Natasha and Aaron Wedding

Scott is licensed to perform weddings and summers are usually pretty busy for him. He still works at Pleasant Holiday and one of his contacts is an auntie who organizes weddings for visitors to Hawaii. Scott is her go-to wedding officiant. She's awesome. Last year, Scott officiated a destination wedding and we volunteered to pick up their flowers. They didn't go through Auntie Pauline, they found Scott on their own. Oh, boy. We cringed when we saw their ti-leaf "maile" leaf leis. We ran out of time but we really wanted to pick up the groom a real maile lei as a gift for his wedding. So, I'm so glad that there are people out there like Auntie Pauline. She puts together a really genuine heart-felt wedding and keeps it true to our local style while planning around the couple's vision.

We were running a little late because we arrived at Waimanalo Beach Park and we couldn't find them. I figured a girl in a poufy white dress would stand out on the Waimanalo sands but we honestly didn't see them. So we drove to Sherwoods and then to Bellows...I even flagged down a limo and asked him what wedding party he was driving around. We then returned to our initial park and voila...there's a limo. That looks like it. However, it worked out since we weren't the only ones late...the ceremony started and hour and half late. The wedding party must have been using that time to look their best because that was one beautiful couple.

One of the downfalls that did happen...was that the wind started to pick up as we waited for the wedding party and the day progressed into late afternoon. We heard a crack as the communion wine glass took a tumble and the stem broke off. Oh, dear. So, they had to just hold the goblet part and I crossed my fingers that no one poked themselves on the bottom. And then, there was a little stall during the sand ceremony. The family couldn't find the third empty vase that the bride and groom were going to pour their individual sand into. So, there's Scott volunteering the broken wine glass. One of Kamehameha's own "Bruddah" (that's how he was introduced so I'm guessing it's his real name) blew a conch shell to announce the arrival of the bride (that's how we roll in our authentic hawaiian weddings). And he hit a slight bad note so we started laughing. And, if you ever blew a conch shell, once you start smiling involuntarily, it's all over. He kept trying though and did manage two really good trumpets. Oh, those are the things that make you smile and make weddings so memorable.

I was not the photographer, I just went to keep Scott company. But i did get some great shots that I love.

The wedding arch that Auntie Pauline created just for the couple.


The bride chose not to go with these bridesmaids leis but they were gorgeous.


The bride shielded by the wedding favors, something that came in handy when a sprinkle
started during the ceremony.







Destination weddings are tricky but you really have to trust your wedding planner. The
bride turned down orchid leis for these plumeria leis. Oh, fuschia and yellow, my favorite colors. Mabuhay!!!
They really were an incredible cute couple.

Umbrellas have feelings too!!!

Wow, people really jumped off the blogging wagon. Hah, that won't discourage me. More room on the road now.

I switch to third watch next week (3 pm to 11 pm) so I'm trying to enjoy my last few nights of unfettered freedom...ie. watching as many movies as I possibly can. Last night, I wanted to watch Journey to the Center of the Earth but Scott wasn't too sold so it was only on the list of possibilities. I came up with this idea. I've always wanted to take Kawika and Pua's kids to give them a little time so I pitched the idea to Scott. Let's take Sarai and Isaiah to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth." Everybody wins. We have some extra movie passes. Kawika and Pua can relax a little more. The kids get to see a movie. And it also swung favor definitely my way and upped "Journey" over Scott's "Mamma Mia" choice. Kawika dropped the kids off at our house right before the movie. Everyone is in the kitchen and I hear Sarai saying something softly and Kawika erupting "Sarai, don't say it like that. Tell them how you said it in the car!!!" and Scott's real loud laugh. I guess Sarai doesn't really want to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" because the preview looks a little scary. What? Great. What am I going to do, drag the poor girl who is so sweet to a movie that might possibly give her nightmares. So we look up the other movies and we choose "Wall-E." Anything is better than Isaiah's suggestion of "Space Chimps." But Scott got a great laugh over how the kids I invited foiled my plans to watch "Journey."

