Mike's Golf Adventures

Hello, Mike here. Since coming home I have found many things have changed from the way they were prior to my latest venture to the middle east, but my love of the game of golf has endured. I bought a used set of irons with some money I made on Craigslist and family provided the rest of the money needed to finish out the set. Since getting my clubs together I've had the opportunity to play pretty often with friends and co-workers at some of the most beautiful and difficult courses in the world.

One of the first courses I played is one of my all time favorites! Klipper at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base has been rated the best military course in the world. Holes 13-15 line the ocean and remind me of just how lucky I am to be able to live in Hawaii.


Today I had the chance to play a course named Ko'olau, which is touted as the most difficult course located in the United States and the third hardest course in the world. I have to say it lived up to the hype with its jungle atmosphere, narrow fairways and rolling hills. We had a great time and lost a few dozen balls along the way.

Magic!

So we went for our second ultrasound yesterday and like magic another baby appeared on the screen! That's right--we are having twins!

Here they are--our beautiful babies...that in my opinion look like little upside-down schnauzer's

I believe last week that the doctor we had just wasn't very thorough--she went in, found a pregnancy, took a picture and then we were done. The doctor this week took a lot of time and really searched around. I noticed before she said anything when she was kind of poking at one, another pregnancy appeared...i literally gasped and she looked at us and smiled and I was like "there's another one in there isn't there?" The next few minutes were full of excitement and nervousness all at the same time. I could hardly breathe as she was checking to make sure both had heartbeats. Both do have strong heartbeats and were measuring at 7.5 weeks, right on target. With the first sigh of relief also came lots of tears and laughing as we tried to let the news sink in. We are so excited about our little "puppies" that we haven't stopped smiling yet!

Here are there individual heartbeats:

Baby 1 at 156 beats per minute

and Baby 2 at 168 beats per minute

...this really explains my own constantly racing heartrate--there's twice the babies to pump all that blood for!

Hawaiian Word of the Week

Hapai; pronounced Ha-Pie

meaning-- to carry; pregnant

pidgin example- Wat. Hapai?

english translation-Is she pregnant?

pidgin example- Jess stay hapai fo 6 weeks already.

english translation--Jess is 6 weeks pregnant.

That's right. If you haven't already heard Mike and I are having a baby. As some of you know it has taken a few years now to get here and now Mike and I realize how really blessed we are to have been given this opportunity to be parents. We are proof that God is always in control and his timing is perfect in every way.

Our first ultrasound was yesterday--we were able to see and hear its little heart beating and we got our first picture. Although to you it will just look like a little dot we are so excited to watch this little miracle grow into a beautiful baby!

Thanks to the military for being cautious and taking such care of us, we will be getting to see our little one every week for awhile and really get to see the growth process. I will try not to bombard the blog with ultrasound pics every week but i will keep you updated as things change. Our estimated due date is Jan. 6 2010.

Also I would like to wish a congratulations to a few other newly expecting mothers out there--My high school friend and college roommate, Dee Edwards Belvin, due late September--My college design partner, Lacey Carothers Pegram, due around Thanksgiving--and my good friend here in Hawaii, Hillary Sweatland, due one month before us on December 6. Love you guys!

Renee's Rockin' Baby Shower

This Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my friend Renee, who is 34 weeks pregnant--almost there!

This is the first baby shower I have ever thrown and I had a great time doing it. The plan was simple-- lots of pink and black, some yummy food, a few good games and some great friends.

Hawaiian Word of the Week

It's that time again... today's word is Ono; meaning --great tasting, delicious





example 1: Ho, that shoyu chicken is ono
example 2: Did you get some of dat lau lau?? its ONOLICIOUS!


In celebration of our word of the week, I am going to share with you some of my favorite ONO Hawaiian foods!

1. Kalua Pork--basically like pulled pork at home, just cooked in different ingredients--its the main event at any luau and my "go-to" dish at any local diner!

2. Shoyu Chicken--Shoyu is similar to soy sauce, but with garlic and much more ONO. Shoyu chicken is a treat because not every local diner serves it.

3. Lomi Lomi Salmon--as much as i don't love tomatoes, for whatever i reason i love this! the salmon and sauce it is mixed with takes out the tomato flavor. It is served as a garnish at luau's, but i love to pile it on top of my rice or mix it with my Kalua---this is one thing i will need to learn to make before i leave this island.

