Videos from Waimea Falls

Joshua-Isms October 2010

When I returned home from a church meeting the other night Joshua said over and over again: "Mom, that is a very beautiful dress!" He was probably just excited to see me in something different than I usually wear:P

He also told me that night as he was laying in bed, "Mom, I'm so glad you are back." So sweet.

He keeps telling me we need to put a Christmas tree outside and then the snow will come down. (so sorry to disappoint the boy that won't be happening anytime soon:P)

He keeps asking me if we can get on a plane to go up and see Jesus.

Tonight he told me he really wants to get married! (Mike and I were telling him about when we got married) When I asked him who he wanted to marry- he replied- Jesus! Don't think he quite gets the concept yet:P

On our way back from the falls on our hike the other day he said, "Mom, where's our house? Oh no- we are lost!"

He often tells me at a red light that I can't make a right turn:P

He is voluntarily eating raw spinach on his sandwiches- yay Joshua!

He is signed up for a soccer league but won't let go of mom and dad's legs when we go to the practices.

He is obsessed with colors right now and which colors go together to make other colors (due to a dvd:P)

It's late and that's all I can think of right now:P

A perfect Afternoon

Ty, Joshua, and Savannah

Troy and Brinley

Wuz up!

Joshua actually got into the water without being coerced- a HUGE step for him (he also tried to push Chase in while I wasn't looking- luckily he didn't lead him in too far!)

We had a perfect day on Friday! We started out at the library for story time where our story teller earned an award for being the best on the island:P We then headed up to the North Shore for some great eats and a hike at Waimea Falls. This hike was beautiful and totally kid-friendly with paved trails for strollers! The kids had a blast chasing after the wild roosters and swimming in the pool the falls run into. Just as we were leaving, we were surprised with a treat! A hula dancer and her accompanist laid down mats and performed right in front of the falls for us and taught the kids a few things as well. It was so fun to watch:P We are so happy to have such great friends here and hope we meet up with them again another time in another place since we all eventually have to say goodbye:P

Handsome Boys

My boys looked so handsome before church a few weeks back- we had to take pictures! I am so blessed to have all of them in my life:P

Church Trunk or Treat

We have celebrated Halloween a little early here this year- our church had an activity on October 9th with a Chili cook-off where my chili placed again:P and a trunk or treat! Mike actually wanted to dress up this year and so this is what we came up with- he plays the part pretty well huh?! Love you Mike!

Diamond Head Hike

We finally hiked Diamond Head with some our new friends from the ward this past September! I was proud of myself because I carried Chase 95% of the way. I finally asked Mike to take over when we reached the last spiral staircase because my legs were jello by this point! We kept seeing people on the way down who couldn't believe we had hiked up with kids- but it really wasn't that tough and the view at the top was awesome! I'm glad we can cross another "thing to do in Hawaii" off of our list:P

Air Show

We were able to attend the Blue Angels Air Show in Kaneohe in September. It was awesome! Mike was especially thrilled when they had a demo of what the new F-22 can do! All the noise scared the boys pretty badly- but all in all it was great fun! (until we got stuck in traffic for 3 hours 1.5 hours of which were on a school bus being shuttled back to our car) but the boys did great and were even singing together "The Wheels on the Bus" It was too cute! Yay for family time! I didn't get any pictures of the actual air show- but this plane in the background is huge! (Obviously) and we used to have these right next to our old house and the windows would rattle at night when the engines started up! We were grateful for them at the airshow because of the all the shade they provided:P

Joshua Quotes September 2010

Because this is our family journal: Here are some more of my favorite quotes from Joshua as of late:

He said our family prayer last night "Please bless Jesus to come to our house."

He also stopped in the middle of the prayer and said "I need to see something" ran downstairs looked in the refrigerator so that he'd have some ideas of things to thank God for! We were cracking up when he came back in and finished his prayer. What a sweetie!

He asked me which friends we had seen at the store recently. Then said: " I love them, they are friendly, friendly like dogs." (Tara and Nolan:P)

He told Mike when the bathroom fan was on: "Turn off the fan it's not stinky in here anymore!"

He's been sick this past week and today we were outside in the front riding bikes for a few minutes. He sat down and said: "Mom I am out of energy. " I asked him if he wanted to go inside to which he replied, "yes, let's go inside and get some more energy."

While walking through the grocery store (very loudly) "Mom, what just came out of my bum?!!!!" yeah- a little embarrassing for me:P

The other night when I got up to get him a drink of water he said: "Mom, say excuse me." I still don't know what I did?!

His intelligence level just grows every day- today we stopped at the dentist to pick up some paperwork for preschool and he had told me that he needed to use the bathroom- so just as I started to speak to the receptionist he reminded me, "Mom, ask if they have a bathroom."

"We don't eat poop." (No, Joshua we don't!)

We love him- he keeps us laughing:P

Visits to North Carolina and Illinois!

