I Love Summer Vacation!!

So, we have started a new chapter in our life. It is called Summer Vacation! It is a bit different having all the kids home now but I have to say that I absolutely love it. The first week we were transitioning and now we have gotten into a routine which is so fun.
The kids are loving their chore charts and I especially love starting and ending our day with scriptures and prayer! Twice a day is twice as nice!
We have Mommy School every morning from a bout 8-10. I have been using The Letter of the Week Curriculum my friend told me about here and then for Alissa I am using The Karl G. Maeser Academy curriculum which I printed from their website. It is my dream to use that curriculum to teach my children so for now I will just supplement with it since I don't have $500 a year for it. I love hearing Alissa recite poems about God and Christ and also hearing her learning the scientific method and how we use it to find out things about the world God created for us. I am enjoying them learning from me too. After lesson time and singing we have crafts and activity and then usually end with a snack. The kids even like to say they are going to recess once we are finished. My favorite is that they call me Teacher and I am not allowed to use any of my nicknames for them, they want to be called simply Alissa and Kenzie like a teacher would call them.
After this we usually go on outings, this week we went to the zoo and shopping in town! Or we will go to the beach or have friends come over or go play at friends houses.
I am truly loving Summer Vacation and don't think I ever want it to end!

Happy Father's Day!!

These were taken when we lived in Texas by my friend Melissa. Alissa is 3, Kenzie is 2 and Taft was a week old.

That is Alissa at a few months old.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, fun, crazy Dad! I am so thankful for Ryan and all he does for our family. He has been a father for over five years and does an amazing job! I am so glad to have chosen him to raise children with. We love you Ryan! You are the best Daddy!

Siblings

I absolutely love all the tender moments where I look at my children and see the love they pour out to one another. They can be so loving and sweet to each other and I cherish these times. I was in the kitchen yesterday doing dishes when I came into the family room to find these two cuties snuggling. Taft loves his big sister and all her sweetness! I am so thankful that my children have the opportunity to grow up with siblings who will help them to learn and grow in all aspects of life. What a truly wonderful blessing!

Good Byes

I took this picture at the airport when we dropped off my mom. It was so sad to say good bye. She left on Sunday after Ryan and I had spoke in church. I was thankful though that we coincidentally got asked to speak this same Sunday she was there. I was so glad she could be there. For those of you who don't know my mom, you are truly missing out. I truly believe my mom is an angel. She is the most loving, helpful and kind person I have ever met and I am so thankful for her example. She is an amazing grandma and the kids love her joy and imagination. I feel so thankful to be the lucky one to have her as my mom. We already miss her presence so much in our family and can not wait for her to rejoin us in a few months. Hawaii is truly missing something special without her and Kaui here. See you soon Mema!

A Night in Waikiki

The view from our room.

The gourmet food. I had to take this picture because it looked to pretty. This is fish with baby asparagus grown in Kahuku with sea water so nice and salty. It was yummy!

This it the little romantic table we got to sit at.

This is a Harley made out of wood at the Harley Shop in Waikiki.

Here is a picture of me. Ugh! For all of you who say I don't post pictures of me. This was taken at the pools of our hotels, which were right on the beach.

It was so fun up in our room we heard a bunch of noise and it was all the people on this Catamaran ride. It looked like so much fun. We had a great view!

What can I say except that I am spoiled! My mom decided to give us a night in Waikiki as a date, and I feel so blessed for it. It was needed more than ever. We had gotten used to having dates for awhile in Utah and then moving here left us with none. It was so nice to actually spend time together and more than just a few hours. I am so thankful for this night and all the fun we had walking the streets of Waikiki! The live music was great and hearing Ryan speak Japanese all night was probably my favorite part. Thanks Mom!!

Alligator Pond

It is crazy to think that with my mom being here a whole week we only went to the beach one time. That is the longest since we have been here going without being in the ocean. We wanted to try somewhere different, so we had heard of a place called Alligator Pond in Hauula that has no waves and is almost like a bathtub for the kids. They call it Alligator Pond because of this rock, which looks like an alligator. Once there our friends Sara and Ezra were there to play, they actually invited us. We also saw UB and Lindsey and both of their kids too. It was definitely a fun, happening place. The kids loved finding all the different fish too, with their friends! I am so glad we got to spend a day at the beach!!!

You can never have too many........

I was so glad we got to see this rainbow while my mom was here. We are so blessed to get to see rainbows several time a week usually. We also saw a double rainbow this same day. Doesn't God create the most beautiful things?

The Dole Pineapple Plantation

The kids had fun being pineapple people!

The colors of the trees were amazing.

