HTA Halloween Carnival

HTA or Hawaii Technology Academy is the school Alissa attends. It is mostly homeschooling with the kids attending the actual campus one day a week. Alissa goes on Thursday from 9-2. It is a great balance for her and I believe it will continue to be a benefit to her as we adjust. Last night, they had a carnival at the school. We had so much fun! The kids got to dress up and get their pictures taken. They had a cake walk, face painting, crafts, cookie decorating and carnival games. I am so glad we took the time to make it out there. The kids are truly having so much fun with all the holiday parties and Alissa can not wait until her birthday next week!

Recently

For the last week or so it has been extremely hot getting up to 85 degrees and no breeze. Yes, I know this doesn't seem hot, but imagine adding humidity and not having AC. Well, I am to happy to say that my mom purchased a small window AC unit which has saved us recently. Now, we all tend to spend our time in the family room only. I even slept on the couch once. Before this heat spell hit, we had a nice rainstorm. The kids had a blast playing in it! I truly love our yard!

While in the midst of our "sickness" Taft decided he needed "bandages." Most of the time when the kids get and injury I will use a wipey and make a bandage. So, here you have Taft

with all his Ouchies.

And here is Ryan, I have never in our married life seen him as sick as he has been. He was so cold and totally bundled up most days just like this. I am happy to say that he is almost completely over it and even ran with his team again yesterday at Championships. I love seeing how happy coaching makes him! He is very proud of his team and how much they have improved. Tomorrow will be his first long run back again so I hope it goes well. He is still working on focusing on the Honolulu Marathon in December and spending the next few years trying to qualify for the Olympics. The new qualifying time is 2:19. I write this because it is one dream I will not letting him give up, so it will happen. Ryan is also still working on securing more stability for us and is loving his Masters Degree.

Homeschooling is moving right along. It has taken awhile to get adjusted but I believe it will be fantastic for our family. Alissa is still in dance, soccer and choir and enjoying all of them! Kenzie loves his Mommy preschool which is up to five kids too! Taft is growing up everyday and always making us laugh! I am now officially out of my first trimester of pregnancy and I can not believe how easy it was. Had I not gotten sick I would not have known I was pregnant. I like that I am busy enough to forget! Although, Alissa is a doll! She loves to learn about the baby and brings me the Week by Week Pregnancy book to show her. She already likes to touch my tummy and "thinks" she feels it kick and suck it's thumb. It makes me happy to see her so happy about it! We should know in about 3 weeks whether we are welcoming a baby boy or girl so that will be exciting! The new goal I have for our family is to make sure and get family pictures this year! I hope I can achieve it!

Although sometimes things get pretty crazy, it is so wonderful to always know we are keeping the Lord first and striving to always do what he wants for our family. I am so thankful for all I learn each day and for the opportunity to have a patient family who helps me to learn and grow. Sometimes, I look around and still feel like a child and then I realize that I am. I am still constantly learning and growing and changing just like them. And just like them I am learning right from wrong and how to become more Christlike. I am constantly amazed and what I learn on a daily basis and how much growing up there still is to do! I am truly thankful for the good times and the hard times and for all the many blessings we have been given!

RIding the Hippo's

So, once we found out we were not contagious and had been home for five days, I figured it was safe to venture to the zoo for Alissa's school Field trip. It was a family event where everyone was invited. The kids went on a scavenger hunt because they had just finished learning animal classifications at school. After they got to go to the petting zoo and then play at the park. I am so glad we went because it meant a lot to Alissa. Two of her favorite friends are also in the school and so she got to be with them. I have to admit it did us in but it was worth it!

We Are Sick

In case you are wondering, this is how we all feel. As of last Friday, it all began. Kenzie broke out in a bit of a rash on his face. We were thinking it was possibly eczema, because Alissa had had it. Then the following day came a rash on his body. Luckily a family friend, Donna, suggested it could be Fifth's Disease after much research it is definitely that. Fifth's Disease in case you care to know got its name back when measles, mumps, chicken pox and rubella were serious, it was the fifth disease. You can only get it once, and it is only severely dangerous to unborn children. Much to my surprise Ryan immediately followed with a rash and became very ill. Ryan has never been this sick in all the years I have known him or any time he can remember to his knowledge. Now, everyone has become very ill, except Mema miraculously. We have never ALL been sick before so this is a first for our family. It slowly spread through the rest of the bunch and has hit us pretty hard. We have pretty much been quarantined to our house for over a week now. We have tried to go out a few times, but we are so weak and tired that it is not worth it. Finally, I went to the doctor yesterday, because I had to get a referral for my midwife appointment on Tuesday. They ran a bunch of tests and we should know in the next few days is it is more than just the Fifth Disease. All I know is that it hit us hard and I hope we are now immune. Taft just got his rash today. So, how long will this last, I have no idea, the research said up to 21 days. I sure hope not. In the mean time, lots of movies and naps. We are so thankful Mema has been here, I truthfully don't know what we would have done without her. (I think she might need a vacation after this) Five sick people can be pretty exhausting. Thanks Mema!

Taate's Baptism

I want to take the opportunity to share an amazing experience we were able to take part in last week. This sweet little girl is Taate. She is one of the many munchkins at our house any opportunity they can get. She has been waiting for a year to be baptized. Her opportunity finally came this last Saturday. Her mother wanted her home teachers to do it and Taate chose Ryan to baptize her. This was the first baptism our children had been to and how wonderful that it was someone close to them and their family. I am so thankful to have my husband be a worthy priesthood holder who could perform this ordinance. We are also thankful for the opportunity to share this special day with Taate and her family. I am also thankful for this teaching moment and all this experience brought to our family.

Just Found

I just found these pictures of our trip to California when we left for Hawaii. The first is on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.

This one is when we all paddled in the canoes!

I absolutely love how much Taft loves his big sister. I can not believe how much they have grown since April.

Random

I decided since my camera charger is still missing that I would go ahead and post a few random phone pictures.

One thing we used to do all the time in Utah was go to Downtown Live in St. George and play on the bounce houses. Obviously, living in Hawaii we do things a bit differently now but we had the opportunity to play in the bounce houses at the mall for the first time the other day and the kids had a blast! It really is fun to see how much more we appreciate things since living here.

This picture is from Kenzie's preschool. I have joined in with a Mommy Preschool group where the kids go Monday, Wednesday and Fridays for 2 hours. They are learning letter, numbers, colors and shapes and get to be in a small intimate environment. There are now five children and Kenzie loves alternating every one's houses.

This is Taft being Taft on our front porch. He is such a goof ball and and we love his silliness. He is growing up so fast!