We made our first trip back to the "mainland back in April/May. It was a whirlwind trip but great to see family and friends again. Sorry to those of you we may not have been able to see- we hope to be able to stay much longer next time!!!!! We started in SC with Mike's dad and wife - Sue. We had a great time relaxing at their house, Joshua and Chase had their first fishing experience on Grandpa Barnum's boat, we were able to visit the Columbia SC temple (a highlight of the trip where we also ran into our great friends from Monterey, the Gardners unexpectedly!!!!!) and I honestly can't remember what else- it's been a few months! We then were able to spend some time at Mimi's house in NC where Joshua and Chase LOVED Mimi's cats, and playing with their cousins! We had a great time socializing and having a fun lunch at Red Lobster in Concord. We were also able to visit my brother Ryan, and his wife Meagan and meet their sweet, beautiful, Brinley!!!! We wish we could have spent more than a couple of hours with them!

Before we knew it we were on to Chicago where we spent time with my family at a Children's Museum downtown Chicago, ate out lots, and Mike and I got an overnight date thanks to my mom and dad!!!!! It was a great time and so fun seeing my parents new house and beautiful new lawn! (last time we were there they just had dirt and weeds!) The boys had a great time being out in the yard collecting bugs with grandma and spending time with Grandpa as well. Joshua left his mark on Grandpa's couch in his "man room" with a permanent marker. Sorry about that Grandpa! We love our families and are glad we were able to see them even if it was a short visit! We hope to visit or have you visit us again soon!!!! Also- I don't have any pics of the kids with Mimi- I think because she was taking lots of pictures I thought I had them too- so Mimi- I need to get copies of those pics so I can post them!

Fun Visitors!

I'm also finally posting the visit with some of our favorite friends, The Tolmans! They came in April for a week and it was soooooooooooo much fun to see them again! We visited the Dole Plantation, Ko Olina, The Polynesian Cultural Center (Thanks again Tolmans for buying our tickets- you rock!) Cheesecake Factory downtown Honolulu, Hanauma Bay, Electric Beach, and we got to play with sweet Jessica for a day while her mom and dad celebrated their anniversary with a visit to Pearl Harbor, A submarine tour, and lots of other fun shopping, eating out! Another fun fact to note: Hank and Danica were able to celebrate Joshua's 1st birthday with us in Monterey, CA, and they were here for Chase's 1st birthday- how cool is that?! We love you guys!!!! So------ Am I enticing anyone else to come? We still have a guest room even in our new house and welcome any visitors! (I'll post pics of the new house soon!) We love to play tourists when people come and remember that we do live in Hawaii (sadly, it has been about a month since I've even been to the beach- am I crazy or what?! We love you Tolmans! Come visit us again!

Kauai Kayak Trip

So I'm finally blogging about some things that happened a while back. One to note is our Kauai kayak trip we took in July with some amazing friends! We went with 3 other couples on a 2 day kayak trip (17 miles) along the Na Pali coast on the Island of Kauai. It was very convenient to have my sister living with us at that time to watch the kids for us. So we set off and arrived on the island late on the night of June 30th where we finally found the campground (Kauai is not nearly as inhabited as Oahu) it seemed like we were driving on windy roads forever. We found that our tent was already put up for us! (Thanks Taylors!) We tried to sleep but it was nearly impossible being that we didn't bring an air mattress and the ground was full of rocks, and the wild roosters were crowing all night (I thought they only made noise when the sun comes up?!) Not to mention we were to anxious about the trip itself! Well-morning came early and we had to be at the Kayak office around 6 AM if I'm remembering correctly. We set off and kayaked to the first beach- and a few minutes into our paddle Mike and I were the first to tip and ruin our brand-new "waterproof" camera. Yeah- that's another story. However, thankfully, the Taylors took lots of pictures and thus, we have some proof that we were there!

We spend 2 nights at the first beach. We did see a pod of dolphins from far off on the way, a few sea turtles, and a rainbow! The coastline was absolutely gorgeous, so much so, that there are people who live permanately at that beach and can often be seen showering naked in the waterfalls! Mike witnessed that firsthand! We did some hikes on the first beach which included a swim trip to sacred beach (I opted out of that one seeing that I'm not a fabulous swimmer and my fear of sharks or just big fish wanting to snack on me!) We ate military MRE's which I never want to eat again, watched beautiful sunsets, chatted with friends, and just relaxed.

On the 3rd day we paddled to the last beach with a few stops in between to a Hawaiian burial ground, where we also saw some crazy mountain goats. We enjoyed the last day of paddling and ended up tipping over coming in to the last beach and I got hit in the head with the kayak! Way to go Barnums! All in all- it was the experience of a lifetime! I'm proud to say I paddled 17 miles of coastline that can only be seen by boat or in the air! It was some of the most gorgeous scenery I will probably ever see in my life and I got to do it with my sweetheart by my side, and great friends! Yay for adventures even after kids!