Oh so Thankful, Thanksgiving 2013

So this year was definitely different. I struggled a little with the lack of tradition.

Wednesday wasn't filled with a crowded kitchen as we chop food and Brina makes pie. BUT, gramma GG was staying with us and she and HeaBug had a wonderful time rolling out my dough and cutting fall themes shapes for pie crust decorations. They even made little cinnamon roll ups with the left overs. 

It didn't work out in the cards for any of my sisters, sisters in law, or nieces to join me for a pre thanksgiving late night movie. But I decided to go anyway. And my sweet friend Cakestina came with and we had a most excellent time getting popcorn wasted (have you HAD the ranch an parmasean garlic popcorn shakers?!) and chatting in the cold parking lot. Catching Fire was awesome!

I didn't make a French toast bake to have post Thanksgiving morning softball game. BUT I did whip up scones and took jam and juice for breakfast at the park.

Our regular field was under construction BUT after a few little detours, we headed to a different park and field.

A lot of our family that normally joins us for the game weren't able to make it. BUT we had super rad friends and their families play and it was at much fun! Gramma GG hit twice and had grandchildren be her designated runners!

I hardly took pictures, made a few new dishes, we ate on paper plates, I had no table and place settings, there were no name cards or flowers, regular immediate family guests weren't present, people (young folk 25 and under) left as soon as possible, we sang no songs, there was no pie herald, we didn't watch White Christmas... 

BUT, we were healthy, safe, comfortable, full, laughing, my Uncle, the patriarch of my Kamae Family was there, Gramma GG, matriarch of the Booth family was there, our bellies and hearts felt full. My older sister and cousin stayed to help get everything cleaned up. 

At the end of the day, just like at the end of everyday, I know that I could fall asleep counting my blessings. Life is good. It's changing, things are different and likely not to stop changing. We can't control what happens BUT we CAN control how we respond.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving,

Love us B's

Love these kids

 JT got a mohawk. Mr. B rocked a faux-hawk. It was cute. For a week. By the second week, I was determined that they both needed the rest of the haircut.
These guys. Love them.

 In our cleaning and organizing of the garage, HeaBug found her brother's old leapster. She was quite content to pull up a spot on the floor and play her new "game". Pexie, our almost 3 year old rottweiler, thought it looked like a good idea. They were camped here for almost and hour. Love these girls.

My sister-in-law sent me this pic of our Kalani Man. It's so hard when a part of your heart is growing up on the east coast but we love getting a steady stream of picture updates and thanks to Facebook and texting, we enjoy getting to watch him grow up. We are SO excited that he (and his mama and auntie) will be coming out to visit us for a week this Summer!! Love this boy.

Spring Break 2013 in Hawaii

10 months ago we booked 5 tickets to Hawaii using miles on our Hawaiian Miles Visa. Complete, roundtrip. bam. Two weeks later, that awesome Mr. B suggests we take Maga as she was celebrating her 50th. (It's actually what we gave her as her present). Mr. B got the airline tickets and I was put in charge of finding us a great place to stay. Since there were six of us, we were looking at two hotel rooms. Alternatively, I decided to look at renting a house. I found the most amazing place! As we didn't pay for the flights, I figured we could splurge a little on the stay and MAN was it worth it.

Poor HeaBug was still fevered and JT was coughing like he had the plague. Our flight was in the evening out of LAX on a Monday. Since we'd booked the tickets so far in advance (for a 12pm flight) the flight times were changed (to a 5pm flight). Our first 5 tickets were placed on hold, not canceled but not confirmed seats either. Good thing Mr. B got it sorted out the few days before we left! We had the confirmed seats but they were scattered throughout the plane. Traveling with two little ones, that is just not an option for me. We asked the lady when we checked out bags and she says there is nothing she can do, flight is full. Once we got through security (Which we flew through considering, little shoutout to my bugs for being awesome travelers) I went up to the desk to work my politeness. I let the Hawaiian in my voice come out a little and took poor sick, sad Hea up on my hip. This lady was happy to help. She accommodated us to put the kids in between Mr. B and myself, Breezer was one row back to the right and Maga was right behind us. What a little Mahalo can do. AND they had leis for HeaBug and JT at the gate, with wishes of "Hope bebe feels better". LOVE!

After the 5ish hour flight, we were all feeling a little like junk. We originally rented two compact cars as it was cheaper than getting a loser cruiser  mini van. But the lady at the desk said she could hook it up with a mom-mobile van. It's all good, we could all ride comfortably together. Plus, cheaper was better!

