Our very nearly perfect Christmas

I say nearly perfect for obvious reasons, the only way it could have been better is if Steven had been able to physically be here with us. We were able to have a quiet Christmas Eve with Omi and Auntie Sharon and then we went home so Santa could build a couple of things. Steven was even able to watch the building process and type advice to me via Yahoo web cam IM. Christmas morning I woke up at 0530 and the kids slept in until 0730!I was so worried that they'd wake up and get into it all before Daddy could get online to watch the excitement. So Steven was able to watch and we could even talk with him on the computer while the action happened before his eyes! It almost felt as if Daddy was really there with us helping open the gifts. Auntie Sharon came over to take pics for me so I didn't have to worry about missing anything and I could really be a part of it too. What a wonderful morning! A bit later,after Sharon left, I got to watch as Steven and his Battle Buddies, JP and Mondo were opening their gifts from us. What fun!
Next, the kids and I went back to the Nihipali's for brunch with Omi, Tutu, Auntie Sharon, Uncle David, auntie Leilani, and Ikaia. The missionaries sort of joined in after they had spoken with their own families. We had a great visit and we were a little sad to have to leave to go to the Gold's for Lunch/dinner and our White elephant exchange.
All in all we had a fantastic day!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
Dad
Mom
Sharon
Kenji & Sima & OD
David & Leilani & "Buddy"
Steven & Janell and Aukai and Kali'i
Andrew
No matter what stage you are in in this life and where you are living, God sent his only begotten son for you and for me to obtain a physical body and to go through the trials of this life! The Savior was born and this is the season that we rejoice in this great miracle.

Love, Karen

Hit song...all by myself!

I couldn't help the title of todays blog.
Nathan is in Alaska, finally visiting 2 brothers, his sister and spouse and 5 kids so they have a full house this Christmas season!

I don't think their house is any bigger than what we had in Tacoma. It doesn't look any bigger :o)

Ka'le and I have gone on walks at least 1 time every couple of hours. I was supposed to make Holiday cookies and grub for people here at work but it didn't get done because I have no mula to buy the stuff to do it. I started to make buttermilk rolls last night after talking to mom, added to yeast to the flour and realized that I added WAY TO MUCH flour so I didn't finish it, not only that but I realized that the recipe was asking for HONEY and well, I couldn't find any in the house so I needless to say, I didn't do anything else but cover it all and leave it on the counter, so it has probably gone bad!

Ka'le misses Nathan something terrible, he lies by the door waiting for "papa" to come home and so when he hears a car go by or some extra ordinary noise, is right there and wants to go out. He slept with me on the couch last night probably because it was warmer with mom and the blanket than just him on his little bed by the front door.

Church was wonderful. The spirit was there as I partook of the sacrament reminding me of what this life is all about and what we need to do to have joy and peace in this life. It was a gentle reminder that the Savior was born in a stable among the animals with a humble and sweet mother and peaceful and obedient earthly father.

Just a reminder as well that Joseph Smith was too born in humble circumstances 203 years ago tomorrow (12/23/1805) along with mom not so long ago (whew, who would have known ;o) ). I'm grateful for him and his knowledge and faith and understanding of the restoration of the gospel. I too am grateful for MOM and her testimony of the gospel. I wish that she would understand though that she can't solve all the worlds problems and that she is mortal and that we ALL make mistakes. Any how, all is well.

Have a very Merry Christmas and know that you are loved!!
Be good, be nice, be kind!

Karen

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to quite a lot of snow, especially for Vancouver, so I decided that after lunch we would try and play outside. Last year Keli'i wanted NOTHING to do with the cold wet stuff around her, but today both she and Aukai had so much fun that I had to bribe them to get them inside to warm up! Aukai even figured out how to make a snow angel but where he got the idea, I'll never know. It was not my idea and I never have taught him about snow angels! What a wonderful day and how we miss Daddy!

(This one is much too cute not to share. Enjoy! Be sure tograb a tissue; I think you'll be laughing so hard you'll cry!)

One day I met a sweet gentleman and fell in love. When it became apparent that we would marry, I made the supreme sacrifice and gave up beans. Some months later, on my birthday, my car broke down on the way home from work. Since I lived in the countryside I called my husband and told him that I would be late because I had to walk home.

On my way, I passed by a small diner and the odour of baked beans was more than I could stand. With miles to walk, I figured that I would walk off any ill effects by the time I reached home, so I stopped at the diner and before I knew it, I had consumed three large orders of baked beans. All the way home, I made sure that I released all the gas.

Upon my arrival, my husband seemed=2 0excited to see! me and exclaimed delightedly: 'Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight.' He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call. The baked beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming most unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go. It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a pulpwood mill. I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously. Then, shifting to the other cheek, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage. Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, I went on like this for another few minutes. The pleasure was indescribable. When eventually the telephone farewells signalled the end of my freedom, I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself.

