More "Surprise" Visitors

More visitors from Surprise came into town. Brooke and Cody Ashton are in our ward back in AZ. They are on vacation in Hawaii and are staying in Laie. We stopped in at where they are staying to say hi. It was fun to talk with them and see how things are doing back in our ward and in Surprise. It was fun to hear about what they've done so far and give advice on where to go around the islands. I have to say, it's been fun being a host, sort of. We've had visitors from AZ all month. Keep 'em coming!
We had fun visiting with you Brooke and Cody. Hope you have an awesome time the rest of your stay.

**I know, I know. We need a new camera. I'll probably steal Brooke's picture when she posts hers.

Spring Gymnastic Olympics

Kara had an end-of-the year gymnastics performance with the gym that she takes lessons from. It was so fun to watch Kara in her element. She performed well. She did her floor exercises and I saw that later Coach Cassandra asked if there was anyone who wanted to perform again. Kara quickly raised her hand to volunteer. She must love this sport to willingly perform in front of at least 100+ people. She did the bar, beam and floor. My favorite was watching her do the beam. Kara says her favorite is the bar. Great job Kara. We can't wait to see more next school year.

**We'll try put up the short video clip we have of her performance.

A sick Memorial Day

I almost forgot to post about our Memorial Day. Firstly, I have been sick as a dog since last Thursday. Because of that, there are no pictures. The day however was so nice, and I didn't want to lay in bed. I wanted to go do something fun with my family.
We decided to go see "Night at the Museum II". It was fun to be there together at something that everyone wanted to do. How was the movie? Well, you'll have to ask Randy and the kids. I heard it was good. I was there in the theater in body, but the rest of me was gone! Right before going in to see the movie, I could feel a sinus headache coming on and I had bad allergies on top of it all. I took Advil and Benadryl, and lasted only 30 minutes into the movie. Sad huh.

After the movie we headed to Zippy's for dinner. I don't know why, but Randy and I enjoy watching our children when we eat out. I think because everyone gets to order what they want and we are all engaged in fun conversation. We do have fun conversations at home, but sometimes we do have unhappy customers as far as what's for dinner.

For desert we hit the Cookie Corner. We saw and chatted some close friends and headed home.


I was exhausted and probably made myself worse, but it was worth it.

"Surprise" Visitors

Our neighbors from Surprise, AZ, came to visit Hawaii and we were able to meet up with them. It was so fun to talk and visit. They live directly across the street from our home in AZ.



Kara and their daughter would play all the time.




The kids kept themselves occupied with this poor lizard.

We had dinner at the beach park. We finally remembered to take pictures when it was getting dark. Again, we need a knew camera. I stole these pics from them. Hopefully we can go back and visit AZ and see everyone again.




These guys are awesome. Before we rented our house, the kept an eye on it and even took care of some of the yard work in front. It was so hard to leave friends like this behind. We were excited to see them again.

Pack 66 Hike to Scramble Hill

Today was the day for the hike I had been planning with my den. Well, it ended up being the whole pack, which is great, the MORE the MERRIER! Let me just say, I learned a lot of behind the scenes stuff setting up this hike. Hopefully, the second time around will be easier. Here pictures from our activity.


Trying to do a head count and separate into groups.

Starting the trek. Some were carrying trash bags. Part of our hike was a conservation project to clean up along the way.

What a good cub scout!

More trash. I'm so glad I gave them all gloves. There was actually more trash than I thought.


Me trying to stop the masses while we wait for others to catch up.


The hill that I specifically told them NOT to run up when we got to the top.


We need a knew camera. If you click on the picture, you can see our faces better.


I think I'm calling boys off the hill and trying to regroup to go back down.


The boys getting their snack after the long hike.


Yum! Watermelon. It was so good afterwards.


More of my boys enjoying their well-deserved snack. Thank you to all the leaders that came. Good job Pack 66!

My Kara

This is my Kara.

She's known as the shy one in the family. As her family, we are privileged to see all the talents that she has.


She's learning to become a gymnast.

She's very crafty.


She started this blanket at Activity Days and came home and finished it all by herself. She pays attention to detail so that her projects come out right.


She's also a very good speller. She placed second in her class Spelling Bee.


Oh yeah, and as an added bonus, her favorite animal is the giraffe.


I just wanted to share how special my Kara is.

Our First Visitors From Arizona

We had a visit from a former co-worker of Randy's from his GCC days. Her name is Dina. She vacationed here in Hawaii with a friend and contacted us. We were so glad to meet up with her. It had been 4 years since we last saw her. It was fun. We had brunch. I LOVE brunch so I had fun cooking things up. I made lemon poppy seed, blueberry and apple crunch muffins, fruit salad, and some mini-breakfast burritos. Too bad I didn't take a picture of that. We had our meal at the beach and hung out for a while. Later, Randy took Dina and her friend over to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was so fun to catch up with our friends from our AZ life. We are still waiting for more to come visit. Speaking of which, we actually have more friends coming in the next couple of weeks, CAN'T WAIT!


Tyler showing off his catch. It looks a little creepy to me.

