The Dress is getting too small

This was the special dress that we bought for the vow renewal in June. Ry came running out of her room today yelling that it was getting too small. So she shimmied into it and out we went into the garden!

I love this shot of her!

This was her "model" pose. Love it.

I was holding the camera in front of us. We both have freckles.

Silly Faces.

Hahaha she's so funny!

Mele Kalikimaka

This year we decided to make a holiday video instead of a traditional card. I had a ball putting it together. It truly has been a wonderful year.

We've officially made one year back home on Maui and are living on cloud 9.

Enjoy!! (email subscribers will need to click the link at the bottom to view the video)

The Tree is Up!

Last year all our stuff was in the container. Today I got to put up our tree. The kids were so excited!

I can't find the box with our stockings. Will keep looking tomorrow!

How could I forget...

If you're on Facebook then you've seen this already.... but this picture has a really funny story.

We decided to go to Honolua Bay to watch the sunset and try to catch a picture. We were at the top of the cliff and decided it would be more fun to climb half way down the cliff. So there we are - both in slippers - scaling the side of the cliff with camera gear in hand. And the sun was really going down quick and I was like, "Crap! I don't know how to set the timer on the Nikon! It's different than the Canon!" So I'm fiddling with it and we finally figure it out and take a shot and it's totally of our feet. So I run back and prop the camera up and we got this shot just before the sun went down. What a gorgeous evening!

A Favorite

Peter and Ryenne at sunset at Polo Beach. She didn't come out until it was nearly dark. She is a water baby!

This, That, and The Other

Holy Moly it can seem like sitting down to write on my blog isn't going to happen. Life is just busy. Kids are going all the time. Emails never stop (which is a good thing), there are always images to edit, always another sunset to go watch, another story to read. I'm so thankful for my busy life.

First off, I hadn't blogged about it because I was ignoring it - but Peter hadn't been working for about 3 weeks. The Westin is undergoing a renovation and with so many rooms out of order, they just didn't need all the staff. So while he remained employed, he wasn't getting any hours, which translated to my business supporting the family 100%. If this scenario had happened 3 years ago, I promise we would have been up sh*t creek, but I'm happy to say that we made it through (barely). We just got some incredible news - a full time job at Mama's Fish House was offered and we jumped at the chance for many reasons a) it's a 10 minute drive down the mountain b) it will bring back cash flow c) the staff is awesome and everyone loves their job d) he'll have more time with family and e) it's where I grew up. It feels like coming back to Kuau was always meant to be. I will say though, he is one terrible house wife. haha

We are having a little drama at Kai's preschool. The lead teacher and her assistant are no longer there. It's hard because Kai has a very special bond with her, but he also is familiar with the school and his friends there. So I'm afraid of pulling him out because that would be a huge change for him and he doesn't cope well will change. So we'll stick it out and see how it goes.

I continue to feel like I'm always balancing something - house, photography work, douglas foundation repair work, and now like a crazy person I've added something else. Nothing is up yet, but there's a company that has these really awesome cleaning cloths that I adore and I signed up to sell them. I promise I won't be irritating about it. You know me and chemicals. I hate them.

Ryenne continues to amaze us. She is so matter of fact about details and pays attention to everything. She is one crazy awesome little girl. Kai has his ups and downs and is trying to be a big boy. Cruz is being a brute right now and has figured out he's bigger than Kai so there is a lot of pushing going on.

The rainy season has started. It's been getting cold at night. Hitting the 60's in the house so the footy jammies are coming out for the kids. Dexter has his jacket on most of the time. Upcountry looks magical with the rain and the chill. Definitely one of my favorite times of year. Lots of soups have been made.

With bribes in hand (race cars) they are buddies.

Kai Playing at Polo Beach

Cruz playing with a stick in the sand.

It keeps me going

I took Kai for his gymnastics class only to learn that it was cancelled because the teacher was sick. So on the way home we pulled over to feed the horses, which he thought was awesome. The brown and black ones let him touch their nose and ears. You shoulda heard his laugh - it was awesome!

Me flipping tires at CrossFit.

Dexter loves to stay warm! He's all bundled up in blankets here.

This fellow was cruising on the tree in the yard.

We took the kids to the Westin for breakfast for Landon's 7th birthday.

Cruz waiting for me to finish my workout

Ryenne and Nana. We were laughing Ry is almost as tall as Nana already!

My niece, Jadelyn. She is so hilarious. She does these funny little dances.

My lettuce is doing really well.

Lilikoi flowers are blossoming and some fruits are on the vine!

Peter's first day at Mama's!! Every Friday they wear whacky Aloha attire. This is his Friday shirt.

From CrossFit to Halloween and Other Stuff!

When we got home we realized how bare the house was of EVERYTHING. Huge Costco trip!

The monkeys started CrossFit for Kids on Saturdays! They are learning where to put their hands for air squats in this pic.

Ryenne was a box jump SUPERSTAR!

I think he was watching race cars on the ipad

A very interesting place to fall asleep!

Cruz being gentle with Dexter. Dex is getting pretty old.

Kai's Fall wreath on the front door

For Halloween we took the kids to the mall and had dinner at Ruby's followed by trick or treating. The boys were firemen and Ry was a mermaid

I was Minnie Mouse and Peter was Mickey

A beautiful day on Maui from Upcountry (click to make it bigger)

Happy Birthday Peter! He turned 37 on November 1st.

Hitting those terrible two's something fierce. Cruz decided to take out all the laundry and the clothes in his drawers.

Took Exbee on a cruise to Honolua Bay

Coconut snack aftermath

Back to Disneyland

Back to Disneyland... in my head anyway :)

These are the images that the Dland staff took. The program is pretty cool - you carry around a little card that they scan, take your picture, and all the images go into a server that you can look at later. Pretty sweet little system there. I'm noticing how tired I look in all the pictures - and bloated. Oh well!

First morning at Disneyland!

Can we pull the sword from the stone?

Ryenne meeting Mickey Mouse!

Look! Mickey is showing Shaka too!

The Carthay Circle restaurant behind us was AMAZING

I think she was a little thrown off that the Prince was with Rapunzel. She was very, very shy!

I think that face says it all... she was so excited to see Sleeping Beauty!

She was also really excited to see Princess Jasmine

Princess Tiana was another on her list she was excited to see.

One of the park employees told us that Donald always shows a #1 and signs a #1 by his name because he's in competition with Mickey. Haha