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Kona, Hawaii Vacation

April 29th, 2019 No comments

Months ago we were asked by our brother-in-law if we could fly to Hawaii to celebrate Matt’s older sister’s 40th birthday with them! Of course we said yes. Matt was in charge of planning the activities and our brother-in-law was in charge of getting us a car and place to stay. I was on vacation and just did what I was told! And the birthday girl could do whatever she wanted. We really only had two full-days to spend in Kona, Hawaii and we spent them well.

After a 10 hour flight from Manila to Honolulu, we had an hour flight to Kona on this plane
ALOHA…we arrived in Kona
While exploring our AirBnB we felt this earthquake

Day 1

We had this red jeep to drive around Kona
We got up early and swam with wild dolphins
After nearly 10 years of trying to find dolphins in the wild, we finally were successful
We took this rainbow to mean that we would be successful in seeing manta rays
This manta ray came near us while on our late afternoon dusk dive
Around 30 feet below water we hung out at a “camp fire” and saw at least three different manta rays swoop through to filter-feed on the plankton that gathered in the light
My one request for this trip was to have L&L. It was a perfect dinner after our dives
Matt put this video together of our dolphin and manta ray experience

Day 2

The birthday girl and her brother
After sleeping in, we spent the day at the beach
Our early flight from Kona to Honolulu was full of military personal
Categories: Family, Travel Tags: , , , , ,

Kalani turns 15

April 28th, 2019 No comments
Kalani’s Christmas/birthday gift was to watch “Phantom of the Opera”
She also got to see Potted Potter a couple of weeks after her birthday

15 fun facts about Kalani

She loves musicals

Harry Potter fan

Can’t see without her glasses

Always making puns

Sprains her ankle a few times a year

Marvel & DC fan

Loves to sleep

Doing really well in high school

Rarely swims in the ocean (due to a Box Jellyfish sting when she was a kid!)

Loves chocolate

Enjoys baking…mostly cobbler

Misses her friends & family in the US

Looking forward to going to college and living back in the US

Enjoys playing the piano and wants to learn to play the guitar

She believes in Christ and tries to #LightTheWorld

Categories: Family Tags: , ,

Spring Break 2019

April 27th, 2019 No comments

Our kids had their spring break during the last week of February. So Matt planned out a fun 3-day itinerary and we invited some friends to join us. We were only a few hours out of Manila, but it was nice to get-away from the city and create memories as a family.

Day 1

Lunch at Marcia Adams near Tagaytay
Sunset at Lago de Oro resort
No electronics on this road trip, so they played cards

Day 2

We drove about 90 minutes to Canyon Cove
We got to play on this inflatable island by ourselves for an hour or so
View from our room of Canyon Cove

Day 3

Morning snorkeling near Canyon Cove resort
We drove a couple of hours to People’s Park in Tagaytay
We spent hours on this outside porch at the Air BnB talking and enjoying the fresh air in Highlands, Tagaytay

Day 4

We drove about an hour away to arrive at Republic Wake Park. While Matt & Tia did some wake boarding, the boys played in the pool while Kalani watched them
A couple of Matt’s former co-workers from Chevron met us at Republic Wake Park
After lunch we drove 45 minutes to Enchanted Kingdom to meet up with some friends
Blake’s first time on roller coasters and he LOVED it

Baby shower for a Legend

April 26th, 2019 No comments

Over five years ago while living in the Philippines, we really wanted one more baby. But, we needed help to get pregnant. Matt did some research and found KatoReproBiotech in Makati. We saw them and soon we were pregnant with Blake. We told some other friends who also had some problems getting pregnant about Kato and they went to see them and were able to get pregnant. While at lunch with this mom who was expecting her first child after seeing Kato, I told her I would throw her a small baby shower for the people in our church congregation to be able to celebrate this miracle with her. Well, things changed and we ended up combining our small “church friends” shower, with her main shower — which included several famous people/couples from the entertainment business in which she and her husband work. Thankfully, this mother-to-be was able to help with getting food and party favors donated (“sponsored”). I did the decorations, games and some other food. Overall it was a really fun baby shower and we heard everyone had a great time.

With the parents-to-be
Food spread
Our helpers who worked behind the scenes to keep everything in order
Blake got to be reunited with Billy Crawford & Coleen Garcia
Everyone who came to the baby shower
You can watch the video of the shower here on our friend’s channel
About 6 weeks after the shower, I got to hold baby Legend

Tia turns 40

April 25th, 2019 No comments

When trying to decide what I really wanted to do for my 40th birthday, I couldn’t think of just one thing. So, I took a page out of my sister’s book of birthday celebrations and did something for myself everyday of the week!

Monday: People’s Palace lunch with friends
Tuesday: hike with friends and ended up at this dam
Wednesday: Mani/pedi at Dashing Divas
Thursday: after going to our temple, my friend took me out to lunch at La Creperie
Thursday: Matt took me to dinner at “Blackbird
My birthday dessert at the restaurant
Friday: Exercise at Jump Yard trampoline park
And now I’m 40
Categories: Family Tags: , ,