Author: Kerry Nakatsu

Sound Foundations 2019

Whew!  It’s been a REALLY long time!  Sorry for the way overdue post!  

This past summer, I had the wonderful privilege of attending Sound Foundations in Big Sandy, Texas!   For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Sound Foundations is a three week long music education course, “equipping musicians for excellence.”  This course includes classes such as choral training, music history, music theory, hymnology, orchestration, and much more!  Each day includes scheduled classes, study hall time (for tests in theory and music history or to work on assignments), and practice time on your instrument!  It may sound a little intimidating at first (and it was at times), but I learned soooo much and made life long friends.

I was blessed to be able to attend with my good friend, Mia.  We were placed on Team 6 together and enjoyed getting to share a dorm room and a Jack and Jill bathroom with six other girls!  Let’s just say, eight girls sharing one bathroom…… was a LOT of fun!  Having three sinks and two showers helped.  We pretty much did everything with our team members, and our hearts were really knit together during those three weeks.   The whole class of students included 50 something (?) young men and women.

Our whole class participated in choral training almost every day for two hours, practicing amazing arrangements of songs, including Thine Be Glory and several selections from the Messiah by George Frideric Handel.  For several of the songs, students who play a stringed instrument would accompany the remaining students with an orchestra.  This was one of the highlights of my time there!  Since I don’t play a stringed instrument, I sang.  The music was challenging to sing, but thanks to our incredible instructors, we were able to pull them off really well!  We performed these songs on the concert/graduation night before family and friends.

I truly cannot put into words how amazing this course was for me!  At first, I was a little apprehensive and thought, “Well, I’m not super amazing on the piano.  I’m not sure I can do this!!!”  I am here to tell you that every piece of me is so thankful and so glad that I went!   I learned so much about music while having an indescribable amount of fun!  Another great thing about Sound Foundations is that the instructors, teachers, and those involved really seek to teach you how to honor the Lord with the skills HE has given you.  That is the main focus of the course.  The atmosphere was refreshing and encouraging, and I cannot recommend it enough.  

If you think you might be interested, pray about it and talk with your parents about it.  And by the way, you DO NOT have to be Bach or some music prodigy to attend!  Not at all! The instructors work with you where you are in your music career.  

Here’s a funny memory:  One afternoon, Mia and I were in the study hall building sitting in one of the hallways helping each other study.  All of a sudden, a couple yards away was this nasty bug (I think a roach) crawling around.  Ya know, Texas bugs.  Of course, just being your average girls, we started getting a little uncomfortable.  Mia decided to stand up and try to squash it.  So after putting her shoes on, she proceeded to stomp her foot on the floor in an attempt to kill it.    As I watched her, I was thinking,”Hah! Mia!  Your aim is off by like 5 inches!”  The bug scurried away quickly underneath a filing cabinet thing.  It was ok; at least the thing was out of our sight!

A little bit later, as we were sitting in the lobby among our fellow students (who, not to mention, were quietly studying) I felt something on the back of my neck.  I decided to kind of move my hair just to make sure something wasn’t on me!  Well sure enough, when I did, what we are pretty sure was a wasp fell onto the floor!!! Mia and I both stood up quickly to squash it!  Meanwhile our other classmates are probably wondering, “What’s the matter with them?”   I decided to try to give it a good stomp.  As I lifted my foot to crush it, it turns out I have bad aim too!  My foot missed the bug and landed right on Mia’s foot! Oh no! 

The wasp did face it’s death, and Mia’s foot ended up being ok.  THE END.

Anyway, enough words!  How about some pictures!?

Branson 2017

It had been almost 6 years since our last visit to Branson,  so we decided to head back to re-visit many of the places that made the last trip so enjoyable.  It was a very smooth flight and only took us a little over 4 hours.

