The Daley Ohana

Brad Christopher Barton 3/5/1980 - 10/4/2011

2011-10-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knew Brad knew he was a "one of a kind" individual. He was so intelligent, kind, witty, and outgoing. He was the type of person that anyone could talk to and they would feel completely comfortable opening up to him in a matter of minutes. Dean and I would laugh sometimes because he was always willing to pick up random hitch hikers on the side of the road and offer them rides. He inturn would get a kick out of asking them questions and learning their life story. He was just easy to talk to.

Dean and Brad became instant friends their freshman year at BYUH. They were both part of the 6 freshmen that made the men's basketball team. He was the most loyal friend anyone could ask for. Dean and Brad spent so much time together that sometimes I'll admit at times I got jealous and felt as though Brad and I were fighting for Dean's attention. I have no doubt in my mind that Brad would have done anything for Dean and vice versa. I can't believe he is actually gone.

Brad passed away in his home Monday night October 4th from a seizure caused by Type I Diabetes. He's battled it since he was 14 and we were well aware of its severity. Dean can recall many times when he had to stab Brad with a glucose shot during his seizures. It's scary and he always feared Brad would one day have a seizure and no one would be there to give him the glucose shot when needed. We just didn't think it would be this soon.

I'm grateful that we had the priviledge and opportunity to have known such an amazing person. I'm also grateful that Dean was able to speak to him one last time a few days before his passing. It seemed all too convenient that they spoke that day. So many people have been influenced and affected by his passion of life and especially his passion and love for basketball. He was one of a kind and will dearly be missed!! We love you Brad Christopher Barton. R.I.P.

post game dinner:)

Me, Brad, and Nate
(Althletic Banquet)

Bradley and I

Athletic Banquet.

Brad, Misty, Thomas, me, Lynette, Nate, Dean, Isaac

Visiting Brad in Utah... His stomping grounds.

Going boating on Brad's friend's boat. So fun! (Back when Deano had hair:)

Brad's love for the game was so evident by everyone! He loved it, lived it, and breathed it. Even though Diabetes gave him restrictions, he never let it slow him down...even when he probably should have.

Seattle trip to play Seattle Pacific University. My friends Crystal and Desiree took them out on the town.

Summer trip to Utah to visit Brad.

Dean, Emily, Me, Kimo, and Brad chillin in our house on "The Point."

Fall Ball

Team Karaoke night.

Kashus's Poor Toe

2011-10-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

**VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!**

Just a forewarning that there is a pretty gruesome photo in here so don't look if you cannot handle.

I don't know if it's a boy thing or just a kid thing in general, but I feel like my kids, or shall I say my boys are constantly getting hurt. I don't think a day goes by that Justus doesn't get hurt in some way or another. He is constantly getting new bruises and falling down. Kashus on the other hand has had the traumatic accidents that will forever haunt me. This past Sunday was supposed to be the start of an uplifting spiritual week with General Conference and it ended up being a pretty tough week.

A couple weeks ago I purchased these bar stools. When we purchased them, Dean and I were concerned that the kids would fall off them because they have no backs on them. So we decided that they were not allowed to sit on them at all. Well what we should have told the kids is that they aren't allowed to touch them at all!

Sunday morning as I was in the kitchen cooking, Kashus, who always wants to help me, grabs one of the bar stools, leans it towards him and begins pushing and sliding it on the floor. He usually grabs a small stool or chair but this time he grabbed the new stool so that he could use it to prop himself up and help me. Well, it slipped out of his little fingers and the solid wood stool slammed down on his poor little toe.

It was awful! Screaming, crying, blood, etc. His toe was smashed up pretty bad! I ran around franticly looking for a towel, helichrisum oil to stop the bleeding, tylenol for the pain, all the while, Dean was calmly holding Kashus's toe and waiting in the van for me so we could go to the ER. Thank goodness Dean's little brother mark was there to stay with Aya and Justus while we rushed off to the ER. It was quite a traumatizing ordeal for Kash. They had to strap poor Kashus down when we were at the ER and Dean had to practically lay on him while they stitched up his toe. I am horrible with this kind of stuff too so I was really traumatized by it.

Well this is what he came home with the day of the incident. It was pretty gruesome so I didn't take any pictures without the gauze at first. I could barely look at it when they were working on it at the hospital.

This is what it looks like today 4 days since the incident. The good news was that it was not broken. But they had to rip the poor toe nail off, which was pretty much off anyway and stitch the right, left, and middle of the huge laceration on his toe. The middle of the toe (where the nail should be) has gauze still attached because it would't come off. :( It surprisingly looks better than it did though, but still pretty bad.

I LOVE my kids but accidents like these make me think about limiting the number of kids I have! Its so stressful when they get hurt. I can't help but feel responsible for whatever happens to them. Kids are blessed with the ability to bounce back from situations like these. Thankfully Kashus in no exception. He is up and moving around everywhere. I have to be the one telling him constantly to slow down and rest his foot. Hopefully it'll be back to normal soon:)

Sad to see them go:(

2011-08-15T03:27:00.001-07:00

Ever since we moved into our home back in 2006 we've been friends with the Christensens. We used to do FHE's with their family as well as a few others every week and I even lured Vicki into helping me with the books when I worked with EC. We were co-workers, walking buddies, and even visiting teaching companions! A month ago She broke the news to me that she and her family will be moving to Boston! They have such exciting things ahead of them and I know they will find success wherever they go. She's been a great friend and I will really miss her!

Aya and her son Braedon are only one month apart and practically grew up together. They were already good friends but when they started going to Bright Beginnings together, they were inseperable. I know she doesn't quite understand that she won't see him for a very long time, but she was sad to see him go. They got to stay with us for their last weekend before leaving the island so they had lots of fun playing.

Our goofy kids! Kashus, Braedon, Aya and Jace.

Aya and Braedon. Such good pals!!

Summer is officially over!

2011-08-15T03:06:00.000-07:00

School is back in session and now the craziness begins! My schedule went from pretty much no routine to a crazy schedule where I feel like I don't even have minute to relax before heading off to the next item on my agenda. I guess it's my fault for signing the kids up for so many things and trying to squeeze so many things in my schedule. But the good thing is I have two of four in school now so only Justus and Knox are left at home with me. Despite all the craziness and constantly feeling like we are on the go, it's nice to have a schedule once again!

Kashus started Bright Beginnings Preschool. He was so excited to start school! He was able to start preschool already knowing a few friends in his class which made it all the more easier to get into the swing of things. Here is a pic of him and his good friend Vanessa. They are too cute!

Aya is now a Kindergartener! So crazy how fast time flies! She is growing up so fast! She is going to Hauula Elementary just down the road from us which is so convenient. She loves her teacher Miss Kristen and is loving all the new experiences she has at school.

Baby Knox's Blessing

2011-08-04T04:12:00.001-07:00

Baby Knox was blessed on June 5, 2011.

Me and my sisters and their babies.

They are each about 2 months apart from each other. So fun to have them so close in age!

Dean was teaching our class so we took pictures without him.

(This is Kashus's typical grumpy face these days)

I am so grateful to have so much family here in Hawaii. The kids LOVE to see their cousins and it is so nice to be able to get together, especially on special occasions such as this!

Like Father Like Son...and Daughter

2011-08-04T03:38:00.001-07:00

One of the first weekends after Knox was born, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to a Home Depot workshop. Dean brought home a flyer from one of his Home Depot runs that he took with the kids, and Aya had been reminding me ever since. Since Dean was working, which is no surprise every weekend, I took Mark along to help me. I was expecting to be there for the full three hours, or at least two but it literally took us 25 minutes to finish all three of their projects. Two hours of driving for 25 minutes! But at least the kids had fun for those 25 minutes and we got to get them out of the house for a bit:)

Not quite sure how smart it was to let Justus hold one of these hammers. He sure LOVES them though! It's gotta be his all time favorite toy. Well...usually they are plastic or wood, so this day was a treat for him!

Kash was excited to build this tool box, but not quite able to reach the table enough to hammer in the nails.

Watch out! Get too close and he'd get your fingers! I let him go at it on the concrete for just a few seconds. Luckily his tool box didn't break:) I was a little nervous he'd hurt himself so his happiness was short lived.

Aya suprisingly was the only one who was interested in completing this mini project from start to finish. Kash got frustrated pretty quickly and had no patience hammering in the nails. But I started the nails for her and she hammered them in all by herself!

With the help of uncle Marky, Kash was able to finish his tool box and do his favorite part, which was applying the stickers.

The three munchkins in their super cute aprons. A successful saturday outing I'd say!

Welcome to the family Baby Knox!

2011-06-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

For Aya's 5th birthday this year she received... a new little brother!

Knox Mark Daley arrived 4 days early at 10:51 PM on May 27th 2011

He was my lightest boy weighing 8.02 lbs. and 20.5 inches long.

His middle name comes from this guy.
Dean's youngest brother uncle Marky.

He's been living with us for the past 5 months working with Dean and saving for his mission. He's been a huge help with the kids and we love having him around.

BREAK DOWN OF EVENTS....

I began having contractions around 6 am on the morning of May 27th. It was Aya's birthday and we had planned to go to the water park with a few friends to celebrate her b-day. I pretty much knew that baby was gonna come that day from the intensity of the contractions...I just didn't know when. I felt bad canceling our plans for the day but I really didn't want to go into labor at the water park, so we decided to head down to my sister Yumi's house since the hospital is only a few minutes away from there. We didn't get to go on water slides but we did get into our bathing suits and let the kids swim in my sister's pool at her condos.

Yes, I'm HUGE and ready to pop. I never take preggo pictures but thought I'd document at least one pic of my huge self the day I gave birth:)

Aya and her cousin Kela

Daddy with Aya and Justus

After hanging out at the pool for little while my contractions got pretty strong so we headed back inside for another couple hours, and then headed for the hospital around 6:30pm. I was dialated to a 5 when I got there so I was admitted, we waited around, listened to music, anxiously waiting for Knox to come. Around 9:30ish my contractions were getting REALLY painful. Finally at 10:50 I asked the nurse to check me cause I was getting anxious to see how I was progressing. Just as she was getting ready to, I felt the urge to push. Then one minute later, after 3-4 pushes, Knox was here! The doctor barely made it in time.

Our new family of SIX!

Already smothering baby with LOVE.

SO glad it's over:)

Proud new papa of 4.

Two days old

Thank goodness for Obachan! She came to help out with the kids for a week. Wish she could have stayed longer!!

The boys.

Our little Gymnast

2011-05-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

(photo by Amber Mozo)

Aya's been taking gymnastics this year. She LOVES it. She is now a level 2 and has learned to do cartwheels, forward rolls, and handstands. It's been fun to watch her get progressively better.

She goes twice a week. This is a pic of her Thursday class.
(B&W pictures courtesy of Carlos Mozo)

Aya not quite ready for the camera.

Today was their Spring Show. She performed her floor routine and showed us what she has been working on throughout the year on beam, and bars.

Waiting to be introduced...

Waiting to perform...

The beginning of her floor routine...

All the gymnasts in Cassandra's Gymnastics

All Pau with gymnastics until the fall!

My Preschool Graduate

2011-05-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

Congrats on a terrific year!! I can't believe how fast time flies! Aya is off to kindergarten in the fall and I couldn't be more proud of her!

