Oceanside with Grandpoo and Grammy

Almost a year ago we planned a trip to Oceanside with my Dad and Carla. Little did we know at the time that we would be in the midst of crazy packing, etc. in preparation for a big move to Hawaii! Needless to say the trip was a nice get-away from the hecticness of our current life and it was great to be able to spend quality time with "Grandpoo" and "Grammy" before we move away. Thank you Dad and Carla...we had a wonderful time!

Day One: We arrived in the afternoon, got settled into the hotel and headed to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner.I love this shot of my sweet Dad and my sweet little boy. So cute!

The "men" of our group. You'll notice that Carla and I are not in very many pictures. Hmm, I wonder who was in charge of the cameras?

The most precious cargo on the luggage cart!

Day Two: Disneyland

Aden taking in the beautiful scenery from our hotel balcony.

Jon Jon, our little love bug, enjoyed getting some "good morning snuggles" from Grandpoo.

Daddy and the boys...all dressed and ready for a day at Disneyland.

The Grandparents with the Grandkiddos

The carousel continues to be one of Aden's favorites!

Daddy and his little monkey

Aden and Grandpoo

Day Three: A leisurely morning, a trip to the pier, a delicious lunch at Ruby's, afternoon naps, swimming, dinner at Dominics, hot cocoa and live music at the Nautical Harbor Cafe

Grammy and Aden waiting for our lunch at Ruby's

The boys loved the pool!

Day Four: Sea World

Some of Shamu's friends

He always was Superman to me!

Daddy and the boys on "Abby's Sea Star Spin" (a.k.a Teacups, Sea World-style)

The Gang

Making Progress

Well, I won't write much but I wanted to post a few pictures letting you know that we are alive and are making progress! We've started packing, had a garage sale, found a place to rent, gotten health care coverage, booked our flights (we fly out July 7th!), and are chipping away at the HUGE to do list of things that must get done before we leave. Our parents have all been so helpful through this entire process and God continues to amaze us with the doors that He opens and the details that He works out for us.

Our garage sale

The boys...doing their part to help with packing.

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes!

The boys love to put on their backpacks and tell us, "We're going to Kauai now."

Digging in the dirt...just one of the ways the boys have been keeping busy while we pack. Needless to say they have been averaging 2-3 hose offs/baths/showers per day.


We were so blessed to find this beautiful rental home in the town of Kilauea. We love it! It is less than a mile from Daniel's school and it is in a cul-de-sac with the oh-so-Hawaiian name of "Lilioukilani Place". It is a 3 bedroom/2 bath and it is so pretty! We can't wait to move in!

A partial view of the front.

The family room and kitchen.

The kitchen

Master bathroom

Master bedroom

Back "lanai" (a.ka. balcony)

One of the bedrooms

Bedroom closet

Hall bathroom

Back yard

Big News!

Na-Pali Coast, Kauai

Daniel has accepted an offer for the position of "Principal" at Kauai Christian Academy. KCA is located in the town of Kilauea on the North Shore of Kauai. KCA is a small, K-12 private Christian school that has lots of potential for growth. We are very excited and are looking forward to seeing how the Lord will use Daniel and our family for His purposes at the school and on the island as a whole. Daniel will also have the opportunity to serve (and preach on occasion) at North Shore Community Church. For those of you who don't know, Daniel lived in Kauai from age 2 to age 12 and he actually attended KCA for a couple of years! His parents, little brother, Aunt, Uncle, and Grandma live there now. It will be so nice to be close to them! Praise God for his faithfulness! Daniel's current job pays through June 30th and his new contract at KCA begins July 1st! We hope to move over mid-July to give us the most time possible to take care of things over here but to also allow Daniel time to settle a bit before school starts. KCA is on a modified calendar and the first day of school is at the beginning of August!

We would covet your prayers during this time. Here are some specifics that you could pray for:
1) Housing- Renting vs. Selling our current home as well as finding a place to stay over there
2) Medical Benefits- Kauai doesn't have Kaiser so orchestrating coverage changes etc. in a timely fashion will be a bit trickier. It wouldn't be such a concern except that I will be 8 months pregnant and with that comes regular appointments and a hospital stay!
3) Packing-Easier said than done when you're pregnant and in charge of two small children! Thankfully Daniel's last day of teaching is today so we'll be able to tackle it as a team.
4) All the little details and decisions that come with a move...that we would not be overwhelmed but would take it all in stride trusting that God is in control of it all.

