Happy Birthday Chris!

Here we go! March is a crazy busy birthday month for our family, and Chris' is the kick-off. OK, so I admit, I love to celebrate birthdays. And any of you that know my husband AT ALL, know that he DOESN'T. Every year I try to strike a balance to satisfy my itch to go overboard, while trying not to tick him off. I felt like this year was a good balance, even though Chris might think otherwise. I brought in a singing balloon bouquet (just a little overboard) and cake to his work. When he got home we all went to Chuck's at Ko'Olina for dinner. Even though the food isn't my favorite, the atmosphere is. We love the sun setting over the ocean, the beautiful grounds, and the completely open restaurant to enjoy it all. When we got home we opened presents and ate cake. And, to show how good I am, I didn't even buy another cake; we just had whatever was left over from his work. I didn't even have the kids sing to him, and definitely no candles. Only two presents...well actually three. First, a guidebook to the Big Island since we will be going there for Spring Break in two weeks. Can't wait!
Second, a new pair of swim trunks, since he might need them to go PARASAILING with his dad! His dad will be here in Hawaii for his birthday too, so this will be their combined present. (I really hope Dad won't read this before he gets here, so if any of you happen to talk to him before his birthday, please don't mention it :)I think Chris enjoyed his birthday. Happy 36th babe. I'm already thinking of next year...suprise party...streamers...live band...3 tier cake with sparklers on top...about 100 people. Get ready!

Presidents, Love, Whales, and Pirates

Whew, time to catch up on blogging. After talking to my mom today, she asked what was going on with us, since we haven't updated the blog in a while. Oops. So, here we go.
In honor of President's Day, the kids' school does a President's Parade. Each class chooses a President and First Lady to march in the parade. Corynn's class chose her to represent Hillary Clinton. Striking resemblance huh?Happy Valentine's Day! Chris was thoughtful enough to get me an Edible Arrangements. He knows that I am way too practical for flowers. I love them, but I hate to watch them die, then throw them away. I love Edible Arrangements because they are not only beautiful, but creative, yummy, and even nutritious.

President's Day we decided to get out of the house and go do something I've been wanting to do for a while. Grab the binoculars, and try to go find some whales. Since whale season will be over soon, it was now or never. Chris brought us to the southeast tip of the island to the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail. What a beautiful hike.

Just when we were about to give up, we saw 3 whales. It was hard to get a good picture of them since our camera doesn't have a high zoom lens, but with the binoculars, we were treated to a real show. They were breaching, splashing their tails, and blowing water out of their blow holes. They were close enough to the shoreline, we could even hear them! It was the coolest thing ever! This was the best picture we could get.The views in Hawaii never cease to amaze me.On our way home, we decided to go to the Barber's Point Marina where we heard that Disney had docked the Black Pearl. We heard filming starts this summer on the next Pirates of the Caribbean.

My Little Runaway

This week Corynn got in really bad trouble for 1. Dis-obeying me 2. Breaking a family rule and getting on You-Tube without an adult 3. Lying about it and 4. Continuing to lie even after she got caught. As her punishment I grounded her from everything for a month (just a side note, Chris thought a month was excessive, so he reduced it to two weeks). Well. She decided she didn't want to live with our family rules, and decided she was going to run away from home. When she told me she was running away I told her I didn't want her to leave our family, that I love her, and she would be missed. She told me she would stay if I ungrounded her. What a stink! She packed some clothes, pajamas, a hairbrush, a water bottle, blanket and pillow, then thought maybe she would need a jump rope so she could fish.While packing her bags she said good-bye to Dallin. I got out the video camera and told her she better leave a little message for Masen too because he wouldn't ever remember her. Her sobbing message goes, "Masen when you get older don't ever dis-obey Mom, then lie about it, because you will get in very bad trouble!" In the end, she decided she had it way too nice here, and she didn't really want to leave home after all. She assured me she will carry out her punishment without complaint. It's going to be a long two weeks! I just couldn't resist adding to my playlist "Runaway" by Del Shannon.

