Birthday Blessings!

This year I turned 39, the last year in my thirties!  It was another blessed and beautiful birthday!  My students made me feel like a queen.  Brieanna had balloons and cake for me.

My desk filled up with gifts!

Kawena got me roses, Mom, Dad, and Kama gave me balloons and beautiful flowers.  Haaheo made me a full sheet of cake, 48 cupcakes for the class.  Kushaia got me a cake and Mikaela made me a huge cupcake!  Period 3 sang Happy Birthday and we celebrated in all periods together.

Period 3 singing "Happy Birthday"

It was a beautiful and blessed day.  My own kids said, "Wow, Mom, your students really love you.  We donʻt see other teachers getting stuff like that on their birthday!"  That sure made me feel good!  I try my best everyday to let my students know that I love them.  Just as I do with my own children.

Haʻaheo Kekona, one of my punahele.

Cake from Kushaia!

Llewellyn took me out for my birthday dinner.  We decided this year to go to the Waterfront restaurant in Maʻalaea.  It was fabulous!  Our table overlooked the harbor and ocean.  The moon was out and the sky filled with stars.  It was so beautiful!

We had a fabulous dinner that started off with pan fried oysters and Japanese clams for appetizers.
We then had caesar salad made table side. Waterfront is the only restaurant in Hawaiʻi that still makes your

Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail

caesar salad table side.  For the main course I had filet mignon and lobster tail and Llewellyn had the Rib Eye steak.  We topped it all off with an incredible chocolate souffle dessert.  We were so full after eating that meal, but we savored every bite!

The atmosphere, food, view, and service made it a relaxing and enjoyable evening.  The best part was that I had the hottest date in the house!

Saturday morning I went to hula and was surprised yet again!  The ladies had a birthday cake, candles, gifts, and leis to share with me!  I was totally shocked!  Haʻaheo then surprised me with the most beautiful gift - a Polynesian style bracelet with all four of my childrenʻs names on it, praying hands, and ipu heke!  I have wanted one of these for so long!  It was even my favorite color - PURPLE!  I couldnʻt believe how well she knew me, she picked the things that are the dearest to me - my children, my faith, my hula.

When I opened my birthday card, though, I couldnʻt hold back the tears.  My beautiful haumāna had collected funds to purchase a new ipu heke for their kumu!  So blessed!  I contacted Kalim as soon as papa hula was over and ordered my new ipu heke!

My beautiful Cheryle!  Papa ʻŌhiʻa Lehua

This birthday I have been reminded that when you give love, you get love.  I am surrounded by people who love me for who I am.  For that, I am eternally grateful!

Fall means . . . General Conference!

Another sign of Fall is the semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  This conference is held twice a year, in October and again in April.  It is a blessed time of year as we get to hear from our inspired church leaders and beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

Our family tradition is to have a General Conference Brunch right before the last session of conference.  We invite other members and friends over and the missionaries to eat and watch conference with us.  Llewellyn sets up the big screen and projector and we prepare a wonderful meal.  This year our brunch included locks and bagels (bagels topped with cream cheese, salmon, onions, and capers), Swedish pancakes, Portuguese sausage mini pizzas, fried rice and bacon/egg/cheese muffins.  We hosted the Kamakas, Tataipos, Ranos, and our missionaries.  After brunch we got our notebooks, laptops, and ipads and everyone was taking notes, posting their favorite quotes, and writing down words of inspiration.  It was great!

Tried a new recipe - Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Bisquits were delicious!

I like to prepare for conference by writing down my questions and things I am struggling with ahead of time.  Then, as I listen to conference, I can recognize the answers more fully.  It never ceases to amaze me that at every conference I receive answers to my personal questions and struggles.  Every single time!!!  This makes me so grateful to belong to a church that has continued revelation and to know that personal revelation is available to all who are worthy!

My goal now is to make some goals based on the revelation I received and apply it into my everyday life!

Fall Adventures - Up, Up, Country!

Today our Fall Adventure took us Upcountry, to beautiful Kula and ʻUlupalakua.  We filled up two vans full of Kawaʻas and Hosinos.  Our first stop was at Kula Country Farms and the Pumpkin Patch.  We visit this great family friendly place every year and pick out our pumpkins for Halloween.  Itʻs become one of our family traditions.

The kids enjoyed taking pictures with the pumpkins.  I think this place is like Disneyland - it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside and everyone is happy!  

I love the Fall colors!  Itʻs one of the few places on Maui where you feel like itʻs Autumn because of the orange hues everywhere.  Thatʻs one of the things we miss out on here on an island.  Our seasons are hot, windy and rainy.  No color changes.  When Kamalani and I traveled to the East Coast in 2008 that was something we really enjoyed - seeing the colors of the Fall Season.  We traveled through Atlanta, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey.  The colors were so vivid and beautiful.  In some places you could see the difference as some trees werenʻt quite changing yet and others were.  Gorgeous!

Kamalani and Ruby took a break for a while, resting on the grassy bank.  These two are like sisters, always together, sharing their secrets, laughter, and smiles.  The rest of the gang went hunting for the best pumpkins. Kamalei earned a new name, "The Pumpkin Whisperer".  He took his time and found the best pumpkins!

After having our fresh strawberry lemonade, we headed further into the country to ʻUlupalakua.  This is the cowboy town of Maui for sure!  Our ʻohana had a picnic lunch at the Tedeschi Vineyard.  Such a rustic old town that truly feels like country living complete with an old country store, horse posts, the ranch, and more than 150,000 thousand trees, many of which are more than 150 years old!  Oprah Winfrey owns a home and land in ʻUlupalakua.  An added bonus on our trip was meeting Mike Wolfe from the TV Show "American Pickers".  Whoʻdda thought?

A great ending to a wonderful day!

Fall Adventures - Exploring Puunene

Every Fall Intersession I try to plan fun, mostly free activities for the kids and I to do.  Itʻs a great opportunity to explore our beautiful island of Maui and go on adventures together!  This year we started our adventure in the old town of Puʻunēnē.  I couldnʻt believe that my kids didnʻt know where Puʻunēnē was. So, we started there.

I took them to the old Puʻunēnē School which was built in 1922.  It is now used as an annex for the Department of Education, but when the town was at itʻs peak some 1000 students attended this school.

Tucked away behind the Sugar Mill off one of the dirt roads youʻll find the Maui Friends of the Library.  A great place to buy used books for .25 cents.  All the books are donated and they even have freebies outside!  The kids loved it!  We will be donating a bunch of our books for sure!

Our visit tot he Sugar Museum was quite delightful.  I love history and old photos, so I really enjoyed my time at the museum.  The kids enjoyed themselves,too, though.  They had a great stamp system set up so the kids could stamp their passports at every exhibit.  Since they all attend or attended Pāʻia School, they enjoyed seeing old pictures of Pāʻia School and the Sugar Mill.  After our visit we sat outside on the picnic tables and read our new used books!

By the end of the day I was pooped!  The kids fell asleep on the way home in the car!