so young.  Kamalani is 16 and she does vocals.  Kamalei (Bubba) is 15 and he plays drums and 'ukulele and is the lead vocalist.  Nawai'eha is 14 and plays 'ukulele and vocals.  Kamaehu is just 13 and he plays electric and upright bass and vocals.  It's amazing to see this young talent.  They truly live up to their name, "Righteous Youth" in their words and actions.  Their love for God and foundation in the Gospel is their greatest asset!

I know that Righteous Youth will continue to grow musically and spiritually.  I am so grateful that these fine young youth have their hearts centered on Christ and willingly share the talents He has blessed them with.  

Mahalo ke Akua!

Thanks be to God!

Back on the Blog!

It has been a long time since I posted in our family blog!  2011 is almost over and the last post was in January 2010!  Now that I have made some changes in how I am choosing to spend my time, I am determined to devote more time and energy to this blog!

So many things have happened since my last post.  I will try to slowly catch up with past events while keeping current events at the forefront.

Kamalani is now 16!  We celebrated her Sweet Sixteen in August with a Candylicious Dance Party!  It was so much fun!  She is preparing for her solo hula competition next month.  Still active in Young Women, she is now a Laurel.  She sings with the band Righteous Youth.

Kamalei is 15 and playing and playing Football for Baldwin High School Bears!  He is number 72.  Our family spends our Friday nights at the game, cheering him on.  He is still in Hula and preparing for his first Merrie Monarch competition in April 2012.  He is the lead singer in the band Righteous Youth.

Kamaehu is 13 and in the 8th grade - his last year at Kalama.  He will be playing Football for Baldwin next year.  Ehu is the bass player and vocalist with Righteous Youth.  Like his brother, Kamaehu is preparing for his first Merrie Monarch competition.  He will also be the halau's solo dancer next year at Hula O Na Keiki!

Kamahiwa is 11 and just started middle school at Kalama.  He took a break from hula, but is thinking about going back in January.  He is finding his singing voice and hopes to join Righteous Youth soon!  He is class representative, in Student Council, and helping to plan events at Kalama School.

Llewellyn and I are doing our best to keep up with our children!  We still try to have our special date nights even with our busy schedules.  I am teaching 7th grade English at Kalama School and in a Master's in Education program.  Llewellyn is still painting and just completed his annual volunteer effort at the Maui Fair.  He serves in the Young Men and Scouting at church.  I am serving on the Stake Young Women Presidency and as the Stake Birth Parent Coordinator.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our foundation!  Families are forever and we love to see the temple!