A Little Hawaiian Sun

We had the opportunity to escape Portland for a week and venture in the warm sun of Hawaii. We stayed with Tiffany Geiger and her family and enjoyed their hospitality. This biggest excitement on this trip was Maia's experience with warm ocean water and lots and lots of sand to play with. She was thrilled every time we went to the ocean. We had to watch her close because she would bee-line for the ocean. Our time was spent trying not to focus on things in Portland, but to enjoy family time. I feel like that was accomplished and we felt pretty refreshed when we returned. Here is just a recap of our trip.

Day 1.
We landed in Honolulu on Sunday October 31st in the mid morning. It was nice to have most of the day there. We had lunch and then headed over to Waikiki to walk around and say hello to the ocean. Maia was thrilled!!!

Our adventures started with Tiffany's mom's car breaking down on us while we were there. So some of our afternoon was spent figuring out a tow truck and all that sort of stuff.

Since it was Halloween we got to get Maia all dressed up in her ladybug costume and go to an event at Tiffany's church. The time zone change was quite a big deal and so at this point it was about 9:00pm our time which means usually Maia has been in bed for about 2 hours. So Halloween was not that fun for her. However, she did get to ride the pony and that was fun for her.

Maia conked out right after she got off that pony. It was a matter of seconds of her falling asleep as we were getting her in the Ergo. That was one exhausted little girl.
So since Maia was asleep Michael thought maybe he could try to use her costume to get a little candy. Hmmm...I don't know if that will work?

Day 2: We went to Lanikai, one of our favorite beaches. We just loved how gentle the waves were and how peaceful and unpopulated the beach was. Maia loved how yummy the sand tasted. It was an upward battle trying to keep the sand out of her mouth.

Tiffany and Maia playing in the ocean!

The water was so warm, Maia just loved running right to it. However, she was not a fan of getting in with us. She just loved being able to get her feet wet and then sit in the shallow water and play with the sand.

As always, Maia makes friends where ever she goes. I was holding her in the water when she was saying Dah dah (her word for dog) and panting as she was making her sound for a dog. And I was wondering why is she just saying that out of the blue and then sure enough right behind us was a dog on a boogie board and a the owner pulling him along. Good eyes Maia! So this is the dog and the owner.

Family in the ocean!

Day 3: On this day we spent some time at Pearl Harbor. We have not seen the monument and thought it was a good thing to see at least once while we are in Hawaii. So we hopped on the ferry and went out to the memorial for the Arizona. It was pretty sobering to think about all that took place the day that boat sank.

After Pearl Harbor we went to Leonards where we tasted the deliciousness of the Malasada - a Portuguese Doughnut. Delicious as most doughs that are fried and tossed with sugar.

Maia thought they were pretty delicious as well!

I think she was sad that the Malasada was all gone, or maybe it was just past her bedtime once again.

Day 4: It was a rainy day in Hawaii while in Portland the sun was shining and it was supposedly a beautiful day. Ironic? Well we decided that we would take a drive and head towards the North Shore and see the waves and eat some shrimp. It turned out to be a fun day. On the North Shore the rain was not coming down so much and it was actually pleasant to be out, so we sat on Sunset Beach and watched the waves and the surfers.

We also kept a close eye on our little girl because she was creeping down the sand dune and towards the roaring ocean.

The roaring ocean.

On our way to the North Shore we stopped and had garlic shrimp. Mmm...mmm...good!

Day 5: This was our last full day in Hawaii. We ended up spending some of the day at the beach Makapu'u with Tiffany.

After we dropped off Tiffany at school, we went to Waikiki and walked around and watched the Sunset. Good way to end our time in Hawaii. It was a great trip and we thoroughly and enjoyed every bit of. We are thankful for the opportunity to go and thankful for great friends to open their home for us to stay and their cars for us to use. We are certainly blessed!

Maia and Her Bear

Maia has a little bear that she just loves. It was given to her from her Grandma in South Dakota for Valentines Day and since then she has had an attachment towards the bear. Sometimes I think the bear's name is Hi There, since that is what the bear says when you push its foot and Maia tends to address it as such. Often theres a big smile on this girls face when she encounters her Hi There Bear. So one day I thought I would document her carrying around her special bear. Its been fun watching her play with dolls and stuffed animals and how she hugs them and takes care of them. What kindness and love that she portrays! So these are just a set of photos of Maia and her Bear.

