Devin with Santa Claus

October/November 2007

Hello! Well, October has passed and November is just about over...we've been here for almost nine months now! Time is passing so quickly! October was busy with a visit from my parents and Halloween.

It was great to have my parents come visit, but the week went by too fast and I tried to plan too much! It was busy, but we still had a great time. We took them for a tour of Hilo, cooked them dinner at our house one night, visited Volcanoes National Park, Akaka Falls, Onomea Bay, Waipio Valley, Hapuna Beach went to a luau in Kona, stayed at a condo in Waikoloa for two nights, went to the Mauna Kea visitor center, and snorkeled at the tide pools. We hope they had a great time, too, and that we didn't wear them out on their vacation! Unfortunately, we don't have many pictures from their visit. Our digital camera stopped working the second day they were here, so we had to use disposable cameras during their visit and those pictures didn't turn out the best...what did we do before digital?!?!

For Halloween I dressed up for work as a tired mom and Devin dressed up as Tinkerbell. We went trick-or-treating with some friends. Devin was a little scared by some of the costumes, but she enjoyed playing afterwards and eating candy! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her in her costume to post yet. We had to use a disposable camera for those too, and haven't finished the film yet. When we get it developed I'll scan some Halloween pictures and post them.

We just spent Thanksgiving Day with our friends Alvin & Amelyn, their children, and family. It was very nice to be around a big family, since we don't have ours here to celebrate with. We're planning on having our own personal Thanksgiving meal on Saturday and going to buy our Christmas tree. So now...we're busy preparing for Christmas. I just helped Devin write a letter to Santa and when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she simply said, "I want everything...all the toys!" :)

I probably will not post again until after the holidays. I should be sending out our Christmas cards/letters soon, so you should all be getting those. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Below are some pictures we've taken since the last post, and picures from mom and dads visit...

Pictures

Daddy's latest catch

Devin posing

Devin enjoying the breeze!

Devin with her latest favorite hairstyle
The view of coconut island from grandma & grandpa's hotel room balconyAnd the view of downtown Hilo
The crew on the trail to Akaka Falls Me and mom at Volcanoes National Park...freezing!
Mom posing at Volcanoes National Park
Dad and Jer checking out the lava at the end of Chain of Craters Road
One of the many craters at the park
Mom and dad ready for the luau!
The view from our condoThe beach very close to our condo
The sunset at the beach near our condo
Turtle, or "honu" while snorkeling
School of fish while snorkeling
Mom snorkeling!

Recent news and pics

Not much new to report since our last update. Devin is finally getting on-board with the potty training thing! Jeremy passed his written test for the fire department, and is getting ready for the physical test next weekend. I am starting my own business with 'Arbonne' as a second job, and am excited about that. We've been trying to spend the one day that we are all free going to some of our favorite beaches to relax and have some fun. We're all anxiously awaiting Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Denny's visit here next month! Other than that, not much new. Here are some recent pics...

Devin wearing mommy's shoes with her pretty jammies!

Devin taking a break on our trip to the zoo

Devin all dressed up in her heels and jewelry

Devin at Hapuna Beach

...with her friend, Jessie

Devin helping daddy wash mommy's car

Devin all dressed up for a birthday party!

At Waipio Valley...playing where the river runs into the ocean

Devin "washing daddy up"

There were wild horses all around the beach/picnic area...here's a little colt

Hawaii camping

For mommy's birthday she wanted a nice relaxing day, so we went camping. We camped in an area that people had told us would be good if we wanted someplace nice, but more remote. It's a little different here. We were basically in the middle of a lava rock desert next to the ocean. We found the one spot with a few little trees and set up camp there. At first I wasn't so sure about all the rock and no grass, but it was really nice. We enjoyed it and had a good time. Here are some pics...



These are called the "tide pools." They're little areas in the lava rock that stay filled up with water after the tide goes back out. Some are shallow, some deep with beautiful coral. They were very close to where we were camping.






Here's Devin excited for her first camping trip ever!

Devin and daddy on the rocky black sand beach.

Devin with her bag full of toys from home...not much of an outdoors girl, but we're working on that!

A pic of our campsite. We were really close to the ocean...worried a little about high tide since we didn't know the area. Luckily we were okay!

The view from our tent door.

Another pic of the campsite...with Jeremy's truck...he had to make sure he got plenty of pictures of it!

Devin......relaxing in the tent

Devin and daddy relaxing in the tent!

Devin and mommy relaxing in our lounge chairs...ahhh, this is the life!

Devin and mommy enjoying the beach

This is the little inlet/bay area where we took Devin swimming. It was a short walk from where we camped. The water was nice and shallow and clear.

Just some pics of the beautiful sunrise the next morning.

Devin's 3rd Birthday!

We had a birthday party for Devin on Saturday, July 21st, the day before her birthday. She had friends over to help her celebrate. We didn't go outside as planned because it was raining, but I think everyone had a good time anyway. There were 'Dora the Explorer' decorations, pizza, cake, ice cream, a pinata, coloring, and lots of running around, playing, and yelling! Here are some pics of Devin on her big day, showing off some presents, and finally, exhausted at the end of a long, but exciting day!