Turkey Day

Wednesday, after coming in from Maui, Ola and I flew home to Kauai for the Thanksgiving weekend. In my whole life, I've only spent two Thanksgivings away from home. The first year we were married we stayed on Oahu and I cooked, and last year, my whole family went to Vegas. So spending Thanksgiving at home this year was nice. My mom always cooks way too much food and I spend the whole weekend trying to eat it all.

But this year was extra special because there were four generations of my family there. My grandpa insisted we take pictures to document the big event. I laughed at the Oreo effect we created. Me and my poor white kid.

Ola was extra happy to be home because it ment getting his favorite toy back. Last time we were home my mom gave him his first Christmas present (yes, it was October). But he totally loved his baby einstein play gym. His favorite part is a star that hangs in the middle and lights up and plays music. Well, three weeks after we brought it home, the music was mostly static. I was so sad when the costco here said they were all out. But my mom picked one up on Kauai and when we got home it was waiting for Ola. We was so happy to be reunited with his friend. He couldn't stop staring and talking to his star.

Since Aho flew down on Thursday, he wanted to check out the stores on Kauai on friday. We were supposed to be shopping for Christmas presents, but Aho couldn't resist getting Ola a new friend. We sat this new bear up in front of him in his car seat and he talked to him the whole rest of the day. I think maybe he needs more attention.

Then Saturday, we went to my Aunty and Uncle's house in Kekaha for dinner and I got to see my friends son, Kiyoshi, who will soon be Ola's surf buddy on Kauai. Ola's papa (my dad) and Kiyoshi's papa (my uncle Dellick) surf together every morning. And they can't wait till these two monsters are ready to go surfing with them. These two have no choice but to be best buds. Yosh is 13 months older than Ola, but is HUGE. He went to take a bath while we were eating and came out sporting his new pjs. SUPER MAN!!!

But I think the funniest picture I caught while I was at home was of our rottie Puna. She has a very good nose, which is apparently good for more than just finding food. She now uses it to let us know when Ola needs to be changed. My mom had to help a little, because as scary as she may took to some people, this 120lb. dog was terrified of my son's two little feet.

Vacation!!!

Last week we took a much needed vacation. Since November is Aho's vacation month, we figured we better use it. So, we decided to try out the superferry and go to Maui for 4 days. We figured it would cost about the same to travel and take our truck as it would to fly and rent a car, but that we could take as much stuff as we needed to in our truck as opposed to being limited to one bag each on the airplane. Maui was great! A little expensive, but great. But next time, we'll spend $17 for our extra bags and just take the plane.

We were a little excited getting ready to leave, but that was short lived. Good thing we took a picture while we were still smiling. Well, that's the biggest smile you get from Aho.

I have NEVER gotten sea sick. NEVER! And I've been on my fair share of boats. Aho has NEVER gotten sea sick. NEVER! But I guess there's a first for everything, because after the FOUR HOUR trip from Oahu to Maui (yes, air only takes 30 minutes), we were both feeling pretty lousy. In fact, after the trip there, we were pretty tempted to buy plane tickets and ship the truck back.

Sunday night we had dinner at Sansei for Aho's 24th birthday. With all the crazy things going on and being away from home, we couldn't do birthday cake and ice cream, so Aho settled for tempura fried ice cream for dessert. It was so good!Monday we decided to take a drive to Hana. It was beau-t-ful and made us very grateful to live in Hawaii. We were going to attempt to head all the way to Kaupo, but the tourists out there drive crazy and the one lane road was getting a little hazardous. So we decided to just head back. We had to make a few stops along the way for a hungry little man. Then for a grumpy little man. And then for a carsick mommy (another first). But the fresh air was great. Tuesday we wanted to catch some sun and went down the road to Wailea to hit the beach. Well, the clouds decided to join us and the water was freezing, but it was still gorgeous.

After the beach we drove to Kahului and ate lunch at Da Kitchen (the best place we ate on Maui, thank you Clarke), had guri-guri at Maui Mall (thanks Lohi for location), and drove around, ending up at Iao Valley. It was late and very windy and cold, but once again, beautiful!

Wednesday we had to get up, pack, run to Makawao to hit Komoda Bakery (again, thank you Clarke), and then jump back on the superferry (which was faster and smoother the second time around).

For those of you who haven't been to Maui in a while, you really should go. It cost us a pretty penny, but it was nice to see that there are still parts of Hawaii that aren't covered in cement. Everywhere we went we saw open land, green trees, and blue ocean. Four days definately wasn't long enough to see everything, but we liked everything we saw. Thank you hunny for such a great trip. And for finally taking a vacation. =)

Ready to walk

Ola LOVES to stand up. There are times when he will fuss until you hold his hands and pull him up. And then, once he's standing, he's totally content. While we were at Cam and Lohi's this week, Aunty Lohi that it would be fun to put Ola in Na'u's walker.

Oh the joy of a walker. He got to stand and I got to work.

He was such a happy camper!

Now if only his feet could touch...he could actually go somewhere.

Thanks Lohi! As much fun as it was for Ola, I still think I was more entertained.

