punchbowl

General Conference Sunday means we get to relax at home and sit in our PJ's while listening to the Prophet speak to us.  

It was an uplifting morning of listening to the Sunday morning session of Conference while the kids gathered in front of the TV to do their Conference Packets.

And then in between the morning and afternoon sessions, we decided to head out to have some peaceful family time outdoors.  Daddy decided it was a good day to give them a little history lesson as well, and so with that, we headed out to Punchbowl Memorial Park.

We walked along the path to the look out and the kids noticed all the gravesites and memorial stones.

They noticed all the different National plaques and we were able to tell them about all the different countries that the US has made peace with since the many wars.

 

At the top of the Punchbowl lookout. The view is so beautiful up here!

This was actually my very first time coming up here!  And I was so humbled to see the history of war and strife that has brought us to where we are today. 

To see all the gravestones, and to know how many people sacrificed their lives and families to help bring peace to the world is not something one can easily put into words.

But I am so very grateful for the freedoms we get to enjoy, and know that it was not achieved without great sacrifice by many.

Our family.  Well, minus Kela since she was taking the picture because there was no one else around to ask. 

These kids didn't complain once during the walk up and down to the lookout. It's not a short or easy one, and we were proud of them.  I think they felt the solemn atmosphere that permeates this Memorial Park.

  

We walked all around the murals of the many World Wars.  We read to them the history of their ancestors, and they were truly touched and saddened to hear about all the wars and bloodshed that happened so many years before they were born.  I discovered that while they knew some basic facts about the United States' war with Japan, they were a little misled as to some of the details.

Kela mentioned to me that the "United States accidentally bombed Japan."  

She and her sisters were pretty horrified when I informed them that it was not an accident, but a deliberate act of war--to combat a country that was equally bent on causing destruction to many countries around the world!  They kept asking "why?" And that really is the question, isn't it?  

From the beginning of the creation of the world, people have been in and out of war with each other for various reasons.  I had no real answers for them.  And realized that there is no easy answer.

I am so glad that war is a concept that is difficult for them to understand, that they have been saved from having to experience it first-hand. Who knows what is in store for their futures...there is currently a war going on in the Middle-East, and as they grow older, I am sure it will touch them or affect them some how or another.  I just hope that when that time comes, they will be spared any major heartbreak or tragedy.  That they may be kept safe from the harm and hatred of war.

Coming here to see the history of war in our world, makes me feel even more the need for the Savior in our lives.  When there is so much hatred and tribulation, He is the one we can always turn to for peace and comfort.

tiger tots

We look forward to this time of year, every year.

It's Tiger Tots time!

McKinley High School has their early education curriculum in full swing, and during their final semester, they hold a short-term preschool for a handful of kids to give their seniors some hands-on education experience with real live preschoolers!!

And us parents get a short, 2 hour break from the kiddos to exercise and run errands.  

We sure do love Tiger Tots!

This year, Kaden got to go with his cousin Caleb.

There is probably going to be lots of carpooling together this month! :)

 Walking to class....seeing this makes me realize how fast my little boy is growing up!

Pretty soon, he'll be walking to kindergarten all by himself too!

*sniff, sniff...

As I dropped him off, I saw him get started on his letter writing with his new teachers.

No tears, no theatrics or whining for me to stay.

And when I picked him up 2 1/2 later, he was all smiles and told me he had fun and wanted to go back!

Yay for preschool!

anna's karate exam: green belt!

This week, Anna wasn't feeling too well.

She stayed home from school a couple of days...but felt well enough to try for her green belt at this quarter's karate exam.

You can't tell, but she is so very tired here.

She came home and took a nap afterwards.

 Anyway, here she is lining up to take her exam.

They usually have it at Kapolei High School, but for some reason they decided to hold it right in their Dojo, which I was grateful for.  Having to only drive 30 minutes is always far preferable to driving close to an hour!

 And here we are!

Great Job, Anna!

