Happy Birthday Olivia!

Yesterday, the 24th, was her actual birthday! My little girl turned four.

I can't believe how fast she is growing and what a sweet heart she is.

Thank you everyone who helped make her day special.

We love you Olivia Anuenue, hope you had a wonderful day!

First Bikes

Victoria (21 months) on her very own bike

Olivia (almost four) on her first bike

Do you remember your first bike? Maybe the first time you rode without your training wheels? I do and I'll never forget that.

Buying a bike for Olivia meant also buying a bike for Tori. I guess those are the perks of being a little sister who thinks she needs to have exactly what her big sis has. Usually I wouldn't give in but this time it made perfect sense. I couldn't picture taking Olivia to the park with her new bike without Tori constantly badgering her big sister to get off, let alone trying to fight her way onto the seat. So, that's what we did today while the boys were on their trip with grandpa and grandma. Olivia got some extra cash for her birthday and decided she wanted to buy a bike with her money. After our ordeal of getting help to get the bike down and Victoria practically jumping out of the cart and hurting the inside of her lip pretty bad at Walmart, we headed to Ross ( old faithful) and found a perfect sized bike for Tori. This evening after I finally put together Tori's bike we headed for a bike ride. The joys of watching little girls for the first time on their bikes. They had so much fun, they were pooped only after a half an hour.

Grandparents Visit

Our family after church

Grandpa and grandma with the gang and Victoria half asleep after stuffing ourselves

There's nothing like a nice full weekend. My grandparents from California (my mom's parents) who visit every year happen to come in time for Olivia's party. It was great to have them here to help us celebrate Olivia's 4th birthday. I know that she'll always remember her great- grandparents unlike me being in Hawaii, never really got to see my great grandmas who were still alive while I was growing up. I just praise God for wonderful grandparents, knowing how much they love to see everyone and the time they put into spending time with us. I know that they value family and that they love each and everyone of us. What special people they are to me.

They arrived here in Hilo on Friday and they leave on Wednesday to go back home. Today the boys had a great time with them journeying to Kona. They left early in the day and came back home in the evening after a day at the beach, a walk down Ali'i Dr. and and ice cream cone. I always remember the ice cream cones that grandpa and grandma treated me as I was growing up.

A Party for Olivia

Olivia started asking about her fourth birthday about two months ago and requested a party with friends. She was very specific...she wanted it at the beach with a pinata. For awhile she contemplated about what theme she wanted. I think it went from a monkey party to a pony party. So, My little pony it was and we got busy planning for it. She kept on asking how much longer til her birthday and it was a great opportunity to get out the calendar and chart the days and introduce her to the different months of the year. She had a wonderful time with her family and friends at Onekahakaha Beach Park!

Guava Jelly

Here are the guavas we picked, prior to this photo the cooler was filled to the brim. The boys and I had a blast picking them. It was so funny we were laughing the whole time. Just think...20 years later we'll be sitting around the Thanksgiving table laughing about that time we picked guavas.

Guavas all sliced. I love the color. They're so pretty. We picked enough guavas to make a batch of jelly right away and I reserved a whole bunch of juice and even froze the rest. It might make great Christmas presents.

One lonely jar of Guava jelly left to share with someone special!

Finally made it!! I actually bought canning jars last guava season and they've been sitting in my closet. When we went on our field trip to Umauma Falls-World Botanical Gardens we came home with a cooler full of guavas. I was kind of hesitant before making it because I didn't have a canner, but managed to complete the project with more confidence than what I started with. I made it the first time and the jelly didn't jell so I poured everything out and decided to try again, but this time I used Cody's candy thermometer. After the first batch didn't turn out Cody reminded me that his thermometer had a jelly setting on it. Thanks to Cody! At first I thought the second time didn't work out either, but after a few hours we noticed that the jelly in the jars were jelling, hallelujah! The whole family was excited with me...I made my very first batch of jelly and it wasn't very hard after all. It worked! We used a few bottles to make sure it tasted good and it sure turned out yummy, just like the Hawaiian Sun brand at the store or even better!