a very blue (and aeronautical) shower

This past week, our Primary board had a meeting scheduled.

As a counselor in the primary program, I was feeling a tad guilty for not helping out with the planning as much as usual...only to find out that I wasn't even invited to the board meeting!

No...they had the board meeting without me, so when I arrived, I discovered this:

A baby shower for our #4!

Since this is far from our first child, I was completely caught off-guard and totally surprised by the gesture!

I so love our Primary presidency!

They are the best!
And I felt so much love~!

And LOOK!

Not only was everything BLUE...it was totally Aeronautical themed!

Ha!
How cute is this cake, by the way?!

Cara, your cake was so much fun...and delicious to boot!

Mitch ate most of it when I brought it home!

Anna, however, ate the frosting, and said, "I don't want the bread part."

He He He...go figure!

Some airplane mobiles...



And "baggage claim"...

Seriously...how cute was all this?!


AND...

They even managed to invite my (equally pregnant) sisters along, too!
Yes...just like 4 years ago, all three of us are expecting at the same time!!
Though...I'm the hugest of them all, I might add...


*sigh*

And though I loathe to post such an unflattering picture of myself...I suppose this may very well be the LAST pic of my preggo tummy before I deliver so I'll go ahead and swallow my pride for your snickering pleasure.

Yes, that's me in all my 35-week glory.

With dear Kori and her grandma, Lagrimas Lee.

christmas partaaaay

It's a bit early, I know...but our ward Christmas party always seems to land on the first weekend of December.

This year...I was quite lazy and took VERY few pictures.

Sorry in advance.

Kela and Jolee with their cousin, Riho.

This was shortly after I forced Jolee to get close to Santa.

NOT on his lap, now...just close to.

(picture to follow...)

Anna and her dessert.

She ate her dinner, I promise.

But like I said...I didn't think to take pictures of hardly anything...including the dinner.

Or the Christmas play that Kela sang in.

I know.

Epic FAIL as a parent, right?
*sigh......

BUT...I did manage to get a picture of Jolee screaming bloody murder while I held her next to Santa!!
Little did I realize that she was so intent on running away, that her goodie bag was totally covering her face!
Though you can probably tell from her body language what her face most likely looked like.
She was NOT a happy camper.
I'm a terrible Mommy for laughing, huh?

Unlike my nephew Luke who looked happy as can be on Santa's lap!

I seriously gotta get on my brother to figure out his secret...

But here's Jolee happy again minutes after escaping Santa's "lair"


And blowing bubbles with her sister, Anna.

Look.

I didn't even manage a family picture of the night!

I promise, I'll try and do better next year.

post thanksgiving=beach day

So, it's the day after Thanksgiving.

There's NO school. No work for Mitch.

What to do, what to do...?

Please ignore my fancy slipper tan and fading pedicure...and focus on the beautiful waves instead.

We decided to drive up to Hau'ula to hang out with my sister and her family. While the men stayed at the house to do some work on my sister's unfinished downstairs...the rest of us headed out to the beach for some R&R. We didn't last long...it was pretty windy.

And the waves were pretty big (it's pretty close to the North Shore, after all).

Plus, we spotted a blue bubble on the beach. (that's a jellyfish if you didn't know...) So yea, we didn't stay too long.

But, it was a super sunny day and felt nice to enjoy some outdoor time soaking up some vitamin D.

Whoa, look at that wind!

Anna...trying to make a sand castle.


Jolee. Enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor.

This pit was already there when we arrived...and she basically stayed in here the whole time.

Doing what, I have no idea...

My supercute nephew, Justus.
Poor kid doesn't get out to the beach much.
Has yet to learn that sand in the eyes = very owie!

Here's a pic of Kela and Anna with their cousin Aya.

And their friend, Lucy's Gingerbread Man.



Sorta like a Flat Stanley...



I promise, it's heading your way, Rach!

the (sorta) thanksgiving post

I say "sorta" because if you look at the following pictures...you'll realize that I took hardly ANY pictures at all! So, really, this almost doesn't deserve a post! But, since it IS Thanksgiving...and since the true meaning behind the holiday isn't about fancy pictures or even of the food, I thought I'd at least post SOME pictures of our evening and briefly describe our fun day.

And it was!

A fun day, I mean.

So...where to begin? Well, since Mitch happened to be flying, I was pretty much "flying solo" this year. We had our kalua turkey cooking overnight in our Boy Scouts' IMU pit this year-as we did last year-and it definitely saved me a TON of time in the kitchen Thursday morning. Though to be honest, I still managed to spend the entire morning in the kitchen anyway...

BUT, with Mitch gone, it was one less thing for me to have to stress over.

So, for our family gathering, I brought (aside from our kalua turkey) fresh baked rolls, stuffing, and a pumpkin cheesecake with Oreo cookie crust.

Ta~da~!

My pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes with Oreo crust on bottom.

It may not look all that spectacular...but I thought it was yummy.

And despite my GD...YES, I happily brought home some leftovers.

So...I didn't take any pictures of the actual food.

I mean, everyone knows what turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing looks like, right?

But this was our dessert spread.

I do believe we had more dessert than food.

Here's Kela with her cousins Rumi and Aya enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner. As well as each other's company!


And Anna.
Eating her salad like a good girl.
Jolee took a late nap that day and slept all through dinner.
And then woke up just in time for the traditional Karaoke singing session at my sister Airi's. (no pictures there because, well...who wants to look at pictures of us singing?!)

