Kids and Fun Things

Yesterday, Hunter wasn't feeling so hot. We decided to spend the day at home playing on our own beach. Sometimes it's nice to just "chill." These first three pics are of the kids and their "after swim" attire/ behaviors.

Kolea is fresh out of the shower and where does she go? To her favorite spot of course on the back steps (facing the ocean) with a fresh smile! This past week we couldn't keep her in the house unless we locked the screen door. She would crawl up and down these steps constantly. I figured I was fighting a losing battle and thought (perhaps irresponsibly) if she falls, she'll learn.

And then there is Gabriella. She was angry b/c she wanted to shower AGAIN! For the third time. She'd showered in the morning and then showered outside (we have an outdoor shower) when coming in from the beach. Then when she heard that Kolea was in the shower with daddy- she wanted to join in. Sorry. Enough is enough. And TMI?? Anyhow, this is her throwing a fit on her bedroom floor. I thought it was funny that amidst her crying she took the time to spread out her towel just so perfectly! Can you believe those tan lines?
Last but not least is dear, sweet Hunter. He has showered and dressed and now he's in the bathroom doing is hair. Again, pretty funny as this six year old is acting somewhat vain. =)

* * * * * * * *

A couple of weekends ago we met some friends (The Hannemann Family) at the beach at Turtle Bay Resort (the only resort on the North Shore.) We had a blast- so much so that I forgot to take any pictures while we were actually AT the beach. But I'd remembered later while at dinner in Haleiwa eating at Spaghettini!

The Hanneman family also has three kids that are the same ages of our kids. We always have a lot of fun when we see them. They recently moved out of our ward. Boo!
Here are the lovely parents! Jenni has finished her schooling as I have. And Sterling is still in school (as Ryan) and they even have some classes together.

Say "cheese!" Mmm, yummy pizza!

* * * * * * * * *

Baby chicks. All two of you that ever read this blog know that we have a bit of a chicken/ rooster problem here. A few weeks ago our neighbor, Adam, found a nest with fresh eggs in it right by the house. So the kids and I decided that we would go on our own "Egg Hunt." The idea being that if we could find the nests and take the fresh eggs- not only would we not have to buy eggs anymore to eat, but we would also cut down on allowing a new generation of baby chicks to flourish on our property (and continue making life miserable at 5 am "when the cock crows" literally.)

So off we went with sand buckets in hand. Search through the trees and the underbrush on the outskirts of our jungle like property. About 25 mosquito bites later, we still had not found a thing. We decided to walk along the edge of our driveway and what did we see? A mother hen sitting on her babies. As soon as we got close enough, the mother hen freaked out and started to attack me!! Hello! But then she just ran around screeching while I began scooping up baby chicks. What am I going to do with these babies? I don't know, but this is fun and so crazy! I was able to grab five and Hunter got one before the others toddled off into the underbrush after their mother (there were at LEAST five more.) Here we were with six baby chicks. They were so dang cute and soft!

We kept them in a box and they had to sleep in the house at night. Since they were still so little they had to be kept very warm. It was quite a chore between that and feeding them water individually. In the end (after a few days) all six of them died. We were sad. But not too sad b/c we are a little too realistic for that. Knowing that cute baby chicks grow up to be horrible chickens and roosters!

I don't mean to sound callous, but you must understand; everything in a life cycle has a predator (except humans of course.) That is how we keep the balance of life in the animal and plant kingdoms. Here in Hawaii, chickens are not native. They were brought here many, many years ago as a food source and now there are wild chickens everywhere. They have no natural predator, so they simply reproduce wherever and whenever suits them. Generally their population will grow when they have a food supply that will support them. Come to find out, another one of our neighbors (major animal lovers) had been FEEDING the dang chickens for the past many months. That's why they had been multiplying like crazy. So we've put a stop to all of that and have begun concentrating on the new generations, those newly hatched, and those still not hatched.

Luckily, Adam (friendly neighbor who originally found the eggs) is a wildlife biologist and his main focus is on birds! So even though chickens are domestic, they are still a bird and he was very helpful in figuring out a solution. He spoke to some people who would come pick up the chickens that we catch (including babies) and give them to farmers who already have established chicken coops and regular daily egg collections. So that was our goal with our baby chicks. We would give them a good home to established farmers! Unfortunately seeing as Hawaii has their own ideas about time, and one day can mean a week... our baby chicks all ended up dying before the people ever came to collect them. =(

All that said, we had some great learning experiences and the children had some up close and personal moments with some of God's fluffiest creations!