My face must have been the picture of innocence when m y husband returned, apologizing for taking so long. He asked me if I had peeked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not. At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table chorused: 'Happy Birthday!' I fainted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the joy of farting!

Our $16 Christmas tree

Our perfect little tree and our special stockings from Daddy. I made a killing on the kids' Christmas presents and was able to get EVERYTHING Steven and I wanted for them, I even stayed in budget and was able to get myself a beautiful necklace to wear! I am feeling very upbeat about Christmas now and can't wait for everything to fall in place for a wonderful day!
PS...the ornaments are nearly indestructible so the kids got to help decorate the tree!

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We are starting to get ready for our Christmas here now that Steven has received most of his Christmas for there. We were able to go and buy decorations, thanks to Sears' generosity, so now I have ornaments for the tree and an Angel for the top! I have lights, LOTS of lights, but until now had very little of anything else. The kids get very excited to see Christmas trees and I'm sure they will love having one of our own once we get one this week. All the new ornaments are as indestructible as I could find, wood, pewter, metal, and Plexiglas. Oh, and instead of glass balls, I have large jingle bells. So my plan with all of this is to let the kids decorate as much as they want, while of course I take pictures for Steven to see, and then fixing lopsided-ness once they're in bed. My brother hinted today about a tree, so I may wake up tomorrow to a Christmas tree on my doorstep so that I won't have to try and take the kids out in semi-arctic weather this week to get one.
Our newest activity is going to the YMCA to play, workout and swim twice a week. The kids were VERY nervous the first time we were in the pool. It took me an hour to get Keli'i off of my neck and into the water, but the next time we went, she loved it. It's nice to have somewhere to go to play, but I don't think we'll get to go much this week due to ice. We'll see as the week progresses.
Both Keli'i and Aukai are getting more independent in their playtime, wanting to do everything by themselves. Aukai is really doing good with potty training and Mommy doesn't have to do nearly as many diaper changes. Keli'i is showing interest in the toilet too, so I let her have her turn and soon she should be training too. I anticipate them both being fully potty trained by the end of the winter. (I hope!)
I will be getting the fabric for the quilt I am making for Steven this week and will be getting going on that project. I am excited for it and hope that I can pull it off to have ready for him when he gets his leave. I have between 3 and 4 months, so wish me luck!

my blog

OK...I think this is kind of dumb, mom doesn't comment on the blogs she does read so I don't have a clue that she is reading them....she told me that she doesn't. What good does it to to write something and then not even get a comment. Some times I'm writing to vent and other times, I'm writing to write and express myself...so I have come to the conclusion that I'm only going to blog at my site because all I do is copy and paste it here anyways.

Read mine and then you'll know what is going on. I don't want to have to do it twice!

Have a great week. Oh, I've already posted something at my site...at least a couple of times this week.

My mother in law comments on everything....believe it or not, that means the WORLD to me because she is checking to see if her family is alive or falling apart!

Impressions

Earlier I had posted things that we had done this past week. I also wrote that if I feel impressed to write something else I'd jump on and do it then.

I am writing now because I just listened to a talk that was given at BYU-Hawaii Thursday, November 04, 2004 Emerge With Your Gifts by Mervlyn Kitashima. She grew up on Kauai and is a graduate from Kamehameha and received the mother of the year award for 2003.

What I was impressed with is what she talked about concerning the Ohia Lehua Blossom. An ohia lehua tree provides rare color on a lava field in Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. Ohio lehua are the most abundant native trees in Hawaii and are among the first life in new lava flows. According to Hawaiian legend, the tree is actually a young warrior. Pele, the goddess of fire, wanted to marry the warrior. When he refused, she turned him into a tree. The other gods weren't able to turn him back, so they turned his true love into the lehua blossom so they could be reunited. It's said that if you pick one of the blossoms, it will rain – the tears of lovers.

OK...it isn't the legend that I want to focus on, it is what Sister Kitashima said about the actual tree. She said that at first, the tree is small, it doesn't grow very big and it has ugly branches and it is straggly and doesn't look appealing. It is not pretty, gnarled and twisted possibly because of the stress and the amount of work it takes to break thru the lava created earth. The blossom is beautiful once it blooms. The post popular color is RED. There are other colors though such as pink, yellow and gold. Her hole point of this analogy was that look at the beauty from such a distorted tree, look at what it becomes from such a distorted environment and look what beauty God can create when he provides the necessities of life to bloom.

I thought about that scenario this morning as she was speaking and had to go back and listen to it again at least 3-4 times to know that she was talking to me. I was to listen to that talk today so that Karen would remember that I am a daughter of God and that he loves me and that he provided a Savior for me so that I could return home to him again.

The awesome part of this story is, is that my middle name is Leihua. Mine name has the "I" because the flower is included in a Lei. How wonderful it is. I don't think that my grandma even had a clue that this world and name would be so significant to me later on in my life and I'm grateful for my parents who agreed to give me the name.

I love life, I love the Lord. I sound like an idiot when I share my testimony because my Savior means so much to me that I loose focus. I am grateful for the atonement and what it has done for me. Out of barren and rough ground, I am humble to say that Heavenly Father has created a beautiful me and I'm grateful to him for that.

Love,

Karen

Here is another better picture!

Finster Birth

This is Samantha Finster, daughter #2, baby #3 to Max and Amiee. I've known Amiee since February 1996.

Baby, baby

Sometimes I wonder why people have children and what the purpose of them are for those children to have the parents that they have. There is a 20 year old girl in my ward who is not married, who comes to church, who is somewhat active, if you want to call it that...however...she has a few screws loose. 20 months ago so had a little boy named William, the father is a member yet not active either....ok, so I said that she comes to church...that doesn't mean that she can partake of the sacrament right because she had a baby out of wedlock, well, she does and there is NO place for me to judge...I know that things happen believe me, I'm not one to judge! However, again, in November she gave birth again to another little boy named Malachi by the same guy, who is the dad of the first...who again has a few loose screws...ok...now that you kind of know where I am going with this, what makes it fair that a wife like me or a mom want to be, can't have any? What is the deal with me, did I do something wrong? Am I such a terrible person that I am not blessed with kids? Or is it that my kids are so special that Heavenly Father is preserving them for the worst of times? Are my kids going to come from dope headed mothers and parents that are imprisoned who can't take care of them? Will my kids come after all grandparents are in the grave and they won't meet them until the 2nd coming? Is there something wrong with me that I haven't taken care of through the priesthood so it's all my fault? It just doesn't seem fair! In fact, from a female perspective, it isn't fair and I feel like crap about it. Why does my patriarchal blessing tell me 2 times that my kids will bring great joy to me and that I'll be a mother in Zion and yet I'm pushing closer to 40 and don't have anything to show for it!

I am currently serving in nursery and I love it. I wouldn't change the callings for anything! I love to read to them, play with them, tickle them, cry with them, laugh with them and talk to them about spiritual things! Am I just not ready yet? If I can't communicate very well with adults, how can I explain simple, basic gospel principals to small children? Maybe I'm in nursery to learn these benevolent truths first so that I can do them at home and have a peaceful home!

I just bought my nephew and niece some awesome books that I'm jealous of. I wanted to keep them so that I can add them to my collection but I am going to send them anyways because they'll need them way before I do, and because I won't see them most of their lives, I can't not send them! I'll be mailing them off this week, as soon as I can get my debit card with USAA to function properly...you know, add the money to the account!

My very good friend, Amiee Finster gave birth to baby #3 this last Monday. It was so awesome. You'll see some pictures here. This is the Finster family....Max, Amiee, Portia, Payton and the latest, Samantha.


I hope you can see the picture! She is a complete duplicate of Amiee.

Elder Wirthlin Died, Link below is the article

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/background-information/leader-biographies/elder-joseph-b-wirthlin

Thanksgiving Week...

Hi Family,



I arrived at mom and dad's house like I was full blown moving in. I had two lunch box coolers worth of bacon, sausage and roasts along with a crock pot of a ham (Mr. Piggy came home from market and got roasted!) because my freezer wasn't working and had either begun or fully defrosted all of my food!


Anyway, I had also brought just a LOT of stuff. Didn't hardly use any of it, but I'd rather have more than enough than not enough, eh?


Arrived on Wed. afternoon after a 3.5 hr drive from Amity. It usually takes me about 1.5 hrs - traffic was INSANE in the membrane. My foot hurt from breaking so much.


Had a quiet night and woke up early on Thursday. Thank goodness too because I got my yam (1) and sweet potatoes all ready. They were, IMHO, fantastically close to perfection. I added peaches again this year and because I grabbed the wrong nuts, pecans along with the walnuts. So, if you are a nutty and fruity person, you would've loved my yams. I am both nutty and fruity and I LOVED THEM!

Thanksgiving was just lovely. The niece and nephews were just "good" enough! LOL...we danced to Shake your dragon tail and the theme song from Dragon Tails. That, and Betweent the Lions are my favorite kids shows. I adore PBSkids.org. I'm sure that parents aren't really interested in their toddlers wanting to use the only computer in the house but this is where you go to DI or GWI and get a used, working crappy lap top and let them play and learn to spell, type and have fun. :)

Anyways....Ah, I stayed up too late on Thursday even though the plan the entire time was to get up at the o'dark 30 and get to shopping. I got a txt from my friend Cherish around 10:30 and I txt'd back and said, hey gal, I'll pick u up at 5 am. She said sure. I was stoked! I woke up right around 4:30 and txt her to see if she was awake and she ---- WASN'T. That's ok, I just laid back down and went back to sleep. However, she called at 500 or 530 and I went and grabbed her and we headed out. DISCLAIMER: This was both her and my first time ever doing the Black Friday thing. I might have done it once as a teen, but 10 am doesn't constitute "early radical" shopping and working at the mall really does not count at all.

