sweet baby mia!

My sister Airi had her 7th baby!!

Luckily, I was home and available to drive her to the hospital since Paul was at a meeting and her kids were watching the little ones.  It was fairly quick (as always for her!) and everything went smoothly, I hear.

I dropped her off and stayed with her until Paul arrived, then went home and waited for the good news.

Baby Mia was born in the wee hours of January 26, 2014.

She's healthy and hearty and loved by all her siblings and cousins.

 Obachan holding her 24th grandchild!!

Me and Mia...and a photo-bombing Rumi.

Caleb LOVES to give his baby sister kisses.  

We're going to have to keep an eye out to be sure he doesn't kiss her too much!!

The new Kurihara family of 9!!

(crazy!)

So, so sweet!!

Welcome to this world, baby Mia!

we love the beach!

I mentioned before that one of the main reasons why we moved to town was so that we could be closer to the beach.

This is Waialae Beach Park, in Kahala.

This is our favorite beach because it is close to our house (about 5 minutes drive), it is quiet and away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, and there is something for everyone to do!

They can...

...climb up the sand dunes...

 ...catch some fish (this is a baby flounder!!!)...

 ...catch some more fish (a tiny minnow here)...

 ...splash and swim in the water (look at that view!)...

 ...have a picnic while watching the waves...

 ...and even climb some trees!

 And maybe climb some more trees.

We are so very happy we live in Hawaii!

And especially to live so close to this beautiful beach that our kids can enjoy all that beautiful Hawaii has to offer!

two wheelin'

We have been a little slacking in teaching Jolee how to ride 2 wheels.

She has always been our more "cautious" child, easily frightened and not always willing to challenge herself when things look a little scary.

She's been riding her bike with training wheels for quite some time, but even those would scare her when she ventured a little distance from the safety of our hands.

SO, with some reluctance, we headed out the park to finally teach her the art of two wheeling.

 Once she got the hang of it, she was cruising all on her own and even learning how to turn around!

No hills, and no starting by herself...but for just her first day, we were proud parents!

You can tell how proud of herself she is here...and we were just as proud watching her make this very monumental step.

new year, new school

With our recent move to Town, our girls had to make the inevitable transition into a new school.

First day of school at their brand new school: Waikiki Elementary.

The girls were SO brave in venturing to their brand new school, armed with a positive attitude and a ready-made network of friends thanks to their cousins, the Kuriharas.  

Kela informed me that Rumi introduced her to all of her friends  and played together at recess.

Even though Kumen and Anna aren't in the same class, Kumen took Anna under his wing and played with her during recess and lunch.

Jolee, however, was all on her own and had a little trouble separating from us.

She cried (and cried, and cried) but thankfully, after a couple days of tears and fearful goodbyes, she has finally come into her own and has learned to enjoy her new school.

We are so very grateful that our girls are so resilient and strong. 

Making our girls change schools in the middle of the school year was something I truly regretted having to do.  Having gone through that as a child, I know how challenging it can be to be uprooted and thrown into new surroundings and being forced to start all over again making friends and finding your own niche in school.

I am amazed at how well these girls have learned to adapt and move forward!

They are positive and upbeat and have made our move to town that much more fulfilling.

kaden is 3!

Hard to believe 3 years have passed since this little boy entered our lives!

I still sometimes cannot believe we were blessed with a son after 3 daughters...we love all of our children equally, to be sure.  But we are so very blessed to have this addition to our family.

  

He brings such a fun and entertaining personality into our home.  

He is loved and doted on by his older sisters and often can't get a moment's peace for all the hugging and kissing and tickling.  He loves all the attention his sisters lavish on him and is always quick to give a hug or kiss in return.

 Tonight, we celebrated with a big brownie and shared it with our cousins.  

As you can see, he is absolutely mesmerized by the flickering candles. 

He also didn't quite know how to blow them out, but as always...he had LOTS of help doing that. 

Happy birthday to our little Kaden!

He won't be so little anymore, I know...but for now, he's still our little Bubba Boy.

first beach day of the year

What to do when there is no school and the weather is sunny and warm?

The beach, of course.

Although truth be told, we hadn't anticipated actually swimming in the water...only splashing around catching fish and crabs...but somehow, the kids found themselves in the water anyway and we were fine with that.

 Jojo and the little sand crab she found on the beach.

She's my fearless crabber.  

 Kaden and Caleb in the water...you can tell that Caleb was NOT supposed to get wet since he didn't even have a swim suit or change of clothing!  

But then again, when you live only minutes away from the beach, what's the harm in a short car ride in wet clothes when they are having so much fun, right?

 Kaden trying out Daddy's sunglasses...a little too big, but no less cool.

The fishers.

We are so very glad we moved out East to Waikiki...being able to hop in the car and drive 5 minutes to the beach to swim, fish, go crabbing and the like has been so very rewarding!  

happy new year!

For New Year's countdown this year, we headed up to my sister Elika's house for a change.

We'd been doing so many activities in Town with my brother's family staying that it was time to change the scenery.  Plus, we felt bad making Elika drive down to town every day!

But first, we hit up the beach in the morning by our house to get out and take a walk.

As you can see, it wasn't swimming weather, but we took a walk, etched our names in the sand and caught some minnows in the ocean.  

 And then we headed up to Hau'ula to spend spend our New Year's with the family up North!

On the menu?  Sushi, Okinawa soba, wontons (with poke!) and chicken wings. 

Yes, we Sakumas take our food very seriously.

 Dinner was followed by some Just Dance on the Wii for entertainment and exercise.

Followed by celebratory sparkling cider to welcome in the New Year!

2013 was so very good to us! We are truly blessed with all that transpired this year-so few downs and so very many ups!  I am grateful for my family, for our health, and for the new opportunities that have come about for our little family.

Here's hoping for many more blessings and progress for the next year!