Surfing!

Ember is the sweetest 4 year old little girl I know. She doesn't have a mean bone in her skinny little frame, she lovingly cares for her baby sister every day, sharing toys, books, snacks and treasures. Ember really enjoys playing with other kids and she likes to know what is going on. Every night Ember asks me, "Mom, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Those of you that know me well, know that I function the best on pure spontaneity. Ember has helped me look ahead, plan events and be prepared. I still keep a swim bag packed in the back of the van for emergency beach trips, but for the most part, I let Ember know if we are planning a fun event the next day. My birthday was this past Sunday, and so I planned a Saturday beach day for my "day". We met some friends down at the cove in Kihei and we were blessed with some fun little waves to play on. Ember has never been too keen on surfing although I have convinced her to ride on her tummy along with me a few times. She endures, but then happily goes back to the sand and the waves that tickle the shore.
The cove is mostly sand and the tide was out so it was shallow and very welcoming to all little surfers. Ember wanted to try and she did so well. I pushed and pushed and retrieved and retrieved. She stood up, smiled and surfed and surfed. When I asked if I could take a turn, she said, "no, not yet". It was a great gift to watch her have so much fun on the water...Our newest surfer girl:
Waiting for the wave...
Whooo-hoooo!
Again...and again
Sweet girl...My Emmy!

The Last Weekend in May

We love to hike and with the weather in Maui becoming unbearably hot we have been seeking the cooler air and open trails. Saturday morning Troy took Sydney to a Swim meet in Kihei. So, Ethan, Ember, Sophie and I decided we needed a Komodas Bakery run and a morning hike before the 12 :00 basketball game. Happy Kids and Sugary fingers. Stick doughnuts and Cinnamon snails!
Ethan and Ember were beating tree stumps into pulp while Sophie observed and then simply stated: "Sad". Poor tree stump. (She joined in on the next one.)Ahhh-what a cute little trail! Let's take it!
Ethan is our protector...Sticks make the best weapons....
Checking out the water trough.

Sometimes we find ripe raspberries or poha berries growing and the kids gobble them up. We only found a few today, but last month we picked about a pound of raspberries!

Today after church we came home to eat and hurried to the car and up to the cool country. The clouds were in and the hike felt magical.


















Troy got cut wittling on a stick and Sydney fixed him up with her bandanna. We followed a river bed down to a 100 foot drop that the kids are anxious to go repelling off of. Sydney wanted to try today. She and Ethan packed their harnesses and rope, but only about 25 feet of it, so she will have to wait until next time...hopefully Uncle Jonathan will come and go with us!

We hiked through our lava tube and Zack came with us. Even the tube had "clouds" in it and the
flashlights reflected off the particles in the air and made it seem so much lighter. It was cool! I thank my Father in Heaven everyday for the beautiful world he created for us. It is so good to get out and enjoy it!