We first went to Jantzen Beach - for you non PDX'ers, this is a very large shopping center dedicated to serving mostly Washingtonians because it's just .4 miles across the bridge allowing us to shop without sales tax. Yes, it's nice, except I'm an Oregonian anyway. Back to the meat of this story. We started a Circuit City and then Best Buy. Cherish headed to Toys 'R' Us while I went in and checked out laptops. Now, listen here folks - it was 6 AM and there were no parking spots. And, all of the computers were gone - or at least committed to folks who I guessed lined up at 2 am. That is just crazy. I got the whole "You should come back at 9 to see if there any remaining" message. So, we headed over to Burlington Coat Factory and then Target. For anyone in the TV market, they had a heck of a deal at Target for 26" lcd for $299. Hard to beat...but WalMart did. WalMart at 10:15 was still chaotic and they still had 50 Wii's. This is a record because it is pretty tough to find a Wii anywhere around this neck of the woods.

After WalMart, we weren't done...no, we had to go to Ikea, back to the other side of PDX, by the airport. It's a good thing that PDX isn't that big of a city, lol...but there Cherish visited many more stores than I did. In fact, I've lost track. I did go in Dress Barn and she went into Bath & Body Works, I think. I wanted to get to Ross, but my feet were killing me and I'd been shopping for 6 hours. Ladies and Gents, this is a record for me!!!! Plus, I'm far too out of shape to shop for 6 hours. I don't know how I made it.

Then we picked up Cherish's precious cargo and headed for my parentals for left overs and to watch PS I love you and The Golden Compass. The food was even better on Friday, plus, we were HUNGRY. I ended up with a skirt, a sweater blouse, a new laptop and three movies, which I am giving to my parents. Oh, and a new mp3 player - a really great steal, 4 GB for $25~.

The next day I got up and drove home and tried to pick up, etc. because my parentals were going to come over and look at my freezer, etc. Plus, it was my plan to put my tree up and get it all trimmed. So, I spent Saturday shopping for plumbing supplies with my dad on the awful concrete floor but seriously, my dad is pretty smart after all (love ya daddy!) b/c he knew that buying the stuff would be less expensive and he was right. He also fixed the front porch light for me. Gosh I need a man who is as good as my dad. They just don't make 'em like that anymore - or do they and I'm just not cutting them any slack? That's another post.

Sunday it was lovely to go to church and see my "ward family". I had missed them.

Ok, that's enough for 4 days, seriously. It was a very enjoyable weekend and although I was busy and tired most of it, it really was the way life should be.

Oh, and for the record - I decided on November 30th, that would be Sunday? that I would read the Book of Mormon from the Introduction to the final page in December. This gives me 31 days to read it. Anyone want to join me? I plan on 20 pages a day and that takes just about 30 mintues. If you are late, you can simply read 21 or double read and catch up...it is only December 3rd. And it really only takes 18 pages a day to complete it. Come on, you can do it. Click here to join me! I am looking forward to the quick read type of study this will bring. I have already caught some very sweet whisperings from the Spirit. One about "tender mercies". Those mercies have a special place in my heart and are included in Step 2 of the churches recovery program guide. Plus, that talk was given the April after Will moved out (Jan) and how grateful I was for someone to recognize that we all have need for tender mercies in our lives.

Hugs,

Sharon

Arizona Thanksgiving

I made this turkey and gravy. It fell right off the bones so I had to put it in the tray right away!

Kale above after having a little bit of turkey

Karen breaking the no white after September rule!

Food that we made and brought for dinner including other things that were waiting to be eaten!! Gobble, gobble!

Nathan grilling his famous Chili cheese and bacon poppers!

Nathans dad, Bob frying the turkey with his brother Ben to the left helping along!

Nathan and his mother, Dot.

Hi everyone...thought that I'd share a few photos of our Thanksgiving down here in Mesa.
I had to wear white so that I'd break the "no white after September rule"...I just did it be comfortable! Yep, my hair is flipped out and dang is it cute like that!

Enjoy...oh by the way, the turkey you see is the one that Karen, yes, oh Karen made for dinner just for Nathan and his parents that you see in the other pictures.