4. Mac Salad--i know, i know the Hawaiian's prolly didn't invent this, but they sure eat the heck out of it. The thing to do for lunch here it to get a "plate lunch" which consists of a choice of meat, 2 scoops white rice 1 scoop mac salad. Kim and I swear that L & L has the best mac salad on the planet, and every once in a while we stop in just to get a scoop!

5. Teri Beef--sounds strange maybe, but this thinly sliced beef soaked in a thick teriyaki sauce is so ono! Whenever we go on field trips at school everyone orders "bentos", like take out box lunches...i make sure mine has plenty teri beef in it.

3 years and learning...

Yesterday was our 3rd anniversary--being that it was a weekday we basically stuck to our normal wednesday routine. Mike went to work and then we did go to our favorite little italian restaurant, Auntie Pasto's, for a quick dinner before bible study. We have started a new marriage bible study this month with our friends. It is called Love and Respect by Dr.Emerson Eggerichs. All the husbands in the group have just gotten back from a deployment and we thought it would be good to start this study to help deal with some of the issues that come with the readjustment of learning to live together again.

Although we are just 3 weeks into the study I am learning so much and I recommend everyone to check it out no matter how long you have been married and even if you are single. The study explains why the opposite sex reacts and feels the way the do and explains how God intended marriage to be. Dr. Emerson's blog link is http://emersonandsarah.blogspot.com/ .

Also before i go i just want to give a shout out to Jennifer and Eric on the arrival of their new baby girl Emily Grace and also to Lyndsay and Jason on their new baby boy Christian David!

Good Luck Garage Sale-ing

I know, I know, some of you are probably shaking your heads at me right now--but Mike and I have really enjoyed hunting thru garage sales lately. This month we have been particularly lucky...

Some of our good finds have included:
-Board Games: Imagine-iff and Balderdash--$2 each
-a white board- $1
-a 3-tier serving dish- $1
-a recyclable shopping bag filled with craft supplies, ribbon and raffia--$5
-golf balls- 6 for $1
-a HGTV receiver- $1
-bodyboard- $3
-beach chair- $2
-2 bar stools for my friends from Pier 1--$20

i guess the saying still rings true...." one man's junk is another man's treasure"

out with the old, in with the new

So it seems that things always happen at once and the past couple of months have been all about breaking and replacing for us.

1st the washing machine broke--in all honesty in has been on a slow decline for over a year...i just kept pushing it hoping it would make it until Mike came home. However it didn't quite make it as it died right after Christmas, but i just used my friends' washers until the boys could come home and help out.

So meet our new washing machine, given to us by our seriously generous friends Jake and Hillary because they had an extra!

Next our microwave finally gave out. This too was on a slow decline--all because of a faulty key pad that cost more to fix than to just get a new microwave. I really wanted a red microwave, but the only one we could find was at our new Target stores and they sold out immediately. After a 2 week wait Mike and i got tired of using the stove for everything and went ahead and bought a white one...probably a better decision anyway.

meet the new microwave...



Then our TV died. It was an old one i got off of Craigslist a couple of years ago when our other one died. Of course it was a TV/DVD player combo, so we actually had to buy both. Secretly I know Mike is excited cause he got his flat screen and blue ray disc player...not that we have blue rays, but whatever.

goodbye old TV....


hello new TV/ DVD player....


hopefully that will be it for awhile!

the rest of Easter

After our last Easter blog, Mike and I went to the Sweatland's for our Easter potluck with all our friends. There were 26 people in all and we had a great time. I convinced everyone to let me get a group shot before we ate and they turned out great i think! It is amazing how big our group has gotten--although we will be losing about half over the summer, new friends are moving to the island and joining us and we are so thankful.

After dinner, the boys played a huge game of bocce ball, our favorite, and the girls played catch phrase, our other fave. It was a super fun day, but also very long-as many holidays are and Mike and I crashed upon returning the house.

Yesterday was Mike's last day of leave before going back to work and he chose to spend it playing golf with a few of his friends at his favorite golf course, Ko' Olina. He has been working on a beard since the start of his vacation, a little over 2 weeks ago, and it was getting to look really good. But last night he had to shave it off to get ready for work the next day-- i honestly like the beard and was sad to see it go. I will leave you with some before and after shots.

Before

After

Happy Easter!

Well, so far it has been a good Easter Day. We went to sunrise service this morning and had a potluck breakfast afterwards. Then for the 9 o'clock service i was upstairs working with the kids. It's been a busy morning and i've been cooking this afternoon for our BIG potluck with friends tonight. I will probably have more pics tomorrow. Happy Easter to all!!