Aya's carpool buddy Branson

One of Aya's many teacher's Mrs. Wasson. They actually have teachers that rotate and teach different subjects like math, social studies, art, Phonics, P.E. etc. Mrs. Wasson is the owner and lady in charge of Bright Beginnings. I couldn't be happier with the school. Aya is already reading and well on her way to being a successful kindergartener:)

Me and my two boys...soon to be three:)

The next Bright Beginnings student!

The Fam

Pono, Aya, and Braedon

Aya and Justus.
That is his way of smiling these days...and the way he looks when we say prayer.

May Day

2011-05-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

In Hawaii "May Day" is a day that is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and native Hawaiian culture in particular. Every year all the kids in school from preschool to 12th grade choose a culture or theme to celebrate and perform in May. This year Aya's preschool class were little rock stars. I didn't have my camcorder charged and ready that morning so I could only take a few short video clips and a couple pictures. But they did a great job and it was so cute to watch them dance.

Somehow Aya always knows, even when I'm far away, that I'm taking a picture of her. But I can always count on a good smile looking over at me ready for the camera.

Aya's BFF Braedon.

They are attached at the hip. They first met at 7 and 8 mths when Braedon crawled over to her, grabbed her and gave her a big squeeze and smooch at a family home evening get-to-gether with friends. With the exception of their love-hate relationship in their terrible two stage, they've become the bestest of friends and are inseperable at preschool.

After the show. Kashus wasn't quite feeling the camera that day.

Short video to come:)

Update on April...

2011-05-24T03:06:00.000-07:00

So here's a mini run down of April. The months just seem to fly by. Aya, Kashus, and Justus are getting so big and beginning to really all play well together. Justus is getting big enough that the older two "allow" him to join in on their creative games. As much as I complain about having the kids so close in age, I do love the fact that they can keep each other company and keep themselves entertained. Of course they seem to love to fight as much as play together, which I'll be the first admit drives me nuts sometimes, but it keeps things interesting to say the least!

Here is Kash, Justus, and Aya bright and early watching PBS kids. They always sit way too close to the TV and for some reason all have to squeeze on this small sofa chair. Usually one of them ends up getting booted off but they all managed to remain happy this particular morning:)

Obachan came to visit us in April suprisingly early seeing that this little guy decided to come a month early. Baby Caleb Kurihara joined my sister Airi's family a bit early and was a mere 6 lbs. So tiny and so cute!

While Obachan was here of course the kids LOVE to play with her and spend as much time with her as possible.

Here are the kiddo's making mud pies in their cousin Kumen's yard.

Obachan helping Justus collect his mud pie ingredients.

April was filled with beautiful weather! We made it out to the beach quite a bit. I love the fact that I can walk across the street to the beach!

The weather doesn't look the greatest in these pictures but nonetheless here are some pics I took of the kids at the beach.

I'm sure Dean will hate me for posting these of him. Excuse his farmer's tan. He doesn't make it to the beach too often so when he actually does...I document it:)

Kash chillin on his "surf board" as he calls it.

Riding the waves in.

Uncle Marky and Justus

Aya and uncle Marky

Happy Easter!!

2011-05-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Okay so Easter was awhile ago but never too late to post pics right? I've been terribly busy lately and haven't had the time to update this blog. So here are some pictures from our laid back family gathering at my sister Yumi's house. It was a fun filled night of spending time with family, eating...of course and letting the kids enjoy a little egg hunting!

Kash off to a good start looking for eggs around the back yard!

Justus off to a slow start but with a little help he found a few too.

Aya had to fend for herself this year. But she did a pretty good job and seemed happy enough with the outcome:)

Cousin Rumi's loot...

The younger cousins show off their easter eggs!

Then it was time for some Easter grub! They LOVE spending time with all their cousins!!

What was HE thinking??

2011-03-09T01:06:00.000-08:00

I have been horrible about blogging these days. I feel like lately my kids lives are speeding by and I have no record to show for it! Well not like this is so important to document but nevertheless a memory that will never be forgotten so I felt the need to blog.

So a few weeks ago my parents moved from their home in Seattle that they had lived in for 14 years so I thought not only would it be nice to get away for a weekend, but more so, I thought my parents could use a little help. Well I did it. I flew out for the weekend and got to spend some quality time with my parents and brother's family in Seattle, and we were able to get a lot of stuff packed up and organized at their old house. It felt like a productive week and although I missed my kids and husband, I thought it was well worth the trip...until I got a text the day before I flew back home.

This is the picture Dean sent me.

With it the message read "Please don't be mad, she's beautiful"

Well to put it bluntly I was totally mad. What man thinks they can just cut hair? Does he not understand people go to school for this? Maybe becuase I usually cut her hair he thought it was easy...I haven't the slightest...but seriously... WHAT WAS HE THINKING? And he used regular paper cutting scissors of all things! Anyways I saw the picture and was a little mad, then thought it didn't look too bad from the side angle. But I soon came to find there was a reason he took the picture from this side. It was so crooked that Dean had to take her to the barber to get fixed. I asked that he just wait till I got home the next day but apparently the damage was too bad for me to see because after they were done with it, it looked like this....

Ahhh.... I literally cried when I saw this text from him. WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?! Who cut her hair? Supercuts of all places. No offense to supercuts but they usually have old Asian ladies that have absolutly no style in cutting hair. And of course Dean lets them cut however they feel necessary in order to fix it. I was horrified and so upset. Yes it's just hair, and yes it'll grow back....eventually, but it felt like someone cut my hair and didn't tell me. Dramatic you say? Yes probably so. Maybe it's the extra preggo hormones in me but it took me awhile to get over. So now that a few weeks have gone by I can laugh at the situation. But honestly let this be a note to all wives! You would think this would be common sense but I was horribly mistaken. Warn your husbands to never try the task of cutting hair by themselves...EVER!!

Even though Aya sometimes wishes her hair were longer so she could put it back, we make due with what we have left and put up like this most times. It's pretty much the most that will go up at once. :( And it hides the fact that it looks like a bowl cut if you leave the front of her hair down.

She IS still beautiful and I am very much looking forward to her hair growing back! This is the pic she asked me to take while waiting for her ride to come for preschool. She is getting so old too fast!

Happy Birthday Kashus!!

2011-02-03T01:01:00.000-08:00

Kashus Dean Daley came into our lives on January 22nd 2008. I can't believe my little boy is now three years old!

This was Kashus when he was 5 days old.

I think he looks so different in this picture than he does now.

A few tid bits on Kash...

Kashus is a daddy's boy. He love's to hang out with his daddy every second he gets. And Dean in return, loves to take Kash with him to run his errands, go to Scouts, or just spend father and son time together. From the moment he started becoming remotely interested in toys he loved playing with balls. His first word was ball. As a baby he'd actually sit and watch basketball games (the ENTIRE game), even on TV. Of course this couldn't make daddy any prouder to have him as a son. He began throwing balls soon after he started walking and had a natural athleticism about him. He could shoot baskets on his toy hoop before he was 18 months from afar. He still LOVES pretty much every sport out there and is so excited to start playing on a team. I love him so much and am so proud of the little man he's become!

For Kashus's third birthday we decided we wanted to do something special for him since we've done some pretty big parties for Aya. At the same time I didn't really want to have to do tons of planning or have to put too much effort into the party. So we decided that Gunstock Ranch would be the perfect place! We had pony rides, a mini petting zoo, and a pool party. Not much planning needed and the activities for the kids were already planned:)

As it turned out Kash's little friend Sophie from preschool was planning a party that same weekend so we decided to join efforts and have the party together. Her birthday was only 2 days before Kash's so it was perfect. We decided on a Toy Story theme since it seemed the most neutral for a boy/girl party. There were over 45 kids there and I would say the party was an overall success! Well...I actually had food poisoning from something I ate the night before so I was feeling horrible that day but besides that, it was an overall fun day for Kash and it's a day he will always remember!

Here is the cute flyer that Lisa (Sophi's mom) made for the party.

The only thing I had to prepare was the cake. I had originally thought of making a more elaborate cake, but decided against it. This is what I came up with. It does the job. It was a fun little project too:)

I made these little cupcakes to go with the cake too. Too bad most of them ended up being ruined on the way to the party. I won't mention by whom. Oh well, luckily I got a few pics of them before that happened!

THE PONY RIDES

SOPHIE: The Birthday Girl

The Birthday Boy!

He had so much fun riding the horses!

Kash's cousin Anna

All the eager pony riders

Aya

Cousin Luke

Kawana

Pono

Cousin Jojo

Cousin Kela

His playschool buddies Noe and Nessa

Kash and Ezzy petting the horse

Noe

Vanessa

The little petting zoo

Poor little goats were cornered:)

Pin the Tail on Bullseye.

Swim Time!!

The pool had a cover and was solar heated so it was just perfect for the kiddos.

Thanks to uncle Marky, I was able to relax outside the pool area and hang out with Justus.

They had so much fun in the pool. They hold swim lessons there too so we may just have to enroll them.

Pinata!

Get it Kash!!

Sophie and Kash eagerly waiting for us to cut the cake!

Mmmm...yummy.

(His buddy Alex)

That pretty much wrapped up our fun b-day party! Kash had a blast and totally fell asleep on the way home from our long and eventful day.

So did this little guy:)

Our mini field trip to Sea Life Park

2011-01-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

Our little playgroup had a field trip to Sea Life Park a few weeks ago. (I know I'm horrible at blogging and it's a little overdue) I haven't been there since back in college when we had one of our winter balls there. It seems like the place has significantly downsized from what I remember, but nonetheless, it was fun for us to get out and enjoy the sunshine and see the sea life they had to offer. Aya played hooky that day and joined in on the fun. I knew she'd be dissapointed if I didn't let her come.

Here are some pics of our short time there...

The big tank.

They loved looking in the glass at all the fish, sharks, and swimming scuba divers.

This is the way Justus smiles lately when I take pictures. Sometimes I can't even see his little eyes cause he scrunches his nose, squints real hard, and shows his teeth.

The Turtles.

The kids enjoyed feeding the huge sea turtles broccoli and lettuce. We stayed there for awhile...and even came back for a second peek at the end.

The Sea Lion Show.

The kids patiently waiting to see what's in store for them.

Tada... pretty impressive I'd say.

(This is the only pic I took of the sea lions) They did a little dancing, a little talking, and even a little painting.

The Main Event....

The Dolphin Show!!

It was the perfect day for the park. Not too hot and luckily pretty windy.

Just a peek at the view from our seats. It really is beautiful on that side of the island. It makes you realize how beautiful Hawaii is. I forget sometimes living in Hauula. (No offense to all the Hauulagins)

Sea Life Park's very own infamous Wolfin. Half killer whale and half dolphin. Looked just like a very big dolphin with a shorter snout.

Kash and Vanessa. His BFF. He always says that Ness is his best friend:) So cute.

Glad he's got good taste.

My friend Di and I with our chitlins.

Not a whole lot to see there but it was good enough for the kids and I.

Mele Kalikimaka!

2011-01-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010 was a bit of a rainy one. I tried to keep the kids busy during Christmas break by entertaining them at home and occasionally driving down to let them play with their cousins. On Christmas Eve..day I let the kids decorate their gingerbread house.

Here's our blank slate...

Before all the mess...

Aya was determined to make it look exactly like the picture on the box.

We soon realized it was a lot harder than it looked.

Nevertheless they had lots of fun making a mess!

It kept them very much entertained for at least a couple hours...while thankfully baby was sleeping:)

The finished product!

Not so much like the picture but we got an "A" for effort!

The little ghost ants seemed to LOVE it too, so we decided to only keep it around for a day before throwing it out.

CHRISTMAS DAY!!

