Paradise

I know, I have been so bad about sharing pics! We have had such a busy week of house-hunting and sight-seeing that I've hardly had time to think of much else. Also, for those of you who do not know this yet, we are expecting again in September, so between Keaton and the little spawn inside, I'm drained of almost all energy!

Here are some of my favorites of the week. Did I mention that it is absolutely beautiful here?

We visited Lanikai beach today which was voted the #1 beach in Hawaii according to our guide book. It is only a few minutes from where we are staying. It is definitely the most amazing beach I've ever seen. I can't wait to bring visitors!

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Keaton loves the beach! Today, he had the best time chasing seagulls around in the sand.

Here's me in my first real "lei" - I didn't even know they made them with real flowers! Our friends, the Woods, bought them for us to welcome us to the island.

Oh, what will we do when Daddy finally has to go to work next week??

We are narrowing down our home search, so hopefully, I should have pics of our new place in the next few days! More to come...

We made it!!

To make a very LONG and painful story short, we did make it to Honolulu last night around 6:30pm. United was able to get us on a Delta flight through LAX so we would not have to spend the night in Phoenix. Let's just say, the trip is not one that I want to repeat anytime in the near future, but it could have been SO much worse, so I will refrain from complaining. Keaton did so well and slept 2 hours on the first flight and 3 hours on the second. Benadryl and suckers were my 2 lifesavers!!

We spent most of this morning driving around trying to get a "feel" for the island since we have to find a place to live in the next week or so and still have not even narrowed down the area of the island that we want to live yet. God graciously provided us with some new friends of friends that have a garage apartment that they are letting us stay in for FREE until we find a place of our own. They even have a little boy around Keaton's age. He and Keaton are already fast friends. God is so good! Here's some pics that I took out the window while we were driving around today. Breathtaking is the only word to describe it! Pictures definitely do not even come close! We just kept looking at each other all day saying, "We live here now?"

Please pray that God will give us wisdom where to look for a new home and that he will open up the perfect property for us that meets all our needs and fits our price range.

More later...

A little glitch...

After a very short night of extremely anxious sleep at the Drury Inn, we awoke to a call from US Air saying that our flight out of Atlanta has been delayed 2 hours. This means we will not make our flight connecting to Honolulu at 10:15 out of Phoenix. So, they just book us on a later flight out of Phoenix, right? Nope. No later flights out of Phoenix today with any empty seats on any airline. So, the current plan is: we fly to Phoenix at 9:45a this morning, stay the night in Phoenix tonight (on the airline) and fly out tomorrow morning on the same 10:15 flight that we were supposed to fly on today.
Trying to stay positive:
1. we only have to fly 4 hours today with Keaton instead of 11!
2. our plans and accommodation arrangements in Hawaii are flexible enough that coming a day later should not make that much of a difference.
3. we are still moving to Hawaii!!

Stay tuned for more updates...

The Keaton Kit

Tomorrow morning, we finally begin our "Hawaiian adventure." Our flight leaves Atlanta at 7:45a. We arrive in Hawaii at 2:30 Honolulu time which will be 8:30 according to our biological clock. Should make for a strange day for sure! Here's a picture of the "Keaton kit" that I put together for our trip tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what of all this stuff we really use and what was a waste of space.














I hope the next pictures I post will be in Hawaii!! Pray for us if you think about it tomorrow... we will need it!

Gator Ride

This video was just too funny not to share. One of Keaton's favorite things to do on the farm is ride the Gator (basically a John Deere golf cart). We decided to give him a try at driving. Watch him push Scott's hands away when he tries to help!

Oklahoma

It was such a treat to spend a week and a half in Oklahoma once all our stuff left for Hawaii. There was no real obligations or agenda. We were able to just relax, spend time with family, and get ready for our big move.

Keaton coloring with cousin Mia ("Mena")













Aunt Alexis was home from college for Spring Break, so she would regularly disappear upstairs with my boy. Keaton loved having a constant playmate, and Mama really enjoyed the break!! I was so glad that it worked out to have our college girl home while we were there so we could spend some quality time with her.
















"Practicing" Piano



















My brother Justin and his wife Sheri were in town for a wedding, so it was so fun to hang out with them as well. My aunt Sara hosted a big family dinner for all of us on the night before we left.

The boys - Justin, Dad, Scott, and Aaron












Me with my two grandmothers


















Cheese!!!












Archambo kiddos












Me with my two amazing sisters-in-law, Sheri, and Elise!

Getting Excited...

With the craziness of the last couple of months, we have really not had much time to sit back and think, "Wow, we are moving to Hawaii!" Since we have never even been there to visit, my good friend Heather gave us a 2010 Hawaii travel guide to prepare us for our new adventure. For the first time last night, I started reading about the island of Oahu to familiarize myself before we land there on Wednesday...
"In terms of weather, no other Hawaiian island has it as fine as Oahu. Oahu enjoys a kind of perpetual late spring, with light trade winds and 82*F days almost year-round. In fact, the climate is supposed to be the best on the planet."

I can definitely handle that!

First Poop

I really have not been forcing the potty training on Keaton, but I have tried to talk about it with him quite often... I remind him that Elmo goes poopoo in the potty and that he is the only one in the house that still wears diapers, etc. Since we've been in Oklahoma, I've bribed him to sit on the potty a couple of times and "try." He knows that when he tries hard for awhile I'll give him one "MM" (M&M). He's never even been successful at a #1 attempt, but I was not discouraged since I haven't really had the time or energy to focus time on it. Today, I'm sitting at the computer and Keaton walks up to me and says in his whiniest voice, "Mama, poopoo." I said, "Do you need to go poopoo on the potty, Keaton?" (totally expecting this to be an M&M ploy). He whimpers, "Yah." So we go in, and I sit him on the potty. He asks for a magazine to look at (as is our routine). Before I know it, he drops the magazine and starts pushing! I never knew how excited I could be to see poop in the toilet! His dorky mama even took a picture of the final product before it was flushed! I'll spare you that visual. We oohed and ahhed and clapped and praised him. All he cared about was that M&M! "Blue one, Mama! Lellow one Mama!" Don't get me wrong, I know that this was probably a total fluke. We have much work to do before he is potty trained, but I was still so proud of my big boy today and this unexpected milestone.

Aloha Luau

Last weekend, we celebrated the beginning of our new adventure with a goodbye Luau with our church friends. The decorations were so festive and the food was delicious! So many amazing friends in Nashville that have prayed for and supported us during this huge transition. We feel so loved, and we miss you already!

Bye bye, stuff!!

Well, the POD arrived on Tuesday and left on Friday with all of our earthly belongings. Scott's dad and brother in law graciously came all the way from SC to help us load up and take a few things back with them to store. Scott had the loading process down to an exact science. It was such a relief to close the door and send it on ahead of us. I'm so glad I will not have to look at another box for awhile! Here's some pics of the loading process: