BACK TO REALITY

My house is a wreck with 10 pieces of luggage halfway unpacked, I can't find the keys to the car that has been parked in the garage all summer, our grouchy neighbors are giving us grief about property lines, the washing machine is leaking water, and I was just assigned six more clients...WELCOME HOME. Above are some pictures from our last few days in Hawaii. Tuesday we went to the temple (thanks to Tanner for helping me work that out with my recommend being stolen and all). Brent and I took turns with the baby. I walked around the temple. Up behind the temple is a cemetery that was there before the Temple was built. There was a beautiful view from up there. Wednesday we went to Punchbowl. It was very interesting. We also managed to fit in Haunama Bay, Sharks Cove, and Waimea Bay one last time. The kids both jumped off the rock at Waimea. It was awesome. Sunday was the day we returned. We woke up super early and watched the sunrise from Makapuu Beach. I am SO glad we did because it was unbelievable!!! After that we went to church with our friends from the Super Kids Club at the First Assembly of God. Nick Vijicic spoke. He is a 25 year old man that was born without arms or legs. He is amazing. You should google him. His testimony is very inspiring. We love our friends there and will miss them very much. After that we went to our church. They sang Aloha Oe (Farewell to thee) to us in sacrament meeting. We will miss our friends there as well. It was a LONG day. We got home from church, packed, then headed to the airport for our 10:40 flight. I am happy to say I made it on the plane even though my ID was stolen. All I had to do was go through extra security while Max cried and cried because he was going to miss his dad. 12 very long hours later we were home! Brent got home yesterday and we are happy to have him here. Thanks to Dwight, Armi , Wade, and Angela for helping him get home. Our second van decided to break down a few hours before he was to get on the plane...so he was in quite a rush to get home. Call it Leavitt luck or the Kirkham Curse I don't know, but thanks to all of you that helped us all get home! We love and will miss you!!

NO FAIR!!!!!

Look at my little guy getting so big!!! Max has had two wiggly teeth for the past week or so. Tonight he and Emma locked themselves in the bathroom. Emma wiggled and wiggled for about an hour and out popped Max's tooth!! Right now Max and Emma are hiding it so they can play "hot and cold" with dad to find it when he gets home. Oh, and Max refuses to the tooth under his pillow because he wants to show "gwama Kokum and Wevitt" when he gets back to Idaho. He is SO excited and I am doing my best to be happy for him, but really I want to cry...why do they have to grow up so dang fast? It's NO FAIR!

Happy Days

All things must come to an end...THANKFULLY

What a crazy week!! We had the police at our apartment on two separate occasions to file two separate police reports. First, my wallet was stolen and the creep that stole it apparently decided he would declare free gas day for himself, his family, friends, and pretty much anyone with a vehicle!! We had well over $1000 fraudulent charges on our cards...all gas stations and McDonald's. Then, my phone stopped working. I could power it on and that was all. I spent last Saturday and Sunday watching texts come in, but I could't read them. It was SO frustrating. I have a new phone now, but I don't know anyones number so feel free to give me a call sometime so I can program you in!! Tuesday was spent watching my poor Max puke all day. He never had a fever so it must have been some sort of food poisoning. Wednesday night I woke up at 2:00 FREEZING, and Hawaii is not anywhere near cold in August. I had Mastitis for the third time...second time in Hawaii. Then our gate key and parking pass were stolen out of our van. Good thing it's a gated community....(all that means is someone will try to steal your pass and key so they can get in and park there too- kind of defeats the purpose). Of course in order to get a new card and pass without paying the $150 fee, we had to file a police report. Friday I went to the pool. We were kind of in a hurry to get there. I greased up the keikis with sunblock, but somehow managed to forget to put any on myself. SO, I am officially FRIED! I was so proud of the fact that I haven't been burned all summer, and here I sit, my last week to enjoy the sun in Hawaii, and I have the worst burn I have probably ever had! Wait, it gets better... Then Saturday I got a call from my bank stating one of my other accounts was overdrawn $200. The greedy gas guzzling giant strikes again with a card I had forgotten even existed...So, I get to file my third police report in Hawaii. SO, we decided to have some fun to celebrate the end of this horrible week!!!!

We started by visiting the Birthing Stones. This is the place where ancient Hawaiian royalty were born. The mother would give birth while all the chiefs watched. After the child was born, the men would take him away and raise him. This was done to protect the babies from the enemy who sought to kill them. It is hidden in the middle of a pineapple field. It was really interesting.

Next, we went to the Dole Plantation. For those of you who have not been there yet, this is the BIGGEST tourist trap in all of Oahu!! This was our third time there. We told the kids we would take them back to conquer the World's Largest Maze (well technically it isn't the largest anymore, but it was in 2001). It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes, but we did it!