The kids had so much fun at the place. They call it alligator pond. No, there aren't any alligators here, but there is a rock formation that looks like one. I should have taken a picture of it.

There were tons of fish here. We should have come here for Tyler's birthday.

The fishers keep at it.

Tyler made a little pool to put the fish he caught in.


We stayed a little longer than planned, which meant we forgot to do things like put lots of sunscreen on. We didn't get burned too bad, but enough that the kids understand WHY I slather them up in it. We ended the day with a movie at BYUH. An oldie but goodie ---- "Princess Bride". They will be doing that play in a couple of weeks. I'm curious to see it.

The Campaign Trail

Tyler came home with a paper that had student government officers listed with each of their responsibilities. He then proceeded to tell me that he was going to run for Treasurer. I said ok, cool. Then he said, "What is a treasurer?" "It's the person that handles the money." "Cool, I like money. Ok." And so began the campaign trail for Tyler.
This school has strict rules for campaigning. It had to be totally done by the kids, nothing computer generated at all. So Tyler set to work on his poster. He made sure to tell all his friends and told his friends to tell their friends to vote for him. All his siblings were getting the word out: VOTE FOR TYLER!
Today was the last day of his campaigning. He gave a speech that he had memorized and been practicing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch and capture that moment. At the end he says, ". . . So vote for me, Tyler Sasaki, and I'll make it count." We are so proud of Tyler for even attempting this and sticking it out to the end. These student body government positions are open to both 4th and 5th graders. They only have one student body government for the whole school. So Tyler was competing against older kids. He even had one kid on the playground tell him he was going down. That didn't stop him.
The votes are in and now we wait. You know the funny thing, only the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were allowed to vote. That means, that none of my other kids were able to cast their vote for Tyler. That's ok, they gave Tyler enough support that he knows they would have.

Kara's Field Trip

Today Kara's class had a field trip. They were going to the zoo. I finally had a chance to accompany one of my kids' on a field trip. I've been dying to do this ever since the beginning of the school. Why? I have no more babies at home. Bittersweet. (Big sigh). Moving on.
I was in charge of Kara, two other kids. We had a great time!




Checking out the zebra.

Kara comparing her hand to an orangutan's.

The kids posing with the giraffe.

They are so cute!


Trapped!


Petting the chicken.


Elephant came out at the end.

Some lazy monkeys.

Fun time!

Mother's Day

Not too many pictures were taken on this day. I think I just got lazy. Hey, it was Mother's Day after all.

I received a wonderful breakfast in bed, cooked up by my hubby. My kids had given me their gifts made a school. So precious!








For Mother's Day, we decided to bring dinner to Randy's mom. Every time we stop by, even for a little visit, she always has a meal for us. She is a great woman. She has many talents. I tried to learn many of them while we lived with them. One of her many talents is cooking. Needless to say, I was a little nervous bringing dinner to her. We did it anyway. It was a light meal but we enjoyed it, all being together.

My mother is far away on a tiny little island in the middle of the ocean. While my mother may be far away, I don't feel the distance. Next to Randy, she is my BEST FRIEND! She knows me inside and out, even though I've lived away from home for 15 years. My mother has many talents as well. Probably my favorite that has come in handy in my adult life has been the gift of helping me feel at peace. My mother has a way of making me feel calm about whatever is going on in my life and making everything better. I guess that's what moms are for.

Thank you to both and Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

This is my Tyler! It was only 10 years ago that I had him (big sigh). All 9 lbs 5 oz of him (bigger sigh). He's a great kid. He's very artistic, not afraid to try new things, friendly, a great Cub Scout, and a good brother and son.

Tyler's birthday is actually tomorrow (May 10th), but we wanted to outdoor stuff, so we celebrated a day early. We let Tyler choose the activities and a special meal for dinner. We got up, bought supplies and headed to the beach for some fishing. It was a windy day, not the best conditions at all for fishing but we did it anyway. Despite the fact the kids caught nothing but reef, they had fun.



Tyler's favorite food - the ever popular "spam musubi".

Kara and Micah exploring while we were getting the fishing poles ready.

Well, it was more like daddy getting things ready. Even though I had a father who is an avid fisher, I have no idea how to do this kind of stuff.

I take it back about the part of "not catching anything". On the way to our fishing spot, the kids caught crabs to use as bait. Tyler's holding the biggest one they caught.

Kara, testing out her pole.

Tyler trying to catch a big one. It seemed like we weren't in the best spot I think.

Not sure why my camera is giving my pictures a blue tint.

Tyler standing on water (heehee).


When we were done "fishing", we headed to a different part of the beach just to swim. Micah I think is challenging the waves.



After the beach, we went home for a break and had some pizza for lunch. We opened up presents. Then recuped and headed back out. Tyler's been on a sushi craze so we headed for Ninja Sushi. They have the Tiger and Lion Maki and that Tyler and I always order.

I think this is the Lion Maki. Sooooooo GOOD!!!!

Tyler enjoying his Tiger Maki.

Micah enjoying his shrimp.

Afterwards, we headed home to have Tyler's cake. I made him an 'ice-cream sandwich cake'. It was soooooo good and so easy to make. I would have taken a picture but we ate it too quickly.

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!