Kayak to The Moake Islands...or The Moakes

Today, we went on our first kayak trip since we arrived on the island...can you believe it has been over a year!!! We went with 2 other couples and had an amazing time. Though we came back with tired arms, we got to see a Monk Seal sitting on the beach who didn't give a darn about us, beautiful islands, and one camera that took a dip and is currently soaking in a baggie of rice. So much fun and though we love our sweet kids, we were happy to leave them at home and have some Deryck/Shan time!

The Richardson's in Hawaii

Neil and Melissa came to visit us and we had the most wonderful time. It is always a blessing when God brings good friends who are really like family into your life. We snorkled, boogie boarded, ate at Duke's, hiked, at tons of chocolate chip cookie dough, and laughed for 7 days. Neil and Melissa, thanks for spending the "quiet time" away from your sweet kids with us and our CRAZY kids. WE LOVE YOU!

P.S. The hiking picture of Neil and Deryck is from the "Stairway to Heaven", also called the Haiku Stairs. It is 2, 120 ft. up and 3, 922 steps. They had a blast!

Halloween and Fall Party!

Though Halloween has come and gone, here are our pictures. Ethan got to dress up for school and decided on a surfer dude. They both went trick-or-treating with their friends and dressed up as a Clone Trooper and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. Ethan also had his fall party where they decorated pumpkins and had homemade rootbeer.

Dayton's Visit

Dayton, Deryck's Dad, came to visit us the first week of October. It was a blessing having him here. He and Deryck went on the Admiral's Tour of Pearl Harbor and we spent many days boogie boarding. We had the best time with him, especially Ethan who had the week off for fall break.

New Beach Pictures

I realized it had been a while since I took any beach pictures, so here they are. These were taken at our favorite spot, Bellows. Enjoy and be jealous...unless you are coming to visit this year.

Rachel turns 4!!!

Who can believe that is has been 4 years since God blessed us with sweet Rachel? She has been such a hoot to watch grow up. There are times she is still a silly little girl, but she is also growing in to a young sassy thing who's mouth gets her in trouble...a lot. (Hmmm...who does that remind you of?) On her birthday, she got to go to McDonald's for breakfast and pizza for lunch. She got to open presents that afternoon (while we Skyped with our Daddy who is in DC this week) and after dinner all our church friends sang Happy Birthday and had cake at our small group meeting. Then on Thursday (today) she got to take one friend to Chuck E' Cheese. She chose her sweet friend Addison. We had a wonderful time and ended it with a trip to Cherry On Top, which is a make-it-yourself yogurt place. Here are a few pictures from our 2 day celebration! Also, because it took 2 days to get in all the celebrating, she asked me if on Thursday the 23 if she was now 5 because she had two birthday days :)

Soccer Time!

Ethan started playing soccer again a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, they are 0-2 at the moment, but we are hoping to reverse that this Saturday. He is #4 in the pictures. We are working on staying with the game and going after the ball. My crazy kid seems to have a habit of kicking once and then yelling for someone else to go get the ball. Also, we are trying to reduce the number of dive and rolls he does in front of the goal as he runs back to defend it...it is hilarious!