Home Again, Home Again, Jigity Jig!

We spent this last week in Colorado in a wintery wonderland! We left our 80 degree weather here in Hawaii for a NEGATIVE 8 degrees! But we thawed out as the week wore on and warmed to a balmy 45 degrees!

Unfortunately I'd misplaced my camera for the better part of the trip. Luckily however, my sister, Camille had her trustee camera during Gabriella's birthday party so those pictures are soon to come on a future blog. Thanks Camille!

We arrived home last night and dropped into bed. Don'cha just love jet lag? This morning we were all up early (that lovely jet lag again) and decided to walk down to the beach to watch the sunrise. These pictures were taken this morning at 6:30 am just 200 feet (or so) from our house. So when are you coming to visit?? =)

Hunter began walking down the beach and suddenly exclaimed with all the gusto of a six year old boy, "I FOUND A TURTLE!!!" We all came running and found this beautiful sea turtle just finishing his night time siesta. When we first arrived on the scene, the turtle was facing away from the ocean. But with our presence he decided that it was time to return to the safety of his watery home.
We got to watch him as he turned 180 degrees and headed back into the sea. All the while the sunrise was happening behind Ryan and the kids! Luckily I was in the perfect spot to catch all the action of a glorious sunrise and an ancient turtle (do you see how big he is?) It was just another day for the turtle, but it was an amazing moment for us; to witness one of God's gentle creatures and to be so close. Living here has topped even the most fantastic Zoo experiences!
And then there is the matter of the chickens. And roosters. We cannot forget the roosters. Though we desperately wish we could! They began their "cock-a-doddle-doing" at a ripe 4:30 am. WOW. Welcome home us!
Those little beasts!
P.S. I have a video of the turtle and I'm trying to figure out how to get it uploaded. So far this thing doesn't want to accept it. I'll keep trying. It's really neat!

Hunter's 6th Birthday!

Happy Birthday my boy! I was going to title this "Hunter's Beach Birthday" but seeing as I was a lame parent and forgot to take pictures while we played on the beach...

So here is how the day went for my dear Hunter. Seeing as we live on a beach, Ryan and I thought it was only appropriate to get him a boogie board- just his size. We didn't wrap it. We sort of hid it in the curtains and then pulled it out for him. Lame? Well he liked it!

We also gave Hunter a new snorkel set. He's been using some old fins of mine that work when he puts on his water shoes first and then slips his feet into my fins, but they are so long that he often trips over them. And then Gabriella tried using his snorkel (she couldn't quite get it) and bit off the little rubber sides of the piece that sits in your mouth. That may not seem like a big deal, but it allows you to hold the mouth piece in and keep the water out! Anyhow, he was pretty jazzed about his new set too. He LOVES to snorkel with Ryan or I out in our little bay to look for turtles, octopus, puffer fish, eel, and hundreds of other colorful, tropical fish.
Here is Kolea eating a Portuguese treat that our neighbor and friend, Brandee made before coming over to the party. It's deep fried sweet dough. And oh my goodness it's a tasty treat!!
We set up the BBQ portion of the day under the house in the shade. Hunter and Gabriella were snacking on chips, a little impatient for our friends to arrive. You can see Ryan in the background at the grill. He grilled up two different kinds of hot dogs and some burgers. And of course the day before he'd made his famous fresh salsa, which was a BIG hit. It was all really yummy!
This is our group of friends that came to enjoy the day with us! Thanks everyone, it was fun! Our neighbor (not LDS) commented (and was quite surprised) at all the babies that were there!! Every family that came- had a baby. Hahaha- welcome to the married student BYU ward!
Here is my little baby (now 15 months) being just as cute as ever. I didn't catch her soon enough for the pic. Previously she was leaning her head back against the seat- totally chillin' Hawaiian style!
So at this point we all went to beach and played in the water or sand... We had kayaks to use (thank you Brandee) and we paddle boarded and Hunter played on his new boogie board, and we swam and just had a great time! Finally everyone was beginning to get tired so we walked back up to the house and rinsed our feet and legs and other sandy body parts in our outdoor shower to have some birthday cake and ice cream.

You see this awesome cake!?! Our friends make these awesome cakes as a hobby! Thank you Michelle and Jeremiah- you are truly a talented duo. =) Hunter told them that he wanted a 3 headed, scary, slimy, creepy monster. So I told them to let their creative juices flow and have fun! The lighting is really crappy in these pics, but hopefully you can get the gist of it.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Hunter, happy birthday to you! Make a wish....
It was really cool. The "monster" was made out of rice crispy treats. You can see the three different layers. The bottom cake was a funfetti and the top two were both red velvet. Yummy!
All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Our friends soon went home; and our family of five? We headed back to the beach of course! It was time for Hunter to try out is new snorkel gear. =)

This picture is taken with me standing at the edge of our concrete slab underneath the house. Those stairs lead up to the house. The board? Ryan's new paddle board (Happy be-lated birthday, Merry early Christmas to him.) The house on the right? Brandee's. The view (including our cute hammock)... 100% ours! And we love it.
And so the day comes to a close with Hunter reminding us at every turn that it's his birthday. Like when Gabriella is sitting where he wants to sit, "but it's my birthday" he protests. Or when he wanted to go back to Kaden's house (Brandee's son) "it's my birthday mom!" And my favorite, when he should be going to bed. He suckered daddy into letting him stay up almost an hour later-- and when I protested, what did Ryan say???? "BUT IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY!"

