Merry Christmas

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over the flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in a town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas !

~Em

Hawaii (Part 2)

As I said in my earlier post, see Hawaii Part 1, the Mauli-Ola foundation graciously sent me to Hawaii with a team of people to help run two events to raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis. Also part of that trip was ton of networking with surf companies and surfers to share with them about CF and the connection between CF and surfing/salt-water. We got to go to the O'Neill Sunset Contest and then the Pipe Masters contest (though the contest wasn't going the day we were there- it was all set up and ready to go). Through it all I got to meet some amazing people and share my life and story with them- and hopefully people know a little more about CF and want to get involved!
Here are a few pics of the contests, and awesome waves at Pipeline and fun people I met :)
~Em

Pipeline Masters 2008

Watching the waves & the pros surf at Pipeline- 15 ft. this day.

The crew watching Pipe at Mick O'Brien's house

Meeting CJ Hobgood- he won the Sunset contest that day!

Erin and I at the Sunset Contest

Hawaii (Part 1)

There is so much to tell and so many pictures to include!!
But let me first share the purpose of my trip and what we did...The Mauli Ola Foundation graciously sent me to Hawaii and paid for our team to go- we put on 2 events for raising awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. The first event was a golf tournament- we had many different surf companies and their surfers join us for this event and we raised money to put on a surf day for CF kids on the island! That was the highlight of my trip...seeing parents and kids get totally blessed by pro surfers from Volcom and Da Hui, it was an amazing day! We made sure that all contact/cross-contamination procedures were followed, so the kids were totally safe and each kid with CF got a private surf lesson from at least 2 pro surfers!!
A major thank you to Volcom for providing not only surfers, but an incredible heart behind the event- they truly loved on the kids. Also, major thank you to Da Hui and big surf influences on the island such as Mick O'Brien and Kala Alexander...everyone worked so hard to make that day happen, it was an awesome experience for the kids. Each kid came away with amazing memories :).
~Em

Check out this volcom blog to see pics from the golf tournament and surf day (scroll down to 12/5/08 and 12/7/08)...
http://www.volcom.com/flash/new_futures/provinggrounds/indexblog.html

Here are a few pics (I made them smaller so I could fit more in...there were so many to pick from!)

Mauli Ola Golf Tournament

Me, speaking to the golfers about CF

Erin and I rolling around in our golf cart...we didn't golf, but we had a lot of fun :).

Hanging with the Volcom team!

Hanging with the Mauli Ola Boys

Surf Experience Day for Cystic Fibrosis
Props to Volcom & Da Hui

Me and Mikey G...one of the managers for the Volcom team. Raddest guy ever!

Pro Surfer Alex Gray with 2 CF patients...rock on!

Me with surf pros, Kala Alexander and others from Da Hui

Everyone rocking the surf day on the beach at Haleiwa Beach Park

Me and Volcom pro surfer, Claire- she is a stud!

Where to start?

It's been about a week since I've posted, thats because...I've been in Hawaii! I didn't get a chance to post on here before I left, it feels like it was a whirlwind of getting there and then getting back today, but it was an incredible trip!! The purpose of the trip was to go with the Mauli Ola Foundation and put on a few events to benefit Cystic Fibrosis and kids with CF by putting on a surf day for them. It was a great trip- I learned a lot, had so much fun and fell in LOVE with the North Shore of Hawaii :)

I'm so wiped out and headed to bed (we took a red-eye flight last night and I didn't really nap much today), but I will post more soon (I won't wait forever to post) and write about all the fun adventures that were had...until then, Aloha!
~Em

2 Corinthians 12:9

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

This verse really hit me at church on Sunday, so I thought I'd post it. I am really learning to trust that God is truly taking care of me and strengthening me. I am learning to lean not on my own strength, because I run out of that real quick, but to let God be my source of strength.

~Em