My Birthday...another year older...

For my birthday this year I decided that I wanted to go to an Indian restaurant with the family.  I love trying new things (especially food!) so we walked to Maharani and then over to Bubbies for Mochi Icecream!  It was a wonderful night.  Thanks to my wonderful husband and my parents I also got the BendTec!  Green Smoothies every morning!!!

Starting Again - Yea!

 It has been over a year since I've written a post here at our Adventures!  Reason... uh, I don't really have one.  Maybe because of Facebook, I've felt like I've connected with long lost friends and have been keeping up with family and friends that way.  But...then I think about what the blog means to me and it makes me sad that I didn't keep it up and feel like I lost a year of my memories.  I know some of you read the blog and look at the pics that I post, but mostly I do it for my own selfish reasons of remembering my life.  Anybody that knows me knows that I have a terrible memory and the blog not only allows me to post pictures of my memories but my thoughts and feelings as well!

The great thing about our blog is that I started it about 3.5 years ago when we moved our family to Hawaii.  So, now when I go back I see our life from the new beginning.  It was a great way to let our family and friends back in CA see what we are doing and how big the kids are getting.  Here are just some things that took place at the beginning of this blog...

I was pregnant with Zek.  He was born at Queens and in June of this year he will be 3!

Genesis was only 18 months old and still in diapers!  She barely had any hair!

Ki was 3 years old and totally in his zone - a place full of trees to climb, bugs to play with, and warm oceans to swim in.

Well, here is a trip down memory lane from when we first started the blog.  As far as the year that was forgotten - it won't be for long - I'll try to make it up little by little!

New Kayak

Zek's Board Ride

Geni Singing!

The 3 little Pigs

Tantalus Part 1

Always Hard to say Good-Bye!

On the last night that Mom and Dad were here, we took them out to Shorebird Restaurant. It's a very nice restaurant right on the beach where you actually bbq your own meat. Your raw meat comes on a plate and you go over to the big bbq where you talk around the grill - different atmosphere and fun for a change. As you can see from the pictures, the kids were out by the end of the night and we had to carry all three of them home (walking - good thing we don't live too far). The kids had such a good time with Grandpa and Grandma and miss them already. We love you guys!

Christmas Cookies

........................................Before the race......................................

...........................................After...............................................

HONOLULU MARATHON!!!

The main reason for my parents' visit this time was the marathon. Ever since I ran cross country in highschool, my dad (who was also my trainer) and I always said we would do a marathon together someday. Don't ask me why we didn't do it when we were both in our prime but at least we can say that we did it and finished still standing! Eventhough my dad has run many, this was Oscar and mine's first marathon and it was very exciting! Oscar's pace is much faster than mine and he did awesome with a finishing time of 4:25. That's really good for not training as much as they say we should. My dad stayed the whole race with me and we finished together holding hands (running and cheering) past the finish line. We did it in 5:45. This is a memory I'll never forget and I'm so grateful that I have my dad to do this with. Running has always been something we have had in common (among many things) but this special bond is really unlike any other. I thank God for my dad!


Oscar's running buddies at work also ran the marathon and it was great to have a group of friends all there at the finish line, encouraging and sharing in the experience together. It was the first of many marathons for the group. Sign us all up for next year!



Mile 6 - Mom brought the kids down at 6:00 am to see us run through Waikiki - so far, feeling great!



Getting ready to pass the finish line! Very happy and still running :)


Us - after the race! Very happy we are done and actually not feeling too bad!


The group - Dennis (kneeling down), Ivan, Ed, Mike, Oscar, Daddy, and me. A few others are not in the picture but congrats to EVERYONE!!

Geni's Christmas Program at School

I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast. I always tell her not to grow up but to stay little and she reassures me that even when she's big, she'll still be little! Well, she had her first Christmas program at her preschool and I was so proud of her! She continues to amaze me at how smart and self -confident she is. She is kinda that shy, quiet one who just absorbs everything in but then when you get to know her, she is so silly and full of life. I look forward to seeing how God will continue to shape her and use her. How exciting for a mom (and Grandma) to watch her children grow up in God's love!

Northshore

We love to go to Northshore so it was perfect that Pipeline Masters was going on when my parents came. We hung out watching big waves, stopped for lunch, grabbed a few chocolate covered pineapples, and then went to the Christmas Tree Farm to pick out our tree. It was a lot of fun having Grandpa and Grandma here to pick out the tree and then decorate it together. It actually made me feel like a little girl again - My Daddy was stuck putting on the lights, just like I remember it!

My Parents Come for a Quick Visit

My Mom and Dad came again but this time for a quick visit - only 5 days! The main reason... The Honolulu Marathon. We did a couple of other fun things while they were here - of course. This was my mom's 7th time visiting in two years! She already has her ticket to come out again in a month!!!

Christmas Aloha

The "Lighting of the Tree" at the Honolulu City Lights is becoming a Christmas tradition for us. This is our second Christmas in Hawaii and the second time we went to the parade. The kids are still little enough to enjoy and appreciate all the marching bands and Santa decorations! You wouldn't think that Hawaii is very Christmas-y but actually people really get into things here. The story is a little different with Santa coming over on a canoe and of course wearing shorts and slippers but never the less, there is always a parade or two. We "ran into" our dear friends, the Fongs which is always nice. Roger entered his wreath into the contest (he should have won!)