Tahitian Getaway

So my in-laws live right on a black-sand beach in Tahiti.  That, among other things, makes going home to visit them rather inviting.  This October we spent 2-weeks enjoying every moment with our family and the beautiful islands of Tahiti and Moorea.

For a quick taste of Tahiti, hold on to your pareaus and take a deep breath as you continue...

We were greeted at the airport by most of Ram’s 11.5 siblings and their families with leis galore late Saturday night 9/29/12, got went straight to Ram’s native home to see my FIL doing very well following a triple-heart valve surgery which the doctors gave him a 30% chance of surviving, chased baby sharks around the shallows in the bay, Ram and I both learned how to stand-up-paddle (SUP is still a relatively new sport) in the smooth pre-dawn ocean right in the front yard, paddled out to where the whales were playing in the ocean and got to admire them up close, was pictured on the front page of the newspaper watching the whales, went to Moorea and explored their amazing lagoons, drove to the belvadaire at the top of Moorea, snorkeled with Zana at the Moorea Sofitel bungalow hotel & fell in love with amazingly colorful clams & schools of Tahitian fish, visited botanical gardens, rode a ferry boat between the islands of Tahiti & Moorea, shorted out the parent’s electricity at home just before FHE by plugging in an American hair clipper appliance w/o a power adapter and had FHE by candlelight as my BIL Rudy fixed the circuitry, shopped a little, bought a Tahitian ukulele & some pearls, ate a boatload of French breads, crepes, pickled mango, steak & fries, became frequent diners at my SIL Marau’s lunch truck, heard Zeth say “I’m hungry” about every 20 minutes throughout the day – even with food sitting in front of him, hiked & ran the steep road up the belvadaire in Pirae, watched Tahiti triumph at 2 of 3 beach soccer scrimmages between the Tahitian national team (led by team captain Ram’s cousin Naea Bennett) and the reigning world champ Swiss teams, visited the government offices in Papeete where my SIL, Helo, works for the President of Tahiti, nearly tried the new Lamb Burger at McD’s but then snapped out of my delirium, learned how to weave baskets from coconut leaves used for underground oven baking, swam in a cold fresh water source, fed cows in a mountain pasture, had dinner parties with siblings & friends almost nightly, the kids got to know all their cousins (24 & counting) all over again and play countless hours of iPad & Wii games, bouncing on trampolines and jumping in the surf with them, learned some new French vocab, oh and my sister got to come down and enjoy a full week of it with us.  (Was that the longest sentence I’ve ever written?  Possibly)

 

We were so grateful that Ram's dad was able to travel home from his heart valve surgery in New Zealand and was doing very well proving the doctor's wrong about his 30% chance of surviving the surgery.  He has lost a lot of weight and is moving a bit slower so it was good for us all to have this opportunity to see him again...just in case there aren't many more opportunities like this with his whole family intact.  My MIL is busy at the Family History Center every day thoroughly engrossed in doing her own research and helping others who are stuck or are just getting started.  She came home one day totally bummed that she only found 2 names all day.  I'd call that a successful day, she's a pro.

This week and next are filled with Halloween fun.  This year for Halloween our family will be comprised of Thor, a skull pirate, an ultra-marathon runner, and a tourist/Bishop.

Here are the kids and their friend, Sky, before trunk-or-treat ready to go pound down some booty.






My office was all decked out this year with the following cast of characters: Static Cling, Flower, Ultra Runner, Tongan Fob-io, Tina Turner (or Beyonce depending on your generation), Nerdy Soccer Coach, and Capt Jack Sparrow (all cleaned up).

This Saturday will be the kids last soccer games of this AYSO season.  They’ll miss the last 2 games because next week, we’re off for another fabulous trip to California to visit my side of the family for 12 days. More to come on that...

Birthdays & Balls

Been so busy with life lately I haven't kept up with my blog.  This year Our whole family is hitting 5-year milestones so we're celebrating having a 45-year-old dad, 40-year-old mom, 10-year-old daughter, & 5-year-old son.  Zeth and I have birthdays 8-days apart in Sept so we've been partying lately.

