Hawaii Trip

As I said in the last blog, after two years (almost exactly), we FINALLY made it back home for a trip. Junior could only go for two weeks but I stayed an additional two weeks with the boys and it was WONDERFUL! I couldn't believe how much I missed home: friends and family, the smell, the beach, seeing someone you know everywhere you go, the food, EVERYTHING. It just made us want to go back that much more. The boys absolutely loved being there. In fact after the 1st day there and still know Brayden always tells us he doesn't want to live in Utah anymore, that we should live at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They loved running around like little local boys in just their shorts, and all too often not even those! They loved being outside everyday, all day whether at the beach, in the pool, playing with the cat or taking walks. And oh the food: Shave Ice and BBQ plate are two of the boys favorite words. In fact, when Tavita sees that white styrofoam plate he starts jumping, claping, and shouting "yea" cause he knows there's a delightful assortment of meats and rice waiting for his devouring. I was working on a slide show but before I could get very far at all my mom put together one for our family blog that was a lot better then I would have done so I just stole hers. Thanks Mom!
Here's a few highlights that I think coincide with the slide show:
Beach: This was by far the boys favorite part of Hawaii. Aside from Sundays and a few rainy days we were there EVERYDAY, sunny or cloudy, windy or calm. Brayden took to the ocean like he never left it. The boy had absolutely no fear and we often caught him go way far out to the point where he was having to bounce to keep his head up. He was incredibly steady in the waves and could take on some pretty decent sized waves. When he did get wiped out, he'd just bounce back up laughing and go back for more. Tavita was a little more wary of the ocean. He was ok if the sun was shining and the waves were just lapping on the shore. But he got cold really easily and didn't appreciate being knocked around. Often times he was more content just to hang out in our arms or play on the sand. He did eventually warm up to the ocean and by the time we left he could often be found attempting some deep sea dives with his brothers. We lucked out and found a seal on the beach by my parents house our very first time out. Tavita kept sneaking away attempting to pet the seal, he couldn't grasp that something that appeared so docile could get pretty rough. The boys also had fun chasing crabs and we even caught one that had obviously lost a fight somwhere along the road. He was a live and running but was missing its claws and two legs. The boys had fun holding him and attempting to eat him.
PCC aka "The fun place":Everytime we passed the PCC Brayden would ask to go to "the fun place". When we went the boys had a ball. I think they could've camped out in the Samoan village for a few days. They loved watching the show, the guys climbing trees, learning to fire knife dance, start fires and climb trees. We knew a lot of the guys there and they had fun playing with the boys. They also enjoyed the rest of the center namely the Tongan drums and the Maori village. Junior took Brayden to the night show and he still constantly pretends to fire knife dance. He was so excited to meet Kap (a friend of ours that performs the fire knife) and still treasure the picture Kap gave him.
Our Hike Another thing Brayden kept begging to do was go hiking in the mountains. We figured we'd start hiking the trail to Laie Falls and after a few minutes Brayden would be ready to turn around. WRONG! That kid lasted forever. When we reached Fence Posts (a good 1 1/2 of hiking) we pretended we had reached the top and convinced him to start heading back down. He went from chuggin along no problem to being completely pooped out the last few minutes of the hike and we couldn't get him to go another stip. Super Dad to the rescue. He hiked out with Tavita on his back and Brayden in his arms.
Shopping Center: Nothing fun and exciting about this place but the boys loved visiting Auntie Janessa at the movie store, Uncle Ryan at the bank and getting treats from Foodland
Shave Ice: The boys were the entertainment of the town the 1st time we got them Shave Ice. Junior carried it out of the store and both their moths dropped in awe of the massiveness of the thing. They sat down to eat it and immediately dropped half of it. Not to deterred they attempted to eat what was left only to get a couple of bites before the rest of it was spilled. They were beside themselves with greif. The lady was kind enough to give them another for free and they were so excited. We had people telling us watching the whole escapade was more entertaining than any movie.
Trips to town: We visited the swap meet, Pearl Harbor, the Zoo and Waikiki beach. Brayden was incredibly facinated with Pearl Harbo and couldve spent all day exploring the museum looking at all the displays but his brother wasn't having it. They loved swimming in the little sectioned of part of Waikiki and thought the Zoo was great fun.

Overall our trip was extremely fun. They enjoyed making carmel corn and pizza for Grandpa's birthday, being able to take baths in the kitchen sink, playing with the boys that rent downstairs and just being able to hang out with family. Thanks again Mom and Dad for putting up with us for almost a whole month! We can't wait to go back but knowing us, it'll probably be another two years. Oh well, at least we have a whole new set of memories to enjoy until then!