The movie was really great. I sat between Isaiah and Scott because Scott doesn't like talkers in movies. I'm a talker and Isaiah is defintely a talker. He's five and he has a slightly high-pitched voice that really carries. I was cracking up at him as much as I laughed at the movies. He just has these spontaneous thoughts that just come out...and they come out really really loud. There would be some mellow lull in the movie and

"THIS MOVIE MAKES ME CRAZY"
or
"WHAT ROBOT DO YOU WANT TO BE? I'M GOING TO BE THE UMBRELLA."

would seriously fill the entire theatre. Oh, so funny. I tried to explain the concept of whispering to him but he was a little distracted by the movie.

That boy is so creative. He should seriously be an actor. He decided that he was now a part of the movie. As we walked out, he informed everyone that he was the umbrella robot. He kept warning us "You better not say Wall-E because then I'm going to pop open." In the car, he kept talking about giving us shade and his sister finally shushed him. He got quiet so I was worried that his feelings were hurt. I looked back and he was sitting in the backseat looking so morose. Poor thing. I was just about to console him when he said "you guys only want me when you need shade." I just started laughing. He had really become the umbrella remote. Heck, he was getting mad that we were taking advantage of his umbrella ways.

The movie was really good. Really funny and neat. I still want to see "Journey" though. Rats.
I looked far and wide but I don't have any photos of Sarai and Isaiah. I do have tons of their little sister Aliya (who we had to leave at home because she wouldn't sit still long in that movie theatre). We did say hi to her when she dropped off our siblings. When we were leaving their house, she said bye and asked if we were going to the beach. So cute.

Breakout-Children's Camp

What? People, come on. No comments. I at least expect the obligatory comment from my husband. Scott. Who I did happen to spend two great days with as we traveled all the way heck over to Makakilo to the children's camp at Camp Timberline. I drove over the first night by myself (scott, the pastor, went to booze it up at The Shack's happy hour) and tried to lead worship for the little kids. Boy, it was super hot, cause I had to unplug the fan to plug in the CD player (not physically possible to do hand motions and play guitar at same time). and they wrote out the words for the kids but then the easel kept breaking and the papers kept falling to the ground. *sigh* only me.

The next day Scott and I went early because my other half committed us to lunch. *sigh* again. Actually, he was all psyched to go because he heard the kids were doing a ropes course and he begged Mel to let us do it too. So sad, there was only two activities that even had ropes involved, and they were a whopping 2 feet off the ground. I told Scott that realistically, the rope would be more like 1 foot off the ground if he did the activity. Think it out. He didn't think that was very nice. So, we played chaperone to a group of kids and they were cute...besides the chorus of "you're stepping on my foot" "Ow, you're hitting me" "get away from me" and "are we done yet?"




In this game, they had to pretend they were on the shore of an ocean filled with sharks (I guess they're not against freaking out little 3rd and 4th graders right before you make them sleep in dark cabins the furthest they have ever been away from home).

Katie naturally seems to have no fear of the dirt sharks. She's so brave.

The next game was to walk on dual tight ropes with a partner, using each other to balance.

Don't let the picture fool you, it was a death-defying drop of about 23 inches.



This is Jet. He has a brother named Rocket. I kid you not. So cool. I hope Scott lets me name our kids. I wonder if Tug Boat is still available.

More HB-5 months

Joy pointed out that the pics of HB aren't the most happy. I sometimes forget the distinction. I look at a photo and see...oh, good composition, great lighting and colors. Most people see...oh, how come the baby isn't smiling. So, we may not have gotten many smiles on camera but here's a few more expressions.







I called in sick yesterday...I think I developed some weird sort of heartburn/possible cardiac problem. I have these weird burning cramps right behind my sternum. I don't like to go to the doctor when I can save myself the copay and google the symptoms. Didn't seem to find anything that specifically matched my symptoms so I had to create a new hybrid syndrome, a cross between heartburn and a heart attack. Boy, I hope it leans more towards the heartburn. And like any good "google-educated" doctor, I came up with a treatment plan of a non-spicy or acidic diet, no soda, and lots of milk and ice cream. Seems to be working. By last night, I was well enough to go to dinner at Chris and Leya's house and meet their baby girl, Lily. She really does look like a mini-Chris except she has these really big, dark eyes.

