aloha!
want to take a walk with me?
it's a beautiful sunshiney day here and the Ho'omaluhia
Botanical Gardens are cascading with blooms.
after a weekend full of grey skies & clouds bursting
over with “liquid sunshine,” Ryker John & I can hardly wait- to feel the
warmth of the Hawaiian sun on our skin… & inhale lungful’s of the cool, plumeria
scented breeze. the Ko’olau's are sure to be cloaked in their most verdant
green silk and I'm willing to bet we can spot a waterfall or two...
oh good, you've found it. let me just buckle in the boy
and we'll be off.
if we could walk and talk, I'd probably tell you...
That we LOVE being parents. Matt and I are filled with
gratefulness for the gift we could never hope to deserve: our health baby boy. Ryker
John is officially (already) TEN+ months old & his dad and I couldn’t love
him more. Our smiley humdinger (comprised of two parts sunshine and 1 part
hurricane) is the result of our very unplanned pregnancy & our favorite,
most-treasured gift from our good heavenly Father. This little soul has turned
our world upside down and (in one sense) given me a heart of flesh in exchange
for my heart of stone. Imagining a world
without his intense joy is unthinkable.
Also- one of my greatest joys in life, is easily, seeing
Matt become a father.
if you were curious as to the happenings of Mr. Ryker
John, I’d probably tell you…
that ten month old Ryker John = an explorer,
lightning-fast crawler, proficient furniture-surfer, smiley-flirt, happy,
independent, smiley, self-confident, did I mention happy :) … lover of dance
parties, ceiling fans, pillow fights, wrestling, the water, his dad,
hide-n-go-seek, daniel tiger, playing in the waves, eating sand, chasing balls,
playing with friends, avocado, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, tri-tip, bananas,
applesauce, ice cream, greek yogurt, red curry (ok, pretty much all food-
especially mommy’s) … he’s a terrible napper but hasn’t missed his nightly 12+
hours of sleep since the day he turned 5 months old (no, not even once, and
yes, I’m totally counting) … he’s a talker, is rarely still, about to receive
his fourth haircut, has two front teeth on bottom, retains a slight tan from
lengthy walks in the stroller & has ocean blue eyes that melt mommy’s
heart…
if we could talk our way up the next steep hill, I'd
probably tell you...
That I really meant to get Christmas cards out this year.
It was on the to-do list in November... perhaps an extended Arizona
Thanksgiving trip, a spontaneous anniversary trip to Maui, Christmas
festivities, NYE & family visiting had something to do with it... November through January felt, to me, like a
wonderful blur of happy memories.
That we’ve now officially lived here long enough that
some of our “ohana” have, sadly, moved away. Indeed, the transient nature of
this sun-soaked, mid-pacific island is one of the (few) downsides to life in
Hawaii nei… Among those “ohana” that took the plunge and decided to blow this
popsicle stand, was one our original Sportstek Hawaii families- a sad goodbye to
the friends that became dear family when we simultaneously picked up sticks to
build something new on sandier shores- our warmest aloha to all our dear friends-
turned family- that have now come and gone.
We are immensely grateful for unique and special time we’ve shared here
together; can’t wait to see you again!
after pausing to enjoy the waterfall we just spotted… I’d
probably tell you…
That we are immensely grateful for Matt's job and the
island team (which now includes some of our best friends from Cali, woot woot) that
we are blessed to be a part of.
That I’m stoked to be teaching spin again. I started almost six months ago at a spin
studio in Kailua & am now also teaching for 24 hour fitness. And yes, it’s totally worth the extra, extra
(4am) early wake up!
It's been so long friend, have I ever told you Ryker's
birth saga? Since you probably don't
want to walk an entire marathon today, allow me to summarize: 64 hours active labor, 4 days without sleep,
3 entire days without food, 3 failed epidurals and 1 absolutely perfect for us,
baby boy...
It took us (no exaggeration) an entire month to recover…
& even a few trips to urgent care for dad and mom...
I'm happy to report we've all been well since.
if we could walk side-by-side on the gorgeous early
afternoon day, I'd probably tell you...
My favorite day of the week is "slow-start"
Sunday. Enjoying the ritual of lingering as a family... the time for extra
snuggles and savoring a second cup of coffee. Time for turning up the music and
flicking on the newly installed party lights- which definitely call for a few
pillow fights & laughter at Ryker John getting his groove on. Sunday also
means that at 11:30am we get to be with our Tradewind (church) ohana. We are
overwhelmingly thankful for our church family.
For our Gospel community, our current sermon series in Ecclesiastes, our
Monday night marriage study, the keiki ministry, mom’s group & this family
the Lord has so graciously given us here.
I’d also probably recount some of our favorite recent
adventures. A few more scuba dives have
been entered in Matt’s ever lengthening log; I’ve enjoyed exploring nearby
surrounding bays on my SUP board- my current favorite being Coconut island-,
with its stunning coral and plentiful honu sightings. There was also the Northshore swim series
this past summer- where a friend and I swam almost the entire Northshore coast
over a series of four Saturdays; it was beyond beautiful & I even saw a
sting ray!
And (trump card) I’d also mention that one time my wise
husband (so wisely) decided to catch the first flight to Kauai, hike the entire
Na Pali coast the same day and catch the second to last flight back to Oahu
that same night. Yep, the entire Na Pali
coast, all 23 miles of rugged terrain with it's steep ascents/descents, in a single
day; the subsequent two days were full of ibuprofen, ice packs and hobbling...
And we’d hopefully share a few laughs over some of our
recent family adventures... taking a little one kayaking, or hiking amidst a
tangle of trees- on paths teeming with bamboo orchid, or getting lost in the
jungle with zero water/supplies, or floating down the river on our SUP boards…
or perhaps a few of my mom fails… like the time Ryker flew across the Pacific
ocean in no clothes because he had his first diaper blowout and I checked all
his backups…
score, another waterfall!
if we could walk and talk, side-by-side, I’d probably
tell you…
That we are happy as clams to be proud pineapples, living
in our island dream. A place where we
get to live outside almost all year round.
A place where creation testifies.
The incredible colors of the Hawaiian sea still get me- inshore, over
the sand, green as jade, farther out, ribbon of the most intense indigo blue,
the horizon spotted with puffy white clouds, the sky azure… Yes, we are immensely grateful for this
beautiful place and filled with thankfulness for all the ways this sun-drenched
island still surprises us... In case you
happen to visit soon, we’ve grown our HI favorites list with a few new
additions: Hanauma Bay Rock Bridge,
Eternity Beach & taking in the sunset at Spitting Caves among them…
However, our Hawaii bucket list never really gets any
shorter... it seems that for every 1 item we cross off, 2 get added...
I’d probably also add…
That our favorite way to spend a day is still,
hands-down, the beach! Playing in the
water, the waves knocking us beached and breathless with bathing suits full of
sand, basking in the sunshine, building sandcastles, lazing on fat stretches of
white sand with my #1 man and beach naps with the cutest lil beach bum you ever
did see. Sunshine and endless deep-blue
water vistas. Yep, whether we’re sitting
at the ocean’s edge- toes in the sand, or chasing Ryker through ankle-high
surf, or jumping ocean waves together… the beach life is the life for us.
I'm sure by now we've hit the last hill before we head
back to the car... if we could take this walk I'm sure I'd ask you a hundred
questions and try to let you complete your answer before bombarding you with
another question... till, just like that, we're beside our cars, still
chatting... not wanting to say goodbye, so instead a hui hou kakou!
Warmest Mahalos!
all family photos by Kacey Luvi
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