We're Livin' La Vida Hawaii!

So, on October 4, we flew to meet up with Ben. My dad took Keven and I to the airport VERY early in the morning and it was bittersweet. I think it was hard for him to say goodbye to his little buddy, Keven. My dad doesn't show emotion, but I'm betting he did show some on his way home. It's a long drive home. Anyway, we had a great flight, minus a lil attitude here and there from Keven. We arrived here and they are doing updates to the airport and I swear we walked about a mile to get to the baggage claim. There Ben was to greet us and it appeared he had lost about 15-20 lbs from all the walking he'd been doing. We headed home, unpacked most of the stuff and went to get groceries!

We didn't do a ton throughout the week because Ben had to work, but he had Friday off, which was really nice! We had to look for beds and cars, etc. Been searching to no avail by that point. At least, nothing we could afford! We were supposed to go do a few things that day, but Keven wasn't having the best of days, so we aborted the plans.

On Friday, I bought some hair dye, because the one I bought in WA was still sitting in a box ready to be shipped! With church coming up on Sunday, I knew I had to just do it! So, on Saturday night, I dyed my hair dark brown. I wanted to match the roots, but ended up leaving it on much longer than I had wanted to because Ben wanted to use the remainder of it to cover his greys and was unable to put it in himself! So, it's darker than what I wanted, but still works!

Throughout the week, I bought a few Halloween decorations, because all of mine are in storage! We also needed a bookshelf and tv stand, so here's our Wal-Mart specials! Happy to have it though! At least it's something, right?

Went to church on Sunday and was greeted by a few people welcoming us back. It was really nice. The Primary President asked me if I'd help with the music on a volunteer basis because they had NO ONE to help! They just couldn't get anyone called, so I agreed that I'd help until the program in a month.

On Monday, we decided to go to the Dole Plantation and get us some of that yummy Dole Whip. It's basically a pineapple sherbet ice cream. Creamier than sherbet, but icier than ice cream. Make sense?? Anyway, it was delicious! We met friends there and then headed off to North Shore from there!

North Shore was SO beautiful! We kept trying to find just the right spot to stop for lunch and swimming. We found a few but the waves were pretty high and not safe for the kids. After being dropped off by the men and us women ate and fed the kids, they picked us back up because there was NO PARKING anywhere! It was ridiculous. So, we went to a VERY calm beach where there were no waves, but the kids had fun nonetheless!

On our way home, there was a beautiful rainbow and we watched it for MILES and MILES! We've seen rainbows several times here and never tire of it. So beautiful!

We were heading home in hopes of someone bringing over a bunkbed we were going to purchase on Craig's list but the lady called saying they weren't able to come. So, we went to Target and saw this AMAZING sunset and I just stood there staring at it. So pretty!

So, we finished out a wonderful day and headed home. Now, here we are several days later, still no beds and no car. GRRR!! Sometimes, it's so frustrating. Hoping to have the beds this weekend and the car... well... we'll have to rent one for one more week and see what we can find by next week. If nothing, then I guess no car until we can ship ours! What a waste of money renting though.

All in all, I love living here, except the stupid military planes that fly overhead starting at 7am and not ending until after 10pm every day! They are SOOOO loud, but that's the price you pay for living in a cheaper place. I mean, it's right by the beach, so I can't really complain, right? We hope lots of you can come visit and have a spare room just for that. Or, pitch a tent in the backyard if you wish!

We love and miss all of our family and friends and hope to see them soon!

Before moving...

I guess it's about time that I updated this thing!

Keven had his 1st day of 4th grade in the beginning of September. He was excited to go back to school and see his friends. He knew he'd only be there for a month, but still had hoped to make new friends.

Things had been pretty hectic trying to get stuff in order for shipping, etc and trying to get the money together. It's pretty expensive and we were trying to figure it all out! Ben had been dealing with no car and was getting a little stir crazy. He didn't mind walking to the ferry and home each day, it was the fact that he couldn't go anywhere else unless he spent 3 -4 hours on a bus!