Classic Moments

I love posting on our blog, mostly because with all of the millions of pictures that I take of this little monster, I'm afraid I might forget what was happening when I took them. I'm very slow in my scrapbooking, so I figure that if I at least blog, I can always look back and see what was going on. But lately, I've been too busy to post anything, and besides, nothing all that exciting happened. But, this past week, I did catch Ola in some pretty classic moments. Enjoy!

Our little King! Propped up on his throne.

A very happy, very fat face.

One thumb isn't enough. He wants his entire hand in his mouth. Ok, maybe two hands. (And check out the feet)

Caught red handed! Really, there are no words for this face.

Hanging out with Aunty Sonya & Na'ulei

Rockin' the "Big Boy" outfit!
(That shirt is a 6-12 mo.)

Parenting

~ Before Ola was born, Aho and I would always comment on the wonderful kids we knew. You know, those kids who are well mannered, who listen to their parents, are polite, smart, talented, and have sweet and funny personalities. We know quite a few. And we both said that we wanted to be the good, hard working parents who shaped our children to be like the wonderful ones we already knew. Of coarse, we also talked about those rascals we would see (or know). The ones who don't listen, talk back, have extremely bad habits, have no respect, and are allowed to get away with anything. And we both vowed that we would try our hardest not to allow our children to become like that.

~ Sadly, there is no book written on how to make your children wonderful. But, I was really touched by a talk our bishop shared this Sunday. It was our Primary Sacrament Program, and in conclusion, our Bishop shared a portion of a talk by President Hinckley entitled "Bring up a child in the way he should go." The portion he shared was about a tree President Hinckley planted in the yard of their first home. He shares that he planted the tree in the corner of the yard, envisioning the shade it would provide for the home in the future. When he planted it, it was small and tender and very easy to bend. However, he paid little attention to it over the years. Then, many years later, he happened to notice it one day. It had been planted where the wind blew the hardest, which had caused the tree to lean badly to one side. In an attempt to correct the tree that was once so pliable, President Hinckley tried to simply push the tree upright. When that didn't work, he attached ropes and pulleys to a steady post, but the tree only trembled slightly. It seemed as though the tree was saying, “You can’t straighten me. It’s too late. I’ve grown this way because of your neglect, and I will not bend.”At last, he took a saw and cut the heavy branch leaning to the west. All that was left of the tree was a single branch reaching upward.

~ President Hinckley goes on to state the following: "The other day I looked again at the tree. It is large. Its shape is better. It is a great asset to the home. But how serious was the trauma of its youth and how brutal the treatment I used to straighten it. When it was first planted, a piece of string would have held it in place against the forces of the wind. I could have and should have supplied that string with ever so little effort. But I did not, and it bent to the forces that came against it. I have seen a similar thing, many times, in children whose lives I have observed. The parents who brought them into the world seem almost to have abdicated their responsibility. The results have been tragic. A few simple anchors would have given them the strength to withstand the forces that have shaped their lives. Now it appears it is too late. It is not enough simply to provide food and shelter for the physical being. There is an equal responsibility to provide nourishment and direction to the spirit and the mind and the heart. Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children which have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; that she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love; that she will have no greater happiness than to see them grow into young men and women who respect principles of virtue, who walk free from the stain of immorality and from the shame of delinquency."

~ I am so grateful for the belated prophet, President Hinckley. I love that he could look at a tree in his yard and turn it into such a powerful lesson about the importance of our role as parents. Looking at Ola, I know I will never have a greater blessing, or greater responsibility, than that of being a mother. And although we may not do things perfectly, I know we will do our best to make every effort on our children's behalf. If we take the time to make simple efforts now, we will not have to take drastic measures later.

~P.S. If any of you great parents out there have any pointers, we are open for input. Please...share your secrets.

New Things

We've been working with Ola on grabbing things for a while now, but with no success. Then today...finally...he got hold of his rattle and wouldn't let go. I cheated a little and put it right into his hand, but he did the rest. And held it up for a photo just to prove it. We also had a hillarious moment tonight when my mom was trying to show him something else. We've been working on getting him to suck his thumb as well, but my mom decided to show him his toes could reach his mouth too. He got such a kick out of it. He was laughing so hard, he gave himself hiccups.

Visitors

On Monday, Nov. 3, Ola finally hit his 3 month mark. I shouldn't say finally. There are times when I can't believe how fast time is flying, and other times when I feel like he's been mine forever...but is only now 3 months old. But we once again took pictures in his 12 month outfit. He's filling it out a little better, but still has a bunch of room.
He wasn't so pleased with me for putting him in different outfits for pictures, and was much happier to just be naked in his diaper.
Later in the day, Cam, Lohi, and Na'ulei came by. Seeing the two of them next to each other is so funny. It's our own version of ebony and ivory.

Na'u decided she wanted to step on Ola. I don't think it helped that the three adults in the room just laughed. Luckily, Aunty Lohi saved Ola's pretty head.

But really, all she wanted to do was honi him. These two are just too cute together.

Thanks for the visit guys!!!