FHE

Monday night we were invited to the Bishops house for FHE and dinner (because there's always food at functions here). We had the typical spaghetti with the addition of rice on the side (a given out here), and bread. The Bishop and and one of his counselors asked Justin if he wanted some fish with his meal. He said "sure... I'll have some fish!" They served it up just like that...... a fish. Luckily for Justin, it was cooked! We asked what the name of the fish was but like usual, they spoke so quickly and softly its hard to repeat, and especially write what they said it was- but we were told they are hard to catch here. The fish was served with a coconut milk and some bread fruit, neither of which Justin could finish and settled on finishing the fish. Well..... he thought he finished his fish until he looked over at Bishop who was sucking out the eye balls and eating the whole head and everything else besides the bones. We're talking EVERYTHING! There wasn't much on his plate when he was done.
YUM YUM!
For dessert we had s'mores and learned how to roast marshmallows it Bishops way.... start it on fire, wait for it to get black, blow out the fire. Haley seemed to particularly like this method. I tried to teach Bishop the "Rocky Mountain Way" by slowly roasting mine as if it were on a spit, but to no avail- everyone seemed to prefer his method.
YUM!
For dessert number two (yes, I said two) we had cake and ice cream for someones birthday. I'm not sure if it was then or at the pasta with rice part that I remembered what I said just before we moved here. It was something along these lines,
"I'm going to loose weight once we move and stop going to all these family functions with all this good food."
UMMM.... WRONG!
So much for looking like the Beckhams! I'm thinking Kristy Alley and Brudda IZ are more like it.

Our FHE lesson was really good with a fun activity. It was a "great time" as Rachel would say.

A loss in the family, I feel better and LABOR DAY

So, I lost the diamond out of my wedding ring. Sad, huh? I scoured the house top to bottom. I vacuumed one room at a time and then sifted through the dirt. I cleaned out the car- detailed it really.... I swept up the garage, I looked in the lint collector of the dryer and I'm thinking its at the beach somewhere. Maybe someone will find a diamond in their oyster instead of a pearl! The only place I haven't looked is in the sink traps. (whatever the goose neck things under the sink are called). I'm still having a little hope.
For those of you that don't know, I had a bad couple days last week and had to get some time to myself. I dropped the kids off with Megan and went to get my hair done. What does a bad day, a mom out of steam and a beauty salon equal??? You guessed it...... a drastic change!!! I love drastic, don't you? My hair is no longer light like the rest of my family.... it is DARK, DARK, DARK!!! I don't think it was this dark last time. I sat down in the chair and saw a picture by the mirror and told the hair stylist I wanted mine like that. It has some red in it too. I wasn't sure at first if I liked it, but now that its done its initial fading, I've decided I like how it looks. After I left the salon, I decided.... I feel better. That's all I needed, just a break and time to myself.

For Labor Day we went to check out the Pali Lookout. Originally we thought it was a short hike with a good island view, but when we got there we discovered that its really just a parking lot with a 40 foot walk to the lookout itself. The girls were a little disappointed we didn't get to hike at all but the view was amazing and even the drive there was really pretty. The roads were lined with dense foliage (a good word for the day) and trees with hanging vines. It almost reminded me of a drive in the canyon... almost. On our way back, I made Justin pull over so we could swing from the vines. It was too irresistible. The kids had a great time, even Addie kept saying "Addie turn, Addie turn" wanting more and more. If only I had my cheetah outfit Laura gave me.....hmmmm.... Tarzan and Jane.
Later we bought some stuff to play baseball and kickball and went and spent time at the park with friends, then we went home to run in the sprinklers while dinner cooked and ended the night with a movie. I can't remember the name of it, and would really rather not, it was NOT worth the time we spent watching it.
I told Justin that had to be one of my favorite holidays ever. We had a great time and it was relaxing and we did something out of the norm. FUN!

In home school we are finishing a unit about taking care of our bodies inside and out. Justin and I considered taking the girls to the Bodies Revealed exhibit. I want to go bad, but I'm not sure how the girls would handle it. One or two of them would think it was cool, and the others would maybe have bad dreams or think it was gross. The exhibit is only here until October 31. I told Justin we should go for Halloween.... wouldn't that be awesome!!! Creepy!

