Back to the Blog Living!

I know that it's been an obscene amount of time since I've posted anything, but after a friend of ours at church gave me the hardest time about my out of date blog (Jason, you know who you are) I am finally sitting down and working on it even though it is 11:00pm, and my bed is calling my name. It's not that I haven't wanted to post. I have actually sat down several times and started drafts to post, but I am always inconveniently interrupted by my wonderful adorable children. But now, after the teasing I received last Sunday I am determined to keep my goal of blogging more often. Since I last posted, quite a few things have happened to our family. I've decided to share them from the past to most recent in hopes of getting you up to date, so here goes!

In April Kiara turned three years old! My little girl is not a little girl anymore. She is such a joy in my life, I can't imagine life without her. Some of the things I love most about Kiara is her compassion for others, the way she shows her love in so many ways, her amazing imagination that allows her to create wonderful things around her, the fact that she doesn't mind just listening and observing things around her sometimes, and her determination to figure out things around her. I was in actually in Chicago on her birthday, but we celebrated when Maka and I returned. She had a great party with all her friends, Lizzy, Elise, Kate, Andrew, Maka, and all of her adult friends as well. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends. We ate pizza, macaroni salad, cupcakes, and Gregg Walker made great balloon animals for all the kids!

Guess who forgot to take the tags off the glasses in the goodie bags? It did make for a hilarious picture though.

Another thing that happened in April was the passing of my Grandma Wilson. Thanks to my parents Maka and I were able to travel to Chicago and be with my Dad's side of the family during that time. It was a very special and emotional experience for me. I was able to share my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the blessings that we can recieve from his resurrection. I know that I will see my Grandmother again someday, and that it will be a joyful reunion. She was an amazing, spiritual, and strong woman, and I really miss her. It is comforting for me to know that she is in heaven now right, looking down at my family and I, and watching over us.

Lauren and Maka after the funeral service. He adores her!

Riley (my cousin Meredith's dog) putting up with Maka's love and attention.

Uncle Bill and Maka chilling on the couch together after a long plane ride for Maka.

Around this time we received a HUGE surprise! We found out we were expecting our third bundle of joy! I'm not going to lie, but when we first found out, I was scared to death. There is something about the number three that just seems so ominous. Afterall, I only have two hands! After some very special words of comfort from my husband, a talk in sacrament meeting, and lots of prayers, I was comforted, lifted up, and my mind was put at ease. The worry and fear was replaced with a lot of faith and hope, and the knowledge that Heavenly Father has got to know what he's doing, right? We were so excited though, and couldn't wait to see what this new choice spirit would add to our family.

In May we celebrated Mother's Day. The kids and Sanoe were so sweet and got me something I had wanted for a long time, a recipe box. Call me a sentimental fool, but it was the best thing they could have got me, and it made me feel so special. I sure do love my family, and it's great to know that they love me and need me too!

Unfortunately in May, we also ended our amazing experience in Bethesda. Sanoe's year in the HHMI program came to a close, and we headed back to Hawaii. It was definitely a bitter-sweet experience, and at times I had to admit, it was more bitter than sweet. We really loved our year there, and we had made so many amazing friends that it was so hard to say goodbye. Luckily we live in this great digital world, and it is so much easier to keep in touch. But before we headed back to Hawaii we stopped over (in a round-about way) in Alaska for some time with my family! The kids and I left Maryland first and Sanoe finished up his last week of work and then followed. We had so much fun in Alaska, and it was so special to see my kids getting to know their Grandparents and Uncles and Aunt. While visiting Kiara caught her first flounder and bullheads, while fishing off the dock. We played with all the old toys my Mom has saved from my childhood, we blew gigantic bubbles, played at the park, went hiking to Rainbow falls, played tons of family games, and my kids got completely spoiled and fell in love with their grandparents, uncles, and aunt Amber all over again. It was so hard to leave, and many tears were shed on both sides.

After an overnight stay in Seattle and a long flight, we arrived in Hawaii and were met by Sanoe's parents who helped us get back to the house. After a few minutes of break we started hauling stuff up from the storage room. The first thing was Kiara's bike. She was so excited to ride it, and was actually able to do it right off. We were all so proud, especially Kiara. Sanoe started school a couple days later, and I unpacked and got the house situated at least a little bit. I think I have decided I dislike unpacking more than packing. Finding places for everything is so daunting, and discovering yet again, that you have too much stuff is so frustrating.

