Hiking Waimea Valley with the Keiths

November 27, 2010

We went for a hike with the Keith family.

All the kids getting ready for the adults to be ready to go.

(James, Paul, Daniel, Patrick, Sophia, Philip)

All the kids looking at the stream and looking for creatures.

Sophia loves being outside!

We worked so hard to get all the kids looking but there wasn't one that had them all.

The covering was so cool. All the leaves over this little walkway was amazing!

Yet another try..

Paul was so excited to get to hold Helena.

All the kids were such troopers to take pictures in all the places we posed them.

This one shows the beautiful scenery behind them a bit better.

Sophia and Patrick walked hand in hand for quite a ways.

They are best buddies!

The river down below in the ravine. You could see the different water levels on the wall.

The Keith Family!

We love this family so much!

We were a little spread out. James had had enough with the picture taking!

Best pals!

The beautiful waterfall!

Say Cheese!

Helena wanted out of the stroller and Sophia always wants her turn to hold her!

Paul was the brave one who wanted to go out into the water. We didn't bring swim suits or I am sure Daniel would have been there with him. Cat said it was pretty cold!

Me taking pictures of Paul and Cat, while Phil took pictures of us!

The boys trying to keep themselves occupied while Paul was in the water.

So cute!

Paul and Sophia playing with Helena

The panoramic view of the 'lake'.

Sterling and the kids watching the waterfall.

I like this panoramic view, Cat and Paul on one end and Sterling and the kids watching on the ledge on the other.

I did it.. I got Phil back, here is a picture of Phil taking pictures of the waterfall and the kids in front.

Paul was so brave!!!

Nothing like a little Oreo snack to rev you up for the hike back down!

This was Sophia's favorite plant on the whole hike. I don't know what it is called but this is what the 'flowers' looked like.

She liked all the pink flowers!

The boys had to find the frogs in the 'swamp' Nature Preserve near the entrance/ end of the hike.

We had a really great time with the Keith family for our last outing with them.

They are such a great family!!!

The Ice Palace

November 26, 2010

I had some pretty excited kids. James decided he wanted to get the Ice Skating Belt Loop for Cub Scouts and it just so happens that there is an ice skating rink not too far from our house. So we told the kids we would go. They were so excited. It was hard work finding enough warm clothes for everyone but we did it.

Sophia was so great at skating. She took to it the fastest.
They had these great walker/rake things that were perfect for learning how to Ice Skate without falling too much. Daniel named them a "Rake" so we all started calling them that.

I had all 3 kids out on the ice at the same time while Sterling took the first turn staying in the snack area with Helena. I moved from one kid to the next helping them to pick up how to move on the ice.

After about 30 minutes they cleared the ice so the Zamboni could come out and clean the ice. Mostly I think they wanted everyone to come spend money at the concessions.

My kids all had a churro while we waited for our turn to go back out on the ice.

Sterling was next up at bat. He found it was trickier than he had remembered.

This is my great picture with all of them in the picture. Daniel is in the front with James in front of Sterling and Sophia.

They had roped off part of the big rink to make a small course for the 'Rakes' to go around, then once you had mastered the skill you could leave the rake and go around the big rink. After the Zamboni had been out the smaller course turned into a mixture of skating and bumper cars.

Sophia was having so much fun.

This picture isn't completely in focus but shows her excitement anyway.

They were having lots of fun.

I really wish I could have gotten my camera to do what I wanted it to.

The boys were doing really well. James was finding that he was just a little too big for the 'rake' to get the hang of it so I took him for a spin out on the big rink. He did pretty well and really started to get the hang of it. For his Belt Loop he has to have skated for 3 hours total. We have completed 2 hours of that so we will get to go back for another fun day to complete the belt loop requirement.

Daniel finally got it going at a pretty good speed.

I took each of the kids out to the big rink for a spin. Daniel decided he liked staying on the 'rakes' a little better. James liked the big rink and Sophia just liked 'dancing' in the middle of the big rink the best. They had the disco lights on and she liked doing spins with mom in the middle.

James and Sophia didn't want to leave. Sophia stayed out the longest but was finally convinced that we would come back another time and relented.

Helena was a trooper. She got held most of the time so was happy and we had a cute little warm outfit for her that used to be Sophia's so she was toasty.

As for me, I left the rink with only a few new bruises (some really big ones). It was a fun time with the family and brought back a lot of memories from when I was a kid.

Sophia was getting worn out, she was almost running the whole time she was out on the ice so she had been working pretty hard for almost 2 full hours.

This was the end. The kids were all very tired but had a great time!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving Day and unfortunately the only pictures I took this year of Daniel and Sophia wearing Daniels hats he made in Kindergarten.

Daniel is wearing the ever so stylish 'Turkey Leg hat' while Sophia is sporting the 'Indian Feathers' hat. Both are designed by Mrs. Glenn, Daniels fabulous Kindergarten teacher, and made by none other than the ever talented Daniel Packer. One day these very hats will be worth MILLIONS!

We had a great day! The boys started the morning off with a trip to Hickam Beach with Sterling while I prepared the turkey and vegetables and things for dinner. Once the boys got back from the beach we played Sorry, the board game, and had some great family time. We had our really great friends, the Keiths, over for Thanksgiving dinner as we have every year we have been in Hawaii. This is our last Thanksgiving in Hawaii and it was great. After eating WAY TOO MUCH FOOD, we played Ticket To Ride with Phil and Cat while the kids played outside. By the end of the night we were all very tired from a long day but it was great! We are truly blessed!

James is rockin' the cub scouts!

Last night was our Pack meeting. The theme was 'under the big top' circus. It was a fun night and the kids were so excited. Each of the boys displayed or presented some talent they had and then the boys were presented with their awards. It was a fun night.

James and Nathaniel reading the "who's on first" routine.
James playing "Scarf Dance" on the piano.

James got all kinds of things.

He got his BB Shooting belt loop, Archery belt loop, Music belt loop, Computer belt loop, and Weather belt loop, and 3 progress beads toward his Wolf Badge. He only has 2 more things to do and he will get his Wolf. He only started in September so he was awarded the "Road Runner" award for working so hard on his things!

They did a great cooperation game and tied the boys together and they had to figure out how to get it undone without untying the rope. It was tricky. No one figured it out, we had to have some help.

Laie Temple Open House

We went on Tuesday, Nov 2nd, to the Laie Temple Open House. We have wanted to go since it started in October but Sterling has been gone and we wanted to go as a family.

They have changed a few things, added air conditioning to most of the rooms, added elevators, and some other things. It is very beautiful!

We took our good friends, our "Hawaii Family" the Keith's with us.

We can't wait to go back in just a few weeks and have Helena sealed to our family!

Helena ~ 5 months old!

Helena is 5 months old!

She is wearing size 2 diapers and is almost 14 lbs.

She is sleeping through the night and eats about 30 ounces a day.

This cute dress has a story: I bought this dress for Emma when she was a baby (14 years ago). Many of the little girls in the De Vroom family have worn this dress. Now it has come full circle and my little girl is wearing it!
She is so cute!

She was having a good time playing with the dress while I was taking her picture!

Such a pretty full dress.

Helena couldn't support the hat and make it look quite right!

Helena with the Puppy that Papa bought her!

Such a big smiler with her 2 teeth!

Until next month!!!