Partial year in review

So, lots of my blogging friends have done a year in review through photos. I thought to myself, "self, that is a good idea...you should do that." Getting myself prepared for the endeavor I went looking through the photos on the trusty laptop only to discover that my year starts in February! Up until that point all the pictures are stored on DevilDocs laptop or on the external hard drive, which currently resides in Afghanistan because it also contains 1,000 or so movies in DVD format for entertainment purposes.

With that said, I present to you 11 months in review of my ALLBLUEZOO...drumroll, curtains open and tah-dah!

In February we went to Maui and enjoyed hiking


and daredevil stunts


Nothing says celebrate like a picture of me in intensive care, am I right?! I'll take ya back...remember, I got that nasty blood clot? Then my white blood cells decided to take a vacation?! Yeah, so blood thinners for me and changes to all kinds of everyday stuff for the rest of my life.


And thank you to Susan for being there to basically save my life. In apprecation I will share a picture of your box car! Everyone enjoyed an Easter egg hunt before they came to visit me in the hospital.


Moving right along to April...my computer says this is the only picture I took and loaded in April. I think it is lying, but I don't have the patience or will to go searching and prove it wrong. Plus, I love this picture of Magoo's piggies!


In May my Magoo turned 3!


My Pookins graduated from PreK!


And Leahi Swim School!


We also spent Mother's Day at the zoo, Memorial Day at the beach with the Burkett's and my dad/his wife came to visit!

And then June rolled around, I went to Vegas for 5 days with my mom. While we were there we went to a taping of "The View" where we saw Jessica Simpson and I met Elisabeth Hasslebeck.


I also hit a $900 jackpot on a penny slot!


We went to the Navy Corpsman Ball


We celebrated Father's Day at Cheesecake Factory


And went to see my friend Daena play with her band "Missing Dave" in their farewell show (she moved to the east coast)! Me, Daena and Cristina


I'm realizing that we do alot of stuff! Dang. Or Daaaaaaaaaane as my brother would say :)

July..as any good military family should we had a big FOJ bash at our house with peeps from DevilDocs aid station and some other friends. Bob, of
PasstheChopsticks fame, was in port and came over to share in the festivities!


My friend Jill had a bachelorette party, I went bowling with my bunco girls and my babies had their first days of preschool and Kindergarten!


In August we said Aloha goodbye to our friends the Burkett's, Greg headed for Iraq and Cristina and the kids went home to Texas


We went to Sea Life Park with the Becker girls


September brought Magoo's first filming for LOST


We did the Nike 1mile/5k


The boys went on an adventure hike, we hit the north shore for Dole Whip and some sea turtle stalking, Pookins had his first football game and DevilDoc was recognized as Senior Sailor of the Year


October brought the winds of change. DevilDoc was gearing up for deployment so our time with his was few and far between. A family vacation we had planned got scrapped, but not all was lost as I gained a wonderful friend/long lost sister in Jai. A family photo shooot, an aloha goodbye to DevilDoc and Pookins celebrated his 6th birthday Indiana Jones style!








*tap*tap*tap* Still there? I know it's been a long read, thanks for hangin' in there! You're almost done!

In November Pookins finished up football, we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Silver Dolphin Bistro and lit our Christmas tree.






And finally, December! Whew, what a ride it has been. I hosted a cookie swap, both the boys had holiday performances at school, Magoo had his Sunshine Generation performance, Pookins started basketball season and my mom came to visit!! This pretty much sums up our year...

We are excited at the prospects for 2009 and look forward to a year filled with new adventures, lots of love and welcoming DevilDoc home!

Friends, family and blog stalkers....

The Mele Kalikimaka part is a little late, so just skip over that.

Edited to add: I sometimes forget that people outside of Hawai'i read my blog! Sorry! The bottom part of that sign reads "Happy New Year".

I am totally out of order

so you'll just have to bear with me. The last post was Christmas Eve and now I'm taking us back in time a few days for a trip to the Dole Plantation and Honolulu City Lights Trolley Tour...get excited!

I love to take pictures of pineapple


they are just so interesting


Just one more, I promise


And really, what is a trip to Hawai'i without a Dole whip? That's like coming here and not going to a luau, not eating a malasada or never seeing a rainbow! It would be a travesty!


And, while I am on the subject of rainbows...well, not really but play along, k?!


There were some great rainbows that day!

I wish I could share pictures of the train ride, but unfortunately a small blonde child decided to throw the fit of all fits and I marched his little hiney right to the car. Where he continued to throw his fit and scream for his "GAMMMMMMA!!!!" while I looked through the sunroof, fiddled with the navigation system and changed the CDs in the disc changer at least 72 times. Pookins and Gamma rode the train and I don't think there were any pictures taken.

I know I said I would talk about the trolley tours, but I am just too tired. We just dropped mom off at the airport and I KNOW my offspring will be up at some God awful hour demanding bacon, eggs and toast thanks to "gamma"! So, I will tease you with this



I can tell you are on the edge of your seat now :)

It may get a little boring

around here soon. DevilDoc's easiest way to see pictures is to access the blog so it is gonna be all about him for awhile and making sure that he sees Magoo and Pookins ALOT!

Last weekend was Pookins' birthday party, Indiana Jones style!

The cake...


Make your mommy a mummy...


Obstacle course...


Searching for treasure and artifacts...


The birthday boy and an ear to ear smile...


The best gift of all; a phone call from daddy...


Deegan opted to forgo birthday gifts this year and instead accept donations to Ronald McDonald House of Hawai'i. He received $150 in gift cards for various stores on O'ahu, clothing and a container full of non-perishable foods for the pantries at the houses.

Special thanks to J** over at the Paz Dispenser and her husband for SAVING THE DAY by helping me move all the furniture, finish the cake, set up the obstacle course and treasure dig...and all the little things that made it all happen! YOU are AWESOME and I am over the moon to call you my friends :)

Last day on the Big Island

On our last day we steered clear of hiking and volcanic activity and enjoyed more of the "touristy" stuff! First stop WINE!



I won the mommy of the year award while at the winery; with the car parked right outside the window I strapped my kidlets into their carseats, rolled the windows down and put a movie on the computer for them to watch! I know, I know...don't shower me with accolades. P.s. I only had 3 sips of wine but Jai and I did walk out with 6 bottles!

Next stop, Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. The entire time we were driving there I couldn't get the jingle from their local TV commercial out of my head!! Mauna Loa, Mauna Loa, Mauna Loa...ACK!!!!



We headed over to the Rainforest Zoo...it was FREE! However, I think they should start charging admission if it means the poor white tiget gets to eat! That thing looked emaciated...



Pretty picture of lily pads and some neat flower


After the zoo we headed out to take in some more scenery at a couple of waterfalls


That's Akaka Falls. We also visited Rainbow Falls but it had NOTHING on Akaka Falls...so, no picture :)

Our time in Hilo was drawing to a close so we headed to the retail shopping area of town and grabbed a bite to eat. We also made a pit stop at the local ROSS because as any good bargain shopper knows all ROSS stores have something different..you should ALWAYS stop!

We headed out to the airport; Hawaiian Airlines departing terminal had a really nice waiting area. There was a local group playing Hawaiian music and they also had hula dancers! It was VERY relaxing.

Then, we were off to O'ahu...




Thanks Jai for going with us, we had a great time and hope you did too!