WE DID IT!

We woke up early to participate in this event and we had a SWEATY and FUN time.

It was a 2 miles trek with at least 500 members of our Stake participating. It was an AWESOME way to start out our Stake Conference weekend.

We were shown a map of the path to take and had people to guide us in the right direction. There were a couple of stations you had to participate in and were given different items to prove you had been there. I especially enjoyed the station that you had to do FIVE KICKS before continuing the run. As you near the end of the run you can hear the the music BLASTING encouraging you to finish.




I placed 2nd in our ward to finish the race, Isaac placed 4th, Nathan placed 10th, Blake and Mya placed 11th and 12th.

It was a great way to start a day with FAMILY and FRIENDS.

SPRING BREAK!

We had many fun adventures on our two weeks break.
These are some of the things we did;

• Visited the Honolulu Zoo with friends
• Went Whale Watching
• Snorkel at Shark Cove
• Visited the Hawaii Temple Visitor Center
  
• Went Boogie Boarding
• Went to an Neighborhood Egg Hunt
• Night Games( hide and seek in the dark and search for each others with flash lights)
• Went to the Beach.
• Also drove mom CRAZY with their arguing

By the end of the break, I couldn't wait for school to start AGAIN!

Good Recipes?

So, I have been Tagged by Becca in the search for better ideas for DINNER! (click on her name and it would take you to her blog)

Well, if you speak to Blake, he would testify that I'm not the best of cook but I am getting better.
I do agree at time I'm at lost for "What to have for Dinner"!?!? but when I have those moments we have Breakfast for Dinner, like homemade Waffle, Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon. (Usually made by my hubby!)I'm a little spoiled because my husband cooks all the meals on the weekends and I just do the week's dinners.

But Usually we have;

• Chicken Enchiladas

• Pork and Onion-Roasted Pototoes

• Chicken Tortilla Casserole

• Teriyaki or BBQ Meat with Rice

• Pasta either with Poultry, Meat, Sausage or Seafood with red or white sauce.

• Roast Pork or Steak and ARROZ CON GANDULES with is Yellow Rice with Green Pigeon Peas ( When I'm feeling Spanish)

• Puerto Rican Fried Meat Pies (Empanadas)Not very often!

• Cooking Bananas with Fried Portuguese Sausage with saute onions

So, we live in Hawaii and Spam is very BIG here!

• BBQ Spam and Pineapple and Rice

As for vegetable a ton Tomatoes because we belong to a Tomatoes Coop. The recipes above varies for week to week.

Becca I hope this help. I also look up recipes on the web.
I thought this tag was fun, so I decide to tag LIZ.
(click on her name and it would take you to her blog)

So how the tag works is... you pretty much just do the same thing that I did. Blog your usual dinner meals for a week. I am hoping that you will be inspire to do and try something new! If you see something yummy that you want to try, just post a comment on the persons blog asking for the recipe.

WHALE WATCHING

In March Humpback whales migrates through the islands of Hawaii to give birth to their calf. So, one Sunday afternoon we decide to see it we can see it at the Point and we DID! It was truly an AMAZING experience. There were a couple of whales near to the Point and we could see them clearly without the binoculars. In one instant a whale jumped out of the water and we were in AWE! We didn't take any photos of them because we recorded with our camcorder but we had a MISHAP and ended up deleting everything we had recorded. DARN! But I was able to find a photo on the internet to illustrated what we saw. Here are so photos of us enjoying our whale watching.

Happy EASTER!

We went on a EGG HUNT and what did we find, but THOUSANDS of EGGS for us to FIND.
We went to a Egg Hunt the day before at the Neighbor's and had a BLAST. The reason for the Halloween pumpkin is because Mya's cute Bunny Easter basket was way too small and we wanted to collect more eggs.

HAMUANA BAY

What an AWESOME time we had snorkeling at Hamuana Bay. It's truly an beautiful place. Just standing on the shore and you can see the fish. Not just the little ones but the big ones too. There were some equipment failure when Tiffany and Leslie went snorkeling together but it was because they would bump in to each other and laugh causing leakage in their masks. This was Nathan first time truly snorkeling and had a BLAST. All he could talk about was the fish he saw especially the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a the unofficial state fish of Hawaii.