Here they are sunning themselves, keeping warm! But they were so cute b/c they came to know us as their respective mom(s) and when we would talk or walk across the lanai (the deck) the little cuties would follow us! They were like little puppies that way. Oh so fun.

P.S. Yesterday, we caught seven more. Luckily they are in Adam's care right now so we won't feel so bad if they don't make it before the people come to pick them up. Yep, the call is out again.

* * * * * * * * *

I SURF. Did you know that? Can I say that even though I did it just once on this one day? A few weeks ago we went to a beach about 17 minutes up the road from us. They have some really great small waves to try out your surfing abilities without it being too overwhelming. Once you finally get over the arm tiredness of paddling out to where the waves are breaking and the sets are rolling in (reverse that) it's pretty cool! You feel like you're a part of an elite group... THE NOVICE SURFERS! Ha!

It was a lot of fun, and after a couple of failed attempts I saw a wave coming and thought "this is it." I loved that there were a ton of guys in the water cheering me on and giving me advice as I was starting to paddle as the wave was beginning to rise behind me. "Paddle, paddle, paddle!" one guy yelled. "Paddle harder!" another guy yelled. And it was there, on me. I could feel the rise of the wave under the board. I felt as though I could fly. It was so steady. I could have been lying on this surf board on my living room floor. Slowly I drew myself up to my knees and in one fluid motion stood up. I DID IT! "WOO HOO!" I cheered myself! "Way to go!" another guy cheered for me! (And it's fun b/c they are generally happy for you.) And there I stood on the surf board, riding a wave. This perfect wave that started WAY off shore and I was riding it all the way in because as awesome as it was- I WAS POOPED! Man! It takes a lot of energy! And so I've started running again. Ha!

Can't wait to go again. =)

This pic shows Gabriella and a couple of friends playing in the waves. Gabriella is the lower right. Hunter is the upper right, taking is boogie board out to catch some waves, and Ryan is in the upper left corner. Talk about family fun!!

Hunter! Come in a little closer! He was a little too far out to ride the waves on the boogie board. =)

Christmas Break- Oh how we love thee.

I've been waiting for the New Year to get here so I could post all of these fun pictures at once.

Beginning with the night of Christmas... We decided to watch a movie as a family and be all cuddly and cozy on the couch together. It was working until the daddy passed the white chocolate covered pretzels in Kolea's direction. Do you see that FACE? She stuffed about 3 in her little mouth so I had to grab the camera, and paper towels, and wipes!!! And yes, that is a partial piece on the couch. She totally got caught red handed!

The next morning was Boxing Day!! Very heavily celebrated in England, which most of you know is where I served my mission. We couldn't just sit around, so we went hiking! I don't even know what this hike is called, but we thought it was going to be a quick, short, half hour hike for the kiddos...
So we walked, and walked, and walked. At one point I even sang the "Pioneer Children" song. Ha! These are our friends, Jeremiah and Michelle with their baby Ellah. Just to Ryan's right is the beach. We were hiking to a specific beach, but it was funny to be hiking along this beautiful coastline the whole time on our way to "the" beach.
We're here! No, not really. This is just a stop along the way b/c we've been walking for over an hour and everyone's feet hurt! Guess we wore the wrong shoes. So that is us headed to the water for a little refresher before we got on our way again.
We are still walking along the trail at this point and it's been two hours! Hello! Little kids here!! But interestingly enough there on the side of the trail were protected breeding grounds for the Albatross. (Anyone seen The Rescuers Down Under?) Anyhow, these birds are pretty dang big!
Yay! We've really, finally made it! To this rocky little beach. Kolea was VERY excited to be out of her backpack. This beach doesn't look like much in this picture. But you haven't seen the cool part yet!
See how good you are at spotting hidden pictures... We were just getting ready to hike back (seeing as we still wanted it to be light for the long walk back) when two Monk Seals came into the little tide pools and surprised us by inching closer and closer to the beach. Can you spot both of them in this picture?? We were thinking that it was mother and baby.
That baby was BRAVE! This was a big hill and it shimmied itself right to the top! At one point, Hunter got a little too close and it totally barked at him! Well, we took the long hike back and then went to a little touristy town called Haleiwa for some sweet refreshment- dinner!