Love,
Karen & Nathan

These are a few pics of Thanksgiving. Before and after. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Lessons in Gratitude

My Thanksgiving has extended to this entire week. Starting on Saturday with a potluck dinner with the family readiness group where we met with the other families of soldiers with Steven and had a briefing to give us information about how everything is supposed to work.I learned a lot that I need and met some more people. Aukai and Keli'i got to play with new friends.
My lesson continued on Monday when my friend, Sheena called to ask if I wanted the kids to go to her place to play and I could get things done. I had been sick and was really tired but I needed to get stuff done for Tuesday when my Home Teachers were supposed to come over and haul away anything I had ready to go out the door. So instead of trying to clean and pack stuff with the kids unpacking the same stuff, I was able to get groceries, clean my fridge, and get some stuff ready to go before I got too tired.
Then on Tuesday, my HT did come over just as planned. But, unlike the plan, they didn't just haul away the stuff I had ready, they stayed and helped me clean and rearrange my living room so it was exactly how I wanted it! They moved my TV to the other side of the room in mere minutes and that alone would have taken me an hour full of unplugging, unhooking, disconnecting and carrying. All they did was work together and move it all at the same time.
I have been able to talk with Steven, get my home warm, get groceries for the kids, clean, and play with my kids. It has been a wonderful week full of blessings for which I am eternally grateful.
I hope all of your weeks have been full of thanks too. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love, Janell, Aukai, and Keli'i

Oh no......

Nobody would have guessed this morning when I got up to go to work that Nathans Honda wouldn't work and that in the middle of going to work, it would stop right on the exit that I take to take the back streets to work.
Well, it happened. I take I-10 to I-17 and then I take the 16th St exit and then go to 24th St and then right up to the back side of the buildings because there is NO traffic that way. The worse part of the morning traffic is the exit off 59th Ave to 27th Ave, other than that, it is pretty clean.

I took the exit and then all of a sudden, the car turned off. I only made it off the exit because it rolled until about a car lengths away from the turning light so that I could turn right. Many people just drove by and left me until a gentleman in his truck asked me if I needed help and then he pushed me to the right and on to a side street. I called Nathan and we laughed at the whole thing because it happened to him some time back too while sitting at a light. We are fine, we made it home to and called Abe to have him suggest a car electrician because Nathan is now convinced that it is an electric issue, which I am starting to see that it is true. We have had everything else fixed and not anything electric, so now we are convinced that it is that.

Needless to say, I don't have a way to work today until we know that we can get another car to get me there without it falling apart. Nathan is still not feeling well so he is asleep and if a school calls him today, he'll need to get there :o)


This last week was exciting. I worked about 3-4 hrs of OT so that I could have some mailing money for 2 packages that need to go overseas. Steven is in Iraq and Elizabeth is in Germany and I want to get something off for Christmas for both of them. I'm hoping to continue to do well at work this winter because that will help me make my spring and summer flourish! My prayers are all about success as Nathan is trying to continue school and finish up. One more year to go exactly :o)

I don't have to work Thursday or Friday for Thanksgiving so I'm trying to figure out what I'd like to do on Saturday. Friday I am going to be home most of the day, hoping to take orders for Pampered Chef or I'm done with it. I can't sell something that nobody is interested in. It has been hard the past couple of month and I haven't had a party at all and people haven't been interested in doing a party. I know that the economy is not looking but, but even better to order stuff and cook at home. Restaurants are way over rated anyways and home cooked food is always better. Anyways, I have a all day online/email/phone show going on on Friday so I really don't want to go anywhere as I might miss an order.

Saturday I thought that it would be nice to go to the mountain so that I could touch snow and be done with it for the fall/winter. We'll see...I also think that it would be nice to go in December too. Ka'le liked it last winter when we were up in Show Low and Snowflake.

I hope Nathans sinus' get better before the Holidays because he'll be miserable while his family is here. We're just taking appetizers. Someone at work wants me to make pecan pies for her and she'll pay me to do it :o) She only wants 2 and that is doable so this afternoon I'll go get the pie crusts...I already have everything else to make them. That is an easy service project from me to her. Trish is the lady I work with that wants them and she is so sweet so she deserves them.

We're getting ready to take the car up to Abe, go to Costco and Fry's. They have turkeys on sell for less than $5. We're going to grab one and cook it up and and take it all apart and freeze it.

Have a great week everyone. The Holidays are officially upon us!

Love everyone,

Karen

Wicke Connections: General Womans Conference 09/2008

http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-37,00.html

Not going to get to go to AZ

Hi,

It was so nice to talk to kenji yesterday for a few minutes. No, I won't be able to head down to AZ (less seats available than ever before) but thanks for the invite Karen. So mom, this means that I will be coming. I already bought some yams and sweet potatoes. :)

What else would you like me to bring?

Hugs and take care,

Sharon

hahaha...anyone want to remember who this is?

