Julie comes to visit!

 

 My sister Julie came to visit us in Hawaii for a weekend!  It was such a blast and my kids were ecstatic weeks before she came.  They kept counting down the days and saying how they couldn't wait!  Then the day before she came Zion says, "Mom!  Aunty Julie comes tomorrow!!  Wait, what does Aunty Julie look like??"  It was so funny. 

 

We tried not to waste a minute since time was limited, so we went straight from the airport to the beach at Ko'olina.

 

 

 

 

 

Zui teaching Zeya how to surf on a boogie board :)

 

 

 

Jazzy teaching Zigs how to surf :)

 

 

 

 Isn't my sister so pretty?!

 

 

 

I'm glad we had nice weather.  There was a hurricane threat the weekend she was here.  Luckily it blew south of us and all we got was a bit of rain.

 

My kids kept wanting to show Aunty Julie everything they were up to.  It was so nice to have them entertained! 

 

The next morning we headed to the waterpark!  It was so fun to go on *a* ride with my sis.  I hid my belly behind the innertube on the way up, but by the time we reached the bottom the worker had to ask me a "personal question" if I was pregnant or not.  He forbid me to ride any more...at least we snuck one in :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday night we took off while Julie babysat til Saturday afternoon.  It was soo wonderful!  We went out to dinner with some friends, caught a movie, then went to our hotel.  In the morning we slept, woke up slept some more, woke up slept again... it was bliss :)  After a yummy breakfast of Sweet bread French toast and kim chee fried rice we went on a hike to Lulumahu Falls.

 

We hiked through a bamboo forest and tons of heavy foliage, back and forth across streams, it was real cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zui cooling off IN the falls..

 

Funky menehune mural outside the hike.

 

 Such a big mahalo to Julie for watching the kids, we had such a wonderful time!!

 

Monday morning we headed to the beach one last time.  Gary flew in the night before and so we went to go surf.  So fun!  The kids have missed "Aunty Ju-wee" as Jasmine calls her, and Zeya said he's saving up all his money to buy a plane ticket to see her...  she's definitely being missed!  We're so glad we got the chance to have her here.  Love ya sis!!

 

 

 

 

Zui's trip to Utah

 

Zui went to Utah for a week in October.  In addition to some business, he got to catch a BYU game, see family, attend conference, and hang out with friends.  Back home we survived, but only barely.  Being a "single mom" is tough!!! But I was much more willing to let him go because...I'm going to California for Thanksgiving to see my family!!

 

Happy 5th Birthday, Zeya!

 

Happy Birthday to my Izaiah!  I can't believe he is 5 already!  Birthday morning we opened up a couple presents and had sugar cereal.

 

 

 

We had his birthday party in the afternoon.  I think he had about 8 friends come.  Evelyn is his best friend.  Everyone loved this game: put on the fireman hat, covered with whip cream, then another person throws m&m's at the cream and sees how many can stick!

 

 ..and then you eat them, of course.

 

In lieu of a piñata, we put a piece of candy inside each balloon, then had each kid pop a balloon, over Zui's head.  They loved it.

 

 

Zeya was soo excited about his cake.  He helped decorate it.  He wanted a "tall cake with m&m's" so that is what we did.   It was so funny.  As soon as his friends came the first thing he showed them was his cake in the fridge, and then they would both say, "whoaaa..." like it was so cool.  I had to laugh to myself.  My cake mix cake with frosting and m&m's thrown on top.  But to him it was so special.

 

 

 

 

Zeya got lots of cool presents.  It was fun to see him be the center of attention.  Being the middle child hasn't been easy on him, and I'm afraid he often gets overlooked.

 

Happy birthday to my sweet Zeya!  I hope this year is a great one for him :) 

 

September random pics

My kids never get tired of going to the beach.  This is Ali'i's, surf was high, kids found lots of hermit crabs and other treasures.

Jasmine and Zigs are two peas in a pod.  They love doing things together.

 Anjuli at karate practice, doing her kata.

Ezekiel loves getting rides in laundry baskets, and the kids love pretending they are the horsey.

Leave a hose on and this boy is happy forever.  But be prepared for a tantrum when you turn it off!

This is what happens when you try to wash your car with 5 kids...

Zion and Anjuli wanted to match going to school :)  They are great friends, most of the time...