I love the Beach. I love letting the kids have fun getting wet, sandy and sun filled. I don't know if I can think of a more enjoyable activity. I can play, relax, explore, build, swim, jump, climb and I don't have to clean up after anyone!

My kids love it too. Sydney is my explorer, she loves to find caves and jumping places. Ethan is the first one in the water and the last one out. He boogie boards, skim boards, or surfs - as long as he is wet he is happy. Ember is everywhere, she will play in the waves, talk to Ethan, explore with Sydney, dig in the sand with Sophie or raid the lunch bag. Where ever she is, she is happy. Sophie loves to swim with mom, ride on a boogie board pulled on the sand and she likes to have Mom make her, her own pool in the sand which the waves generously fill up for her.

On our last beach trip we were standing out on some rocks when we saw a turtle. Sophie wanted to jump into the water, so I jumped in with her and then she said, "Turtle. Catch it!" She loves the ocean too!



So when life gets too busy, get on down to the beach and enjoy life!

Summer Part TWO

The only reason to go to Phoenix in July is if you have some really cool family to visit. Sydney and Ethan really enjoy playing with their cousins Libby and Liam. Troy and I think his sister Lisa and her husband Gregg are pretty neat too. Troy got to go on a ride-a-long one night with Gregg who is a Sargent for the Phoenix Police Department...pretty exciting stuff. It was sooo hot!

Then we headed up to nice cool Flagstaff to hang out with some of my favorite people. I had cousins from CA and NM and there were lots of Kids. We played at Lake Mary and Hiked the Kachina Trail with 14 kids 10 and under.

Ethan and Sydney learned to wake board! Thanks Jonathan!
Bow crew: Amy, Sophie, Miles, Ember, Kelli and Noah.Ember and her cousin Owen are so sweet together.
We had to go ice skating...which is a great summer activity.Ethan and his cousin Noah are a dynamic duo beating on each other at every opportunity.

After our fun few days in Flagstaff we went North to Colorado for a fun Anderson side Family reunion. Met lots of new people and had a blast floating down the river in little boats. We took a day and went to Durango and rode the train. Unfortunately we were robbed by some bandits. Luckily the Lone Ranger and his friend Tonto were in the area and Caught those naughty guys. It was a fun day!
We rented a neat Cabin with Lisa and Gregg's Family...here are the kids on the stairs:
Sydney, Libby, Liam, Ethan, Ember and Sophie
On the way back to Flagstaff we stopped at 4 corners...took the "picture", ate some fry bread and then got back in the air conditioning of the van...don't think I ever need to go back!


My sister in law Josie and I took 6 of the kids up to the Grand Canyon for the day. We hiked a little, Helped the kids become Junior Rangers, Watched the Imax Movie, and ate some pizza. It was a great day! There was even some lightning and thunder in the canyon which was so cool. Thanks for watching Sophie and Tanner-Mom!

Sophie and her buddie Tanner. She has been asking to go back to Tanner's house since we returned to Maui. He is a sweet kid under his facade of brutness.


This is Ember and her Great Grandma Nilah Elaine Allen. My kids are lucky enough to still have 3 Great Grandparents living...treasures!

So three weeks went quickly by. There are so many other events and pictures to share, but I must get to bed. We are so blessed to be able to travel, visit great family and have good health. So on that note, good night!

Summer Part ONE

I don't know where to start. Summer has been wonderful and it is ending too soon. Ethan starts 4th grade, Sydney is going to middle school and my little Ember is going to Kindergarten. My heart is twisted and I just want to keep them home all to myself. I am secretly hoping we will sell everything by Christmas and pull the kids out of school and just travel for awhile...but we will see...fingers crossed....
Back to summer:

Ethan loves bugs...here is one of his caterpillar friends.

After riding our bikes to the bakery we like to hang out in this great big tree.

Ember turned 5 and got a fancy pair of pink cowgirl boots from her Aunty Gerilee and Uncle Rick in Washington.
We had a paddle boat building day out of...cartons, bottles, duct tape, chop sticks and more tape. It was fun! Sydney, Ember, Ethan and friend Julian.

Then we endured windy ward camp...good friends, good food, good to go home and get clean! Next we headed for the airport. Destination Phoenix, AZ.

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!