For my 40th, on Saturday, Sept 1st, Ram & the kids sweetly served me breakfast in bed.  Then we went swimming at a pool none of us had ever been to in Waipio.  The Patsy T. Mink Memorial Complex has a nice olympic sized pool with free lap swim hours for the community.  Zana's swim team was planning to go as a special field trip to check it out so we all went along.  I wasn't aware of the requirement that all swimmers must be able to swim one length and tread water before I had Zeth jump in to me and excitedly doggy paddle back to the edge only to find the lifeguard there ready to kick him and his friend Thea out.  Big sad tears over that injustice were shed while I stayed in to help coach Zana a little while longer. 

Then we were off to lunch in Acapulco with our friends the Wassons.  Well, that was just the name of the restaurant in Waipio but it was great Mexican food.  It brought back great memories of the cruise we took with them last October.  After that we went to a movie, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which would have been fine to watch on Netflix but was kind of a waste of time & money in my opinion - one more reason we rarely go out to the movies.  It did, however, strike a chord with me and made me all teary and grateful for my wonderful adopted children and their birth parents all over again.  After a stop at Costco we cruised the North Shore during sunset on our way home and stopped for a quick rainbow moment.

Zeth turned 5 on Sunday, 9/9/12, so rather than have a totally irreverent party on Sunday, we had friends over for games, dinner, and dessert Saturday night to celebrate.  This was the end of a very long day for me which started with a 9-mile run at 5:00a (I'm back in training again - this time I'm only training for a half-marathon which sounds like a piece of cake compared to the full 26.2).

Saturday 9/8/12 was the first soccer games of the AYSO season which meant Zeth's first game ever.  Both of our kids teams shut out their opponents which made Auntie Maeva (Zana's coach) and Uncle Ramond (Zeth's coach) very happy. 

I was cracking up at Zeth swimming around in his XS uniform.  He's such a slim kid he can't fill out the uniform yet but he's so fun to watch charging down the field.  Zeth had about 6 wide open shots right in front of the goal that inexplicably went just wide.  He did make 2 goals in the end which was so exciting to watch.

After the soccer games, we had a pool party for Zana's dance group, HEA.  So we packed up some food for the potluck and went swimming at Gunstock Ranch.  The progress Zeth makes every time he gets in the water is awesome to watch.  He thinks he knows how to swim but panics and has a hard time keeping himself afloat.  However, after an hour in the pool, he started gaining confidence and by the end he was floating and kicking around with confidence.  Still not quite where he's able to swim on his own, but he's getting close.  In no time, I'm sure he'll be a fish just like his big sis and his mom, the shark.


I asked what he wanted for his birthday cake and was a bit surprised to hear him ask for a pink cake that is tall and round.  Brought back memories of Zana's pink Barbie cake I made years ago.  That would not work for my little man.  So I made him a strawberry cake with strawberries and marshmallows and blue frosting to man-it-up a little.  Turned out cute in my opinion.  And it turned out delicious and gone by the end of the night.

Speaking of man-ing-up, Zeth has never once complained about using his sisters hand-me-down bikes or scooters.  I bought him an age-appropriate red & blue scooter when he was about 3 because he wanted to learn how to ride Zana's scooter which was too tall for him.  He decided it didn't go as fast and didn't turn sharply enough so he happily ditched the kiddy ride for the pink & purple scooter.  A few months later for Christmas Zana was getting a bike and I wanted something cool for him too so I spray painted the scooter silver and added orange stripes to make it look more macho.  He loved it!  Turns out, the color really doesn't matter to him at all.  He's fine with pink & purple.  A couple years have passed now and he still loves zipping around on that multi-colored faded-paint scooter. 

However, last month he learned how to ride a 2-wheeler and has been tearing up the road, jumping off the curbs and having a great time...on his sister's old purple bike.  It was time for me to help him man-up again so for his birthday he got a new bike.  He was happy with the new bike but was even more stoked with his new Bey-Blade Let it Rip toy from Grandma and his foam bullet gun from Zana.  He's such an easy kid to please.

Big Cars, Big Tithing, & Big Hair

Brodyssey

After driving my 1999 Honda Accord EX-L for 12 years, it was at that point where it was in need of some major maintenance to keep it running and looking good but I have no interest in driving a rolling maintenance project so it was time to go.  I was raised in cars being rebuilt and maintained weekly by my grease monkey dad to keep them going.  I made a promise to myself when I left home I’d never drive a wreck again; of course I broke that promise when we bought our first “Laie car” for $200 as newlyweds 19-years ago, but I digress.   