Aya is my sleeper. Every morning I usually have to drag her out of bed which usually makes her pretty cranky. I think she gets it from me. Well...I know she does. But not today! She was the first person up and was a very happy camper THIS morning!

This was the ONE present she asked santa for. A music box. Where she got this idea from I haven't a clue cause I haven't seen one of these in quite awhile. But yes thankfully Santa was able to find one just for her.

Kash anxiously awaiting the green light to open one of his presents.

Baby Justus and his new phone.

(excuse the hana bada...he was a bit under the weather)

Aya's leapster. A fav among them lately. It keeps them well entertained. I'm not a fan of video games but it's kinda educational right? :)

Kash was very careful not to rip the wrapping paper too much.

Kash and his new set of tools! Now he'll have all the tools to help daddy downstairs.

Aya is always playing doctor...so I got her the tools to go with her great imagination!

Can't forgot her favorite! Lip Gloss.

Justus sneaking one of the other kids' silly bandz.

Relaxin after opening all the presents!

After relaxing at the house for a few hours we headed off to my sister's in town for some Christmas fun with the Fam.

They LOVE their cousins!!

Justus and Auntie Jean.

We get to see her at almost all of our family get-to-gethers.

They love her!

They even had a little time for some ballet dancing apparently.

Rumi giving Aya one-on-one lessons.

Mmmm...so much yummy food.

Hangin out with the Akanas.

(courtesy of Airi...sorry I stole this from your blog:)

Me and my preggo sisters!

This is the second time we've all been pregnant at the same time...and mostlikely our last.
Yumi's about ready to pop anyday (Jan), Airi's due in April, and I am due in May.

And....we are all having BOYS!!

My little shepherds

2010-12-24T03:30:00.000-08:00

This year our ward had a biblical themed Christmas party. They announced in church we were all supposed to dress up in biblical clothing and come prepared with blankets to sit on because there would be no chairs or tables to eat dinner. At first I thought "sheesh we just had Halloween and now I have to think of more costumes to make or find!" But since I just bought a new sewing machine I thought this might be a fun project for me. And it actually was pretty fun! I made all the outfits entirely from old sheets that I happened to have in my closet. Kash and Justus's outfits were made from pillow cases which I didn't even really hem...as you will notice in later pictures of Justus's outfit starting to fray. But overall it was super simple. And the miracle is...Dean even dressed up! Who knew he didn't mind dressing up as a shepherd?

My kids modeling their newly made outfits

Aya's of course had to have some kind of girly color in it or she wouldn't be too happy wearing it. I was trying to get ideas from the kids new testament book that we read every night with them and as I was pointing to the various clothes they were wearing, Aya decided right then that she didn't want to wear anything like that because it wasn't very cute. But luckily I happened to have the purple satin material from her birthday party:) Who knew I'd have such a girly girl.

Kashus modeling his new getup.
(Don't mind my huge mess. All my sheet scraps were everywhere when I was done!)

Daddy and Aya waiting in line to get their grub on.

Our family photo. Taken by Amber Mozo:)

The kids jumped in a photo with Auntie Kali and some other people from the ward.

Baby Justus exploring the nicely decorated rooms.

Just call me Betty Crocker...

2010-12-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

I love Holidays because it gives me an excuse to make sugar cookies. I LOVE sugar cookies! Growing up I actually used to bake a lot. Our good ol' Betty Crocker cookbook back home was a favorite of mine. Well three kids later...and SURPRISE...one on the way, I rarely get a chance to bake much. For Kashus's "playschool" we are having a cookie exchange for his christmas party and I thought it'd be fun to put some time and effort into the cookies.

Well with a lot of this....

And some more of this...

Ta da... It came out like this!

Not too shabby huh?

I know, not as good as Betty Crocker but it was fun.

Oh Christmas tree oh Chistmas tree.....

2010-12-13T02:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Hawaii is just not quite the same. I love it here and yes it is home to me but I did grow up in Seattle where winters are freezing and everyother year we got snow. Apparently this year is one of those years. People have been stranded home because of the ice and snow and not able to go to work. I have to admit I was a bit jealous and wished I was there enjoying the snow, the cold weather, and drinking hot cocoa by the fireplace. Oh well...maybe next year:)

This year we will be here in Hawaii enjoying the rain...cause that's what we've had for the past week it seems, and drinking hot cocoa by the tv. We did however pull out our tree a bit earlier than previous years just to get the holiday spirit in our house. (We actually have had it out for a couple weeks now but just haven't gotten around to posting the pics).

The kids had fun helping me figure out how all the pieces fit, since daddy was out making a home depot trip to town. I even busted out our christmas music for background music to make it feel more festive. And yes it's a fake tree. We don't have the nice "christmassy" smell but it's already lit, no mess and conveniently packed away in our shed.

My three little rug rats that drive me crazy sometimes but make me one proud mamma.

Justus taking down all the ornaments within reach as soon as we put them on. He learned pretty quick though that it wasn't okay.

Caught redhanded...again...

Kash's most recent attempt at smiling for pictures.

One of many pictures she asked me to take of her.

Kash kept doing this to this ornament and when I asked him what he was doing he said "look mommy, my face is getting bigger."

Aya's Field Trip to the Bishop Museum

2010-12-09T16:13:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago Aya had a field trip to the Bishop Museum. I was tempted to just let her go by herself but thought Kash would enjoy going with her so I decided to go and take Justus and Kash with me. I did have to chase Justus around a little bit as expected, so I was a little tired after the field trip but I think they enjoyed being out and spending time with their big sister at her "big" preschool.

Aya and her classmate Branson taking a quick break for snack.

Aya and Kashus riding on the large snail at the volcano exhibit.

The Lava tunnel in the Volcano exhibit.

Listening intently to the story about Volcanos.

Hopefully I wasn't being too disprutive taking pics during the story

Aya's bright beginning class. 22 very bright and very cute kids!

Kash, Jace, and Justus staring at the very large Volcano replica shooting out lava.

Kash's Playschool

2010-12-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

Four other mom's and I have joined efforts in providing a "playschool" for the kids twice a week. We rotate and take turns running the play school and organize crafts and activites for the kids. It was starting to get too hot at Kash's old mommy and me preschool, not to mention tiring chasing Justus around, and this way I can drop him off for an hour and a half. He loves it and really looks forward to seeing the kids every Tuesday and Thursday.

This was their Thanksgiving craft at our house. Balloon turkeys.

Today we made little stocking ornaments and candy cane reindeer but I never got a picture of them actually doing them, so this picture of Kash will have to do.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T03:19:00.000-07:00

Our 2010 Halloween festivities pretty much consisted of our annual Hauula 4th ward Trunk-or-Treating activity on Thursday, Aya's preschool Halloween party and the Evans Halloween Bash on Friday night, then our family Halloween get together at Airi's house on Sunday. Although Laie actually welcomed trick-or-treaters on Saturday night since Halloween fell on a Sunday, we decided to skip it and hang out with just our family and relax. I was totally fine with the candy they already had and luckily our kids didn't mind staying home.

This year Aya wanted to be Dora and Kashus was Diego. It was all sort of last minute so thankfully we were able to borrow items from my sister and brother's kids for their costumes. Kashus also wanted to be boots since Aya was Dora. We even actually had a boots costume that my sister Yumi sewed for her daughter the year before, but at the last second Kash decided he wanted to be Diego since Diego and Dora were best friends. I tried explaining to him that Boots and Dora were more like best friends and Dora and Diego were cousins but I don't think he got it. Oh well, it's very cute that Kash and Aya are such good friends.

I didn't quite have a costume for Justus so I threw an outfit together. He became gangsta baby. I must say I was quite proud of the chain I made out of ribbon, cardboard, and a print out. Too bad he only wore it for 2 seconds before ripping it off. At least I got a few pics before that happened:)

Getting ready for trunk-or-treating! Aya took awhile to warm up and say "Trick or Treat" to everyone. But finally, after some coercing she did it :)

Friday night was the Evans Halloween Party. Dean HATES to dress up so you won't see him in any of these photos. So like last year's 80's party I was solo mio. But he came along and swam in the pool with Justus and socialized, while I danced the night away. Don't ask me what I am cause I don't know. Afro girl I guess. That was all very last minute too.

My little cheerleader...

2010-10-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

My friend from the ward asked me awhile ago to do a mini cheer camp for little girls ages 4-6 in our area. Her daughter loved cheerleaders and dancing, and her husband was the coach for the Kahuku JV football team so she tried mightly to persuade me. I thought about it for a minute and thought it sounded like too much work and decided against it. Well, I was approached again and this time I gave in. I told her if she did all the organizing, planning and advertising, I would make up the cheers and dance and come and teach.

The cheer camp consisted of two weeks of practices, twice a week and the final performance at halftime at the Kahuku JV football game. We got another friend, Michelle Simmons from our ward to come help so it was a huge help! We taught them two cheers and a short dance all within 4 practices! I was a bit worried because of the young age group but the girls did great! It was a great experience for Aya and brought back memories for me. Here's some pics of the game.

After our thought to be "final performance" the girls got to strut their stuff at the BYUH foodfest as well.

KHS cheer and Raiders in the House cheer

Dance

One year ago today...

2010-08-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

...our lives forever changed when baby Justus joined our family.

At 8lbs 5 oz. he was a big boy...at least for me anyway!

We love him to pieces and couldn't have asked for a better fit for our family! From the moment he was born he has been the most loveable, mellow, easy going kid ever.

I love him. I love him. I love him.

Since technically we already celebrated his b-day with the cousins last week, we enjoyed a quiet evening at home and celebrated his real birthday with just our little family.

The kids were obviously more excited for the cake than Justus was.

My very simple cake.

Justus still not quite sure how to eat this thing.

Mmmm...first time eating cake.

All pau!

You want some cake with that frosting Aya?

Aya decided to follow baby's example and thought utencils weren't necessary.

Suprisingly this is as messy as Kashus got :)

FHE

2010-08-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit it but we are terrible at having Family Home Evening. Well a couple nights ago Dean suprisingly made a suggestion of what we should do for FHE...that didn't include a trip to Home Depot or something just thrown together. He suggested we go visit a good friend of his at work since he is a federal fire fighter. Alan, aka "nops" is from Hawaii but lived in California with his Auntie for a couple years to finish High School. Dean's family ended up becoming his family away from home pretty much and let Alan stay with them so Dean and him became really close. Lately, due to business (because besides being a fireman he owns his own construction company), they've been talking alot and they decided it would be fun to take the kids to see the fire trucks. It was so fun and the kids LOVED it! We actually learned quite a bit too!

So when we got there I thought we'd just look at the firetrucks...maybe take a peek inside and that's it but we seriously got the grand tour. Alan took us for a ride around the block, rang the sirens, let the kids wear the ear phones they communicate with in the truck and let them steer the wheel too!

Then I thought "that was pretty cool," but he totally wasn't done. He started opening all the compartments on the truck (and there are PLENTY) and showed us all the crazy gadgets and tools they got on the truck. He started pulling out hoses and let the kids hold the hose to spray water, well Aya did anyways, cause Kash wasn't so sure about the huge hose thing.

Alan showing Kash how he can rip apart an entire car with those mega sheers.

Firewoman Aya holding the heavy hose just after we got done sprayin water.

This is Alan putting the ENTIRE gear on for us to see. As in... oxygen tank and all. (He don't mess around with his tours) This was $25,000 worth of gear (per fireman).

He even took us onto the Ambulance and let the kids run around on it too. He hooked up Aya to the heart monitor and gave her a print out of her heart beat.

