A New Season

Aloha Family!

Fall is in full swing here in Hawaii, but the only indications we've noticed are the left over Halloween decorations, lots of football on TV, and thanksgiving right around the corner. Outside of that the weather remains in the mid eighty's on a daily basis and everything is still green. It is a far cry from any autumn in Alabama or Michigan, but you'll here no complaints from us.

(This is Larry by the way, if any of our blog readers noticed the change in tone. I decided to take a stab at this blogging thing and relieve some of the pressure off of Kennesha to keep it current. So, here goes.)

The family is doing wonderful and we are all quite settled into our daily routines now. Our first guest is coming to visit us for thanksgiving...my mother. So for all you who said you'd be first, you still have two weeks :-) We are all psyched that she will be her to visit and grandma is overjoyed to come see the children, the island, and oh yeah, me and Kennesha. She will make it

just in time to see Caleb start basketball and watch Logan in his first month of walking. Kendall is coming more and more out of her shell in public and that is a big change from the last time my mom visited us in Seattle. The girl wouldn't stop talking at home or in the car, but she would completely clam up with strangers around. These days she's seems to be her bubbly self almost all the time. I ride my bike everyday to work and take a ferry across pearl harbor. Some days, instead of taking the ferry across, my boss and I kayak. I'm getting in the best shape of my life (work isn't too bad either).



Kennesha has a new money making hobby. She is finding or buying classic furniture pieces and refinishing them. She had her first show this weekend and it was a resounding success. She sold 3 of her pieces and drummed up a huge buzz about her knack for taking something somebody would throw out and making it worth money. The woman has enough creative juices for the both of us. Check out the before and after pictures below.

The picture on the left you can see her raw inventory in the garage waiting to be finished. The little brown desk in the center was metamorphosed into the distressed yellow piece on the right all by hand.

Playing Catch Up...

Okay, so it's obviously been a while since I last updated this thing and a lot has happened:

• We finally made it into our new home on September 15 and haven't stopped since! There were boxes everywhere and to make it worse, our second household goods shipment didn't make it until almost two weeks after the first. Thankfully, we are pretty much all out of boxes with the exception of the office. Our living spaces are pretty clear though...



• The kids are doing well. Caleb is at home with us until further notice...Kendall is finding her place and Logan, well, Logan is TEETHING...my sweet little baby has turned into a monster the past couple of weeks and I can't seem to come up for air when he is awake. Of course, this would be fine if he were my only child BUT he is NOT. So while he pulls on my leg for any type of attention I am willing or can give, the other two are vying for it at the same time! Life is wonderful though, never thought I would be needed or LOVED THIS MUCH! (smile)



• Larry is at work now and has been for over a month. While there are many aspects of his job that I am sure he enjoys, he now has a lot more responsiblity in the position that he is in here in Hawaii so his requirements keep him on his toes and quite busy in that area. He still makes time for important

• As for me, I am finding things to keep me busy aside from the kids. There's so much to get into here and my new interests include finding each and every farmer's market, flea market, thrift store and vintage shop Oahu has to offer (which is suprisingly more than you would think).
  

Okay, that's it for now...I will add more pics later. Until next time...

Quite the week!

So, I have finally decided that I will only update this blog each Sunday as it was getting to be a bit much to write every day. Are our lives so exciting that I would have something to write every day? Absolutely! (smile) And, since today is Sunday, (Monday in most places) it's time for an update...here's the rundown:

• We got the house we wanted and for the price we wanted! Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!
  
  


• We enjoyed more of Oahu's smaller islands, beaches and people this week...

• Friends of ours from Tampa are now stationed here so we spent some time with them this week. Caleb loved it...they have a 4-year-old son who has just as much energy as Caleb. It's scary!
  
  


• We found a church (The Ark Christian Center). Well, I make it sound as though we stumbled upon it but we were directed to The Ark by one of the pastors from our church in Seattle. It is a great church...more details to follow next week!
  
  


• I don't know if it's this blogging gig, inspiration from my friend Theresa or a combination of the two but I have decided to start writing again and I am currently researching freelancing opportunities in the area. Writing has been my passion for years and I worked in PR for three years before becoming pregnant with Caleb...I really want to pick up where I left off but no nine to five, behind a desk job for me anymore...a simple work from home career will suit me just fine! Pollywog? Well, we're praying about that one!

So, hope that update works for you...if something exciting happens in the middle of the week or before Sunday perhaps I will break my own rule and post something! (smile)

A Lesson in Alo'Ha

Today we had quite the adventure! We took a tour of the Leeward and the Windward sides of the island of Oahu and learned just a bit of the history of the island and its people. The Leeward side of Oahu is usually more dry and sunny whereas the Windward side is, well, more windy and wet and really looks a lot like a rainforest. Our tour guide's name was Dwight and was an island native who was an expert when it came to the history of Oahu.

We visited Nu'uanu Pali Lookout today which is one of the windiest points on the island. The winds gust up to 80 mph there and we were literally holding on to one another at times. It was a lot of fun and the views were breathtaking.

The walkway leading up to Nu'uanu Point was filled with wild chickens. Yup, WILD chickens!We also learned today that they have wild hogs, horses, and wildabeast here! We like to hike and plan taking advantage of the many outdoor activities that the island offers but we'll have to, perhaps, think again about walking around some of the trails here! Can you imagine coming face-to-face with a wild hog? What would you do? OMG!

Larry now wants to learn how to surf and golf while we are here and I just want to learn more about the native Hawaiian language. The first word that we learned the true meaning of today was Aloha which actually has three meanings: "Hello", "Goodbye" and "I love you". In it's true meaning, "Alo" means "To manifest" and "Ha" means "breath"...so, Alo'Ha means "To manifest breath" or in laymen's terms-"Hello". Is that cool or what?

Tomorrow, it's back to our home searching and enjoying the sites and sounds of the island...Mahalo!

Our Adventure Begins...

Today makes seven days in Hawai'i and we're excited about being here. The weather is quite different compared to Seattle although both places are almost equally beautiful. It's a warm 89 degrees here today but the breeze from the ocean makes it feel like 80 or so...it's nice but the verdict is still out as to whether the "great" weather will get a little old after a while here...the kids are enjoying it and Larry took them out to the pool the other day to get their first true breath of relaxation in the Hawaiian air.



I opted for reading on the inside and some peace and quiet in the room. We are living at the Naval Lodge on Ford Island (Pearl Harbor) right now in about 500 sq. ft. of living space! (Probably not even that much...)! So, the search continues and prayers are lifted daily for a home for the Buycks Clan!

This is the house that we looked at today...I absolutely loved it inside and out...plenty of room in the back for the kids to play and the neighborhood is full of parks, military families and kiddos...the owners were really nice too!

We don't know too much about the island of Oahu just yet but we have found that there is a TON of culture here...Samoan, Polynesian, Micronesian, Asian...you name it! It's so great to see such a culmination of ethnic groups here and so many different experiences to be had.