Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope this Christmas is a great one for all of you. We're hoping ours will be a good one as well. We're all sick with the cold. I've had it for the past two weeks so I finally went to the doctor today and he gave me some antibiotics and a nasal spray. I already feel a little better. The kiddies have been coughing lately. It's not as bad as it was a couple days ago. Kainoa's sick too. Not fun. We're crossing our fingers that we'll be somewhat recovered for Christmas. Liko's teacher asked her what she was going to do over the Christmas break and she told her that she was going on a playdate with her daddy. Kainoa promised that he was going to take her to see Tangled. They haven't gone yet because they're both sick. She keeps saying, "I feel better Mommy. Can I go to the movies with Daddy now?" Hopefully they can go sometime next week.

Kainoa is one semester away from graduating. I still can't believe how fast it's all gone by. We're not sure what's going to happen yet. It all depends on where he can get a job. I was fine staying here but now I'm really wanting to go back home. I don't know. I think it's the Winter blues that are hitting me and I'm getting homesick. Maybe it's because I'm sick and this past week it snowed for almost two days straight. We'll see what happens.

This year will be the first year that we'll have our own little Christmas. At least Christmas morning. We usually spend the night at my sister-in-law's but we're not this year. Usually Kainoa's parents and family are here but not this year. We were supposed to have a big Christmas Eve dinner but we cancelled it since everyone's sick. I still think it'll be nice to have our own Christmas morning to open presents. This will be our first since we've been married. I'm kind of excited to start our own traditions.

Here's the picture that we sent out in our Christmas cards. Kainoa was making funny faces in the background and the kids were cracking up.
We went to Temple Square with a bunch of friends a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a family pic. Too bad Kalei is blocking his face.

Our friend wanted to take a picture of us and I think I'm laughing because I'm standing on something and trying not to fall off. Yes I'm still that short compared to Kainoa when I'm standing on something.

Well that's it for now. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Apple turnovers

So I decided to make some apple turnovers tonight just for fun. I had some leftover Granny Smith apples from Thanksgiving. I wanted to improve my crust-making skills. I have to say that it came out really flaky. The key is the Crisco and ice cold water. Liko really enjoyed hers with "whup cream." I'm excited to eat another one tomorrow. There goes me trying to lose weight. Oops!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Little Kamalu a day after he got 3 staples on top of his head. Kalei pushed him down and he hit his head on the TV stand.
You can kind of see them in this pic. He screamed when they put them in but pretty much slept the rest of the day. I felt so bad for him.

Always showing his 'opu.

Trying to take a pic for the Christmas cards. Not sure if we'll be using this one but we'll see. Took us a while to get it.

This would've been perfect if Kalei wasn't wiping his nose and was looking at the camera.

Then Kamalu was pretty much done with taking pictures.

Me and my buddy.

Well this Thanksgiving weekend was a great one. My brother-in-law, wife Emi, and daughter Moani drove from Oklahoma to visit. We had a lot of fun spending time with Emi's family, the Snows and Kainoa's sister's family the Todds. We slept over in American Fork for two nights. Kamalu kept us up all night on Wednesday because he was constipated. He was happy after that problem was resolved.

On Thanksgiving Day my sister-in-law Ilima and I were busy cooking. She pretty much made everything-turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green salad, and rolls. I made pumpkin and apple pie and the sweet potatoes. Everything was 'ono.

Our Black Friday shopping started at midnight. Ilima and I went to Walmart. It was crazy. We started at the towels. This stupid guy was pushing and shoving so he could get armfuls of towels. He was part Polynesian, I think Samoan or something. I was mad so I said to him, "Eh, you no gotta push." He just ignored me. Why you gotta make us brown people look bad? Not saying that I'm super brown but I have a little tinge of brownness. I was giving him stink eye big time.