After that we went to Haleiwa and had some food at Haleiwa Joe's. We figured we should probably eat somewhere local before we leave the island. It has been my personal mission since we got here to see a sea turtle. Emma and Brent saw one at Ko'Olina, but I was busy with the boys. So, we have been stopping every so often at a small beach nicknamed turtle beach because there are supposed to be lots of honus there. We hadn't seen any up until this trip! I counted 12 and they were HUGE. There were four up on the beach at one point. The bigger turtles stroll up on the beach and bask in the sun for hours at a time. One even swam up and touched Max! There was a turtle, Honey Girl that was murdered at this beach July 19th so now it is heavily monitored by volunteers. One of the volunteers said that the heaviest turtle that lives there is 250lbs. She also said that there are 23 turtles that are regulars at this beach. It is against the law to touch, feed, or even change the path of one of the sea turtles. They are so beautiful. It was great!

Then, we were off to Three Tables. This is one of our favorite beaches. It has really good snorkeling and nice waters for the kids to swim. After this beach, we went to Sunset Beach and watched the sunset. It was a beautiful end to a great day! I'm pretty sure I won't ever be ready to come home. I love it here! We have done SO many amazing things. Enjoy the photos!

FOUR NEW BABIES!!

Our house sitter called the Monday morning to let us know that Mittens looked like she had her kittens, but he had no idea where they were. My mom searched for them and finally found them in Max's closet. Mittens is the proud mother of four more kittens. Three of them are brown and the other is black with a striped face. The kids can't wait to get home and see them. I'm sure there will be many a pictures to post when we get back. SO...if any of you want or know of anyone that wants a kitten or two in about 6 or 7 weeks, let us know!

PCC

Polynesian Cultural Center

Yesterday we went back to the Polynesian Cultural Center to see some more things. Last time we went was when Noelle and her family came to pick up Skylar (I will post that one later when I get all the pics together). It doesn't open until noon so Brent couldn't come with us this time. I packed the kids up and we made a day of it. It was a lot of fun. We visited almost all of the other islands. Max LOVED Tonga where he threw a spear (We returned there three times). He was really good at it. Emma's favorite was Samoa, where they climbed a coconut tree, cracked it open, shaved the meat of the coconut, and then milked it to get the coconut milk. Everything was neat. The kids fished, weaved crafts, danced (Emma got up on stage twice to dance), sang, got tattoos, learned how to make fire from two sticks, and tasted coconut bread. I am so glad we have annual passes because we want to go back again to see more and revisit a lot of the things we saw. We also watched a really cool movie about the Coral Reef at the IMAX theater.

Magic Island

This wasn't posed at all...my kids really do love each other this much.

See Diamond Head in the background.

The kids needed to thank the pigs for a great show

Reed watching the pig races

After church Sunday, we ventured out to Magic Island for the Annual Honolulu Family Festival. We told the keikis ahead of time that we wouldn't be riding rides or buying any food, and we stuck to our guns. We had a good time anyway. We watched a pig race and a trapeze show. Then, we just walked around and enjoyed the view. It sure did get us excited for the good ol' Eastern Idaho State Fair!!

Our family trip to Costco

Recently, Max has picked up the oh so very annoying habit of punching us as hard as he can when he wants our attention. That being said, the other day, we went to Costco to return something. Brent and Max went to return the item, and Emma and I stayed outside to get some food. Brent was taking FOREVER so I called him to see what was happening. He told me that he passed out and the ambulance was on its way. As I rushed in to see what happened, out came Brent in a wheelchair with Max on his lap. Brent had a crooked grin on his face...I asked him what happened and he whispered that Max had, and as Emma so delicately puts it when she tells the story, "punched him in the nuts". He said he was fine but the Costco manager would not release him until the paramedics cleared him (Brent hadn't told the manager what happened). Up pulled the fire truck along with an ambulance and 10 EMS/firemen hopped out to rescue Brent. He assured them that he was fine and proceeded to fill them in on what had actually happened. Everyone got quite a laugh out of the whole situation. Apparently, after Max punched Brent, shall we say, below the belt, he took a deep breath and sat Max down in a time out along the counter. Then he stood up to make his return only to pretzel down and pass out cold on the floor. Max thought dad was just messing around, so while he was out, he took dad's hat off, hit him in the face with it, and then straddled him and tried to ride him like a horse. When Brent came to, the wheelchair was there ready for his exit. And that, my friends, is our family trip to Costco.

Lucky Number SEVEN!

(Emma talking to grandma on her birthday)

You help your family out with chores, sing songs, and play games outdoors.
You draw fun pictures for the fridge and grow each day (well just a smidge),
You run and jump and dance and twirl. You're our amazing super girl!!