As it turned out, our little hike was SIX miles round trip. Hunter walked the whole thing (minus a 3 minute piggy back ride on me.) Gabriella got big blisters from her shoes on the hike in and got a piggy back ride (on me) the entire way back- except for Hunter's little stint. It was quite the long hike for our little troupers. =)

* * * * * * * * * *

We were so worn out after Boxing Day that we were grateful for the Sabbath the next day. In fact, it was THE BEST Sunday we've had in a very long time. Kolea fell asleep on the way home from church (around 1:30 pm). Then Ryan and I made an early dinner and had it all cleaned up by 2:30 pm. Since Kolea was still sleeping we put on a little movie for Hunter and Gabriella and took a Sunday Siesta... for TWO whole hours! It was sooooo refreshing. That's right, Kolea didn't wake up until 4:30 pm. Oh yeah.

The next morning we went out to a new beach called Castles. We were trying to meet up with some friends there and try surfing for the first time since we got here. Unfortunately our friends never made it-- but we did bring our boogie boards! Hunter was not a huge fan, but with practice we think he'll come to love it. I on the other hand caught a few fun waves before we had to pack up and go home. After all, it was Monday morning and Ryan still has to work.

None of the kids would look at me for this picture. Which is typical when they're feeling a little out of sorts. BTW- this is how Kolea hangs out at the beach. I let her sit on a beach chair with a toy and she's totally content! She's still not sure how she feels about the sand. It's a love/hate relationship at this point.

On Tuesday, we went paddle boarding at home, on our own beach. We live in this little bay where the water breaks further out and is very calm by the time it reaches our shores. I'm on the board here with Kolea sitting in between my knees and Gabriella on the back. This is the first time Kolea has been on the board. I wanted to try it with her- and now she's hooked! She will lean over to the side and dip her fingers in the water and then suck on them! She kept doing this over and over. Funny girl!

Normally on the paddle board you would stand up and paddle, but in the interest of keeping us all on the board, and dry, I knelt down to keep us steady.
Here's a better picture of what we girls look like on the paddle board. It was a lot of fun! All of you who say I've gotten so tan- I really haven't. I'm still super white! This is my BLING picture. The sun caught my rings just right. =)
We spent most of Wednesday at our friends the Hannemann's. We had a blast just hanging out and eating a yummy dinner followed up with my favorite, rootbeer floats!

And then we get to Thursday, New Year's Eve!!! Ryan and I thought that with this being our first here and away from home that we should do something totally different. So we packed up the kids and headed to Waikiki! We got a hotel room at the Marriott Beach Resort on the 20th floor, complete with an ocean view.

On our way down we stopped at 7 Eleven to get the kids some mood boosting Slurpees! Who doesn't love a slurpee?
We went to the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy grub- yes we truly were all smiles...

Say "Cheese!"

And then we hit the strip. Well, that's what I called it. It felt a little like Vegas. It was SUPER busy and there were people out handing out random leaflets and street performers, the whole nine yards. It was a feast for the eyes! Not a dull moment. =)

I put the last bit of my cash (about a dollar in change) into this guy's money barrel and he let us take a couple of pictures with him. Gabriella had been begging us ALL night to "go see the Pirate." And when we finally got there she chickened out! She was hysterical! But he would stand there perfectly still and when someone got a little too close he'd suddenly reach out his hand to shake their hand or blow into a little whistle that he had in his mouth. Basically it would really freak out the person who got a little too close.
Hunter was finally brave enough to get close to him. Can you see the gold gun he's got pointed at Hunter?? The only words I hear him speak the entire time. "Hands Up!" It was really entertaining to say the least!
After some coercing (on my part) to Gabriella that this next guy was a REAL statue and he wasn't going to scare her like the other dude, she finally came up and sat with us for a picture. Although, she still doesn't believe me. Do you see her checking him out?
This is the amount of up close fireworks our kids got to see. Hunter is the little guy there facing away from the action for a moment. We'd already gone back to our room, put our left over food away, gone swimming, taken showers and headed back OUT for more street time! Whew! So Hunter is in some little Buzz Lightyear p.j.'s and Kolea is dead to the world in my arms. This is on the beach just across the street from our hotel. None of the Waikiki hotels are actually sitting ON the beach. They are all across the main drag.
Thought I'd take a little rest myself! Gabriella was so tired that she had commandeered the stroller for herself and shortly thereafter, fallen asleep. So I wound up holding the lighter of the two. =) But could I blame her? It was nearly 10:30 pm. We were trying to be "fun" parents. Ha! Right after this picture was taken, we crossed the street and went back to our room. Within 15 minutes we had 3 sleeping children.