Anyways, I did get some good deals at Walmart. We came home from AF a little later and Kainoa pretty much kicked me and the kids out of the house so he could write a paper. So being the crazy deal snatcher that I am, I went to Costco, University Mall, and Walmart (again) with the kiddos. I went to Costco just to get diapers because the $6 off coupon expired today. It was super crowded. Now that the new shopping carts at Costco are a little taller and me being the short person that I am, it's harder for me to see where I'm going. Steering that dumb cart was challenging in the sea of people.

Next to University Mall...Tai Pan Trading Company (home decor store), Macy's and Toys R Us Express. I tried going into other stores with my double stroller but gave up. I got some pretty good deals.

Then to Walmart. It was still crowded and I got there at about 4pm. I picked up a few more things and left.

On Saturday we went to the Instacare and got Kamalu's staples removed. He has a pink scar and he screamed when they removed them but fell asleep in the car as we headed back to American Fork to watch the BYU vs. Utah game. I made some Korean style drummettes aka crispy shoyu chicken and some potato mac salad. Well the game was so sad. BYU made some mistakes but the refs were pretty dumb on a call that should've been reversed. Poor Mitch Payne. He was awesome all night and some player didn't do his job and his last kick was blocked. Oh well. You gotta say that they played well considering how they started off this season. Wish we could've ended on a win but maybe next year.

It snowed all last night and most of this morning. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." We still need to put up our Christmas tree. We'll do it sometime this week. Kainoa's been so busy with school and it's not going to get any better until the semester's done. Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. Until next time...a hui hou!

New Bread Recipe

Last week we were running out of bread, so I decided to look for a new recipe online. We love Grandma Sycamore bread so I tried looking for a recipe for it but couldn't find one. I did however find a recipe for someone's grandma's recipe. One loaf came out super nice (the first picture) and the others came out small kine different looking. I only have 3 loaf pans and they're all different. One's glass and the other two are metal but different brands. Maybe I should invest in loaf pans of the same brand. Anyways, the bread came out super good so I'm sharing the recipe. I came out lighter than most recipes I've tried. It's probably because you have to let it rise 3 times. Good luck to all you that try out the recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water
3 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
8 cups bread flour

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar, and 4 cups flour. Mix thoroughly, and let sponge rise until doubled in size.
Gradually add about 4 cups flour, kneading until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn several times to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
Punch down the dough, let it rest a few minutes. Divide dough into three equal parts. Shape into loaves, and place in three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch greased bread pans. Let rise until almost doubled.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 45 minutes. The loaves may need to be covered for the last few minutes with foil to prevent excess browning.

The Haps

Yes I know I've been out of the blog world for way to long and I've promised to be better but didn't keep that promise. But here I am now blogging again. A lot has happened during the past two months.

In the beginning of October my mom came over to attend General Conference. While she was here we took the kids to pick their pumpkins in the pumpkin patch close to our house. They enjoyed getting in the dirt and looking for their pumpkins.


There was a little petting zoo next to the pumpkin patch. The kids had fun feeding the animals.


It was Ku'uliko's 5th Birthday on October 26th. Here she is in front of her preschool wearing the birthday crown she made on the first day of school. She wore it all day.

Two days before her birthday we had a little birthday dinner with the Todds, Granty Heather, Uncle Shaun, Uncle Teren, and Uncle Ben. I love Kamalu's face in this picture.


The kids rode the train at Provo Towne Center. They loved it especially Kalei.


Here we are on our 6th anniversary. We went to the Portuguese Kings of Comedy Show with Augie T and Frank Delima. We were cracking up the whole time. We stayed at the Marriot right there in Thanksgiving Point thanks to my parents, the Todds, and the Lindseys. It was first overnight stay without the kids.


Here's Augie T signing our DVD.

The boys loving giving each other hugs.


Here's Kamalu. He loves saying, "Cheese!" He's speaking a whole lot more.


Only Kamalu looked at the camera. The others were too busy watching TV.

