R&R Here we come!!!

Well, we are officially over the half way point of this deployment. The original homecoming date of August has been pushed back to November-ish, so we have passed half way to November. Now we can begin to look forward to the end of this time apart. Right now, we have R&R to look forward to! Steven should right now be on his way home for 2 weeks' vacation. I say should because he can be bumped off the flight in favor of anyone of higher rank or for someone heading home for emergency leave. I won't know for sure until he has reached the States and calls me, so we hope he's on his way. My plans for R&R are very loose, so let us know what plans and activities are going on but please do not be hurt or offended if we don't come or if we are late. We have such a short time together that we are going to be selfish with that time. We are going to have a BBQ of our own here in our apartment complex, potluck of course and will be posting the time later when we see the white's of his eyes!
Our main plans include a Mariner's game and relaxed fun with the kids. So, we might be up Seattle way for a couple of days, but it's still up in the air until we see how Steven is feeling and what he can handle.
We hope that everyone is doing well!!

Incredible blessings...

I am not going into any details here, so it may be foolish to write it here, but I have to express to anyone who may read this that I have a testimony that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really loves us each individually. That they know each and everyone of us personally and knows what we need in our lives. The last week here has been especially hard for me, I had an important decision to make. This was a step-in-to-the-dark kind of decision that will affect my life, the kids' lives, and much more, so it was kind of big. I actually thought that I had made the decision Wednesday night, and I tried to go to sleep (pretty unsuccessfully,by the way) and on Thursday morning went back to the original decision to really think it out again from another point of view only to find that this point of view really did change the face of what I was looking at. I made the opposite decision from the night before and began implementing it right away. I had the decision confirmed to me the next day, it was NOT immediate people, I had to walk a few steps in the dark. Thursday I committed to my decision and in the middle of the day on Friday, I received a revelation for me personally that made me feel better about the decision. One that changed my point of view once again on the decision, the process I was to take and began to light my way forward. Friday, I had it confirmed to me that I had made the right decision and I was to move forward in faith, knowing that I had listened to the Lord's promptings!! I have never had that kind of confirmation before. Saturday was our Stake Relief Society Conference in which I played my flute with the choir. In this meeting, 2 of the addresses given confirmed my decision. The next day at church, it was confirmed yet again to me in the Sunday School lesson and the Relief Society lesson. Now today is Monday and Satan has already tried to make me doubt that I need to go to all the "trouble" that is in my part of my decision. That I can do it on my own without implementing my portion of the path that is laid out before me. I think that this decision will affect more generations down the road to receive such confirmation and such an immediate attack from the adversary! I have begun my part in this path, I will continue on the way that I decided on, I will hold to this incredible testimony, and we will be better than ok. We will be an eternal family!

Please keep us in your prayers as we go to battle against the adversary who already is attacking us on our new path.

My new old hobby

I used to love photography but it was set aside as I leaped into motherhood. My loving husband had purchased my dream camera for me and I have regained my hobby! I was able to host a photo shoot last week, take my nephew's senior pictures and will be doing pictures for an old friend and her baby boy! I am loving taking pictures of the kids at every opportunity and am learning the photo editing programs! If you can't tell, I'm a bit excited to have something for myself while I am acting as mother, father, and dealing with all of the things that Steven used to take care of, including our cars. I am grateful for my talents that our Heavenly Father has blessed me with, including my music and now an art. So, here's a few pictures I've taken over the last 3 weeks...enjoy!!

Classic Hollywood photo shoot

Hollywood ain't got nothing on us!
Come to a Classic Hollywood photo shoot!
Where?-Vancouver Hilton
301 W 6th St
Vancouver WA 98660
When?- January 24, 2009
10AM-6PM
What?- Photo Shoot in the style of the 1920's-1950's Hollywood starlets



This photo shoot is $200 total, $25 deposit to reserve your spot and $175 on the event date.
The price includes upwards of 100 pictures taken in many different poses, including glamor and tasteful boudoir shots in your favorite nightie, 10 of which I will crop, touch up and enhance in time for Valentine's Day! The pictures will be given to you on a disc with all rights so that you may print out your favorites as many times as you'd like! The camera being used creates pictures that are suitable for printing up to 16x32!
Some suggestions for poses, looks, and period attire can be found at www. moviemaidens. com

Session guidelines:
~Bring your own outfits and favorite props
~Boudoir pics allowed in your favorite nightie and/or glamor pics in your ball gown
~No sexual poses allowed or taken
~The attire must be at least as modest as a bikini for a family pool
~upwards of 100 pictures will be taken in many poses. I am willing to touch up 10 of them and then give you ALL pictures taken on a cd or your own memory card.

~Please bring your favorite treat or snack to share and have fun!

email me with any questions!

The price is not set in stone, I only want to break even, so the more people that sign up and come, the lower the price can get. I would like to fill the day and get the price down to next to nothing for everyone! I have some great pose ideas for men and couples, what a great Valentine's gift! Come and have fun! The more the merrier and the cheaper! Bring your friends and drive down the price!!

Our very nearly perfect Christmas

I say nearly perfect for obvious reasons, the only way it could have been better is if Steven had been able to physically be here with us. We were able to have a quiet Christmas Eve with Omi and Auntie Sharon and then we went home so Santa could build a couple of things. Steven was even able to watch the building process and type advice to me via Yahoo web cam IM. Christmas morning I woke up at 0530 and the kids slept in until 0730!I was so worried that they'd wake up and get into it all before Daddy could get online to watch the excitement. So Steven was able to watch and we could even talk with him on the computer while the action happened before his eyes! It almost felt as if Daddy was really there with us helping open the gifts. Auntie Sharon came over to take pics for me so I didn't have to worry about missing anything and I could really be a part of it too. What a wonderful morning! A bit later,after Sharon left, I got to watch as Steven and his Battle Buddies, JP and Mondo were opening their gifts from us. What fun!
Next, the kids and I went back to the Nihipali's for brunch with Omi, Tutu, Auntie Sharon, Uncle David, auntie Leilani, and Ikaia. The missionaries sort of joined in after they had spoken with their own families. We had a great visit and we were a little sad to have to leave to go to the Gold's for Lunch/dinner and our White elephant exchange.
All in all we had a fantastic day!

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to quite a lot of snow, especially for Vancouver, so I decided that after lunch we would try and play outside. Last year Keli'i wanted NOTHING to do with the cold wet stuff around her, but today both she and Aukai had so much fun that I had to bribe them to get them inside to warm up! Aukai even figured out how to make a snow angel but where he got the idea, I'll never know. It was not my idea and I never have taught him about snow angels! What a wonderful day and how we miss Daddy!

Our $16 Christmas tree

Our perfect little tree and our special stockings from Daddy. I made a killing on the kids' Christmas presents and was able to get EVERYTHING Steven and I wanted for them, I even stayed in budget and was able to get myself a beautiful necklace to wear! I am feeling very upbeat about Christmas now and can't wait for everything to fall in place for a wonderful day!
PS...the ornaments are nearly indestructible so the kids got to help decorate the tree!