Daddy Daughter Date

This weekend we were minus two kids. My friend, Candy, took Logan and Maika to their beach house Thursday through Sunday because the schools were out for parent/teacher conferences. She should receive some sort of sainthood in my "never to be humble opinion". She said they had a great time and my girls helped her girls to stay entertained. They got to go see the new "Bee Movie" and played a lot on the beach. I guess it was great weather on the coast, they couldn't even fly kites one day because there wasn't enough wind:) We never get that lucky, even when we go in the summer! Thanks Candy, the girls had such a great time!!

Kelly was supposed to go to the Oregon/Arizona football game but got the shaft at the last minute because some customer decided he wanted to go. The nerve! So his back-up plan was to take Nalani to "Disney Princesses on Ice". He was very excited to take her, he even went to the Disney Store the night before and bought her a new shirt, skirt, tights, and a "Going to the ball" kit which included sunglasses, cell phone, earrings, purse, fan, and a notepad and pen! I asked Kelly why we couldn't all go, since that only included Bronson and myself. He was adamant that Bronson could NOT go to Princesses on Ice! Maybe something else on ice but NOT Princesses! So, Bronson and I stayed home and took down Halloween decorations and pulled the dead flowers out of the yard while Kelly took Nalani on their date.

They got there early enough to walk around and spend a lot of money on some cheap toys. They even saw a few people they knew (Kennedy and her aunt Cindy). Kelly said Nalani sat on his lap the whole time and was mesmerized! Each time a new princess came out she would get all excited and say "ooh look, Ariel!" or whoever it was. Her favorites were Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. Kelly came home very impressed with the show and said he would do it again. I guess he liked it better than the time he took Maika and Nalani to "The Wiggles":)

One last story about Nalani: Yesterday after I picked her up from Nursery she was showing me the picture she colored of a Thanksgiving Indian. She was very proud of it! She then noticed Tammy's husband in front of us and started running after him yelling, "Hey, Jesus, look what I got!" I, needless to say, busted up laughing! This man has a full beard and I guess she thought he resembles Jesus a bit:) Too cute! And how sweet and innocent it was, it made me think we should all be living our lives so when He comes again we would be running up to him excited to show what we've been doing with our lives...

Halloween 2007

This is the best picture of my kids that I could find! As you can see, Logan followed in my shoes:) Maika was Tigger for the third year in a row. Nalani was Minnie Mouse and Bronson was our Bumble Bee. It was actually beautiful weather so everyone stayed pretty warm. We started our evening out with the traditional Halloween supper of Taco Soup, thanks to Rochelle! Then, we took the kids around the neighborhood for about an hour before heading over to the church for Trunk-or-Treating. We got waaaayyy too much candy, and I unfortunately have been sneaking some myself:( I need to be like Rochelle and throw it all out! Oh well, tomorrow I'll do better, right? RIGHT! We hope you all had a fun Halloween! Here are a few more pictures of the night.

Viva Las Vegas!

Let me start by saying I have the greatest husband! About a month ago Kelly came home and suggested that I plan a little get-away. That was about all he had to say for the wheels to get turning in my head. For a few hours on Wednesday I thought it might not happen because of an emergency dealing with Kelly's work in California. I was pretty proud of myself for not freaking out and it eventually worked itself out so that Kelly could still stay with our kids. Thanks so much, Babe! So, the end result was that on Thursday I left to meet my sister, Melanie and my mom in Las Vegas for a long weekend. This is what we accomplished:

• two breakfasts at Denny's (gotta love the French Toast Slam!)
• one mani/pedi
• lots of shopping (I'm down a pant size! yeah for me!)
• two good dinners (one at Outback and one at Hugo's Cellar)
• one session at the Las Vegas Temple (where I met a brother of a friend of Kelly's family, small world!)
• three thrill rides (two on the Stratosphere which were CRAZY! And the roller coaster around New York, New York)
• watched one movie ("Dan, in Real Life" which was good,but painful to watch the awkwardness of the situation. Sort of reminiscent of watching "Meet the Parents" for the first time, which is now one of my favorite movies.)
• lots of laughing and making of jokes!
• one and one-half books read (finished "Love, Ruby Lavender" by Deborah Wiles, who wrote one of my favorite books called "Each Little Bird that Sings" I highly recommend both of these, they can be found in the children/young adult section. I started this month's book for my book group called "The Hiding Place" about WWII Holland and a family helping refugee Jews, also very good!)
• three hours laying by the pool (it was 85 degrees down there!)
• lots of driving around, looking for the movie theater (for all the lights and advertising that goes on in Vegas, I'll give you a dollar if you can find a sign for a movie theater without trying REAL hard!)
• lots of phone calls home to make sure everything was going okay (and because I REALLY started missing everybody!)
• lots of pictures taken (because of my blog. I know my mom and Melanie were probably so sick of me bringing it up!)
• hugs goodbye (and me,secretly planning for next year)
• lots of waiting in lines (for the rides, but the worst was the airport on Sunday! If you're "Leaving Las Vegas" give yourself a LOT of time. I got there almost two hours early and the people were telling me, "oh you might make your flight." I made my flight.)