We are SO proud of her accomplishments, and her dedication to the sport of Karate.  

I admit, when I first signed her up, I wasn't sure how long she would last.  I thought her desire to learn Karate would eventually fade and wane, but after nearly one year, she seems to continue to enjoy it as well and thrive in learning her new kata's and techniques.

Yay, Anna!

hiking manoa falls

Since we came home from our Spring Break vacation a little early, we had time to do some family activities right here on Oahu before school starts back up.

We decided to take the kids on an easy hike up to Manoa Falls.

 And despite the way being slightly muddy and rocky...they all walked by themselves without complaint.  Even this guy!

Okay, so Kaden didn't walk the entire hike...we did have to piggy-back carry him for the last 15 minutes or so on our return trip, but all in all, they did great and despite a couple of mosquito bites, they all had fun.

 The kids, each with their walking sticks as we traverse the path up to the falls.

And we made it!!

We must have had some good rain recently because the falls were pretty good sized!  Not too big but definitely more than a trickle. The kids were duly impressed.

 And since we packed some snacks for the trek, we stopped at the end to fortify our stomachs.

Spam musubis and chips.  

 On our way back, we discovered this little alcove build into the trees and bushes.  

We snapped a quick picture and headed out before any more mosquitoes decided to make lunch out of us.

How blessed we are to live in such beautiful country!

To get to experience the natural beauty of Hawaii, is truly something I hope we never take for granted.

Equally grateful for this wonderful family we get to experience all of these adventures with.

Can you tell that Kaden enjoyed the hike? 

spring break in seattle!

Spring Break!!  

We have been looking forward to head off to see some snow since LAST Spring Break.

It's become sort of a Seavey family tradition for us to head up to Seattle to spend a few days in the cold and snow during Spring Break.

This year was no exception.

 Since the girls got their very own suitcases for Christmas, this was their first time getting to use them!

They were super excited to put their presents to use...and we were super excited to NOT have to pack and haul THEIR clothes and toys!  It's truly a great thing to have kids be responsible for their own luggage!  Yay for kids growing up!  :)

 And yay for travel benefits! And for kids getting to sit together!

 At the airport, upon arriving...we bought our very first (of many) hot chocolates.  

Hot Cocoa simply tastes so much yummier in Seattle than they do in Hawaii...

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Something our kids look forward to whenever we visit Seattle is the donuts.

If you didn't know, Seattle has YUMMY donuts.  We bought donuts for breakfast nearly every morning.

 We hit up the mall to do a bit of shopping & preparing for our upcoming snow trip.

The weather warmed up a bit and so we indulged in a smoothie.

But drank it INSIDE the mall, of course, because it's still freezing cold outside, thank you very much!

 Lucky for us, the Sakuma boys also happened to decide to vacation to Seattle for Spring Break!

We met up at the Reptile Zoo with our cousins.

This is not my favorite place to visit...but Anna LOVES this zoo, as do the Sakuma boys so snake time it was!

This is the kids underneath the anaconda tank.

I'm pretty sure it's big enough to swallow some of these kids whole if it wanted to...

 And since we can't pass up on the opportunity to get even MORE creeped out, decided to do some snake handling as well.

These were little baby boas that the kids got to hold.

 Kaden's first time holding a snake.

Not pictured is the numerous time I had to push his face away from the snake's head....Kaden kept trying to kiss it.  Ew!

 Surprisingly, this girl was the bravest and held the snake more than anyone else.  She even let one crawl up her arm and around her neck.  This was not a little nerve-wracking for me.

You'll notice Daddy is no where to be seen in any of these pictures.

That's because he is not a fan of snakes and reptiles...and pretty much kept as far away as possible without looking too much a coward.  Ha!

 Another new adventure we got to experience this trip was Go-Kart racing!

It was nearly empty so our girls pretty much had their way with the tracks upstairs on the kiddie course.

Kela, Karen and Maya raced together...