I think we succeeded in being "fun" parents for the night. Even though the kids didn't last until the new year. They had a blast and got to do something totally out of the ordinary... Was is too much to expect that they might possibly make it to midnight? That is a resounding YES. They are 1, 4, and 6! Of course they can't last that long. But we didn't put any restrictions on them and we went into it knowing they would be cranky the next day- and they didn't disappoint. =)
Ryan and I rang in the new year on the balcony of our hotel room together watching the thunderous fireworks flash across the sky. Three beautiful children in blissful sleep at our backs. We were "together" as a family and that had been our goal.

Happy New Year Everyone! May you stretch yourself a little further, reach a little higher, be a little better this year. I mentioned to my brother this evening that I wanted to sit down with Ryan and write out some "resolutions" for the new year. Joe laughed at me and said, "Ryan will love that!" I responded simply, "actually I think he will! That's how we accomplish so much together! How can we ever improve or reach our lofty goals if we don't ever sit down and set them?" I guess that is our M.O. We actually LIKE setting goals and then working through the rough spots to accomplish them. It brings joy to our lives and we wish the same for you! Love to all of our family and friends near and far!!

The Tree, The Eve and Beyond

This year we were in a bit of a quandary as to what to do for a Christmas tree. In Colorado we would always go to the mountains and chop down a tree. In fact for a history on our Christmas tree traditions you can look at last December's post on that very topic! But for the here and now, we were at a loss b/c pine trees do not grown in Hawaii. They do have some evergreen trees, but no formal pine trees that you and I think of when you say "Christmas Tree!"

We found out that many places import Christmas trees for the traditional consumer at a healthy $50 to $80 a cut tree. In other words, a tree that will soon die. So we decided to shy away from that a buy a potted tree. One that we could plant after all was said and done. Ryan found a nursery that sold potted Norfolk Island Pine trees. (Yes, it says "pine" in the name, but it's not really a pine.) So we went to find ourselves the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

Not bad eh? It's 7 feet tall in the pot! And it will stay in that little pot from 2-3 years! So when we move out of this rental into a more permanent home, we can plant our cute tree there. This is how they wrapped up our tree so we could take the hour drive home.
Yay! We have our first Hawaiian Christmas tree! Gabriella is in the back seat. She was being a pill and hiding from the camera.
Nothing like a HUGE 7-Eleven Slurpee to refresh us from our Christmas tree hunting!
And then we got to decorate it! It looks a little sparse, but all in all we think it looks pretty great! And everyone got to help in the fun.

Ta Da!

* * * * * * * *

This is Christmas Eve, about ten days after we got our tree all prettied up! I am the candy maker in my family. For YEARS I have made countless batches of Divinity and many fewer batches of Salt-water taffy on Christmas Eve. It is a fun tradition that I wasn't about to let go of. However, I was a bit reluctant b/c both the taffy and divinity need the right climate for them to actually set up and work. And Hawaii isn't it. I didn't want to be setting myself up for failure, but I knew I just HAD to try it. Well, the divinity worked! It was wonderful!!!

We took a break from slaving away in the kitchen to spend some time on the beach! Ryan was teaching Hunter how to Paddle surf. Obviously he needs a paddle that is his size, but you get the idea.
Then we came back to attempt the taffy. It may be green, but I put cinnamon oil in it. Yummy! However, the taffy didn't work. Who knows what the problem was, but after pulling and pulling-- it kind of collapsed. Oops! Oh well. It still tasted great!
After we read Luke 2 with Hunter and Gabriella (we'd already put the baby to bed) we let them open one gift. Pajamas! Of course! Well, that is a normal tradition for many families, but this is the first Christmas that WE have done it. And it was fun so I think we'll do it in the future. Aren't they cute? I couldn't resist when I found boy and girl Sponge Bob jammies!

* * * * * * * *

Merry Christmas Everyone! We let Hunter and Gabriella sleep together in our guest room's queen bed (a real treat) which is at the end of the hall. This is important b/c the master bedroom in on the other side of the house. And they would have to cross through the great room where "Christmas" was all set up. We needed the kids to stay in their room until we came to get them. In Colorado, all of the bedrooms were upstairs so it was easy for the kids to come into us on Christmas morning- but that isn't the case here. So we put the baby monitor in the guest room and told them to talk into when they woke up so we would know to go in to get them. It was really quite funny! But it worked perfectly!

The kids woke up just after 7 am. Ryan and I let them move from the guest room into the next room over (Hunter and Kolea's bedroom) which is right off the great room- boy were they excited. We sat in there and changed Kolea while we talked again about the true meaning of Christmas. Another tradition we have, that I have done for as long as I can remember, is sing "Happy Birthday" in a reverent manner to Jesus. It sounds cookey, but the children really understand that we are celebrating Christ's birthday and that since He is not here physically, we give gifts to one another in celebration of His birth.

