Election 2008

Well another Presidential Election is over. I'm sure many of you are disappointed by the results while some are very excited. I myself wasn't thrilled about either one of the prospects. Our new President - President Obama! While I don't agree with him on a lot of things, I have to say I'm so excited to see our nations first black president! I have had chills watching all the celebrations on TV for him. No matter how this election went history was going to be made, and it was really exciting to see which way it would go. I have to admit that although I wouldn't have voted for Obama, I'm so excited to see our country in a place where we will elect a black president.
I have always struggled with racism. Not struggled in the sense where I have felt like a racist!!! FAR FROM IT! I am APPALLED by any sort of racism and ignorance. It disgusts me the same way that sexual abuse and abuse of animals and children disgusts me. I have a really hard time being around people who make racist comments or who are close minded to the fact that we really are all the same. I hope all of those people have their feet in their mouths now. Of course those people will be the first to say when he messes up that it is because he is black. BOO on those people!
I do have a concern though that the history books won't be fair and balanced to Mr. Obama. He is such a media darling that no matter what he does, bad or good, they are going to LOVE him. Like I said I don't agree with all of his policies and ideas - but for me this post is not about that. I am really just so excited to see our country here in this place. I'm so excited that I'm alive to see something like this. I'm so happy that my children will see him as president, even if he does mess up. Hopefully it will make it harder for them to learn any sort of ignorance and judgement towards a persons race.
Racism is disgusting. It comes from fear, ignorance and insecurity. Those are three qualities that I can hopefully keep my kids away from. It is obvious that everyone in the nation wanted a change. I know that Obama wasn't the change that everyone wanted. I don't want a lot of the changes he says he wants either. But I do love the change of the face of this nation! We have always been told to pray for our leaders - lets continues to do that! We should pray for them whether we agree with them or not. We should pray for their safety and for their strength and health. Our country has taken a huge step forward in some ways. I hope he does a good job. I know I won't agree with him every step of the way but I hope he is good for this nation, because we really need something good right now.

Photo Tag!

Thanks Marie - this one does sound fun! What you have to do is go into your picture files and upload the fourth photo in your fourth folder and the sixth photo in the sixth folder. Now.. lets see what those are....

> HAHAHAHA Marie you are in one of them!!! The first one is of our primary party, and the next one is under the water when Kel and I went diving!

I'm tagging... Ashley, Alli, Stacy, and Kristi!

Halloween 2008

So it has been a looooooooong time since I've updated this thing - and right now I'm only going to talk about Halloween. Maybe I'll update more later.

Halloween this year was definitly the most fun so far. Liam really understood the holiday and has been super pumped about it for a while now. And if Liam is excited about something you can bet that Arie is also. This year we knew Liam would go as Batman. He has had a Batman obsession fo quite some time know and we knew without a doubt that is who he would be. Arie would've been Batman too if we would've let her, but Liam really wanted her to be a princess. When we went to the costume store we immediately found Liam's Batman costume but we had a harder time finding a princess for Arie. We had to settle on Tinkerbell - but I think it fit her personality perfectly!!!

