Aloha 'oe

Living so far away from our family has created a very unique situation with our friends out here - we depend on each other as if we were family. In good times and bad, we have been there for each other. This past weekend we all got together (and even organized a group photo) to celebrate the wonderful bonds of friendship we have formed while living here. It was also a time to wish those leaving us the best as they move on to new adventures in their lives...

The MacDonalds to Germany

The Stampfers to New York

Melanie to Pennsylvania and

Kristen and Chris to the Big Island

In the Hawaiian language, the word Aloha means many things - hello, love, and goodbye - but we aren't really saying goodbye to those leaving- we are saying Aloha Oe - that is Until we meet again....

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko Pua `âhihi lehua o uka Hui: Aloha `oe, aloha `oe E ke onaona noho i ka lipo One fond embrace, A ho`i a`e au Until we meet again `O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai Ke hone a`e nei i Ku`u manawa `O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha A loko e hana nei Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani Nâ pua rose o Maunawili I laila hia`ia nâ manu Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

Proudly swept the rain by the cliffs As it glided through the trees Still following ever the bud The `ahihi lehua of the vale Chorus: Farewell to you, farewell to you The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers One fond embrace, 'Ere I depart Until we meet again Sweet memories come back to me Bringing fresh remembrances Of the past Dearest one, yes, you are mine own From you, true love shall never depart I have seen and watched your loveliness The sweet rose of Maunawili And 'tis there the birds of love dwell And sip the honey from your lips

To listen to the actual song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wP-4ZV8sv0

Our ohana

The ladies...

To celebrate, we spent the day at Pokai Bay (which has become a gathering place for many of our group get togethers). It was a great day to let the kids play at the beach and the adults too.

Mark and Matt kayaking with Gavin and Abby.

These are a few attempts at a family photo- none turned out great, but at least we are all looking ;) (24 weeks pregnant)

I thought it would make a nice shot if Gavin would put his hands on my belly, but in typical 2 year old fashion, he wasn't having it.... This was as close as we got

Finger Painting Fun

One of the great things about being a kid is getting dirty - although it certainly takes more effort on our parts as parents, it is worth it to see how much fun they have in the process! Here are some pictures of the kids finger-paining a masterpiece (and themselves!)

Getting started...

They are still focusing mostly on painting the paper..

As you can see here...painting the paper was no longer as fun as painting your belly!

The finished product! Good work kids ;)

Clean up time!

Mother's Day

For mother's day this year, my two boys made us chocolate pancakes for breakfast and then we had a great day relaxing up on the North Shore. To top the day off, I got a beautiful saphire pendant (September's birthstone) from my favorite jewelry store - Jungle Gems.

Gavin looking very excited to show off his home-made card to me. Thanks to Claudia who helped him with this creation ;)

Our after beach dinner at Haleiwa Joe's.

Mother's day wishes to our moms (taken summer 08 - Gavin is 6 months old)

My first Mother's Day at Ko'Olina (Gavin is 5 months old). He sat up on his own on this day!

Gavin at Wrestling Practice

Gavin has been going to freestyle wrestling practice with Mark once a week and he loves it! He gets so excited to wear his wrestling shorts and shoes like Daddy. Here are a couple of pictures of him at a practice a few weeks ago.

Gavin's Words of Wisdom

This morning while eating breakfast Gavin pointed to the kiwi fruit on his plate and said,

"Mom, what is this mess?"

After breakfast Gavin went into the bathroom to go potty and said to me, "Can you go so I get my privacy?" As I was leaving the room he added, "Close the door for me privacy"

This week at daycare Claudia was working on an activity where the kids had to circle the things they could see and touch (for example, the moon you can see but can't touch so it wouldn't be circled). She asked him if he could see the moon and he said yes. She said yes, but you can't touch the moon. Gavin responded, "Yes I can" and then reached down to the paper and touched the moon on the paper.

Babysitting swap

We decided to do a babysitting swap with the MacDonalds on the last 2 furlough Fridays. Today, the girls came over while Leevi and Claudia played golf and went to dinner and next Friday Mark and I will do something for the day.

Eating popsicles

"What?!"

And this video sums up what life is like for the day ;) It is titled: "Chaos"

Daycare at our house

For the month of May Claudia will be watching all the kids here at our house. All of the kids seemed to have transitioned well. Here are some pictures of the past 2 weeks...

Decorating Leevi's birthday cake

Gavin insisted on wearing this hat one day - even during nap time

Enjoying cupcakes Aunty Monica brought for the kids

Gavin calls this his motorcycle. Hit feet still don't reach the pedals, but apparently it doesn't stop him from taking all his friends for a ride on his motorcycle!

Every time we pull out the big vacume cleaner, Gavin likes to use this little one.

Marley Girl

Marley is loving having Leila stay with us and all the attention she gets from the kids being here all day now. (Claudia now watches the kids at our house until the end of May). All this attention, though makes for one tired girl at the end of the day! After they eat dinner, the two old ladies (Leila and Marley) go to bed and don't move until the morning and they spend all weekend catching up on their beauty sleep. Here are a couple of pictures Claudia took during the day in between chasing after 5 kids!

Sunbathing doggies

Marley loves all the attention she gets from the kids! (Probably because they drop their snacks so often)

Another video of Leila and Marley playing. The kids get a kick out of watching them and you can even hear Brooke say "Go Marley" at one point in the video ;)

UH Baseball Game

Last weekend we took Gavin to his 2nd UH baseball game. We met several friends there so Gavin had some of his friends to play with....(Makaela, Brooke, and baby Zack). His new thing is to drink from cups without lids (which usually ends up in spilled water, but he has to learn someday) and to drink from our water bottles. I think what he says in this video is "Water".