My mom came to visit last week and it was such a blast!!! I felt so blessed to see her and see how excited the kids were to see someone so familiar. I am not sure I can forget the look on Alissa's face when Mema walked in. She was soo happy!!! As sad as it is Taft to awhile to warm up to her which made me wonder if he will remember anyone else. This made me feel sad but yet have hope because I know without a doubt we are where we should be. The Lord has blessed us so much in our lives and he just continues to pour out the blessings everyday. With my mom here we spent a lot of time just relaxing and playing together. It was so nice to have company everyday and my kids love Mema's imagination! We drove Mema all over our regular spots we go to and showed her Oahu.
We decided to take the kids to the Dole Pineapple Plantation because we had not been yet and ride the train. It was so much fun and the kids loved riding the train. The food was yummy too!!

Garfield

This is Garfield, he is our first Hawaiian pet. Kenzie received Garfield from our friends when he was still a caterpillar. Garfield is actually going to become a Monarch Butterfly and we can't wait for him to come out and see us!

I Am So Behind!

Hi Everyone,

I am so sorry I am so behind. We have been busy busy having fun and I have so many posts to do. We had a blast with my mom here and I can not wait to posts pic. Here are a few pictures from 2005 to hold you over till I can post.

Kenzie with his broken leg.

Grammy and Kenzie at The Garner Family Reunion.

Daddy and Alissa on a horse at The Garner Family Reunion.

Papa, Alissa and Kenzie.

Best of Friends

My Suprise!!

For my birthday Ryan surprised me and we went Kayaking. It was so fun to have a surprise again this year. We left the kids with our friend Sara and her kids and left for three hours to Turtle Bay. Ryan has major hook ups at work and so he arranged this all through his work. The guide "Captain", (he was a captain in the military) loaded us all in his Shaka Kayak van and we headed onto private property to Cavella Bay. There we were met with another guide. There were 6 of us total. When they asked who was going to be in the two person kayak I was sure it was going to be us, only to find out it was someone else. I was shocked because as many of you know I have severe anxiety about the ocean. So, I knew this was going to be hard. As they put the kayaks I was still freaking out, but once I hopped in I was having an absolute blast. The kayaks were see through so we could watch all the fish and turtles swimming below us, we even got to see lots of anemone's. It was a blast. We got snacks and went on a nature hike too. The best part for me was seeing the turtle cleaning station area of the ocean because I LOVE turtles. It was so fun also to just spend some time alone with Ryan. What a special present!!!

Congratulations to Me!!

I am so excited!!!! On my 26th Birthday I got accepted into Brigham Young University in Hawaii. I was so surprised!! I really didn't think that I would get in and through true blessings they accepted me. I will be working on getting a dual degree in Special Education and Elementary Education, with a minor in Psychology. Because of this blessing if we choose we may move into student married housing. (which is really cheap) I will begin school on July 27th. I am soo blessed!!

Happy 26th Birthday to Me!!

My day started off kind of crazy, although I do have to say I was thankful for all the wonderful Facebook birthday wishes. Ryan had to leave for work by 6:30 so I didn't really see him before he left. After everyone was up and going we went on a walk, stopped by a garage sale and visited a park. After the park I was spent. It is pretty hot here during the middle of the day so I was ready for naps but the kids weren't so we just relaxed. When I got home my friend Sara had covered my front door in sweet birthday hearts. She is such a sweetie!! When Ryan got home he had gone to Ted's Bakery and got a pie and ice cream for us and bought me a movie. He also let me know he wanted to take the family to Haleiwa to play for the night. But, our cousins were also moving this day so around 3 o'clock we went over to start cleaning and helping them unpack. The kids stayed and played with their kids while Ry and I went and finished cleaning up the other house while Taft slept in the car. While there we heard the sound of the ice cream truck. I knew this would be my opportunity to actually get to buy something since it was my birthday. So, Ryan ordered a root beer float and I ordered a hot fudge banana sundae. This was not your ordinary ice cream truck with packaged ice cream. It was fresh like Dairy Queen! So, we enjoyed that and then headed over to the Phungs to help unpack some. They were so sweet to feed us dinner and then we shared the pie. They even got me lei's which was lots of fun.

Alissa's Kindergarten Graduation Pictures

Alissa was so excited to see her friends graduate and receive their diplomas.

Alissa ready to go to her last day of Kindergarten.

Alissa's Kindergarten Class

Videos

Taft does not like to get messy.

Kenzie Turns 4

When I see this picture it totally reminds me of Kenzie. He is such a goofy little guy but we absolutely love that about him. He is silly and crazy but soo super sweet and cute.


Wednesday was a pretty busy day. I had my co-op all morning long. Luckily Kenzie got some new Lincoln Logs and was very busy. It just so happened that this day was also the day to take Lo and Chelsea down to Waikiki, so we decided to do something in town. I though it would be a great time to go to Waikiki since we haven't been yet. Once we got down to Waikiki and dropped off the girls I realized that was my desire not his. So, we pulled over and Ryan and Kenzie got out of the car to have a little chat(without Miss Alissa telling him which thing he should do) After much thought he decided he wanted to go to Chuck e Cheese, so off we went. We played for about 2 hours or so and then Kenzie got a cake and a wonderful Happy Birthday song!! He was so super excited!!!

This is his official skee ball stance. He always adds a wind up with it.

Lincoln Log party time!!