merry christmas!

my aunt asked the peeps in the family to put together holiday home tours, so here is the link to ours:

navalta holiday home tour 2011

(disclaimer: i made the font and spacing a WHOLE lot cuter, then skydrive somehow sucked it out!)

anyhoo, we've been so glad for the weeks building up to christmas. we've been reading a story a day that each have a hopeful, christmas-y message, and it's been nice to remind the kids (and ourselves) about why we're here - to learn and to serve.

we're thankful for Jesus Christ - for His birth, His life, and His Atonement.

with Him, all things are possible.

merry christmas!

rising star

well, giveaway day was certainly exciting, but we had another exciting time - kalei's christmas recital!

this is the more laid-back recital, where the kids can use their sheet music, if needed, and can dress "casual." (and the parents can, too - woohoo!)

here is kalei with her christmas piece:

what can i say - she's awesome!

we're so proud of you, kalei!

giveaway day is here!

we have a winner!

Cricket said...

I love making all my family - sister, niece, in-laws, husband and kids etc all pillowcases for their present to open on Christmas eve. But I also love to embroider, so I have been using little embroidered pieces in zip pouches and embroidering cloth bracelets, too. Those are my three favorite things.

I would love to give your scraps a happy home.

congrats, cricket!!

(i've sent her an email - if i don't hear back in a few days, i'll pick a new winner.)

thanks to everyone who entered - i hope you all have a very merry christmas!

does anyone else have that song, "it's the most wonderful time of the year" running thru their heads? :)!

anyhoo, on with the good part! i'm giving away a u.s.p.s. medium flat rate box packed with fabric and scraps. :)! there's some denyse schmidt, lizzy house, tula pink, lecien, fig tree quilts, alexander henry, michael miller, and more... a boxful of goodies just in time for christmas! also, i'm throwing in a fun egg cup pincushion - handmade by yours truly. i just love giveaway day - be sure to go and check out the other giveaways here!

this giveaway will be open until friday, december 16th at 5 p.m. (i'll ship anywhere in the u.s.) to enter, just leave a comment and tell me your favorite gift to make.

good luck!

missing the rubber stamp...

james called me from his office wednesday evening with some surprising news: he had a letter in his hand from the provost saying his sabbatical application had been approved! WOW! we weren't expecting to hear anything back until january or february! what happens now is that the application goes to the president, who takes it before the board of regents for a vote. my understanding is that, like promotion and tenure, this is merely a rubber stamp, all the important deciders have already decided. so it looks like we'll be hawaii dwellers for 6 whole months next year! i really can't wrap my mind around this until after christmas (only 16 days left to get things accomplished!), so there might be another post in january about this with many more exclamation points, but for now i am quietly amazed and excited - yahoo!

coming soon!

it's that time of year again - giveaway day at sew, mama, sew!!

be sure to check out their listings of giveaways on dec. 12. i'll be participating again, and would love it if my dear family and friends actually entered! plus, they're making it a week-long event, so there will be plenty of time to enter all the giveaways - it's one of the best events of the year, so mark your calendars now!

belated costume-y goodness

hello!

i realized that we never posted a photo of the final halloween results. after much debate (kalei originally wanted to be a vampire - the thought of those big vampire teeth and the resulting drool grossed me out, so i encouraged her to think outside the box), we decided on a fireman, pirate queen (complete with eyepatch), and the return of the red power ranger!

not to be outdone, i joined the kids in costume!

(i thought it was hilarious that my kids didn't know who i was! they just said, "you're a..... doll?" apparently, you have to be above a certain age to know who 'raggedy anne' is.) anyhoo, here i am with kawelo and taralie - don't you just love her costume!? she's the head teacher of our seminary team-teaching-duo - she's amazing!

the kids brought home a huge haul of candy and had tons of fun, and i won an award for cutest adult costume. good times!

one step closer....

james found out this morning that his sabbatical application was unanimously approved by the university's sabbatical committee! from there, it will move on to the dean, then the provost, and i'm not sure if there are more steps beyond that. we are so excited that this might be a real possibility to spend 6 months next year living in paradise! (i hope i'm not jinxing anything by writing about this... not that i believe in superstitious stuff... but i'd better go throw some salt over my shoulder or knock on wood or something, just in case.)

aloha!

politically correct costume assignment

for some reason, our elementary school does not allow halloween parties or wearing halloween costumes to school.