I had such a fun time but I'm so glad to be home! When Kelly and the kids picked me up from the airport everyone was happy to see me. Everyone, that is, but Bronson! I think he was punishing me for leaving or something. He didn't want anything to do with me for the first few hours, he only wanted his daddy. I walked in to our house and everything was so nice and clean! Kelly even cleaned the bathrooms and mopped the kitchen floor. Like I said, I have the greatest husband! Thanks Mel and Mom for a fun weekend and thanks again, Kelly,for letting me go and taking care of everything else!

Kelly's 51 things...

I still don't have the consent form signed on this, but here goes. I know he has a secret desire for me to do this:)

1. Kelly was born in American Samoa.
2. Kelly isn't Samoan, he's Hawaiian (they're different, people!)
3. Kelly is very proud of his Hawaiian heritage.
4. He is proud that his kids are proud of their Hawaiian heritage.
5. Kelly pretty much taught himself to play the ukulele.
6. His dad was so proud of him!
7. Kelly grew up mostly on the Navajo and Hopi reservations in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
8. His dream job would be to go back to the reservation and be a teacher/coach.
9. He has an excellent Navajo accent.
10. He gets a laugh out of me every time he talks in it.
11. Kelly is smack-dab in the middle of nine kids.
12. He suffers from middle-child syndrome:)
13. When Kelly was in high-school he was the Bishop's son, the Principal's son, and a Kalauli, if he did something wrong he got in trouble three times!
14. Kelly is a sports fanatic.
15. He especially likes football.
16. His favorite college teams are Oklahoma, BYU, and whoever is playing against Oregon.
17. He still has issues with their scandalous win over Oklahoma last year!
18. Kelly is a hard worker.
19. He has worked for the same company for over twelve years.
20. Kelly likes to snowboard.
21. He scheduled his classes at BYU around his snowboarding schedule.
22. Kelly is a good son and brother.
23. He's a great husband!
24. He's a fabulous dad!
25. Kelly is very compassionate.
26. He's always looking out for the little guy.
27. Just ask the drunk guy from Warm Springs:)
28. Kelly is laid-back (understatement), but will not be taken advantage of!
29. Kelly is quiet.
30. He's also very talkative once you get to know him.
31. Kelly is understanding of women.
32. He grew up with six sisters
33. He now has three daughters.
34. Maybe that's why he's so quiet, he can never get a word in.
35. Kelly thinks about things before he talks.
36. When we were first married, one of the first bits of advice that he gave me was, "You know, you don't have to say everything that comes into your head."
37. When Kelly does talk, people usually listen.
38. Kelly is a natural leader.
39. Kelly is training for the Maui marathon. Maybe. In his dreams!
40. His wife will cheer him on from the nearest beach!
41. As quiet and laid-back as Kelly is, don't make him mad while he's driving!
42. He once threw a loaf of bread out the window at a driver that made him mad.
43. Another time, at a stop light he got out of his car, walked calmly over to the driver that made him mad, opened their door and punched the guy in the face.
44. While walking to our car after a Jazz game a car came really close to hitting me while I was in the cross-walk and he kicked the car.
45. Kelly really isn't psycho.
46. Kelly went into mourning when his favorite rappers were killed-off. He still gives props to Biggy-smalls and Tupac. May they rest in peace.
47. Kelly gets excited every time he sees someone of color in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
48. Kelly's middle name is Ali'i. It means "the chief".
49. Kelly's real last name is Kalaulipauliuliauheaokekoa. It means "the warrior who fights from the trees".
50. Kelly was the Prom King in high school. He wore a white tuxedo and had a Mexican mustache. He was HOT!
51. Kelly is still HOT!

So, there you have it! You can all say that you know Kelly a little better now.

Happy Birthday Maika!

