Finally back

So I'm finally back home in Utah after 2 months. It was a good trip to Hawaii but it was tough being away from Kainoa. It's so nice to be back. Shaun flew in with me. We got in on Wednesday at 9am. Shaun was a big help on the plane but at one point I was holding Kamalu and Kalei at the same time. My tailbone was killing me. The seats are never comfortable. Luckily the kids were pretty good on the plane. They slept most of the time.
We actually were on the Big Island last week for the Yamamoto Family Reunion. It's every two years in Kohala. Thanks to Mom and Dad, we stayed in a 3 bedroom condo with them, Chad, Kami and their kids, and Shaun. The kids had fun playing together. We were all able to go to the temple on Friday thanks to the Nakilas. They baby-sat my kids and Chad's and they fed us an 'ono dinner afterwards. They are so generous. My uncle Richie was going into the temple for the first time so it was so nice to have all the family there. Then on Saturday we had a talent show and our Yuen 'ohana was awesome of course. Thanks to Shaun and Chad, our choreographers we did great. We did a dance number with a medley of songs-Thriller, Kung Fu Fighting, and Jai-ho. We had a good time doing it and we only practiced a half hour before we went on. We pulled it off.

It was hot in Kona but man, it's hot here in Utah. "I'm melting, melting." Shaun is still getting used to the dry heat. Kainoa surprised me with some improvements to our home. He put up some new pictures and set up beds for the kids so Shaun could have his own room. He also rearranged our room and decorated both of our bathrooms. I'll have to take some pictures and post them. It was so sweet of him. After we got back, we rested for a little while and then we went to Costco and Walmart. The fridge was pretty empty so I had to restock it.

Friday was Pioneer Day. We went with Emi and RJ to Fiesta Days in Spanish Fork. They had a carnival there. The kids rode on a train and a merry-go-round. Then Ku'uliko wanted to ride on the ferris wheel so I went with her. I was surprised that she wasn't even scared. I was getting scared for her. It was going pretty fast and it went pretty high. I'm just glad she enjoyed it.

Yesterday we went to the Provo Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park. They had some pretty cool things on sale. I should get a little stand and sell some stuff. Hmmm...that's an idea. Anyways, I ate a steak tostada. It was really good. After that we went to the Nickelcade in Orem. It was $2.25 for adult admission and most of the games were only a nickel. I enjoyed playing Skeeball. That was my favorite game to play growing up.

Well it's indeed good to be back. Kamalu just woke up so I better get going.

Maui No Ka 'Oi

Well I'm here in Maui now. I'm enjoying the Maui life and being back home. It's nice to have the kids spend time with Ama and Grandpa Yuen and also my grandparents and my grand uncle Aichi. It's been lots of fun but of course we miss Kainoa. It's not the same being here without him. I really missed him on Father's Day but it's also been good for us. We appreciate him so much more.
Since we've been here, I, of course, have eaten guri guri, Homemade Bakery manju, and Saigon Cafe food and bought some Maui Built stuff. The kids have really been enjoying themselves. Kalei loves Ama and Grandpa's pool, especially the jacuzzi. He goes round and round in circles because of the jets. It's so funny to watch. He also taught himself to float on his back and hold his nose while he blows bubbles. Ku'uliko is a little more scared now. She used to be like him but now she knows what fear is so she's a little apprehensive when it comes to swimming by himself. I also took Kamalu into the jacuzzi yesterday. I made sure to lower the temperature for him. He was fascinated with the bubbles.
Tonight Kalei accomplished something huge. I took his clothes off to get ready for his bath. After I took of his diaper, I held him over the toilet and told him to use the potty....And he did! It was trying hard not to shake him as I laughed. He was so proud of himself. His face just lit up as he did his business. Then I gave him a high five when he was in the bathtub. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Well that's about it for now. Hopefully I can get more pictures up.

Locked out!