Another week down...

So another week is over and done. I am very glad. I want the entire time to fly but I'll take the days passing at a normal rate.
We had a pretty uneventful week last week. I had my book club on Tuesday, playgroup Wednesday ("group" is a loosely used term as we were the only ones there), Thursday I scrubbed down the kitchen and bathroom (it's actually still clean! Thanks kids!), Friday we talked with Daddy for most of the morning(!!!!) and Saturday we dealt with runny noses and coughs so we didn't do much. So there's our week!
Steven is doing well. He doesn't really get along with his roommate but he has 2 good guys that he spends most of his free time with, so I've adopted them for Christmas. They'll all get small stockings with Dollar Store toys, a utility knife, and a candy bar, not much but at least they have something to open. The official last day to send care packages for Christmas is Dec 11 around here, but to be safe, if you want to send anything for Christmas plan on sending it around Dec 4.
This next week, I'm hoping that I'll be much busier. Tomorrow we have free pictures being done through www.oplove.org (check it out and donate if you can, it's a wonderful program), Tuesday I have an FRG meeting, Wednesday is empty so far but I hope we make it to YMCA to play, Thursday we have a birthday party for my nephew, Friday is open as yet (see Wednesday), and Saturday we have a potluck Thanksgiving party with the FRG and a briefing on the soldiers. So the week should fly by.
Our newest project for the kids to do for Daddy is that we went for a drive after Stake Conference today to gather pretty leaves so that we can iron them between wax paper and send Daddy autumn. They were happy to do that. We're holding it together pretty well these days although Aukai still whispers to me that he misses Daddy and they both freak out when they see him on the web-cam. They are so sweet. I am very blessed.
I hope that everyone is well.

Sick week

This week has been fun. Since last Sunday I have been very busy. I have taught 2 evenings this week of ELL to adults. I loved it and was substituting for Tracy Astle, our friend as she was gone for a trip with her grandmother.

Where is my grandma, I wish we'd go on a trip together! That would rock :o)

Anyways, Nathan has been sick since last Sunday. He only worked 1 day this week and that same day he went to class and it about killed him and so he has been trying to rid of the stupid flu/sinus infection that is killing him. This is kind of gross, but get this, you know the phlem and crap that is in your throat and when you cough or sneeze and blow your nose it comes out (well, sometimes), get this...it was coming out of his eyes! Yep, it was coming out of the inner corner of his eyes. It was so nasty. All he does it take medicine and sleep, which I am grateful for. I get stuff done when he is in knocked out!

I have worked long hours this week, it seemed like. I am still #1 for the division. I really enjoy what I do. I go to work for my teachers and really enjoy working with them.

I also went to nursery today. Those poor kids. One little girl Madison makes herself physically sick if she doesn't have mom, dad or grandma there with her. She threw up all over me, all over the floor, all over her clothes and there was yeah, well, no change of clothes for herself. I kept telling her that if she throws up she'll have to stay in class with me because she wasn't going to go to mom, dad or grandma. I told her that if she didn't play and be nice and hang out with other kids, she wasn't going to be able to come to nursery anymore. She cried for a little bit and then started to hang out with the other kids. She smelled bad, but I don't care...she was away from her parents! She'll do better from this time forward.

There are new brothers, Seth and Jeffrey that are in the class who are 3 and 2. They fought and cried and threw themselves on the floor the entire time. I seriously wanted to laugh at the entire nursery the whole time I was there because I couldn't believe what they were doing. Seth even nailed me a few times with a fist and boy was he mad. I can understand that though, they are new and in a new class with new kids and teachers and parents are leaving them somewhere new. They just want dad most of the time. Kayden Ramirez is a complete crack up. He wants to be in charge of everything so he pushes other kids around to do it. After he pushes them, you have to tell him to not push or hit and so then he'll walk up to them and give them a kiss or hug. It is so funny because that other kid is like, what the heck you just nailed me and now you're given me loves...whatever and they walk away.

Brin, a husky little girl is so funny. She is a pusher and bully too. She'll kick but when she gets older and then get her butt kicked if she doesn't learn to keep her hands and feet to herself too. She'll realize that there will be bigger kids than her and they'll kick her tail if she touches them...with time, she'll learn.

We played games and danced today in class, so other than the kicking and screaming, it was a great day.

Sacrament meeting was refreshing. The spirit was there as I had prayed for it this morning to help me decide whether or not I needed to take a few online classes to certify to teach middle school here in AZ. I'd like to. I know that the money will change, but that is OK. If I can get the DOE to take away student loans, I'll take the deduction in pay. That'll help! I did feel fine to do it so this week I'll look into taking Structured English Immersion, Arizona History and the US Constitution class along with Introduction to Middle School: Curriculum and Instruction. I know there will be other classes, but these are usually the main ones. I'll know about the others later. These classes I can have done by January if I schedule them right.

