These are a few of my favourite things...

As Malachi gets older, his likes and dislikes change like the wind. Something that makes him happy one week, is kicked to the curb the next. But these are some of his favorite things recently.

- Sunglasses -
Malachi was forever stealing my sunglasses so we finally got him a pair of his own - best $5 we ever spent! He wears them everywhere.
- The Beach -
This kid would live there if we let him. He loves sand, moving it through his hands, throwing it in the air. And he loves the water. He just walks right on in there, dangerous boy.
- Brushing his teeth -
If you're in the bathroom you can't escape this kid, he comes running in pointing to his teeth and getting very excited. When you're done brushing his teeth, he cries. Malachi has dental hygiene on lock down.
- Exercising -
In my effort to lose the baby weight, we bought this airclimber. I love it, and so does Malachi, he mimics me and my movements. He does the same during Turbo jam, jumping, bending, kicking. No wonder he's so skinny....
- His Camel -
Our friend Amraa brought him back this camel from Mongolia and he loves it. He calls it ''mumil'' and carries it around everywhere.
- Bathtime -
Malachi loves to shower and bathe. If you're in the shower and he's not, there are tears, tears, tears. He likes lying down in the water, and recently has become a big fan of "babues".
- The slide -
Seen as he's a big now now and everything, Malachi goes down the big slide - over and over and over again. This morning i counted 16 times before it rained (thank goodness!)
- Ice-cream -
After the playground, Malachi knows he gets an icecream. So when we walk in the house he starts making the sign for icecream, licking his fingers. And this kid can down popciles and icecream faster then any kid i've ever seen!!

This kid changes everyday and I'm sure next week this post will be totally out of date, but for now, these are a few of the boys favourite things....

A good read

So a while back i went to a women's conference put on at BYUH by Barbara Barrington Jones - an LDS motivational speaker. I really enjoyed the conference and the things she had to say at the fireside and so when she offered a copy of her book for free, i signed up. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I've been reading it and wanted to share my thought about it.

First of all, every women should read this book. It's about the 12 gifts that Heavenly Father has given to women, that women usually don't give to themselves; Joy, humor, trust, self-worth, miracles etc. She uses examples from her horrible life and the lives of others she's met while touring the world. And boy, after reading this book, i feel like I'm worth so much more and i can do so much more and that I've got things so good and i just need to be grateful.

Some of my favourite quotes from the book are:

"Use your trials to be better, not bitter"

"Discipline is doing what you do not want to do in order to accomplish what you want to accomplish."


"Gratitude truly gifts the giver"


But this is my favourite

"Happiness doesn't just happen. too many people spend their lives planning and hoping an dreaming about how wonderful their life would be if only...We say well be happy when we lose thirty pounds or pay off our credit card debt. we act as if our happiness depends on other people, on fate, or on circumstances beyond our control. As a result, we fail to see how wonderful our lives are right now-today. When you continually look to the future for your happiness, you guarantee you'll never be happy....Wherever you are, be there."

I just love that!! And I'm usually not the sort of person who writes blog posts about books. But i really felt that she had so much to say that women today really need to hear. So if you're looking for a good read, a pick me up, read this book!! Or give it to your mothers for Christmas. If you wanna borrow my copy and you live in laie, you're more then welcome. This book is definitely worth it!

The Love Box - Shark's Cove

As part of our endevour to keep the romance alive and make sure we dont leave hawaii with any regrets, we started a love box, a bucket list if you will, of things to do as a family or on dates while we're here for our last year in hawaii.

First up was......snorkling at Shark's Cove!


Tui had been, i had been, but we'd never been together. So we dropped the little man off at the Houghtons (He was so happy to be there, he loves it, THANKS HOUGHTONS!!!) and headed up the north shore.

The day was perfect, the water clear, we both really suck at snorkeling (is that even possible...yes!), but we had such a good time. It amazed me how beautiful these fish are, so brightly colored, and they'd just swim on past you like you were part of the scenery. So we spent an hour there, then finished the day off with a swim at sunset.

What a day. We love hawaii!!!

Help please!

Ok, so I'm really really bad at dropping electronics. Camera's, phones, you name it, i'll drop it. Some how i've been lucky enough to have had phones and cameras made of steal or something because nothing ever breaks.

Until now....

The other day while getting out of the car, Tui dropped the camera, his first time, and it broke. Go figure (it may have just been the final straw on the camel's back but for now we'll just blame him). Which means that I finally have an excuse (and some guilt to play on) to up grade and get a better camera.

I really really really love photography, it intrigues me, how they do it, what you can do, the possibilities, the ability to capture a single moment forever, you get the drift. I'm inspired by the billions of people around me who take pictures. So i wanna learn.

Problem is, i really dont know what i'm looking for or what i should be looking for. I want something that i can use to take some photography classes, a good beginners camera. Not looking to spend more then $300-$400 (hey, we're students guys).

So any suggestions are very very welcome. Pros, cons etc.

Mahalo!!!

PS. That also means so photos for a while.

The Ko'olina

When Malachi and I got back from Hawaii we didn't waste any time unpacking, we went that very day to reaquaint ourselves with the sun. Our friends the Houghtons were staying out at the Marriot Ko'olina resort so we went to visit them - and we never wanted to leave!! The weather was perfect, the pools amazing, we had such a great time. So much so that we even went back the next week after the Houghtons had checked out. But things are never the same the second time, it was windy and even started to rain a little.
Anyone coming to hawaii and looking for a place to stay? Highly, highly reccomend it!!

Malachi making sure that sand still tastes the same.


Tui making a splash on the waterslide.


Lookin good babe.

Us with the beach in the background.

Malachi....

Taking a nap.

Someone is happy to be here.

The boys on the chairs.

In the pool with mummy.

The tafuna express, anyone want a ride?

Waterfalls.

The men.

The wonderful Houghton Ohana

Update on life

So this post is more for us and our record keeping. But this is a quick update on our life.

- We recently moved apartments and now have 2 bedrooms which means....Malachi sleeps in his own room!!!
- This has also meant that for the first time in his life, my son sleeps through the night, 7-7, and we love it!
- Malachi is now 26lbs, 36 inches tall, so he's a bit of a bean pole. He is finally growing some teeth, 6 at the moment and another 2 coming through.
- Malachi's vocab is expanding by the minute, he loves words that have an 'S' in them - shoes, seat, yes, spoon, stop, this, etc. He likes to yell, "MUMMA!!!!!" at the top of his lungs to get my attention. His signing has been so helpful. He now combines signs, for example, he'll do the signs for more, drink, and bottle, meaning he wants more bottle. Or he'll do eat and apple. Clever kid.
- Tui is half way through first term and recently changed his major from accounting to Business with an emphasis in corporate finance. He is taking a swimming class.....Michael Phelps, watch out.....
- Moving apartments meant moving wards and I have been called to serve in the primary as their secretary. Should be a new adventure.
- We have started a 'love box' - basicly a bucket list of all the things we want to do together before leaving hawaii. Every week at FHE we pull something out of the box and that's what we do for date night/day/morning that week. This week it's snorkling at Shark's Cove. More to come on that.
- In order to facilitate the love box, we started a date night trade off with our good friends the Houghtons, we babysit for them one week while they go on a date, they babysit for us the next etc. That way we each have a free babysitter every second week. So far so good.
- Hurricane season has started. This past week we've had our first scare with Felicia, turned out to be nothing. But it did prompt us to update and improve our 72hr kit. We're so ready....

We still love being here in hawaii, even more so now that Malachi is old enough to reallly enjoy the outdoors. I guess it's our home now (4 years later....). We're just living love and loving life!