they do, however, have "harvest" parties, and allow the kids to wear a costume to school for the last day of "drug awareness" week. (what do costumes have in common with drug awareness? probably about as much as wearing hats or slippers to school. i still haven't figured out the logic chain on any of these.) predictably, the costumes had to be in line with the school's guidelines. this year, the guidelines were "come as a book character." i was not thrilled. great - i get to come up with two costumes instead of just one! then, i figured the kids could wear their regular costumes because they were surely in a book somewhere, right? but, the school administrators threw in the wrench that the kids had to actually bring the book to school with their costume.

diabolical!

don't worry your pretty head, though, we did prevail. kalei wore her pocahontas jacket, with braids, and took a book about great women in history. koa went as this guy:

i LOVE this book! the illustrations are beautiful and the message is sweet, with some funny thrown in.

perfect for this boy.

koa quotes

bess: come on, dude. let's go! (said to another driver while waiting for said driver to go past.)

the car passes. the driver is female.

koa: ooooooooh, it's a dude-ette.

trip to the farm!

it was kawelo's turn to take a trip to the farm with his preschool class and he was

E-X-C-I-T-E-D.

he loved the pumpkin patch. he loved the play area. he especially loved the giant slide. he loved his apple cider slush (a first for the kids in our family) and cookie. kalei and koa both attended this preschool, had this wonderful teacher, and enjoyed this field trip. it's a tradition that is ending! i'm a little sad at each "last" milestone we pass, but excited

(E-X-C-I-T-E-D)

for our family to be moving on in our journey.

love this boy!

the running man

in early september, bowling green hosted a mini-marathon. james was excited because now he could realize his goal of running two marathons a year without having to travel far to do it. (what a weirdo, right? my goals are things like: "don't eat the whole bag of m&m's - half a bag is plenty.") anyhoo, the day came and he did great! although, he was saying they should call it "the road kill mini-marathon" or the "take your life into your own hands to run this mini-marathon." apparently, the organizers did not arrange to block off roads, so the runners had to run on the shoulders of the roads making up the course. (have i ever told you about bowling green drivers? no? well, let's just say that half are visually impaired retirees, and the other half are youngish people who are chomping at the bit to illegally pass them.) with this shoulder-of-the-road running, james was able to get an up-close look at various specimens of roadkill. the short list: mice, possum, snake, dog/coyote, birds, etc. no skunks, though. (thank heaven for small favors.) despite these interesting conditions (along with the "flat" course including numerous hills and the organizers running out of water before any runners finished the course), james ran a great race! he felt good, looked good, and finished strong. we love you, james! we're so proud of you! (by the way, james says he is most likely not going to run this race again. we don't blame him!)

kawelo quotes

kawelo just ran over to the computer because he heard some beeping:

kawelo: "somebody's calling you!" (on skype)

me: "nobody's calling."

kawelo: "yesbody's calling."

me: "look for yourself - nobody's calling."

kawelo: "yes, yesbody's calling!"

ah, the logic of the 4-year-old!

:(

i am out of o.t. jokes.

however, i am stocked up on funny kids, so i'm good.

:)

kawelo quotes

kawelo: where have you been? i missed you so much!

(said to a lucky charms cereal treat after thinking we had run out of them.)

can you hear me now?

earlier in the year (january and june, i think), koa failed two hearing tests at the pediatrician's office. i was concerned (is anyone else automatically thinking of every worst-case scenario? having taken audiology classes at purdue, i might be able to come up with a few more than most.), but his doctor referred us to a local state office that could give koa a more definitive test. we went yesterday morning and koa was so good. he sat still when asked and let different things be poked in his ears and basically made me proud. i realized before the "real" hearing test even begun that i didn't care what the future challenges might be for us, i was just grateful Heavenly Father trusted me with this sweet boy.

are you in suspense, yet?

don't worry, he passed the test!

on the way out of the office, i told him that the audiologist said that since his hearing is perfect, he has to listen to me at all times, no matter what.

he pretended not to hear me.

stinker.

o.t. joke of the week

are you ready for this one?

during what season did eve eat the forbidden fruit?

early in the fall

old testament rules!

o.t. joke of the week

here it is - the much-anticipated old testament joke of the week!

who was the first canning factory run by?

noah - he had a boatload of preserved pairs

just cheesy enough to make me chuckle!

