Caleb turns FOURTEEN

We are still investigating how in the heck Caleb got old enough to be FOURTEEN...  but he did, so we bought him presents and made him a cake.  He chose to eat his special birthday dinner at home, since it WAS Sunday. (and if I would ever get on-top of my blogging, I would be able to tell you what I made him!...but it is March 23rd, and I SO don't remember now!!)

He got some fun presents and was surprised to find out that he had "friended" us on Facebook!  He was actually pretty excited about being old enough to have a Facebook.

You Want Me To Be WHAT?!

Bishop Loder asked me to be the PRIMARY PRESIDENT last week!  I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud when he asked me...hahaha!  It wasn't anything I was expecting...AT ALL...but the Lord knows what I need, so I'm gonna have to trust him on this one.

I did just graduate from COLLEGE...so I don't have that commitment any longer.  AND all my kids are in school.  I didn't really know what I was going to do with all my FREE TIME, and I HAVE been praying to know what I was supposed to do next... so I guess the LORD knew all along.  He just didn't want to scare me too badly BEFORE I graduated, otherwise I may have tried to get out of it by continuing in school...even though I knew I was done there.

The Lord's timing is ALWAYS best, but I am so impatient that I NEVER see it that way until AFTER the fact.

...and I wonder why I have to teach MY kids the same lesson over and over...

Maybe someday I will learn. =)

Dillingham Airfield Hike

We went hiking with Isaiah's cub scout troop today at Dillingham Airfield.  There was this great boat at the beginning of the hike that I just HAD to have my picture taken with!  It describes me on every hike we go on. =)

This next picture is of the entire airfield.  This is where you go (on Oahu) if you want to go skydiving.  You can see a plane over the ocean if you look close.  (This is six photos, shot vertically, and stitched together in Photoshop)

This final shot is all of us at the top.  My kids all raced up the trail and had half their lunches gone before I made it to the top.  Darwin was kind enough to stay with me even though I was a "Slo Poke".  I love hiking...I'm just not very good at it. =)

Diamond Head Crater

We've lived here on Oahu for 18 months...and this was our first time to hike up to the top of Diamond Head Crater.  It was so worth it!!  What an amazing view!!

Hiking to the top.

Kids waiting for me to catch up...

This is me resting.  I had to stop and rest A LOT...

Can you see all the little faces??

Going back down.

Merry Christmas!!

How about this?!  I am posting BEFORE the actual day!  We celebrate Santa's Day on Christmas Eve...and celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas Day.  We felt they needed to have their own separate days so we have been celebrating that way since 1998.  Santa comes sometime on Christmas Eve while we are out of the house doing some kind of service.  When we get home, the big man has been to the house and we open all our gifts and enjoy our evening.  Here are some of the photos of all the loot!

Jeans, Uchtdorf book, Learn the guitar book and DVD, and Clockwork Angel book

Socks from Gammy, Minute to Win It, a pillow, and hair pretties from Auntie Jody

Slacks/Jeans/Running shorts, tie made by Auntie Jody, socks from Gammy, and an iPod Nano with  watchband.

An Erector set, Harry Potter Legos, AirHog, a Witch and Wizard book

Nook SimpleTouch, Eeyore, Apple TV, King-size quilt from Melissa

Oahu hiking guide, new fins, a book from Gammy, and Ticket to Ride

Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, a Yeti, a monster sewing kit, socks from Gammy.

Tiger latch hook, AirHog, a tie made by Auntie Jody, and bionicles

Pictionary Man, flower latch hook, a music stand, and socks from Gammy.

A sketch book, yarn and a crochet book, her very own flute, and hair pretties from Auntie Jody

A yarn ball winder, an iPod arm band, headphones, and a book from Gammy

A sewing machine (with lessons from Mom), Photoshop CS5, a Pennsylvania piggy bank from Cody/Jody, and a Skylanders Wii game.

