Babysitting means Playtime!

            

Mae Leilani

           

    Here are a few pics I took of Mae at 1 month old.  She is so cute and looks like both Ela and Marwin. She loves to be held and gosh darn it, if I didn't have my own zoo to take care of, I'd be holding her more often!  She is so precious!!!! 

     

Service with a Smile

 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  Mosiah 2:17

This passage from The Book of Mormon often reminds me of Mom and Dad. When I think of service, I think of them. They have always been great examples to me of serving others willingly and happily.  Time is something they didn't have much of. Between working full time, holding callings in the church, and tending to our huge family, they have been and still are finding time to help others even without being asked.  I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to see them in action of serving others.  Our family has been blessed by it. 

Last week As I was putting the 2 baby boys down for an afternoon nap, Ke'ala came in from playing outside to tell me Grandpa was here. It was nothing out of the ordinary, Dad often stops by unexpectedly if he's passing our way to see the kids or pick a couple of them up to take home with him.  He didn't come in right away and by the time I went out to see what he was up to, I realized that he had blessed me with the gift of his service. 

That is a picture of freshly cut grass. Our front yard or what most locals call their parking space.  Dad cut my grass!! Oh I was so happy and grateful. This is a big deal for me.  Let's tell you why. 

1. It's a small pain to walk through tall grass to get to and from the car.  Especially when wet. Especially with kids. It's challenging for them and they slip and fall when it's wet & they all want to be carried in the house because they can't see the rocky terrain through the grass either. Let me tell you it's a pretty steep walk up that ramp and  I had trouble getting myself up there at first, let alone the kids. 

2. Being that we live in paradise & rains so often, our grass needs to be cut once a week.  To borrow dads equipment to clean the yard, it entails a drive to dads and back and to dads to return it and back again, he is a landscaper he needs his tools,  which is a little more than half a tank of gas that we can't afford to lose each week at $4.29/gal.  That means we are limited to borrowing his tools once a month or if we're lucky, every other week. That leads to knee-high grass for the kids.  

3.  We could buy equipment ourselves.. Storage is an issue.  There is none.  To store tools we'd have to build or buy a shed.  

 After working on my grass, dad picked some lychee for the kids.  Look at those hands out begging for lychee.    They love lychee!

     Ke'ala got her bunch and sat in the back of dad's truck where she wouldn't be bothered as she ate her share.                                                                          

                           

                    

After playing with Jeremy for a bit dad fell asleep under the lychee tree for a couple of hrs. Just like that on his truck.  

Mmmmmm lychee fruit! And dirty nails.

I'm grateful for dad and his example of service in my life.  I  have seen Christ's love through his actions and have learned much from him.

4th of July

Manini beach with the family on the Fourth of July.  The kids went on kayak rides with Grampa and Uncle Sale and had a great time. Uncle Clayton was missing, away at Scout camp for the week.
Aunty Ela and Uncle Marwin were with baby Mae , the cutie patootie.

I am grateful for the time we have to spend with family but more importantly I'm thankful to live in a country where I have the freedom to do that and so much more.  I am thankful for the men and women and their families who sacrifice much to fight for that right.  It doesn't come without a cost.   Because of that I, I am blessed to enjoy my time with these wonderful people  in this beautiful place in peace.  We have much to be grateful for on our day of Independence.