Six years ago, I had this little cutie! I was thinking about what our life was like six years ago, and these are some things I can remember:

1. I just finished my job cleaning the temple at nights. (That was a hard job! I don't care WHO'S toilets they were, they were still toilets! Plus I was doing it pregnant)
2. I had an amazing Visiting Teacher. Thanks Darilyn!
3. I soooo wanted to have this baby!
4. On the way to pick up my mom from the airport the OB nurse called to cancel my induction because it was too crowded at the hospital.
5. Maika knew she better get here! I went into labor on my own and showed up at the hospital the same time I was supposed to get there for my induction. The nurse looked at me like, "Hello, didn't you get our call? We don't have room for you!" I was like, "Hello, I'm in labor here!"
6. On the way to the hospital Kelly asked if we could stop at McDonald's so he could get something to eat. I was like, "Hello, I'm in labor here!" He still gets teased about this and it's now a funny, cute memory.
7. When I first saw Maika I couldn't believe how much hair she had. I thought I had given birth to a little Navajo baby! Kelly thinks that's where all his hair went.
8. Maika was my biggest baby weighing in at almost nine pounds. Logan barely weighed six. Believe me, I felt the difference!
9. We were and are still are so happy we have Maika!

Maika is the family comedienne! She is always thinking of others, especially her sister, Logan! If we are out doing something during the day and Logan is at school, Maika always makes sure we get a treat for Logan too. She keeps us laughing. Whether it's her booty-shaking renditions to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back", or her funny way of saying things. We love this girl and hope she has a very happy birthday!

The Last Few Days...

(I'm not sure why Bronson looks so unhappy in this picture!) Here's what our family has been doing the last few days. And can I just say that it's sooo frustrating to get everything laid out how you like it and then when you post it it gets all messed up! So I apologize if it's screwy but I gave it my best effort!

• Kelly worked from home on Friday, since the kids didn't have school and we decided to head to the pumpkin patch. It was nice weather and I think every other mother had the same idea because it was so crowded! But, it was still a lot of fun. We also bought a lot of fresh produce at the farm's store. Can you say Mango Salsa?

• On Saturday we went to our ward's annual Harvest Festival. It was so much fun and it's always a success! We had a chili cook-off, arts and crafts for the kids, apple bobbing, donuts-on-a-string, and fresh-pressed apple cider. Not to mention pumpkin and apple pies! Here are pictures of the girls getting help with their donuts! You can't use your hands, so when Maika's fell she ate it off the floor.

• We also took our boat in to get winterized, so Kelly is officially in mourning! We had a great summer and look forward to Memorial Day Weekend 2008! Lake Billy Chinook, here we come!
• Here are a few pictures of Bronson. I turned my back for a few seconds (okay, it was more like I left him in his highchair while I went to check blogs and email!) and came back to this: I left his oatmeal on the table, but I guess it was still in his reach, so he decided to help himself.

• And, finally, tonight I went to Bunco. Since it is October, we dressed up in our Halloween costumes. I've had bad luck the last few months and tonight was no exception, I came home without a prize. It was fun to dress up though and it was fun to get together with the girls. My girls however, we freaking out that I would dress up like this. Now they're begging me to paint their fingernails black, yikes!

10 Week Check-Up

So, I just had my 10-week check up and everything looks great! I can't believe what a difference I feel. Oh, and by the way I'm NOT pregnant, I'm talking about my Lasik eye surgery. I've been wanting this surgery for years. The first time I checked into it I was all gung-ho and then I surprised myself with Bronson. You can't have the surgery if you are pregnant. The second time I looked into it, they told me I wasn't a candidate because I was still nursing. That really bummed me out because I only knew you couldn't be pregnant. You can't have the surgery until you have been done nursing for 6 weeks. I was really tempted to stop right that day. But, I'm happy to say I made the better choice and didn't. On July 5th, my life changed forever! After years of wearing contacts and glasses, I can see better without either. Sometimes at night I still feel like I need to go take out my contacts, just because it was part of my nightly routine. I went to have my eyes checked as part of the post-op treatment and my vision is now 20/15! They also said with the type of surgery I had it can take up to 6 months to completely heal and that my vision could get even better. One of the best parts of the surgery is that I can see the clock on the night-stand in the middle of the night. I am still amazed that a procedure that takes less than 15 minutes to preform can be so life-changing. So, thanks to my husband for giving me this present! It's one of the best I've ever received!

Here are the before and after pictures. I had to wear my glasses for 4 weeks prior to the surgery (and yes, I know that both of these pictures are scary!). One funny thing that happened after my surgery: we were sitting in church and my eyes were still very sensitive to the light. I had to wear my sunglasses during sacrament meeting! I was getting some funny looks from everybody. Then I couldn't really focus on my notes for my YW lesson and Kelly was so sweet because he offered to take me home and teach my lesson for me! He just took his YM in with him and taught the lesson to both. Now that's an awesome husband!