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!

the "real" halloween post

I call this the "real" Halloween post because the last post I wrote was more a prelude to the actual event.

You know...the whole, "dress-up-and-parade-around-begging-for-candy" event!

This year, since Halloween landed on a Sunday, we celebrated it on Saturday at our church Halloween Party.

Which I actually like better because:

1) I pretty much know everyone there, so you can trust the candy to be safe.

2) It's a confined area, so no need worry about traffic or even "empty houses."

and, 3) It's all indoors! And I don't have to walk around block after block after block...

As you can see....Kela is a Princess (how original!), while Anna wanted to be a Barbie Musketeer (notice she's missing her three cohorts...), and Jolee wanted to be a princess but I was somehow able to convince her to be a little China Doll instead!

(Yea! Success!) Anna's costume took the most effort (which was still VERY minimal).

The Princess dress was borrowed. I bought the hat and simply attached the giant feather. And then sewed a cute matching cape.

(that Velcros closed, since I don't do ties around the neck. I'm paranoid that way...)

They all had fun playing games...


...and getting candy...


...and playing more games...

...while EATING some candy along the way...

...and getting even more candy!

Of course, hanging out with Ninja cousins, too!

As if the candy they got wasn't enough...they got cupcakes, too!

And look!

Kela even took a turn at throwing the ol' pigskin around!
Of course, in the name of getting more candy!

Here's just some of the kiddos.

Whoa!

And here's the rest of them....plus some friends, too.

Then, during break down/clean up time...the kids entertained themselves with some bubbles and balloons!

Jolee...VERY proud of herself for blowing her very OWN bubbles!

~~~~~~~~~~

And then...on Sunday, we headed out to Aunty Airi's house to have a family get-together instead of staying at home.

Like I said, we celebrated the Halloween festivities on Saturday, so Sunday was a simple family affair.

Before heading out....just in case we have some unsuspecting Trick-or-Treaters...we left a bucket of candies and treats.
Little did I know how greedy our neighborhood kids were!

Some punk took the bucket, too!
(Not that I minded, per se....I mean, it was a cheapie bucket from McDonald's that we were planning to throw away anyway. But still...!)

So anyway, at Aunty Airi's house, after a YUMMY dinner, Aunty Elika busted out the sugar cookie mix and the kids got to roll out some Halloween cookies!

And then frost and decorate them!

Didn't we just do this?!

Obviously, the kids didn't mind the repeat activity.

I mean, who would argue with frosted sugar cookies, right?!

And, I just HAD to post a picture of this kid!

My nephew, Justus.


Hope you all had a Happy and Safe Halloween, too!

prepping for halloween...

Can it be October already?!

With Halloween just around the corner, it seems we are bombarded with reminders of candies, pumpkins and sweets, sweets, sweets!!

Not that that's a bad thing, of course.

At Anna and Jolee's preschool, the teacher gave each child their very own little pumpkin. A bit too small to carve, but not so small they couldn't mark up with a sharpie!
Jolee thought it was a nice ball that she kept throwing on the ground.
Go figure.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then...as if on cue, it was time for the girls' semi-annual trip to the dentist.

They all did great!
Anna's even smiling for the camera!
Jolee, however, shed a couple tiny tears...but didn't fuss or fight it.
Mommy was very proud.

And, NO CAVITIES!

(YET! We'll see after the 31st!)

~~~~~~~~~~

And then later that week (again at Anna and Jolee's preschool) the teacher prepared some Halloween-esque cookies for the kids to decorate.

Pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies with orange frosting and M&M's.

(and despite having my glucose tolerance test the next day...I did manage to sneak in a bite or two. Or three, but who's counting?)

Anna with her sticky, sticky fingers.

Jolee.

Very neatly standing each and every M&M on it's side.
Before proceeding to take them off the cookie and pop them into her mouth.

Leaving the cookie.

Anna.

Surprisingly very modest in her frosting.

I know.

I was totally shocked too.


~~~~~~~~~~

Then finally, we headed up to Kela's school for their annual pumpkin carving night. We brought our own pumpkin, carving kit, and borrowed a friends bucket (because we forgot to pre-clean ours beforehand...) and set out to make a unique jack-o-lantern.

Here they are digging out the seeds and muck.
Which is EXACTLY what it is inside.

MUCK.

Hence, no pictures of MY hand inside that thing.

Jolee, on the other hand, couldn't stop sticking her hands inside.

She loved using the scooper to scrape out the seeds.

I think this was the ONLY time Kela even touched the pumpkin.

After this, she was basically outside running around with her friends the entire time...

...While Daddy slaved away at the "ROSE" design they chose for the pumpkin.

Oh, I forgot.

They had cookies.

After eating some cookies is when Kela ran outside.

The finished Rose!

And to be fair, Anna wanted a CAT as well, so the other side of the pumpkin was this.

Not bad, huh?

Good Job, Daddy!

Now...BRING ON THE CANDY!