I shopped for 6 months checking regularly with several sites, got on the call list with a couple of dealers who would check in with me every time they got something in they thought I might like.  I was very particular about what I wanted and determined to get the right car at the right price to last me another decade if necessary.  In May the planets aligned and two viable options at two dealers came up.  It gave me the boldness to ask for what I thought was a great deal and do some real negotiating that I would not have thought possible.  I asked for a ridiculously low amount and rather than slam the door in my face, they both came back with better counter offers than I thought I’d ever get.  I settled on my beautiful blue 2008 Honda Odyssey EX-L for about $6,000 less than they were asking (@dealers cost + $100) and the whole family is so happy with my new van.

The registration expires this month so I kept waiting for the renewal forms to come in the mail.  To my delight, this week I received the Title along with the Registration form and the $400 sticker good for another year already paid.  What an unexpected surprise.  Tony Honda Waipio really won another customer in me.  I nicknamed my new van the Brodyssey.

Tithing

I’ve always had a pretty easy time with the law of tithing so it surprised me when last week I was tempted to not pay tithing on the $2,000 I got for selling my old car to a friend.  I wasn’t sure it was technically considered income or an ‘increase’ because if I had traded it in it I wouldn’t consider the reduction on the overall price of my new car as income; but I sold it to a friend for cash instead so the money changed hands and I received a check rather than a credit.  It was one of those things where it was a grey area and I was rationalizing that it was not really income but an offset to the cost of my new car.  Anyway, I quickly decided it is always better to err on the side of caution and put my faith and the Lord first.  The verse in Malachi 3:10 came to mind and made my decision much easier, “…prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Five-days later I received a check for $195 in the mail from the condo association we belonged to before we sold our condo in Arizona a year ago.  Turns out they had overcharged us for something at some point and just figured it out.  There was no way I would have ever expected that and I know it was a blessing being poured out for being faithful.  The best part, because it’s a refund from being overcharged, I really don’t need to pay tithing on this check.  

Haircut

Ram was not too thrilled with me after I cut Zeth’s hair on Sunday.  We had been just letting it grow for the past 9 months and it had gotten kind of gnarly, tangly, & crazy but was very back/bottom heavy and not as full on top so it was not doing much for him and was a beast to try to detangle.  Anyway apparently the several talks & lessons at church & FHE this month about modesty and appropriate appearances got into his head and when Zeth asked me to cut it, I made the exec decision to do it.  He has been begging me to style his hair in a sort of faux-hawk like all the boys are doing these days but that just wasn’t working out.  I left it long on top but trimmed everything else so now he can almost achieve what I’ve termed a fro-hawk.  He’s a happy & handsome kid.

Here's a before shot of the Z-fro and Zana trying on the costume I just finished making for her Tahitian group performance.  My favorite part is the t-shirt which is not actually a part of the costume but reads: "Fabulous like my Mom"  haha. 

Pineapples

One of the cool things about living in Hawaii is sticking a pineapple top back in the ground and growing your own pineapple plant.  It's such a low maintenance plant that even I have a hard time killing them with my neglect.  It takes about 2 years to produce 1 fruit.  We had two grow at the same time and we just ate them.  So cute.

May Day ~ Graduation

Preschool Graduation…no seriously

As is the custom of the people in my village, any chance to celebrate milestones in our keiki’s lives is embraced and exploited.  Today was Zeth’s preschool graduation ceremony.  I admit to having been a hater of ostentatious events like this in the past but much like the all-knowing soul who judges a mother who has their child tethered to them with a ‘leash’ then changes her tune once they become a parent to a frequent flyer, I have jumped on the overindulgence train. 

The graduation ceremony was short and sweet, opening prayer by Zeth’s daddy, the graduates sang a little song (I have a dream?) with hand motions the kids have been practicing for months, a certificate and project portfolio presented to each kid as their teacher recited what they want to be when they grow up.  Zeth wants to be a doctor, “so I can give everybody shots.”  Next were some tearful thank yous and good byes from his teacher, Auntie Mele, who will be taking a break next year and was just a little sentimental.  No, make that a lot sentimental, she personally bought all 19 kids (including the ones not advancing yet) in the class a very nice backpack and filled them with school supplies for kindergarten.  Her generosity amazes me.  Then the leis, goodies, & pictures really began flowing.