Thanks uncle nops! We loved it and can't wait to come back again! Next exciting FHE is the "Blue Angels!" Supposedly they are comin soon! Kash can't wait! He asked Alan to take him on the plane too and fly him to go see Obachan. Not so sure that one can be arranged...but I'm sure he'll make it worth our while!

Finally...

2010-08-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

So we finally got some family pictures taken. Our last family photo was taken back when Aya was like 6 or 7 months. Carlos Mozo who will be going to school to study photography in a few weeks, took our pictures. I think he did a great job! The kids were fortunately in a good mood and we left just before the down pour!

Here are some pics that we took.

Unedited...

2010-07-19T01:27:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to apologize to everyone who read my blog in the last week for the inappropriate music that was on my blog! I usually listen to those songs on the radio which obviously is usually edited. Someone had to point out to me how much swearing was actually in those songs. So sorry! Hopefully now you can enjoy the pictures without having to cringe every time you hear an "F" bomb or have to cover your child's ears!

Cali Trip 2010 (part 2)

2010-07-13T02:06:00.001-07:00

My Kids love horses. Dean grew up with horses and just until recently had horses at his parents house that the kids could go ride on everytime we went back to his home town of Sebastopol. You could say Dean is a bit of a cowboy at heart...underneath the baggy basketball shorts, backwards hat, slightly crooked of course, and smudge free tennis shoes. I on the otherhand am actually secretly afraid of horses and will not ride on one by myself.

Well we couldn't make a trip out to Sebastopol without riding on some horses. In Dean's ward back home a wonderful couple let us come ride one of the many beautiful horses they train for the horse races. We rode one of the older horses named "Spanky" and the kids could not get enough. They took turns riding this horse over and over again for a couple hours. Dean enjoyed it probably as much as they did.

Notice Dean is still holding onto the reigns while I was riding the horse:)

Kashus even got to steer the go-cart around the ranch.
They bred these race horses on this ranch. All of them were born in January so these Colts were less than 7 months old!

Six Flags:Magic Kingdom

This is the second time we've come here and it was so much fun! It was an action packed day filled with tons of rides for the kiddies and adults and lots of different animal shows to watch. There is so much to do there that it was impossible to squeeze everything in in one day. We had a pretty large group with us though so I was able to sneak away to ride some of the roller coasters before the day ended :) I sadly realized after the third one that at 30 my stomach can only handle so much now :(

"Shouka" The Killer Whale

Hiking the "Hetch Hetchy" near Yosemite

After the reunion we stayed at Dean's sister Rachel's house for a couple days. It was so fun to catch up and let the kids play together. They literally live out in the middle of nowhere and pretty close to Yosemite so we decided to take a hike and take advantage of the beautiful scenery. Although the hike was a bit longer than we thought it would be, it was a beautiful hike and I'd do it again in a second. Dean on the other hand might choose to leave the kids home next time since he had to carry at least one child...sometimes two at a time while hiking up to the the falls.

Our Journey to the Falls...

This is how the day started out. Notice Aya was not too happy. She did not want to walk from the getgo. I quickly realized that noon was not the best time to start a 5 hour hike.

The journey begins...

Not even a quarter of a mile in and Dean and Rachel are already carrying Aya and Kash on their shoulders.

A mini waterfall on the way

Stopping for lunch. It was much needed energy for the kids.

Gangsta Lizzy and her posse:)

Already looking much happier after eating!

Tommy, Payton, and Kash

Not even half way yet!

Finally reached the top! Well...the top of our destination anyways.

The water fall was so full! We got completely soaked by the water fall!

(This is what most of the hike was like with Dean carrying baby in the carrier and Aya on his shoulders... and me carrying Kash)

It was so beautiful here!

Dean was trying to find ways to get up on this rock and it was a little freaky. He said he could've done it, maybe me shaking my head from afar deterred him from trying too hard.

On the way back from the falls, we found a cute little water hole and slide that the kids could enjoy!

Lizzy on the slide

The end of our 5 hour journey at the Hetch Hetchy! Long and we were all exhausted, but it was definitely worth it.

Cali Trip 2010 (part 1)

2010-07-09T00:27:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of June we were able to get off this rock for awhile to go visit Dean's family in northern California. It was a crazy yet relaxing two weeks filled with visiting family, catching up with old friends, and camping. I loved every minute of it! We had a lot of fun with his family and the kids loved spending so much time with their daddy!

A Day at the Park

On our first full day in California we took a walk to the park and took some pics of the kids. Here are a few!

My Aya papaya

Sometimes they drive me crazy cause they love to wrestle which almost always ends up with someone in tears. But most of the time I am grateful they are so close in age cause they love to play with each other and are best buds!

My handsome boy.

Every day she gets older I worry about having to shoo away the boys. I know I'm biased but she is too stinkin beautiful. Sassy... but beautiful!

She is my poser.

My Haole Boy

He was lovin the swing!

Marky's Graduation

The baby of the family is all grown up! This makes me feel so old! The first time I met Dean and his family Mark was only 6 years old. Mark is such a good kid and my kids love him! We are so proud of him and are so excited to see what the future holds!

Ryan, Dean, Mark, Donny, Don

Grandpa and Tita

Us and the Analy Graduate

Turner Reunion

One of the main reasons for going to California was for the Turner side family reunion. It seems that this year will be the beginning of many annual reunions!

This was the first time in a long time that all the siblings were in one picture! I cannot fathom bearing and raising EIGHT children...especially seven of them boys! It takes a special woman to raise 7 boys! Thank goodness Dean's mom had Rachel to help keep them in line.

Grandma and Grandpa with all but one grandchild, Matthew, who stayed home with his mommy.

Lovin the sunshine!

They had so much fun in the kid friendly lagoon. We stayed there ALL DAY while everyone took turns going out on the boat.

We were lucky enough to have a boat to ride on at the lake. Aya was all up for riding on the intertube with me right up until Corianne and Lizzy fell off. Oh well, maybe next year! I on the other hand had a blast on the tube and got a pretty darn good workout holding on for dear life.

It isn't real camping unless you've got smores! Poor Justus was pretty sick the whole time we were camping so he doesn't look too happy in any of the pictures. Kash and Aya had so much fun playing with their cousins and exploring nature. It was so beautiful where we were and it makes me miss the mainland.

But something I must say I love about Hawaii is....

....we don't have any of these!

Thank goodness for that! We were camping in Rattle Snake territory! But this is a King snake and apparently they eat Rattle Snakes so we were supposed to be thankful they were slithering around our campsite. Somehow I still didn't feel so safe. Needless to say I never went walking around after dark by myself.

I must say that the reunion was a success! It was fun spending time with everyone on the campgrounds, cooking, cleaning, and eating together. On the last night we were able to hear stories from Grandpa Turner and have one last campfire together. We are hoping the reunion tradition continues and are looking forward to having many more memories like this one!

Especially memories like this!
Aya loved hanging out with her cousins Kenny and Lizzy!

During our stay in California we got to stay at Dean's brother Donny's house for a few days. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins Tyler and Owen.

Kash and his cousin Owen (only a couple months apart)

Tyler, Kash, Aya, and Owen

Justus sportin his 3-D glasses after watching Shrek #3.

The San Francisco Zoo

I must say I wasn't all that impressed with the San Francisco Zoo. Being that San Fran was a big city I thought they'd have more animals and more to see, but it was still a nice day and the kids had fun. I forgot to empty my SD on my camera before we went to the zoo so I didn't get to take too many pictures from the day but here are a few.

Our trip to Cali to be continued... (Too many pics from our trip to post all at once)

Crazy May!

2010-07-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

Yes it's July and I am blogging about May. That is the story of my life. So much to do and not enough time to do it! It's been crazy the last couple months and I feel like I barely have time to do anything, so I am backtracking a bit for the purposes of recording our memories.

May 2010 was filled with organizing our new construction company, birthdays, May Days, and graduations. Here's a summary of what happened in May!

THE BIG 3-O!

Dean turned 30 on May 20th. A couple years ago we had talked about what we would do on our 30th birthdays. Our plan up until 6 months ago was to go to the mainland, rent an RV, and travel around the United States. Well that plan was put to rest as soon as we planned on lifting our house, enclosing it and building underneath. Although I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to follow through with our inital plans, Dean's hopes were shattered and he was mopey and depressed all day and didn't want to talk to anyone. Poor Dean had to work on his birthday too. And of course it had to be the worst type of work which consisted of digging holes all day in the hot sun.

Well I decided a couple days before his birthday to plan a mini surprise birthday party for him. It actually turned out okay despite the fact that it was thrown together at the last minute, but he was completely caught off guard! We went out to dinner to Zia's of course, since it's his favorite, and when we got back home he was pleasantly surprised to a house full of close friends! I'm a terrible liar so it was a little difficult to keep it under wraps but I would say it turned out to be a success!

Thanks to Vicki and her Cricut, we had a nice display!

Don't mind the streamers strung across our room. Our 10 foot ceilings made it a bit difficult to decorate.

My ghetto cake. Like I said it was thrown together last minute. It's the thought that counts right!

May 27th. Aya's Royal Birthday Bash!

My little girl is 4 years old! Sometimes I think I treat her like she should be 5 already but yes she only just turned 4 this May. She is my girly girl, my social butterfly, my drama queen, my best little helper, and my pride and joy! I couldn't have asked for a better little girl to share this life with!

I decided this year instead of going all out with an overwhelming party we were gonna make it simple. Aya has made a lot of new friends this year at her preschool, Bright Beginnings, so I had her invite a few of her friends over for a Princess Party filled with dressing up and princess pampering of course finishing off with a photo shoot to show off their princess get ups.

We Started out with decorating their goody bags.

Then we painted their nails, put on their make-up and did their hair.

Aya's favorite thing to do, besides putting on make up of course!

Of course there were those that wanted to put on their own. :)

The Photo Shoot!

Princess Aya

Aya and her friend Kulia

Isabella, Kahea, and Aya

Kahea, Aya, Isabella, Mahea, Melia, Kulia

Kashus was feeling a bit left out with all the girly stuff so we let him take a couple pictures too!

We ended the afternoon with everyone's favorite, Cake and Ice cream! I'd say the party was another success!

We finished off the crazy month of May with Aya's preschool graduation.

She still has another year at Bright Beginnings but it was fun for them to get their little certificates and participate in the program.

Kulia and Aya. We'll see you in one year! Good luck with Kindergarden Kulia!

The "Green Apple" class walking out to do their performance.

Justus dancing along to their performance.

Yay! One year done, one more to go! School is out for summer!

Yummy food!

Aya saying good bye to her friends, Kahea and Tezra

Kash and Aya and her classmate Jack

One of Aya's teachers auntie JoJo

Kids say the darndest things...

2010-06-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

Today Aya put this pot on her head and said "Look, I'm a pothead!"

A day we will never forget...

2010-05-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post this on my blog because part of me was ashamed and embarrased for what took place yesterday. As a parent and guardian over your children you can't help but feel completely responsible for anything and everything that happens to them. But as I was laying in my bed at 4:30 this morning alone since Dean and Kash were at the hospital, not able to sleep, and constantly replaying the things that happened yesterday, I couldn't help but think of the miracle that this incident was. Although I know I shouldn't dwell on the negative aspects of this incident, I shouldn't forget them either, no matter how hard I sometimes want to. I need to aknowledge the Lord's hand in my life and be thankful that we are always being watched over by Angels.

