Melange

EIGHT
I never got around to posting these pictures and I really want to get them done so that I can move onto our awesome trip to Bryce Canyon with the Christensen Family! It was so fun!!

But First, I don't think these pictures ever hit the scene. We are so proud of Cambria for choosing to get baptized. Every day she makes a conscious effort to make right choices. It is clear that she is really considering consequences of her actions. Than kyou to every one who made this day so special!

Not all of our family could come, but we still felt loved:)

Valley Of Fire

Awesome hike, beautiful red rocks, awesome petroglyphs, cool story about "Mouse" the renegade indian, pardon me renegade Native America. (The PC way just doesn't have the same ring to it.) Fun with cousins . . . a little too hot. This would be a good hike in November or March.

Each little rock house had fire places that Kiera wanted to take pictures by. I guess they seem really cool because no body we know around here has a fire place.

The petroglyphs . . .

The Cousins . . . AKA The Mini United Nations

Does this look like the Starship Enterprise to you???? Do you think this was a natural phenomenon or did someone carve the rock?

Small Town Charm
Our friend has a horse. His horse had a baby. He called us so we could come see the newborn foal. It was so cute! After we were done being charmed by the baby horse my kids played in the chicken coup for like a half hour. Yeah, I said a chicken coop. Whoda thought this city girl would have country kids . . . not me.

The Third Annual . . .

It gets bigger every year!! What started out as three Families has grown to 40 plus kids! We love our Popsicle Parade- We decorate our bikes/scooters/strollers, ride around the block a few times hen eat popsicles . . . simple and fun! We learned early that you have to create your own fun and this has been a great tradition.

Bubba's favorite friend (besides Kelsie whom he wants to marry)

Kiera's Favorite Friend

Cambria's Favorite friends . . .

Recital

I never learned to play the piano. I think it is a wonderful talent to posses, so naturally, I am living my unfulfilled dreams through my kids:) They have a wonderful teacher in Ms. Angela. She has taught them so much about music theory and she has managed to make it enjoyable. Her program is called Let's Play Music.

Last Friday we attended a brief (yay!) recital. Cambria and Kiera played When the Saints Go Marching In. I am so proud of them!

Raia thought everybody was clapping for her . . . She has a very healthy self-esteem.

You Are Enough

You are enough.
You don't need to sew all your own clothes.
You don't need to can peach preserves.
You don't need to be the PTA President.
You don't need to tutor your children in Latin or Greek.
You don't need to speak multiple languages.
You don't need to be a culinary artist.
You don't have to wear heals and pearls.
You are enough.

You may have to work.
Your floor may not sparkle and shine.
Sometimes the part in your daughters hair may be crooked.
You may find stains on your shirt that may never come out.
Your child may have chocolate at the corners of his mouth.
Your windows and mirrors may be covered in tiny hand prints.
Your children may lose focus during family home evening.
You may sometimes wonder why you are at church when all you do is roam the halls with a fussy child.
You may have a basket of laundry that needs to be done or dishes in the sink.
Your house may not be organized with cute baskets labeled in cute vinyl lettering.
You are enough.

My heart breaks when I hear mothers talk about how they dread mother's day because of feelings of inadequacy. I am surprised at the number of women who feel this way. A few years back, I was in my mother's ward and the lady who taught Relief Society that Sunday pretty much complained during the whole lesson about how she thought mother's day should be done away with. She said all it did was make her feel bad because she had to work and she felt guilty about it. She was embarrassed that her kids were often rambunctious during sacrament meeting. She didn't know how to sew or can or make homemade

pies or do all those other things that she supposed a good mother should know how to do.

I was sad for her because she didn't know she was enough.

Mother's Day isn't a holiday meant to honor only the mother's whose names can be found in the Mother's Hall of Fame. It is a day to honor those who are willing. It is a day to honor those who are ready to roll up their sleeves and do the hard things. It is a day meant to honor those who are willing to take on the responsibility of nurturing and rearing another life. It is a day meant to honor those who lose sleep when their baby has a fever, those who are left cleaning up vomit and those who are willing to buckle themselves into the passenger seat of a car and bravely place keys in the eager hands of their teenager.

It is meant to honor those who take the time to tie shoelaces and kiss away tears.

As mothers we are teachers, cheerleaders, taxi drivers, hair stylists, wardrobe consultants, chefs, nurses, life managers, bankers and a myriad of other things.

