1st annual tri-stake lds prom

alrighty...so i realize i JUST finished a post, but this just happened last week, and i wanted to collate some photos while it was still fresh in my mind. i'll continue with the countdown soon--i hope to intersperse a few of these between 2010 countdown entries.

kahi when she first hopped out of the car...with her slippers still on.
(photo courtesy of heather & spencer n.)

laurels
(...and kahi with shoes/photo courtesy of heather & spencer n.)


cousins: m & kahi
(photo courtesy of heather & spencer n.)


dinner line

dining room
(photo courtesy of tupou h.)

dance floor
(photo courtesy of tupou h.)

mid-dance

dessert line: ice cream & toppings!
(photo courtesy tupou h.)

after the dance

with the nuuanu girls

buddies since first grade

buddies since third grade

all in all, it was a very fun night for the youth AND the chaperones. great job to the youth committee and their leaders. we're looking forward to next year's one already! :)

(9) k2 graduates from byuh

in december, my nephew k2 graduated from byu-hawaii. wow! where has the time gone?! (k2 was born the summer before my senior year in high school)...

the graduate: k2


three generations (dad, brothers & their boys): k1, dad, e, k2, bro1, bro2


dad & k2


father (bro2) & son


brothers 1992: k2, uncle manu, k1
(wanted to throw this one in there--then & now)

brothers 2010: k1 & k2

us & the graduate

graduation luncheon

these are just a few of the pictures capturing some of the moments after the graduation ceremony. it was nice to see his maternal granny, who flew in from utah and his aunt and cousins, who we haven't seen in many years.

i know my mom and especially his two moms (his biological mom who passed away when he was a baby, and his mom who raised him) were smiling down upon him. below is a photo of k2, on the job, as part of his college experience. best wishes in whatever you choose to pursue next, kiddo!

k2 at work
(photos courtesy of k2)

(10) new home, old friends

okeedokee. i figured that if i kept editing my previous post, i'd be stuck on that one forever. instead, i thought i'd elaborate one-by-one, so i'd at least look like i'm making some sort of progress on this whole blogging thing. ;)

therefore, on to (10) "new home, old friends"...

new home
after 8 years of living in the same apartment, we had the opportunity to move into a house. the great thing for us, is that it is within the same ward boundaries--we are renting from a sister in our ward who is serving a mission. we feel truly blessed for this opportunity. for the first time ever, kahi has her own room, and we've been able to have more family and friends stop by and visit.

the first of our mainland family to stay with us: the vegas cousins with our girls

which brings me to...

old friends
this past year i've been able to cross paths with many wonderful people from my various stages in my life. among the first people to come and visit us in our new home were my school buddies leah, georges, & clinton.

alys, leah, georges, clinton

leah and i have been friends since kindergarten, georges joined us on "the hill" in fourth grade, and clinton in seventh grade. we'd been talking about getting together for a couple years now, and it finally happened. it was great to meet georges' better half and clinton's definitely best-er half and their kids.

in addition to seeing high school classmates at a relay for life event and college friends at the various temple re-dedication activities, i also got to meet up with my small-kid time buddy, maile, who ended up being a college bestie as well. it was great to have her and her family in our home, and having our kids hang out together too.

third-generation friendship: the washington cousins with our girls

i believe that people are placed in our paths for a reason--very grateful for who we have in our lives.

my top 10 in 2010

i'll attempt to elaborate on this post (copied & pasted from my fb) sometime in the near future. in the meantime, mahalo to my forever buddy maile for the inspiration to get back on the bandwagon. :)

my top 10 in 2010:

(1) sitting in the presence of the prophet in the celestial room

(2) celebrating mom's life w/dad, sibs&kids

(3) temple w/kimo&j3, keao&j5, & k1

(4) cultural celebration & open house

(5) new callings

(6) firstborn completes her yw personal progress

(7) weddings & babies

(8) elder sa'u-levi & hermana mills enter the mission field

(9) k2 graduates from byuh

(10) new home, old friends

summer 2009

so i've tried my hand at blogging for just over a year...and frankly, i'm not very good at it! we'll see if i can improve at posting more regularly...

just a quick update, this is what we've been up to for about the past 4 weeks:

most of dad t's posterity!

hope all's well with each of you...

may day is lei day in hawaii...

today we made our sixth annual trek to the sheraton moana surfrider hotel to participate in their may day program. here are a few photos of the representatives from the hawaiian islands. this will be our last year undertaking this endeavor. nice bunch of students to close out this part of our working life.

mahalo nui loa to iva, ropati, taua, eta, tua, and their guest from moloka`i (i'll have to get his name again) for all the help with the kids. mahalo also to kumu alohi & anake kalei, akiko, dell, and of course the brains behind the whole operation: rhesa--for all the support over these years... the kids had fun!

queen hossana & king mark

oahu: ray & jaymell

niihau: kara & jordan

moloka`i: precious & james

maui: princess & ivann

lana`i: omega & ka`ena

kaua`i: zachary & britney

kaho`olawe: valerie & bryson

hawai`i island: ivana & kevin

the hawaiian island representatives on the front steps of the historic moana...

the hills are alive with the sound of music

lua (far right) and a few of her friends after her orchestra concert...

it was kind of a surreal experience for me to be able to sit and watch one of my own children play in an orchestra concert. i can't believe that it's already been over 25 years since i took up the violin myself...and now lua is in her first year. she really enjoys it, and that makes it all the better.

i've had some great experiences that came through involvement with the orchestra--including a trip to australia & new zealand and a couple years later my first trip to europe. i hope lua will look back on all her experiences and maintain that love of music as the years go by as well. we are blessed!