13 House Guests

What would be your initial reaction to learning that you will be having 11 junior high kids and 2 adults staying at your house tomorrow night? :)

So - Here is my story. Tuesday this week I found out that I would have Thursday off work. The marketing department was going on their annual “outing” and no one would be working that day. I got very excited to have a day off and decided to not make any plans so I could have a day of rest and relaxation J

A little backround that helps to make this story great – Sean and Jill Murphy, a very close friends of Nick’s (and now mine!) live with their family in Kona. They help teach in a co-op school (sort of like homeschool, but different parents teach different subjects) with about 11 – 15 other junior high kids. He called me in August saying that the kids and 2 adults would be traveling to Oahu to study up on Hawaiian history and culture. They had called the YWAM base, but there was no room for them to stay, so he wanted to know if they could all crash at our place. I was so excited to have them! He said they would be coming October 24^th. I was very glad to have this to look forward to.

So back to September 23^rd, this past Wednesday. I am getting ready to leave the house for some errands and I notice I have a voicemail on my phone. I listen to it, it’s from Sean, “Hey Becky, It’s Sean. We are so stoked to see you tomorrow…” !!!! :D hahah! I got the hugest smile and laughed out loud – Tomorrow?? It was September 24^th and not October!

Now at this point, (back to my initial question) I think the majority of people would freak out and ask themselves why they agreed to house that many junior highers. I, on the other hand, got so excited and I got one of those smiles that you cannot wipe off your face for 20 minutes straight. I got SO excited and started thinking about what I could make us all for dinner!!

So, jumping ahead to Thursday, I slept in a little bit, got up and read my Bible, then set my kitchen timer for one hour – I was only going to let myself clean for one hour, then enjoy the rest of my day off! I cleaned, then headed to white plains beach to lay out and read.

After that, I headed up to have lunch with my friend Aubrie at Chilis with her little Reiko. I got home and decided to rest and read a little bit more, when I got a call from my friend and neighbor Desirre that a monk seal was hanging out at the beach in front of her house! I got up, grabbed my camera and headed over.

This is Sage, Desirre's little girl, checking out the seal.

Mrs. Monk Seal.

Desirre and Sage.

love this! my silly faces have begun to rub off...

After that cool sight, around 4, I started to cook. Now, I have never prepared food on my own for 13-15 people. When I went ot the store I just sort of eye-balled each item. Perfect amount! All that I had left over were taco shells! :D

My friend Faye and her 3 kids ended up coming over before the 13 came and it was Great having them at the house – so all together I made food for 18 people! Thank you Lord! It was hot, tasted pretty good and there were no leftovers :D

What we consumed:

1 family pack chicken thighs, 1 family pack of ground beef (5-7 pounds maybe?)

32 tacos shells

2 onions, 4 tomatoes, 2 heads lettuce

one pound of sour cream

192 oz / 5 and a half liters of lemonade.(which I got on sale for $8.47)

18 mochi pieces

(Breakfast):

16 eggo waffles, container of whip cream

Strawberries/raspberries

2 bagels, 2 english muffins, 12 strudel muffins

2 apples, 3 oranges

:) You have no idea how fun it was to go shopping for all this! I LOVE the feeling of having a packed pantry and LOVE having people in the house - I went to sleep so soundly and with so much piece, just knowing I was not the only one in the house!!

After mochi, we all walked to the mini-commissary to get some candy:

Then we walked to the beach:

Then we came back to the house and the team did a little debriefing of their first day. They then invited me in to share a bit of our story and for them to pray over me J It was such a sweet time, receiving praying from youth really blesses me. They also really prayed for Faye, my friend whose husband is away for quite some time with the army/navy.

After that, it was time to hit the sack!! The girls slept inside on the carpet, the guys outside on the blow-up mattress under the stars.

This morning we all had breakfast and then off they went! What a great group of kids! They washed all my dishes and put everything away - such a blessing!

The one picture I wish I had taken was one with all the shoes outside my door!! :D Just the thought of that one makes me happy. LOVE having a full house and people to feed and provide for. This was WAY more of a gift for me than it was for them.

What a jam-packed Blog Post huh?!?! :)

So, today it is back to work. I have a handful of left over English muffins and bagels…

Anyone want to come over for breakfast? :)

[I like using Nick's cup]

LOVE to ALL!