Our big boy (he turned 2 yesterday) Kalei was being extra mischievous today. I stepped out of the house with Kamalu to get some DVDs from my cousin Pi'i. We were talking for about 5 minutes and when I went to turn the door knob to go back into the house, the door didn't open. I was like, "Oh no!" Kalei decided to lock the door while I was outside. He was crying and I think it was because he knew he did something wrong. So kolohe. So I'm all frantic and Pi'i hadn't left but saw me stuck outside. We were trying to figure out how to break into the house and I was trying to coach Ku'uliko into unlocking the door. She was getting frustrated and kept saying, "I can't do it," and she started crying too. So I ran next door to get some help from the Eskarans. Good thing Aunty Terry and Adam were there. Adam tried to break into the house through a window but as he was about to get in, I checked the door again because I saw that Kalei was there. Sure enough as I turned the knob, the door opened. I was so relieved. Am I a bad mother or what? I asked Liko if she had unlocked the door and she said she didn't and that Kalei did. Wow. Kids do the darnest things, especially my kids. I've recovered from my heart attack and panic attack. Nah but I'm grateful that I wasn't alone when this happened. Thanks Pi'i and Eskaran 'Ohana.

If you're asking where Kainoa was during this whole event, he's back in Utah. He went back last week Tuesday night. He had to get back to do an externship at BYU and find a job. Saying that it's been difficult is an understatement but we're surviving. The kids miss him a lot, especially Ku'uliko. I miss him tons too. It's hard being with the kids and not him. I wondered if I made the wrong decision in staying in Hawaii but he reassures me that this will only help us appreciate each other even more. I do appreciate him more and more each day. I just miss having someone there next to me when I go to asleep and wake up in the morning. I miss how he is with our kids. Tomorrow makes one week that we've been apart. 6 more to go. I'll keep telling myself that I'll be okay.

Twilight, more swimming, and Kalei's early birthday celebration

So here's some fun pictures and videos. Ku'uliko has been exposed to Twilight a lot since we've been here. Kainoa's mom and sisters are big fans. They have posters of Edward up and pillows and all kinds of stuff. I also have the movie and the soundtrack and I really like listening to Bella's Lullaby. I usually listen to it in the car. She's heard it while she's been here and her Tutu (Kainoa's mom) was watching the movie the other day. She just started singing it out of the blue and told Kainoa that it was "Tutu's Twilight song." It's so hilarious.

These pictures are of the kids swimming at their Papa's pool in Kailua. Ku'uliko and Kalei had so much fun as you can see. The two of them were swimming all over the place. Kalei is a little braver than Ku'uliko. We spent some time with Nuna and it was a really nice day.

Yesterday we celebrated Kalei's birthday a week early. Kainoa is actually leaving tomorrow to go back to Utah while we spend more time here and then on Maui and the Big Island. It was really nice to have a lot of the family there. Thank you to those of you that came. Kalei had so much fun. He loved wearing his Thomas condutor hat. He loved his cake. My mom made it. It was 9 little individual train cars. Kalei ended up putting all the train cars together. He tried pushing them to make them go like a real train. I missed recording that but I did get him making his "choo choo" sounds. The food was really good, the company was great and Kalei was in a good mood. It turned out well. Thank you everybody!

Having fun in the sun

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Here's some new pictures of what we've been up to. We've been trying to go to the beach as much as we can. It's a little more difficult with three kids. Kalei just loves the ocean. He has no fear. He's been using his floaties. Because he wears them, he thinks he can go wherever he wants. We went to Hukilau. He had so much fun.

We decided to visit the gravesites of our grandfathers the Friday before Memorial Day. We wanted to beat the crowd. We went to Kane'ohe and visited Kainoa's grandfather's grave (Papa). He's Kalei's namesake so I really like the picture of Kalei looking up to the sky. Then we went to Punchbowl and visiting Grandpa Willing's and Grandpa Yuen's graves. Liko had an accident in the car while she was sleeping. I forgot to pack a Pull-up or an extra panty, or pants (what a bad mother) so she had to wear one of Kalei's diapers. She thought it was silly. It was nice to pay our respects for our grandfathers.

Then we went to the Aquarium in Waikiki on Saturday. The kids really enjoyed it. They liked being able to touch the sea urchins. Well Kalei enjoyed it more than Ku'uliko.

