Nine Years Ago . . .

 

Nine years ago, I gave birth to this handsome guy! Some facts about Micah's birth: 1) He was born at 7000 ft elevation.  2) He is the only one of our children born on the mainland, Flagstaff, AZ to be exact.  3) I had to be induced with him. 4) He was 7 lbs 11 oz and cute as can be!

 Micah wanted to go eat at Gyutaku restaurant, a Japanese restaurant that we've gone to for years now.

Micah knew exactly what he wanted. Micah is a fun and intelligent boy, who is a good helper at home. He earned the rank of Wolf in Cub Scouts. He's also a great big brother.

 Jace did pretty good in the restaurant . . . once we strapped him in his seat. It was a fun night celebrating Micah and the blessing his is to our family.

After the birthday dinne, it's tradition to head over to Zippy's restaurant and pick out a cake. After scanning what cakes there were, Dream cake was the cake of choice tonight. Mmmmmmm. It's one of my favorites as well.

Happy Birthday Micah!!!

Koolina Beach Days

Today and last week, we've spent time with the cousins over at Koolina Beach.

 Koolina is a fun, favorite spot.

 Tanith, Kara, and I just lounging on the sand.

 Aunty Julie and Callie swimming around.

 Raiden was so sweet playing with Jace.

Taizo and Micah enjoying the warm water.

Girl time!


This is a great picture of ALL the cousins on Randy's side. You can see the lagoon in the back. It's like a huge salt water pool.


Me and my sisters-in-law, from left to right, Terri, Me, Julie, and Jan.

So fun hanging out with the cousins. It's something we love to do.

A Summer of Swimming

Every summer we do swimming. The older ones have kind of outgrown it, but the younger ones are still loving it! This year we did swimming with BYUH's swim team. We loved it so much, we did two swim sessions. I was asked to coach the second one, which was a fun and intimidating experience. None the less, we did manage to keep ourselves cool in the summer heat.

At the end of each session, the kids have a swim meet against their teammates. It's a lot of fun to watch. Kara did really awesome in the water, placing in a few of the races: freestyle and dolphin kick (forerunner to butterfly).

Micah proved to be a great swimmer himself. The first session he struggled, participating in only one race. By the time the second session's swim meet rolled around, he participated in every race he could, including the butterfly. He placed in many of the races. Good job Micah!

A little known fact about myself, I love swimming. It was fun to coach and be part of organizing the swim meet. At the end of each swim meet, they have a parent/coach race. I participated both times. Here's a little secret: I live for those races. So fun!!! I gotta get have some fun too. The 2nd swim meet race at the end was a family one. I'll try and post that video up later of that race.

Castles on the The Fourth

It's beena tradition that we spend the Fourth of July at Waimea Bay. Well. This year, we broke tradition. But we didn't mind.

The night before, we were Aunty Jan's for a movie night on the lawn. It was awesome, and we were there till 11pm at night. Needless to say, we totally slept in!

Get up at our leisure and had a lazy morning, followed by chores.

Then we headed to Castles, a nearby beach.  It was packed, a little cloudy, but the waves were good.

My water babies had a ton of fun. Randy and the rest were in the water 90% of the time catching waves, while Jace and I kicked it on the beach, playing in the sand.


 It was great family time.

Memorial Day 2012

With not being in the mood to go very far, we opted to spend Memorial Day by touring the Polynesian Cultural Center and remembering our ancestors.

Leigh with her ever-present smile.


It was a hot day. Of course we didn't get to PCC till lunch and everyone was hungry. After eating, we were ready to begin.

 Randy had actually not been to PCC since we've been back to Hawaii.


He's such a good big brother.


We always start with the canoe show.


It's fun to watch. It reminds me of my days of when I worked at PCC and shook my (not so small)booty.


We hit up the motherland village first and watched the show at the Tongan village. If you notice, my family is trying to learn the ma'ulu'ulu. 


This guy was fun. It's fun to listen to what they say in Tongan. If the tourists only knew.

Friends in the Tongan village helped my kids with their weaving. It's actually a fish that Jace is holding.


This is a new feature at the PCC. The kids loved it! 

This is one of the favorite spots. It's at the Tahitian village. The kids love to try and catch a fish from the lagoon.

We got lucky this time ---- looks like it's fish for dinner tonight.

The rest of day was spent roaming the villages and doing the activities they have. If you ever get to visit Hawaii, this needs to be #1 on your list of places to see.

Aunty Jan's Fabulous 40th Birthday!!

Today we celebrated Aunty Jan's Fabulous 40th birthday! It was at a Karaoke location, and we were joined by food, friends and family.

Aunty Julie rocked the mic during the night, along with many others, including myself.

Aunty Jan doing her thing. 

Taizo watching all the brave singers.

Of course the food was fabulous!!

Yes. She did make her own cake. There is no end to this woman's talent.

Aunty Jan does a fabulous job at everything she does, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister-in-law. She really is that good. She's a wonderful mother and wife, and her creative skills in sewing, cooking, crafts, you name it, is awesome!

She had a great time.

She definitely rocked the zebra shoes.

It was a fun afternoon. Thank you Aunty Jan and a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!