Yellowstone

One morning we woke up at 8am and within 10 minutes we made a decision to take a spontaneous trip to Yellowstone. Since Yellowstone is only 70+ miles from the house, we were so excited to be able to cross it off our summer to do list so soon. We went with our cousins, Jared and Melinda, and all of their kids. We mostly stayed in the north and northwest part of the park. We plan on going again in August to the southern half.

It was beautiful and all the animals were out. We saw buffalo, a wolf, a beaver, a fox catching his lunch, chipmunks, elk, and bears. We had to stop and let most of these creatures cross the road, but it was so whimsical. I felt like Snow White in her enchanted forest.

We originally planed to swim in the Boiling River, but they had closed it off because the water was too high. So we stopped at Mammoth Geyser and saw a herd of elk. If you ever get the chance to make it to Yellowstone, it is a must!! Especially in May, where you can see the most animals.

This is a rock Native Americans used to carve arrow heads. We found

soooo much!!! ...some the size of my head. Can anyone tell me what the real

name of this is? I always forget. It was originally lava that cooled.

The beautiful waterfall

There was snow on our way to the waterfall.

The other side of the waterfall. Can you see the river?

Mammoth Geyser  is the biggest geyser in Yellowstone. It was awesome.

Lily and Ekemona in the stroller. Eke hated it, so I carried him up the whole way

up the Geyser. It was painful!!

We were so close to the Elk. It was amazing... and I felt like Snow White.

Seriously, I was about 5 feet from her. I could pet her!!!

The fox that caught his lunch. My guess is it was a rabbit. 

Buffalo

...and I am Back {from the Dead}!!

First of all, I want to thank all you wonderful people for your wonderful comments about our move and about me taking a break from writing. I feel so lucky to have such great people in our lives. Also, please note that I may be bipolar with my posting and ability to blog until I am more stable and fully moved in.

In the last several weeks a lot has gone on. We made plans, then changed them, then made them again, then postponed them, then attempted again to plan some more... all have failed. Ekemona and I have been here in Idaho with my sister Brittany and her beautiful family. Let me tell you it has been so much flipping fun!! Gian has been working hard in his first class of law school and loves every second of it {I think he is crazy... you couldn't make me like school if you gave me a million dollars}. Eke and I left Utah on May 24th and Gian left Utah on June 9th... weird I know!! That's just what happened to work out the best for us.

We haven't seen Gian in four weeks. It freaking sucks!!! We miss him terribly and whenever I see Eke do FaceTime with his dad I cry. The way he perks up to see his dad's face and the way he smiles when Gian talks to him just melts and breaks my heart all at the same time. I didn't even think that was possible, but luckily we have some awesome people here to keep our spirits up and Gian has our friends and school to keep the time moving fast for him. We are hoping that in just three more weeks we will be reunited!!! PS Being separated from your spouse for such long amount of time is not recommended... EVER!!! This is the second time we have done it and I would love to promise we will never do it again!!!

While here in Idaho we have done so many fun things I had to blog today to share all of this joy and excitement with you. I wish all of you were here to witness the joy of cousinhood!! These kids are so cute together! I can't get over how much Ekemona loves to have them around all the time. Orange County is going to be so boring to him after this! Now partake of these wonderful pictures and try to soak in all the joy and laughter!

Playing in the front yard with the worlds greatest toys!

My horrible attempt of doing Lily's hair. Don't worry I fixed it! 

It wasn't my greatest masterpiece.

Going to the park. As you can imagine, the kids love this. Somehow all the seagulls

in the world migrated here to eat their lunches... and E got pooped on ahahha.

They say it means good luck and I believe it with the kind of week we've had!

We go to the park nearly every day because the kids get free lunches.

It is the perfect summer treat!

He loves to be Superman on the swings!

The Cocoa Bean... heaven in your mouth!!! They have now made their

cupcakes into ice cream, SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD!! PS Eke went around 

giving kisses and hugs to every girl he saw... heaven help me when he hits puberty!

Picture time with this silly man!

Goodbye diaper bag... hello "pack pack" and yes I still carry it around most the time,

but it's so much smaller and lighter!