Kalei the Entertainer

Kalei has been practicing this all summer, and it has paid off!

Be ready to be "entertained"!

(p.s. don't mind our out-of-tune piano - it's on the list of things to do.)

while the cat's away.....

....the mice make a movie.

i had a few sewing projects that really needed to be finished before we went to florida this summer, so james and the kids were left to entertain themselves.

this video is the fruit of their efforts:

don't you just love it?!

my favorite is the basket of arms - so effective!

i can't tell you how impressed i am by their creativity.

they're already talking about the next movie, so stay tuned for future productions.

o.t. joke of the week

hey, all!

as some of you know, i've been called to help teach seminary (early morning bible study for high school students) this year and we're studying the old testament - woot!

(actually, dad taught my seminary class that year, so i would roll out of bed and walk downstairs and slightly doze thru the lesson, so i don't remember much, but i know it's going to be exciting this year! the old testament has some wackadoo stories!)

anyhoo, here's your old testament joke of the week:

who's the best female economist in the old testament?

pharoah's daughter - she went down to the bank of the nile and withdrew a little prophet

oh, man, i just about bust a gut laughing at this. feel free to share any o.t. jokes you have cause i'm sure these kids can't get enough - i know i can't!

by request

recently, "the amazing race" was accepting applications for their upcoming season, so susie & i decided to go for it!

carpe diem and all that!

we haven't heard back from them, so i'm assuming we weren't selected to be on the show.

bummer.

however, that leaves me free to share our application video - you know, for posterity. and laughs and giggles.

enjoy!

not bad for taping without a script and on the fly, huh?

feel free to share your feelings of disbelief over how in the world we weren't picked!

1st day of school!

tuesday was the first day of school!!

don't they look excited?

and fresh-faced?

and dewy?

we only have pictures from before school because kalei and koa did not want me to stand around and take pictures of them walking into their classrooms, finding their seats, putting away their things in their new desks, etc. kalei especially did not want me to do anything remotely embarassing. (which makes me want to follow her around and break into show tunes and re-enact my favorite numbers from 'so you think you can dance,' for some reason.) man, kids hit fourth grade and suddenly they care if their parents are making a public spectacle of themselves. sheesh. (don't worry, i behaved myself.)

kawelo wanted in on the photo-op, and was sad that his school didn't start until thursday, but he took solace in a big hug from this guy:

... and then we came home and ate m&m's.

what is that teaching him?

that's right! we want our friends sweet enough to eat.

(and that's as close to homeschooling as i'll ever get.)

he turned 4 and left me

kawelo turned 4 in june and we decided to have some fun with it!

we had a hula contest, pin the surfer on the wave, slip 'n' slide, and good food.

he had a great time (even if it took him a while to "get" the slide part of "slip 'n' slide.")

silly kiddo.

then, he grew up way too fast!

today is his first day of preschool and he is so crazy excited about it (me, too, but with a little sadness mixed in).

we know his teacher (she had kalei and koa for preschool) and she is amazing.

i can't wait to see my little one (although according to him, he's "medium") grow and become a little more independent this year!

(look at my baby with that huge backpack!! i need a tissue!!)

we love you, kawelo!

where does the time go?!

i think i might have used that post title before, but it seems to be a theme this year - the time she is a flyin'! we have bunches to catch up on and i'm going to try to actually be more organized since tuesday marks the start of another school year and all three kiddos will be heading off to school this fall! woohoo!!! (kawelo's preschool is two mornings a week, but it still counts! free time - guilt-free-ish!!!!) so, no more excuses! this rear is getting in gear! look out, world! (but not till tuesday, since we're switching our internet providers and it won't be set up till monday. but, after monday, look out!!! you've been warned!)

p.s. can you feel the strength of my feelings in this post? the exclamation points are a good indicator!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spring sports review

it's been an excitingly active spring for us!

kalei and koa finished tae kwon do and decided to try a few new sports.

kalei played volleyball and loved it! she had an amazing coach, and it was fun to watch her learn new skills. (and she is totally rocking those sports glasses - work it, girl!)

koa tried soccer and found he is super fast! like lightning! (seriously - he's a tiny turbo.) he had lots of fun and is excited to try basketball and baseball next (but not at the same time).