So my naughty niece ran away from home again. She's been gone the entire week. My sister managed to find a phone number and we tracked her down. Google is such an amazing device. I wish I didn't have to work today so I could go pick her up and my sister wouldn't have to load up three babies into a car. My coworker suggested that I take a lunch break and use a blue-and-white to pick her up. Hmmmph!!! maybe I should. But at least I'm relieved that we found her. Did I mention that Scott and I are sending our kids to board at Kamehameha Schools, even if they don't get in.

Next to come: children's church camp pictures

(HB 5 mo) And the heavens opened up...

..and there was a choir of angelic voices.

Tonight, I'm trudging over the mountains to the children's church camp at Camp Timberline. I'll be helping them through worship, which kind of makes me nervous. If they sing along and participate then I know I will have a great time...if they're not into it, then I might be struggling. So, pray for me. Graduated from Kamehameha Schools so we sang all the time...it was like a musical...there was skipping down the halls, impromptu dance routines in study hall, and don't be surprised at the group medley in the quad after school. I was so brainwashed that I thought everyone came out of Kamehameha musical...one girl floored me when she admitted that she hated all the song practices. WHAT? How did she even manage to get a diploma from them, I would like to know. I'm pretty sure PBPB (Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop if you're not familiar with her hip street name, throw in the "Paki" if you're old school Hawaiian) was pretty specific in her will about those admission qualities.

Last night, I had dinner with the fly girls. It was a mini-fly night, just me, Lei, and Chrystie. We caught up to date although we had to stall in the parking lot to try and cram in more stories. Not all of you may care but big news: Jolene gave birth to a baby boy and wrote her Ph.D. thesis in 3 months. Incredible but I wonder if pregnancy hormones may have spurred some pages to take a weird spin on insect genetics. Josh H. is getting married to a girl in the Philippines...um, this December. Yup, if you know him, which you probably don't, your heart has just now begun to restart. Chrystie, bless her heart, is going to work her tail off to meet deadlines to graduate this December. That girl can do it.

It was a fun night and of course, the time flew by. So, not too many pictures from the 5 month of baby HB but I managed to tweak these two in there for your visual journey.

(a snow-less angel)

Happy Birthday, Cassandra (July 4th with the fam)

Warning, it's going to be a smorgasbord of pictures followed probably by weeks of drought. But I wanted to post pictures for my family on the big island and on the mainland to see.

We threw a surprise birthday party for my older sister Cassandra who turned 35 on Independance Day and started the year by having twin girls (now two months old). Scott and I flew my dad, Jim, and my brother, Jordan, to our slightly smaller and second prettiest island. My younger sis, Genesis, had to work but maybe she can come visit later this year. The last time dad and jordan saw Lauren was a year ago and they haven't seen the twins yet. We had family over and Cassandra's hilarious and very loud coworkers, Lisa, Michelle, and Tammi whom everyone calls "Cousin." I wonder if that gets confusing in La`ie where everyone is called cousin.

Cassandra's Birthday Slideshow


(ACO's Michelle, Cassan, Lisa, and Cousin)

(Brother-in-law Stanton, Mother-in-law Dianna, and Best Man John-John)


(Jaren, Sierra and Uncle Brian picking mangos off our mango tree "Max")


Our mango tree has decided to live up to his purpose and be fruitful this year. The power of mango is simply amazing. It caused a little, just a teeny tiny amount of drama on someone's side of the family (I won't name names). And I didn't have time to do the birthday trivia game I know everyone would have just loved, but picking mangos was the highlight for many. We were quite shocked at the huge, bulging bags of mangos being pulled out to cars after the party.

(Grandparents: Papa Jim holding Cheyenne, Grandma Faith holding Chayne)


This was a special day because it was the first time that my dad and brother got to see the new grand-daughters/nieces. But let me tell you a funny story. I had to work the day after and Scott had a golf game. So my dad and my brother spent the night with my sister. My mom took the bus out the next day to spend the day with them. They just watched tv all day. My sister called me and told me to come over that night because they had too much people for her to drive around. Scott and I drive to Waipahu and walk into the house late at night. Everyone is in the living room watching Die Hard IV (excellent movie BTW) and Cassandra is out at the store. So Scott and I creep down the dark hallway into the bedroom and there's sweet little Cheyenne fast asleep in the bedroom. I pick her up and carry her out and ask the rest of my family "where's Chayne?

Family: "in the crib."