On Memorial Day we decided to go to the beach and have a barbecue. We went to Malaekahana. We got there a little before 9 am to beat the rush. We got a nice spot. It was low tide so Kalei had so much fun walking in the water everywhere. Ku'uliko was by the reef and looked for sea shells and creatures. We had kalbi ribs for lunch which were ono by the way. We stayed until about 2pm. All the kids crashed. It was a long day but so much fun.

That's about it for now. My mom and dad are here so we'll be seeing them tomorrow. We're so excited. I'll try and be better about posting pictures.

On Oahu

So we're here on Oahu now. We came in on Wednesday at about 6pm. We flew on a daytime flight and that is the last time we're going to do that. The kids were good on the flight from Salt Lake to L.A. The second flight to Honolulu was more of a challenge. Kalei was getting bored and he wanted to move around. Plus, the battery in the DVD player died so he was going nuts. My arms are still recovering from carrying him and then switching off and carrying Kamalu.

Right when we stepped off the plane, the heat and humidity hit us. Whew it was hot. When we got to the baggage claim, we heard Kainoa's mom and Kaitlyn laughing. They were at the waiting for us. It was so good to see them. Then we saw my cousin Jared. He works for Northwest Airlines.

After we got our luggage, we headed to Zippy's. We got Zip pacs (a surf pac for Kainoa) and Napples. Man, it was so ono.

It was the season finale for Lost and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was so tired. The kids went to sleep early.

We went to Windward Mall the next day. Of course we had to make a stop at Maruki Tei and Cookie Corner. I swear I'm going to start gaining weight because we're always eating. Oh well, I better enjoy it while I can.

Kainoa's dad set up the pool in the backyard. It was so hot. The water was nice. Kalei loved it but at first he didn't know what to do. He just stood there and laughed. He kept trying to put his head under. So dangerous.

Then yesterday we left before 8 am and headed to Target in town. It felt like we were back in the Mainland.

So, today we pretty much napped for a couple of hours after church. At least there was some breeze. Kalei has been stuck in Mountain Standard time so he's been up at 5 am almost every morning since we've gotten here. It was good to get a nap in. It's been exhausting. Hopefully he'll get used to the time zone soon so we all can get some sleep.

Well we haven't gone to the beach yet but we'll probably go sometime this week. It's just difficult with three kids but we'll get there. I'm so glad that we came to visit. It's been so nice. Aside from being hot, we've been enjoying it. Poor Kainoa, he's not used to the heat now but I've been okay.

Well I guess that's it. I'll keep adding pictures as things happen.

Home

"I'm going home, back to the place where I belong..." I love that Chris Daughtry song.
So yes, we're going home. Yay! Thanks Mom and Dad! My dad called me on Wednesday and said that he could fly the kids and me back with his points/miles. He said we just had to pay for Kainoa's ticket. We didn't even have to think about it twice. We got online right away and was able to find a really good priced ticket, $425 roundtrip. We're flying out next Wednesday to Oahu. Kainoa is staying until June 2nd. We're going to celebrate Kalei's birthday while we're there. Kainoa will come back to Utah and I'll be staying there. The kids and I will fly to Maui with my mother-in-law in June and I'll stay there until July. My family has a reunion in the Big Island in mid-July. Then I'll fly back with the kids and my brother Shaun. He's moving up here with us. So Kainoa and I will be separated for about a month and a half. It's a long time and I hope I'll be okay. I think it should be fine since I'll be at home with family. We almost were going to be separated this summer because Kainoa was thinking about doing his externship in Hawaii while I stayed in Utah. I'm glad he was able to get one here in Utah but now it'll be backwards since I'll be in Hawaii. It'll give us practice for next summer when he actually does his externship in Hawaii.
I'm so excited! I started packing the kids' clothes on Thursday. It'll be a good trip. We were talking about how we need to plan out our time there with what we want to eat and where we want to go. We're going to the beach, that's for sure.
For those that are back home, call us up or we'll call you and hopefully we can get together.