james ran the "music city half-marathon" again this spring. he finished in exactly the time he estimated for himself. (well, he was one minute over - but still the best guesstimate ever!)

kawelo honed his cheerleader skillz. he so can't wait to be able to do everything his siblings can do - we had to watch him for spontaneous streaks onto any nearby playing field. your time is coming soon, little man!

can't wait to crazy up our schedules with another round of sports in the fall!

winner(s)!

as promised, i have selected a winner!

i accidentally clicked away from the random number thingy, so you'll just have to trust me when i say the winner of the assortment of goodies is leigh, who said:

What crafty person doesn't love a hodge podge? Thanks for the chance!

congratulations, leigh!

and, because of the crazy high number of commentors, i decided to pick another winner! (winner of what, i'm not sure, yet, but it'll be fun.) :)

the second winner is jen, who said:

hahaha, I just gasped and said: "A checkbook cover?!" I guess that is really what I wanted, and just didn't know it! lol, that's too funny.

Happy Birthday!!! Have a great day, and a great hop!

and, because i can't resist, my personal comment pick is from lizbeth brown, who said:

Hey birthday buddy! You know, I've been sewing for 8 years and I've never used a pin cushion? I don't even own one.

happy birthday, lizbeth!! you don't have a pincushion?! shocking!! i just happen to have a few extra pincushions, and one will be making its way to you very soon.

thanks to all who entered!!!

(if, for whatever weirdo reason, i don't hear from any of these winner, another winner will be selected from the comments.)

have a super day!! (on this, the best day of the year - happy birthday to me!)

giveaway day!!

it's that time of year again - time for sew mama sew's giveaway day!

(seriously, one of the most exciting days of the year - go check out all the giveaways here!)

since i've been lucky to win a few goodies in prior giveaway days and it's my birthday week, it's time to share the love, right?

i'll randomly select one winner on the morning of may 26th (my birthday!) to win the following:

contents:

one dessert stand

two pincushions

three princess magnets

one ruffled zippered pouch

one checkbook cover

four assorted blue fabrics

and the box isn't full, yet, so maybe a few more assorted goodies

(i know it looks like a hodge-podge - i was more going for a "something for everyone" theme.) :)

to be entered, just leave a comment - it's that easy!

i will not ship internationally, but i will ship this package by may 30th.

good luck!!

Quick Brazil Trip - James

Went to Brazil for a quick couple of days this week (gave a talk at a conference), and thoroughly enjoyed my time (flew into Sao Paulo - what traffic!, spent a day in Sao Carlos - enjoyed some great food [Brazilian fruits, cheese balls, Brazilian pizza], and the conference was in Sao Pedro - very quaint). Sad to say that I was not diligent in taking out the camera to record the sights, but here are a few videos of the trip.

Morning view from the hotel room.


Sorry for the bumpy quality of this video (most of my videos are from the ride back to the airport when I figured I should probably try to get some footage to show I was actually there). Going back watching it, I realized that I almost recorded a fatality ... watch the motorcycle (tons of them all over, and they all pretty much drive like this one)!

Kentucky Derby and Pie - James

We decided to start a tradition (since we are living in Kentucky), and honor the Kentucky Derby by making Derby Pie. Kalei found the recipe on-line and made it herself. The kids loved it (and so did I ... sorry Bess, I don't think there will still be any left by the time you get home). Way to go Animal Kingdom! (that was the winner, for all of you who did not decide to watch - you are invited to our house for the running of the 2012 Kentucky Derby).

note to self - bess

saw this yesterday:

hmmm....

are we thinking that this is:

a) a gentle nudge

b) a firm poke in the arm

c) a smack upside the head

d) all of the above

well... i think it's (d), actually.

this was exactly what i needed at exactly the right moment.

it's inspired a letter to myself - here it is:

dear bess,

put on your big girl panties and get over it.

to quote mr. magorium: "your life is an occasion - rise to it."

you (we) can do it!

love, bess

tooth tales

koa has lost his first tooth! it fell out a week ago in church - he was very excited. the tooth fairy did visit him, although she hid the cash so well that koa couldn't find it until james helped him (read: james hid the dollar as he was "finding" it - that was close!).

and kawelo went to the dentist for the first time! he did so great and was happy to "open wide like a crocodile" whenever they asked. he was excited that he got to keep the glasses - score!

happy easter!

John 11:25-26: "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Believest thou this?"

happy easter from our gang to yours!

(i made the boys new bow-ties for easter - which i noticed at church will also work for fourth of july - bonus!)

9!!

well, kalei had another birthday.

i keep telling her to stop growing up. yesterday, i told the kids they just needed to stay their current ages for a while and not to get any bigger! i'm sorry to say they laughed at me. i can't believe our girl is almost to double digits!!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?!!!!

anyhoo, just wanted to share a little of her birthday, so you can feel like you were there (feel free to sing along):

kalei's cake was SUPER yummy. she special-requested a lemon cake (i used a lemon cake mix, added 4 eggs, 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup oil, 1 cup sour cream, and a lemon pudding packet - mix all together and pour into greased and floured cake pans - bake as directed on the cake mix box - the cake turned out so deliciously moist!), but she doesn't really like traditional icing, so i mixed a small tub of cool whip, a packet of lemon jell-o, and two 6 oz. cups of lemon yogurt to use as icing. it was sooooo good!!! the birthday girl was very pleased with it.

kalei had one present on her wish list: an american girl doll that looked like her. we went online and she picked out the doll she liked, and we even ordered glasses so the doll would indeed look like her mini-me.

here is kalei's "surprised" face.

hmmmmm.... looks more excited than surprised, yes?

we love you, honey girl!

thank you for being part of our family - we hope your day was as special as you are!

weekend craftiness

i signed up to participate in a quilt-along a few months ago. i think i was supposed to have this quilt top finished at the end of february. better late than never, right? (story of my life!)

on a lighter note..

TA DA!!!!

our kitchen-cabinet-painting-adventure is complete!

we went from this (taken when i realized - "hey! we don't have any good 'before' pictures of our cabinets and james is already taking the doors off!"):

to THIS:

(the cabinets have actually been finished for a little while, but i had to wait and take pictures when the counters were semi-cleared off. i'm trying to be very deliberate with what is placed back into the cabinets and where and blah, blah... (notice these photos don't include the table behind me - still filled with items who don't have a home, yet.)

there you have it!

our photo-based essay on "what we did over spring break.... and a couple weeks after."

what a difference, eh?

p.s. yes, we got a new fridge! (and i made adorable new magnets for it and am trying to contain them to the side of the fridge - i love the front with nothing on it.)

p.p.s. i love how the fire extinguisher now matches the cabinets perfectly! safety + style = love it!

p.p.p.s we painted the insides, too, and added new hardware cause i'm a little ocd and that's how we roll.

breaking the cycle

since the beginning of the year, i've felt conflicted:

i want to "lose weight."

i want to "get healthy."

basically, this is code for wanting to be skinny.

but, i know that my body doesn't do "skinny."

i run 2 miles most mornings, and walk a little afterwards.

i feel like my body is healthy, but not skinny.

why aren't i happy with healthy?

at the beginning of the year, there was a conflict of messages in the stream of blogs that i read - one would say, "it's a new year and i'm finally going to lose this extra weight!" while another would proclaim, "let's just all accept ourselves and stop talking about weight completely!" i didn't feel drawn to either camp. i don't want to let go of all weight goals, but i don't want to be held hostage by those same goals. i am so sick of weighing how i feel about myself based on my weight! i am sick of my running negative internal dialogue when i have a "bad" day on the scales! if someone talked to kalei the way i sometimes talk to myself, i would be all over them in a heartbeat - in less than a heartbeat. why in the world would i want to raise her to talk to herself that way?!

this morning, i read this.

i will not worship this weight idol any more. the weaning process will be long and hard at times, but i look at my daughter and think that i owe it to her (and myself) to break this cycle.

she's worth it, and so am i.

deal alert!

hello! i promise we have updates and pictures to post (and we'll get to it soon - the kitchen photos are very exciting!), but i wanted to share this awesome deal!! for everyone who wants to purchase 'tangled,' disney has a coupon for $5 off the dvd/blu-ray/3d/digital copy version, and target has this version for $25, so you can get all those copies for just $20!!! WOW!!!

you can find the coupon here. (you have to sign up for movie rewards, but as far as i can tell, you're not roped into anything dubious.) also, once you buy the movie, you can go back to disney movie rewards and get a free 'tangled' charm bracelet! (shipping extra, of course.)

just wanted to share! hope your week is fabulous!!

