Happy St. Patty's Day.

We decided to take the dye everything green route, as opposed to the corned beef and cabbage, since that doesn't even sound good. What is it, anyway, and am I even spelling it right? We had green eggs for breakfast. For dinner we feasted on split pea soup with green rolls, sliced green apples and green milk. We enjoyed green chocalet chip cookies for dessert.

A few years ago we had Kyleigh paint and decorate a box for St. Patrick's day. We told her if it was shiny enough the leprechans would spot it in the windowsill and maybe leave a treat inside. Of course, they would hide it because they are mischevious little buggers. Kyleigh remembered that and wanted to do it again this year. I pulled out some little ceramic pots and the girls painted them green. Although we had big plans to decorate them, the painting was as far as we got. Then I realized the leprechans didn't really have anything to put in the pots, so they raided my birthday present stash and came up with a puzzle for Kyky and a fairy sticker book for Katelyn. At 6:30 am (actually pretty late for the two of them) they appeared at my bedside asking if they could go see if the leprechans found their pots. They hunted for and were happy with the really nice leprechans. They probably think the leprechans are going to be that nice every year, but you never can tell with leprechans. Happy St. Patricks day!

Rusty turns 31!

Happy Birthday to Rusty. Yes, I know his birthday was in January, but it's never too late to mention that my handsome prince had a special day we don't want to forget. To celebrate, we had Mike and Holly over for dinner. I went all out with a four course meal. First we had a green salad, second cheeseburger soup, third was the main course-bacon wrapped filet mignon, and for desert we had an array of goodness. Rusty went back and forth for weeks on his choice of dessert. He wanted either a cheesecake, a pumpkin pie, or a peach pie. I made him a pumpkin cheesecake, and three miniature pies. They were peach, apple, and triple berry. As far as gifts, he had recently been to Hana Paa Divers on Oahu and loaded up on new spearfishing gear. So instead of spending alot of money I gave him the best thing ever, I cleaned up the rotten oranges from the orange tree in our back yard. That is pretty much the worst job ever. After they fall from the tree the bugs dig in and eat the whole inside, leaving only the shell. When you get one that is half eaten the bugs slime out while you are trying to get it to stay on your shovel. I don't know if it is all mental or not, but when you are finished you itch for a day. Anyway, I took a picture of the oranges on the ground, then an after picture. I printed them and put them on the table so he would see I am the best wife ever. I also gave him a box full of peach kerns. Peach kerns is Rusty's drink of choice for unwinding after a hard day. Mike and Holly gave him a new backpack for adventures and a pair of clippers with a keychain attached. In case you didn't know, Rusty is the designated family finger/toe nail clipper for kids. Every Sunday he whips out his clippers and three sweet little girls (Kyky, Katelyn, and Naiya) throw mini fits until the job is done. Well, he had a good birthday, so until next year, Happy Birthday Russ!

Katelyn is growing up!

In the last few months Katelyn has had a lot of exciting firsts. She is getting bigger right before our eyes. She went on her first bike ride (with a lot of help from daddy), frosted her first cookies, painted her first craft, got a big girl bed, and has her very own decision to make by way of bedtime stories (we have to read two, now). Her personality is shining through and she makes us laugh every single day. She walks with "air lats" when she is on a mission and when she runs down a hill her cheeks bounce up and down. She loves to play "friend" with KyKy and her favorite friend name is Kara. (Friend is a game where everyone gets a new name and a new scenario. Often KyKy, with a new name, is on an airplane. While I am trying to get some kind of work done, I have to repeatedly call her. She usually doesn't answer because she is on the plane, so when she calls back I have to be available. Other scenarios include: someone just had a baby and I have to babysit, my "friend" wants to come over and play, so I have to ask my mom, or I am the baby sister and I have to listen to my bosses, who are friends with each other). I am thrilled that Katelyn has joined in the friend game. I get the dishes done so much faster when I am not the only friend playing the game. Of course, we can't imagine life without Katelyn.

Not a vacation, just a regular Saturday with tropical hike and beaches. We are so blessed!

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa Keeling

We were so lucky to get to see Grandma and Grandpa Keeling in Thatcher, Arizona before we flew back to Kauai at Christmas (I know, the Christmas posts are getting a little old, but we couldn't not tell about it.) I have been waiting to get pictures from Holly that show the conch shell lessons before I made this post. We had a great visit. We were talking about Hawaii (Grandma and Grandpa were regular visitors for many, many years), and Grandma went into the bedroom to get some conch shells to show us. Grandpa demonstrated some very impressive conch shell blowing ability and we all tried to duplicate it. None of us were near as good as him, but it was fun trying. It was especially funny to watch Rusty (note the out of order pictures below). He got totally gassed trying to make a noise, and all that happened was a funny little squeaky noise. He kept trying and got the conch shell all spitty, then tried to hand it back to Grandpa to demonstrate again. Grandpa started laughing and kind of looked at the spitty conch shell with a yeah right look. Eventually Rusty caught on. Grandma complimented the "feminine" conch sound that I produced. Mike and Holly caught on quickly. Even the girls tried a couple of times. Yumm, family germs. Grandma also brought out some of her jewelery and the girls had fun trying it on. Kyleigh was happy to see Wilky (the dog) again. We just wish we could have stayed longer.

We love you Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Christmas Misc. pictures.

The arrival of Jenny's Family.

The girls checking for treats in our advent calender.

Pictures of the deer just down from Merrill and Nancy's house in NM.

The kids composing messages for Santa on Christmas Eve.

KyKy and Katelyn practicing the piano at Nama'a house.

Holiday Highlights part 2 - the NM activities

We did lots of fun things while we were in NM for Christmas. Most importantly we got to spend time with the Cook family. We ate and ate and ate and ate. I made four batches of sweet chex mix, which was only a drop in the hat of delicous food. We got to drink hot chocalet and not sweat because of it. We sat next to the fire and loved every second of that. We only got a skiff of snow one day, but the warm temeratures were conducive to lots of fun outdoor activities. We went to Penny Park (an almost entirely made of wood, 100% community built maze of funness), rock climbing, hot dog roast at the city of rocks, shooting bb guns, played ultimate frisbee, acted out the nativity, played dress up and lots of games (including an ultimate challenge night), went rock climbing, played on the swingset, and climbed on the climbing wall. Our ultimate challenge game night was a contest between everyone and the results were based on a combination of your ping pong, pool and farkle placings. Rusty created brackets for ping pong and pool and you played whoever you were matched up with in the brackets. I ended up tying with Rusty for second overall. Mike was the gold medal winner. One day Brianna (cousin who is 12) dressed Kyleigh and her brother Ben (4 months older than Kyleigh) up in costumes. Rusty's mom has the biggest best collection of dress up clothes ever. They came upstairs as a wrestler/cheerleader, caveman and woman, movie stars, indians, and angel/devil. You will see who was the angel and who was the devel below.

Rusty and the girls coming up a tunnel at Penny Park.

Shooting guns in the mountains, with SNOW!

Kyleigh and Ben playing their parts well.

Christmas angels for the nativity.

Not so "ultimate" frisbee, but same place and time and super cute.

Does the fun ever end?