Poll Time

Okay, so once again it's been forever since we've posted. We've been in Hawaii for the past month. Since it was vacation time, I thought for sure that I'd be posting like every other night with all my spare time. Reality check, we worked hard and played hard and by the time we were home with the kids in bed I was knocked out. The nights where I did stay up later I had my nose in a book (the very reason why I don't let myself read, cause I do NOTHING else). Anyway, you have my promise of an upcoming post with lots of pics but for now we wanted to take a quick poll.
Our little girl will be here in a little over 3 months. We are still hmming and hawing over the full name. Kaleiloa is a definite, 98% chance of being a first name not the middle name. We've had several people tell us that it'd be wrong not to use Robi (Row-be, still don't know how we'd spell it)since Brayden has been so insistent since the get-go that it was a girl and her name was Robi. Some say use it as a first name, others as a middle.
I have to admit the name has grown on me some but still don't know that I'd ever be able to use it as anything other than a nickname.
Poll:Do we somehow incorporate Robi into her name, if so how?
Can't promise we'll listen but it's always fun to have input!

The Tounge Twister

We've had some request to post the baby's name because no one can pronunce it. All of Junior's family will have no problem but good luck to the rest of you. He he! Her name is Kaleiloa Feagaiga Shum. The first name is a combination of our moms' names (Carol and Sileiloa) and her middle name means covenant. Junior has always really liked the name, the only name he's really mentioned since we've gotten married. But is also considering using Ave'ae for a middle name (his Grandma's name). We'll call her Kalei for short (pronounced with a long "K" and "lei" like the flower necklace) that's should be plenty easy enough. As for the middle name, sorry, hopefully you all will eventually get the hang of it!
Brayden is still very insistant that her name is Robi so if all else fails you can follow suit with him!
We're really excited for our little girl. At first we were in a bit of shock, kind of at a loss as to what to do with a girl. Now, everytime we see a baby girl I start longing to hold our little girl!

Yep, it's a baby girl!

Definitely a Girl!

Drumroll Please

Okay, we found out what we were having yesterday. I'm taking a poll. Are we going to introduce the first girl to the family or are we sticking to tradition keeping the house full of blue, balls, and bugs???
My family flew in for a surprise visit the day after Christmas so we've been busy running around and playing. I will post pictures of Christmas soon!

Lost Memories and Preschool Party

So, I finally went to download pics last night to post on Thanksgiving(a month later I know), only to find the only pictures on our camera were from the beginning of this week and on. I had found Brayden playing with the camera the other day (he finds it no matter where we hide it) my only guess is he somehow erased all the pictures. Such is life, you all just have to use your imagination, only problem is other than the one picture we took on Thaksgiving, I don't remember what else was on there. The good thing is we do have some still pictures we took with our camcorder we bought the day after Thanksgiving so we still have a few.
Thanksgiving: We were very traditional on Thanksgiving. I was at work ALL day, it's our busiest day of the year, plus by working it I ensured get a good amount of time of for Christmas. With no family around and no real plans we figured might as well go ahead and work so we can truly enjoy Christmas. Junior and the boys were going to fill their day with traditional Thanksgiving activites, go to Toy R Us, eat dinner at Carls Jr(the boys favorite place), you know the usual. However, apparently Mimis Cafe(where I work) is the only business with no true Thanksgiving spirit because every where else was closed. They went home and enjoyed a day of playing around and eating a festive dinner of Top Ramen. We did spend a short while observing the holiday. I finished work at 8, brought home a couple Turkey dinners and we had a little picinic on our floor while we watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving (This is where I would insert the picture.)
Until I download the pictures from our camcorder, I'm going to skip a couple weeks and bring us to this Monday. We had Brayden's preschool Christmas party and it was an absolute blast. The boys loved being able to run around a play, we had dinner, made little reindeer candycanes, read books, and traded presents. We even had a visit from Santa, and he was the jolliest Santa any of the boys have ever met. Way to go Walter! It was great because he knew all the boys names which really impressed them. The boys then sang some songs for Santa while he danced along then Santa handed out presents to everyone. After Santa's visit, Brayden is even more excited for Christmas, which I didn't think was possible. Tavita was pretty unsure of Santa at first, he ran and hid between Junior's legs. I tried to get a picture but there were too many kids between me and them. After seeing other kids sit on his lap, Tavita decided Santa was an okay guy and wouldn't leave him alone after that.

Making reindeer candycanes. (don't ask why Brayden is dressed as Spiderman, that boy is ALWAY dressed up as something)

Reading a book, attempting to teach the kids the true meaning of Christmas

Santa's Here!!!


Kids singing for Santa

Santa jammin along with the kids

All the kids with Santa (we took a million of these and didn't have ANY of everyone looking or even standing still)

The first time Brayden sat on his lap, Santa told him not to forget to leave him some cookies on Christmas. So right before Santa left, Brayden grabbed a plate of cookies from the dessert table, gave them to Santa and climbed back on his lap to tell him about the Christmas lights on his house (guess he wanted to make sure Santa knew what house was his)

Total random note, but I want to record for memories sake. Tavita's latest thing is making different faces. We say, "do your happy face" and he gets a big smile, Surprised face warrants wide open mouth and eyes, Angry face is made by knitting his eyebrows and scowling etc. Today at breakfast we were tyring to teach him sad face. Junior was showing him by getting a really big pout. Apparently he has a really big lower lip because Tavita's imitation was sad eyes and sticking his tounge out.