Manoa Falls Trail

I had an opportunity to do this beautiful hike with my kiddos for work on Friday and it was so beautiful! It was a rainforest, very lush and green, it was so serene and peaceful! There was a gorgeous waterfall at the end of the hike too! It was a pretty neat day!

Reality is setting in

The reality of Evs getting accepted is finally settling in the more we do to prepare for it. Its pretty exciting. We received his official paperwork on Monday for Cal Baptist University. Evs filled it out and sent in a deposit check to make sure he gets his spot in the program as their is a waiting list for the program and people are hoping to get a spot. But definitely not Evs spot because it is officially his!! He has committed to the program and we are very excited. With only a little more than 2 weeks left of Evs Senior year he has been busy doing all his last minute projects, Senior Study and papers. I am so proud of him for working so hard and being diligent in all his efforts. We are getting all our ducks in a row, crossing t's and dotting i's. We have booked our tickets to the mainland, bittersweetly ONLY one way. We leave April 20th. But we will for sure be back so I am not too worried about that. We will miss our Hawaii Ohana too much. Next item of business was our housing, but we were just approved for our apartment this week, so we will be moving to Riverside April 28th. We dont have too much to sell from our apartment here, we were pretty low maintenance people. But we are working on selling the few big items like our tv, table, and kitchen island. After that stuff is gone, well we will just be selling the small stuff like dishes, pans, pots as time comes a little closer. I feel very blessed for everything we have and how things have fallen into place as we hoped and prayed they would. We know its the right thing for us because it did fall into place and we are truly so grateful. Our Heavenly Father is always watching over us and truly gives us those things we need in our life. We will always be indebted to Him for everything we have and we will never be able to do enough to repay him except keep doing the right things, serving others, and seeking for learning and growth.

Thanks..

for the visit Tony and Michelle. We had such a fun time with you both! Wish you could have been here a little longer! Thanks for the stinky lingering farts (Tony), thanks for sharing with us a small front room, an even smaller water heater, portuguese sausage, spam & eggs, local kine food from Ted's bakery, movies The Princess and the Frog and 2012, dinner at Lucys Seafood and Grill, and shaved ice at Island Snow. Few things to remember about their visit..

Don Quijotes massage tester section there were a ton of different items to try and we all know which one Tony liked the best (inside joke: jiggle jiggle)

A day of kayaking in Kailua/Lanikai. Dead crabs with their eyes eaten out by birds. The low tide and the reef we got stuck on. Evan and I getting nailed by a wave while being stuck on the reef..OUCH..(sorry Evs for all the cuts you got thanks for being a trooper) Strategically paddling the kayaks away from the large waves and riding them in to the shore to avoid getting pounded by them. The best chips ever getting soaking wet in your kayak. Watching Evan and I try to get into the kayak after flipping it three times coming out from the Mokulua islands because we were so nervous we would get pounded by a wave again. The long journey back with the wind. Oh joy the memories.

The swapmeet, glad we found Hawaii shirts for Tony..now that he has three. And the $1 difference the vendors wouldn't budge on..

Aloha Oe'..until we meet again in April on California turf. See ya then!

Happy Birthday!

Today is My Mums birthday. Evs and I seranated her with this lovely transformed childrens musical in her honor. "If your turning 57 and you know it, clap your hands [clap clap] if your turning 57 and you know it, clap your hands [clap clap], if your turning 57, if your turning 57, if your turning 57 and you know it clap your hands [clap clap]" Happy happy birthday MUM!

My Mum has always been there for me whether she has wanted to be or not. Its just in her nature (no child left behind). I love her and am so thankful that she was born and that we could celebrate her birth today. Even though Evs and I are far away we are thinking about you Mum. Hope you had a great day!

Dear LoveSac,

You will be missed! I am glad you went to a good home. We experienced many long Sunday naps and you were such a comfort during movie time and wii time. You were always wanted by every visitor that came over. We will miss you and all our great memories.

Love your foster parents, Evan and Darcy

Masseuse in Training

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I am so PROUD!

Dear Evan,

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the Master of Science in Athletic Training program at California Baptist University.It was a pleasure getting to know you a little in the interview. We hope to continue to get to know you better and see you reach your potential in becoming an Athletic Trainer.

Today was an exciting day! We finally found out what will be doing and where we will spending the next two years of our life. Let me tell you, it is such a relief; a weight has been lifted. We have been very blessed to have this opportunity and are thankful for all the prayers and angels rooting for us! I have much gratitude in my heart that cannot be fully expressed into words, but we are super excited!

Evs says," I am HAPPY! I want ice cream!"

Now were off to celebrate with some shaved ice (for me) and ice cream for Evs at Angels!

Hooked up

Now this is what I call a GOOD LOOKIN glass of Horchata!

and it was Mmm..good! I could have gone for another one, but no free refills! The waiter hooked me up with a BIG glass of Horchata and it made my day!

Since Saturday I have been so glad to have my Evs back! Its been a week since he interviewed for Grad school and each day I get more anxious and anxious to find out if he was accepted. (they really should have just told him that he was accepted right after the interview because really hes that amazing and they shouldn't even need a week to think about it) He was suppose to hear back in a week or so from when he interviewed, so that week mark was yesterday. So.. today is Thursday and I am still waiting and so is he...PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE right?? I suppose.

the day

So my hubby has been in California since Tuesday and I miss him so much. He went there for a grad school interview which he had today. All night and morning I just couldnt help but pray for him and constantly be thinking about him. I know he is amazing and I knew he would do fine in the interview, he's a natural, but I really just prayed for "them" (and when I say "them" I mean the panel of interviewers, 6 to be exact). I pray that they will see that little bit extra edge that Evs has that someone else doesn't have. That they see his passion and dedication and drive to be successful. And more than that, that they see him for the hardworking man that he is. Amongst all these prayers in my heart and actual prayers on my knees, I just knew that he was nervous and I felt an overwhelming anxiety for him and wanted him (and me) to be calm and feel at ease, so I prayed again since I knew he was in his interview (right as I was making my cinnamon toast) that he (and I) would feel peace and surety. As soon as I said "Amen", I got a text from my mom.

And it looked like this:

SMILE and STOP WORRYING

So I did. I mean how could I not with this picture of my two nieces! Immediately I felt better, calm and peaceful. My Father in Heaven knew what I needed. It was like he was singing to me the hymn, Be still my soul: The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in evr'y change he faithful will remain. Be still my soul: thy best thy heav'nly Friend, thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

And since my Mom was the one who took Evs to his interview she would be the one to know best what to say and do. Thanks Mom for sending me the right thing and feeling the need to send it. It made all the difference! Evans interview went great! He felt strong, confident, sounded happy and delighted with himself after the interview. He did and said everything he could to make him a candidate for admittance into the program. I love him and I am so proud of my hubby. I know that its always been in the Lords hands and we have done all we can up to this point and now we wait. I normally don't get so worked up over things like this, I just let things be as they will, but I knew that this was a huge deal to helping Evs get to that next step. I am exhausted and I am not even the one that had the interview! Go figure! But I sure was his biggest cheerleader the whole time.

Pure Beauty

I took Cynthia to see Kailua and Lanikai because they are just such gorgeous sights to see I didnt want her to miss seeing them. Even though it was very windy and we didn't stay too long because I had to work, (the kiteboarders were definitely out) the water was clear, blue and beautiful. Pure beauty.

A Sunday trip to the temple and Visitors Center

Even though the temple is closed and has been closed for over a year now, I still really enjoy being on the grounds and seeing it from my front door. Its beautiful and signifies doing good.