1st Day of Kindergarten

This is Ella standing in front of her school on the first day. The first day for Kindergarten was orientation, where I went with her for an hour and stayed to talk to the teacher about the year, while the kids went with the T/A to play educational games.

So, this is the 2nd day, but the first official day by herself to Kindergarten.   In the car she was as excited as could be!

Walking into the school by herself... this is where I started to lose it.

Even though we live 0.2 miles from the school, Ella insisted on riding the bus. So, she's the 2nd stop it makes and gets home 8 minutes after school gets out.

She LOVES the bus, and feels like a big kid.

Here's her take home folder and the picture she drew on the first day. I STILL cannot believe she is old enough to be in school.

Sight Seeing in Oahu (part2)

Scott and I were the only ones in my family who had never been to Oahu before and wanted to do and see it all.  We went to the Polonesian Cultural Center and rode the boats and went to a bunch of shows. It was really interesting and really made us feel the Hawaiian culture.

  We went on a hike that led to a water fall. It was the Waimea Waterfall and the Botanical Gardens.

Can you see me waving in the bottom left hand corner with Ella?

Scott, Cole, Melanie, Scot and my mom went on the Diamond Head hike that's one of the largest on the island that has the most beautiful scenic view.

We had to visit the Hawaii Temple, and were able to do initiatories inside. What an experience!



Then Scott, Ella and I went to Pearl Harbor one morning to see the history. We took the submarine audio tour and learned all about life in the navy.  They went through so much on that day, and so many were killed in that war. Even though I was sweating bullets the whole time there, I gained much respect for those men who served at the time to fight for our country.



Right behind me is where it all went down. There's a huge battleship behind me there, which we couldn't tour because the men were on active duty aboard.

Big thanks to my family for the great memories, we had such a blast. Thanks to my bro for basically planning the entire thing. And thanks to Hawaii for being so beautiful, we will come back for sure.

Oahu, Hawaii {part1}

Here's all of us (besides Scott taking the picture) on the plane ready for the long flight to Hawaii.

We stayed at the Marriott Beach Club Resort in Ko'Olina, and we fell in LOVE with the pools and private beach.  The pools had many waterfalls and caves to swim under, so amazing.

They had this waterslide that everybody got to ride except for me, since I'm preggers.

Here's the private beach if you keep walking past the many pools of the resort.  We loved it how the waves were calm enough for kids to play in safely.

Even all the jacuzzi's had waterfalls coming down into them, even though I could only get in waist-deep, they were incredible.

Harley the Horse

Of  course we couldn't leave nana & papa's house without letting Ella ride a horse. She asked for 3 days straight before we had time to let her ride. Thanks papa for taking the time to take her!

Happy 5th Birthday, Ella!

Ella is one lucky girl. She got to celebrate her birthday multiple times this year: once at home before we left, one with Scott's side and one with my side of the family. Above is a 3-generation picture, I love it!

I cannot believe my girl is 5 and in Kindergarten. Where did the years go? We love you Ella and are so proud of you!