Our big adventures are no longer going to be on the Big Island

It's true, we are moving from the Big Island to the big state of Texas. Probably in about a week!

Mark and I have both been involved in selling several houses in our lives and neither of us have experienced a buyer wanting to close so quickly. Here's what happened. We listed our house, 5 days later we have a cash contract to sell the house "as is". So the time from listing to the time of closing is only going to be about 3 weeks! We are right in the thick of it right now; trying to pack, sell, give away or trash our stuff.... fun, fun.

Needless to say, we are very excited and a little sad at the same time to leave the beauty of Hawaii behind. But opportunity awaits! Mark is starting his own art studio and school in downtown Austin, and I am going to continue my nursing career, working as a travel nurse initially and then continuing my master's.

Please come visit us after we get settled!

New countertops pau!

And we are listing the house on Monday. Lets hope it sells quickly!

Lucy made a lei for me!

I made her model it...

Kitchen project in the works

We are replacing our kitchen countertops with granite before we put our house on the market. Here are the before pics...

Lucy's last day at Malamalama

Lucy loves her school and will dearly miss her best friend Pablo, and her Aunties Heather, Lei, and Savana!

Sleeping sweetness

Mother's Day in Kona

My parents were here for about 3 weeks and one of the weekends(Mother's Day weekend) they were here we went over to Kona. We stayed at the Sheraton and the main event was the pool slide. Everyone had a great time, we ate plenty ono food, but we all missed Mark as he was on the mainland at that time.  I took lots of photos.....

Fun beach pics

Onekahakaha

March

My new goal is to post at least once a month. And even that is a bit ambitious for me right now. I'm in the middle of my first semester of Graduate school, I'm working 2 nights a week at the hospital, and I'm a wife and mother of 4, so if I'm not doing one thing, I'm doing another. Be that as it may the kids are growing and changing so quickly these days!

Geneva is 7 months old! She is such a happy go-lucky baby, and we love her so much.

Lucy had an Easter celebration at her school and really enjoyed the egg hunt with Ella.

St John's class had a play where he was a guard. He was a very convincing guard.

And just another picture of Lucy pretending to be a princess with her beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Busy with this and that, and God is good

I'm in full school mode now and have been very busy with it. I REALLY enjoy studying. I don't enjoy feeling like I don't have enough time in the day to devote to my books though. When I do have time to sit down and I'm thankful that my handy husband made me a great new desk!

Ellen and Matt came for visit last weekend. Of course, we loved having them here and everyone was sad when they had to leave. WE MISS YOU GUYS!!

Here is Ella making her "I'm so unhappy that Ellen and Matt had to leave" face.

I'm on vacation this week and do not miss having to stay up 2 nights this week to work, but I do miss my dear friends from work!
Here we are about to get report one very busy night---

And I will leave on a serene note with this beautiful sunrise... God is so good!

New years day fun!

Christmas in Hawaii

It seems every Christmas since we've moved to Hawaii has been very different. This year I worked 12 hour night shifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thankfully it was a good group of nurses that were also scheduled to work and so we had a pretty good time celebrating together.

Mark wasn't able to take the trip to the mainland, so we enjoyed Christmas morning with our two precious girls and our dear friend Kaye. Yes, we miss our family on the mainland, but still enjoyed the holiday season here. We are most thankful this Christmas that we have a Savior!


When I got home this morning from work I snapped some pics of the girls enjoying the mild Hawaii weather.

fun photos

Wanted to post a few photos. One is of me reading to all of the kids. It is very rare to see all four together and sitting still, so it was worth documenting!

The family went to the zoo! We had a good time, Lucy's favorite animals were the macaws.

Ella and SJ have left for the mainland to spend Christmas with everyone there.  We miss them, but I must say having only two kids for a little while is a nice break.

Merry Christmas everyone, or as we say here on the islands, 

MELE KALIKIMAKA!

Education

“Joy and happiness in living, a love of all existence, a power and energy for work … the need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility, these are the forces which are the very nerve of education.”
-Rudolf Steiner

Saint John has been homeschool this past semester. We have both learned a lot from the experience. I have learned how little I enjoy teaching and how much I enjoy seeing my children among a class full of other children their age. I realized that I am not called to be a teacher, and that's okay! Saint John has learned that he misses seeing friends on a daily basis. Thankfully there is another acceptable option. Next semester SJ will be attending a Waldorf(www.hawaiiwaldorf.com ) school which is conveniently located near Ella's school. I am so thankful that he will be able to join a classroom full of other learners! This school, by the way, is looking for a 2nd/3rd grade teacher for next year if anyone knows anyone who might be interested.
Waldorf education tends to be very touchy/feely which may not work well for all students, such as very unmotivated ones. But thankfully, SJ is very bright and probably needs more touchy/ feely stimulation. He tested in the 98% for math and reading this year, so I think he will be just fine where ever he is. 

By the way, Lucy is going to be attending their pre-school program as well. She will be starting in January, and will be going 5 days a week. I don't know what I will do without her. Well, since I'm starting school, also, I'm sure I will have plenty to do! 

Geneva and Mama

Geneva is 4 months old!

Family outing

One of our favorite places, a place we call the lava field. The tide was really low so we were able to find and play with lots of hermit crabs. I think that is what Ella is holding in the second pic.                    
Mark wanted to show Geneva the waves and got a bit too close to the edge and got a good splash. Thankfully, Geneva didn't seem to mind very much.

If you have ever wanted to learn to paint.

Then you will benefit greatly by Mark's new website! It's how I learned to paint and countless others. My step son designed the website, and I think it's wonderful! Check it out,

drawmixpaint

give Thanks, give Hope

Hi friends and family!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I have recently become involved with a non-profit, www.solehope.com, based in Asheville, NC that "offers hope, healthier lives, and freedom from foot-related diseases through education, jobs, and medical relief." I was wondering? Have you or one of your family ever had a parasite of any kind? Well, to get personal, we have.                                                                                                                                                             In the past couple of years, the kids have had head lice, and we've had fleas invade our home. On that note, I can't imagine the hopelessness of not having access to a drugstore to buy the essential products to get rid of these nasty pests!                                                                                                                                                                                                              This Thanksgiving season SH is having a medical supply drive to help give the HOPE of healing to those suffering with jiggers(a type of flea in Africa that can cause someone to go lame if untreated).                            I am asking for donations of large safety pins, gauze wrap, and stickers for kids. You can simply order them from amazon or gather them, and package them and have them shipped directly to SOLE HOPE at this address:   PO Box 1492, Asheville, NC  28802                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Thank you all for helping me give Thanks and give Hope!! Love, Emily                                                              

pictures only, Geneva 3 months