Me: No

Family: Yes, she is.

Me: No she's not. Only Cheyenne is in the room. Did you look at her two different times and think she's two babies.

Now my mom jumps up and runs room to room. No other little baby that looks like the one I'm carrying can be found. Panic. Luckily, my sister comes home right then and she says "Chayne is across the street." Humph!!! Good thing you left the other child in such responsible hands that they thought they had two babies the whole time.

(I figured out why they don't get much sleep)

(Who has got the nose? Charlie, Uncle Jordan or Lauren?)


(Lauren giving things a bath)

That's Charlie's water dish. Lauren thought it was a mini-bathtub of some sorts. She's washing Jordan's empty carton. And if you look closer, you can see the mangos she put in there getting a bath too.

(Uncle Jordan and Lauren)

(Papa Jim and Lauren-she's chewing on dirt. we figured it out after the pic)


(Papa Jim and the newest grand-daughters)

(holding Cheyenne)

(Chayne)

There's no real happy ever after

When Scott and I got married, I personally vowed that we wouldn't morph into those married couples that only have married friends. I love my single friends and I don't want to give that world up. And I thought we were doing a pretty good job at maintaining and growing those relationships...up until recently. Now, when I bow out of invites because of prior engagements or just plain utter fatigue, i get this strange nod and the "yah, that's because you guys are married now." uh huh, that is true. we are married. now. I can't argue with that. I just don't know what it means when used as a response. Is my busy schedule seen as sort of cop-out? Am I no longer relatable...as if I have somehow forgotten about 28 years of singleness after 11.5 months of marriage. I suddenly feel like I don't belong in my own world. So it got me started reminiscing about if "single" keao was really that different from "married" keao.

For starters, "single" keao didn't always enjoy being single but had to fake it at times. My college girlfriends were the cast of "sex-in-the-city" misplaced five thousand miles from New York. Except, I always felt a little more "Charlotte" than a "Miranda." (Sorry, you might have had to watch the show to get that un-Seinfield reference). I wanted to get married...I wanted a family...one day. If you know me, like my sisters, I've been gifted with the baby-crazy genes. Course, I didn't feel I could run around shouting it at the top of my lungs lest I be banned from participating in the rousing arm-pumping, group dance when Destiny Child's call to all "Independant Women" blared from the club's speakers.

It was almost a relief when I found a few new friends in mini-church who whispered that they were praying that God would send their husbands already. I know girls who have prayed...prayed...made lists...prayed....even fasted....prayed...you get the gist. I marveled at people my age who were already married. Their grass seemed so green. Mine wasn't green...heck, there didn't even seem to be grass in my lawn. And there's that fear that follows you, are all your efforts to find possibilities a big joke because God has given you the feared "gift of singleness." One of the most comforting things I ever heard was a older, professional married woman who was just sharing testimony at a women's workshop. And she flashed back to her walk as a single Christian woman and all the worries of wondering whether she would ever get married. What? Even those shiny-happy people with green lawns are just as flawed and worried as me?

As Scott and I hit our one-year anniversary in about 2 weeks, I realize that your grass doesn't get greener, it just turns a different color. I love Scott and finding him/making it work was worth all the bad mistakes, bad relationships, and years of worrisome nothing. But there's no happy ever after once you hit a wedding day. It's just a slight jump from one ramp to the next. I asked another married friend how long she had been married and she said "two years" followed by an exclamation "woo hoo, we made it." As if we hit the magical ending of the movie, and we can now roll the credits. We teased her about it for a while but it was a funny take on...this is just the beginning of hard stuff. My grass isn't greener. I'm happier but not because I'm better. If I'm a different keao, its not just because I'm married. It's because I'm trying to grow up.

I feel like that song...I'm just trying to "find my place in this world." Bear with me.
(Stolen from scott's youtube. my wedding slideshow)

Krystie and Vinnie's Wedding-June 29th 2008

Oh, trying to catch up. So, let's flash back a week and pretend that we just finished Krystie and Vinnie's wedding.

Vinnie, remember our gruff, McDonald's lovin former roommate...he tied the knot under crystal blue sky. The sky was absolutely spotless and a deep misty blue. Which also made it one of the hottest days ever. Tisha, the former women's pastor of Hope Chapel, officiated the wedding and she and Vinnie were in tears during the ceremony. I even started to tear up and we all know that I almost never cry more than once a week.