NOT SLEEPY!

After a long day of playing at the ocean and missing her nap, Mya just couldn't keep her eyes open at dinner that night. The funny part is she said "not sleepy". After this semi nap at the dinner table she caught her second wind.

Visiting Hawaii

My Sister Tiffany came to visit us in Hawaii for two weeks and we had a BLAST! We got to be tourist and explore the island. We crammed many great adventures through our her stay.

*Jogged on the beach.
*Watched the sunrises on the beach.
*Hiked to Mahuka Heia State Monument, Monoa Falls, and Waimea Valley Falls.
*Night Crab Hunting on the beach.
*Visited Haleiwa and had shaved ice and ice cream at MATSUMOTO.
*Snorkeled on Temple Beach and Hanauma Bay.
*Visited the PPC and watched the Night Show.
*Went to Hula Practice.(She didn’t try to hula, what a shame!)
*Went to Laie Point and saw the water sprays from the whales.
*Took her to school with me for music class.
*Saw a Monk Seal beached at Turtle Beach. (Forgot our cameras!)
*Played and Swam on the BEACH, BEACH and BEACH!
* Went Kayaking on the ocean. (Two amateurs trying to navigate the ocean, SCARY!)

Here are some photos of her stay.

The best part is, I got to spend time with my sister and reconnect.

Night Crab Hunting!

What a simple and fun thing to do with your family especially for Family Home Evening.

We took my sister Tiffany to experience this fun activity. We search the shores with our flashlights to see who can get the biggest crabs. We discovered the crabs were only calm in the bucket if it was dark but flash your flashlight on them and you'll see them trying to jump out. Which is kinda freaky! We had a blast chasing those creatures and trying to win. Best part of all after we are done we return them to the ocean.

Sunrise in Paradise!

I HAVE BEEN BAG TAGGED!

I was reminded today that I have been tagged and where was the post. For my defense I just found out I was tagged last night and I thought Mya's post is prettier.

Anyhow, This is the contents of my handbag. Well, the "clean" version;




This cute Kenneth Cole handbag, I got at a steal at Ross in Bountiful, Utah. Actually I purchase this bag when I found out that we were flying out to Hawaii for a job interview. I wanted a bag that wasn't a DIAPER BAG and it was big enough to fit some diapers and wet ones. This bag definitely fit the bill. I love all the pockets it has and I can even carry sippy cups in them. As for the contents, as you can see are not much. There is my wallet ( can't leave home without it), a lipstick (just in case I need to doll up. Yeah right, it when I'm performing with the Hulau out in the community. ), a compact(must need to see if my lipstick is smeared)a pair earrings( cute on but kills my ears after a while), hand lotion( must keep my hands feeling soft) my keys, and a course a mini candy bar(when it just gets too crazy being a mom and chocolate just helps).

So, as you all know I am a MOM and this is what my contents of my bag really is;

Pretty much the same except some "true" stuff of me inside. Receipts from Foodland, that are three months old,( Don't know why I'm hanging on to them.), A Maika'i card reward coupon(hey, need that to exchange for the free bag of Hersery Kissess at Foodland), a candy wrapper(surprise, surprise!), two pens( just in case), bobbie pins and a hair tie( a must in Hawaii, especially when you have bad hair day or days), a cap for a missing chapstick (I been looking for that caps for months), a clothes tag(I just don't know why that's there) a Barbie fruit snack for the kids (are they really fruit snack more like sugared gummy treats!), some change(too lazy to put it in the wallet),two game pieces from McDonald,( I must had thought I could win, DUH!) a ketchup packet( who, know when I would need it), Oh, yeah for those stale French fries(HELLO, what the heck! Yeah, I know the kids saving them for later)a dirty wet one and NAPKIN, NAPKINS, and NAPKINS(I counted and I had 2o, why would I have so many, oh yeah, I have kids)