Do we have to know how to do everything to be a good mom? NO.

Some mothers are better at some things than others. But their is something you are good at; loving your child. You are enough.

Jeffrey R. Holland says it best in this short video.

You are a good mom because you try, because you are willing, because you love.

Mother's Day is not a day meant to shine a spotlight on the shortcomings of imperfect mothers. It is a day to celebrate those who are willing to get their hands dirty and say

"I love you" in the process.

I know you know this already, but it doesn't hurt to remind yourself:)

And by the way, I spent mother's day in bed with the stomach flu. (which reminds me, I need to do a post about tender mercies from our Heavenly Father)

And also by the way, I have the best mother in the whole world.

PS: this post is not because of anyone's blog posts. It is something I have been thinking about for awhile- I love all of my friends in the blogging world and I think every single one of you is wonderful!

Familiar sights to those who once called an island, Home

If Oahu was never your home these pictures may not mean much to you. They were once so common place to me that I never would have thought of taking pictures of them. Now they symbolize a very special time of my life. Seven years of it to be exact.

Ko'olau Ranch home to Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young, Lost and many others. We had school dances and bon fires here and we also bought tickets for a very cool snorkle cruise here. Yeah, it's blury . . . I took the picture from my car window.

China Man's Hat . . . a famous sight.

Banana pancakes and loco mocos . . . mmm. Who used to own this little Laie shop? Sam Choy?

Pineapple field on the north shore . . . they do not grow in trees . . .

After the storm comes the rainbow. I remember carpooling to Kailua with Hayley when we saw a double rainbow outside of our car window . . . nothing beats the view.

So North Shore . . .

The secret walk to Kawela Bay. This beach is great for sunning and for little kids who hate wind. The trees act as natural wind breaker. It is super private and because of this some people think they can sun bathe nude here. Yuck- I don't go to the beach to see naked people, and for heaven sake please don't bend over to pick up your sunscreen! Save that for your European vacations.

I lived near here and spent a lot of time on this beach- Bikini Beach. This view was very familiar.

Love the decor!

The CAC- Cannon Activity Center . . . Devotionals on Tuesday, Basketball games on Friday and graduation day.

This is the path I took to walk to "the Caf" everyday, three times a day to get my food as a freshman and half of my sophomore year. The trees sure have grown tall since then. I remember watching Kai's buddy (and mine) Bobo jump up and try to touch the leaves.

My Dorms. Hale 3. Ma Berta was my dorm mom. Here I worked as a janitor (hey, it pays the bills and at least I knew the bathrooms were clean!) and as a resident assistant. The year I moved off campus, Ma Berta bought me a Thanksgiving Turkey for me and my roommates to cook. Bless her heart.

My window- the second top from the left. Perfect for letting the trade winds to cool us off and we backed right up the the PCC arena. I had three different roommates who became dear friends (Dani, Sonia and Betsy) and we did our homework to the music of the night show.

It was the pre cell phone days, you know. When Kai came to call on me he simply stood outside my window and called my name until I appeared. Ah, the good ol' days.

Kai's dorm . . . Hale 6. I spent an hour in the boys lounge applying aloe vera to Kai's back after he wiped out surfing at Goat Island and shredded his back on the reef. It wasn't pretty.

Papaya

Coconut

My first ever experiences with Walmart were in Mililani. We called it the Holy Land. It was open 24 hours. There wasn't a lot of shopping in Laie.

I hardly spent any time at all on this side of the island, but I did go to this denny's on occasion after spending some time at the Ala Moana mall.

We drove to Tamura's in Wahiawa on our way to Walmart. It was kind of yucky, but it was so much cheaper than Foodland in Laie.

Having a car was not just a luxury, it was a rarety. I spent a lot of time on "the bus" when I was a freshman (holding a stick of spearmint gum under my nose to block out the smells). We took the bus to Waikiki twice a month to go longboarding in the shadow of Diamond head. It is where Kai and I had our first date, paddling in the ocean waves.

I love this temple. It was within a 5 minute walk from my tva apartment and if I stretched my neck I could see it from my second story bedroom in K building. K 230. Kai for Kai.

McDonald's in Laie . . . they don't accept walk-ups to the drive in window . . .or skateboards. We know from experience. But they do have a waterfall inside and one time this old haole lady burst out in a McDonald's tribute song while in line for ordering.