A week ago we crashed a Halloween party at our old church. It was really fun to see old friends and it was fun for the kids to get to wear their costumes before the big day. Halloween day was also full of fun activities. Liam's school had a Halloween parade and then a carnival afterwards. And then last night we went to our old neighborhood where there was a big bounce house and a trunk-or-treat. It was really fun to hang out with our old neighbors and having a trunk-or-treat with people you know made it feel a lot safer.
That is Liam all dressed up on the way to his school's Halloween party. He's on the phone with Mo-Mo telling her all about how cool he is! Here is Arie also anticipating the party at Liam's school. she just LOVES any chance she gets to be with Liam!Liam's got his bag and he is ready to go! You can tell in those pictures he always has to look in an upward direction or his mask would slide down. Liam NEVER broke character the whole time - he even spoke in a totally different voice. Here is Arie trying to steal from the other kids cubbies. She looks sweet, but never trust her :) The next few are pictures of Liam's class. There were so many cute kids and it was really fun to finally put faces to the names that Liam is always talking about. And it was nice to meet their parents as well. Arie was on sensory overoad the whole time we were there. She got into everything and was basically being her sweet destructive self. We finally just decided that she couldn't be trusted and that she had to be held. She didnt' really care for that idea... After lots of picture taking in the classroom the kids finally got have their parade. They paraded out of the school to the Ace hardware that backs up to the school. The employees at Ace handed candy out to the kids as they walked through the parking lot and through the store. After the parade we went back to the school for carnival. There were lots of fun games, bounce houses, and they were raffeling off a Wii. Sadly we didn't win the Wii - oh well there is always next year. There was a lunch for everyone - the traditional Guam favorites of red rice, kelaguen and long grain rice noodles. YUM YUM!!!!! A few days before Halloween Liam realized that Kel and I didnt' have costumes. Well this upset him and became obsessed with us getting outfits of our own. We gave in and we all went to the Halloween store together. I looked for the cheapest one that would cover up my recent weight gain - I went as Bruce Lee the Dragon Ninja. Kel on the other hand had a very important role this Halloween. Liam was going as Batman so what else could Kelly be but.......... ROBIN!!!!!!!!!! They were the perfect crime fighting duo! Liam thought it was pretty much the coolest thing that ever happened. I have to say kel is such a good sport because his costume was soooooo HOT! He kept it on for well over an hour - which is way better that I would've done. Anyway - here we are at our friends Halloween party... Check out the super hero stance! Oh man!!!! Those two were hilarious! Once we got to the party we hardly saw Batman again. He spent most of the time in the bounce house. I on the other hand spent time following Arie around making sure she didn't steak other peoples candy and food. Our friends have one of those yellow and red cars - you know the kind for toddlers that look sort of cartoonish. Well Arie LOVES these! She hogged the car the whole night. At one point she got out and when she returned back to the car she saw that another little boy had gotten in the car. Arie stared at him for a while with a very angry face and then went up to the car, opened the door and tried pulling the boy out by his head!!!! The car became her obsession that night and she soon realized that her wings made it very inconvenient when getting in and out of the car. So she went from this ... to that!!!!!!!!! Once we started trick or treating Liam came back into the picture. I sat and handed out candy, while Arie sat in the back of the car with me and ate everything that I wasn't handing out. After the party we went home and spent an hour or so waiting for Arie to come down off of her sugar high. Once we put her to bed Liam stayed up with Kel and I while we watched Young Frankenstein. Liam loved it!

So funny - so true - not a G rating!

Kel and I have been tossing around the idea of adding to our already hyperactive family. We know we want another little one - but when it came down to actually really trying to make that happen I got cold feet. I do want to still have another baby, but I also feel like... I'm young still, we have so much to do right now that isn't very much fun when your preggers, I hate being pregnant, and well I hate being pregnant. So we have gone back and forth recently on this issue. Our conversations are "Yes,now is a good time" to "Lets wait a few more months" to "Whatever happens happens" to "Lets wait a few more months". While we continue to battle with this issue, i would like to share some videos that have left me laughing sooooooooo hard! I'm sure anyone can relate to these, please enjoy!

http://www.runawaybox.com/video.php?vid=396

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Update on nothing really important...

So I started a new job recently. I don't think it will qualify as a "second income" anytime soon though. I only work about once a week! I got a job at a local furniture store... hmmm I just can't break away from the family biz! I really like the job though. I've been around furniture and interior design all my life so it I felt like it would be a good fit. It is a totally different ballgame from my Mom's store though. By the way - if you haven't been to my Mom's store - Eklektik Interiors - you are missing out!!!! It is so beautiful and very unique. This store on the other hand is very basic. For all of you people from Houston -- I'd relate it to a Gallery Furniture, but set up nicer. Extremely affordable basics. Some of the stuff has some style to it though. I really just got the job so that I could get out of the house once a week and save my sanity. GASP!!!! WHAT?!?!??!?!?!? A good mother - especially a good Mormon mother - would never utter those words! Well guess what? I meant it! I love my kids and feel fortunate to stay at home with them - but sometimes I've got to break free! Kel has been super Dad when I'm a work. Last week I got home he and the kids had just gotten back from the beach (something I'd never do alone!). Liam came running up to me telling me how much fun he had and how Daddy is the best Daddy, when I noticed Liam was running with a 16oz bottle of STRAWBERRY FANTA in his hands!!!!!!! No wonder they like Kelly more than me! Kelly just looked at me like "you weren't supposed to see that". Oh well! I thought I'd post some pictures of the goofy kids. When Daddy is around they just goof off and get dirty.