At 8:20 I quickly rushed out the door with Aya to take her to school. Dean was suprisingly still home so I asked him to watch the other two kids while I took Aya to school. I ran down the stairs with Aya, buckled her in, and began slowly reversing. I felt a small bump under the car as I was reversing and thought that was wierd cause nothing shouldn't have been behind me. I paused for a second and heard Kash screaming and crying. I frantically got out of the car (as the car rolled forward almost hitting the shed in front of me cause I didn't put it in park at first) and saw Kash sitting up crying while holding his leg. My heart dropped and I could only imagine the worst. The worst possible thing just happened that you only hear about and think to yourself "I can't believe that happened." Well IT did and IT happened to US. Dean and I usually thought ourselves to be pretty cautious parents and usually ask each other to check behind us for other kids or make sure we are holding on to our kids when the other person is backing up. But this time Dean and I didn't realize Kashus had followed after me when we walked out the door, and I must have been buckling Aya in while Kash was coming down the stairs toward the car.

We rushed Kashus to the hospital and the miracle is, he sustained No serious injuries. No broken bones, No other body part hurt besides his poor little leg, and No fractures of any kind. His leg was pretty badly bruised, swollen and had some scrapes but that's it. Poor Kashus went through a lot yesterday with not only the whole accident, but with doctors and nurses poking him and trying multiple times to get IV's in his tiny hands and legs with no luck. Despite the circumstances he is a tough and happy little guy. I can't help but think of all the "What ifs" that could have taken place, but what I DO try to constantly focus on are my blessings. I'm so blessed to have a loving husband, 3 beautiful healthy children and Kashus still here with me, as healthy as can be, who I can't help but tell "I love you" to every second I look at him.

I didn't take too many pictures of him because he wasn't too happy but here are a few.

First Day in the Hospital :(

His leg just before being discharged the following day. A little less swollen and looking much better.

Kash as happy as can be!

Going Green....well trying to anyways.

2010-04-30T02:42:00.000-07:00

We have a good friend Carol who works for the Kokua Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Jack Johnson and his wife to promote environmental education to schools and communities out here in Hawaii. She actually went to school with him at Kahuku High School and has been working with him for a few years now for this foundation. Anyways, I feel like every time we'd go out for a girls night and Carol was there, I'd always learn something new about either the environment, or the food we eat, or what new projects the Kokua Foundation was working on, and I always end up thinking I need to be better..."Greener". She actually initially introduced me to the movie "Food Inc" which she invited me to watch at a nearby school. I actually didn't watch it until my friend Di told me it was on Netflix. To say it was an eye opener was an understatement. I strongly suggest anyone who hasn't seen it to watch it.

Anyways Carol hooked us up with some tickets to the Kokua Festival which is put on every year by the Kokua Foundation. We got the VIP treatment with free drinks and food and really nice seats. This year Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, and Taj Mahal performed and all the proceeds were donated to the Kokua Foundation which is then used in our communities. They even helped to fund Hawaii's state wide efforts in recycling which was just implemented this year. Just for my family alone, I've decreased our waste size completely in half and now fill up our recycle bin more than our garbage bin almost. What a great Foundation! I can't help but think that if only ALL those that had the influence and funds such as Jack Johnson in this world could use their stardom to become such a powerful tool in making a world a better place!

Here are some pics of the evening...

Easter 2010

2010-04-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

I know I'm posting this kinda late...but where do you find time with three kids!
Well this year we celebrated Easter at our house since my sister Airi was out of town. She has the bigger house so we all tend to go to her house for all the get togethers...but this year for Easter we all squeezed in my house. Our yard was a bit of a construction zone but we managed to make it work for our family's annual easter egg hunt. Here are some pics from the event.

Nakamalei part 2

2010-04-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken awhile ago but better late than never right!
Kashus had a field trip to Gunstock Ranch with Nakamalei a month ago. The morning was filled with swimming in the pool, horseback riding, and playing with the animals in the mini petting zoo.

Na Kamalei

2010-04-12T16:31:00.001-07:00

One of the greatest things about not working is the time I get to spend with Kashus and Justus while Aya is at school. Even though somedays when I'm feeling lazy I question that thought, I really think Kashus especially, needs my attention and needs to be around other kids. Boys are so active and seem to definitely need that extra stimulation and interaction that's obtained from playgroups and preschool. So my friend Di introduced me to Na Kamalei which is a "mommy and me" preschool that her daughter Vanessa goes to and Kash LOVES it. The days that he doesn't get to go he complains that he doesn't get to see his friends that day. It's sometimes a lot of work taking the two kids there but it is sure worth it!

Here are some pictures of some of the activities we've done so far...

At 2 years old he can already write his letters! Just kidding ...I helped him.

Kash probably trying to sabotage Vanessa"s painting. Good thing they are such good friends!

Best Buds!

Learning how to plant seeds at Discovery Garden.

Aunty Elena giving them sunflower seeds to plant.

Field Trip to Kualoa Ranch

Kash was a little scared to feed the animals himself but he sure liked watching them eat!

The huge pig we saw roaming around the Ranch with her piglets.

The petting zoo portion of the ranch had cute little rabbits and guinea pigs to pet. And yes Aya is playing hooky from school. She's got another year of preschool still so a couple days here and there ain't gonna hurt right?

Easter egg hunt at Discovery Garden....in March.

The bunny creation they made...or I made...as is the case with most of the art activities there.

Aya cheesin it with her colored eggs! I think my kids enjoyed eating the eggs more than coloring them.

Much more Na kamalei pics to come!

Under Construction

2010-03-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

This is what our house looks like...well, with the exception of a few additional pieces of siding and windows which has been installed since I took this picture. Poor Dean has been working on the house every spare minute he has which includes everyday after work (most of which in in the blazing hot sun) until it gets dark, and then on the weekends. (Excuse my lack of picture taking skills)

These are the scary stairs that I have to climb multiple times a day, sometimes with groceries, sometimes with sleeping children, and sometimes because I forgot something in the house. The only positive thing about these stairs are the few extra calories I burn from running up and down them so often. I can't wait to move downstairs when it's finished! (These are the temporary stairs)

Here is my handsome hubby hard at work doing what he does best!

Trying to keep daddy company while he works. We got sidewalk chalk, bikes, and chairs down there. At least the kids get to see daddy even if they can't technically hang out with him!

NOMA

2010-03-16T01:26:00.000-07:00

Life is all about progression. In some form or another most of us want to progress to that next step in life whether it be in school, work or in our relationships. Dean and I had recently come to a point in our careers where we had to analyze where we are now, where we want to be in the next 5 to 10 years, and what we had to do to get there. We had decided awhile back that "someday" we'd own our own small construction company that would build only a few homes a year, preferably our own spec homes. Well as of May 1st 2010 that time will finally present itself! Of course things are never as easy as merely setting goals and then achieving them, but succeed or fail, there is no turning back now.

We have been with Evans Construction from the very beginning, when the accounting was scribbled down on a pad of paper and we only performed small remodels. Now it's grown into a large company that usually has up to eight on-going projects at a time, most of which are full house builds or extensive remodels, and is constantly turning down work. It's been such a great experience and honor to grow with and be apart of the success of EC. With me having done their books for so long while Dean working as their foreman, we've been able to learn so much from them and are sad to be leaving. There are so many mixed emotions with this decision that it pretty much covers just about every emotion possible.

The name we've chosen for our company is Noma Home Builders. Where did the name Noma come from you ask? Dean is from Sanoma county in California. It's different but it has somehow stuck with us and no longer sounds wierd to me. :)

We've posted the finalists from the possible logos we are deciding on and hope you can help us in our decision of which one to choose.

Good Friends are hard to come by

2010-03-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

Dean and some co-workers had planned a trip out to Tahoe to go Snowboarding back in early February. This was all in the midst of moving all our junk back into out lifted house and still having to juggle work and my three kids. Timing wasn't the greatest for this trip. But a week or so before he left I called a good friend of mine from Seattle and talked her into coming out and staying with me while Deano was away. Desiree and I have been friends since we were in high school and have kept in touch ever since. She is one of those friends that it doesn't matter how long it's been since you've seen them, it's always like old times and it feels like no time has gone by. She was such a big help with the kids and it was so fun to catch up and reminisce on the good ol' days. She was even here for my 30th! Yes I said 30... I know, SO OLD RIGHT? I feel old. I have three kids, I'm always tired, and I swear my skin feels like it has less elasticity and more sun spots.

Anyways while Desiree was here we celebrated my B-day along with Dean's good friend Zac who's birthday was on the 12th, at a little restaurant called Shorebird. It was right on the beach in Waikiki and you actually cook your own meat on this huge grill. It was different but kinda fun. Next time, as a future side note, I think I may want someone else to serve me on my birthday instead of cooking my own meal though.

Here are some pics from the evening...

Gotta love the iphone! Our new york steaks turned out superb with the timer!

Me with my new hair cut! Thanks Des!

Here are some other fun things we did while Desiree was here...

We ate acai bowls at Sharks Cove. Sooo yummy!

Went to the beach of course...

Ate yummy food!

Hiked Diamond Head

To be continued....Some old school pics of us from back in the day.... :)

Short and Sweet!

2010-03-11T01:46:00.000-08:00

My little boy is getting so big! Well big in a sense of older that is. Just because he may only be in the 24th percentile he sure makes up for it in coordination and personality. Kashus turned two on January 22nd. We had a very low key birthday celebration at the Evans Home, since we were homeless in January, and invited a few friends over for cake and ice cream. I blew up a bunch of balloons, had the kids make up a bunch of games, and they all went nuts! It was short, sweet, and to the point. Kash didn't seem to mind and had a blast! His favorite gift of the evening...a basketball of course. To say he loves basketball would be an understatement. This kid LOVES to play, watch and practice dribbling and shooting the basketball all day long!
One of these days I'll get the motivation to load a video of him shooting hoops.
Here are some pics of the evening...

UP

2010-03-11T01:01:00.000-08:00

So I've been terrible at keeping up with this blog because so much has been going on and so much has changed since this year has begun. Where do I begin?
Well for starters, we lifted our house. For those mainlanders who aren't familiar with the term or used to seeing houses lifted in the air here are some photos. We are lifting, enclosing the bottom, and adding on a first story dwelling underneath.

After trying to explain to Aya and Kash that we had to move out of our house for a little while since they were lifting our house, they came to the conclusion immediately after watching the movie "Up" that we were lifting our house with balloons. Needless to say Aya was a little disappointed but that thought soon dissipated as they saw our house teetering on crates.

In the beginning of January we moved out of our house and moved into the "Evans Hotel," as some would call it, with their never ending lineup of guests. Dave and Amy were really nice in letting our family of five join their family of seven in their new beautiful home down the street from us. We stayed there for a month, (bless their hearts) and moved back into our home in the beginning of February when the house was dropped and the foundation was secure.

Sayonara 2009!!

2009-12-31T01:35:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone! I can't believe how fast this year has come and gone! So much has happened and not much documented but here is an update from the past couple months...

Our Trip to Seattle

It was so nice to finally go away as a family for a week and actually get to spend some quality time together. Dean just recently finished helping out my brother renovate their kitchen, which took place on the weekends, so he has been gone a lot lately working. Besides the small project I volunteered him to help my dad with, we got to spend most of our time there lounging around my parents house, sleeping in, shopping of course, and visiting with family and friends.

Right outside my parents house the day after we arrived.

It may not look cold but it was freeeezing!