But that’s not all.  Then the kids went into the playground area where there were two giant jumpers and free shave ice for everyone.  Parents were welcome to stay for lunch and enjoy the “Fun Day” they had planned for the kids but those who had to leave were able to do so with little or no drama from their kids who were too distracted to care.  It may be a shock when he goes back to the same school again tomorrow and it’s just a normal day.  In fact, he’ll be attending the same class through summer until Kindergarten starts on 7/30 (yes, it does seem a bit early to start school in July!).  He is so ready for elementary school.  He has been wearing his new school uniform t-shirts almost every day since I bought him some a month ago.  Just can’t wait to be an official Jr. Red Raider!

May Day

As is the custom of the people in my village, the kids both had May Day performances this month.  Zana was in the front row again strutting her gift of dance.  Zeth was the first up for the boys too which was surprising because he always acts shy when invited to dance in front of people.  He’s showing signs he’ll be taking after his sister, mom, & dad…all of us have been performers at some point.  My video of Zeth’s performance is awful because I was standing on 2 chairs with my arms up in the air to try to see over the parents in the front who were obviously under the impression they were the only ones who wanted to see the kids dancing…but I digress.  Anyway, despite the shaky video, I was so proud of them and their dances were so darling I had to post them on youtube for the world to enjoy. J  Zana’s class theme was “The Roaring 20’s” and Zeth’s class did a Tahitian performance.

Yesterday was Ram's birthday.  We celebrated as per our family custom, with crepes for breakfast.  When I asked what he wanted for dinner he replied, "le Cassoulet".  Well that's just great.  Cassoulet is a can of French style pork & beans w/ sausages which is not sold anywhere on the island.  I've looked.  It really is an acquired taste sort of thing that just reminds him of home.  To me, it's not anything I'd ever crave but that's what he wanted more than anything for his birthday dinner.  Luckily for me, he just happened to have one can stashed away in his office for a special occasion which he produced as a compliment to the meal the rest of us ate.  For dessert, it's hard to beat a Ted's Bakery Chantilly cake - so that's what we did.  (BTW, if anyone happens to be coming for a visit from Tahiti anytime soon, we sure could use some more Cassoulet!)

I put a bunch of May highlights so far in an album if you just can't get enough of us.

Mother's Lentils

Mother’s Day

Before motherhood finally came my way, Mother’s Day used to be such a painful experience for me.  Happily the pendulum has swung to the other end and this year was such a blissful day.  It was simple but happy.  It started out with breakfast in bed which Zana helped make – and eat.  A gorgeous “Christina” orchid lei, pot of happy mums, and handmade cards from the kids made the morning very special.  Off to church where the youth took over teaching all the Primary classes so the women could all attend Relief Society for a change.  The bishopric came through brilliantly with roses and heart shaped gourmet brownies for all the women in the ward. 

But rewind to Saturday when the kids asked what I wanted as a gift, my reply was a whole day with no fighting, arguing, or whining.  I realized that in order for my wish to be granted, I couldn’t just sit back and allow them to govern and entertain themselves but I had to stay actively engaged with them.  So I did my part and we kept busy but relaxed all day.  There were several times Zana had to take some deep breaths to not give in to Zeth’s prodding for a response and I was so proud she did it.  They were so well behaved and mannered all day right up until 8:00p when Zeth needed a bath and Zana asked to join him.  Water toys gave way to splashing which gave way to a water fight which ended up with a ball in the eye and Zana retaliating.  Guess I should have moved bed time up to 8:00p.  Other than that we had a very successful day.

To reward them for their efforts, Monday morning I made them breakfast in bed.  Crepes are a special breakfast event normally reserved for birthdays but I thought they deserved a reward for making Sunday so happy.  It was a splendid start of the week.

