April I think will be remembered as the month I moved from surviving to thriving in Hawaii. Hooray!
Karen arrived on Saturday evening, and the next day was Easter! The kids were SO excited about their baskets and finding eggs. The Easter Bunny left crepe paper decorating the whole house to make it feel more festive.
Excited kids:
I had some extra apples and carrots that were going bad so we went to feed the horses:
There were a couple environmental policemen there making sure no one got too close to the turtle. After we had swam for about an hour, the turtle started inching slowly back toward the water. You can see the marks in the sand, and the turtle going back to the water in this picture:
After the beach we went to church for Easter- only one hour this day.
After dinner we went to the visitor and temple grounds. It was a nice Easter activity!
While the kids were at school each day, Karen went off and explored different places on her own. On Monday after school, Coen joined her at the PCC while I took the girls to tumbling. It was like the good old days where she would take one of my kids on a date and spoil them. Here's Coen with his shaved ice:
On Tuesday Karen and I did a session at the temple together:
That afternoon she went with us to the school where Coen was doing a Battle of the Books challenge to see who qualified to go to the competition. The kids had a list of books they needed to read, and then the competition tested their knowledge of the books. They practiced all year once a week after school and it was a perfect activity for Coen!
I thought Coen was so excited that he couldn't sit still, but then after watching him for a few minutes I noticed he had to go to the bathroom! At the break I told Ava to run up and tell him it is OK to go to the bathroom, so she did- and he ran. He is so shy and a rule follower that I'm sure he would have just sat there in agony instead of asking to go.
They announced the winners who would go on to the competition on Saturday- here's Coen's face when they called his name for 4th place (top 8 got to go).
Coen doing the back stroke. Also, this pool is so gorgeous! Our swim teacher rents it from a family who owns the house.
We drove to Waimea Bay and met up with Karen there. The waves were too big to swim in that day, but the kids discovered this inlet where the river runs into the ocean.
It was a nice spot to practice their swimming skills!
On Friday it was already time for Karen to go back. We got the kids out of school a little early and did some adventure stuff downtown before dropping Karen at the airport for her evening flight. On our way to town, we stopped at Kualoa ranch for some souvenirs. We still haven't been there for a tour, but it's famous for being a filming location for movies such as Jurassic Park.
We had tickets for Pearl Harbor to go see the USS Arizona, but when we got there, they said the boat rides across the harbor were canceled due to winds. It just felt regular Hawaii windy to me, but I guess they play it very safe. We were so disappointed we couldn't go see the sunken battleship, but we still walked around and looked at all of the exhibits and watched the videos. You can see the memorial for the USS Arizona behind us:
We learned that the Japanese torpedoes were specially built to go in shallow water, so this was part of the reason why the attack was a surprise- they thought their ships were safe in the harbor. Here's Coen standing in front of a torpedo:
The uniform someone was wearing on the day of the attack:
After Pearl Harbor we got Chick Fil-A, and then went downtown to the palace. The big banyan trees are beautiful on the palace grounds.
Then it was time to drop Karen off at the airport. Thanks for coming to visit us Karen!
This RS activity was actually in March, but I just got the picture from our RS group. Our ward had a speaker come who was Jewish and converted to our faith. He spoke about how the Book of Mormon fulfilled its role of convincing Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. As a Jewish teenager he had previously only thought of Jesus as a prophet, but then his friends gave him a Book of Mormon. He was worried that his devout Jewish mother would be angry at him for having a Book of Mormon, so he snuck out of the house one night with a lighter and went to burn the book and get rid of it. He had the lighter up to the book when he heard the words, "Do not burn my book." After that experience, he decided to read the book and gained a testimony of Jesus Christ.
This speaker was from Scottsdale Arizona, where my uncle is from (who is also Jewish converted to LDS). I texted my uncle if he knew this speaker, and he said yes- he was a part of my uncle's conversion! So that was a pretty cool RS activity.
The color of the water was so beautiful this day.
Audrey loves to help do dishes- she is like a mini me- I used to do the same thing.
Coen's Battle of the Books competition was at at the Turtle Bay resort, about 12-15 minutes up the road from our house. Here's the hotel when I walked in:
This was in a huge ballroom at the hotel, and there were hundreds of people there. The kids were all super brave!
Coen would like to say: "Our team got 4th place, and we were one point behind from getting 3rd. If we got one more point it would have been a tie breaker. Last year Matthew got first place and he got a helicopter ride. It was really fun, and I got one of the buzzer rounds."
The plumeria trees are starting to bloom! This one is so beautiful- pink and yellow together. I think it's interesting that these trees dropped all their leaves and looked bare all "winter" and now they're blooming!
