Ma-lak is Ready for First Grade!!

Wow, I can't believe how fast this year has gone! Ma-lak graduated from Kindergarten on Wednesday, May 27th!! We're so proud of you, Ma-lak!

He has come such a long way - a few years ago we put him in a special preschool program to help him with his speech and language processing. And now, at the end of his Kindergarten year, he has scored at the top of his class and is reading at a Third grade level in fluidity, and a Second grade level overall! Thank you, Mrs. Corwin for your patience and for your passion and love for your students!

You're doing great, Ma-lak! Keep up the good work!

The Graduation Ceremony!

The pictures turned out a little dark, and unfortunately the one of him receiving his diploma from his teacher, Mrs. Corwin, is blurry! :( It was such a fun program, they sang lots of songs, and each of the teachers spoke about what special students they had and what a great year it had been. Good job, Ma-lak!!

Swimsuit Season Begins!!

After another heat wave last weekend, we decided it was time to bust out the swim suits, water hose, and popsicles! Can't wait till the pool opens, but flooding the backyard is a satisfactory compromise!

The Alapa Ohana Lu-au!!

About 6 1/2 years ago on a cold and rainy December day, our small but rapidly growing family moved from a tiny apartment to the home where we live now. This whirlwind move came on the heels of losing one of our children, finding out we were pregnant with another, raising a teenager, and balancing all this with being newlyweds, working a stressful job at the hospital, and most importantly giving our hearts to the ministry.

A very dear friend from work, Blythe and her husband Cliff, dropped everything that day to come help us. We were still very new to the area and didn't know many people that well, and they spent the day with us, loading, moving, cleaning, and just loving us in our time of grief. We will never forget their selfless love and kindness to us, and we are so grateful for their friendship!

So we were delighted to be invited to their family Lu-au! In true Hawaiian tradition (Cliff is Hawaiian) they have a huge celebration in honor of the first birthday of each of their children! Their son, Keoni turns 1 year old this month! It was almost like a wedding reception! The food was delicious (except for this gooey pudding stuff called poi - ooooh!) and they had music, fun activities for the children, and their daughters Ena and Jasmine did a hula dance.

Blessings to you, Alapa Family! Thank you for including us in such a special occasion, and may God continue to bless you!

More Lu-au Pictures!

I didn't realize how much the "tree-climbers" my children were, I guess b/c we don't have many trees around here for them to climb. But they proved that they do indeed have some of their mama's inner hillbilly in them! They were truly in their element!