After our fun vacation, we had to get back into the groove fast! Sanoe started his third year with his psychiatry rotation first (which he has decided is definitely not for him!), then surgery (which he enjoyed), then internal medicine outpatient, and internal medicine inpatient. That is what he is finishing up now. The rest of the summer flew by fast. I celebrated my 25th birthday! I can't believe it. For a birthday gift, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Noelani, bought me some pot, plants, and seeds to start my own little garden on our lanai (porch). Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the wonderful garden I had at one point, and then just before Alana arrived my plants got hit with some kind of fungus/mold and never recovered. But just last month we finally got the community garden plot we had applied for in August. So I've started getting that ready to plant, and I'm sure this time my experience will be much better:) The summer and even fall were so hot and humid here. I couldn't wait for Alana to arrive so I could get that little extra heater out of my stomach:) Since it was so hot we spent a lot of time at our friend Becky's pool, or the beach. My kids and I love the water, and both Maka and Kiara are becoming much more comfortable in the water and getting so much better at practicing their "swimming". We spent the 4th of July with Sallee (Sanoe's mom) and her boyfriends family at the beach. Noelani and her two adorable children were visiting during July so all the kids had a wonderful time playing in the waves and sand, and there was tons of food to munch on throughout the day. Thanks Sallee and Stuart for a wonderful time!

In August, Sanoe and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Sanoe was on call on our actual anniversary day, so we went out to eat with the kids a couple nights before at one of our favorite restaurants. It was so much fun. We loved it and the kids loved it too! August was also full of lots of growing and changing for all of us. I just got bigger and bigger! Kiara learned to write her name, and now writes it all the time, whenever she can. I am so proud of her, and all the things that she has learned over the last year. She has gone from a little girl to a grownup little girl. She asks such insightful questions, and sometimes they make me chuckle. Like when Sanoe had his first overnite call at the hospital, and I was telling Kiara and Maka that Daddy had to spend the night at the hospital, Kiara asked, "So is Daddy going to a slumber party at the hospital?" I just love her, and the way that she makes life so interesting. Maka started talking, and loves to tell stories and jabber all the time. It's so hilarious when he gets all excited about something and just starts jabbering and talking away like there is no tomorrow. It is so special because you can just tell from his tone and expression that at that moment that story or event is the most important thing in the world to him. As a mother it is so hard to explain to others just how much you see your kids bloom and grow day in and day out, but it sure does happen, and sometimes too fast. It's so exciting to see their smiling faces each time they conquer a fear, create something new, or accomplish something they couldn't do before. It's times like that, that I feel even closer to my Heavenly Father because that must be similar to what he feels when he looks down at us from heaven. I am so grateful for my wonderful children and loving husband.
In September the kids and I went to the Aloha Parade with some great friends of our the Nitahara's. Mahele let me know about it and we met up down at Ala Moana. It was so much fun seeing all the beautiful hula dancers, marching bands, and floats. The kids loved it! They talked about it for days after, and can't wait for the next parade.

Above: My kids sporting their cool sunglasses! Below: Mahele, Karter, and Keira, very special friends of ours. Mahele is a great friend and always calls to include me in the fun things she does with her 5 amazing children. She is such an amazing mom. I hope that I can be that cool when I have five kids! Keira and Maka are only a couple weeks apart in age, and Karter is Kiara's age. They love to play together.

We also celebrated Sanoe's 28th birthday and the whole family went out to eat at his favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. It was a great dinner, and fun just hanging out, and catching up with each other.

Above: How Sanoe feels about turning 28! Below: Kiara & Maka sure love Uncle Adam!

We also got a new twin bed for Kiara and twin mattress for Maka. I couldn't find a trundle bed, like I really wanted, because their bedroom is so small, but this arrangement works great for now. But Maka still moves all over the place when he sleeps. This is one of his favorite sleeping positions!

Just Another day at our House!

I am so blessed to have such amazing children! Kiara and Maka love each other so much and are always watching out for each other. Maka loves to follow her around and do whatever she's doing. One of their favorite things to do is sneak into the bathroom while I'm making dinner and play in the sink. Kiara likes to wash Maka's head with whatever is handy, usually mine or Sanoe's toothbrush! Kiara washes away and Maka just giggles and laughs.

We borrowed this little car game from the Brown's and Maka loved it. He loved "driving" and honking the horn.

Kiara and her Daddy. They sure do love each other. Kiara can't wait for Sanoe to come home each day and give her "Daddy" attention. She even reminds him in the morning before he goes to work; she says, "Daddy don't forget to come home and play with me later."

Kiara and Maka love reading books and coloring. As you can see they decided to camp out on the pillows in the bedroom. Kiara is reading and Maka is eating the crayon that he was coloring with! I don't understand how those crayons taste so good:)

This is Maka's most recent smile. He loves to scrunch up his face whenever a camera is around and especially when we say, "Say Cheese". It cracks me up because his smile looks so much like mine, eyes all scrunched up and the chubby cheeks! He definitely has some of my facial features and mannerisms.

We have a few crawling tunnels, but as you can see we don't just use them to crawl through. Kiara likes to stand up and hide in them, pull it down, and then let it pop up again. Maka just loves to crawl through them and play peekaboo.

Maka got this great toy from Jasmine, a wonderful friend of ours, for his birthday. It took him a while to get into it, but now he loves it and pushes it around everywhere, especially when Kiara is pushing her stroller around.

Sanoe and Kiara showing off their silly faces. Kiara loves to come up with silly faces for the camera.

What's Happening Lately?

