DC 4th of July & Night Hike w/ Kat

For our last fourth of July, we spent it down on the DC Mall. Yes, we are a little bit crazy to make the trek downtown & stake out a spot for hours with little ones - but it was a beautiful day, overcast and not too hot. We are grateful that we decided to go. We met up with our beautiful friend, Kat who lives in Orlando, Florida. We had the best time with her, she is such an uplifting and inspiring person to be with. We really love her and her sisters, Debs & Erika!

Independence Day is a huge celebration in DC with Smithsonian cultural exhibits. This year they had Welsh (Cymru) booths featuring cultural food, crafts, & music. It was great fun walking around & observing the storytelling, cooking, planting traditions of the Welsh culture.

Around 8:30pm, Elise asked me for a hot dog. I figured that was plenty of time to get one vefore the firework show. So Kat and I took the kids and waited in line. As the fireworks started we were 1 person away from ordering so we stuck it out, shuffled with our food through the masses and plopped down on our blanket. I quickly took some pictures and within 30 seconds, the show ended. Crazy! Good thing Kat has such a laid-back personality! We just laughed about it. The kids conked out right after the fireworks' show, which made our night walk amongst the monuments really peaceful. : )

Reflection of the Washinton Monument in a pond on our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

Aaron kneels in front of the Vietnam Memorial. I like how you can see the Washington Monument faintly reflected on the Wall.

The beautifully pillared Lincoln Memorial.

Where do we start?

We have a lot of catching up to do, so I think we'll just pick up where we left off... somewhere in the middle of July!
We really miss our cousins out in the east... Before we left we did a wonderful 4 day babysitting swap with them. They went to a relaxing beach in Virginia, and we went to New York. We are so grateful for them for lovingly watching our kids, and they even braved a Sacrament meeting with 4 kids under 5! When I went to pick up our kids from Audrey and Aley's house, I envisioned a joyful reunion, but they really didn't want to leave their cousins!!

Here are some highlights from when our little cousins stayed with us:

Monkey-ing around at our apartment's playground.

Lots of swimming at the pool! The Aunas are little fishes. Audrey showed Elise how to swim and hold her breath under water! We were so impressed!

Bathtime and silly, soap beards.

Miniature golfing, in other words, hitting golf balls with clubs.

Bedtime laughter/ silliness while camping out together.

We love you!

Good News!

Aloha!! We've been here in Hilo, Hawaii for about a month now. We love living with Aaron's family, they are kind to us and it's like a party every night - games, Korean dramas (if you've never seen one, you are missing out!) and lots of family gatherings (which of course includes delicious food!).

On Monday, Aaron got a job offer with Merrill Lynch! He will start as a Financial Advisor Trainee on salary and go through their management training program in order to earn all the necessary certifications/licences he will need to become a Financial Advisor in investment banking. We are really grateful for this opportunity - it is a blessing. I also have a part-time job reviewing a local company's Quickbooks from home, much thanks to Aaron's uncle.

I will start blogging again soon - there is much to post (especially from before we left the east)! Plus, since then, Elise started pre-school, both she & Elijah are swimming like crazy, we have taken little trips to the beach and temple, and spent lots of time with our beautiful relatives... I just need to purchase more space so that I can upload pictures. Somehow I exceeded my google limit for pictures...

Thanks to all who've checked in on us recently - we miss you! Much love & aloha...