We've been trying to do better about getting the kids super sweet moments on video. They both love to sing so we decided tonight that we would try and capture there lovely voices live. Liam, of course performed perfectly. Arie on the other hand... basically with Arie, if she knows you want something from her there is no way you are going to get it.

Unda tha Sea!

(just to warn you I had a little trouble at the end of this post with my videos - they didn't get put in the right place - OH WELL!)
Kelly and I took off on our first diving adventure together yesterday. We went out on a boat with a group of locals who dive every Wednesday together. We went to two different spots on the South end of the island by the harbor. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!


Kel and Dave have been diving to pretty much the best dice locations in the world - so to Kel the diving was a little boring. But for me it was soooooo much fun. It was my first dive since getting my certification. I loved it so much that I think I want to get my Advanced Open water Certification (that just means I can dive to deeper depths and do more challenging things).


We recently got under-water housing for our camera and yesterday was our first day using it - so basically the pics didn't turn out that great. But I'll put up the pics anyway so you guys can see some of the things that we saw!


Our first dive there wasn't a lot of coral and it really wasn't very pretty - but we did see an eel! He was sooo cool - he just stuck his head out of his hole and checked us out. But sadly we didn't bring the camera down on the first dive. Kel hadn't been under the water in about five years and it was my first official dive - so we decided to not bring the camera and of course we saw an eel and couldn't document it.


here are pics of our second dive which was much prettier. The only thing that sucked was that it was really overcast, so the colors weren't that visible.. but you can get the idea.

This next pic is of a flat worm. These little guys are famous around the Marianas and they come in hundreds of different color combinations and patterns - some of them glow at night!


I'm going to try to put up some of our videos but we'll see if it works!

We also had the opportunity to see a submarine. The sub came into the harbor where we were about to dive. It caused quite the commotion for some reason - coast guard boats went over to check it out and everything. We couldn't dive until it left. Here are some pics as it passed by us leaving the harbor.

If you look at the top you can see the guys standing on the sub - that gives you an idea of just how big those things are!

Hong Kong 2008

We just got back from fun getaway to Hong Kong. We were gone for almost 5 days and it was really great. Our neighbors, another pilot family, joined us on the flight and in our hotel. We also had two families from our branch who were in Hong Kong as well while their husbands ship, the Frank Cable, was at port there. We got to see a lot and do a lot and I think it was pretty successful.

Our hotel was called the Regal Kowloon Hotel - as you might have guessed in Kowloon Bay. The location was really great. We were close to lots of nice shopping, Nathan Rd. (sort of like a 5th Avenue or Broadway), and right across Hong Kong island. It was also conveniently close to McDonald's. I know I know, who goes to a foreign country and eats McDonald's?!?!?!? I used to think the same thing. But actually we like to make it a tradition. McDonald's in other countries has unique items on the menus (Hawaii - spam, Philippines - the McRice burger, Bali - chicken fried rice, Hong Kong - the Pepper Burger and chicken pasta for breakfast), and Ronald McDonald usually has a special pose for each country he is in. And... everywhere serves chicken nuggets!!!!! So when you've had a long day and you aren't in the mood to get your kids to try dim sum or sushi... you always have chicken nuggets!

Our first day there we went to Lan Tao and the Ngong Ping 360. You basically get on a gondola and fly over the mountains to the little town of Ngong Ping. There are cute little shops and gorgeous scenery. There is also a GIANT statue of Buddha at the top of the mountain. You have to climb 260 stairs to get to the copper Buddha. At the base of the stairs was a gorgeous and very old monastery.