Family Outing to the Pumpkin Patch

This past Wednesday we decided to get out into a pumpkin patch. Its the fall thing to do right? Well it was a gorgeous day here in Portland and we were thinking that those days are beginning to be few so we took advantage of this day and headed on out to Sauvie Island to The Pumpkin Patch. The perk on going to such an outing during the middle of the week in the afternoon is that it is not overly crowded and so we felt like we really got to enjoy ourselves! There was animals to see, pumpkins to pick and a hayride to ride. In fact, this first photo is of Michael and Maia on the hayride. It took us out to the actual patch where pumpkins were still on the vines or at least the vines were still there.

Little Maia with her country get up sitting on a pumpkin. And no this is not the one we picked. We took the hayride back to the main place with our pumpkin in hand. However, I did not get a picture of the pumpkin we chose, but it is sitting on our front stairs outside. We also came home with a sweet meat squash in which I intend to make a pie out of. Mmmm mmmm!

So we left that pumpkin patch with our pumpkin and squash and headed to another one nearby to see if they had any caramel apples since the first one did not. Yes, I was a little disappointed because that is one of my favorite things about a pumpkin patch or any fall festivity. So at the other pumpkin patch there was caramel apples and we were so excited. Maia especially enjoyed our little treat, however, I think she mainly enjoyed the caramel. Who doesn't enjoy the caramel right??

As Michael and I finished the caramel deliciousness Maia ran around enjoying a new environment. Lots of ground for her to explore.

We headed back home after we devoured our caramel apple and was appreciative of what a fun outing we had. Its great to have places like these to go to. Its great to get out as a family and enjoy one another. I love fall and I am glad it has arrived, a change of season is always nice. Sometimes its refreshing to move on to something new. To eat some soup and make apple pies.

Happy Fall to you!!

The Priviledge of Visiting Friends

I find that this month we have had the privilege to visit some friends who have made impacts on our lives and people we cherish. What a privilege it is to be able to do so. Although we seemed faced with times that are not what we would expect, we are able to fly around to different parts of the country at a minimal cost of free! Thanks to Jet Blue for hiring Michael a year and a half ago! This would not happen other wise, or at least as often as we have gotten to go and visit. So I hope for us to look back at this time and feel blessed!

The first weekend in October Maia and I (Jeanette) made a trip out to Oklahoma to visit some friends from my college years. It was great to see the McNalls and Kilpatricks and other friends that are living down in the area. We had fun playing in the pumpkin patch and also good times of conversation in the evenings. We certainly enjoyed our time out there and was glad to make it the second annual visit! Two weeks after the trip to Oklahoma we were able to make a trip down to Southern California to visit a few of Michael's friends from college. It was a fun experience to have all our families together. The Smths were down in the area visiting before they were to head out to Germany and so we decided to go down at the same time to see them before they took off. We also got together with the Brovers and got to meet their sweet baby girl Eliora.

In that same visit we were able to take some time to visit friends of Michael's that attended the same church he did while he was in college. Erv and Ermalee were a sweet couple who took in Michael and his friends as kids of their own. So it was a joy to be able to spend some quality time with them. Maia had a blast as well!

We are blessed with relationships that will last a lifetime and into eternity and we are grateful for the moments we get to spend with them. What a privilege to have friends who you can share your life with. What fun to have memories that can make you laugh when you are together!

One Year Old Photos

We did a little photo shoot of Maia at the Rose Garden here in Portland. It was quite a challenge to take photos of an active little girl, but we had a lot of fun and it was nice to see a few turned out. So enjoy Maia's one year old photos!

Talker, Walker, and Sweeper of the Floor

I posted the one of Maia walking already on facebook, but I wanted to add the one of her sweeping the floor. She is a good little helper :). Anyways, enjoy these sweet videos of our growing daughter. She is changing so fast! Its hard to keep up.