I took this on a walk to show how everything rusts here. This truck is in bad shape!
General conference- Brent made conference cake, per tradition. Coen would like you to know that he ate a lot of coffee cake.
The boys placed pop-a-shot. Coen says: We beat Ava and my record.
Then we went to the beach- the kids all had so much fun swimming together! Coen says: There was a big wave that knocked me and Owen down!
After the beach we came back and had pork roast for dinner, and then it was time for our friends to start driving back to their hotel. Look at these cute besties:
We watched as our family and friends on the mainland got to enjoy a solar eclipse. Andrew text me that we would have like 10% totality here, so we went out (6:45am our time) but there were not any cool shadows or anything.
Our next-door neighbors "tented" their house, which is what people do here to treat for termites. A company comes and completely seals the house with tarp, and then they fumigate. Our neighbors had to sleep at a hotel for a night and take all food of their house, etc. Termites are a never-ending problem here.
Audrey had a playdate with Jake. Whenever they play, they love to build a fort.
We had the Phams over to dinner and had fun chatting. We had Mexican food, which she was grateful for, since she's been eating a lot of seafood lately with her in-laws who are visiting from Vietnam :)
Little Alvin Pham. Audrey cannot get his name right and calls him a different wrong name every time, which cracks me up. She has called him David, Adam, A-vin, etc.
Saturday morning- we were all awake early, so we headed out for a beach day by 9am. We decided to go to Kawela Bay, which is a new favorite. It's so gorgeous!
While we were there, a monk seal swam up to the shore for a few minutes!
Audrey likes to get dressed up and look fancy. Karen brought her an Elsa necklace, bracelet (seen below) and crown, and she wears them often.
Audrey and Velzy play outside in the backyard almost every day for hours- playing in the mud (see below), climbing our plumeria tree, and playing with Rocket.
We had the brightest rainbow one day! I've never seen one so brilliant.
I looped down to our beach and soaked in the beauty. I thought to myself, "Wow. I really love this place. If we move, I am going to miss it." As you might remember, when we first moved here, I thought "Hawaii is nice, but it's nice to vacation to, not to live." Over the school year my heart slowly changed.
Coen's friend Matthew came to play. Their "telephones" are apple bananas. These are a very small and extra sweet variety of bananas.
On this Wednesday (April 17), Brent called me after I got the kids their snack. When he asked if I was sitting down, I knew that he had FINALLY heard if he got the job here or not. He had finished his last interviews mid-February, so it had been a loooong two months of waiting to hear what our life was going to look like. I sat down, and Brent said "they offered me the job!"
It was raining so much that Coen and Audrey asked if they could get in their swimming suits and play in the gutter.
Ava discovered it's super fun to carry Rocket around in a bag. Rocket seemed to enjoy it for quite a while.
One of the other students was Ava's friend from her class, so they were happy to have each other. Ava's documentary was on Walt Disney's animation as a turning point in history. She worked hard researching and learning about the topic, and I helped her write her script, and then she recorded the script in Brent's office. She and Brent found pictures and clips, and then Brent helped with the actual editing.
That evening we began telling family that Brent got the job in Hawaii, and we're going to be here long-term. This beautiful sunset was the perfect end to a great day.
Thursday- I attended the panel that Brent moderated. The panel was titled Human Dignity in media, and there was a radio host from Tonga and a journalist from Fiji on the panel. Brent introduced them and they each presented about 15-20 minutes and then Brent took questions for them from the audience. At first when Brent was asked to participate in this conference, he told me that he felt a little bit like "one of these things is not like the other" as many of the presenters and moderators are dignitaries and prolific academics. But I reminded him that's how he knows he's having a growing experience! It was a wonderful conference and he made a lot of new contacts.
That evening the last dinner was at the buffet at the PCC. I realized that Ava and Coen couldn't watch Audrey since they had primary activities at the church, so Audrey got to come with us. She was so excited and put on a dress and her clip-on earrings. She was such a good girl the whole time and especially loved the ice cream bar for dessert.
We went to the PCC show afterward. Here we are with our new friends from New Zealand:
Sunday- we took pictures in front of the sign so we could post on Facebook and tell the world that we're locals here now :)
Here's a Hawaii moment for you. From November until now the weather has been great, and we have been comfortable temperature-wise in our house. Then a heat wave hit and we remembered how hot we get here! I sent this picture to my sister- it's so hot in our house that when we leave the butter on the counter it's not just softened, it's melted!