Goofing off on the subway - heading to Lan Tao...

Outside Lan Tao station - I would LOVE to own one of those apartments!!!!!

This was the sign before we got on the gondola - good thing we left our livestock at home!!!

The cart that would take us up to Ngong Ping.

Here are some of the views from our gondola, and yes, some of them are of the airport. Before I married Kelly I always felt like an airport ruined the view, now we take pictures and admire them!!!! HAHA! man-made island, with some of the most traffic in the world...anyone impressed yet??? I think only Sean and Allie will appreciate the airport pics....

View of the Buddha
Here is a view of a path/stairway that takes you up the mountain. It is called the Path of Enlightenment. You can hike the path instead of going on the gondola. I can't wait to go back when the kids are older so we can all take the path!!!! The path is really old (except for the stairs), and it looked like a really beautiful hike. Here are some pics of the little town of Ngong Ping. it was really beautiful up there in the mountains and it was a little bit cooler. The Buddha statue has been there for a long time, and so has the monastery. It has definitely turned into a tourist attraction though. When we got up there we were thinking oh what a cute little quaint Chinese village - and then we saw Starbucks and a gelato chain. Right then the mystery of the town died!!!! Oh well - it was nice to get some gelato!


And here is BUDDHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I just wanted to add the Liam climbed all 260 steps by himself!!! He was so excited to get to the top to see the Puma!!!! For some reason he always calls Buddha - Puma!


After we climbed down the steps from seeing Buddha we went into the monastery. When we walked in we could hear the monks chanting and it was really beautiful. We kept joking that we were sweating to the oldies - the 2000 year old oldies!!!! The monastery was beautiful we even ate at the vegetarian restaurant there - it is run by the monastery. The kids did a pretty good job with the food. Arie loves tofu, and Liam likes it if he thinks its chicken. I wondered about Liam when I looked over and saw that he poured some of Kelly's Fanta in his rice! I don't think that is the Cantonese way.






After lunch we watched a monrkey cartoon at a little theater (total tourist thing but we did it for the kids) then we watched another cartoon in another theater about the journey of Buddha. It was made so kids could understand his story, but I think Kel and I got a lot out of it too.

That night we babysat for our friends. Cody, the husband, is in the navy and is on the Frank Cable. That night they had a cocktail/appetizer function for the sailors and their wives. We watched their kids for them while they went out. Their kids were so good and Liam had a lot of fun hanging out with the girls. We took them to McD's (of course) and then took them down by the boardwalk to see the laser show. Everynight on Hong Kong island a several of the skyscrapers participate in a laser light show. The buildings light up and they have lasers that go off to music. The music changes every night with a different theme and they play the music on speakers on the boardwalk in Kowloon. The show was pretty cool and the kids got COTTON CANDY!!!!!!! It was Liam's first time with cotton candy and he did a lot of licking instead of tearing off and eating. I think next time he'll get it.

The next came the adventure that we traveled for.......... DISNEY LAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hond Kong Disney is quite a it smaller than Anaheim and definitly smaller than Orlando. But it was perfect for the kids because it wasn't as exhausting to get around the place! It still had the classics though... teacups, flying Dumbo, Its A Small World, and Space Mountain. Liam was so excited and Arie really got into it as well. There is a subway train that rns exclusively to disney and it is decorated with Mickey head windows and other cute things...



The first ride we chose was the race care ride. It was definitly the longest line we waited in - 45 MINUTES!!!! It was hot and humid and the kids got really impatient. I thought for sure their moods were ruined. They cheered up a little when they got their license!



After that thrilling race around the track we met up with our friends from church and let we let all the kids run around in the UFO water area. It was good for them to cool off.


Liam had a lot of fun - but Arie got SOAKED!!!!!


Next up... what else... Its A Small World. This ride was great for parents! The line was super short and you waited in air conditioning the whole time!!! We rode it two or three times. Liam sat with Avri and Logyn (when they are around he wants nothing to do with us).


Next was flying Dumbo, Teacups, and FOOD!!!! I have to say - based on food alone this is my favorite Disney. Our choices were sushi, dim sum, indian... and it was all really good!



