Yes, we're still here. And I know - I just don't blog often enough at all. I wish I had a good excuse....'cause I don't. But sometimes that's just how life goes. I swear - and I tell this to people I know all. the. time. - when school starts I just drop off the face of the earth. Well at least socially. And well let's face it - blogging is social. But since I know you all love me, you'll forgive me, right? Thanks, I knew you would.
So onto some actual content (not just me rambling on and on and on and on...oh sorry!). Here's a speed summary of what we've been up to lately. And I really mean speedy - and VERY summarized.
Sorry - I don't really recall what we did before winter break - especially since my latest camera download didn't include pics from that long ago. Comes with old age. So, until I unearth that last download folder (because my old laptop went kaput in early December, so it's on that hard drive...which is on this laptop now, but I'm lazy) we will start with our trip to Florida. I actually have lots of pics of Universal Studios Florida, which is where we spent a lot of fun time, but they are all taken sideways (and again, I'm lazy) so you would have to turn your head to see them properly. I will spare you and get around to posting them another time. (A-hem, it will not take me a year to do it...I hope). So we begin with the second half of our Florida trip which involved hanging out with Nana and my sister's family. Unfortunately my brother and his family weren't able to make it out, and we missed them, but it was fun hanging out with some of the cousins.
Here's all of the kids (plus Aunt Kerry) at the Zoo in Naples, Florida.
Fast forward to Easter (not sure why we didn't take any pics between Christmas and Easter, but apparently we didn't). Here's the kids all decked out in their Easter garb.
For those of you who are looking at the pics, going, "who's that again?" Here's Danielle, age 7.
Abigail, age 11....OK she was 10 when the pic was taken, but she's 11 now.
Isaac (channeling Harry Potter, maybe?), age 9.
Juliana, age 4.
Oh wait - here's a pic that I took before Easter - I cut my hair! Like really cut it. Like 14 inches, cut it. In February? I think. It's curly now - what's up with that? Seriously, all growing up I wanted curly hair...and now I've got it. But it does involve waking up a half an hour earlier every morning to actually do it. No - I don't just hop out of bed looking this gorgeous! And if you've seen me this summer you know that....I don't even bother doing it for church anymore as I'm (once again) the ward nursery leader.
A friend came to visit and we watched the sunset a few times - something we don't do often enough. One of those perks that comes with living on the dry, hot side of the island:)
Danielle had some serious snaggle tooth going on. Seriously. I mean, it was painful to let her go out in public - FOR WEEKS! The sucker would not come out. Her adult teeth were already in - come on. Finally it got loose enough that (after much crying, screaming and literal gnashing of the teeth) I was able to yank it out. Her mouth looks SO much better now - you know, just that awkward 7-8 yr old smile when your teeth are way too big for your mouth. But still, WAY better than this any day:
Cameron's been doing some beard growing - and we actually have some really cool pics of all the different stages and styles, but that really is a post for another day.
See, I told you it would be speedy. I'm sure there's a lot more to add - especially since everyone's had a birthday since Christmas except Danielle, but I'm too lazy to wait for blogger to upload the videos:)
All in all, we're doing good. We've been on Summer vacation for almost a month and I have 4 weeks left until I have to be back to work. Cameron's parents will be out this week to visit and my parents, who just got home from their mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, will hopefully be out to visit in the next few months. Our summer is just way too short for all that stuff we want to pack in.
We're already getting ready for the new school year (Wal-mart has back to school stuff out already - the teacher in me is getting very hard to suppress.). Abi will be starting middle school this year, talk about scary. At least the school is right next door to Kihei Elem. so she's not too far away and she can still ride with us in the morning instead of bussing it on her own. Though she will have to take the bus home by herself in the afternoon as Kihei El and Lokelani ( the middle school) contract different bus companies..weird since they are RIGHT NEXT DOOR! But whatever - I'm not in charge (and wouldn't want to be).
Isaac will be in 4th grade - he will actually have the same teacher Abi had last year (she moved from 5th to 4th), so that will be fun. I've really enjoyed getting to know her. Danielle will be in 3rd grade - we don't know her teacher yet, it will be a new hire for this year as one of the 3rd grade teacher's retired. Juliana will be going to preschool - we still haven't decided which one, but she has a tentative spot in 2 very different settings....I'm thinking the free one will win out here, but we're waiting to hear about one more preschool subsidy program offered by the state. I will be teaching Kindergarten again this next year - I'm super excited. Last year was definitely easier and much less stressful for me, so hopefully this year will continue that trend:) And as soon as I start working this year (July 24) I will be a tenured teacher!! Which means as long as we stay in Hawaii I will have a job....but I don't see us staying forever. But for now, it's nice to have been validated as a good teacher and that I don't have to worry about losing my job anytime soon.
Well, I think that's it for now. I will try to post a little more frequently - at least until school starts again:) Not that it'll be that hard to beat out 10 months of silence! Love to you all, and hope that you're doing well, too.
