Birthday Supper for Emerson & Macie

We felt pretty bad not having "real" parties for Emerson & Macie, so we had a dinner in their honor on the Saturday between their birthdays. We don't know many people with kids, and the ones we do know, couldn't come, so we pretty much had a dinner for adults and they brought presents over for our kids! Anyway, we had a "Mexican Fiesta" of sorts, since Emerson requested cheese chips and tacos for her birthday food. I had originally planned on grilling, but it's a good thing we didn't, because while I was grilling the flank stead for fajitas, the grill ran out of propane! So, on to plan "B"......I'll try to finish the meat in the broiler.....yeah, right! I almost burnt the house down. Even though the fajitas were a little on the rare side, there was enough food that every one had a good time and even got to eat seconds.

The girls enjoyed eating their cupcakes!

and opening presents!

Words for Halloween pictures

I don't know why, but when I posted the previous pictures (from Halloween night), the website wouldn't let me write my blog entry. So, after many attempts to correct it, I gave up and just posted the pictures. As you can see from the preview to Halloween, Emerson dressed as Ariel, and Macie was an Octopus. We went to a church for their harvest festival, or "Hallelujah Night", as they called it. It was nice, but a bit crowded because it was pouring down rain outside, the first big, constant rain we had since we moved here! Everybody said it ALWAYS rains on Halloween....how weird! Anyway, we were all able to participate in the festivities this year. No one was giving birth or anything like that! And, because it was about 85 degrees at 8 pm, Macie was ready to shed her octopus skin and go trick-or-treating in her diaper by the end of the night!

Our first Hawaiian Halloween

Halloween Preview

Here are pics from the fashion show we had before Mom and dad left. They (Mom mostly) wanted to see the girls in their halloween costumes. In case you can't tell, Emerson is Ariel and Macie is an octopus. A very cute, but very hot octopus! You can see just how hot when I post the pics from actual Halloween night.....pretty funny!

Macie's First Birthday!

We celebrated Macie's first birthday a little early, so Mimi & PopPop could enjoy the festivities. Macie's real birthday is on Halloween, and that was just a crazy night, so it's a good thing we took care of birthday fun before the real day!

Emerson's 4th Birthday

One of the things we got to do while Mimi & PopPop were here was celebrate Birthdays. Emerson's was on Tuesday, the 23rd. We started out the day with Emerson's favorite breakfast...."smarshmallow" puffs and sausage balls. At lunch we had tacos & cheese chips, followed by birthday cake and presents. After we woke up from our naps, we went downtown ate at the Cheesecake Factory, where Emerson got birthday ice cream and a song from the waiters and waitresses. Then for the grand Finale, we went and enjoyed the broadway production of The Lion King. It was wonderful, and Emerson really enjoyed it. She stayed awake for the whole thing (it lasted 3 hours). We didn't get home until after midnight, but had a great day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMERSON!!! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!1

Mimi & PopPop come to Hawaii!

We had a GREAT time this last week with Mimi & PopPop here (that's Whitney's parents, in case some of ya'll don't know). They came for Emerson & Macie's birthdays, and to see what life is like for us here in Hawaii. I have to apologize.....I forgot to upload the pictures in reverse order, so, as usual, they are backwards.....if you want to see the week in review in order, then scroll to the bottom and work your way up!

This is from Friday, the last day Mom and Dad were here. We went to the Ko'Olina resort and enjoyed their lagoons....very nice for the girls to enjoy the water without having to worry about getting wiped out from the waves!
This picture is Macie enjoying some delicious pineapple ice cream from the Dole Plantation. YUM!



















More fun in the sun!



Visiting the Dole plantation.......






















We went to a luau one of the first nights Mom and Dad were here. We got to go on canoe rides and Emerson & Mimi got matching "tattoos!"
Emerson greeted Mimi & PopPop in the traditional Hawaiian way....with leis. She was such a big girl running up to meet them as soon as they got off the airplane and giving them their leis. The next day, Sunday, we went for a drive to the Leeward (East) side of the island and visited the blowhole and Bellows beach. It was a long drive, but a fun day at the beach for everyone! Sorry for any confusion with the pics being out of order....I'm still learning about this whole blog thing, and editing is something I don't really have a whole lot of time to worry with. The most important thing is that we had a really great time and enjoyed having our first visitors to Hawaii. Who's Next???????