Mangos and Ding Dongs please.... eat your heart out Brad

Nate thinks it's funny the kinds of things I want to eat sometimes. Last week I wanted anything not Hawaiian. That means with all the tropical juices here, the juice I just had to have apple juice. This week I'm on a Ding Dong and Mango kick. It's not like I'm having cravings so much as when we are in the store I see something that sounds good at the time and with a little puppy dog face...Nate gets it for me. I kind of like this pregnant thing. But the thing I am definitely in want of is a good tomato. I'm the kind that will eat tomatoes like apples. But I have learned Hawaii tomatoes hold nothing to Utah tomatoes. Oh how I long for that red, juicy goodness.

Valley of the Temple

Well, I'm getting close to finishing the Hawaii house project so I'm making sure to give Aubrey more time to sightsee between the few remaining projects. I just finished the stairs and I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, despite having no idea what I was doing. One more clueless project then I'll be on the home stretch, just finishing up the back appartment. We took the weekend off and went around to places on Aubrey's list. It was a fun weekend, a good break. (Frankly I'm just glad to take a day from sweating and being covered by heat rash from the sweat + heat.) This is what the stairs ended up looking like. I used pine boards and stained them. Then caulked the edges cause I didn't know what to do with them.

These giant Koi were at the temple. I just included this picture to get my Dad's attention.

The gardens around the temple were beautiful and peaceful. It was a very inspiring place.

The temple we visited was called the Byodo-In. Its a replica of the Byodo-In in Japan, built in honor of the large number of Japanese living in Hawaii. The building was quite a sight.

We're loving being here but both of us are excited for the Winter family to get here, it will be fun to be with everyone.

Just A Good Day!

Today Rena taught me the fine art of pumpkin roll making. They were super easy to make and really tasty. She's such a fun lady.

This is Nate and I at the Japanese Obon festival. It's a summer festival that has dancing. I wanted to go so bad and Nate couldn't refuse the prise. FREE! So fun!

How old are Sea Turtles?

The other day we went to Turtle Beach and it was the coolest thing I've ever done in Hawaii so far! When we got there there were two big turtles chilling on the beach. They were cool to see but they were just sleeping so Landric, Nate, and I ventured forth to find more turtles in action. this beach is famous for having a lot of turtles. It's rumored that some native comes and feeds the turtles because normally turtles wouldn't be so friendly to people but for some reason at this beach they are. Well we swam around for a bit. Saw some fish but that was all. Nate said baby got a submarine adventure. But suddenly there were so many all around us. We were only knee deep in the water and they would come right close to us and nudge us out of the way or swim around us. It was so cool! One turtle started after Nate and Nate tried to get out of his way but the turtle just kept following him and nipping at his swim shorts. It was funny. I wish we had a picture of all of this but we didn't want to worry about a camera getting wet.
I even dreamt last night that baby was born with a turtle shell. "Baby in a Half Shell, Baby Power!"

What will Baby Stout look like?

Aubrey and I wanted to see what our little bundle of joy would end up looking like so we logged onto the internet and used a website to help us see just what we had in store. We're so excited to see baby! The first picture is what we got combining our two faces. This second picture leaves open the possibility that our baby is part dinosaur. Isn't the internet an amazing tool?!

Let us know what you think? We know that whatever we get: boy, girl, half-dinosaur; we're going to love that baby so much.

Here are the pictures...

I'm actually really pleased with this picture. We took it to show you all how big my belly is getting, but the picture actually kind of hides the belly. It's there I promise, I'm definitely feeling it. And Nate can definitely see it.

Is it me or was he made for the islands?

This is a bad picture, but we went and saw Harry Hotter. It was amazing!!! I loved it. Nate liked it but he wasn't a huge fan. What's with burning down the burrow? Did anyone else totally hate that, and wonder why they even put that in?

Nate took me too a botanical garden the other day. It was beautiful. I've always secretly wished to be a plant person. I honestly don't know the first thing about them and I hate bugs but hey I can dream.

This morning Nate made me eggs and toast in our little room. It was fun and I can't get over how lucky I am to have him. I love you Nate!

Nate's Testimony of Snorkeling

Okay, okay, I'll have to admit it, I was wrong! I thought no way would I enjoy snorkeling. I was totally wrong. It was so peaceful and exciting at the same time. What a great combination! I decided to celebrate finishing the master bedroom completely today be taking Aubrey to go snorkeling. We ended up taking the kids with us to Sharks Cove and snorkeling there. Landric led me around the shallow end of the cove. It was so much fun to see so many types of fish living so compact to eachother, in a tiny neighborhood of diversity. The fish were so colorful. Wow, it was just beautiful. Aubrey was on the shore in the shade, just enjoying being outside. We checked on her and then went over into the deeper, more open part of the reef. The fish were bigger and even more diverse. It was fun to see right in front of me a world I've never experienced before. The fish were beautiful to watch, so peaceful. I'm amazed how much easier it is to float in the ocean than in the fresh water lakes of Utah.

I'm a decided fan of snorkeling. Alan, you won't have to work hard at convincing me to get in the water and into a snorkel when you guys get here, I love it! What a fun day!

What Nate's been doing....

This is about how it's been working out. Nate is up and working and Landric just sat up from a nap he was taking on the floor. No worries though, Nate loves to work. This is the first room Nate has started work on. He had to pull the carpet out build a wall to enclose the space, work with the electricity (much to his dismay) paint and floor this room. He's done a great job. He's working on the molding today and then he'll be done with this room completely.

Thanks to Ace's inability to match paint we ended up with two different wall colors. They are very close but as you can see not at all the same color. So thanks to Nate's creativity he took a potentially bad thing and made it into something beautiful.

I just love this guy! Don't you?

As for me I've done allot of reading. I got to help paint wich was fun. We have also been talking allot about baby names. Nate feels like he can't decide on a name untill he actually meets our little baby bear. But non the less so farr our favorits are: boy- Dekota, Austin, and Lincoln and girl- Berlin, Sydnee, and Boston. What do you all think?

Happy 4th of July!

One of these things is not like the other... one of these things just dosn't beling...

Sorry this one isn't fliped. It's the best place to read. It's nice and breezy.

The 4th was lodes of fun. It started out a slow lazy relax day. We played with the Diapelous' allot. We all had an island BBQ and went to the beach with all the kids. It was allot of fun and so far the best beach we've been to yet. Then we came home and walked around the block in hopes of seeing some fireworks. Our street wasn't to active on the firework front but there was some. Then we watched Independence Day of which I went to bed half way through (of course). It was a supper fun holiday. Even with everything going on yesterday I still had to fight home sickness. I love you all and miss you. Happy July!!!

Nate the Great is at it again bringing safty to those he loves.

Yesterday Nate and Stickson got the truck working and registered. So to celebrate he took me out for a drive. We ended up going out to eat and went to a movie too. What a great guy. We went and saw Transformers. Blah not my favorite show. Anyways we got home late at night and as I walked into the room and flicked on the light there was a giant cockroach on the floor. Okay I know I'm such a baby but I've never actually seen one before. So I was on the bed screaming and Nate came in to save his wife and child from the beast armed only with his bare hands or should I say bare feet. He jumped right on top of it. To quote a beloved Disney show "that's how you know he loves you!"