Waikiki Aquarium

This morning we took the kids to the Waikiki Aquarium. It has been a few years since we were there so we were all excited to visit there again.

The boys were so excited to show Naomi everything, starting with the monk seals. She loved everything and screamed and jumped and made sure each one of us saw everything!

Once we got inside it was like fish overload for her. She kept buzzing from tank to tank pointing at all of the fish. Micah enjoyed the handheld audio tour and informed us of all the interesting facts we were missing by chasing after a 2 year old. Jake did not like the audio tour-he said it was boring-and liked pointing out the details in each individual tank.

Once we got back outside we went to the touch pool. Micah wanted nothing to do with it and kept listening to his tour, Naomi was scared but Jake wanted to touch everything, including a really cool hermitcrab! Naomi decided to try it once she saw Jacob having so much fun but really only wanted to splash.

After we left the Aquarium we took a short walk along the ocean before getting back in the car. The kids decided to be a train. First Naomi was in front but then they switched around and she had to hold on for dear life, and then they just got silly!

We took a few shots before getting back in the car. It was a really fun time!

You can find more pictures on Facebook!

Dedicating Naomi

Today was a truly incredible day. We were able to stand up in front of our church and dedicate Naomi to the Lord. We know that even though God has given us this amazing little girl that she really is not ours, she is His.

Before we went up, the church saw an awesome video of our family that told how God led us to her. As soon as we get it, we will post it here for you to see.

Then all five of us plus Pastor Mike went up on stage. Darrick said some very touching words and then Pastor Mike led the whole church in prayer. It was so awesome to see everyone stretching out their hands to pray for her.


It was such an amazing moment for Darrick and I. Just to think about the road God has taken us on and the miracle He worked in our lives to bring Naomi home, it was overwhelming for us and a lot of people. Our story has touched so many lives and we give God all the glory because He did it all!

After church we were able to snap a few more shots to capture the day!

I love the picture of Naomi with the beautiful purple flower in the grass. To me, I see Naomi as that flower. There she was among so many orphans in Africa, but God saw her and she is beautiful and He picked her and He saved her and gave her to us. Many people have told us that they believe God has a very special purpose for Naomi and that she will do powerful things for His Kingdom.

Our family truly believes in the power of prayer and we are so blessed at our church to have an amazing prayer ministry with people gifted in this area. This afternoon we met with two members of the prayer team to have them pray over Naomi and lay hands on her. While one of the ladies was praying she got a vision of all these cords attached to Naomi linking her to her past. I don't want to get into the specifics on the blog but you can talk to us about it if you want to know more details. Then the ladies prayed specifically for these cords to be broken and that she is now a child of God and under His protection. It was truly amazing.

Naomi was not in a picture taking mood but we did the best we could trying to capture the moment.

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!