Spring Break

Today is the first day of the boys two week long spring break. I planned a few activities for this week and today was going to the Honolulu Zoo. It was Naomi's first time at a zoo and she loved it. She was most excited about the elephants and wanted to stay there watching them all day!


Another highlight was the monkeys. There were two in particular that were swinging and screaming like crazy. We also enjoyed seeing Rusty and Violet the orangutans. Rusty was drinking water out of a blue bucket while Violet was busy putting her blanket on her head. Then she went over and kissed Rusty. Then Violet laid her blanket on the ground, laid down and Rusty joined her, they were too cute!


We were joined at the zoo by Jennifer, Lainey and Brayden. The kids had so much fun looking at the animals. When we went to the Keiki Zoo they all wanted to go in and see the goats. The goats were eating grass out of the kids hands! Naomi finally touched one but didn't really like them.

We had a picnic lunch, played on the playground and after seeing a few more animals we headed home. It was a fun time!

Aloha Stacey

Today we said our final goodbyes to our dear friend Stacey. She is such an amazing person with the most amazing gift for leading worship. Like us, she is from Southern California and has a heart for Africa. We know Stacey through church and have loved hanging out with her over the years. The Lord is calling her back to Cali and so this afternoon we went to her surprise going away party.
"SURPRISE!"

Potluck-Hawaiian Style
Everyone brought their favorite Hawaiian dishes. It was so ono! Jacob decided he wanted to try sushi. He picked one with vegetables and loved it! He went back for more but by then they were all gone.

The on a bummer note: Micah's bike was stolen yesterday. We keep our bikes right in front of the house by the front door. We had the boys razor scooters stolen about 6 months ago, so we got them new ones for Christmas and now we keep them in the back yard, but now the bikes too I guess need to go in the back.

Ohana Picnic

Yesterday we had the first Ohana Picnic. Three families came with their kids from Africa and two families came who will be traveling to Africa this summer.


The three kids were Ozzie, Naomi and Max.


Ozzie
Max



We talked a lot about our own adoption journeys and encouraged the families that are yet to travel. We ate, played in the ocean and took lots of pictures!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Hays Family! We all made sure we wore green so no one would get pinched!

When we got to Jacob's kindergarten class he was surprised to find out that his classrooms was visited by Leprechauns! There were little green footprints all over and his classroom was a mess! Jacob and his classmates LOVED it and his teacher really played the part!

Our Kids

Scouts Pinewood Derby 2009

Pinewood Derby

Yesterday Micah had his Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. We had a good time and he won a lot of races. He came in Third overall. Here are a couple of videos of winning races. Yes they did re-race the one where the car came off the track but micah won again.

Darrick

Last Playdate

Today we had a play date with our friends Brian and Allie at the Iroquois Point Beach. Micah and Brian are in the same grade and have been in Cub Scouts for 2 years together. Jacob and Allie are in the same kindergarten class. The Miller Family is also a Navy Family and they are moving on to their next duty station so this is their last week here.

The kids had so much fun playing in the water. It was finally a nice warm afternoon and the ocean was calling their names. Jacob found some cool things in the sand like a sea urchin.

Naomi spent a lot of time thinking about getting in the ocean. She has only been in the water once. Before that time she has been pretty scared of the waves. But she got in little by little but just when she was getting really comfortable, and I was busy taking pictures, she got rolled by a huge wave. She didn't cry but she was COVERED in sand! I spent 20 minutes tonight washing and rinsing her hair and there is still sand stuck in there.

We will miss you Miller Family!

What's Up

My parents left yesterday to go back to California. They were here almost 2 weeks and we spent a whole of time doing nothing. The main reason was because a few days after they arrived, my Mom came down with a bad case of the flu. Then just as soon as she started to feel a little bit better I came down with it. Today is the first day I woke up without a fever. But the cough and sinus congestion is still terrible. Hopefully no one else gets it.

My dad spent his days tinkering around our house. While he was here he built Micah's pinewood derby car, fixed our outdoor fountain, fixed our back slider, got our front window to slide more smoothly, put the front back on Naomi's dollhouse, got our bike's working again, cleaned our windows, cleaned the guinea pig's cage, helped Jacob with homework, read numerous books to Naomi and shredded a ton of papers for me!

The weather was not great the whole time they were here but my dad did get a few bike rides in to the beach. When my mom was feeling better she even got on a bike and rode around a bit.

Tuesday night we went to our adoption agency, HIC, to talk to some families who are thinking about adopting from Africa. John, Kelly and Max were there too and it was fun for my parents to meet everyone who helped us adopt our beautiful daughter.

Friday, even though I wasn't feeling good, we headed out to the Aquarium since my parents were leaving the next morning. My parents enjoyed it and then we had a good dinner at Big Kahunas. I went straight to bed when we got home while my parents packed up.

It wasn't too bad saying goodbye because we will be seeing them again in about 3 months. That is when the kids and I will be saying "Aloha" to the beautiful island of Oahu. We are then going to be living with my parents until October.

I am hoping that the worst of my sickness is over and I will keep getting better a little each day.