We've moved!!!

....And we LOVE it!!!

Here I am sitting in a house full of boxes, my husband snoozing on a mattress on the floor and the girls asleep. And outside, there are quiet voices from a sleepy party at the park next to our house. If it weren't for that, all we'd be able to hear are the waves from the ocean and the whir-whir-whir of our ceiling fans. No more Harleys.

Today we went on a walk. We used to squeeze through the outside seating of a smokey bar if we went on family walks, and then yelled in order to be heard over the roar of the cars and motorcycles and trucks whizzing by down the busy street. Today we stepped out of our place and the girls walked right by us (and I could hear everything they said!!) . They picked up giant papaya leaves, plumerias, fern leaves, and other greenery for their collection. We walked under trees bent from the weight of their lush leaves, and within a minute's time found ourselves at a beach watching a plump monk seal resting on the shore. We walked down the beach, picking up sand crabs and hermit crabs and watching tiny fish dart around the shallow tide pools.

I looked behind me and saw Kezia walking in the water, the bottom of her dress wet and clinging to her legs. The water was clear and bright turquoise. A little ways out the water turned darker as it got deeper, and a little further out there were foamy waves. It looked like something out of an ambitious travel agent's marketing kit.

We have arrived. Since the day we signed for our condo in Wahiawa, I have been wanting to move back to the north shore, and now we have, and ahhhhhhhh.......


And here's the news of the move. Really, just boring yada yada. Just for my own journaling, really.

Our move yesterday was...well, it's done. Or almost done. We heard there was supposed to be a big storm slamming the island on Saturday, so I called our good friends to help us get a head start on Friday. Another friend watched our girls and sent us home with lasagna.

We were so grateful that the next day did not bring the heavy rain that was expected (though it was raining). Nate's mom watched the girls until Sunday morning and Eric, Nate's dad, brought his truck and we brought a big load down. Then he went home to rest. I was thinking of the big job that lay ahead of us, moving everything else in just 3 hours by ourselves, which was when we were expecting some people from church who had generously volunteered to help us clean our condo (and at the same time hoping they would show up, unlike our moving crew). But a sympathetic neighbor offered his help and we got the van loaded another time. Once the cleaning crew came, Nate and some of them loaded the van twice more and after the condo was mostly cleaned, we unloaded everything and loaded up on some dinner from Kay. It was great to eat some sensible food after snacking on M&M's for the day. We figured we should get our dresser before we called it a day so we could have some clothes to wear. As we were loading it into the van, a neighbor gave us some savory slices of pizza. Once we got everything in, it was about midnight. With muscles like jello, we plopped the mattress on the floor, turned out the light and went to sleep. I woke this morning with a smile on my face. I was here!!!

We went to church, to sacrament meeting to watch a friend's missionary farewell. We had great plans of going back to at least make our place a bit livable, but we ended up at a friend's house, who must have had pity on our haggard countenances and gave us lunch and let me sleep on their bed while the girls were in primary.

Although we didn't have the help we expected for the move, we felt really blessed for Nate's parents' help, our neighbor, the kids from the church, the pizza neighbor, Courtney Pierce who watched our girls, and the Langis for the food and nap. It is great to have friends and people who serve. And now I am going to bed. Or going to floor. Whateva.

I'm a Princess! And so is my husband.

Procrastinating my dish duty this evening, I got swept into doing an online "Disney Princess" quiz. Nate wanted to see what he would be too (I think he was procrastinating as well) So, here we are! When Nate found out he's Ariel, he said, "Oh that's great! I love the ocean!" He's so funny.

Heidi is....
You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?


Nate is...

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Two little Jaguars

Here are comparison pictures of Ivy and Elysse, roughly the same age and in the same costume. Wish I could find the one of Kezia!

BOO!! Happy Halloween pictures

Black and red hair was definitely way cool at our house for Halloween.


Here are some super-easy crafts and snacks from my Great Beginnings preschool for Halloween: spiders made of egg carton sections and pipe cleaners and for snack, a ghost of cottage cheese and raisins and a monster mouth made of a pear and pecans. It's so easy it's scary.



Here are some pics from Halloween! I hope yours was spooky.

Scary Moment, Elysse

Pennies, checkers, large foam beads, chunks of food, these are just some of the threatening objects we pull out of Elysse's mouth. It seems as soon as we take one out, she pops another one in.