And what do you think happened next?

After the kids woke up we went on a Tarzan jungle boat tour. Liam didn't really care for it because there were crazy cannibals that jumped out and lots of fire. After that we went to a 3-D show. I personally love these things and luckily the kids got into it too. Liam and Arie were both grabbing for things in the air and laughing the whole time!
In order to get in a little adult time we took turns with our friends Darren and Sheila riding SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!!!! We watched their son Mason first. When they were done it was our turn! We went in the singles line so we wouldn't have to wait very long, and thatmeans we didn't get to ride it together. I ended up being paired with an Austrailian woman in her 60's who was with her two girlfriends. We laughed so hard and screamed so loud we had tears running down our faces! kel go paried up with a Japanese guy who tried to duck his headto whole time! I have to say that Space Mountain was the best one EVER!!!! I think because it was newer and more modern. But it was darker and faster! So much fun!

Our next activity was probably the highlight of the day. We rode on the Buzz Lightyear ride. The jist of the ride is this... you walk in and a big robot Buzz is telling you that Zurg has stolen the battery cells and it is your mission to shoot the robots and get back the battery cells "Good Luck Space Cadets!"... you get in your own cart with lazer guns so that you can shoot the batteries and score points. Well after Buzz gace us the run down, you should have seen Liam's face. He was sooooo intense and so serious about his mission. He did not want to let Buzz down. Kel said the whole ride he didn't break character once! After the ride we walked out and saw the REAL BUZZ!!!! Of course we had to stand in line so Liam could met him. We were so excited for Liam to meet him we ran over to the line and forgot all about Arie!!!! Our neighbor came over holding her and laughing at us. Not our finest parenting moment but we're not trying to win any awards!!!! HA!

This day was tons of fun but it was a lot of work. At the end of the day kel and I wanted to call our parents and tell them thank you for all the times they took us to do fun things. Seeing the kids light up was worth every moment but it was a rough day. Sweating the whole time, wiping bums, changing diapers, holding the stroller just right while they napped... it was all worth it though! To prove how hot we were here it Kelly after our day at Disney... note the salt on his shirt from his sweat!!!!! CRAZY HUMIDITY!!!!

The next day was sightseeing and shopping. We went to Vicotria's peak with Darren, Sheila, and Mason. Then we all met up with a couple from our branch Kjirsti and Jeremy. At Vicoria's Peak there was a playground that the kids played on and incredible views of Victoria Bay and Kowloon.

This little girl followed Arie EVERYWHERE!!! I don't know how they communicated but Arie did everything the girl wanted her to do and they had a lot of fun together.

After Victoria's peak it was off to meet Kjirsti and Jeremy at the Star Ferry, and then on to the Jade Market!!!! YES - three buildings of JADE!!!!!!!!! Jewelry, figurines, cute old Chinese men and random finds. Next time you see me sk to see my pocket watch!

Awwwww babies first jade. Arie got her first pieces of jade - a Chines zodiac bracelet. You should have seen the way she was waving her wrist around!

I fell in love with his old Chinese man! Not only did he have the coolest finds ever (check out the goth/rock/weapon rings I'm wearing), but he told me if I bought rom him I'd be "lucky lucky". How could I not buy from him?!?!

Later that night Kel and I dropped our kids off with our friends Tara and Cody so that we could have a night to ourselves. We had a lot of fun. We went to the "Avenue of the Stars" and ate some yummy yummy food. Then we walked down Nathan Rd. and watched the city come alive!

Our last day there I had to leave Kelly and Liam in the hotel room. Kel was throwing up and Liam was complaining about his stomach too. Arie and I met up with Kjirsti and Jeremy and took a train north to the "New Territores". It was definitly a lot more like China. No english signs and a crazy market place. We visited the Man Mo temple and did some shopping.

Hungry anyone???

Last but not least here are some random shots of us just goofing off. Kelly and I are super lame sometimes - but we make each others laugh and we make oursleves laugh - and that is all that matters!

I can't believe I ended on that picture!