Some pics to catch you up!

Alright, so we are going chronologically bacwards in this post, since I am too tired to reload all the pics correctly.

We are at the tail end of a wonderful/busy/amazing/chaotic/fulfilling/emotional Holiday Season. I think I'll need a Holiday when it's all over! :)

12/29 - Trip to Volcano

Carol, Ren, and I - AKA "The Moms"
My beautiful and amazing family.

Madam Pele in her glory.

What a sight to behold, really.

12/27 - Trip to Hapuna in the AM, Mauna Kea in the PM

The rainbow and the snow covered mountatin. What an oxymoron.

Ying & Yang.

My darling Calista.

Daddy kisses.

Brrr!!!

12/25 - Christmas Day & Lunch at the Harbor

Can you tell she loves being here?

Christmas Morning, the girls in front of our Palm Christmas tree.

Pililani 2008

Aloha All! Needless to say, convention was amazing. I am just posting a few of my favorite pics, as I will be creating another blog just for all the other ones that we took, and will provide a link to that one once it is all set up. Can't say enough about how refreshed we all feel. It's time to digest!

My better half and I. :)

Cali & Kawena.

All the young people.

Uncle Harold and Brynn Lee.

Convention Bound!

Tomorrow we head over to O'ahu for Convention, and can't wait for the feast.  I'm getting my heart ready; the needier the better.  

I'm stopping at Best Buy on the way out to the grounds to pick up a camera, so stay posted for pics.  Wanted to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving!!  :)

Greetings From Freezing Cold Waimea

So now that the excitement has finally started settling down and I feel like I can - *breathe*, I will update my much neglected blog. It's a typical Waimea fall day - cloudy and sporatically rainy. I feel colder here than I was in WA. :-P

We left for Washington in a hurry after learning that my husband's best friend, Ira, had a heart attack and passed away suddenly. Ira left a young family; a wife he was very much in love with and married to for just two and a half years, and two very young children, Abbie (5), and Ethan, (8?). The shock and sorrow we felt from his passing was softened immensly by the quality time we spent with our families. The outings with all 5 girls in tow were extremely enjoyable, although it did give us a reality check that, yes, they are growing up! WAH! No more work outs getting them all hoisted in the car and wrestling them in to the car seat, no more toggling sippy cups and snack packs, no more tantrums, and most enjoyably, NO MORE DIAPERS (although potty breaks did take a MINIMUM of 10 minutes - it's quite the circus)!!!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip:

Tomorrow is election day. I don't know if I can wait - see my post from yesterday. I try not to get too politically outspoken, in sensitivity to those that don't feel the same way I do. In light of that, I'm not going to go and blow it now! :-)

We had union meeting here in our home yesterday. As always, it was a wonderful occassion, followed by some major excitement. Glad everything turned out OK.

Thoughts are already at convention (can't wait; we camp out and although it takes me all 4 days to get adjusted to the "tent" noises and farm smells, I love it) and what will be there for me, spiritually. I feel soooo needy right now, and I think that's the way it should be.

Aloha \nnn/

The painting one of my clients gifted me.

This is a gift one of my clients painted for me.  I treasure it, and will be thrilled to pass it along to my girls as an heirloom.  

Pics & Videos # 2 - Brandon & Mindy

Beautiful bride, being walked down the aisle by her brother Kyle.  Yes, this is at Hali'i Kai.  :-)
There she goes!  Look at that dress...
Wedding party.
Mr. & Mrs. Brandon Fair!
Uncle Harold and O'Neil, our workers for now.

Pics & Videos #1, I'll try to be organized. This is during Uncle Josh' visit during Brandon & Mindy's wedding and oh, yeah, his BIRTHDAY!

Saddle Road - doesn't it look 1000 times better than when we used to drive it ages ago?
Uncle Josh - I think Calista was behind the camera on the ones of Uncles.  :-)
Uncle Kale.
Goofy Uncle Noah - always happy.  :-)
Compliments of Kale, I think.

My big girl.
My big little girl.  Her face always looks smashed; don't worry.
See?  Told you!  :-)  Uncle Josh squeezing her; it's hard not to.
The brothers and one of the brother-in-laws.

My little big brothers - Noah, 16; Kale, 20; Josh 21 for the second year in a row, meaning 23.  :-)
This is typical of them - Cali looks bored, Kawena is always doing something.
Self proclaimed favorite Uncle and self proclaimed coolest 9 year old.  :-)

Infrequent posts, my new specialty!

