November 2025 - Jen goes to San Diego and the Braithwaites come to visit us

 November was a busy month with me traveling to San Diego, my parents coming to visit Oahu, and Coen's 10th birthday. It was a fun-filled month full of great memories.

We went to Castles Beach with our neighbors, the Packers, during the beautiful magic hour at sunset. 

Ava and I spent a good chunk of Saturday doing her science experiment for science fair (More on the fair later). She was testing different solutions that prevent apples from browning. The winner was salt water! 

Since the kids did such a good job in their Primary program, the singing leader handed the primary teachers bags of silly dress ups and we had to take turns going up front for each song. Ours was Do As I'm Doing. Notice Brent's Hollywood vibes in the back.

Our neighbors all love Kai, especially this one who always wants to hold Kai:

Audrey drew this picture and she says it's of her and Claire eating shave ice.

Kai is now so mobile and doesn't sit still for long, so we put a coconut in his lap to hold him down for his 10 month picture! At 10 months old, Kai still only has two teeth on the bottom. He thinks Audrey is the funniest person ever. Kai cruises around the furniture and loves to push the toy car outside and anything else he can turn into a walking aid. Mid-way through the month, Kai took his first steps and then started walking as his main mode of transport at the end of the month. Kai loves to do his tricks, such as opening and closing his fists when we sing twinkle twinkle little star, and raising his arms way above his head when we ask, "Kai, are you so big?"

Here's a video of Kai pushing a laundry basket around:

Kai and I dancing to Taylor Swift's  Opalite. He loves when I bounce him around to this bop.

Our RS had a favorite things activity which was fun. I brought Dawn dish soap spray because it is so much better to spray sudsy soap on your dishes rather than drizzle the liquid soap :) I chose a bouquet of flowers because I like to enjoy the beauty of them temporarily and not accumulate too many things. 

Coen was very excited to have a friend party and I planned it the week before his birthday since after his birthday it seems to get crazy with the holidays. Coen knew exactly what he wanted - Penguins and Pizza. He helped me make this invite:

The kids making their own individual pizzas was a huge hit:

I cooked the pizzas on our pizza stone in the oven. Having the oven on and cooking 10 or 12 pizzas was a labor of love in our hot house!

Coen invited 7 friends

While everyone was arriving and getting settled they played the old school Atari game Adventure, which is a game Brent used to play as a kid. He then showed a clip that features the game on Ready Player One (2018). Brent then took the kids to the elementary school playground and they played a live version of Adventure. It involves castles, keys, dragons, swords, bridges, a bat and a gold trophy! 

The kids all LOVED it! Later that night they also played handball in our driveway since Coen loves that. 

It feels like this year we have been doing a lot less tourist things and live more "normal life." One day we played tourist though and went to the macadamia nut farm. We like to stop here as a half way point on our way to Costco. 

We really fill up our car to the brim on our shopping days since we buy enough food to last our family 3 weeks. 

This time we also got some special Christmas presents that had to fit in the kids' laps and under their feet. We were even able to hide some really big presents from particular children! It took quite a bit of sneakiness and orchestration.

Coen got on the 4th grade gold honor roll. Ava also got honor roll.

Coen's birthday fell on a Tuesday, so the kids came along with me to devotional (no school for Veteran's Day). We watched it in Brent's classroom with our family, and Kai had fun with his favorite thing in there- the chairs on wheels.

Later that day we went to "Turkey Trot Beach" as we call it, or Kakelas. It was really windy and not the best beach weather. And I got stung by a blue bubble for my first time, on just one toe! It was not too terrible at first, but after about 30 minutes when we walked to the car, it must have sent the venom pumping up my leg and into my back. The pain was SO bad! 

At 10 years old, Coen is a combination of a very sweet, rule follower and peacemaker, with a sassy grumpy tween. You never quite know what kind of a day it's going to be. He has the funniest sense of humor and I love it when he tells a funny story at the dinner table. Coen has the cutest giggle and he really loves to laugh. Coen really loves penguins and basketball, and is such a good artist. His drawings amaze me! He really hates to clean up and about 99% of the time when it's time to do a chore, he drags it out and complains that we make him do everything. Coen excels in school and I always hear from his teachers that he is a dream student. He is super smart and kind to everyone. All the kids always love Coen. He is always bouncing his handball and likes to take it in his pocket each morning and get it out at recess. We love our sweet Coen!

We had a very busy Wednesday with appointments for our kids, and Brent brought lunch to his senior seminar class. Below is a picture of him quickly cutting his homemade bread while bacon wrapped chicken was out on the grill. I drove him over to class, barely in time. After this, I had a presentation on campus for the accounting club and it was Brent's turn to introduce the film The Zone of Interest (2024) and lead the discussion for Film Forum on campus that evening too. Busy!

I was asked to share my experiences working in public accounting with the accounting society on campus. 

