I hope they call me on a mission!!

 

Happy birthday Ben!

 49 (or more) reasons why we love Ben!!

Cannon says-

1- my dad plays with me

2-I love him 

3-He is my dad

4-He reads fable haven to me 

5-He gave me a ticket to earth

6-He’s strong 

Connor says

7-He is playful - comes up with good games with kids

8-He is a fixer of broken things 

9-He gets us to bed on time 😉

10-Makes good breakfast

11- He likes playing video games 

Brielle says- 

12-I love you because you are so funny

13-You make me laugh

14-You are talented

15-You provide for this family with a good army job

16-I love that you put the sweetened condensed milk in the squeeze bottle even when mom didn’t want you to 😂

17-Thank you for your donation so I could be here on earth 

Kathi says

18-You are Generous with your time and energy 

19-You serve others freely- especially with church callings 

20-Sensitive to feelings of others- you watch out for the underdog (you picked me for pickleball when no one else wanted to be my partner)

21- you let us live with you for 3 months when we didn’t have anywhere to go

Becky says-

22-You are steady and dependable - you are there for your family and friends when they need you 

23--You make good decisions and are there to help me know what to say when I need diplomacy 

24--I like that you make me laugh with your sense of humor … most of the time 😉😂😆

25- You like to get a good deal and are an expert thrifter finding good stuff- even if we didn’t know we needed it 

Brecon says-

26- Makes good food for me to eat

27- you are understanding of me

28-my dad is dependable

29-you have old man strength  (update- not any more I could take him)

Richard

30-Holds your kids accountable 

31-Gives your kids time to think about their actions so they can make better choices 

32-Good pickleball player and athlete 

33-Encourages your kids to do good things 

All of us say-

34-Shares good lessons with young men

35-Works great with the youth and young men

36-Always there 

37-We love when you laugh- Such a good loud laugh

38-Has a cool head and remains calm when you need to be. 

39- Good teacher 

40-Very thorough explanations so people understand what you are trying to say- well- from the beginning 😉😂

41-You love your family

42-You love your mom and dad 

43-You are forgiving and understanding 

44-Beautiful singing voice and musically talented 

45-Good rhythm and dancer

46-Good problem solver 

And 

47-You make us all feel special to be with YOU!

Cael

48- Dedicated to my success 

49- Prepared like an Eagle Scout 

And my dad always gets Fun toys for me- cars and e-bikes and spy gear

Spring break BUST

 

The weather forecast on Oahu and Big Island called for pretty rainy days… not the best for exploring outdoor activities but we were feeling good about our last Hawaiian spring break adventure!

The volcano has just erupted and a massive rain and wind storm had caused a power outage at the Kileaua Military camp where we had reservations 

When we landed, I got a call from the Military camp asking if we were still planning on checking in she said we could cancel because they did not have any power or water and the park was closed so the only thing that we could do would be to shelter in place inside. They didn’t know how much longer they would be without power and water…

After picking up our rental after taking an Uber —then heading to grab everyone else up at the airport, we decided it would be best to find a place closer (there was sunshine here in Kona) to stay and we felt we had enough time to get an air bnb approval (although very last minute) so we went to Costco to get dinner and our meal supplies for the week. 

I found a pretty nice place that had a swimming pool and other fun amenities and so we waited. And waited and waited, and then it started to get dark and we still hadn’t gotten approved. 

Now the scramble to find another place— almost twice the amount as the other locations but now we were desperate. We got approved and made it to the address only to wait almost 45 minutes outside the door trying to enter the 10 digit code. I was getting frustrated- it was like an escape room but we just wanted to get in!! Finally Brecon looked at grandmas phone and requested a new code/ or reset the email it was supposed to be sent to and we got in!!

We settled in and made plans to head on a drive north the next day. 

Day 1The morning started off pretty promising gray clouds, but nothing raining down on us yet we stopped to go to a petroglyph trail near some of the resorts of the Kailua Coast

It was a fun little walk, but it was starting to feel pretty muggy and began to lightly rain on us as we were made our way back to the car. We all made it in the car and then the rain just started coming down harder and harder the farther along that we went

We decided to make it to this King Kamehamaha before turning around there was just no way we could go any further and not really fun to drive in the car. A grumpy old thrift shop lady and her overpriced “treasures” and we decided to head back to our condo.

Day 2 again, we started this day with high hopes and the rain held off for the first half of the day we were able to make it to the most southern bakery and enjoy some treats and lunch and then we went to the Black Sand Beach

It was so fun watching these turtles make their way up onto the beach to rest. We had fun walking along the black sand and after grandma bought a T-shirt, we started heading for the car. That’s when the rain began, and it did not stop!! We were going to walk out to the green sand beach but decided to head into Hilo and see what we could do. We stopped at the Mauna Loa macadamia nut shop for free samples. Running from the car into the store was hilarious.” What are we doing here?”

The kids had been looking forward to eating at cosmic cones since our last spring break trip there it’s just a drive-in, but for some reason we had so much fun eating there fried food and slushy floats. I’m not sure if the food just didn’t taste as good cause we were cold and wet or we just weren’t that hungry from sitting in the car all day. But we made it back to our hotel and decided to jump in the pool. It was fun!

Day 3 The place of refuge and 2 step lava beach. This was probably our best day. All the kids become junior rangers at this site and then we spent the rest of the day on the shore and snorkeling around with our neighbors who came to big island too!!

Cannon and his buddies really had a blast jumping in and out of this spot. It was kinda sketchy  the waves crashing right where we were getting in and out — but they loved it!

Manta dive- another BUST. After all the storms and rain the ocean water was murky and chunks of debris were floating on the surface, in our faces and hair. We waiting in the water and nothing. We saw one manta ray but that was it. He did one loop and then he was gone. Cannon had to use the bathroom several times but the wetsuit prevented him from being able to just go in the water so he went back to the boat several times and then he got sick and puked about four good times over the rail—poor buddy!

Day 4 Brecon and Connor jumped on an early flight home this day and after packing out of our apartment we decided to try to make the most of by just exploring nearby and going to the beaches— after a short little garden walk near a beach, we got a weird message from the airline saying that our flight was being changed from tomorrow morning to tomorrow afternoon. We were right by the airport and so we called to see if there would be a way that we could get on a flight going back to Oahu that day. We’d lose an Airbnb for that night, but decided to just leave a day early because we were just done— done with trying to have fun on this trip. 

So we brushed out the car and rushed over to make our flight that was leaving in an hour!! Ending our trip a day early and getting home!

 

Funny Brielle

Sitting in church and the sacrament prayer was just offered—at the end — AMEN and the congregation can also say “amen”

Brielle is sitting next to me started giggling and I asked her “hey, what’s going on?”

She said at the end of the prayer she said “I know”

Also fitting at the end of the prayer.