"Four"

My cousin Teresa tagged me. I'm supposed to post the fourth picture in my fourth photo file, then tag 4 people. This picture is of me and Veda when we were living in New York. She loved listening to me practice. I had forgotten how red her hair was!

I tag Susan, Sarah Bea, Amber, and Chanel.


Sorry I have been such a loser blogger lately. I have a ton on my plate and it won't let up until mid-November. I have so much to post but it will have to wait until then.

Homeward Bound

It's been 10 long months since we have left the islands. Tomorrow the girls and I will make our long-awaited sojourn back "home" to visit family and friends. Las Vegas will always feel like home to me. We will spend a week there and then on to California where Travis will join up with us and the whole bunch of us will spend a week on Mission Beach. We certainly don't need to go to California to find beautiful beaches...but it is a family tradition and being all together is a rare and treasured affair anymore.

Say a little prayer for me as I'm making the long flight alone with the girls. Usually they do very well. (knock on wood) Also, good luck to Travis as he goes to Chicago to take his oral boards!

Unforgettable Evening

We got to do something AMAZING tonight. I am still on a total high from it. One of my friends from church is a doctor in botany and does research and teaches at the National Tropical Botanical Gardens here in my own town, Kalaheo. He mentioned to us that they were going to dig up a sea turtle nest to count the hatched eggs for their research and invited us to come. Female sea turtles return to their hatching ground every other year to lay their eggs. The same turtle comes to Allerton Beach at the gardens every other year and lays her eggs. Scientists at the gardens keep watch over the nest and when the babies have hatched and made their way to the ocean, they wait about two days then dig up the nest to count the eggs. It is kind of a VIP event and is kept quiet to keep the crowds away. We felt so privileged to be there!

Just walking through the gardens to the beach was an amazing experience. Here are J. Wayne (our friend from California who just moved here and is staying with us until he finds his own place) and Veda standing in front of the famous tree in Jurassic Park where the T.Rex eggs were. A photo can't do it justice - it is incredible!!

This is the scene we came upon at Allerton's beach. This scientist first gave a fascinating lecture on the sea turtle and the turmoil these tiny little guys go through just to make it through the nest and into the water. Then with all their natural predators, only 1 in 1,000-10,000 will survive into adulthood.

They are pulling out the empty eggs and counting them. You can see how many they have found. They looked about the size of a golf ball. I think they found 80-something.

THEN, lo and behold! He pulled out this little dude!

He said he was at the bottom of the nest and probably would have never made it out.

Veda was so excited! She kept asking me "Can I hold him mom? I REALLY want to hold him!" Since they weren't allowing anyone to even come close to the nest, I didn't think there was much of a chance. So I said "Well, you have to be bold and ask the scientists." She did!

After we oohed and aahed and photographed him like he was Paris Hilton, we wished him luck and sent him off into the big blue ocean. When he was out of sight, we all cheered.

Before bed tonight we said a special prayer for our baby honu. "God, let him be the 1 in 10,000!"

From the left: Pheonix, Me, Veda, Finn, Jesica, Eve, and our ticket to this once-in-a-lifetime experience, Bro. Tavana

What do sisters do in Hawaii while the men are away...???

Spoil each other

Explore...

eat...

and eat...

and eat...!

get shave ice everyday

and this one has nothing to do with this post. It's just a really good picture of my rock star hair.

bond, reminisce and make memories that will last a lifetime.

How could I make it through life without my sister? Thanks for one of the best weeks of my life sis. LYLAS!

Go Geckos Go!!

Veda's soccer team "The Purple Geckos" had their first game on Saturday morning. Travis is coaching and had just gotten off work in time to get to the game. The team consists of four 5 year old girls. They are SO CUTE! They played their little hearts out but were defeated by the Unicorns 3-0. Veda seems to be the strongest player and dribbled the ball down to their goal several times; we just need to work on getting the ball IN the goal.

Aloha and Mahalo, Monique

I tried with all my might to persuade Monique to stay in Hawaii with us. But she is just too level headed and decided to go back and finish school. I guess Hawaii didn't permeate her as much as I thought, as she seems to have maintained a sense of responsibility. We saw her off last week. It was a sad day for all of us. She stayed for the whole summer and the experience surpassed all my expectations.

Top 10 reasons we love Monique (aka "Aunty")

10) She is an awesome runner and has buns of steel.

9) Her always-ready pocket full of awesome Chuck Norris jokes.

8) She was raised on a farm but screams like a little girl when she sees a toad.

7) For placing my precious toddler dangerously close to a flesh eating Monk Seal for this photo and never telling me about it. I just found this picture to prove it.
6) She "Brings It" when it comes time for P90X.

5) For diligently watching every episode of The Bachelorette with me.

4) Her BUCK dance moves - especially immediately following So You Think You Can Dance. FUR REAL, MO!

3) She tells it like it is - even when it's something I don't want to hear.

2) For feeding Eve a sucker for breakfast on her last day in Hawaii.

1) For always tending to and loving my kids like they were her own.





We love you Monique! To say we will miss you is an understatement. Love and Aloha!

Happy Birthday Eve! 08/08/08

You are looking at the sweetest baby born on the earth. This is our little Eve at 2 months old. She was absolutely angelic. She rarely cried, would wake up smiling, loved to cuddle, and you could just tell that she was happy to be here. I never knew when she woke up in the morning because she would happily lay in bed cooing until I went in to get her. I would walk in her room when I had Veda taken care of already, to find her wide awake, smiling at me.

Not a lot has changed about this one, except that she is 3 years old now. Eve is one of a kind. She is the sweetest, most precious child alive. Eve is always happy and content. She is the most loving child I have ever known. She tells me she loves me randomly throughout the day several times with a hug and kiss. She entertains herself, makes no demands, and rarely disobeys. When she does something she feels might have been wrong, she puts herself in timeout. When she is done, she says "Mom, it's my fault. I'm sorry." I'm not kidding!
Eve wanted a princess party this year so we delivered. We didn't want to surpress the tomboy somewhere down in there, so we served up "worms and dirt" as a snack - chocolate pudding, crushed oreos, and gummy worms.

Making princess hats.

Even the boys loved the princess hats!

Eve hugging the special blanket her Nana made her.

girl opens princess dress

girl strips naked in front of birthday guests

girl transforms into princess!

Finally, a REAL violin!

I often ask myself "What did I do to deserve this one?" We are so lucky to have you sweet girl. We love you so much Evie Pie! Happy 3rd birthday!