 While Anna and Klair raced separately.

Haha, they looked like bobble heads with these huge helmets on...but according to them, this was pretty much the highlight of our trip.

Kaden and Jolee also raced on their own, but rode much smaller "Power Wheel" type cars.

Theirs was slow-going, but everyone agreed it was a super fun time. 

Cold inside the building....but fun nonetheless.

And then, the real reason why we traveled up to Seattle...was for this!

He drove up to Snoqualmie to hit some hills and get some sledding in.

We borrowed a couple of sleds from our friends and drove up to the passes.

We were worried that there wouldn't be enough snow since we didn't see much on our drive up, but sure enough, as soon as we hit Snoqualime limits, we started seeing some white stuff.

Thankfully, this little sledding hill we discovered was nearly deserted and so we had it all to ourselves!

 My girls always do this the first moment they hit snow.

Making snow angels is a requisite for snow play.

 Uncle Atau guys also ventured up with us and the kids had a blast sledding down the hill together.

There were no rope tows or anything-just a huge hill for sledding down, but it was enough for our kids!

 Kaden was quite a trooper for his first snow experience.  

Okay, technically, LAST year was his first snow sighting...but this was the first time he was actually able to walk around and build a snowman with Daddy.

Pretty fancy snowman, Kaden!

Daddy even built an igloo for Jojo!

It was small...only big enough for one tiny child to crawl inside at a time, but it was a hit with everyone.  Good job, Daddy! 

At the end of our trip, we were hoping to fly south to Arizona for a couple of days to hang out with the Seavey's...unfortunately, it was the Mariner's Spring Training that week and ALL flights from Seattle to Phoenix were booked solid!

We tried for about 4 hours to make it out, but alas....could not.

The kids were very sad and disappointed...

 Not to mention, exhausted!

After hanging around Sea-Tac airport for 4 hours, this is how EVERYONE felt!

We rented a car for one more day and headed back to Uncle Makoto's house.

Which, while a bummer, turned out to be a blessing because we got to celebrate Karen's birthday with the Sakuma girls!

All in all, we all agreed that Spring Break in Seattle is the BEST vacation ever!

hinamatsuri

It's Hinamatsuri time.

Normally, we don't celebrate the Japanese Girl's Day holiday at all.

Sad, if you think about it, considering we have 3 girls and we probably should have started celebrating it 9 years ago when Kela was born.

But anyway, there was a BIG Japanese Festival at the Convention Center and since Riho had to help out with one of the booths, we all decided to brave the crowds and celebrate this Japanese holiday with the rest of half of Hawaii.

Lookie!  They had a huge Hinamatsuri doll set on display and even had some sample Yukata's to try on!  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress them all up and take a picture to commemorate.

 This was the booth that Riho was helping out at.

The girls were given yarn loops and taught the ancient Japanese art of ayatori, otherwise known as, "cat's cradle."

Look at my little Japanese girls!

 And then in another booth, they were making ancient Hawaiian canoes!

This Japanese festival wasn't limited to only Japanese cultural activities, it seems.

The kids each picked out their boat pieces and ONE glue-gun weilding person would glue it all together.

Seriously.  ONE person!  You probably can't see in this picture, but the line was FOREVER LONG!

 Anyway, after a LONG time of waiting and waiting, they each finished their boats with nicely decorated sails and everything. 

Was it worth it? 

Considering these boats probably won't last through the end of the month, probably not...but the kids did enjoy making it and so it's all good.

 After boat-making, they each decorated their own hachmaki with stamps to take home.

This also will undoubtedly not last through the end of the month.

 By this time, we were pretty wiped out...but the girls really wanted to try their hand at kingyo-sukui, or fishing for duckies with a paper net.  

Not as easy as you would think...but they got to take home the little rubber duckies and so they were happy.  

This place was super crowded!  

But I'm glad we went.  The girls got to learn a few interesting and fun facts about the Japanese culture and spend some time with their cousins.