March 2025 (plus Fiji)

My parents came to visit at the end of February until mid-March. I took my dad snorkeling up on north shore. We pulled a giant slug out of the water- it was nuts! 

Kate and Jane were invited to Ava's birthday party.

My cute mom watching us surf at White Plains.

Kate and Jane were invited to another birthday party for Macy at Wai Kai. I even got to walk around on the inflatable boardwalks and obstacles. Super fun!

Kate's last soccer game at the Waipio fields.

Jane's coach Christ. He really made the soccer season so fun for the girls.

I started collecting aloha shirts and jean jackets from Good Will or Thrift Stores and created these fun jackets for the girls and myself. It's a fun (cheap) way to add some 'aloha' to our outfits.

For Spring Break, we took a 6 hour flight over to Nadi, Fiji. It is very similar to Hawaii and afterwards, Bryan and I decided we probably will just visit the other Hawaiian islands if we were going to have a beach/island vacation. 

Ziplining and Repelling 

Visiting the Garden of the Sleeping Giants

Kate's favorite picture currently.

Getting muddy at Sabeto Hot Springs

We took a boat ride over to Beachcombers Island for the day.

 The water was SO clear and there were tons of fish.

It was really fun to take out the underwater camera case while we were swimming.

To get to this waterfall, we had to drink kava with the family who owns the land and then be escorted down to the waterfall. We were the only ones there and the water was so refreshing. Kate hates cold water and never got in- we told her she'll regret it!

Making some stops along the Queens highway. 

We found so many shells along the beaches.

We hiked through Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park and on the way back to our car we heard and saw all these HUGE bats. They were so noisy!

After arriving back home, we went out with Kate and Jane's cousins (Alaina and Myriah) to watch the sunset at Sunset Beach Park. 

Proof of life: Sending photos to friends while watching June. Howie lives for car rides to Lowe's.

Kate's 6th grade class wearing their fun run shirts...

 

and then dying them.

March 2024

Jane has really enjoyed soccer this season. Her team, Myna Birds, is really good! It is with the AYSO, so the scored is not kept at games. But we are pretty sure they have never lost a game (maybe a tie?). Look at the beautiful background we get to sit in while we watch her play!

Hanging out with some of my co-workers from MIS Hawaii.

Hanging out at Kahanamoku Beach with Kristi! My girls absolutely love that they have an auntie here.

I LOVE this picture of Kate with all her freckles! Pretty sure she did get in the water with Koko and Jesse. 

Jane and her friend Jordana. We are so lucky she lives just a few houses down from us!

Egg drop: Third grade rite of passage. Jane worked really hard on this project and her egg was successfully dropped without breaking!

Kate with some of her good friends from school posing right next to her.

Checking out Sweetland Farm in Waialua. They had 2-week-old goats! The goat cheese and gelato were super yummy.

Completing the pineapple maze at the Dole Plantation. Trying to check off some of the touristy things so we know what to tell our guests when they visit. 

Bryan left for Washington D.C. to complete Iron Major Week. And what a perfect time to go- cherry blossom seasons! Unfortunately, this was during the girls' spring break, and I was in charge of trying to make it fun and memorable while still working...yikes! 

One day we hiked the Koko Head Botanical Garden with friends. 

Another day we hike the Aiea Loop trail with Howie.

Another day we went to the mall and tried out the Razor park.

During the end of our Spring Break, Kim and her younger kids came to visit. The first day of their arrival, I lost the keys to the Jeep and had a little panic attack. Turns out, they were inside the piano! We finally made it to Kailua beach and forgot all about the crazy morning. 

Electric Beach: So much fun for the adults and kids. We saw monk seals, sea turtles, and dolphins!

Bellows: A necessary stop as Kim and I both grew up boogie boarding on this beach for 6 years!

Another necessary stop.

 

March 2023

 For the past couple months, I have been training with my friend Toni for the 400/1000 pound challenge. We only got together about 2-3 times a week depending on my work schedule and her kids schedule. Sometimes we added a swim day depending on how sore we were feeling. Toni has way more lifting experience, so it was good for me to be coached on my form. She also pushed me to lift heavier than I've ever lifted. Her goal was to make it on the board at the gym. My goal was to complete the challenge. Ha! I ended up lifting 555 pounds (110lbs bench press, 215lbs squat, 230lbs deadlift). 

My neighbor was in the community theatre musical Curtains. My neighbors and I went to the show to support her efforts and it was such a fun experience! 

Kate had her birthday party with some of her good friends from school at the local ski resort. They went snow tubing and created such fun memories!

For spring break, we traveled to Utah to visit and go skiing with family. Our 15 hour trip turned into a 19 hour trip because I-80 closed down due to high winds. Everyone was detoured to I-70 through the canyon, which made for a really, really long trip. Luckily, it was all worth it because the snow was incredible this year!

We got to visit with our newest nephew/cousin. Stratton and Jenny welcomed a baby BOY earlier this month- first AHLBORN so it is quite a big deal!

We played pickleball with grandma, grandpa, Kim, Zander, and Norah at the church.

We celebrated St. Patrick's day with green cinnamon rolls and skiing at Park City. We threw a bunch of green beaded necklaces in the tree to commiserate their mom being 60% Irish (found out recently with 23&me).

We invited Rachel and her family to decorate sugar cookies.

Kate learned how to successfully backbend kick over with McCartney's help.

Howie is now a daddy! Ruby had 8 puppies at the beginning of the month. Funny story: The plan was to make 1-3K dollars per puppy, but because of inexperience and poor planning only 1.5K was made from 2 puppies. The other 6 were given away for free!

We went to a Maverick Hockey game in Kansas City with some of Bryan's friends from school. We were hoping to see blood and fights. That didn't really happen. Ha!

For date night this month, Jane and I went to get a pedicure and then went to a little art studio in town and painted some gnomes for the garden. I love this one on one time with the girls. So glad we decided to do this. Bryan took Kate to the arcade in town.