Confronted with Parenthood

I think it was Marion Parker who said "You have now entered in where time flies by so fast." Ain't it the truth. Watching Maia change and develop in her first year is amazing and I am shocked at how fast its all gone, and will continue to do so. However, I am learning to love and appreciate where she is at right now (I'll admit it is hard sometimes when she is screaming and I wish she could just talk and tell me whats up). The crawling is starting to lessen and soon the jibber jabber that we love will be real words and she can't go back to jibber jabber (well, maybe she could). However, it has been great to watch her take those first few steps to where she is now taking 10-20 steps with her hands straight out. She is constantly imitating sounds and is starting to label ball, bear, and bye (all sounding exactly the same, but you know what she is refering to when she says it). She loves Peek-a-boo and will play with the towel all by herself for a while jibber jabbering as she puts the towel on her head and off of her head. All to say I am amazed!!!

As much as she is learning I am learning as well. Wow, I am not a patient person! I thought marriage would push that (and it has), but parenthood I feel has pushed it all the more. I feel that I am confronted all the time with my impatience and have to stop and ask the Lord for help! I feel like it has become more so since Maia has turned one. She has more demands and is also going through many transitions, so it is inevitable for her to be extra needy at times. But sometimes I don't want to be needed, and that is where I run out of patience and have to realize this is where she is at and this is where I am at, and who is the adult here. I thought about this today how much I have to be willing to change and grow as a parent and need to realize my incapabilities in order to begin a change. Wow does that sound like AA or what. Our church is doing a series on the 7 Deadly Sins, and this week the pastor was emphasizing how much we need to realize the rotteness and awfulness of our sin to realize how amazing God's grace is. I have been thinking about that a lot, and I have been thinking about my life and the things I need to be confronted with to realize just how awful they are. This is a necessary step before remembering that God has paid it all, and it is His grace and love that drives me to change! His grace is what gives me patience when I am completly empty. He sees where I am at and helps me through it. Thank you Father!!!! I am amazed at what parenthood is doing to me. I feel humbled; I had an Idea that it was supposed to go a certain way, and then everything goes the opposite. Today I felt humbled when I had worked hard on sweeping and mopping my kitchen and bathroom floor and Maia pees on the bathroom floor and I step on a piece of banana and spill a container of baking soda on the kitchen floor. No big deal, but I felt defeated. It took me a while to get over it and shrug my shoulders and remember there are more important things in life, and clean floors don't need to take priority. My main prayer is to be someone who continues to grow and change, to alow my self to be confronted with my selfishness and awfulness, and to be constantly driven towards the grace and love that brings about change. So I say YAY for parenthood!!!! Yay for times when you are at the end of your rope! Yay for a Father in Heaven who comes to be a helper and gives me strength in my weaknesses!

We Have A One Year Old

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on the blog. Our summer seemed to have flown by faster than than I was able to blog about it. We went to Virginia to Jennies wedding, picked and ate lots of blueberries and then we moved. However, we were able to wrap up the summer chaos by celebrating Maia's first year of life! There was definitely a celebration going on at our place on August 29Th. We had a hoot with many of our friends in the area coming over. Many people from our church group joined us along with some friends from Michaels work. We also had some family (the Mosers) and close friends that we have known for awhile join us. It was great to have many circles of friends join us for one common purpose, to celebrate Maia.

First off, the spread. We did homemade pizzas with some hummus , salad and wings. Oh yeah, and cake.
The cake. It was a huge cake and it will be memorable at least for me (Jeanette). It kept looking as if it was going to topple over at some points, but I managed to catch it and give it a little nudge and all was good. Maia sure enjoyed it. It was an orange cake with blueberry filling and cream cheese frosting. Delish!

"All for me?"

Yummy!

OPA!!!!!

Gifts Sisters! Just never mind all the stuff on my shirt. I certainly did!

Maia's one year old trick!

Maia's excitement about being a one year old and ready to cook up something delicious!

It has definitely been a huge joy to have you Maia in our lives. I could never have asked for better timing! You make me laugh everyday with your silliness and you know how to melt my heart with your sweet kisses! I love how you chatter away in your "own" words describing what you see or are doing. You are a determined girl making sure to get what you have set out to get, and I pray that you will be determined to set out to seek the Lord and love Him with all that you are. I am so blessed to be your mother and I get excited to see you become more of who you are as you grow. I love you sweetly my dear Maia!