May 2016 – The Nakatsu Family

Secrets, Surprises, and Celebrations!

It’s hard to believe that the month of May has come and gone. The past few weeks have been especially busy around here as they have contained a graduation, two birthdays, and a surprise party! Let me first explain the title of this post. Secrets- many secrets have been floating around our house lately whether they have related to a birthday gift or the plans to throw a surprise party for a certain 50 year old (DAD!) Surprises- It goes without saying that a 50th birthday surprise party *must* be kept a surprise!! It’s actually quite funny that Dad was preparing a surprise graduation video for me while I was working on a surprise birthday gift for Kerry who was planning a surprise party for Dad! Yikes! Celebrations- We enjoyed celebrating my graduation along with Kerry’s and Dad’s birthdays, all within about a week!

For the past couple months we have been plotting a surprise birthday party for my dad. (Note: my dad is EXTREMELY hard to surprise and very suspicious, which added to the ~~stress~~ fun!) We decided to disguise the party as a graduation party for me (technically it was for both of us, but he of course was oblivious to that little detail!)

My job was to distract the birthday boy for a few hours on Saturday (party day!). The humorous part is that he thought he was taking me out to distract me while “my” party decorations were being set up! 😉

Laying tape at the hangar earlier that day (another distraction!)

A graduation table set up for the party 🙂

My dad’s cousin, Marty, is an AMAZING pastry chef. He made cakes for both of us! Dad’s was a chocolate mousse cake (containing 8 different types of chocolate!) and mine was strawberry cheesecake 😀

Dad’s good friend Richard brought him a raspberry pie…take a closer look!

How cool is that?!! 0x32 is the number 50 in hexadecimal format. Yep, they’re really smart!!

A party just isn’t the same without a…confetti cannon!!

Then came Dad’s actual birthday…

Whew! We sure had fun with all these surprises, but it’s nice to be back to non-whispering-and-suspicious mode. 🙂 Now everything is finally out in the open around here…no secrets!!

[box] “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” ~ Psalm 62:7[/box]

Katey’s Graduation!

Tonight we gathered to celebrate Katey’s graduation from high school. I had anticipated this milestone in Katey’s life for many years but am amazed at how fast it came! The ceremony was sponsored by Arizona Families for Home Education and was a fitting tribute to each student and their families for their hard work in training up children in the nurture and admonition of The Lord. I appreciated the charge given by Congressman Trent Franks to honor The Lord in everything.

As a father, I could not be more proud of Katey as I have been blessed to witness the mighty hand of God at work in her life, especially over the last four years. We made the transition from public schooling to teaching our children at home just four years ago, as Katey was about to begin her freshman year. That decision was met with “Dad, you are RUINING MY LIFE!” as you might imagine. It was tough, just like we expected it to be, but God, in His faithfulness, began to transform her heart almost immediately. He took a 13 year-old girl who was concerned only with being accepted by the world, and brought forth a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Now begins a new path in her life as she seeks opportunities to minister to and serve others during her single years.

Join us as we celebrate His work and His faithfulness in and through Katey.

[box]”Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.”

Ephesians 5:15-21[/box]

ATI Family Conference – 2016

Last month we had the privilege of attending the annual ATI Family Conference held in Big Sandy, Texas. We look forward to this trip each year as we anticipate solid messages and heartening fellowship with old and new friends alike.

Before I discuss what actually happened at the conference, let me back up to a few days beforehand. We had initially planned to fly ourselves (Dad being the pilot of course) to the conference, but after observing some hazardous weather patterns, decided that might not be the safest choice. So the Saturday before the conference (which started on Tuesday evening), we made last-minute plans to fly commercially to Dallas/Fort Worth then to Longview where we would rent a car and drive to Big Sandy. In accordance with our plan, we boarded a plane *early* Sunday morning. After sitting in a plane on the tarmac for two hours, we were informed that the flight was going to be canceled because of the aforementioned storm. Disappointed, we headed home, not quite sure what to do next. After all, it was too late to drive at this point. A short while later, it was decided that we would fly in our plane to Odessa, TX (which was just outside the wall-of- a-storm) and, well, figure out the rest when we got there! I think we were all just eager to begin our vacation! So we made it to Odessa and, upon weather-watching the following morning, opted to rent a car and drive seven hours to our final destination.

Praise the Lord, that we arrived safe and sound, and were able to enjoy a wonderful week at the conference! Now enough words! The pictures speak for themselves!

At the Odessa terminal, the Wildcatter! Good times! Odd name, fabulous service.

On the drive to Big Sandy, we spotted a Golden Chick!!! If you've never been, you are missing out!! I believe they only have them in OK and TX! Golden Chick may even rival Chick-fil-a! — On the drive to Big Sandy, we spotted a Golden Chick!!! If you’ve never been, you are missing out!! I believe they only have them in OK and TX! Golden Chick may even rival Chick-fil-a!

On Monday night, we had the privilege of meeting the Thomas family from Georgia. We enjoyed playing countless rounds of Spoons with the Thomases and the Ciampis (our fellow Arizonan friends). Afterwards we headed to the volleyball court to join the ongoing game before calling it a night. That was definitely the best night of the week for many of us!

Lauren and I enjoyed spending time with our good friend, LiliAnna, during the conference days.

It was so sad to leave after an amazing and refreshing week, but we were grateful to have such faithful friends to bid us farewell!

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“Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

~ Hebrews 10:25

The Nakatsu Family

Monthly Archives: May 2016

Secrets, Surprises, and Celebrations!

Katey’s Graduation!

ATI Family Conference – 2016