After a lovely 10 days of unexpected vacation at the lovely Marriott Beach Club resort...
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| Aya & I made these leis together |
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| A hide-a-bed that was actually comfortable! Who knew they existed?! |
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| Hawaiian shaved ice! |
we finally were able to move into our new home and we're so glad to be here! It's in the same complex as the vacation rental we stayed in from December 29th to January 29th (don't worry if you're confused, we are too!) here in the Ko Olina resort in the Hillside complex. This place has 3 bedrooms though, instead of 2 and is also an end unit so we have tons of windows! It's furnished very nicely with almost everything we need (I still need to get a crock pot, wheat grinder etc for cooking/baking) so that is lovely. Through all of this I've been amazed at how much we don't miss our stuff! We sold or gave away pretty much everything we had in our home in Utah and came here with 4 suitcases and it's been great! I find I'm hesitant to buy any more stuff because it's so nice to not have much. It's kind of amazing how much stress, time, energy & money we can devote to stuff-buying it, cleaning it, organizing it, finding somewhere to put it etc-1st world problem for sure that I hope to be better about! I hope to not let material possessions distract me away from what matters most so often.
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| Our front door |
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| Our new place: back & side angle-love all those windows! |
Anyway, back to our home...it's right across the street from our new friends (who have helped us out so many times with all this craziness-Thanks Diana & Conway!!!) and next door to some other new friends (the wife happens to be Japanese, so it's a lot of fun to chat with her. The whole family is so sweet & really watch out for our girls) so our location couldn't be better! Such a blessing. The girls run around with their friends and they all have a great time playing together and watch out for each other really well. Hana's good friend has a bedroom window facing her's so they yell goodnight to each other every night. So fun to be a little kid :) I haven't met all of the rest of the people on our street yet but the one's I have met are so nice and friendly. I love that we have a whole melting pot of cultures, countries, skin color, languages,religions etc, right here in our neighborhood. We really feel like this is where we were supposed to be because when plan A and plan B fell through we looked all over the island and this place, very close to where we started, is what opened up and worked out. Heavenly Father is mindful of us and truly does direct our lives, doesn't He?
A lot of people here have golf carts and drive them everywhere in the resort. So much fun! I totally have to figure out a way to get one too. The girls ride around with our friends all the time and think riding in a car is so not fun now ;)
Anyway, thank you for all the prayers, we are very blessed and happy to be settled here, at least for a few months. Our contract is until June and the plan is to figure out a way to buy a place, somewhere close by, if at all possible, so we don't have to keep spending ridiculous amounts of money on rent.
And, since we have a 3rd bedroom that means we have a lovely guest room just waiting for you to come visit! (The girls share a room.) It has a lovely, comfortable double bed, TV, closet and beautiful view of our palm trees & plumeria tree out the window so come on over! Love and miss you all!
So I don't want to come visit I want to move in.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty there and it sounds like one big party, well after all the stress, Have you asked Kevin to drive your car to California? When did miss Hana lose her front teeth, so cute. Did you take your new couch with you? By the way the sun is looking good on you. I would love to swim in the ocean every day....then I would truly have a body for a swimsuit. Thanks for the update I love waiting for them on Sundays since I am up anyway.....what is the time change difference any way? Hope this month lets you enjoy more and stress less.
Louise, I'm so glad you're enjoying the blog & thanks for the comment :) We haven't asked Kevin to drive the car to CA yet since we're still debating what to do about that. The Panda has kind of gotten a 2nd wind & has been driving around pretty well, which is such a blessing during all of this craziness! I think maybe we'll just have him sell our car as planned & see what we can do since we need the money. Hana lost her front teeth right before Christmas and the bottom one 2 weeks ago during church. Yes, swimming in the ocean almost every day is such an amazing opportunity, I just have to do it! I'm hoping to look better in a swimming suit soon. We are 3 hours behind Utah time. Love you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, Ray! Kenna watched the video clip you had posted of Aya running around and she kept trying to talk to her, and wondering why she wasn't responding. She loves Aya and Hana!
ReplyDeleteAw, we miss Kenna! How cute. Can't wait to see you guys when we can come for a visit or you can come here. Send some pics when you get a chance, Beck!
ReplyDeleteIt’s a pretty big house for your family. And it’s in a perfect location. Did you have a hard time finding this house and setting an offer? Anyway, I wish your family a good life in your new home. :) ->Armandina Skerl
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