After checking into the Stillwater Resort on Branson’s beautiful Table Rock Lake, we enjoyed an evening at the Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction where we celebrated the American spirit. After a friendly North and South competition, we were brought to our feet singing the Star Spangled Banner and giving thanks to God in our hearts for the land that He has given us. Aside from the show, eating a four-course meal (complete with a whole mini-roasted chicken), all with our hands, was a highlight of the evening. So was the pre-dinner show by “Skeeter & Nugget”. We left there that night singing the words to the song “Long Black Train.” The chorus goes like this: “’Cause there’s victory in the Lord I say. Victory in the lord! Cling to the Father and His holy name, and don’t go riding on that long Black Train.” There’s wisdom in those words.

Day two brought us to Silver Dollar City, an 1880’s theme park with action-packed rides, demonstrations from craftsmen like blacksmith’s and glass blowers, and good old-fashioned entertainment. Us girls braved the Outlaw Run which ranks in as #7 on the list of the World’s Top 50 Wood Coasters. The coaster soars over the Ozark Mountains, but I don’t think any of us paid much attention to the landscape. We were too busy screaming as we dropped 162 feet (more than 16 stories) at 81degrees, went upside down on a 720-foot double barrel roll, and reached top speeds of 68 mph. Some of the thrill rides we did twice, but that one…once was enough!

After a good night’s sleep digesting Pizza World’s pizza pies, we made our way to Runaway Mountain Coaster for another exciting adventure. None of us knew what a mountain coaster was prior to our arrival, but we soon found out that it is a coaster that uses the lay of the land and changes in elevation to provide a ride around the natural features of an area. In this case, it was around the beautiful Ozarks. It was definitely a new experience for all of us. Each of us got into our own cart and was pulled to the top of a mountainous area by a chain. Once at the top, we got to pick our own thrill levels as we rode down to the bottom on tracks. Kory is the only one who didn’t use his brakes the entire ride down. We had no idea what a thrill-seeker he was! Well, actually, he said he was trying to impress us girls. We told him he already impresses us. Poor guy hurt his back as a result and was stiff for the next 24 hours. Would he do it again? He said he sure would.

The afternoon brought us to one of the highlights of our trip, seeing “Moses” at Sight and Sound Theatre. This is the third live show we have seen (after Noah and Joseph), and Lord willing, we will go back to see Samson next year. The Bible comes to life in these shows, and we always leave with a meaningful message, and gratitude that Christ was honored.

On Sunday morning, we attended Friendly Baptist Church that we had visited six years prior. Although Millie, the 95-year-old banjo player, had passed away, we remembered her, and were grateful for the opportunity to worship with other believers outside of our state. The lyrics to one particular song stood out to us. They go like this: “Dig it shallow; dig it deep. It don’t matter much to me. That old grave’s just a hole in the ground.” Well, if you know Christ, those words ring true. That old grave is just a hole in the ground. There is no fear in death when you know you have life in Jesus Christ.

After church, we spent the afternoon cruising around in a pontoon boat on Table Rock Lake. The weather was beautiful, but the water was a wee bit cold this time of year. Katey and Lauren braved the chilly waters and went tubing for a while, and then we spent the remainder of the day laying poolside where we were able to warm up and take some naps. We played dozens of games of Bananagrams in our hotel room throughout the week, enjoyed lots of laughs, and made great memories.

Our last day in Branson found the girls ziplining on over two-miles of zipline cables, soaring seventy feet above the ground. Lauren even rode upside down at one point, and Katey enjoyed the swinging rope bridges. Kory and I sat on rocks and thanked the Lord for the solid rock we stood on. Pun intended! We ended our stay with lunch at the Farmhouse restaurant, trying to convince ourselves that calories don’t count on vacation. Who are we kidding?

Just when you’d think our adventures were over, we ended the trip by flying to Chandler, Oklahoma, to visit the Danker family. What a treat it was to fellowship with them in their home and get to know their family better. Their faith in Jesus inspires us, and we see the fruit that the Lord is working out in their lives. We enjoyed dinner with them at a local Mexican restaurant.

Afterward, Mr. Danker was kind enough to give us the grand tour of his office at Buckventures. He loaded us up with souvenir deer antlers, a turkey call, and plenty of t-shirts and hats! We are so grateful for the fellowship we enjoyed and the generosity they showed us, thank you Danker Family!