Last night she had the tell-tale signs of a tasty hidden treasure: a closed mouth and bubbly drool dripping off her chin. As I swept her mouth with my finger to take out whatever was inside, whatever it was actually got pushed back into her throat making her choke. It was so scary. She couldn't breathe and her skin was turning dark. Nate was with me and was pounding her back. What was unsettling was my reaction of panic. I froze in a "What do I do?" state, wondering if I should call 911 just in case the pounding doesn't work, and trying to recall what to do in case breathing stops.

Perhaps that was best, though, so we weren't both trying to take charge. In the meantime, I played the part of a cheerleader, "C'mon, Elysse! C'mon Elysse!"

Thankfully, she threw up, at last dislodging a piece of stiff, rough velcro with dried paint on its backside that had fallen from the wall after I removed wall hangings from the girls' room.

I am so thankful for my little Elysse...again. (and if you are wondering about the "again" part, you can check out my July post titled, "Grateful for Elysse") Not to make light of the situation, but sometimes I wonder if these things happen to Elysse to keep up my gratitude for her despite her constant fussiness.

Sometimes I wish I could just tie her jaw to her chest! Here's a picture when we tried it the other day.....jk

Out with the old, on with the...very old? AND on with the better.

Nate has been trying to sell his motorcycle. He was finally able to do so, the same day we were able to pick up A NEW VAN for the SUP surf school. It is a 1979 Dodge van: old for a car, young for a person.
On the test drive it rained rust and the owner told us how it would rain on him during showers due to the holes in the roof. Nate got to experience that for himself before he patched up all the holes with foam. Now it looks like a foaming witches' brew or something, with foam oozing out the top. Anyway, we are cosmetically fixing it up, and the engine and brakes are great, and the price is great too: $200. Can't go wrong.

And speaking of new and different, WE ARE MOVING!!!! We are excited to be moving back to the North Shore to a familiar, close-knit neighborhood in about 2 weeks. Now, instead of walking through a pub, we can walk a block to a playground on the beach that is a gathering place for young families. Now instead of walking up stairs or taking an elevator we can walk a couple steps to our first floor apartment. Now instead of feeling bad because my kids have no outdoors in which to play, I can send them out to the yard (although, really it's literally a yard squaredbut, hey, it's grass!) and now instead of shouting over the earth-trembling racket of Harleys and trucks and the whir of cars going by, we will be lulled the waves of the ocean .

Ironically, it is the same apartment I had considered buying for our business 3 years ago!! It is a small 2 bedroom, so a definite downsize: we'll all learn to love each other even more ;) So, needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be very, very busy.

EEE--YAO, Kezia!! What a DOO!!

This last Sunday Kezia did her hair for church....ALL of her hair.

Ivy's first hula performance

Ivy has been doing pretty well in hula. She kept saying she couldn't dance, so she didn't want to go to the practices, but once her "shell cracked", she loves hula and follows directions really well. I am very impressed. And of course, with Kezia as well. Here are some pictures from the Harvest Festival, Ivy's first performance. It turned out my cousin Stacy and her husband Craig could be here for it as well.

Good friends

Jessica reading to Kezia and Ivy while Kaden looks on

Friends are so great. We have a good friend named Mike who has been separated from his wife since they were married for just 6 months. He is in the army and she was in the navy. Rarely have I met a couple so much in love. Mike would talk about his wife Jessica and son Kaden constantly and missed them terribly. Finally, she got out of the navy and he went out to Georgia to bring her and their son here. But because of complications, they couldn't all come back and live in army housing. When Nate heard of their plight, he offered to have them live in our studio until they closed on the house they were buying.

They became part of our ohana. These are some of the coolest people I've known, and I am honored to have them as friends. And sad they are gone now. It has been real nice to laugh and talk and chill this month with friends and leave worries behind. We've had a kickin' good time. And they have been so helpful watching our kids while we went on dates and got things started up on our stand up paddle school.

Their son Kaden is 10 months old, only 2 months older than Elysse. The two loved to gabber with each other and follow each other around the house.

Baby Buddies!


I had to put this one on. Watch the reaction Kaden has to Elysse grabbing almost all the Cheerios. It had me laughing tears!



This one ought to have a comment like "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
My good friend Leslie is getting married in December. She met the man of her dreams, and it is so great to see her so happy. We got to meet her fiance a few weeks ago when he came out to visit.



My cousin Stacy and her husband Craig were here too for their anniversary. It was so fun to be with them and feel that "family" feeling again. We got to go to the temple and seal tons of family members together too so they could live together forever.

Craig after Nate took him for a paddle lesson