Well, I need to get ready for bed. I've been going to bed late and I hate it so I need to be ready for bed no later than 9:30 PM.

Have a great day.

Hey there y'all

Hi fam,

It's been a very crazy week. If you had asked me this day last week I would have said I quit my job, move out of the area and leave it all behind (and hopefully my entire behind too, lol)

However, over the last about 5 days, I've just been more bold in asking for help at work - getting the job done. So, I have two-three new helpers in Tillamook and 2 new in EV which will really help. Each of them are able to bring even more helpers to the table.

Saturday we had Pow Wow and it was sooo fun. My favorite class was Ceremonies and Pizzaz and I learned a lot about how to recognize adults and kids in a very simple, fun ceremonial way. Our instructor was AWESOME!!! You know there are some people who do scouting, some people who do it because they have to and some that GET IT. She way got it. If we could clone her, wow, would that be awesome.

Today had tithing settlement and I totallylove my bishop. He always laughs at my dumb jokes. I asked him if I could get be released from Relief Society and he said no way. I told him that I thought that my lessons were sort of repetitive and boring and he said that that wasn't the feedback he'd been getting. The counselor over the teachers so doesn't like me and she rarely if ever hears my lessons anyway, doesn't participate and told me once that she never feels the spirit during my lessons. That's hardly groundwork for a great relationship.

Anyway...Christmas is coming and I can't wait to put up my tree as it's an equal opportunity ornament tree- one that offers equal viewing for each ornament as it's prelight strung and SPINS!! I love it. I looked for other colors and ornaments to try and change it up this year however I just couldn't bring myself to do it! I might alternate or something but I just couldn't bring myself to change it all over.

See you all soon and HOPE to hear from you all soon. Let's use this tool, k, folks to stay in touch.

If you dont' want to type twice, just copy and paste, that works as well.

Hugs and kisses,

Sharon

My blog site

I'm not going to blog here this week because I did it twice already on my site.
So, all you'll need to do is go to karen-nihipali.blogspot.com and you can catch up on me there.

I have heard from Steven a few times this week too. I'll be sending sheets to him for Christmas since that is all he wants and needs. I won't send food because frankly, he doesn't need anymore! HEHEHEHEHE.

Have a good day.

Karen

webcams are wonderful!!

Yesterday we got to see Steven for the first time in 3 months! We got both of our webcams up and running. The kids LOVED it! They talked at the screen, blew kisses and waved at daddy for an hour! It was wonderful to really see him. It's been a long autumn for the kids as they only got to talk to daddy on the phone for a matter of minutes maybe once a week after he arrived in Kuwait. It's a blessing to have the technology that so many abuse, but we definitely put it to good use. We should be able to talk and see daddy anytime they're on base since he has the internet right in his room.
Steven just finished a 40 hour class on the Caiman mrap and he passed his final test with a 98%!!! He missed one question due to misreading it. He is now liscensed to drive all vehicles that are in Iraq except the tank. This makes him more useful to everyone and has kept him learning.
The kids are doing better since seeing Daddy. They even slept better last night than they have in weeks!Talk about a confirmation on the importance of Daddy. Mommy is doing better too and actually got to sleep before mignight for the first time in 3 weeks!
Yeah for webcams!!!!

Good November

I love November! I love the feeling of Autumn, I love the change in the color of the leaves, trees and shrubs. I love that the sun goes down sooner & that it is a little darker earlier and that the wind is cooler. Well, dang it...I am living in the wrong state. Arizona had Halloween on Friday and it was a whopping 92 degrees. Only 50 kids came by which was disgusting because the year before, there had to have been at least 300 and the year before that, at least 200. I think that it is the economy for 1 and for 2, the freaking' weather. Who wants melted chocolate? Not me...I bought pretzels anyways so my chocolate wasn't melting.

We had stake conference this weekend, however we didn't attend ours because it was televised statewide and so we packed up the dog and some clothes and spent the night out at Thomas & Laurels' home to attend conference with them, Ben, Darwin and Collette. It was a blast. We played games afterwards, the majority of them took naps. I read a few books and played with Ka'le. The house is big enough that he could get lost which was a blast because I could hide and he would run around trying to find me...that was fun. Conference was on unity, change and hope. Elder Packard spoke and he wowed me with the spirit and his awesome stories of being a fighter pilot.

We were also admonished to write a book about our conversion and what it has done for our lives and what it will do, hopefully for the future. So, for everyone...that is what you're going to get for Christmas, according to mom, we aren't drawing names because nobody has the $$ to do it, which is fine, but everyone knows how to type something and mail it out.