We celebrated Liko's birthday again with our friends at their Halloween party. I don't have any pics of the kids in their costumes because I forgot to bring it to our Ward Party. I'll have to get the ones our friends took. Liko was Jessie, Kalei was Woody, and Kamalu was Bullseye from Toy Story. I made all their costumes. It was hard work and I wish I had taken pictures of them.

Here I am with some friends-Melissa, Priscilla, Raiann (sp?) and Tammy. I changed out of my costume. I just wore Kainoa's clothes including his shoes.


Blowing out the candles on my cookies and cream ice cream cake. Good thing that all 29 candles weren't in the cake or it would've melted the cake.
Me and the kiddies. The two boys have the same mouth. Then there's Liko posing. It was good birthday weekend. On Friday we went to the BYU/BYU Hawaii men's basketball game. BYU Hawaii didn't win but we still had fun with our friends the Settles, Lindseys, and Silvas. We were able to get a babysitter (thank you Hoku).
Then on Saturday we had a BBQ at the Settles' home and it was good fun just to get together again. Of course we enjoyed some good food as well.
Yesterday was a good day too. Kainoa made me breakfast (oops! We didn't fast). We had portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice. I also got an extra hour of sleep because of daylight savings time. Kainoa also got me some roses which is all I really wanted. Later that night, the Lindseys surprised me with ice cream cake.
We have been really blessed to be in our new ward and have been able to meet and get to know two really great families from Hawai'i, the Lindseys and the Settles. It's nice to get together so we're not missing home too much. We always have tons of fun together. I was telling Kainoa that I wouldn't mind living here permanently if he could find a job here just so we could stay close to them. Of course we would go home to visit. We still don't know what's in store for us yet but as soon as we know we'll let you know. That's it for now. A hui hou!

Just plain lazy

Sorry everyone. It's been over a month since the last time I posted. I will post pictures next time cause I'm just plain lazy right now. Here's a short update about us...
Kainoa just started his last year of law school this past Monday. Yay he'll be done in April. Not sure what will happen after graduation but the plan is to move back home.
I switched to part time this past week as well. I'm working only 20 hours a week but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm able to do so much more during the day. I work 7pm-11pm on Monday through Thursday and 8am-12pm on Friday. It's been going well so far.
Ku'uliko will start pre-school next month. She's so ready to go to school and she's getting so excited. She had to get a shot this past week before school started. She was so scared because when she did her testing for school, they pricked her finger to test her blood for lead. I don't know what the nurse there was doing but Liko bled so much. So she freaked out a little when she had to get her shot. She cried after and was limping around but she's totally fine now.
Kalei is speaking more. He's also becoming such a bully. He'll push Kamalu down for no reason or pinch Liko. I don't know what to do. I put him in time out and scold him but I don't know what else there is to do.
Kamalu is running around all over the place. He speaking a little more. Kalei and Liko love telling knock knock jokes and Kamalu cracks up at them. He just started saying, "Knock, knock" today while doing the motion with his fist. He's getting big so fast.
That's it for now. Hopefully I can get those pictures posted soon.

Park City

So I haven't posted pics in a while so I'm making up for it. Here's the kids playing in their house in their room.
I love this pic of Kamalu.

I made char siu and lup cheong manapua one night.

I wish you could see Kalei's face a little better. His expression is so funny. We had him open a present when he first woke up on his birthday. It was a Buzz Lightyear shirt. Can you tell that he loved it?

Blowing out the candles on his cake. I freehanded the alien from Toy Story. It came out okay.

Last week Saturday we drove up to Park City to meet up with my parents. They stayed in Las Vegas a couple of days before that and then drove down. We stayed with them until yesterday. Here's the kids on a mini merry-go-round at the Tanger Outlets. 50 cents went a long way. The kids loved it.

Here's the boys waiting outside the theater. We watched Toy Story 3. Kalei and Liko loved it. Kamalu had a nice nap during the movie.

Here's us on the merry-go-round right outside my parents' timeshare. Liko was asking us to ride ever since we got to Park City.