Anyway, even with Mitch gone, we managed to have a fun, fun day!
I was exhausted by the time we got home...which was right about the time that Mitch also finished work, so after putting the kids to bed I got to enjoy a second helping of Thanksgiving dinner with just Mitch and I.
And yes, I was thankful for that as well.


Okay, and this picture has NOTHING to do with our Thanksgiving day...but since Jolee slept through most of last night's festivities, I thought I'd throw in a picture of her from Friday morning.
She enjoys coloring. And cutting.
So long as she refrains from cutting any digits, or her clothing...I'm usually okay with her doing this.
I hope that doesn't make me a bad parent.

Wait, don't answer that...

I hope you all had just as enjoyable and happy a Thanksgiving holiday as we did! I could go on and on and list all the things I am thankful for...but I'll just keep it short and sweet and say that I feel truly blessed to have a wonderful family - immediate and extended - that keep me busy, but blissfully happy. I am thankful for my health, for the roof over my head, for a steady income that makes all the material things we have possible...and for our Heavenly Father who makes EVERYTHING ELSE possible (...and Eternal!).

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Now...are you ready for CHRISTMAS?!

first tooth lost

I suppose it's an event to be commemorated.

In a kind of "right of passage" sort of way.

The loss of a first tooth.

For Kela, she's been wiggling and jiggling this tooth for the past couple of weeks. And now finally! The fruit of her labors in a tiny, jagged piece of ivory. (or, calcium. Or...whatever the heck it is teeth are made of!)

Ah, look at that crooked smile!

And believe me...it's gonna be crooked.

Because I can already see the adult tooth behind it.

As in...BEHIND the rest of her other teeth.

It's the curse of genetics, I swear.

(excuse me while I make another deposit into our girls' future braces fund...)

me and gd

I wasn't planning on posting this little tid-bit on my blog...especially since most people I know already have heard this via my Facebook rantings...but since this blog is in part a family journal, I thought I'd go ahead and get it out there.

I have gestational diabetes this time around.

To sum it up in one word? It sucks.

But not too bad.

In case you didn't know, I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. I mean, I enjoy eating my dessert after dinner as much as the next person...just not as much as some poeple. At least compared to the rest of my family.

As in, Mitch eats more sweets than me!

Shocking, I know...you wouldn't know it by looking at us....

But anyway, I've managed to scrape by without any complications or difficulties with my previous three pregnancies, so having GD this time around was a bit shocking at first. And a bit depressing, too, I won't lie.

However, like I said, it really hasn't been too bad. Maybe because I'm older, or because it's #4, I've found myself more tired than before. And surprisingly, less hungry. So, managing my eating habits haven't been all that taxing. The one major (and I mean MAJOR) drawback to having GD is the finger-pricking. FOUR times a day gets cumbersome! I have to remember to set my timer to check my glucose level an hour after each meal plus when I wake up in the morning. Not fun.

But other than that...I still get to drink my beloved chocolate soymilk, have a bowl of cereal or cookie here and there without any major spikes in my readings. I just have to make sure to time them so it's not too close to my scheduled pricking. :)

And thankfully, I've managed to remain in the "safe zone" so far!

Yeah!!

So, there it is. Out in the open. I'm not thrilled about it, but I've come to realize it's not the end of the world. And really...there probably wasn't much I could have done to avoid it. Like I said, it's not like I have a major sweet-tooth to have caused it. And with this pregnancy, I haven't really craved much sweets anyway. Besides...if you know anything about diabetes, you'll find that it has very little to do with sugar consumption. It's more genetic than anything. So, technically...I should blame my Dad!

No, but on a serious note, I am a bit concerned for the little guy's future and hope that I can stay healthy for his sake.

And mine, too, since I don't want to be pushing no 10 pound baby outta me come January!

i love to see the temple

The LDS Temple at Laie has been closed for renovations for nearly two years.

Which means that for the past 2 years, we've either had to forgo attending the temple...or travel to the Big Island to visit the temple in Kona.

We've been fortunate enough to have gotten the chance to visit the Kona temple a few times since the Laie Temple closed...however, the wait is finally over!

The renovations are complete, and as per usual, before its dedication, they have opened it to the public for anyone interested to witness and peruse the beauty of the House of the Lord!

Of course, this particular temple holds a special place in my heart since it is where Mitch and I were married, and Sealed for Time and all Eternity!

What a blessing to know that my family can be together always! Even after this life is over...no matter what may happen here on Earth, that my family is eternal!
As our children have never had the opportunity to see what's inside the temple (despite seeing the outside numerous times...and seeing their parents going inside), we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take our children through.
So, with our ward, we decided to take the primary children-along with their families, of course-to the open house.
It was a wonderful trip!
And was great to see the children in awe of the beauty of the Temple!
Have you ever seen a large group of children quietly and reverently walking anywhere?!
I may never see it again...but during the temple tour, they were all quiet and peaceful as they walked throughout the temple!
A miracle, in and of itself!

Afterwards, we walked the grounds outside.
This fountain pool was definitely a BIG temptation for all the children.
I mean, it was an incredibly HOT day!


Kela and Hugo.
While waiting for everyone to gather around.

All the primary children singing
"I Love to See the Temple"


Our family inside the Visitor's Center.
It was nice and cool inside...

Living in Hawaii, the one hour drive to Laie seems SO far to drive...but after having had the temple closed for so long, I know I have definitely had my appreciation for a local temple grow!

And have renewed my commitment to attend more often.

And for those who don't know...and are interested in knowing more about our church, and what we believe in...go here!