Another Hawaii moment- see that thing on the wall? It's a cockroach that started flying. Ugh. We usually only see cockroaches in our house in the middle of the night when the lights are out and I'm getting up to get a drink of water or take care of a kid. Then the cockroaches all come out and start walking around the kitchen. It's the worst- I try not to think about it, and I put out poison pellets for them, but obviously I don't put out enough. I have stepped on a cockroach barefoot three times too many.
Ava had a really cool field trip to Pearl Harbor that she has been looking forward to for months. Here she is wearing her special Pearl Harbor 5th grade shirt.
She and Audrey matched! Although Audrey had to change after this picture to get ready for her May Day.
Her fieldtrip was a sleepover fieldtrip, where all the students in her class got to sleep on the USS Missouri. Sleeping on the ship is not open to the public, and they only allow 5th graders from the public schools in Hawaii to do this.
.HEIC)
Two of Audrey's teachers- Aunty Lauren and Aunty Jamie. We missed getting Aunty Joy in the picture. There are 21 kids in the class! So they have 3 teachers.
Audrey asked Alexa to play "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on repeat for a month as she was practicing this number at school. She loved it!
Yay for our first May Day!
Saturday walk at our beach- it was sooo windy!
My friend took him early, and it lasted all day! This was extra nice because it was General Conference (which started at 6am our time). The parents were only allowed to attend the very last section, which is the buzzer round. During the buzzer round, each team member has one person at the buzzer for a chance to answer the question. There were 10 teams, so it's pretty hard to get a chance to answer a question, but Coen buzzed in and got one right! Here's a video:
Here's Coen with his friends- the kids didn't win, but they had lots of fun and it was an experience to remember!
After conference the Yaedes came to visit! They were staying on the other side of the island, but they came up for a visit that afternoon, which was so fun! Ava got to introduce Addyson to Rocket.
Rocket brought me a lizard as a present. Thanks? Coen would like to say: Rocket eats lizards.
I think I have about 50 pictures on my phone because it was just such a beautiful perfect day.
Brent took the kids to the PCC and stopped to get crepes. His TA also works at the crepe food truck and gave them a free crepe.
We went to the buffet at the PCC for a date. Last minute we decided to bring Ava along since she has been begging to go, and she has been doing such a good job in school.
A little after 10pm Brent & I could hear a lot of drumming. We knew the PCC show was over, so we decided to go on a walk to check out where the party was. We walked toward the sound and ended up in the parking lot on campus (like a third of a mile from our home). We came upon a group of students totally jamming out in the parking lot with all sorts of drums and percussion instruments! We listened for a minute and then saw the campus police come over and nicely tell the group that they needed to be done at 10:30pm. One of the campus police was Brent's student so we were chatting with them- they said the group was the Tongan club from campus, wanting to practice their drumming. Haha. It probably was heard throughout our whole little town.
On Monday evening Brent and I went on a walk after dinner. We made a loop as we walked to the temple, and then through the married student housing buildings, through campus, and back home. As we walked I was struck by how beautiful and special this little paradise is.
I went on a walk the next day by myself and was cracking up at this dog, literally sitting in his yard, watching everything.
I took a video because it just felt so peaceful and beautiful!
Wednesday morning- I went to help with the fruit and veggie co-op for my first time. A lady runs it from her house in Hauula, close to Audrey's preschool. Each week she orders and assortment of fruits and veggies and co-op member take turns to help prepare the bins once a quarter. I have really enjoyed getting to try new things, and not buying the same standard fruits/veggies in Costco size.
Since we had two months of waiting to hear, we had already discussed the job and what it meant for his career and considered the impact on our family of living in Hawaii. Many times throughout this year we had both received answers and felt that this was the right place for our family. Brent was still a little bit worried about me, and the hard adjustment I've had to island living. While talking on the phone that day, he told me, "If I accept this, can you be happy here?" I told him about the walk I had taken the day before to the beach and the overwhelming sense of peace and love I felt for this place. It felt like a little extra blessing of courage to say YES! We can do this.
That evening when Brent got home from campus, before we had time to hug and talk about his job offer (!) we needed to get ready for our guests coming. We had a friends from Texas come stay with their four daughters. Our house was so hot that we moved the table to the backyard to eat dinner.
The next morning Brent took them on a hike to a waterfall near our house. One of their daughters was feeling sick and achey so she did not join. Ava was home sick from school that day too with a stomach bug, ugh! I kept her in our bedroom away from everyone else and it never spread, thank goodness!
We had a momma chicken that loved to be in our backyard for a few weeks. She had 8 or 9 babies.