Christmas Morning

It was so nice to have family here for Christmas this year. We didn't go all out for presents but kept it pretty simple. (As I write this and look at the pictures, it looks like a lot. Keep in mind though, this is for 11 adults and 3 children.) Usually Santa will bring the kids one big present each. Santa had wanted to get them something pretty spectacular, but since he waited too long, this item was sold out around the island. Corynn and Dallin were pretty happy with the Legos that he brought instead.My mom had given the kids a book about the birth of Christ, which I thought was the perfect way to start the morning. Grateful kids are the BEST!Santa also brought everyone who was visiting Hawaii a flip-flop stocking filled with some island souvenirs. Masen didn't really get into Christmas that much. He had more fun eating the wrapping paper and crawling in the boxes than he did with his new little toys. The real gift this season was having our loved ones here with us. When we first moved here to Hawaii, people used to ask me what it was like living in Paradise. I admit, there are a lot of good things about living in Hawaii, but without family, it can never be MY Paradise. With everyone here for Christmas, it was as close to Heaven as you can get. Now we just need Chris' whole side of the family here. Hint, hint!

Holidays '09

This year my WHOLE family decided to have a Hawaiian holiday. The week before Christmas they started rolling in. The first wave was Kris, Serena, and Jeff. We drove them straight from the airport to Ko'Olina to catch the sunset. They got in 3 days before anyone else, so they had a head start on all the fun.Their first day here they decided to go on an 8 mile hike. I dropped them off on one side of the mountain, then they called me when they reached the other side. They said it was fun. I'll take their word for it :)

The next day we all went to Waimea Bay. I was sure to check the surf report, because this is the same spot they had the Eddie just a few weeks before with 50 ft. waves. They were only 5-10, but still, a 10 ft. wave will knock you flat. The life guards wouldn't let the kids go very far out. They decided to make their own snowman out of sand. I thought it was cute!On day three, Chris took them to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling. They had such a blast, they all went back again when the rest of the family arrived a few days later. They especially had fun looking for the state fish humuhumunukunukuapua'a. I just love to say the name :)Before going to the PCC some of us visited BYU Hawaii, the Hawaii Laie Temple, and Visitor's Center. The temple is currently closed and under renovation, but the grounds are beautiful, and the visitor's center was nice.This is called Laie Point. It's a beautiful natural arch formed by waves just a little off the coast. I had heard of it before, but didn't know where it was. I wandered around Laie until I found it. It was worth the wandering.Here are just a few pictures of the Luau at the PCC. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the whole gang. Once EVERYONE got here they all had their cameras out. I didn't bring my camera since I had enough to worry about with a diaper bag and baby, and figured I would get copies of all the pictures from everyone. I'm still waiting...uhum. Can you tell I only had copies of Kris and Serena's pictures? That might explain why they are in almost every picture! The rest of our adventures include the Dole Plantation, swimming with turtles at Paradise Cove, professional family pictures taken, the International Marketplace, shopping, dining and swimming at Waikiki, and much, much more.

Now THIS is Paradise

Whoa dude...check out the gnarly waves!

Please excuse the surf slang. I couldn't resist. Yesterday after the kids got home from school, I decided to take them up to the North Shore to see the huge waves that we have been hearing about on the news. They were having the Eddie Aikau Surf Competition at Waimea Bay, and although I knew we would miss the action, we still wanted to see the 30-50 foot waves that had been predicted. The largest in 40 years! We stopped at Chris' work on the way up to see if he wanted to join us. He was a little worried about the traffic, and yes it was horrible. We finally got out and walked about a half mile away from the beach when we figured we could beat the snail's pace of traffic on foot. We were not disappointed. These pictures don't do justice to the size of these massive waves. It was incredible, not only to see the waves, but to hear them crash, and see all the mist in the air they created. There was so much foam, Corynn said that the ocean looked like milk.

Although the competition was over (congratulations to Greg Long) surfers were still out there enjoying the swells. Every once in a while one would ride in to the applause of hundreds (or maybe thousands) of people cheering for them.

I am amazed at nature's beauty. I am in awe of those surfers who can harness the power of these waves, and look so elegant doing it.