Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be Thankful for this year. God is so good to us! We finally have Naomi with us. We are amazed and overjoyed to watch Naomi discover a whole new world. We are seeing the world through her eyes. Everything is new and wonderful.

We started out the day in our own backyard, she was so happy to play on our little plastic swing and slide. Then we went over to our friends Pat and Carlos for our Thanksgiving meal. She had so many new foods and in abundance she was enjoying everything. After the meal we went to park and she was having fun, but the real fun came when the sprinklers came on, we now know she loves to play in the water. I guess we never really thought of all the things that would be new for her. Like swings, slides, sprinklers, ham, marshmallows, turkey, stuffing, gravy, rolls, salad and green bean casserole and then came the cakes and pies. In Africa she ate rice, beans and chicken livers and now all this and it was Thanksgiving so she ate a lot of it. Jenn and I were so happy to watch her and her big brothers have such a great day. Jacob is doing a great job as a big brother. Micah has really stepped up, he is so helpful and is thriving on a new role as a big brother to a brother and a sister. We are very proud of them. They take good care of Naomi and keep watchful eyes on her. I hope that is something that will continue.

Today Jenn's friend Nicole made it safely to Hawaii. We have big plans to show her a good time here. I am sure you will get to hear all about it. Today was the traditional stop at Pali Lookout. It seems that is one of the first things we do with all our guest. Then we had Big Kahunas for lunch and Zippy's for dinner. Both are very yummy.

Crazy Sock Day!

This is Red Ribbon Week and today is Crazy Sock Day!

Box Car Racing

Sunday the boys were invited to a birthday party at the Box Car track in Kunia. Kids 7 and older can ride by themselves so I got to ride with Jake. Darrick couldn't join us because he was zonked out with pain medication.

Saturday at North Shore

Saturday we took the Flint family to our favorite place on the island, North Shore! It was a rainy day but we made the best of it. We started with a delicious lunch at Cholo's. Then we quickly stopped at Turtle Beach before going to Sunset Beach.

The waves were a pretty good size and we had fun watching the surfers. There was also a monk seal on the beach. After the beach we stopped and had shave ice. We convinced the Flints to have ice cream on the bottom and they loved it!

Friday Night at the Hale Koa

Thirteen years ago after Darrick went to Boot Camp, he met a guy named Matt Flint at A school. They became fast friends and were so happy after A school when they both got stationed on the USS Supply together.

This week Matt, his wife Gina and their son Bradley have come to visit us! Friday night we took them to the Hale Koa to swim and watch the fireworks. We are all having so much fun together!

They're Back...

This weekend Darrick ended up in the ER with his 4th Kidney Stone.

Friday night we went to the Hale Koa to swim and hang out with some friends visiting from the mainland. After we got home Darrick was complaining of pain and started throwing up. We thought maybe he had food poisoning.

Saturday we took our friends up to the North Shore and he felt fine. But by evening the pain was back much stronger and he was throwing up. Around 11:00 pm he drove to the ER. They verified it was a kidney stone and gave him morphine. The boys and I drove to the ER at 3 am to pick him up and were back home by 4:30 am. Darrick was knocked out all day Sunday with pain medication which left me to do all the last minute running around we had planned to do together.

This morning the pain has lessened so we are hoping the worst has passed. Today he just took advil and that took pretty good care of the pain.

I didn't know you could do it, but I did it

Yes, I did it, I sprained my jaw. You might wonder how in the world I did that.

Let me take you back to high school...

When I was in high school I needed to get my tonsils out. Well during the surgery they somehow popped my jaw. I don't know how because I was asleep. So from then on my jaw always pops when I open my mouth really wide.

Well about a week ago I was eating and suddenly had this terrible pain on the left side of my jaw. I was hopping it would go away, but it has not, so I went to the doctor. She told me that when someone has an "abnormal" jaw like I do, the ligaments are stretched funny and when I bit I strained them resulting in a sprain.

She recommended a liquid diet or soft foods until it heals but that is really hard. Hopefully it will heal quickly!

Aloun Farms

Today the Kindergarten took their first field trip of the year. They went to Aloun Farms to visit the Pumpkin Patch. First, we heard a little talk about pumpkins, and as you can see from the picture, Jacob was more interested in the hay on the ground!

Then we all headed over to the tractor for a hayride around the pumpkin patch.

Then it was our turn to go into the patch and pick our pumpkins. I think Jacob picked just about the smallest pumpkin out there. It is the itty bitty one he is holding in his hand.

From the pumpkin patch we went to the park to eat our lunch. It was so fun to watch Jacob interacting with his classmates. Each child had a partner. Jacob's partner was Allison-who really likes Jacob A LOT.

Leapin' Lizards

Another day during Fall Break I took the boys to "Leapin' Lizards". It is basically a huge warehouse filled with inflatable jumphouses. You pay $8.00 for 2 hours of jumping. They encourage parents to join in the fun.

They had some really cool things to go on and we were all tired at the end! The boys can't wait to go back!

Fall Break

This week the boys are on Fall Break! SO I am planning some activities for us to do each day.

Monday we went to the Kapolei Public Library. We got some books and checked out a few DVD's which you get to keep for 1 week and it only costs $1.00 to rent.

Today we went with some friends out for breakfast at the Wright Bros. Cafe and then to Hickam Beach. It was 2 moms and 5 boys and we were amazed at the amount of food they ate for breakfast. They consumes pancakes, waffles, frenchtoast, bacon, toast and juice.

Then we took them to the beach where the played for hours. It was so much fun!