We left Honolulu, crossing the island to get to Waialua on the North Shore which was where we were staying for the week. Putting faith in Google maps, we finally pulled into a cul-de-sac and it said we were there. Looking around, the middle of the night, it didn't feel like we were in the right place. It was dark so it was pretty hard to see. Mr. B pulls out his flashlight and we get out of the van and walk down what looks like an alley or a driveway. Thankfully it was the latter of the two. We opened the wood sliding gate and pulled the car into the space. There are two units. As we used the garage door opener in the garage, it accidentally opened the other unit's garage. We must have scared them something good! Ground level was the garage, in the front door and up a flight of stairs, we walked into an amazing living room. Even at night, we knew this place was cherry. The 2nd floor held the living room with a fold down queen sized futon situated in front of the full wall pocket doors, dining room kitchen, bar a hallway and a full bath. The 3rd floor housed a bedroom, laundry, full bath, and the master bedroom, also with full wall pocket doors and a balcony with an en suite powder room and bath.

This is what I woke up to the very next morning. Not even out of bed, just looking to the right. Happy girl.

Looking off the balcony.

And THAT sunrise. My oh my, Waialua I love you.


We knew we needed to snag some breakfast before we went to the PCC, which was our plan for the day. So we headed in to eat at Cafe Haleiwa. Yum.

Polynesian Cultural Center was lots of fun

 Fun fact... if you've visited the Samoan Village at the PCC... this is the SAME GUY!

 Ali'i lu'au. Even though she was sick, girfren got up to do the hula.

 We toured Iolani Palace in Honolulu. Even the kids listened to their own audio tours walking through time.

 We celebrated Mr. B's birthday at the Chart House. Poor sick girl was still sick. At this point I was also full on sick, JT was coughing like he had the plague and Mr. B was getting sick. (Breeze was two days behind).

 We loved playing in the "backyard".

 The Dole Plantation was good fun.

 Hiking up to and swimming in Waimea Falls was amaaazing. The water was SO cold when we first got in but we were fine after a minute.

Still a little grumpy

We ate at so many awesome places! We got to catch up with a mainland friend! Thank you Yelp, we were never at a loss for food options.

 We were finally well enough to breathe through the snorkels so we visited beautiful Hanauma Bay.

Hawaii was amazing. We were all sad to leave. The kids and Mr. B are convinced we need to buy a place so we can come back whenever we want. The property we stayed on was so beautiful, it felt like a little slice of heaven on earth. Best Spring Break.

Uncle Kene and Auntie Lei: For time and all eternity

Uncle Kene and Auntie Lei. It's like peanut butter and jelly. Or macaroni and cheese. For my whole life, I've said their names together like it's one name. Uncle is my dad's older brother and the Patriarch of our Kamae Family. He once challenged me, at eight years old, to learn all the states in alphabetical order and their capitols. I still know them. Uncle has jokes for days and he has the best laugh. Auntie has always been the quieter of the two. Her hair has always been long and she would wear it in a long, low ponytail/braid or she'd twist and twist and twist it into a beautiful low bun and hold it there with a comb. When I was a really little girl, she used to make me jelly toast. I always wanted my nails to grow long like Auntie's. It wasn't until I was almost an adult that I even realized Auntie's real name was Julia, but she'll always be Auntie Lei to me.

Uncle Kene and Auntie Lei called us up to tell us that they would be going to the temple to be sealed together for time and all eternity. Our faith teaches that families do not end here on earth and that through being sealed, your family will continue to be together in the life hereafter.  That we are woven together perfectly and by making and keeping sacred covenants with God and each other, we can be together forever. If you really want to know more about it, there's more information here.

Uncle and Auntie have been married longer than I've even been a thought but getting to be there and be a part of their going through the temple for the first time, seeing they way that they looked at each other, at the people surrounding them, it was all just so overwhelming and wonderful. 

We are so thankful to be a part of this eternal family.

Ana and Gil tie the knot

We headed to Vegas to watch our cousins Ana and Gil get married! Here are some of my favorites from the wedding!

Chanda and John Molina. Love them. Here's their wedding

 

BFFs

thought his look was hilarious. navigating your way through a crowd carrying a cake. brave stuff.

We were in Vegas with the kids so we decided to take them to their first cirque show! We saw O at the Bellagio and they were amazed! 

We at at Bacchanal, the new buffet at Caesars and rolled ourselves out of there. SO FULL! Vegas is always a good time, even better when we get to hang out with our Ohana.