The Pace of Life

Sometimes I wonder if I should keep this blog thing going. I hardly ever post here anymore but I like the thought that if there is something I want to share I have this platform available to access the people I want to share it with. I hope that in the future I will have the time to return to a more consistent posting on my blog, but until such a time, thanks for sticking with me through the dry spells!

We just returned a few weeks ago from our trip to the beautiful island of Oahu, for Kirstin's graduation from college. We were so happy that Emil's mom was able to join us for the trip!

 It was wonderful seeing Kirstin and Kyle!!! It's been almost 2 years since we had seen them and that was the highlight of my trip. It was beautiful to see the two of them and how well loved they are by friends and co-workers, the life they have built with one another, and how lovingly they support and care for one another.

We stayed at the Pat's at Punalu'u. That is where they live and Kyle is the resident manager. He does a great job and works so hard to fill all the needs of the residents there. We are so proud of him!

They live on the bottom floor but we stayed on the 4th floor and this was our view from the balcony.

It was rather nice and I enjoyed early morning workouts and walks on the beach!
One morning Kirstin and I did Yoga on the rooftop. It was so much fun!

My other favorite thing was seeing these 3 together again.

We toured the Polynesian Culture Center or PCC. Kirstin and Kyle both worked there and it was nice to get the tour from people who know it well.

 Emil got an early Father's Day gift from the Ukulele shop. He has been serenading us ever since.

 The hula dancers were amazing! I have no idea how they move their hips the way they do!

It was a cool place and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is planning on visiting the island.

We took a tram over to visit the temple while we were there. I love the temple.

Kirstin's graduation was such a sight to see! There were lei everywhere! (I know it looks like I should have used the plural there but it's spelled the same for the singular or plural form of the word. Weird!)

Emil Michael said the sun caught him in the eye- Haha!

We had one of Kirstin's friends do our family pictures while we were there. This was another one of my favorite parts of the trip. They all turned out so well!

 The two of us

 The three amigos

The Boys

Just the girls!

She's always trying to be taller than me!

A stray dog that wandered into our photo shoot.

My favorite!

The studs

We went on a hike at Manoa Falls. It was an easy hike and cool to see the rainforest and all the huge trees and verdant vegetation.

 

We went to sunset beach and played in the water and saw a seal.

We also took a tour of the Dole Plantation. It was pretty amazing-

The red dirt looked so beautiful in contrast to the deep green of all the plant life.

I loved seeing the tiny baby pineapples!

Waiting for our train to arrive and take us on the tour.

Me and Emil Michael

 Me and Mom

Kirstin and Emil

Our last day out was to the Macadamia nut farm. It was just a short drive from Kirstin & Kyle's place and it was a pretty fun find. 

 We got to try our hand at shelling some nuts. Kyle and Emil decided to forgo the shelling of the nuts and enjoy some rest in the shade since they were the designated sherpas.

It was a wonderful trip in a beautiful part of the world, but the best part by far was just being together and that, no matter where it is, is my idea of paradise!

Happy 2018 & The Big News

I am always amazed at how quickly the year seems to pass. Semi-annual blog posts are just my speed these days!

I hope you all had a great holiday season. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas and new years at home. 

We got hit by this crazy winter weather this week. I actually love it when it snows. I'm sure I wouldn't  find it so charming if we had snow for much of the winter but one or two storms is just about perfect for me. Everything has been shut down since Thursday and only the brave have ventured out. Of course, Emil had to go surfing on Saturday when the temp was 13 degrees. Sometimes he's still such a mystery to me.

So this is what we've been up to the past 5 months or so.

Noah had a great Marching Band season. He enjoys playing percussion. The timpani is his instrument of choice. He hopes to be able to continue to play when he goes to college. He is very talented and we love hearing him play. He's busily applying to colleges and enjoying his last 6 months as a Senior in High School. Time goes by so fast!

Zachery Johnson, Larry Proctor, Noah Moster

He had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor the day after Thanksgiving. We are so proud of him!

 He and his best friend, Zachery did both their project and Court of Honor together. We had the Johnson's spend Thanksgiving with us since the Court of Honor was the day after Thanksgiving. It was so nice to see them. We have missed them since they moved to Maryland!

Cousins! Cara Rose & Noah

Me and my two Eagles!

Noah & Grandmom Moster

I have to thank Emil's sister Theresa for taking all the pictures. She was a lifesaver!

Emil missed all the fun because he was sick. He got back from an epic surf trip to Nicaragua and caught the flu on the plane ride home. He came down with the flu before Thanksgiving and then ended up with pneumonia after Thanksgiving. It was a holiday spent in seclusion for him since we had houseguests. It was really pretty bad and has convinced us both to "maybe" get the flu shot next year. 

This is just one of the great pics of his trip. Check out his FB page for plenty more. It was a

once in a lifetime trip, and I'm glad he got to do it with all of his surfing buddies, but I was certainly happy for him to come home after 10 days. 

Kirstin is still loving life in Hawaii and producing some beautiful art. This was a series that she did and I loved them so much I bought them. 

Kyle got a new job and they are getting free rent and living right on the beach so what's not to love? 

They will be in Hawaii for at least 2 more years. We will be going out for her graduation in April and are really excited to see her and Kyle. It's been almost 2 years! Entirely too long for a Mom to be missing her kids!

Emil Michael is doing well at the Cotton Gin and is working on a book. We get together at least once a month and have him come over for a meal and to spend the night and catch up on life. It's nice to have him so close. We took our annual Temple trip in December and enjoyed the temple lights as a family, minus our Raney contigency.

Blaze, the dog, is still trying to be my yoga partner by sitting on my mat and looking cute. Dogs on mats are strictly prohibited in this household but she consistently "forgets" this rule and if I turn my head or leave my mat for any reason, I find her sitting on it as if to say, "I've been waiting for you. Are you ready to continue our yoga practice?" She's such a stinker, but we all adore her. 

I finished up my semester in mid-December with A's in both classes. I'm definitely a much better student now then I was out of High School. I'm enjoying learning online and work at the Y has been fulfilling. We are in a slow time with the climbing tower since it is closed but when the weather improves, I'll be busy with that again. 

This year will bring some big changes for us. We are planning on putting our house up for sale in March and moving to Utah in September. I want to be closer to family and my Mom in particular. We have been working toward this for the past 5 years, and now, the time has finally come. Noah will be in college in the fall and we wanted to downsize our living space anyway. It will be hard to leave our home, family, friends and the east coast, but we're looking forward to new adventures out west and I'm really excited to live close to my family again and to explore some of the west coast. We do plan on coming back to the East coast in the future to retire, we just aren't sure exactly when that will be. It may be a few years or longer. We will see! So that is the big news!