UPDATE: the shipping & handling for the charm bracelet is $2.85! yay! (and will be here in 6 - 8 weeks - boo.)

eye-opening

i just read this online - a quick read, but really thought-provoking. reading it, i wanted to run and hug my kiddos, but also show them how other children around the world live - not to scare them, but just to widen their perspective a bit. i think we'll plan a family home evening lesson around it, and include lots of discussion.

edited to add:
p.s. i want to say that this seems to be a collection of extremes - at least i didn't see any examples from the u.s. that i felt represented my kids' rooms (especially that princess' room from kentucky - wow - so NOT kalei's room). still, though, my heart aches for the kids that live in these extremes, that this is their reality. i want my kids to be aware - not scared or insecure, hence the loads of discussion - but aware that we are lucky, and we can help.

6!

this little man is now 6!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?!

a week or two ago, koa & i found these christmas poppers on clearance at pier 1 - he thought they'd be fun for his birthday, and i thought they'd be cheap entertainment for $2.

(he was really excited to open them, if you can't tell.) woohoo! nothing screams "happy birthday!!" like tissue paper crowns and british jokes. the kids loved it. especially the slight explosion when the poppers were popped.

the day after his birthday, we celebrated at chuck e. cheese! it was our family's first time at this interesting establishment. the kids had a fabulous time. they loved the pizza and the games and redeeming their tickets for prizes. we won't be back until james & i are fully recovered from this time - it'll be awhile. koa went to tae kwon do on saturday and told his instructor that his birthday was february 10th and 11th - chuck e. cheese was that exciting!

the top picture is from koa's birthday (5 days ago). the bottom picture is from yesterday. we asked koa to not ever ask for snow on his birthday again. he was unrepentant and enjoyed their week off of school to the hilt.

we love you, koa!! happy birthday, little man!

happy valentine's day!

the kids love getting balloons for special occasions (and i love the dollar tree's balloons), so we sweetened today with some lovey mylars, little debbie valentine cakes in lunches, and dinner served on (thrift store) china with blue kool-aid. do they look thrilled? cause, believe me, they were. really. okay, maybe i was the one super excited about the china, and the kids were psyched about the kool-aid. what is it about fancy dishes that makes everyone happy about what they're eating? note to self: MUST TRY THIS MORE! we hope you all have had a day filled with love and a few pleasant surprises!

p.s. the heart shots are for bethany - since kawelo has us quarantined with his hacking cough, i can't have her over to show her the magic i made with some paper mache hearts - i really love how they turned out! yay - decorations i'm happy to keep!

deal alert!

good morning!!

go check out this post for a fabulous code for $2 in free mp3 songs from amazon!

free music!! love it!!

koa quotes

scene: koa is sprinkling valentine's nonpareils onto brownie bites after mama douses them with dipping chocolate (TOTALLY delicious and super easy, by the way)

koa: i'm on the fast side.

mama: the fast side of what?

koa: you know, how some people are on the fast side, and some are on the slow side?

mama: that's good to know. which side am i on?

koa: the slow side.

thanks a lot, little man! (he's just so cute i want to smoosh him!)

Evidence that I also went to Hawaii

Koa crabbing (we caught 6!)

At Waimea Bay (we didn't jump off of the rock - on account of the huge waves)

At the Polynesian Cultural Center with a big Easter Island statue

If you look hard, you can see a giant sea turtle amongst the rocks

At the Hawaii temple with Auntie Kei, and cousins Ilima and Anela

More Good Times

Went to the BYU-H basketball game last night

Aloha Stadium Swap Meet this morning

And Matsumoto's Shave Ice on the way home!

Monday Fun-day

Yesterday was fun-filled: went to the beach and the Polynesian Cultural Center

In addition to jumping waves and throwing sticks into the water, Koa made a few variations of sand castles and watched the kite surfers.

The PCC has some great things for children to do: Koa's favorites were the bowling (Hawaiian game called ulu maika), and fishing.

And of course anything where a little boy gets to throw a spear and get a tatoo is an automatic winner!

New Year's Fireworks

After waking up at 5:30 am, the drive to Nashville, the 2 hour flight to Houston, and the 8 hour flight to Hawaii I thought Koa would crash and fall asleep once we were at grandma and grandpa's. I was wrong ... he had to partake in the firework extravaganza before going to bed around midnight our time. Glad we're here!