At the Super Citizen assembly they highlighted all the kids who were going on from History Day district to the state competition. Ava with her certificate:
At the beginning of the assembly the kids always sing their school song. Here's a clip- they're singing, "Oh Laie, beautiful Laie, ke kula o Laie, our school beside the sea." A teacher plays the ukulele as they sing, and I think it's the cutest!
Brent wore his robes to graduation. He will get some good use out of his robes- he wears them to December and April graduations. Here's Brent and another professor (our friend Charles) along with their TA.
That evening we had some senior missionaries over to dinner. Brent met these missionaries in the temple, and the one couple is here on a mission teaching personal finance at BYUH. When Brent met them and told me their name, I remembered that I had him as a professor at BYU! So we have been friends all year. I don't think 21 year old me could have ever guessed that I would have my professor over to dinner in Hawaii in 15 years! The single sister missionary also seen in the picture comes here every spring and is in charge of the art on campus at BYUH.
Saturday was Ava's History Day competition. It was at the Windward Community College about 45 minutes away from our house. Students flew in from all of the islands. Ava was in the documentary section (for her age group), and there were also performance, website, essay, and exhibit sections. Each student played their documentary for the group, and then answered questions with the judges. There were 8 students in Ava's age group for documentary.
It was an all day event, and at the awards assembly we were so proud when they called Ava in second place! Her friend got first place, so that was super exciting. All the kids 6th grade and older who placed get to go to Washington DC for Nationals, but the 5th graders don't. Ava has her eye on DC for next year!
On Monday Ava's teacher took a picture of the kids who won medals at the state competition. Ava's teacher is the History Day coach for the school and really knows how to help her kids win!
Brent was asked to be a moderator at the Oceanian Perspectives on Human Dignity, which is a conference hosted by the BYU Law School. Brent moderated just one session on Thursday, but as a moderator was invited to attend the whole conference and I was invited to go to the dinners with him Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The first evening, the BYUH choir sang some beautiful songs the choir director had composed for previous special BYUH events. This number was particularly beautiful. The instrument at the beginning is a Mongolian horse hair fiddle.
Brent and I sat by a couple about our age from New Zealand and had a great time with them. He is a doctor and she is an attorney for indigenous rights in New Zealand, so she was asked to come present at the conference. I loved learning about their life in New Zealand and it was such an enriching night! Again throughout this conference, both Brent and I had additional confirmations that we are in the place that Heavenly Father has prepared for us.
A picture of us from the first night, in front of the flag circle.
A short video of the entertainment from the second night's dinner.
Right after the dinner we hurried over to the PCC to attend the local high school's May Day. My friend had text me that this was an event not to miss. It was packed in the theater and each of the 2,700 seats was filled. May Day starts out with the royal court- a prince, princess, and lady in waiting for each Hawaiian island. We learned that the kids try out for these parts, because they all need to perform the hula.
Here are the royal girls doing a hula:
We heard that the May Day goes until close to midnight, so we left in the 9 o'clock hour because we need sleep!
Here's Ava with her besties from her class, so excited for their fieldtrip.
She says: "First we went on the bus and went to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.
Then we took a bus to Pearl Harbor. We went on the USS bowfin that's a submarine and we played on a super fun playground.
.HEIC)
Then we went to another history museum. Then we took a bus to the USS Oklahoma memorial which has white poles (markers) for each man that died on the ship.
Then we went on the USS Missouri and took tours around the boat. We did a flag ceremony on the boat and I got to read a quote from the Declaration of Independence.
We had dinner and ice cream in the kitchens on the boat.
After we gathered together on the Surrender Deck which is where World War II was officially ended. Then we went to bed in the bunkers where the soldiers would sleep. All the girls in my class slept in one area with my teacher and student teacher. Me and my friend brought matching cat pajamas.
In the morning they did the official wake up call with a bugle and they flipped all the lights on in the boat. We had another flag ceremony and breakfast, and then we took the boat to go to the USS Arizona memorial.
On the USS Missouri we went in rooms where people cannot normally go, you have to have a special invitation. I am so glad I was able to go on the fieldtrip with my friends and teachers. It was super special and a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
While Ava was off at her fieldtrip, Brent and I went to Audrey's May Day, which was held at the PCC theater. Each class represented a country (or continent) and Audrey's was Africa.
Audrey tried not to make eye contact with me or Brent- she was too shy! But sometimes I caught her stealing a glance my way.
Each class performed about 4 numbers- it was so impressive for preschool!
Action shot!
Brent and I thoroughly enjoyed the performances. I was dying over the cute little class doing Tahiti and shaking their hips.
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