Well, here I am, almost two months since officially becoming a professional SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) :-).  I must say we have been soooo incredibly busy.  In all honesty, I was worried about how this new arrangement would work out for me and my little family (I am aware that I like working), but I really must say I love being home.  Kawena and I have infused ourselves in to the Waimea SAHM community and go to wonderful "actibiteees" (Kawena speaking) here in town:

1.  Story time on Mondays at the library, followed by craft time.

2.  Kempo on Tues. (with Daddy & Cali)

3.  Tumble Fun on Wed. (oh wait, no - now it's on Thursdays)

4.  Kempo on Thurs. (with Daddy & Cali)

5.  MOPS every other Friday (in which Kawena takes great pride in being a MOPPET).

It's not all peachy keen though, since we have to go through sending Cali to school every morning.  I wish she could stay home with Kawena and I, but we all know that is not an option. :-). Man, there is so much I missed out on with her...  Can't look back though, so we'll keep looking forward.  She is really enjoying 4th grade - has 2 really good friends that keep her excited about being there.  

We have Bible Study in our home every Wednesday night, and Union Meeting for Oct. and Nov.  We are loving life, that's for sure.

Terry has been busy at work still, thank goodness with the way the economy is right now.  He lost a major part of one of our contracts so we had to lay off our 3 employees, which means less work for me (no payroll, insurances, etc), and WAY less overhead.  :-)  We leave things in HIS hands, which means no worries.  :-)

I am getting our house organized; there is ALWAYS something to do.  I feel clearer in my mind with each project that gets done.  

On a sad note, Terry got news that one of his best buddies passed away due to a heart attack.  Terry grew up with this man, and all the best memories in his teen years include Ira.  He was only 27 years old, with a young family - wife and 2 small children.  Terry misses him dearly; but our hearts really ache for his wife and children.  We will be in Washington at the end of the month for his funeral.  It really helps us realize there are no guarantees for tomorrow; we take our days, relationships, and time here for granted.  Really helps us appreciate, and have conviction to live a better life.

Sorry!

Oh goodness, I really had no idea how long it had been since I last posted!

So much has changed, and we have been really busy, obviously. :-)

Here's us in a nutshell:
1. Washington for a summer visit & celebration for Uncle Josh' graduation from the apprenticeship program.
2. Calista in to 4th grade.
3. Grandma moves back to WA.
4. Mama quits Hali'i Kai to be stay at home Mom and help Terry with the business.
5. Uncle Josh comes to visit; Brandon & Mindy get married.

We've had lots going on, and I will post new pics. I haven't even really had time to take much pictures, so we'll see what I can scrounge up between my brothers camera and what I have on mine.

It's my Birthday on Monday...can't believe it is here already. :-)

;-)

Here's me, bored with my camera on the commute to work this morning. Don't worry - Terry was driving!! ;-)

Atlantis Submarine / Great Waikoloa Food & Wine Festival / Marriott - Part 2

So, then we headed down to the Marriott for a Saturday/Sunday night stay. The Great Waikoloa Food, Wine, & Music Festival was happening Saturday night, so Mom and Dad got to get away for a date. The food was AMAZING, the music was GREAT, and the wine - well, since I didn't have a sip, I couldn't tell you. ;-P

Michael Paulo, as I've been told by Dad, did his very first recording on Dad's first Summer in Malibu album. He and Pauline Wilson performed, and I loved it!!

We got two rooms, so Grandma was in her glory with taking the girls to the pool, Queen's Marketplace for a quick dinner, than back to the room for all the TV they could digest.

Mom and Dad, out and about. It was nice to see people I had not seen in a while, and even got to catch up with a school buddy I hadn't seen in 8 years!!
Ended the night with a fireworks display!! Cool!
The Koi, at night.
My mermaid - in a salt water, sand bottom pool at the Marriott.
Sunset at the Marriott.

Note Calista's absence from this bit of photos - she had one of her friends from Minnesota visiting, so she was pretty much MIA most of the time, too cool for the whole family. We met this little girl, Julia, a year ago. Her widowed Mom owns 2 condos at the property I manage, and we have become close friends.

Atlantis Submarine / Great Waikoloa Food & Wine Festival / Marriott - Part 1

What a wonderful, relaxing weekend!! We officially celebrated Kawena's birthday the weekend after, with a "staycation". These types of "home" vacations are becoming a lot more common with the prices of gas and airfare on the rise.

The trip began with an excursion out to Atlantis Submarine in Kona. We don't usually experience a lot of the "touristy" things on the Island since we live here, but decided we will start doing so, to expose our children to the land and the wonders of our Island.

Getting ready for the boat ride out to the Submarine.

There it is!!!

Shaka! Don't know what Kawena was doing in this one.... ;-)

100 feet and counting!

Mmmmm...a real life picture of sashimi.

Sunken ship.

Sunken ship. Interesting story about this one - the guide told us that fish that settle here never leave.

Going up!

And we're done. What an amazing color of blue, huh?

***I have a family pic in digital form that I will add to this post shortly.