I forgot how pretty the autumn leaves are. Aya loved picking the pretty leaves up off the ground...she got a little carried away when she started scooping up some of the not so cute, dirty leaves off the ground and tried taking them in the house. She was a little bummed when I told her she had to leave those ones outside.

I love this picture for some reason. Kashus was a bit grumpy and whiney when we wouldn't hold him. He stood there about 20feet from where we were standing and pouted for about 10 minutes because he wanted us to come get him and hold him. So stubborn.

Deception Pass

Not exactly the most kid friendly place to go with three young kids but it was sure pretty to look at from afar!

Seattle Pacific Science Center

It was my first time there since I was in elementary school and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun! There was a dinosaur exhibit, a green house full of butterflies, and lots of other fun things to see. It was definately better than our original plan of going to the zoo...especially this time of year!

Giant chairs

The butterfly exhibit. There were supposedly over 10,000 butterflys fluttering around in the green house.

Aya and Kash at the bug exhibit with their cousins Maya, Karen, and Klair

Christmas Morning!

Princess Aya modeling her new princess getup.

Justus is already 4 months old. He is such a chunk and is starting to look a tiny bit more like me everyday. I think so anyways. Still white as ever, but so was Kash at his age...so we still have hope. He is such a good baby though, so I must say I lucked out with #3! Heavenly father must have known what I could and couldn't handle with my crazy and busy schedule!

My oreo cookie

The after math of Aya trying out her new stickers on baby

My boys

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-05T02:39:00.001-08:00

Ward Trunk-or-Treat

The ward put together a trunk-or-treat party a couple nights before Halloween, which the kids loved! What's not to love? There was candy, costumes, food, and great company! The best part was we only had to do a quick loop around the parking lot and all the trick-or-treating was done!

They definately were exhausted afterwards though.

Sorry Justus...no costume for you this year. Just a recycled onsie that Kash wore last year.

Halloween Night!

This year we decided to get together at my sister's house in Waikiki and try trick-or-treating out there. We ended up having to walk a ways because apparently no one in her neighborhood gets trick-or-treaters on Halloween. One of the first houses we went to got creative and gave us a box of animal crackers and a package of fig newtons to share. Another guy felt so bad he didn't have anything to give us that he went to the store after we left his house and bought a bunch of candy and drove around looking for us to give it to us.

First house...no luck but still looking hopeful!

Venturing off down the road in search for some candy!

Finally some people with candy!

This was the nice guy that drove around looking for us. He stopped by on the side of the rode after he found us to off load all the candy he bought for us.

All in all it was a successful evening. We found the right street to go trick-or-treating on after asking some kids where the hot spots were, and best of all...the kids got to spend some quality time with their cousins.

A little of what we've been up to these days...

2009-10-24T16:37:00.001-07:00

I've been slacking on the blogging these days because I feel like I just don't have enough time in my day. So to update you all, here is a little bit of what we've been up to these days...

First some update pics of the kids...

Justus is now 8 weeks old and is now starting to coo and smile. It's fun seeing how much he changes every day. We love him so much and are excited to see what personality he brings to the family.

They love holding him and often fight deciding who holds him first...

This was taken after one of those moments. We decided they would both hold him. He didn't like that too much...

Party, party, party!

My friend's little boy turned 1 and she had outdone herself with a ton of cute games and activities for the kiddies as well as all the cute decorations. I should've took more pictures...especially of the birthday boy. Sorry!

Relaxing at the beach...

Well I don't know if I'd quite call it relaxing for me since I've had #3. I don't get to really enjoy the beach since I'm usually holding baby in the shade or trying to shield him from the sun, but it's nice to get the kids out!

Family get togethers...

My cousins from Japan came to visit us during their 2 day stay in Hawaii. I haven't seen them in years! Kashus got quite attached to my uncle and kept following my him around. It was quite cute.

Forever Young

The theme for Dave and Amy Evans's house warming party was "Forever Young." It was 80's night and their house was completely decked out like an 80's highschool prom. We were in town most of the day and rushed back to get there an hour before the festivities ended, but not too late to strut my stuff on the dance floor. I seriously think rhythm begins to fade with age cause my body doesn't move like it used to. I think of when we used to go out dancing and I'd chuckle at the oldies trying to dance out on the dance floor...and now that's me! Oh well, we had fun while the night lasted. At least I did anyway, Dean was on the sidelines like old times observing the costumes and enjoying the music. And no he did not dress up, he was in his regular old clothes...Sooo boring...but we love him anyway.

Grandma and Auntie come to visit!

Dean's mom and Auntie came to visit us for a week. It was really nice having them here and we were sad to see them go. We are excited to see them again in June for the reunion!

Bishop Museum

The volcano exhibit had a fun little slide for the kiddies to come down.

My kids were a little scared of the dinosaur exhibit with the loud moving dinosaurs but it was fun and quite impressive!

Pumpkin Patch

It was my first time at the pumpkin patch in Kapolei. They had bouncies, pony rides, and hay rides for the kids but it was so windy and dusty there that we decided to pick our pumpkins and get out of there as soon as we could. Most of the pictures didn't come out very well because half the time the kids eyes were closed from the dust flying all around us. Despite the dirt and grime left on our clothes and bodies the kids enjoyed picking their own pumpkins and hanging out with their cousins.

I think this is a keeper!

hmmm...which pumpkin to choose...

Aya and her cousin Hugo trying to find a creative way to carry the heavy pumpkins

The kids hitching a ride from uncle Mitch

Life with Three...

2009-09-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

I've always heard going from two to three kids was going to be tough so I've pretty much expected it. I think overall I've handled it well with the exception of a few days where I thought I've just about lost it with my kids. Kashus was having a hard time adjusting to not getting as much attention as he used to so it's been a little hard for him. Justus is now 4 weeks old though and Kash has been doing a lot better. Still a little whiney but much better than he was. Aya has been a good little helper and always wants to hold baby and help me with Kashus...especially when it comes to scolding Kashus. I really get to see what my weaknesses really are when I have a 3 year old repeat everything I say and mimic everything I do. No wonder why parenting is such a humbling and learning experience!

Here are some updated pictures of the kids.

After church we sent the kids off to their room to take a nap. We went in to check on them a few minutes later and this is how we found Kash...

Welcome to the family Justus Jet Daley

2009-09-04T03:12:00.000-07:00

Justus Jet Daley was born on August 29th at 6:58 pm. He was 8.5lbs and 20 inches. (Since Dean and I couldn't come to an agreement with the names we both liked, we came to a compromise and decided to use both names, Justus as the first and Jet as his middle name. Dean calls him Jet and I call him Justus. Hopefully he won't get too confused.)

The Natural Way...
I can't say that I have the highest tolerance for pain, but somehow I was able to endure 3 labor and deliveries epidural free. My whole family for the most part have delivered their children without the use of drugs as well...which has meant faster labors, faster delivery, and faster recovery. This definately isn't always the case with going natural but I guess we have been lucky enough that it has been like that with me and my sisters.

Here's how it all went down...
I woke up at around 6am Saturday morning to a fairly strong contraction and knew I pretty much was going into the early stages of labor. Since we live an hour away from the hospital we packed up our stuff and headed down to my sister's house which is only 10 minutes away from the hospital so we could be closer just in case. One of my sister's gave birth in the car and my other sister gave birth just 10 minutes from arriving at the hospital, so I wanted to be prepared. My contractions were still only 5-8 minutes apart for awhile so we ended up hanging out at my sisters for 5 hours or so until my contractions got quite a bit stronger and we decided to head over the hospital. I ended up having to walk around for a little bit there and they admitted me to the hospital about one and a half hours from arriving there. I endured about an hour and a half of really painful contractions and was dialated to 4cm when the doctor said she could pop my water to speed things up. With Kash, two contractions after they poppped my water I basically was ready to push so I eagerly agreed. Justus's head was too far down and they couldn't properly pop my water so I labored for another half hour or so...which felt like eternity with all the back labor I was having. It got to the point for the first time in all three labors where I asked them for a little bit of the IV drug so I could ease some of the back labor. Literally a few minutes after it was injected in my IV I felt the urge to push, but then began to feel instantly nautious, loopy, and still feeling all the pain. I definatly won't take that drug again. The good thing was, I pushed Justus out in 3 contractions so he probably wasn't affected too much by the drug they gave me. Overall I guess I can't complain about my labor and delivery. I am sooo happy that it is all over though and feel so much lighter! Recovery has been good...besides a little back soreness and Justus is such a good sleeper! He sleeps 4-5 hours at a time so I can't complain!

Here are some pictures we took. Sorry there are so many.

Waiting around at the hospital

Minutes after giving birth

One proud daddy

Auntie Yumi with Justus

...with Obachan

...with Aya and their cousin Anna

Aya with her new baby brother

The boys

Justus with auntie Yumi and the girls

Auntie Airi, uncle Atau, and cousin Riho

Most of the cousins...the nurses were pretty suprised to see 15 kids running around my little hospital room

Our Little Baller

2009-07-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Kash's very first word was ball and since then has called everything round a basketball. He likes watching basketball on tv, points to the raised basketball hoop at chuch and yells "basketball!" in the middle of sacrament, and plays with his hoop at home every day shooting the basketball rather than dunking it lately. Without much coercion he has been become obsessed with any form of ball and of course Dean couldn't be any happier.

Here's a video we took yesterday. He has been dunking the basketball for awhile but just recently we started raising the hoop higher so he could learn to shoot it. Yesterday we raised it to the highest this little toy hoop could go and he's learned how to make the basket at this level. It's fun to see him grow up so fast! Needless to say Dean is one proud Daddy.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-08T03:40:00.000-07:00

This is how our Fourth of July morning started out...
Dean had been promising me that he'd make me a platform bed for some time now, but due to side jobs, scouts and other things always coming up on the weekends he hadn't gotten around to it. So finally this past weekend he started making our bed. He finished most of it within a few hours so all that's left is a headboard and some stain! With me getting so big, it'll be nice to be a little elevated off the ground since our mattress is currently on the floor.

After that we headed over to my sister Airi's house for some yummy BBQ,fireworks,karaoke and lots of fun with the family!
Here are some pics from the evening...

Kash getting a chance to hang out with his daddy and try sparklers for the first time!

Me looking hideously huge at 32 weeks.

Enjoying the fireworks...

Aya havin fun with sparklers!

Aya's cousin Anna not so much...

With 14 little munchkins from our family running around and an additional 6 kids that came to the party, it was a little bit of a war zone of smoke and sparklers shooting in every direction.

Kash spending time with his uncle Marky.

It's been so nice having help around the house especially with the kids! Dean loves it too cause he gets to boss around his baby brother for the third summer in a row...sorry Mark!

Aya's favorite dessert...ice cream! Just like her mommy!

Eating rice krispy treats and hangin out with daddy.

Daddy's little girl! She is getting quite the personality!

Never too early!!

2009-07-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

Kashus just made 17 months and a few days ago we decided to slowly introduce him to potty training. He has been telling me when he goes poo poo lately so I thought I'd try and see if he'd actually go on the toilet and he did! I know it'll take some time and we don't want to rush him but with #3 on the way I'm not looking forward to changing diapers for two. He is getting to be such a big boy!

Summer is Here!

2009-06-23T02:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a little bit of what we've been doing lately! Jealous??

It has been so hot lately that all we do indoors is sweat sweat and sweat! Well maybe being 7 1/2 months pregnant has something to do with it too. But we've been enjoying the nice weather and taking advantage of the beautiful beaches Hawaii has to offer!

Our trip to the Discover Center!