I shared stories and things I've learned along the way, starting with deciding to get a Master's Degree, to not being afraid of innovation and working remotely. It was amazing looking back at my journey, how Heavenly Father has had his hand in my life and placed me in positions and with the people and firm that would make me the happiest.

A picture of me with the accounting students:

A video of Coen's drawing: 

Every day while the kids are at school and after the babysitter leaves, Kai and I have a little lunch date. He is the cutest.

This is one of my favorite videos of Kai. Look at his face when he recognizes the song as one that I sing and dance to with him.  

A video of Ava and Kai dancing to a song from the new Taylor Swift album. We listened to her a lot, in case you haven't noticed.

It was my turn to host book club. The book I chose is The Anxious Generation, about how play-based childhoods are being replaced with phone-based childhoods. It was such a great discussion about phones and social media, and what we can do to better protect ourselves and our families. Before the book club, Brent, ever the great host, prepared both sweet and savory charcuterie boards for us, before taking the younger kids to campus.

Brent and I went on a walk early one morning to the temple with Kai. 

Kai wanted to jump in the reflecting pool!

I have just one picture to document and remind us for a journal's sake, that Audrey was so HARD this month. 

She had a phase last spring where she was incredibly mischievous and sneaky, and it returned again this fall. Lots of screaming, crying, disobeying, and doing unbelievably naughty things. It is such a challenge to figure out why she's acting like this, and what to do about it! To protect her innocence (haha!) I will only give one of the naughty things she did this month. 

While we were eating Sunday dinner (which she wouldn't eat for some reason) she went upstairs and got on her fanciest dress and her high heels. She went onto our balcony, climbed over the railing and started walking around on the upper story roof of our tall second story house. Luckily Coen and a friend were playing outside and saw her and told her to go in! They pounded on our door and frantically told me and Brent. By the time I ran upstairs, Audrey was already back inside hiding. It scared me so bad!

The kids were so excited to go to BYUH's production of Into The Woods. Coen especially was determined to go early to get a seat, and like with Aida last semester, he went to most of the performances. 

Construction at BYUH is well under way! The circle out front with the flags and the McKay building are all gone. 

This is what happens when your 6 year old sister plays with you- you become a princess. 

Elder Stevenson came to BYUH and gave a devotional. Brent was able to go and get a good seat:

The orthodontist is a 45-minute drive from our house so Brent always makes a date of it and takes Ava to Buffalo Wild Wings afterward. He also takes Kai on this excursion so I can get some work done.

I was videoing how Kai was figuring out how to stand up without holding on to anything, and then I got a video of his very first step!

He took his first step the day before I went out of town, so I told Brent to not let Kai walk any more while I was gone!

Most days around 4pm, Kai and I go outside to get some fresh air and to play in our driveway. Our neighbors that we share the driveway with, are usually outside too. While the little ones play, the moms chat. This is often the only adult interaction I have besides when Brent gets home from work!

Audrey had a homework assignment to disguise her turkey. She wanted to make it an Elsa turkey.

The kids received free McDonalds ice cream coupons from the library, so I took them to the McDonalds around the corner from our house. It was my first time to go in that restaurant! Brent took them once for a treat and had an awful experience and vowed never to return. Other than grandparents, the kids never get to go to this McDonalds. This location can take upwards of 15-20 minutes to complete orders. They are also much more expensive than any other McDonalds. In town, for example, ice cream cones are $1.29. It is close to $4 in Laie, and the machine is usually broken and comes out as soup. The kids were happy to get their free cone!

Video of Kai just being cute and shaking a toy:

Audrey got to go with our neighbors to play at the new playground in the married student housing. Aside from the tiny playground at the elementary school, this is the only playground in Laie.

On Wednesday the 19th, I traveled to San Diego for a partners retreat for my work. Our hotel was right near the water and I had a beautiful view from my room:

That night we had dinner at Ruth's Chris. It was my first time to go, despite my firm going all the time in Utah. It was delicious! I got the filet mignon. Oh man...drool.  It was also nice to see all my fellow coworkers - it's always like a family reunion because I've worked there for so long.

Thursday and Friday we had meetings in a conference room that overlooks the water. 

We had a women's meeting to discuss issues relevant to us as female partners and leading the firm. They passed out crowns for us to wear :) 

These are all of the female partners at the firm - approaching 50% of all partners. It's interesting, the vast majority of us were all promoted within the last 3 years. About 5 years ago, there were only 3 female partners I believe. Times are changing!

After our meetings on Thursday we had different activities to choose from. I chose to go to the Navy Seal museum. It was pretty interesting and definitely made me appreciate our military and what these people do to keep us safe. 