Kids' Christmas Lists

I will be fully cleaning off my desk in the next two weeks, so this entry will change as I find the rest of the lists.  ;)  I'm afraid I will loose these, so I'm breaking from tradition (only posting in chronological order and backdating) and making a real official post today!  Here goes!

10 December 2011
**So, I found the other two kids' Christmas wish lists.  They do not disappoint...hahaha!  Brooklin actually texted me her wish list this week! She came home from school and  Caleb told her that Darwin and I were out Christmas shopping, so she thought she better get something to me while we were out!  What a funny girl!


Brooklin

• Big fluffy pillow
• Juneau shirt
• Jeans/capri/shorts
• Gutair
• CD's
• Gun
• books
• Piano music

Caleb

• Black iPod clasic or iTouch
• New DS (mine isn't working right)
• Pants
• Small R/C hellecopter
• Phone?
• Smallish laptop
• Shirts
• Steel drum
• Lots of duct tape
• "Lego Champion" board game
• A nice chessboard
• Books
• A nook
• Another warrior head
• Lego sets (big ones if you can manage)
• A puzzle book
• New running shorts
• Tan slaks
• Super Mario Galaxy 1+2
• DS Games

London

• iTouch
• Laptop
• Guitar
• Phone
• New book
• Booklight
• Petshops
• DS Game (any)
• CD's
• Yarn
• New crochet book
• Earrings
• Squinkies
• Clothes
• Candy!!!!!

Isaiah

• Wii game
• DS game
• Net Book
• $20.00
• NOOK colers
• 3DS
• 3DS game
• DSi XL
• $10.00
• Zuzu arena
• AR books (books that he can read and take a quiz on for credit at school)
• Byonikols (I think this is Bionicals)
• Legow sets
• Rumaut cuntroll helicopter (remote control helicopter)
• Pokiy Mon
• A phoun / iphoun
• A ipodtuch
• ATV (which when I asked him about he clarified it was a TV, not an ATV)
• An ipad
• Temprpetic bed ajusibol (really?!  he wants a Tempur-Pedic Adjustable bed?!)
• A book

LASIK!

I have worn glasses/contacts for the past 28 years.  Friday I went in and had LASIK surgery!!  I can't believe that I can actually see without any glasses or contacts.  I was pretty nervous going into the surgery.  Darwin tried his best to keep my mind off of it while we were in the waiting room by being silly...

The first thing the doctor did was to dilate my eyes.  Next, he took a pen and drew dots on my eyes!  It was the most painful part of the entire procedure! 

Next they put antiseptic around my eyes to clean them...I look like an owl!

After that we went into the operating room...wait...I took a valuim sometime before this to help with my nerves...

This was the weirdest thing I have ever done!  The procedure lasted only 15 minutes.  First he put this suction cup thing on my eyeball and my vision went completely black.  Then I could hear and feel the pressure of the "buzz saw" as he cut the flap open on my cornea.  He opened the cornea flap and positioned the laser.  At this point, I could see red and green blurry lights...it was pretty freaky!  Then he turned on the laser and it smelled like burning flesh and sounded like electricity crackling!  I had to stay so focused on something else so I didn't jump up off that table!!  I sang "I Love to See the Temple" over and over in my head.  It was really weird because I couldn't remember all the words to the song...only a few of the lines, but I just sang them over and over and was concentrating really hard to remember the words so I wouldn't think about the procedure.  It worked!!

After the laser did it's job, the doctor put my cornea flap back over my eye and put lots of drops in my eye. He used something that looked like a small foam paint brush to make sure all the air bubbles were out from under the flap.  Then he moved over to the other eye and did it all over again.  I had a metal hook type of thing that stretched my eyelids open and out of the way, and the doctor taped my eyelashes to my face so they wouldn't be in the way either.  I came out with several less eyelashes than I started with!

 Done with the surgery!

  In recovery (and on valuim) 

24 hours after surgery!  I only had a hemorrhage in one eye.  The doctor said it would go away soon.

Things will be hazy for a few days/weeks until my eyes have a chance to heal, but it is the most awesome thing to be able to see when I wake up in the morning!!