 

Lentils

One of my husband’s favorite meals as a result of his mother’s cooking is lentils & rice.  Even with the sausage, carrots, & onions mixed in the thick soup served over rice, it’s not the most exquisite of meals but it’s one of his favorites because that is what he was raised on.  Monday evening he prepared a pot of lentils big enough to feed his family of 14 (well maybe not anymore with 9 men in the family), which was more than enough food for our little family of four.  I think we’ll be eating lentils for a week.  Sadly, our children have never liked lentils in the least so as dinner began, so did the complaints and requests for additional options.  Ramond was quickly done eating and busy with other things so that left me to make sure the kids ate dinner, got some nutrition other than the grapes they were packing away like chipmunks, and learned to appreciate the food they have.  Hard line mommy night.  I tried every tactic, “the Anderson kids love lentils!”, “OK, I’ll put soy sauce on the rice but you have to eat the lentils too”, “eat your lentils & rice or go straight to bed, it’s your choice”, “look, sausages are like hot dogs – they’re cousins in fact”.  I wasn’t making much progress.

Realizing threats & force would not end up in a pleasant evening for anyone; I decided to attract the bees to the flowers rather than dumping soup on their heads.  So I came up with an incentive plan, we needed to go return some videos at the library after dinner so I finally gave them a 10-minute timeline and said if they finished their bowls in that amount of time, we would go get ice cream after the library.

It was as if someone just started a pie eating contest at the state fair.  I’ve never seen Zana shovel food as fast.  She was holding her nose so she didn’t have to taste the food but downing huge olive-green scoops all the same.  She finished her 10-minute bowl with 5-minutes to spare.  Zeth meanwhile was having a hard time turning the corner on his decision whether the ice cream was really that worth it.  I think he only ate about 4 bites total but as time was winding down and I had to decide if he was making enough progress I had to also factor in how Zana would feel after finishing her bowl if he didn’t do the same and still got the treat.

So I delegated the decision and said if Zana thought he did a good enough job, he’d get an ice cream too.  Tough spot to put her in, I know, but she didn’t seem too worried.  She took out a notepad and scribbled a large number on it.  As time expired and he was still working on swallowing his last mouthful, she held up the notepad and proudly declared he had earned an “8” and that an 8 out of a possible 10 is still a passing grade.  The law of mercy in action.  They both passed the test and you never saw two happier kids with their McDs sundaes.  I was so relieved that the bed time ritual of brushing, changing, & reading went smoothly and everyone went to sleep happy.  Until the next time we try to feed them lentils of course…

Well whaddyaknow? It’s my half birthday again and so far this week I’ve received not one but TWO half birthday cakes. Seems like some of my dear ones want me to know they love me and to put some more pounds on before my big 4-0 later this year. Big mahalo to Kathy for the carrot cake and to Ram for the double chocolate cake. I feel so loved. I want to send a birthday shout out to my bro-in-law, Teamo, in Tahiti who turned 39 today. We’ll be enjoying some cake for you today bro.

Too many great things happened in Feb to not mention. Visits from Joan & David Peffley and from Debbie White & Derek Wall made for lots of fun memories. Joan is a cousin who I knew of but never met before and just got to know over the internet a couple months ago. Even at age 70 is so spry and quick she deceives her true age. It was such a treat for both of us to spend some time together over their 3-week trip here. Our family tree is really skinny with several one-child generations between us so relatives are hard to come by. We bonded and got along splendidly. I also got to meet Joan’s son, Rod & his wife, Christine Miller who were here for a few days on a business/anniversary trip together. What an unexpected treat for me. We went to the PCC luau and night show with the whole gang, had shrimp dinner plates at home another night and spent some time at Bellows AFB Beach cabins in beautiful Waimanalo with them over one weekend. Rod and Chris were constantly on the go and really packed in a lot of action on their trip. I hope they are recovered from their vacation by now. Joan’s husband David was lots of fun too and taught us a new card game called 9-Hole Golf which made for some lively and character-revealing hours of fun with them and with Zana who has no shortage of beginners luck. The kids loved having them around and we hope to figure out a way to take a trip to visit them in Monterrey someday soon. No trips on the horizon for us as of now though.