On September 25, it was Keven's last pack meeting with this pack. He was sad about it, but also excited because he earned his Bear! That was important for him to earn that before we moved away. When the boys receive their Bear patch, they bring their mom's up and put a lil ribbon necklace around them with a pin that resembles the Bear patch (or whatever patch they've earned). So, here we are showing off what we got! I look horrible, but what do ya do, right? It's not about me in THIS situation. :)

Right after Keven received his Bear, mom I had to take off to a going-away party that Kanoe had planned for me. We had a lot of fun! Lots of good chatter and food. I was happy there was food because I hadn't eaten yet! We posed in her stairwell and had pics taken. There were 3 people taking pics so we had no idea where to look or when someone was taking the pic. D'OH! I kept telling everyone to do Top Model poses. Most of the pics, not everyone knew someone was taking pics. HAHA! I need to get copies from the others that were taking them! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I'm so thankful for my friends that came out to wish me well.

Since there's NO Olive Garden in Hawaii (I KNOW!! Such a travesty), Keven begged to go out before we left. My dad was being a lil poopy about it, until my mom gave him the guilt trip that Keven really wanted him there, because it was "their" spot to eat. (Dad would take Keven about once a month to Olive Garden for lunch on a Saturday because it was same price at McDonalds!) Anyway, we enjoyed the super yummy Never-Ending Pasta Bowl. My dad hadn't heard of it and enjoyed it. Of course, it's even better at only $7.95! So, in the end, he enjoyed it, even though the pic below doesn't show it. HAHA! Keven, as always, being uber goofy with his food! So, to Olive Garden.... I bid you farewell and will revisit when I come to Washington one day. OR, you can just build one here!!

Throughout that next week, I was pretty stressed getting things packed and deciding what to ship to Ben. We had realized that we couldn't afford to ship our car yet and couldn't afford to ship a container that would hold our household items yet. So, I was shipping smaller boxes of things we'd need. Ended up shipping about 16 boxes (small ones) with items we'd need. It was hard deciding what to put in them because so many things were too big! I am doing without many of my Pampered Chef items right now and it's KILLING me! hahahaha! Also, had to decide what to put in the suitcases and to make sure they weren't over 50lbs! So stressful! Mom had left on Monday, the 28th for Utah for 2 weeks. Otherwise, I probably would've enlisted her help by the end of the week when I was stressing. I did procrastinate, but also thought I was doing pretty well up until the last 2 days!!

On Friday, October 2, I let Keven had a going away/early birthday party with his friends. His b-day is on Nov. 5, so it's only a month early. He invited his best of friends and his "cousins" as well. We had a wonderful time and the kids were all crazy! Thanks to Round Table for letting us use your room and sorry that the kids trashed it! I tried picking up the garbage they left and the employees were all, "No worries. That's our job". Wow, that's a 1st! I left them $5 on the table for their help, but also, a lot of pizza, drinks and salads came from that room, so they made quite a lot of money just from us! Keven got lots of Pokemon cards and gift cards, since I mentioned we can't take much more on the plane with us except small items. He got $65 in gift cards and cash and has decided to save for a Wii. We told him if he saved $125, then we'd pay for the rest as his Christmas gift. He's so excited!

The next night was Sydney's birthday party. Sydney is my best friends' daughter and turned 3! I see her as my own daughter and love that lil girl so much! So, we went there and spent time with friends again. We were heading out the next day, so it was a more intimate going away. Sydney loves Elmo, so Donna made cute cupcakes (which she did a great job on!), had macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and soda to drink. These are Syd's favorite things and I LOVED that idea! We had a great time and Keven enjoyed spending time with these 4 girls that he's considered like cousins. So, we had them posing in funny poses and here's just a few.

It was a tear-filled night as I left. I had taken Keven home earlier and had to get one last load to the storage unit, then stopped back by after for a few hours. I really should've been home finishing up stuff, but I just needed my time with my friends. I cried, they cried and one mocked. BEEKER!!! Yes, I gave him the bird. HAHA! It's hard for me not to be able to see them grow up, especially Sydney, since she's still so young. She is so attached to Keven and is very sad not to see him. She said she's coming to Hawaii with Keven. :( She truly loves him and he loves her. They are very much like siblings. I love all of my wonderful friends and will miss them all truly. What a blessing that I've been given to have them in my life. I know I will make new friends, but they will never replace my best friends. VISIT SOON!!!!