Take a deep breath

So, this week has been a little harder than most. We started potty training and quit already. Addie wasn't as ready as I thought she was. The girls have been at each others throats, and home school has me running on empty. If anyone has any positive thoughts, comments or encouragement.... they would really be appreciated!

This weekend is Labor Day and we're thinking we'll finally go to the Pali Lookout, since we've been wanting to for several weeks now. Its a short hike with a really good view of the island at the end. Hopefully we won't be disappointed. Other than that, we'll probably just hit the beach like every other weekend.

(I added a bigger picture at the bottom of my blog of us at the PCC with Shelley, Chad and Makenzie)

Last Sunday, Lilly got the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting. In our ward we have a youth speaker and a primary speaker. It was her turn. She was totally fine until right before and then I could tell she was getting really nervous. She asked me to come up with her, which I did, but just sat on the bench behind her. When she started her talk she said, "Brothers and sisters, good morning and aloooooooooooHA!" It was really cute (and kinda funny), the whole ward was smiling. Then she realized that it was talk time and her voice quivered and I thought she might cry, but she didn't. She made it through the whole 2 minutes. The best part was looking down in the congregation and seeing Justin's face. He was so proud of her. We all were.

The only other excited thing that's happened is that I bought a TON of meat from a meat vendor that was going door to door. Shelley said that was really weird that I bought meat from some weird guy I didn't know. It was, but we're trying to do new things, and it was a good deal. I told her though, that if I mysteriously disappear later, it was the meat man!!! We bought beef, chicken and a variety of seafood. I was nervous about the seafood a little because we don't usually make that but the first night we had stuffed flounder which turned out pretty good. Even Rachel liked it.

Today is a rainy day and I'm loving it. Its nice to have change sometimes. I'm really going to miss the fall air and the crunch of the leaves....... take a deep breath for me!

Come and Visit.......... anytime!

We have been having a ton of fun! Shelley came out to visit last week with her family and we went to visit all the tourist sights we've been holding out on. We went to the Dole Plantation, the PCC, Pearl Harbor, and a bunch of beaches. It was a great week, we already miss them more than we should!
We didn't get to go out to the memorial at Pearl Harbor because all the boat rides out there were closing down for the day but we walked around the museum and the grounds as much as we could. Rachel can't wait to go back and go in the submarine. She is so fascinated with boats and planes right now.
The PCC was also fun. We went to the whole day event with the show and the luau and everything. Some of the things the kids got to do included throwing spears, learning to hula, fishing, and watching a movie about coral reefs. We weren't able to get to all the villages including Samoa which I hear is the best one, so we'll be glad to go back next time.
Shelley and Chad went on a shark dive and got me excited to try it sometime while we're here. Justin is finally warming up to the idea and says he'll do it with me, too. They got to see about 20 sharks, and took some great pictures!
They also took Haley and Rachel to hike Diamond Head and snorkel at Hanauma Bay, while I watched the little ones. The girls had a blast and can't wait to take Justin and I to Diamond Head. That was their favorite part.
While they were here, I got treated to some homemade creme brulee. YUM!!! I bought the ramekins and a torch so we can make more later!!! Thanks Chad- I'm still thinking about how good it was!
The worst part of them being here was when they had to leave. The island gave them a farewell gift of an amazing, huge, and bright rainbow. It was one of the best I've seen here (and there are quite a few). It lasted for a long time and didn't disappear until we had said our goodbyes. It really did seem that it was meant for them. Addie has been saying, "miss you Kenzie." We'll miss you guys!

We had a first time experience of having the missionaries over for dinner this week and since they are both from Utah, we teased them that we were making them tuna casserole for dinner. We didn't really, we had hamburgers, but I DID make them some jello to help them feel right at home. They were so excited when I pulled that out of the fridge!
They were able to tell us a little more about the people and way of life here. It was fun to have them over and nice to have them leave a spiritual message at the end.

Justin is getting another foreman out here next week and is excited that he won't be doing as much of the labor anymore. He has been really busy at work and church- with his new calling, and learning tons. He really looks forward to the weekends when he can relax at the beach- preferably Waiamea Bay, his favorite.

We have been thinking so much about everyone we miss and all the upcoming events we're going to miss..... like babies being born...... we hope it goes well for you and wish we could be there to see (and hold), the new arrivals- a baby boy cousin and friend's baby girl. We miss you guys!