Liko loves posing for pictures. Do you see me in the background? They had horses that were really low for the little ones. My calves were burning.

Here's us in front of my parents' timeshare, the Marriot Mountainside.

Here's our little ham Liko

So I tried to get all of the kids to look at the camera at the same time. That was pretty difficult.

The kids had fun swimming in the pool. We all got a little sun. I was trying to get a little darker. I took off the whole week so I could spend time with my parents. They're leaving on Tuesday but I start work again on Monday. We did a lot of shopping today and I got my hair cut. I also visited my workplace to drop off some goodies and show my parents where I work. Liko came in with me and everyone just loved her. She just soaked it all up and wants to go back.

It's been a great week and I'm sad that it going to end soon. It's so nice to be with family and be able to spend time with them.

We're still alive

Hey everyone. Sorry no pictures this time since I'm lazy. Yes, we're still alive. I've been so busy with work. It's been kind of crazy. I'm putting in about 40 hours a week. I enjoy the people I work with and I get to practice my Spanish. It's been improving. It's kind of sad the situations that these people are in. We take calls for Bank of America for people that are going into foreclosure and are trying to modify their home loan. A lot of people get upset and are desperate because they want to stay in their home.
It's been a little difficult being away from the kiddies and Kainoa. Kainoa has been such a great stay at home dad. He's been doing all the cleaning and everything. During my first week, he had changed up the furniture so everyday I would come home and the house was different. I feel bad that when I come home I pretty much put the kids to bed. They still run to me when I walk in the door and yell, "Mommy, you're home. We missed you." Last week I fell asleep crying because it was a little frustrating being at work and not being at home. I think I feeling better this week. I know that I'm away from home because I have to be. It's still a little hard to accept but it's for the best right now.
That's about it now. I'll post some pictures soon since it'll be Kalei's birthday next week. He's turning 3. I still can't believe it.

Outdoor fun

Last week we went to Heritage Park in Springville and had a picnic. The kids had so much fun playing on the playground. We've always passed by the park but this was our first time there. There's the playground and a nice covered pavilion. It was still a little chilly even though the sun was out.
There's this little bridge that goes across a creek but the creek was dried up. Liko wanted to take a picture here. Here she is posing with her cookie in her hand.

Then we fed the animals at a farm right by our house. They have some pretty cool animals. Here are the yaks. They kept fighting over the food.

They have llamas and alpacas.

The kids enjoyed feeding the animals. Well this goat kept stealing all the lettuce from all the other animals. He kept ramming into them. So mean.

On Saturday we went to their cousins' house. We went swimming. The kids had a blast. Kamalu was screaming at first but then he got used to it and didn't want to get out.

Kalei's floaties weren't working too well for him so we borrowed a vest. He looked kind of funny but he was having fun.

We slept over that night and went to church with them on Mother's Day. Kainoa and Emma made breakfast for us. Then Kainoa grilled some kalbi short ribs and hot dogs for dinner and I made potato mac salad. That was all I cooked that day. It was nice to be able to relax for a little bit. We also had an ice cream cake from Aunty Heather.

Luckily I didn't gain any weight from the weekend. I did the workout Insanity last week. It was the plyometrics workout and I was dying. I only did it once last week because my muscles were so sore afterwards. I ended up doing another workout DVD I have and went jogging for the rest of the week. I did the Insanity yesterday and today and yay, I'm not as sore. Shaun says if I keep it up, I'll see results pretty quickly. I hope so. It's a 60 day program so we'll see how it goes. Kainoa has also started working out this week. He has a schedule all worked out.

I haven't started working yet. I'm getting a little frustrated but I checked up with it. I'm hired but I still have to wait. Bank of America is trying to find a place to have the training. The lady that hired me asked if I would like to do some other work in the meantime. I said, "Of course." So hopefully something works out. Kainoa's been applying to some jobs and I'm going to keep looking.