The girls had a blast in the mini grocery store pretending to be cashiers. I think they spent almost half the time there. Kash just enjoyed finding anything with a steering wheel.

Here's the giant bubble maker, airplane, and tour bus.

The Japanese exhibit. They had fun wearing the clothes and pretending to eat sushi. This was one of the first of the cultural exhibits so I was lucky that Kash even wore the "happy coat." Not so lucky with the rest of the exhibits.

Chinese exhibit. Dim sum or ramen anyone?

Kela and Aya at the Korean exhibit. Too bad we couldn't rest on that big chair a little longer...I was pooped by the end of the day.

Final stop...the optometist office and a T-ball batting cage. It was an exhausting couple hours but well worth our afternoon. The kids had fun and the best part was we were indoors in the A/C!

Happy Birthday Aya!!

2009-05-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

Aya is officially 3 years old today! We celebrated a few days early and had her birthday party this past saturday at my house. We rented a waterslide, catered food, and had arts and crafts for the kiddies to do. She was really looking forward to having her birthday this year since she can actually comprehend what having a birthday is all about. Plus, for the past 2 months she has been telling everyone that her birthday was May 27th, so I felt like I couldn't skimp by on her birthday this year. It seemed to go pretty well though and she had lots of fun but I'm definatly glad it's over and done with! Birthday parties can be such work! Here are some pictures of the party...

A little of this and a little of that...

2009-05-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

So I've decided I don't do such a good job at posting in my blog. I am pretty good about taking pictures since I carry my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go but getting them printed or posted on my blog is a different story. Here are some random pictures I've taken recently but never posted.

Last minute trip to the zoo...
My friends and I had decided to go to the zoo but for some reason it got canceled the day of and my sisters just so happened to be going to the zoo the same day! They have an annual pass so they go quite frequently...but it worked out well for us because Aya was really looking forward to seeing all the animals. I was actually really excited to take Kashus since the last time we went was when Kash was a little baby. It was fun to see his expressions when he saw the animals in real life since he usually sees them in books and in our baby einstein videos.

It was spring break so we had a little extra help from the older girls. They were our offical stroller pushers!

EASTER...
This year for Easter I took Aya and Kashus to an easter egg hunt in Kaneohe where they had activities for the kids and crafts for them to do as well. Kash seemed to get a hang of the egg hunt fairly quickly and found it easier to go to people's baskets and steal their eggs instead of trying to find his own. It was fun for the kids though and got us out of the house for the afternoon.

Easter Sunday was spent in Aiea with the rest of the Sakuma clan. We are the only ones that don't live in Aiea...which I seem to get a lot of flack for from one particular sister. We spent the night on Saturday at my sisters and pretty much spent the whole weekend with family which Aya and Kashus loved! Aya never wants to leave to go home when we are in town with the cousins. We went to church with them, had our own little easter egg hunt in my sister's backyard and had a nice easter dinner afterwards.

OUR GARDEN...
Dean has been complaining about the front of our yard for quite some time now because it used to get nice and muddy and overgrown with weeds. I don't have much of a green thumb and wasn't too excited about the gardening attempt at first but it ended up not turning out so bad. Poor Dean did most of the work himself since I had to patrol the kid situation and make sure Kash didn't run out in the middle of the road...which he definately has no fear doing. They had fun digging in the dirt and camping out in their new kiddie lawn chairs.

Here is how it turned out. We did this a few weeks ago but I just haven't gotten around to posting it.

Half way there and guess what???

2009-04-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Well I'm now 21 weeks and we just found out last friday that we are having another boy! I was a tiny bit disappointed at first only because the thought of having two boys so close together with all the energy they come with was a little overwhelming. But I'm actually starting to get excited and now Kashus will have a little buddy to wrestle around with and take out his energy on. I swear Kashus is soooo active, wiggly and constantly running away from me. He definately wears me out on a daily basis. Dean of course couldn't be any happier at the news. He's already looking forward to when they will be on the same basketball team together. Let's hope they fulfil his dream and actually even want to play basketball.

Wig Party

2009-03-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

Our friend Carol invited us to a wig party this past weekend. It is actually held annually around this time of year for a friend of Carol's birthday and is held at Turtle Bay. We definitely haven't done something like this in a very long time so it was fun to go out with friends and get all done up for the party. We borrowed some afro wigs and clothes to go with it from a friend of ours and decided on a 70's theme. Dean was actually a good sport and agreed to wear the wig...even though he wasn't too excited at first. We even tried to revive our dancing skills out on the dance floor. After a night of dancing, people watching and socializing we realized we were getting old because it was 1AM and we were so tired already. On our way home we did hit the local 7-eleven though for some yummy nachos and slurpees just like the good ol' college days. Ahhh...to be young again!

Getting ready for the party...Aya wanted to wear the kid's afro wig with the gogo boots all around the house.

Update on the Daley's...

2009-03-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post for awhile but have been super busy for the past couple months. Not a whole lot of new stuff going on but thought I'd post some pics of the kids and give a mini update.

Our weekend getaway in town...

It is always hard to get Dean to stop working on the weekends so I basically had to book a hotel in Waikiki in order for us to spend time with him. He has been doing a lot of side jobs lately and the days he isn't doing side jobs, he is working somewhere helping other people on different projects. But it was actually pretty fun playing tourist and walking around the strip. We hadn't done that since college so it was kinda fun to be out late and introduce our kids to the night life and of course...the crazy people that come with it.

Not so camera shy...

Aya looooves to get her picture taken lately. She is constantly asking me to take pictures of her especially with Kash. Sometimes he cooperates...like in these pictures...other times he runs away as fast as his little legs will take him. It is cute to see them playing together more now that Kash is getting older.

Random pics...

Gymnastics!!

Aya is now in gymnastics once a week. She looks forward to it every week and practices her forward rolls quite frequently at home. Kash tries to mimic her but ends up stuck in the "downward dog" position. He loves going to gymnastics too although I'm extremely exhasted trying to run after him for a whole 45 minutes of class.

One year closer to 30!

2009-02-11T02:22:00.001-08:00

Today I turned 29 years old! I feel like I am finally starting to feel old! I feel like the skin, the body, and the physical energy are all going down hill from here on out. I am sure the kids have helped to speed that along. Birthdays tend to make me reflect on the past year...and I have to admit that I feel very blessed especially in these economically hard times! We're so blessed to own a home, blessed for Dean and I to be employees of a wonderful company that stays busy year round and allows me to work from home and stay with the kids, to have such a wonderful husband who treats me well and works so hard, to have two beautiful children...and another on the way, and to be surrounded by so many wonderful people here in Hawaii!

It was a nice relaxing birthday though of hanging out with the kids in the afternoon and going out for dinner and a movie with Dean. I love that we have so much family out here to help with the kids when we need them! Such a simple birthday but just what I wanted!

This must be how happy we look on date night with no kids!

The EC Benefits.....

2009-02-08T00:04:00.000-08:00

Every year Home Depot invites all the top contractors from different regions to the pro bowl and some of the festivities leading up to it. Since Dave, our boss, was off island we went in his place and were invited to a luau at the Hilton Hawaiian last night. Every year they have a special guest...an NFL player come and meet all the contractors and he takes pictures with them, signs autographs and answers questions. The special guest this year was Kurt Warner from the Arizona Cardinals. He was a really nice guy, very religous, and seemed way down to earth. It was a fun experience and best of all they had lots of yummy food!

Happy Birthday Kashus!!

2009-01-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Kash is already ONE!! It was Kash's 1st Birthday on January 22nd. We had a mini celebration on his actual birthday with just our family and a couple friends. On Sunday we had his actual birthday party with Kash's aunties and uncles and his 13 other cousins. It was nice and simple.

More pictures from our Vacation...

2009-01-11T02:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!!

2009-01-01T00:03:00.000-08:00

We are still on Vacation here in California and it seems as though I have been gone from Hawaii a little too long. You would think I would get used to the cold weather after being in it for almost three weeks now or having grown up in Seattle should have somehow helped me in some way but I can't say that it has. I am more than ready to head on home to the warm weather and finally sleep in my own bed. Poor Dean has had to listen to me complain about being cold everyday. But I have very much enjoyed being able to spend time as a family and spend time with Dean's side of the family here in California. We've had some fun fun times here in Cali and I thought I'd try to post some pictures before I go home because I know I will be swamped with work and taxes. Here are some pics of the time we've spent here so far.

Christmas Morning!!

Santa only brought a few presents this year since we didn't want to travel home with too much stuff, but the kids enjoyed them just the same. Aya got more pens, coloring books, stickers and little note books to write on...which is her new favorite thing to do. And she also got her very own Little Einstein laptop...so she can stop playing with mine. Kash got some toy cars, a book, and daddy's thought of the ultimate perfect gift...a basketball. He is loving it though which makes his daddy very proud.

Our Trip to Tahoe...

We decided to head up to Tahoe for one night and all snuggle up in a one bedroom cabin in Tahoe complimentary of Evans Construction. It was really roomy and the loft had more than enough space for all of us to sleep comfortably. The funny thing was when we got there, we realized one of the pipes were broken and we had absolutely no water to work with. No toilets, showers, or washing hands. It actually ended up being kind of fun figuring out how to get water and melt enough snow to use for the toilet. It was definatley quite an adventure!

Here we are melting snow!

The next day we got to play in the snow which the kiddies were really looking forward too! We went to a place where there were a lot of different sledding runs to choose from and a perfect one for the younger kids. Kash had a ton of fun going sledding and wasn't the least bit scared. Aya on the other hand was a little more timid but enjoyed herself once we persuaded her to go down a few times.

After Tahoe we were able to spend a couple nights at Dean's brother's house in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento. We were able to spend some time with his grandparents and see a couple other friends of ours. Aya and Kash got to also spend more time with their cousins Tyler and Owen.

Here are some pictures that Dean took of Tyler's four wheeler that Aya and Kash got to ride on. I was inside doing a little work while Dean played with them outside.

The next few days were pretty relaxing. We didn't have much planned except going to Dean's little brother's basketball games and going to the park.

This a park near where Dean's parents live. It was a perfect location with a pond filled with ducks to feed, swings, slides, jungle gyms and lots of other stuff for the kids to do to excert some energy.

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow...

2008-12-16T01:01:00.001-08:00

We decided to take a trip to Seattle this winter to spend time with family and it just so happened that we came during the coldest time ever!! It doesn't usually snow here in Seattle but of course it snowed when we are here visiting...Don't get me wrong...I love the snow and the cold sometimes but I think a couple days of it and then I'm over it. Not to mention it seems to screw up my plans of shopping and visiting friends. It is actually supposed to snow a lot more this week! Yikes! But Aya seemed to have fun playing in the snow with Anna and Kela. Yumi and her family came up for a few days as well, actually on the same flight as me, so it was nice to have help with the kids on the plane and its been nice for Aya to have her cousins to play with. They leave tomorrow morning so I'm sure she will be a little sad.

We got to see some actual reindeer! It was actually my first time seeing a reindeer and we thought it would be fun for the kids to see them too. Too bad Aya was a little too grumpy to enjoy it. She had just gotten woken up from her nap.

Aya with her Ojiichan

My baby boy all bundled..

Aya's first dentist appointment!

2008-12-08T03:57:00.001-08:00

Aya had her very first dentist appointment this week amidst all the chaos going on. She did such a good job! She went in the back with the hygenist all by herself while I filled out the paperwork. I was so proud of her! And the best part was, she had no cavities or signs of developing any! I hope I can keep it up!

