Catch-up Time

I miss blogging -- writing posts AND reading everyone else's.
So, a TON has happened since March.  I've been uploading photos onto facebook just because it's fast.
After grandma and baby Lucas passed away, I wasn't really in the mood to go on a trip or to travel.  I was feeling the need to be close to family, to what matters most.
On March 10, 2011 my aunty sent me a text about an earthquake in Japan.  I turned on CNN, thinking it was just another one of those minor tsunami scares we always seem to get (at least in my lifetime it's always played out that way).  As soon as the live images started streaming on tv, I was in shock.  It was the first time I had ever witnessed the destruction as it was happening, and all on a grand scale.  I was afraid.  I thought we should prepare for the worst.  I was worried we weren't high or far enough away from the ocean.  And surely with the earthquake being as devastating as it was in Japan, we were bound to get hit HARD.
I was grateful we were spared.  And then I was thinking,'Is this another sign we shouldn't be going on our trip?' (because we were supposed to fly out march 11 in the evening).  I thought that if the airport closed then we wouldn't go.  But it didn't, so we went.
Grandparents Miller stayed with the kids.  It was hard to leave them.  It will probably be the last time we do leave them when we go international, I just missed them too much.
We flew into Auckland.  In 2008 we went and explored South Island, so this time we decided on North Island (the earthquake in Christchurch also played a role in that decision).  It was a blast!  We explored a lot, but we need to go back and cover what we missed.  I LOVE New Zealand!  The water was warm enough to swim in without having to don a wetsuit, there were mountains, awesome tramping (hiking), no deadly animals to worry about, cool weather with lots of sunshine, it was clean, it was big, it has great food, there's tons of cute fluffy white sheep dotting lovely pastures and rolling hills.  It's amazing.  I absolutely enjoy everything about it!
We were there for about ten days, then we headed to Samoa -- Western Samoa.  We visited Upolu and Savai'i and they are what I imagine Hawaii was once upon a time.  There is a wild untouched beauty there - crystal clear ocean and dense jungle interior.  The people are friendly, they work hard, live simply and they are soooo happy.  It is sunny, a lot warmer and more humid than home.  I got really tan on this trip, we were in the tropics and closer to the equator.  Everything is way cheaper than Hawaii.  Doug has been all over the world, and he confessed that Samoa was more third world than he thought.  Everyone's yard is impeccably maintained. Most of the homes lack walls and people sleep on mats with mosquito netting.  The effects of their last tsunami were still visible along the southern shores and they are still in the process of rebuilding.  You see fat, wild pigs crossing the roads, chickens and horses.  Some locals don't have running water and go to the rivers to bathe.  It was a cultural experience for sure.  Doug misses the countless, crowd-less waves.
After five days in Samoa, we made our way to Fiji.  Bula!!!  The locals are so friendly there and you feel it the second you step off the plane with the string band singing to greet you and all the airport employees with HUGE smiles, saying,"Bula!!"  Malia and Stuart were our hosts and being in a foreign country with people that know the place and culture  makes for an exceptional experience.  We stayed with them in their quaint little countryside home and they are surf guides so we had the chance to go out on a boat to the islands and surfbreaks -- needless to say, Doug was in heaven.  Malia taught me how to make pumpkin curry, Fijian style.  Sooo yummy!  Our first evening there we ground up kava with Brother Reddy and Doug went prawning with some locals.  Fiji is a BIG island, and I mean it is ginormous.  Rolling hills, dunes, clean water dotted with tiny islands, rainforest jungle we never got the chance to experience this time around, cheap dvds, awesome cuisine - it was great!  Except for the part where I threw up, but I won't elaborate...We didn't even explore half of it the main island, so I guess we'll just need to go back!
That was our trip -- in a teeny-tiny, itty-bitty nutshell.  We kept a detailed daily journal of our traveling experience and took heaps of photos.
Coming back home was great - Hawaii weather is so mild and we were actually cool here compared to where we'd been.  It was an unforgettable experience, as all travel is.  We were ready to see the kids when we got back.  I had to study their faces because it seemed they had grown and changed in that time we were away.  Malik wouldn't really look me in the face and was very bashful when I went to pick him up from preschool.  Even Faith had this huge grin on her face when she saw us.  It was the best homecoming - seeing them again.  Thank you grandparents for taking such good care of them!!  We are so grateful.

My baby sister Alohi graduated from BYUH in April in Elementary Ed.  My mom, dad, and sister Angela flew out here for that.  My mom and Angela are still here and leave with Alohi next week, then it will just be me here again.  I will miss them.  When dad was in town we ate more than once at the Pancake House - a family favorite for breakfast (before you die, you seriously need to try their sourdough french toast and buttermilk pancakes if you haven't already - they are the best!)  We went to Camellia's Yakiniku, where you get your food and cook it yourself, korean style, to celebrate Alohi's graduation.  So good!
I love having family in town.
We celebrated Easter with the Gellerts and dyed some eggs and had a little egg hunt in the yard.

We discovered Malik sleepwalks (and it's pretty freaky).  We went to Faith's Ho'ike and watched her perform.  Then Malik graduated from preschool and had his Aloha ceremony where he sang and danced.  Faith has also lost two teeth at last!  The bottom middle two.  We've gone to the pool, beach, have been enjoying numerous family bike rides all over Laie and on the Malaekahana bike path.  Faith and Malik have recently been learning how to ride a dirt bike and LOVE it!  We've been making fires, roasting marshmallows for s'mores.  On Memorial Day it was my mom's birthday so we went to watch Thor and the kids kept saying that Thor looks like uncle Ryan. Uncle Buddy set a new grave marker for Ehren and laid a new headstone and it is beautiful.    

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more that happened and when I recall them I will fill in the blanks, but for now I'm dozing off and need to go to bed so goodnight!