Emma is sporting her new hula outfit that River and Riley gave to her. Riley even brought his bunny to the celebration!

Well, it's official, Emma is seven, and she declares this her "best birthday ever!" We just partied all day long! First we got up early and went to the Honolulu Zoo as a family. (Emma actually wanted to go swimming with sharks, but we decided this was more family friendly.) After the zoo, we came home and made her cake. She said she wanted a Hawaiian cake and asked me to make a pineapple (flavored and shaped) cake. It actually turned out really yummy! We had friends over for cake and ice cream, and then we did it all over again with dad, the crew, and Uncle Ryan and family. Emma is SO BIG!! She is just growing up mentally and physically. I love the way she mothers and organizes all the kids in our apartments. She was trying to tell the boy that lives downstairs that it is not okay to litter. When he told her he didn't know what littering was she was appalled. Today we watched a six month old baby and his three year old brother. She made a bottle for the baby and lunch for the three year old and Max. Lunch was served on a cookie sheet. It was a cheese, peanut butter, and jelly sandwich (her secret recipe), yogurt, extra sliced cheese, and cookies for dessert (Emma NEVER forgets dessert!). On her birthday she had Parish, the 7 year-old boy that lives below us, and Max perform a dance she choreographed to a song she wrote. It was super cute and if I could figure out how to post it I would. We love you Sister SUE!!! Happy Birthday!

My Wake Up Call

This week a boy in our neighborhood back home died in a boating accident. He was only thirteen years old. Here I was, just that morning, grumpy as could be with my kids. I was worried about money, a messy house, and all sorts of things that don't really matter. What an eye opener...I can't believe how much I take advantage of the blessings I have in my life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to this family and all those that are trying so hard to make sense of all of it.


Be sure to see all of my other posts. I have been trying to make up for the past week and a half.

All over the world...

Last time we were at the beach, Emma met this cute girl from Japan. They were playing on boogie boards together for about a half an hour before I went over to talk to them. Emma told me that her new friend was 10 years old and didn't speak English. The two girls were sharing goggles, boogie boards and smiles. Emma called the girl Elizabeth, because that was as close as she could come to what her real name sounded like. It was neat to see how they could communicate even though they didn't speak the same language. When "Elizabeth" left she asked Emma if she would take a picture with her. She and her family were so nice to all of us. They kept saying "bye...See you" over and over and "Elizabeth" kept coming back to wave and say "See you" one more time to Emma. Emma was so excited use the only Japanese she knows "Kansha shimasu".

$$ GOING GREEN $$

The kids think "going green" means, trading your used water bottles for money. We told them that if they recycle water bottles and soda cans, they can earn money. So they have been saving them since we got here. They also managed to get some from another couple that was out here. They were so excited to change them in and even more excited when they each earned seven dollars for all of their hard work. Max is saving his to buy a four wheeler. Emma was going to save hers as well, but ended up spending most of hers on Hannah Montana lip gloss about two hours later.

FIVE AND ALIVE

Okay, SO not the best picture, but better than the other one I took. Emma wanted
Max's cake to be a boogie board because he LOVES his boogie board.

After Max made his wish and he blew out the candles, he opened his gifts. He was SO excited when he saw what his cousin's got for him. He later whispered to me that his wish came true because he had wished for a jet ski and then Anakin and Hanna got him one!!! He was so thrilled. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that it is a boat. We all call it a jet ski now too!)

Jade, Blake, Max and Emma (notice Emma's coconut purse she takes EVERYWHERE!!)

Best BUDDIES!!!!

Well, against my wishes, Max just turned 5!!! I kept telling him I wasn't going to let him be five, he could just be four forever. He didn't like that idea. I keep telling him it is against the rules to grow up, but he just keeps doing it anyway. We had a fun day on Max's birthday. He chose to go to the aquarium that morning. We invited his best buddy, Blake, and his sister, Jade, to come along. They had the BEST time. After seeing all we could see at the aquarium, we told Max we would take him anywhere he wanted for lunch. He chose McDonald's of all places, and the rest of the kids couldn't have been happier! We spent the afternoon swimming with Blake and Jade's family, and after dad came home, we had cake an ice cream with the boys and Max's other buddies. It was lots of fun. I made Max wait until 7:59pm before I would actually declare him 5 years old because that was when he was born. I still can't believe it was five years ago. He is such a fun boy. I love so many things about him. He loves to learn and is starting to read really well. He is also learning the difference between fact and opinion and likes to point out, "That's just your opinion". His freckles are popping like crazy this summer and it is so cute. He so social and is making great friends with everyone out here. I LOVE YOU BUG-A-BOO...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!