But since the second week of January of 2008, I been carrying another bag. A BACK BAG and this is the contents;

My wallet(a must because it has my student ID) a bottle of water(when I get thirty from my bike ride to my first class) my big planner( to help keep everything straight for a busy mom and student.), a Foodland bag( Yes, I have a bag. I use this bag to cover my bike seat when I park it at the school in case if it rains.) 4 pens and two pencils( must think I need this many), my biology book and folder, my music book and it clipboard( music lecture class is taught in the band room , that doesn't have any desk to lend on to take notes, hence the clipboard,) and finally cotton balls!? I don't know why I have have them in my backpack and why do I have 5?

So now, I TAGGING.... hmm....
Clay (my baby sister) I wants to see your post soon.

And thank you Liz for my first TAG and making me feel that I have finally arrived in blogging. Also helping me realize my bags needs to be cleaned out.

Birthday Girl!

Our little baby girl is now 3 years old!
We can't believe, how time has flown. We had a GREAT day! In the morning she was allow to open her gifts given for her by extended family and pick her own breakfast.(Frosted Mini Wheats) For the rest of the morning we played with her new gifts. For lunch, we walked to McDonald and a course she had a Happy Meal. She LOVED it!
We waited for her brothers to come home from school and headed to the beach. We had a GRAND time.

After the beach, we had Mya's favorite dinner, PIZZA. She decided she wantes cupcakes for her birthday cake and she enjoyed every bite of it. Afterward she opened gifts given by her family.
She bring such happiness in our lives and we are grateful for all she has been teaching us.

MOANIKEALA

Performed at the Moanikeala Hula Festival at the Polynesian Cultural Center this Saturday. It was a long day starting at 6:30 a.m for stage practice. After stage practice, we were directed to the dressing room at the terrace. We set up our potluck breakfast and enjoyed the food. Afterward, it was dress time and to wait until curtain time. We were part of a special ceremony to welcome an hulau from Japan, who was participating in the festival. We did our Ole and gave each of them a lei. It was a special moment to be part of. We were the last Hulau to perform at the festival, which was at 2:00p.m. It was an amazing experience. It was long day but I truly enjoyed being around the women in my hulau. There is such a special SPIRIT in this group. They welcome you as part of their family. It's been 1 1/2 years that I have been performing with this group and loving every minute of it. I learned some much for these women and the true meaning of Aloha spirit.

NATE'S 6TH BIRTHDAY!

Nathan had AWESOME time on his birthday even if the weather wasn't cooperation!

It's so hard to take pictures when the birthday boy likes showing his fake smile and laughing.

Nate's wanted to go to the beach for his birthday but it was raining all day. He finally got his wish a couple of days later.

He had a great time boogie boarding and playing in the sand with his sister.

Nate is a joy in our family and we are so grateful to be part of his life. He's already asking about his next birthday and all the things he wants to do.

I DID IT!

I finally did it! I started school today after being out of a classroom for 12 years. I was excited, nervous, and a little freaked out. I must take advantage that I'm an professor's wife and I can go to school for FREE. After putting my education on hold to support Blake and raise my children. It's now my turn. I'm just going part-time and taking two classes. It was hard trying to find classes to go around Blake's classes schedule and my choices were limited, but I was able to find two classes that I found interesting. There are Introduction to Biology and World Music Cultures. The fun part of this solution is going to be playing tag and swapping Mya with Blake. I have a class that ends at 7:50a.m and then I run to Blake's office and pick up Mya. Blake teaches a class at 8:00 a.m. Then five minutes before his class ends, I drop Mya at his class and it gives me 10 minutes to run across campus to go to my second class at 9 a.m. But today was crazy because the Boys are till on their Christmas Vacation Break and don't return to school until Monday the 14th. So, I was hauling the crew to Blake's office this morning. CRAZY! This year is definitely going to be an adventure juggling motherhood, being a homemaker and a student. I returned back to school for myself and my children. (With a big push from Blake.) I want to show my children it's never too late to get an education. Wish me LUCK!