Public School--Waiakeawaena Elementary

After much prayer, deliberation, and consideration we decided to enroll the boys in public school. Everett is in Kinder, Asher in 2nd, and Brayden in fourth grade. They started on August 1st, and we had a good time wandering the school finding their classrooms. Both B&A have classes on the second floor. I've never been in a school with more than one floor so that's exciting :)

I love that they are all three in the same school. I love that they run into each other in the (outdoor) hallways, lunch, and at recess. I love that they get to ride the bus together.

It hasn't been a seamless transition.We've had our ups and downs but I still am glad that we enrolled them.

Brayden tested into the GT (Gifted and Talented) program for science, and as I mentioned earlier, he is reading at a 9.6 grade level. His teacher is really attentive to this, and customizes his assignments to him. He gets really intense but fun assignments that he just loves doing, and I truly see the benefit of them, instead of just doing busy work. She has standing desks, and desks you sit at on pillows. She has fabric to drape over your desk so you can do your work in a fort. She teaches them methods to focus and redirect your brain when you're distracted. she encourages them to think outside the box, and she spends 5 minutes of every day solely focused on teaching these kids that they are amazing. Telling them that they can do anything they put their minds to, and that the world is theirs to obtain and explore.

I haven't gotten to meet as closely with the other two teachers as with B's, but hopefully soon. Needless to say, it has been a good introduction into school here.

 

The view from Asher's classroom.

Champagne Ponds

It really is a small world. We were in church one Sunday and there was a family visiting. It turns out that she used to serve with Lisa in their ward in Marysville! We invited them over for Sunday dinner, then on Monday, they invited us to come play at the Champagne Ponds with them. They had private beach access at the place they were staying so we couldn't pass up the opportunity!

High Adventure and Girls Camp

I got called into the Young Women program back in May, which I love! And shortly after that we had both YW High Adventure, (an eight mile hike through Volcanoes National Park,) and Girls Camp. I got to attend both and I am SOO glad I got to. Hawaii has so much to offer, and it's been so great being able to go on these adventures so that I can see parts of the island that I wouldn't otherwise get to explore.

High Adventure:
We camped in Volcano, outside of the park, at this beautiful campsite.

Friday night we hiked starting at the Devastation Trail trailhead. It was only about 1.5 miles round trip but we got to see the Halemaumau crater from a new vantage point. It was incredibly cool!  There is a woman in our stake that is a a navigator on Hōkūle`a. She joined us and taught us about navigating by the stars. She told us about some Polynesian stories found in the constellations and it was incredible. We also got to see the Southern Cross, visible from Hawaii only part of the year. It was such an incredible opportunity!

We slept in tents (through the rain) and broke camp first thing. Then we headed off for our longer hike. We were in smaller groups, and let the girls navigate. It was so much fun getting to know these girls better, and I was so proud of them and that they did the hike with zero complaints!

We got to hike through the forest, through a lava field, down into a hardened lava lake, and through a lava tube. Not many places in earth you can do that all within 8 miles. 

Ohia Lehua

Can you see the hawk in the tree?

 By the time our hike was over, it was sunny and beautiful! We really lucked out. The rain was much more desirable than scorching heat all day! :)

Only a week and a half later was Girl's Camp. It was fifteen minutes away, just outside of Hilo, so I got to go and be there during the day then come home at night to be with my family. It was pretty great!

We did a service project where we got to prune and remove wild ginger, which is an invasive species. We got so much done in under an hour. Proof that many hands make light work :)  We also went on another hike, that was about 5 miles. Again, incredibly beautiful, and another great bonding experience! Natalie didn't have to work this day, so she got to come with us on the hike and the service project. It was sooo fun having her there!

I absolutely love working with the YW, and I'm so glad that I get opportunities like this with them.

Maverick's Birthday

Mack-Attack! You are THREE! You are such an incredible boy. You are constantly happy, constantly helping, and are always laid back. You have a smile on your face all of the time. You still take naps easily, and you are content doing whatever it is everyone else is doing. You don't love getting in the water at the beach, but you LOVE the sand. You still have absolutely zero interest in potty training. You love to be read to, and you love building marble tracks out of blocks and legos. Your favorite food, hands down, is tropical fruit. All of it. "Papapaya", rambutan, lychee, guava and mangosteen are your favorite.

For your birthday dinner, we had the Erbes over, and Dez and Logan. You love people and loved being surrounded by your hānai family on this special day.

Brayden's Birthday

Brayden's birthday was small this year. We went bowling with some friends out at Kilauea Military Camp (KMC) in Volcano and had a blast! Logan and Dez bought Brayden a book and a pop can robot project. They sure do spoil us!

I can't believe you are nine, Brayden. You are happy, helpful, intelligent. You still LOVE to read, and read at a second semester 9th grade level in 4th grade. Your teacher at school is incredible and really adapts your assignments to you. We are so blessed because of that! You are an amazing big brother, and I am so glad that your brothers have you to look up to. Thanks for being a shining light to your father and me, and all those around you.

Love you, Bud!

Everett is in Soccer!

After years, yes years, of asking, Everett is finally in soccer! He's been asking to play since he could talk. We tried putting him in when he was 2 or 3 and he just didn't love that he had to share the ball. We decided to try again and man, are we glad we did. This boy is in heaven.

He is on a team with Aloha Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and there are only four boys on his team. They are all five years old, and they "don't keep score." However, during their first game, Everett would continually tell us "We're winning! 7-3! I scored 4 of them!" haha. I have never seen a happier Everett in his entire existence.

And, how blessed are we to live in such an incredibly beautiful place??