The highlight of the wedding for me was Kara. Miss Kara Crosson who came back from Nebraska to be there for Krystie and help us set up the wedding. I forget how humorous she is. I was helping coordinate the day but I was in the dark because I had to work during the rehearsal day and Krystie met with me briefly the week before. Krystie might have mentioned the whole Tom and Grace anpan debacle. So I suspect she might have been hesitant to have a repeat...I volunteered to bring the wine and assign Miss Responsible Kara to bring the bread. I thought it was a wise delegation. Little Miss Kara showed up at the Hau Terrace at Hale Kulani nice and early and gave me the wide-eyed stare. She said "I forgot all about the bread so which do you think is better?" and she pulled out two ziploc bags containing saltine crackers and pretzels. Oh, she's so adorable and so funny.

The reception was right there so we asked the banquet manager to borrow a roll of bread and he said he would bring it out. When he was late bringing it out, Kara went to the kitchen to track him down and ask for the bed. She came back with the wide-eye stare again and again with the pretzels. "They said they are going to bring out the bread but they're late. So what? you think the pretzels will work?" I think she really likes pretzels. Tori tracked down the banquet manager and got us a roll. I do somewhat regret not using the pretzels, I think it makes more of a creative statement.

I took down some pictures because I realized...heck, this is Nely's wedding...I had to go back and delete half the post. You're just going to have to tune in to Nely's site to get the real deal. She always blows us away. I hope she doesn't mind if I put up these pictures of the crowd to go with my story.

(The wedding crew:Malia-who got engaged on July 4th, Lisa, and Kara-the saltine/pretzel fanatic)


(More of the Wedding Crew:Joy living up to her name)


(Guests taking shelter in the shade)

(Chad watching the ceremony from the shade-he must have been inspired because he proposed to Malia five days later)

One more thing...did I mention it was brutally hot. I felt bad watching the sweat glisten on people's heads as I hid in the shade in the back. So, some of us had brought swim gear and crashed the hotel pool. Joy and I hit it first and we basked by the side of the pool and finally jumped in when Scott, John-John, and Dural showed up. Or "the Brown-ies" as I now like to call them. The cabana/hotel poolboys walked over from their booth...walked right past me and Joy and straight to Scott and the boys and questioned what room they were from/if they were truly from a hotel room. good thing Scott had memorized Vinnie's room number. We were even tempted to order drinks and charge it to the room...but who wants to mess with Vinnie. Not me.

Bert, Josh, and Maui girl

Last night, Jasen and Scott put together my old "single girl" bed. It's a twin sized, day bed with black iron posts. Scott was a little critical of it at first. The supports in the frame have broken so it sags when you sit in the middle...but if you lie carefully and distribute your weight evenly...you'll lie pretty straight horizontally. I tried it out. I forgot how much I missed that bed. It's weird how old things still feel more like me even though I haven't used it in almost a year. *sigh*...we may have to keep it for a while more.

*sigh* today is a sighing day. I have to submit evidence that is personal property....think of your family relatives that have purses (hopefully, they are mostly female)...now think of who has the biggest and most cluttered purse. Now imagine, if your job was to go through and catelogue and inventory everything in that purse...down to each stick of gum...napkin...paper clip...expired coupon. You can't just say wallet either...you have to pull out and count how many photos...jot down what type of cards and numbers. Money, write down the serial number for each bill (or you can zerox the bills in groups)...*sigh.

my smallest amusement comes from the construction workers on our floor. We are in the sub-basement so we (1) never see daylight and (2) never see real people. But they've been doing construction on our floor for the last few months so we're getting real friendly with the construction people. I like the noise and the activity. There are these three workers, two guys and a girl. One guy is haole, younger looking (kind of reminds me of Josh M.), then there's a tubby local guy that looks like his name should be "Bert" and this girl who looks like a Maui girl. I don't know...she looks like every girl I've ever known from Maui. I should ask her if she's from there. But they seem to wander around as a group and I haven't seen them being real productive...it's amusing to watch. The only times I've seen them moving heavy equipment, it's the girl pushing the carts and the two guys supervising. I'll keep watching and let you know what else they do.