We departed a rainy Oklahoma in the early evening and just as we broke out of the clouds at 14,000 feet, we were awestruck by the majesty of God’s creation. Kory was able to capture this picture but as is usually the case, it doesn’t do justice to what we saw.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1

When Trees Give You Lemons…

make lemonade!! And might I add, the best lemonade you’ll ever try! We’re so blessed to live around many citrus trees (orange, lemon, grapefruit, tangelo…). While most of our trees produce oranges, we do have one lemon tree that yielded quite a crop this year. Interestingly, Arizona is one of two states that produce the most lemons. The other is California. Our favorite thing to do with fresh lemons is squeeze them and freeze the concentrate so that we (and other appreciative consumers) can enjoy the delicious lemonade year-round!

What fruits/veggies grow where you all live?

“He has made everything beautiful in its time…”

– Ecclesiastes 3:11

Greer 2016

This is my first post so leave a reply if you would like! Two weeks ago, our family was blessed to be able to enjoy some time in the beautiful White Mountains of northern Arizona. We stayed in a little town called Greer that has only a couple of restaurants and one tiny grocery store, the Lazy Trout. When we think of Greer, we think of cool weather, incredible storms, and a pretty forest.
Prior to us heading to Greer, we actually had no plans of leaving town over the Labor Day weekend. However, after looking at my school schedule, and realizing that we had taken Labor Day off, we started brainstorming what we could do for the next three days. The thought of heading to Greer came to us instantly, so we prayed about this decision and thanked God for this sudden opportunity to get away for some family fun!
We packed our bags quickly while dad made a flight plan, and then we took off. We arrived at the Springerville airport 40 minutes later and were able to borrow a car, which happened to be an old police car! ☺ Had we driven, it would have taken us 4-1/2 hours!
Once we arrived at our little cabin (called Aspen), we unloaded our things and enjoyed wearing jackets outside ☺! Later, we were fortunate to be able to move to the vacant Willow cabin that overlooked a little meadow. It was so quaint and cozy. After putting our stuff away, we took a walk around the campsite and then walked across the street where we enjoyed the swings and teeter-totter. That night, we enjoyed dinner at Molly Butler’s Lodge!
The next day was our first and last full day in Greer, as it really was a short weekend. That day was filled with walking on trails, painting out in the meadow (which was nice, but the wind didn’t help!), and me getting some experience behind the wheel! ☺ We also enjoyed spending time in our cabin together.
The next morning, we departed for home with joyful hearts after a short, but wonderful stay in Greer!

“Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy” – Psalm 96:12

Co-op(eration)

This home-school year has been a lot of fun when it comes to co-op groups. Three families have joined together to provide different educational and social activities that have been a huge hit with our children. We designated every Wednesday of the month for a different activity.

The first Wednesday of the month is an art class; the second Wednesday is sewing, and the third Wednesday of the month is cooking. I don’t know who is having more fun, the girls or me!

We started our cooking course with a class titled “Preparing for Success in the Kitchen.” They learned all about kitchen first aid, tools and utensils, appliances, the use of knives, cooking terms, common abbreviations, equivalents, and measuring accurately.  Then we got into the hands-on cooking classes: “Quick Breads”, “Yeast Breads”, and “Baking Cakes”. They have made Irish soda bread, banana muffins, biscuits, a sweet buttery bunt cake, and red velvet cake. Now c’mon, who wouldn’t like cooking class!

Our most recent class was “Fruits and Vegetables”. The girls learned how to pick ripe fruits and vegetables and how to properly store and freeze them. They were then able to practice different cuts on a variety of fruits and vegetables, from chopping, dicing, and mincing, to roll-cutting, bias cutting, and julienne.

In addition to learning to prep fruits and vegetables, they learned different cooking methods such as baking, boiling, steaming, roasting, blanching, and stir-frying.

We also made garlic and Parmesan roasted green beans, caramelized onions, and baked apples with brown sugar and butter which they got to enjoy at the end of the class with snicker-doodle ice cream. Yumm!

[box] “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’”

(Genesis 1:29).[/box]

Praise God for the bountiful harvest that He has supplied!