The following are some pictures from "Christmas morning." A picture is worth a thousand words!

Water-proof and fog proof Binoculars.
Now you see it...
Now you don't! This is all of the trash consolidated into one area. Not too shabby!
Kolea got one gift. (Well, besides what all of her grandparents gave her.) It was this one doll. She LOVES it. It came with this bottle and the baby's face sucks it when you put it to her lips. Kolea thought she'd try it out for herself!
This is how she says "I'm loving today- I got my own baby doll! No more sharing with Gabriella who takes her dolls away from me!"
Oh we are already wiped out. Hunter is busy playing his new Wii game. Kolea is just chillin' and Gabriella?? Where is Gabriella? She's been doing her own thing all morning...
There she is! Playing with some new moon sand that Santa put in her stocking, wearing a new leotard/skirt combo that one of her grandma's gave her; eating something normal. We'd been eating junk ALL morning. By about 11:30 a.m., I finally clued in that we ought to eat something a little more filling and wholesome- so scrambled eggs on English muffins it was! You know, after eating crap for a period of time... sometimes scrambled eggs and an English muffin just hit the spot!
So there is a little look into what our last couple of weeks have been like, relating to Christmas. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas day as well. Full of fun, family, and friends! Oh! I almost forgot to mention... on Christmas Eve we had a bunch of friends over for a big Mexican meal! We were so busy and had so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures to document it. But I wanted to thank everyone that came over and helped make our Christmas Eve special!

Thanks Stef...

Well, we've done it. After 8 1/2 years of marriage, we FINALLY got some "real" family pictures. And I mean "we" as in RYAN TOO. I know, I know. You think the 2nd Coming must be here for that to have happened. But let me just tell you... we knew it would only happen on a beach.

I heard about Steph and her love of photography from a friend of a friend. She was great! And low and behold we even scraped by with a few good shots. Not that I doubted her abilities. No, no, no! It was US (specifically my kids) that I was worried about. It's amazing what a bribe of "a happy meal at McDonalds" will do for my kids- or rather me!

Of course, it was very stressful getting everyone ready and out the door on time in their clean, white shirts... I even told Gabriella that she wasn't allowed to eat anything until afterwards. Did it matter?? Nope. She still managed to find some chocolate in the car and get it on her shirt as we were leaving! Hello! Baby wipes and Tide stick to the rescue. Whew!

My darling babies. They are all getting so big. But that's OK. We actually have more fun together now as a family. We DO things together. It's not just us watching them be cute anymore... well, I guess we still do that too. Forever.

Hunter was not about to get his feet wet! The little turkey! He missed out on one of the most fun moments of the entire photo shoot. Let me tell you- we were a bit high strung. Thanks for hanging in there with us Stef!

Ahhh, look at me all nice and dry. Well, it didn't last.

There was this awesome tree swing where we were on the beach. I seriously felt like Ryan and I were taking engagement photos. It was really fun! P.S. This beach is in Hau'ula. We live about 10 minutes from it. We need to go back and explore it a bit better- this time in swim suits!

This is one of my all time favorite photos. It is so candid and I love it. Look at Gabriella twisting her hair- I can't believe that was caught on photo... she does that ALL day long. All the time. But I would never think to just take a picture of it. And I don't think any 6 year old boy could be happier than Hunter on this swing... =)

All in all, we made it through. It happened and I am grateful that it's over. Oops! Did I really just write that? Hopefully we won't wait another 8 years for more photos. But I guess only time can tell.

Why are getting family photos so dang stressful? All we ask is for small children and two parents to act "normal" and like they "like each other" and smile for a few awkward moments. And of course, not get anything on their clothing- or mess up their hair- and not cry... Is that too much to ask?? I know that MOST of you, (you who ARE normal) know exactly what I'm talking about. And that is why these are rhetorical questions.

Happy day. We have some happy pictures. And we all look happy! Yay!

You thought I was finished, but no. There is one more person I need to thank by way of taking our pictures. That is my dear friend, Courtney. She took the beautiful picture of my children at the top of my blog. I don't know if I ever gave her credit, but it was her eye, her patience, and her love of photography that gave me some of my most cherished pictures of my children. Thank you Courtney- a million times over!! I love you, my friend!

OK- random side note; it's midnight and there is a FREAKING ROOSTER crowing outside right now. GIVE IT A REST! Maybe you don't ever want to visit... Just kidding- did you see these pictures?? Why aren't you on the next flight over?? Free lodging... =)