The Navy Seals are extra amazing, and the coolest part of the museum was the docents. This man was such a character. (Too bad I only got a blurry pic!)  After chatting with him for a while, I discovered he was a retired navy seal, as were all of the docents. He had interesting stories to tell. I asked him what he did in San Diego once he got home from Vietnam. He told me he was a marine animal trainer. He trained seals and dolphins who help the navy. What!? 

That night we went to another fancy dinner. I got more steak, yum. When I got back to my hotel room at night I just relaxed and watched tv, worked on my blog, and FaceTimed my family. 

Back at home, Ava went on an overnighter with the YW group. 

They were backpacking and brought in their own dinners to cook over the fire. Brent sent her with a Marie Calendar's pie to cook over the fire, which she loved.

On my Friday night in San Diego my conference was already over. I went to the USS Midway on my own, which is a museum on the aircraft carrier. 

It was a very cool tour! Here's the massive chain for the anchor of the ship.

I did a self-guided tour and once again, appreciated what our military do!

The airplanes on top of the ship were cool to check out.

On Saturday I was able to meet up with my friend Ashley for lunch. She lives about an hour north of where I was staying, so we met at a little cafe about half way. We met Ashley and her family when they were living in Hawaii for several months and hit it off. Her husband is the one who was tragically killed in a car accident in September. It was so good to see her and give her the big hug I've been wanting to give her. She is so amazing and shared miracle after miracle her family has experienced. Her testimony lifted me and I feel so lucky to have a friend like her. 

After lunch with Ashley I took an Uber to a mall and went shopping. It was a bit if a fail for finding myself clothes, but I did find the kids pajamas at Target which doubled as their souvenirs from San Diego haha. That night I vegged out in the hotel room. On Sunday, I went to old town San Diego which I found so quaint. I walked around and thought the old architecture was so pretty.

I enjoyed the Mormon Battalion museum and then it was time to head to the airport.

Look at the face of this little boy who's getting into stuff in daddy's office! Brent has to cover his movies and books, lock desk drawers, and cover certain areas of his office so that Kai can roam around. Behind the desk here are some movie posters and other past advertising from Film Forums and Brent's Disney course. Kai always thinks it is hilarious to touch things he knows he is not supposed to. 

While I was out of town Brent took the kids to Sip n' Slide... we had some treat money to use from his mom! The kids were thrilled. 

Coen goes to Battle of the Books every Monday. He and our neighbor Will, always come home from it and read together. 

The Campbells invited us over, along with the Chases, to learn how to cook Korean food. We learned how to make japchae, which are the glass noodles stir fry. So yummy!

Our kids loved it!

I think this video captures why Brent and I can no longer watch devotional in the CAC. This is what Kai was up to:

Brent and I went to his department's graduate banquet that night, and then my parents arrived from Big Island. 

Grandma and Grandpa taking Kai on a walk:

That evening we went to pie night at the Packers. They're always so nice to host this the night before Thanksgiving. In case you're counting, this is about night #8 in a row of social engagements for me, the introvert. I had to go home and just sit in the quiet after ha ha. 

Thanksgiving morning - Brent and I went on a walk to the beach. It was such a beautiful morning! My parents took the older ones swimming a little later.

Coen and Grandpa helped peel potatoes. I made sweet potato casserole and bacon wrapped chicken.

We joined the Becksteads for Thanksgiving along with several other families. 

There was so much food - it was a true feast!

Kai really enjoyed his first Thanksgiving :)

My parents introduced Ava to Christmas Vacation (1989) - Ava thought it was hilarious!  

We went to Kawela Bay for a swim:

Some of us stayed watched the sunset at Sunset Beach. It was a beautiful one as always!

The waves were crazy powerful since it's winter. There are signs posted to not swim due to the dangerous shorebreak, but quite a few people still get in to get tumbled around in the waves. Not us! Here are some of the powerful waves at beach.

Saturday we all went to see Wicked: For Good (2025) at the theaters- thanks Mom and Dad! It was super fun to watch and finally finish the story from the first one! 

After the movie we went to Bishop Museum in Honolulu. This museum was built in 1889! 

The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum is Hawaii's museum of Natural and Cultural history. They also have a planetarium and really fun science center that focuses on volcanos and how the Sandwich islands formed over millions of years.

That night my parents took the older kids home (to go to McDonalds!) and Brent and I and the younger two went to the Ala Moana mall. Brent wanted to go shopping at Barnes and Noble (the only one on all of Oahu). We also got Chick-Fil-A, which everyone loves. Kai was cracking us up, and being so silly with the girl sitting to the side of us. He was disappointed when it was time to leave. 

Each year the kids decorate the envelopes for our Christmas cards. Here are a few of the good ones:

This one says Have a very Harry Christmas (for our Harry Potter fan friend).

Ava worked very hard on her science poster that weekend. It is nice to have that done. Now onto History Day.

We were so thankful for all the experiences we had in November, especially all of the time spent with friends and family throughout the month. The fun continues as my parent's trip extends into December, so stay tuned.