The day after Joan and David flew home to CA, Nana Debbie & her grandson Derek (my BFF’s middle child) arrived from UT for a quick 4-day winter break. We wasted no time getting them pumped full of Matsumoto’s Shave Ice. We went to a BYUH men’s basketball game which the home team won and everyone got free Founders Week celebration cake following the game. We snorkeled at Turtle Bay and actually saw a turtle. Ate monster burgers at Kua Aina in Hale Iwa (something we typically only do when we have visitors so it’s a treat for us) followed by more Matsumotos. We watched the monstrous winter waves pounding the shores. It was so great to see both of them. Derek was here as a baby but had no real memories of Oahu so it was great for him to come get a taste of life here and hopefully he will be back again someday to visit or maybe even attend school??? Zeth was totally attached to Derek who was such a great sport about playing with & entertaining him.

Debbie & Derek made a fabulous dinner for us one night during their stay with Shake-n-Bake pork chops and a new star was born. We love pork but it normally comes out too dry when I bake or fry it. The S-n-B coating was a hit and took care of the moisture problem. That stuff has been around since I was a kid but I’m such a creature of habit I never thought to try it. Love it when we find a new quick-n-easy dinner option. Ram actually baked S-n-B pork this week for FHE and it turned out onolicious. We have a new shopping list item.

I ran the Great Aloha Run a week ago. Did not expect to set a PR (Personal Record) for my time because honestly since the marathon, I haven’t been all that crazy about running and maybe only ran once per week for the past 2-months. So having not trained for the 8-mi race, I was pleasantly surprised that I got my second best time ever at 1:21 which was just about 5 minutes slower than last year which I did train for. I intended to start out at a nice leisurely 11-min/mi pace then try to slowly speed up over the course. My adrenaline and competitive spirit got the best of me and I ran mile 1 in 9:03. So much for plan-A. Guess some of my marathon training helped me out there but by the end I was really pushing myself hard and it was not as easy a race as it should have been. I am still fighting off some of my PMS – Post Marathon Syndrome. I’ll be back eventually but it’s been good to take a break from so much running and just do other stuff like volleyball and swimming instead. This Saturday I have a 5k trail run for the elementary school. I know that one will kick me in the pants because hills are not my forte.

I sprained my right index finger a week ago and playing volleyball. I won the point with my 1-finger spike so it was worth it. If I didn’t win that point, I’d be a bitter woman today. Happily, I’m anything but bitter about it but recognize that I’m way too competitive for my own good. It’s been interesting trying to adapt and do things like type with 9 fingers at work all week. Ironically it’s making my neck sore. Any little change in one’s normal repetitive motion has consequences.

Last week after reading stories with the kids, I was giving Zana a backrub and had my back turned to Zeth so he quickly decided to give me his signature karate chop-style massage too. It actually felt good because my back was pretty sore from pushing myself so hard on my race on Monday. Then Zana asked me for a head massage so I started scratching her scalp and Zeth pipes up, "I'll give you a head massage too Mommy!" and proceeds to bore his own cranium straight into my spine and roll it around. Then he decided to give me a foot massage instead and starts thumping my back with his feet. He's so thoughtful. I was in tears...of laughter & some pain.

Zana started gymnastics classes again about 2-months ago after taking a year off. At first I was seriously concerned about her strength and flexibility. Even her friends would point out to her bluntly that she is really great at dancing but not so good at gymnastics. I was worried she’d let that get to her and want to quit. I’m happy to say my fears were unfounded, rather than giving up, she’s turned into a whirling dervish. Constantly doing handstands, kart-wheels, walk-overs, and stretching. Her strength, stability, and coordination have dramatically improved with all her “homework.” Honestly I don’t know why seeing her efforts paying off shocked me so much when I, of all people, know what regular training can do. It’s just great to see her doing so much better when her friend’s negative feedback could have really gotten her down.

I bought a new Canon PowerShot A2200 camera a few weeks ago. It’s a step down in quality from my lost one but it is so much better than my phone camera or nothing at all. I was half expecting to find my old camera the day after the new one arrived which is part of the reason I bought a cheaper replacement but no such luck. It’s just fun to have photos to share again.

Our whole family is hooked on a TV series called Merlin that we are streaming over Netflix. I’ve always been a sucker for Camelot stories and this is a really well done series. So nice to be able to escape commercials on TV. Anyway, Zeth has been learning lots about etiquette and has begun bowing to me, calling me titles like “My Lady” and “Your Highness,” and giving me the royal treatment. Finally, getting the recognition I deserve. Ha!