Hunter, my first born, my son. I love you. You are a kind, sweet boy. Often you are shy, but make friends easily. Everyone is your friend. Everyone likes you, and you like everyone! We love that about you. You are an adoring big brother to Kolea, and a beloved playmate to Gabriella. Even though one can't tell you - and the other won't, you are very loved by your sisters. They look up to you and adore you.

We are very blessed to have you in our family. I will never forget the moment when the Spirit witnessed to me that I was pregnant and I was to have a little boy. I was so overcome by this unexpected, yet wonderful surprise that I knelt and prayed to Heavenly Father and thanked him for blessing me (us) with this new life. This new life, your life that brought LIFE into your parents' lives. =)

Your name is an important part of your character, Steven Hunter. You carry the names of two wonderful people. The first being your paternal grandfather, Steven Allred Hitz. As the tradition goes, you received the first name of your father, Steven Ryan and his father- the above mentioned. They love the gospel and are true to their testimonies. Just as you love the gospel and are a good example to others. The second is Captain Jefferson Hunt of the Mormon Battalion. He is your 5th great grandfather. It may be hard to believe that you have something in common with someone who lived so long ago, but you do! He was a quiet man, a soldier. He always did the right thing and led others and taught them to do the same. You have that same ability to forge ahead and lead others amidst the darkness as long as you rely on your Father in Heaven. We are so thankful that you are a part of our family. You are so young and have already taught your father and I so much. Happy Birthday, love.

What is to come...

I am amazed to find myself in the month of December (albeit early) and realize that I have not posted anything since mid-August. In my defense, I did make a trip to Hawaii to find a place to live, get LASIK, throw two major birthday parties (Ryan's 30th and Kolea's 1st) and plan to move off the mainland.

Of course in September I actually packed up my house (and then cleaned it) and watched another family move right in the day after we'd cleared out. Goodbye home. Although we are renting our home to a great family, we feel that we'd never move back (to that home.) So we moved in with my in-laws for a month while our stuff (that's including my computer with all of my pictures) sat in a huge shipping container as it made its way by slow boat across the Pacific.

And then there is the month of October. The first half of the month we were still at the in-laws. It was actually a great transition for us, living out of a few bedrooms b/c once we actually boarded a plane to Hawaii (October 15th) and got here, we ended up being homeless for a week. And by Hawaii's standards, we REALLY WERE homeless. We were hotel (motel, Holiday Inn... haha I always think of that song) hopping which means we were homeless. So that was an experience. But the Lord must have wanted to teach us something... Anyhow, when we finally got those dirty, rotten scoundrels to deliver our goods we were more than ready to live in our home. At 1700 square feet our home felt HUGE to us which we didn't expect coming from Colorado where our home was more than double the size (finished)! So like I said, living in the close quarters we had with being at the in-laws and hotel hopping, this was great!

Suddenly November is upon us and we are busy trying to make heads or tails of a schedule; get used to Hunter in Kindergarten all day (only four days a week b/c they don't have enough money in the system for kids to go on Fridays); find out that there is no room in any pre-school for Gabriella; try to organize a house, explore our surroundings, and make friends all at the same time (in a ward where we are one of 3 families who have 3 children- and Hunter is the oldest out of the 9 kids in Primary.) WHEW!!! Talk about busy.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is... be patient with me as I try to get this thing updated. I know I am so far behind! So I gave you a little treat and posted this picture which is at Shark's Cove on the famous North Shore. It's a giant tide pool full of awesome little fish. It's fun to snorkel in! I took this with my iPhone and it's not too shabby! The person you see in the middle of the pic is Ryan's younger bro, Skyler. He and his parents were visiting (for two whole weeks) while we were involved in conferences and meetings at BYU-H. Oh yeah, those kept me busy too. But that is another story for another day...

Her Faces...

Gabriella is sort of know for her many expressions. These are a few that have been caught on film in the last two weeks. Camping and not so enjoying her s'more. Hello! It's a s'more!

Lovin' her new booster seat! Especially b/c it's PINK. And yes, she's busy with that juice box.
Who in my family doesn't love the water? This is her favorite place to be.
Getting ready for bed after daddy's big birthday party (blog yet to come.) But first, let's show off the little toad she caught. She was quite proud of herself.
Playing last night at G'ma and G'pa's house. What's she doing? I have no idea. She entertains herself quite well at times. =)

Pretty Baby

We went camping a couple of weeks ago with some friends from our ward. Actually the whole "camping" thing didn't happen. It totally stressed me out to think of pulling out all of our camping gear for one night when it's already packed away. Anyhow, there was this super cute picture of Kolea...