Well, I've been terrible about posting lately, but since I actually got both Kiara and Maka down for their naps at the same time, which doesn't happen very often, I thought I would take advantage of the "me" time and catch up. The weather here has been pretty mild this winter, but from what I hear it's never really extreme. We've only had two snow falls, and they were pretty much gone the next day. We have had some pretty cold weather though, and on those days we stayed in and played or went on a few adventures. One of our adventures was to the National Building Museum. It has a kids area called the building zone that has huge squishy stacking blocks, giant legos, puzzles, lincoln logs, a life size playhouse, reading corner, and dress up clothes. Kiara and Maka love it!

Maka with the stacking blocks.




Kiara with her best friend Lizzy, measuring everything in site! They had so much fun pretending to be builders.






The three pictures above our with our close friends, the Brown's. They are here for a year just like us. We do tons together and love hanging out. Rachelle is an amazing mom, and does great sock puppets!


My little builder!

Maka the Greenbean Monster

This video was taken at dinner. Maka really loves greenbeans as evidenced by his mad rush to eat them as fast as he can...which is probably faster than Kaelene can eat. =) Well enjoy the movie of our quaint family dinner.
Love,
Sanoe

Happy 1st Birthday Maka!

Daniel Makakoa turned a year old on January 5th, a month ago. I can't believe he's already so "grown" up. Time has flown by and he just keeps getting faster and faster. He is such an amazing blessing to our family. We've had a lot of great experiences and firsts, like first move, he's our first son, rolling over, crawling, walking, those painful first teeth, first words, and lot's and lot's of cuddles. He continues to amaze me every day with the love he shares with everyone, the adoration he has for his big sister, and the adorable "flirty" smile that he gives everyone. Right now he loves playing with his big sister and doing absolutely everything she does, like the aquadoodle, babydolls, playing catch, playing duplos, and brushing teeth while on the stool together. For his first birthday we threw a little party for him and invited some of our closest friends over. We invited the Brown's (Aaron, Rachelle, Lizzy, Andrew), the Auna's (Aaron, Jackie, Elise, Elijah), the Steward-Tharpe's (Scott, Heather, Pavlina), and Gregg (a co-worker of Sanoe's and favorite of the kids). We made mini english muffin pizzas, Gregg made balloon animals for all the kids, and then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. I made a cookie monster cake for Maka because he is our little cookie monster in the family, and because his first word was actually cookie. It sounds terrible, but believe me, we really don't eat cookies very often! Unfortunately, by the time everyone was ready for cake, Maka was to full to eat any and wouldn't even play in it. So the picture above was taken a couple days after when he was really ready to demolish it! The kids had a blast getting out all the toys and running around like there was no tomorrow. It was so much fun! A special thanks to all of our wonderful friends that shared this special day with us. We love you all!

Maka with Greg, and the "Amazing Birthday hat". This hat was so cool that everybody at the party had to try it on, even the adults. Thanks Greg, for being so cool and fun!


Right- Lizzy with her turtle bracelet! Left-Elise the movie star & maka playing with her flower.


Maka opening birthday presents from all his friends!


Maka taking his first lick of, soon to be inhaled, birthday cake. He loved it! And we love him! Happy Birthday Daniel Makakoa!

This is the courtyard of our building. We love this area and especially when it is filled with snow!















Kaelene says I'm the one horse and Kiara is on her open sleigh. She sure loved the sledding!




















This is an artificial snowstorm created by Kiara and Sanoe shaking the tree. Kiara loved it. Kaelene was too quick for Sanoe to get her, unfortunately!





















This is Kaelene's creation, snowman #1, with Kiara showing her height next to it. Kaelene's snowgal is hapy as evidenced by her very nice twiggy smile.












This is Snowman #2, made by Sanoe with Kiara's help. I used rocks for the eyes, a stick for the mouth, and snow for its santa hat.

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Kiara, with her best friend Lizzy, at their slumber party last night. This is Kiara's third official slumber party, and she loves it. They had hot chocolate and macaroni and cheese for dinner, played aquadoodle, had a tea party on the kitchen floor, and played with their baby dolls. They even had time to watch Cinderella, before I got too tired to stay up any more. They were so cute playing together, and they definitely weren't ready to go to bed as early as I was. Even though, it was already 9:45! I'm such a party pooper! Ha, ha, ha! So we turned on the night light and crashed on the hide-a-bed. Lizzy and Maka woke up around 7:30, so we played with a set of stacking cups in my room while Kiara snoozed a little longer. After stacking the cups, "timbering" them over, and giggling like crazy about 30 times, Kiara woke up and we had breakfast and got ready to go to the Building Museum with Rachelle (Lizzie's mom) and Andrew (Lizzie's brother). We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives. They are an amazing family, and such great examples to us. It's so wonderful to be able to talk to Rachelle about frustrating and struggling moments and know that she understands, and she always has such great suggestions and solutions. We have had so much fun with them the past six months, I don't know what we're going to do without them when we both head back home for our husbands to finish medical school. We love them so much!