I took a couple of pictures and will post them later. My battery died so I couldn't take more! That was sad :o(

We have a very busy November! Nathan is working the polls for voting on Tuesday and I am going to work my butt off this week at work so that I can rack up some OT to pay for Christmas (which I am going to try to keep a secret for Nathan...he needs a pair of shoes so I need to make a few extra dollars).

I am very tired...I need to get to bed. I have been going to bed pretty late lately and its killing me productively at work! I love the mornings and Nathan is a night person so as mentioned, the nights are killing me...this isn't working out well...but it will.

Have a great November.

Like any other Latter-day Saint,it is fast Sunday. I can't fast being I am diabetic, but I do try to fast with the spirit. We had a good meeting in Sac. and a really good Sun. School class. We had a good lesson. Dad is working the midnight shift for the next three weeks so is taking a nap till 9:00 pm. LeiLani was going to go to worrk, but now is not as Ikaia isn't feeling well and loosing weight again only weighing 33 pounds at aage 3. David is still on the road and should be home tomorrow or early Tues. It has been a long trip this time. Steven is safely in Iraq, not sure where, but he left Kuwait and doing Ok so far. Grandma is also doing well. She forgets things but still can carry on a conversation. the girls and Laarry are ready to start the building of the houses. glad it is them and not me. We are all fine and hope the same for all of you. Love, Mom and Dad

A new month...

Hello Family,

It's fast Sunday and as fast Sunday's go, the Spirit was strong and accounted for during Sacrament meeting. Sometimes it's less so but today it was brilliant and strong. I noticed my old visiting teaching companion (she's only old bc she went inactive) sitting in the 2nd to the last row. I was so excited for her.

Our ward has Break the Fast still...it's a remainder from the days of being a branch and I have a feeling that it isnt' going anywhere soon. I actually managed to put a roast in the crock pot and contrinbute to the meal this month - once a year isn't too bad is it?!?

Yesterday I had my Lia Sophia party and I would like an order from mom (or dad for mom), Karen (or Nathan for karen), Janell and Leilani. You see where i'm going here don't you?!?! Gifts are for giving!:) It was really fun, 3 single adults from another ward, 1 from my ward, my visiting teaching supervisor and mother of 3 small (under 5) children and two non-members friends and one brought a neighbor. It was packed in my little living room. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was grateful for a reason to clean the bathroom floor, hang up all my clothes and get the laundry off the bathroom floor. See, I CAN do it.

As far as work goes - Tuesday I finally got written up for a bad performance las quarter. This is all mainly due to the lack of performance on the golf tournament. Everything revolved around that event including a lot of time that I could have spent doing other things. I'm still not worried, I know there is a plan for me.

Grad school essays are on the top of the list to complete today. I have 3 of the 10 done but dang, they are each just a little bit different so I have to tweak each one according to the questions.

I am sitting here with General Conference playing in the background. My favorite talk from the Sat AM session so far is from the Hispanic lady who talked about missionary work. I couldn't keep the tears from flowing, similarly to the first time, when she talked about how she married in the temple and had 8 kids, their children served missions and the work never stops, nor does the goodness from those who serve or chose the Lord's Church. I have so much respect for all those who join the church.

This week, I have jury duty orientation all day on Wed and appts every single day the rest of the week. Busy, busy and more busy. I'll be up on Friday bc it's staff meeting day. Oh joy.

Hugs and kisses to all the babies. And Aukai, "fire engine!" LOL...

~Sharon

Yeah, we did it!

this is mom praticing how to use this thing that sharon is telling me what to do next. now all i need for her to be here the next time i get a phone call saying to go on to the blog and see what so n so put on the blog. goood luck and good nite -


After Sharon finally signed us in under Dad's email, we are here. We are sooo happy to have this chance to stay connected. We hope to post many pictures (after we figure out how to do it) and brag about our grandkiddos with many happy photos and pictures.

We hope to hear from you all often. Hugs and kisses,

Omi and Opa

contributors

Sharon,
Make it so that our names come up continuously as a contributor.
It doesn't show up unless one puts their mouse over it and so those who don't know how to do the internet will never see it...we don't need to give any names :o)

HELLO

The girls are here.

Welcome to the WA Nihipali Ohana Blog

To the NW Branch of the Massively Huge Nihipali Family,

The girls decided we should use technology to our advantage and this is why we finally have a family blog page. This page should be used to share info that the entire family would like to know. Post pictures and share the going-ons in your family. Keep us all updated and share the joys!

You will be added as bloggers to this webpage. Each family will be able to blog and to post comments. The comments will be moderated though so no "bad" stuff from outside the family (and generally from freaks on the net) gets on here.

For more information, please contact Karen or Sharon and we'll help you through it. For mom and dad, you get personalized and individual lessons!!! Don't fret, the kids are here for you.

Hangin' tough,

Love, the girls