And here she is enjoying her very first s'more. I'm such a nice mom. =)
She just went forward facing! A week early is all. Oops! And I need to fix the straps- another oops. But other than that she loved looking out the window and she loves that juice box!
We've found a new fun place in our house- the kitchen sink! It's the easiest place for clean up after a messy dinner.
Doesn't get much better for this baby. =)

First Day of School- Kindergarten!!

I can't believe it. Hunter's first day of school. He was SO excited. I was just as excited for him. I'm glad I'm not the blubbering mom type. Of course, Ryan IS the blubbering dad type. =) He got a little choked up.

Ryan was so excited for Hunter that he bought him a sweet backpack and water bottle.
Hunter is setting down his backpack so he can go off to the playground and play!
Hunter actually began school on Wednesday, August 19th. We've been driving him but he really wanted to ride the bus that came through our neighborhood. This morning we let him! And of course he had a blast.
Bye Hunter! Have a fun day at school! He goes to morning kindergarten which is barely over 3 hours long. But it's long enough for Gabriella to miss him so that they play nicely together when he gets home. =)

Dog Days of Summer

I'm a few weeks behind... But I'm not beating myself up too much with as much as we've had going on. Our house is still on the market. Unfortunately there has not been very much traffic and we decided to list it for rent and see what kind of response we got from that. Within two days of listing we had to couples very interested in renting. I'm not really bothered which direction we go. I figure as long as the mortgage gets paid that's all that matters! Of course the difference is that we won't be able to buy a new home in Hawaii if we don't sell right now and get our equity out of it. On the other hand, we may not want to buy anything there. We already know that we will rent for about 6 month to a year just to check things out.

So here it is, another Sunday afternoon and I'm finding that I have a few minutes to work on the blog. We had Stake Conference this morning which meant we had the entire afternoon to ourselves! I even squeezed in a NAP- the first time in FOREVER!!

My baby, Kolea is getting so big. She will be 1 year old in two weeks! But I wanted to post her 11 month old pictures b/c she's so pretty. =)

I just love how her eyes are off set by the blue pillows behind her. She's silly.
Next, came my dad's 61st birthday! Mom had already left for Utah (for Emily's upcoming baby shower) so we kids treated him to our favorite Mexican Restaurant, 3 Margaritas! They always treat us like kings when we go there- and this time was no different. Happy Birthday Dad!
August 1st was Emily's twin baby shower. It was a lot of fun to have all of the girls together. I even left all three of my kids home with Ryan (thanks honey, I love you!) This is a diaper cake that Tamara made. She is so dang creative!
We went swimming at Tamara's pool the night before the shower. Where is Tam?? She's home working away of course! Doing things like that cute diaper cake! We missed you in this pic Tam. But thanks for putting us all up at your house so we could all be together!
I made this! Ryan gave me a fruit bouquet for our last anniversary and I'd saved everything. I thought it would be fun to recreate for Emily's shower. It wasn't as pretty as the original, but I think it turned out quite well. And it was fun!
OK, so I don't know about the rest of you but we've been having a crazy and semi-cool summer with all of the rain we've had. Nearly every afternoon we get a bit of a storm. And I don't mean just a low key sprinkling, I mean a storm!

This particular afternoon we were at the park and didn't make it home (running) before these huge raindrops began to fall. The kids were already wet so they decided to dance in the rain- and get soaked! Kolea and I watched from the safety and dryness of the garage! You've heard of "singing in the rain?" This is dancing in the rain by the Hitz children. Check out my photographic timing!And now we've moved to the street where they can really splash around!
OK... Noodles? Really guys? And Gabriella decided that she wasn't wet enough yet.
And there we have it. The final end to our progression of "how wet and disgusting can I get?" Although you've got to admit, it's pretty funny. Do you see how black it is around her? Gross! I made the kids strip in the laundry room and then run naked up to the shower. This may be TMI but Gabriella had grass clippings washing out of her bum!! Ha!
I love Sundays when my children are clean and in their Sunday Best. I was lucky enough to catch this-- the cutest picture ever! SISTERS! Ya gotta love 'em. Don't forget to tell your sister how much you really love her!
Silly kids. =)
We end on this note- bath time. Kolea used to HATE (yes with a capital H-A-T-E) bath time. It wasn't until I forced her into the pool over and over this summer that she lightened up and now LOVES (yes all capitals here too) it! The other night she was nasty from dinner so I stripped her down and put her in the tub. Then Hunter came along with his fudgescicle and Kolea took it over.
Yay! Happy, fun, wet... BATH TIME!