Thanks Everyone!

Miscellaneous

Sorry for the lull in posts...I just haven't been taking many pictures lately. Anyway, here are a few from the month of May. Check back in a couple of days...there should be a post with an update with Daniel's job/moving situation.

A couple of weeks ago the boys and I drove to Temecula to spend the day with Rachel, Andrew, Sierra, and Maga. The boys had a great time in Maga's backyard swimming in the pool, sliding on the slip-n-slide, climbing "mountains", playing in the playhouse, doing yardwork, chasing lizards, and eating ice cream cones. I didn't take many pictures but did manage to get a few of the boys eating their ice cream cones.

Andrew is all smiles and covered in ice cream.
Aden misses his buddy so much and loved spending the day with him!

A little ice cream pow wow

Yummy!

Grandma came to visit (and to help out!) while Daddy was away in Kauai for a week. We spent about a day and half cleaning all of the windows, frames, screens, tracks, blinds, etc. Here's a shot of the boys "helping out." This is the window in their room and when Grandma starting cleaning the outside of the window the boys ran inside, climbed up onto the changing table and started cleaning the inside of the window with the Q-Tips, cotton balls, baby wipes, etc. that we keep on the changing table. What cuties!

I'm pregnant and tired...so, hey whatever keeps them busy! Right?!

Aden is still learning how to properly re-dress himself after visits to the bathroom.

The boys have found the blackberry bushes!
I wish this picture was clearer. They had berry stains all over their hands and faces!

A Favorite Toy

Jonathan got this "Imaginarium Wood Stacking Train with Sound and Lights" for Christmas and honestly has played with it every day since! I thought I better post a picture for memory's sake (and perhaps to give you mommies an idea of a good toy for your little ones.)

This, clearly, is one of Jonathan's more "creative" arrangements of the pieces.

Could It Be?

Yes, that is my sweet Jonathan actually enjoying himself in the pool today! It was quite an exciting day for me. He spent at least a half an hour floating around in this thing and was quite happy the whole time. Perhaps the 95 degree weather made him realize just how much fun a nice dip in the pool can be. Yep...95+ degrees today! Summer is here folks!

The REAL Reasons Why Aden likes the Home Depot Kids' Workshop

On Saturday Daniel was helping some friends move so I decided to take the boys to Home Depot again for their Kids' Workshop. I thought Aden would really enjoy this particular workshop because the kids were making little wooden wheelbarrows. Wheelbarrows...right up this "yard work-loving" boy's ally, right? Well, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot Aden asked if we could go look at the "yard work stuff". He likes to check out all of the lawn mowers, weed whackers, edgers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, blowers, rototillers, rakes, etc. Anyway, I told him that we would go see all that stuff once we finished making our wheelbarrows. Well, within about two minutes of being there the first of four trains passed by the parking lot and the cute little Home Depot Kids' workshop quickly turned into a "let's see how fast Mommy can put these two little wheelbarrows together so we can move onto to bigger and better things like watching trains go by and perusing the yard equipment aisles of Home Depot." Well, at least each of the boys hit the head of a nail a couple of times so I can actually say that they "helped" but as we were heading home Aden said, "Thank you Mommy for taking me to Home Depot. I ike ooking at the tools and I ike the trains too!" To which I replied, "You're welcome honey. Did you have fun building your wheelbarrow?" and he said, "I have fun ooking at the tools and the trains Mommy." So, there you have it...the REAL reason why Aden likes the Home Depot Kids' Workshops.

This was just moments before the first train blew by.

This is where he spent the remainder of the time. He had a better view of the tracks from the lightpost.

Buckled into a stroller with a toy car to play with...my means of keeping at least one of my children contained (safe) and content while I hammer away at the projects...seeing how these workshops are in the middle of a busy parking lot!

Once the projects were finished Aden quickly declared, "It's not a 'weebarrow' Mommy, it's a 'awn mower!" This kid makes EVERYTHING into a "awn mower!"

Jonathan hammering the directions =)

Later that day Aden and Daddy got to mow the lawn togehter...Aden's FAVORITE weekend activity!

Here's a shot of him from this afternoon. He pulled the lawn mower out of the shed himself and pushed it all around the backyard. Of course it was not on...he was just pretending.