We've been sick

Ever since Christmas, it seems like one of the five of us has been sick. Right now it is Darrick and he has strep throat.

Naomi has had raspy breathing ever since I met her in Africa. So her doctor here decided to start her on some breathing treatments. The machine is made especially for little kids and the mask looks like a fish. It has eyes, gills and fins. Three times a day she has to wear it and breathe in the medicine. She does not like it at all.

Today Jacob and I had a mommy and son date. I had to get something at the mall so I took him along with me. He got to get Dippin' Dots, ride the train at the mall and pick where we went for lunch-Chili's!

Also while we were at the mall I decided to get my ears repierced. It got them pierced when I was in 1st grade. Then in college I got two second holes and a third hole, for a total of 5. I can only wear gold earrings or else the piercings get infected. About 3 years ago I got tired of it and stopped wearing earrings. I mentioned a few months ago to Darrick that I was thinking of getting them repierced. Darrick remembered I said that and surprised me with gold and diamond earrings for my birthday.

But today I found out that if you have worn earrings for more then a year then the holes never close. Just some skin had grown over the back so they did not have to repierce them, only poke the earring through the skin! So right now, for a few weeks I have gold and cystal daisies in. I think they are cute!

Happy New Year

We can hardly believe that 2008 is over and 2009 is here! We were invited to bring in the new year with the Gonzalez family at their new place. They are now in a high rise downtown on floor 31!

We first spent time relaxing and visiting and getting the Wii set up for play. Naomi adores Zek and got in some kisses and cuddle time!

We all enjoyed some pizza before we headed out to tour the building and then to check out what was happening on the streets of Waikiki.

We had some rain but that didn't stop us. We saw lots of street performers and even Elmo was bringing in the new year in Waikiki!

We got in the spirit with hats and blowers!

Naomi fell asleep before we got back so she missed the new year celebration. Darrick and I told the boys that they could try to stay up til midnight for the first time ever. So when we got back to the Gonzalez' family place, we had dessert and more Wii playing.

Their new place faces the ocean so we had a perfect view of the 10 minute firework show. Micah and Jacob made it to midnight so I got 3 kisses instead of 1! We all drank sparkling cider and just enjoyed the moment with family and dear friends.

After our good-byes we headed back to Ewa which was going crazy with fireworks. The smoke was so bad it was like fog. We had to go so slow and Darrick could hardly see anything in front of him. It was crazy and we have not seen anything like it.

We are excited to see what God has planned for the Hays family in 2009! Happy New Year to everyone!

Hays Family Photo Shoot

When our friend Nicole was here she did a photo shoot of our family on the beach. She did an awesome job and we want to share our favorites with you!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Hays Family!

We actually celebrated Christmas yesterday because Darrick has duty today. We all woke up in our Christmas Pajamas and then opened our stockings.

Then it was time for breakfast, cinnamon rolls, and then Micah read the Christmas story.

After breakfast it was time to open presents. We always take turns opening presents from youngest to oldest. Each person opens one and then we go around again until everyone is out. Naomi was first, but once she figured out what to do, we could not get her to stop! She wanted to open every one's presents and did not understand that they were not all for her! She got a Fisher Price purse with pretend make-up so we all had to have a turn while she put "make-up" on us.

Next was Jacob. His big wish this year was for Army stuff. He was very happy with what he got! Micah was pretty interested too!

Then it was Micah's turn. His big wish this year was for a new DS since he dropped his in the toilet on accident a few weeks ago. He was surprised since we told him we couldn't find any! He got a really cool Lego set from Nana and Papa too!

We hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Christmas Church Service

Last night we went to our church's Christmas service. Before we went I took some pictures of the kids by the tree!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday, but we actually celebrated it yesterday. Darrick has duty on Christmas so we moved my birthday and Christmas one day ahead.

We had an awesome lunch at Cholo's and at home yummy chocolate cake with ice cream. We did the cake on Skype and my parents and brother Sam sang me "Happy Birthday" along with Darrick and the kids.

I got some great gifts but the best part was just being together as a family!

Flubber Gone Wrong

Yesterday Micah was lying around watching TV and started smashing his flubber on his forehead. What he failed to realize is that it was also in his hair. We could not get it out and had to cut a chunk of his hair off!