Manic May

May has been the busiest month of the year, but I loved every minute of it. Here is a fun re-cap of the adventures:
Mondays, after school, Sydney scored on a deal to trade horseback riding lessons for babysitting. So she is learning to ride "Western Pleasure" and loving it - for FREEEEEEEEE!
Tuesdays Ethan has Scouts and then basketball practice. Basketball is up in Kula, an area of Maui that is cooler due to its elevation. It only takes 10 minutes to get there but there is a 5-10 degree temperature difference-I love it!
Wednesdays and Saturdays are Basketball game days-Go Spurs! (Ethan is the one with the ball-click the picture to get a better look)
Thursdays are full: Ember and I go to Preschool together so Sophie stays home with a babysitter. After school we take Sydney to piano lessons and then Ember has Ballet down in town 30 minutes away-ahhh!
Friday is Ember's day to go to Preschool alone, which she loves,






I meet a friend at the pool where we trade babies and get some laps in. Then after school we have basketball practice again.

The really fun stuff:
Sydney and I got to go to Oahu for 2 days with the 5th grade classes. I was a lucky Chaperone with a bunch of giggly girls. We did fun things like the AZ Memorial, the USS Missouri Battleship, Boxcar racing, Sleeping at the Bishop Museum (our own night at the museum), visited the state capitol buildings, did a mock trial in the judiciary building, saw Iolani palace and went ice skating! Sydney at the USS MissouriThree of the crazy drivers-Jessica, Sydney and Victoria.It was a whirlwind trip, so much fun and so many nice kids!
The next big event was a Cinco de Mayo Party complete with pony rides. I made 5 gallons of Horchata for the party which was lots of work but very yummy. Ember gots lots of pony time and we all ate lots of Mexican food!The end of the Month brought Ohana Day, a fun morning of performances by all the kids at Pukalani School. Sydney and her 5th grade class did a Hula to Ka Uluwehi o Ke Kai. Sydney still loves to dance. She is graceful and sweet and fun to watch.
Ethan's 3rd grade class did a cute dance to Rhythm of the Ocean and Ethan was front and center giving it all he had, he is the life of the group, he brings the energy and spark that fuels everyone with smiles.
Then Ember got a chance to perform in a real ballet - A Midsummers Nights Dream - she was a beautiful little pixie who LOVED being on stage. It was so cute!!! At the end we gave her a big bouquet and she was so thrilled to have her very own flowers. I will torture all of my family this summer with the videos of these timeless events!

Troy and I also celebrated our 15th year anniversary this Month. We had a good friend offer to babysit so we went out on the town, ate at Mama's Fish House and walked on the beach! It was a great start to our 16th year!

Pumpkin Soup and Kids

I had a good day, better than good, but nice and fullfilling. I thought of Mrma Ramtotse as I roasted a pumpkin, and then that pumpkin turned into pumpkin-coconut soup, pumpkin pie and pumpkin custard. As I was in the kitchen I was watching Sophie out the kitchen window. She was on the deck, picking up the big Norfolk pine needles and dropping them through the cracks in the deck. When she ran out of needles she climbed up onto the picnic table where a pink bike helmet had been abandoned. She worked on getting that on her head the right way and then went out to find her dad and show him the new style. It was fun watching her be so independent, busy and productive.

We went on a walk tonight and Ember and Sophie both pushed their babies in their little strollers. Sophie drifted between pushing the stroller, holding Zack's leash and pushing Ember's stroller. Ember was collecting everything, flowers, a golf ball, some succulents that were in a driveway, sticks and smiles. On the way back Sophie was tired so we put her in Embers stroller and then put both of the dolls on her lap. Ember pushed them all and it was so cute! Why don't I have a holster for my camera?

Ethan and Sydney were rollerblading the walk and on the way home, a neighborhood boy joined us on his scooter and returned home with the kids. This was only after the boys demonstrated their skill at wrecking, going off the side of a driveway into a dirt pile. When we got home the boys were up in a tree chasing a lizard, the lizard escaped and the boys turned to basketball-wrestling, I think it is a new up and coming sport.

Ember enjoyed her new hobby of searching and collecting rollie-pollie bugs while the boys played. Sydney learned to make a wallet out of duct tape with a neighbor and Sophie, ran around the crazy boys thinking that she was part of the action.

Troy and I sat on the grass eating warm soup over rice and enjoying the action.

Babies, little girls and their brothers, grow up too fast. It is like a good pumpkin-coconut soup, you have to savor every bite...every moment.

The Biggest Fish

Well, what can I say? Troy has had another birthday. I know it happens every year, but birthdays are fun and Troy deserves to be spotlighted at the beginning of his 37th year! Yes, 37. One wife. Four kids. One dog. One cat. One business. One life. One love. One Jah...Feel the rhythm?


I am so grateful for this guy. He is the helm on our little ship. He fills the sails with his strength and knots us together with his love. Looking forward to many more candle filled cakes! Love you Troy!