Mrs. Party Planner...

2008-12-08T03:03:00.000-08:00

This week was a crazy busy week! I was in charge of our company's (EC) annual christmas party so I was running around all over the place getting final decorations, prizes, and miscellaneous items for the party while trying to fulfill my other responsibilites in the office. The party was on Friday and despite the few comments I received regarding the food, I must say it was a big success! The night consisted of dinner, 2 games, and 4 different raffles. I definatey am glad it is over. And I definately couldn't have done it without help since there were quite a few activites and so many that attended. I wish I had taken more pictures of the evening but I was too busy coordinating everything that it completely slipped my mind until it was half over. I did take a picture of the raffle display board I made. Thanks to Yumi with the wonderful idea of the background and letting me borrow her cricut machine...I was quite proud of how it turned out.

I had pieces of paper covering these prizes. This pic was taken after they were already revealed.

Here are some pictures of the ginger bread house decorating contest. I thought it would be fun to see construction workers get creative building and decorating a different kind house than they're used to. I was worried they would think it was dumb but they all got into it!

Kelii presenting his group's gingerbread house.

Dave presenting his barn replica.

The winning team due to their creativity and hilarious presentation!

Surprise!!

2008-11-12T23:58:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when I don't keep an eye on Kash for 2 minutes...and when daddy doesn't pay attention and forgets to keep his food away from our little monster. He somehow managed to find a way to climb up on the couch and get into Dean's egg salad sandwich and quietly began eating while watching tv. Can't really get mad at a face like that.

Aya's first hair cut...

2008-11-09T00:41:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to cut Kash's hair, again, since the last time we shaved it becuase it's still a little thin and getting kinda long so we decided to cut it last night. Anytime we give Kash attention or make a big deal about something he does she usually wants to do the same thing so she asked for a hair cut just like Kash's.

Kash's new hair cut and his snaggle tooth

Kash's first basketball game...

Dean's already got big plans for his son...

Kash got really excited and clapped everytime the crowd cheered...it was really cute.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

This year Halloween seemed to be a bit thrown together since I pretty much decided on Aya's costume the day before Halloween. I was given the tiger costume as a hand-me-down a couple weeks ago and it went to good use. I think next year I will try to be more creative and possibly even make something...maybe. Well despite my procrastination Aya had lots of fun with the cousins trick-or-treating in Aiea in a condominium complex that was perfect for the kiddies. We had a mob of kids with 14 just in our family and at least 15 or more of my sister's friend's kids.

\
Halloween was a two night ordeal for us with the ward party on Thursday and then trick-or-treating on Friday. Aya was a little cranky in some of the pictures from Thursday night. We woke her up to go to the ward Halloween party and she didn't quite know why she had to dress up like a tiger. But as soon as she saw candy she definately had no complaints!

"I can stand all by myself!"

2008-10-22T23:34:00.000-07:00

Kashus is 9 months tomorrow and he learned to stand up a couple days ago! As of yesterday he's been doing it more consistently. He is getting so big so fast. He definately has quite a strong personality and loves to scream, laugh and gets excited everytime Aya comes in the room.

So I know I've been complaining about work lately but...I can't complain too much cause what other jobs let you make your own schedule and go to the beach during the week? My other high school friends came into town this week from Seattle and we got to hang out with them at the beach yesterday.

Sometimes I feel like...

2008-10-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

I am losing a piece of my sanity a little at a time. I'm sure most parents...mother's especially, go through this. Most of it is self inflicted and I know it's my fault. I sometimes think I can do more things than I possibly have time for, which adds to my stress and of course trickles down to my family. I feel like I am constantly working whether it be for Evans Construction, or my own personal things (plural) on the side, and of course during all this madness, Kashus is teething and not sleeping as well as usual at night. I definitely believe boys are weaker than girls cause I never had issues with Aya when she was teething. I must say though that Dean has been a great help around the house lately with the kids, giving me massages, and... I don't even have to ask him to do the dishes anymore! Hopefully someday I won't have to work as much...

Well despite all the work I was able to make it out to Pipeline beach on the weekend with a friend of mine from High school who was visiting for a couple days. Luckily we live in Hawaii and I don't have to go too far to relax at the beach!

Mmmm....Yummy Matsumoto's Shave Ice!!

We're goin to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

2008-10-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

As if I hadn't taken enough time off from work already with the vacation and all, I decided to take Aya and Kash to the Honolulu zoo with their cousins Hugo and Anna anyway. We hadn't been there in awhile so Aya was old enough to actually enjoy it this time and was able to recognize almost all of the animals versus only knowing the farm animals last time. We didn't stay too long but it was a nice breezy day and the perferct amount of time to make our rounds.

I also included some pictures from Aya's friend Mahea's 2nd birthday party at Gunstock Ranch. Me being a bit overprotective, I made Aya wear the helmet so she looks a bit like a bobble head, nevertheless she had lots of fun and didn't want to get off the horses.

Back to C-Town

2008-09-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

It seems like everytime we go on "vacation" it never feels like an actual vacation because we are either doing projects...like painting...or we fill up our vacation time with crazy schedules of going everywhere and visiting everyone that we never quite get to relax. So this time as usual our vacation time was spent in Seattle spending time with family as well as seeing only a few friends... and of course, my little project to do some minor fixing up to help my parents sell their house. I felt bad putting Dean to work on his week off work, but in all reality, I don't think that is possible when you are in his line of work. But it was definately nice to get a break from working and spend time together as a family...even if it was while doing a little physical labor. Here are some pictures of the time we spent there.

Painting...

My parent's house was built in the 90's so there was waaay too much oak in that house. We painted as much mouldings as time would allow. The house is 3200 sq. ft. so pretty much only the downstairs got painted. But it looks much better...even with the bright green couches.

Cousins

We booked the ticket thinking we'd only see my brother Makoto's girls who we only get to see once a year but to our suprise, my sister Yumi and my brother Atau ended up going to Seattle as well. It was a lot of fun for Aya and Kash to have so many kiddies around in one house...and much easier for us to get painting done with Aya occupied.

Snoqualmie Falls

The weather was suprisingly so nice when we were there so we took advantage and drove up to Snoqualmie Falls.

Plum pickin

The kiddies picking plums in the back yard with ojichan. Yum Yum!!

Eating out again and again and again...

Eating out gets a little tiring but at least I don't have to cook! Yeah for vacations!

Silver Lake

Picnic with the fam at Silver Lake. They had a huge play ground for the kiddies to play on...I should have taken more pictures.

The one big thing I miss about the mainland...

Shopping!! The mall next to my parent's house...literally down the street...has been drastically renovated within the past few years so I didn't have to travel far to go shopping. My little helper carried some of the smaller bags for me.

The cutest beanie...

I've been looking for a beanie for Kash for forever...and I found this one at the Pumpkin patch store. It was a little pricey but sooo cute. Aya loves hats so I got her one too...not as cute...but she loved it just the same.

The dreaded 10yr...

Dean had been dreading going to my highschool 10 year reunion from the moment I booked my ticket to go. I didn't know what to expect since the few friends that I actually keep in touch with from Highschool didn't even go, but it was actually kinda fun and nice to see some old friends. Some people didn't change a bit so it literally felt like highschool. Suprisingly Dean said it wasn't that bad. Thank goodness for football!

10 years ago yesterday...

2008-08-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

Dean and I met ten years ago yesterday, August 25, 1998, in freshman orientation at BYUH. Suprisingly Dean is the one that reminded me of that and suprised me by taking me out to dinner yesterday! We ate sushi...mmm... my choice, and took the kiddies with us. Dean doesn't have the greatest memory when it comes to details sometimes so I'm very flattered that he remembers that specific day as well as what I was wearing. I can't believe we've known eachother so long!
Since you gotta have a picture with every post here is one of us from back in the day. Ahhh...so young...except I think Dean actually hasn't aged much.

More babies!!

2008-08-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my sister Yumi and her baby Jolee, and my brother Atau and his baby Luke! They are two weeks apart and I've been meaning to post these for awhile since they are already 6 weeks and 4 weeks old. Our extended family is definately growing rapidly! It seems like every year we have at least three additions to the family. My parents now have 17 grand children.

I can crawl!!

Kashus is now 6 1/2 months old and crawled for the first time a few days ago! He is growing up so fast! He's been scootin all over the place and stands up on everything now.

Feeling guilty...

2008-08-01T01:22:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feeling guilty for not spending enough time with my kids. My family seems to think I'm crazy for working from home and trying to keep up with my kids. I do feel blessed being able to work from home and still stay at home with the kids but also feel guilty not spending enough quality time with them instead of trying to occupy them with toys or tv while I work. (Although when I do find other activities to do with them I usually feel guilty not working.)
Aya is now getting to the age where she wants to hang out with anybody and everybody, and be anywhere but home. So when I do plan activities for her during the day that basically leaves me nights and naptimes to get work done. The other day I had to go into Kaneohe to get my car's oil changed so I decided to meet up with my sister Yumi and her two kids to let the kiddies play at the mall. They have a new kiddy play area there and a pet store right next to it. It was definately way too crowded but they seemed to have lots of fun. Here are some pictures from the afternoon at the mall.

FHE...

For FHE we decided to take a walk to 7-11 to get some treats and then walk to the park to enjoy them while Aya played on the slides. It started to rain right when we got there so we took cover for a few minutes and luckily it's Hawaii so it stopped raining within 5 minutes of it starting.

Oops...

Here is what happens when I neglect my child while I'm working. Kash got into some color pencils.

Nice relaxing weekend...

2008-07-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

It's been really nice these past few weekends because Dean hasn't been working on side jobs so we've been able to relax at home as a family. Plus it's been a nice break for me. I love my kids but also love being able to pass them off when I need a breather.

Dean's youngest brother Mark has been staying with us for the past month and will be here for another month. He actually returns home the first day of school, which we weren't aware of when we booked his ticket, so we get him for the entire summer. He's been a great help with the kids and around the house. Dean loves it cause now he has someone he can boss around...I'm sure just like old times.

Happy belated Birthday Kela!

2008-07-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

Aya's cousin Kela had her 4th Birthday party this past weekend and it went considerably well despite the circumstances of that day. My sister gave birth 2 weeks early (lucky her)the morning of the party to her third baby girl. So happy birthday to baby jolee as well!! Sorry no pictures yet, you'll have to stay tuned for a later post of those. Kela was so excited to have her party that they decided to have it anyways and it was a fun filled afternoon of swimming and yummy food. These were just a few pictures from the party.

The latest...

2008-07-21T03:17:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been slackin on my blogging so here is the latest...
It's been a hectic few weeks. Work has been super busy with new projects starting and a bunch finishing up. We are definately blessed to still be busy around here since so many companies have felt the lull of construction with the way the economy is right now. It's also been great to have Dean's brother around to help out with the kids this summer so I can get more work done during the day and not have to stay up as late. Dean's also been home a lot more these days since all of the family projects and sides jobs have finished. He still has a problem just relaxing sometimes though and will work in the yard but it's definately been nice to actually hang out with him on the weekends.

Kashus now sits up on his own. He is getting so big! He is now already 6 months old and army crawling around all over the place. He doesn't quite crawl on all fours just yet but definately doesn't have a problem getting anywhere.

The Daley Trio. I thought this picture was cute.

I caught Aya doing this the other day and had to take a picture. She kept hugging the ball and resting her head on it like it was her best friend. Not quite sure what she was doing but I could almost see a tear in Dean's eye with a sense of accomplishment...What more could a daddy ask for?