Sand Mermaids, Queen Liliuokalani Park & and Silliness

Several "Furlough" Fridays ago we escaped to Onekahakaha Beach with our sweet little cousins and entertained ourselves with making the girls into mermaids and Elijah in a spidery-looking ocotpus.  Furlough Fridays are Hawaii's way of reducing labor costs in our public schools.  In other words, the kids don't go to school on Fridays, unless there was a holiday on Monday.  As you can imagine there are very mixed opinions about this issue, however, there will be no more Furlough Friday talk since this post is about the beach and other randomness.  The lovely ladies who accompianied Elise, Elijah and I are Aunty Jacelyn, Keisha and Ka`anela.

This photo of the kids at Queen Liliuokalani Park ended up on a mousepad as a Christmas gift for their grandparents.  I love the vivid colors.

So, Elise has been making up all sorts of definitions for words I didn't think she knew.  For instance, tonight out of the blue, before bed she said, "inseparable."  I asked her if she knew what that meant and she said, "It means don't play with hexagons."  I said, "Huh?  What are hexagons then?"  She answered, "Hexagons means chickens don't talk or...  no fighting allowed."  By this time she was giggling hysterically at my expression and was so silly that even when we tried to teach her the correct meaning of the word, she didn't really care.  However, when Aaron asked her how many sides a hexagon had she correctly answered (or guessed, I don't know), "Six."  What a silly 4-year old I have!

This picture is from when we lived in "SilverSpringMaryland" as Elise affectionately likes to refer our life on the east coast.  However, this picture is perfect because Elijah is STILL OBSESSED with this cape our brillant friend, Sarah, made as a favor for her son's b-day party.  She sewed the first letter of each kid's name onto the back (Nevermind that this cape was orginally meant for Elise - luckily both of their names start with "E").  He loves PBS's SuperWhy, wearing this cape and making silly superhero poses.

My heart is full... (not to mention my stomach!)

This Thanksgiving post is frightfully overdue.  However, a goal of mine this year is to post at least weekly.

This past Thanksgiving we went a few blocks over to Aaron's grandparents' to eat and relax.  After lunch we went outside with our cousins and entertained ourselves with bubbles...  There is something very magical about bubbles; their irridescent colors swirl like oil on water, they fall gently like snow and float around like petals in the wind.

  

I used my friend Tiana's pie crust recipe to make a family favorite - Banana Cream pie.  We must have pie on Thanksgving - it's tradition!  I love this pie crust and my family loves it too.

Elise's school, Haili Christian, had a musical performance by the different classes and her teacher had them create great Thanksgiving-themed crafts for the whole month of November.  The teachers even set-up Native American Tipi's around the school yard.

After we stuffed ourselves full of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie and other delicious deserts, we went on a long, leisurely walk and enjoyed this beautiful sunset.   

I feel very blessed and am so grateful for so many things - primarly for a wonderful family. We feel so blessed to be entrusted with our two healthy, lively children.  Aaron's parents generously welcomed us into their home and his mom and sister watches our kids when we are at work.  I feel indebted to their gracious hospitality.  We are grateful for good employers in economic times like these.    I am reminded of God's love for me in nature and all of it's elements, beautiful sunsets, the ocean, bright green foliage, thunderstorms and rain.  I am grateful for life's simple comforts and pleasures, a roof over my head, more food than I could ever want to eat, for bubbles and good music.  I am grateful for a loving, affectionate husband who makes a better person through his influence and expample.  I am grateful for answered prayers, to know that the heavens are opened and that God speaks to us today individually and through living prophets, and for scriptures that teach us about His plan for us.  I am grateful for our Savior who loves us so much that he suffered unimaginable things and gave His life for each one of us, so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and loved ones someday.