They love to sit around and watch movies in their "pajamies"

Mouths gapping open for Super Why.

Gold Nails!!! Diana from Livy Love Designs sent me this for my birthday

and I freaking love it!!

This is what he did when he discover the flag my mom bought for Memorial Day.

My Grammy moved here in the beginning of May all the way from Maui to 

be closer to family. We are all so happy about it and see her every day. I think she is the 

only Jewish woman in all of Idaho!

Darling Ella had a dance recital that we all went too!

Summer time and the livin's easy!!! Jumping on the tramp with the big boys! 

My niece, Ella, who is 6 years old, made me this drawing after discovering how close 

to Disneyland we will be living. It says, "McKinley is back at work Disneyland," and I'm

in front of the castle giving children my autograph! I cried a little!

Ella drew me another picture of Ekemona, me, and Gian in front of our new house.

It says "Fleamalee" hahahah!! I love it! Can I tell you how much I love the fact that me

and Eke are redheads and Gian has darker skin then me! ahhaha

Huntsman came to snuggle with me and this is how he fell asleep!

Koko loves to play the piano and Eke loved to join her.

Ella and Eke were outside playing. When I came to check on him this is what I saw...

E sitting on the hill sipping his milk and enjoying the beauty of the world! haha

Making Daddy his Father's Day present... got a little bit of fabric

paint on his mouth... and everywhere else! 

The gift was a t-shirt that that looked like this. "Tatay" is dad in Tagalog.

Ella lost her wiggly loose tooth!

Trying to wake up my sleepy head at 11am!! 

Nope, not a nap, but from when he went to bed at 8pm.

Eating a roasted mallow from the fire pit!

Trying out new ways to watch TV

Uncle Mikey gave him some ink via Papa Murphy's hahaha.

Taking a Break

As we are packing up to move to So Cal... wait did I mention we are moving on Thursday?!?! LOOOOOOOOONG STORY {will tell it a different day}!! So in these last few and fast days of packing, I have never been more physically exhausted!! Seriously, the last time I was this tired was when I had mono when I was 13 years old, that was miserable! Given this new lost of energy, I have limited my time to the computer and I am here to announce I will be taking a break until I can get my feet back on the road. So I am sorry I won't be looking on anyone's blog or writing anything for quite some time. Maybe when I feel like it, I can actually catch my breath and I will update you on this hectic time of our lives.

...and in case I don't see ya... good morning, good afternoon, and good evening!!

WE'RE MOOOOOVING FOOLS!!!

We are moving out of the state of Utah!!

The story goes like this... on May 3rd we found out that Gian got accepted into a law school all the way in Rhode Island. That is about 2,520 miles away from here. We got this HUGE packet in the mail, and I could barely wait for Gian to come home to open it. We read out loud together, "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!" I may or may not have done a heel click and victory dance... and we were beyond excited. For eight days we started to plan our lives around Rhode Island, what it would be like if we moved there, what great food we would eat, the road trip and visiting Chicago. I even started to Google map everything. It is a beautiful campus and I was excited to adventure into a place I had never been before. I have never been to the east coast and I was thrilled to take that new adventure with my little family, the people I love the most in this world. But the thought of being so far away from both our families began to make my stomach turn and stimulated anxiety.

We gave our landlord notice saying no matter what we will be moving in August. However, we were not set on Rhode Island. We were waiting to hear back from three other schools. Gian and I talked about how the only thing that would take us away from Rhode Island would be this school in Orange County, California. You see, while we were in California for Disneyland in February, Gian came to me and said, "There is this school in Orange County that I want to apply too. I know it is really small, but I have a really good feeling about it and I want to go tour the campus while we are here." So of course I supported him because it is what he wanted and why would I ever oppose? Especially that exact location in California.

So on May 11th, just eight days after the Rhode Island acceptance letter, Gian got a email from this same school in OC, CA. We thought we could take a few days to make our decision, but this letter came with all sorts of requirements and obligations. We had to give a nonrefundable deposit and Gian would have to start school June 11th. So you see why it was time sensitive decision right?!?

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! How could we possibly make a decision with so many strings attached in a timely manner? I started to think logically and gave Gian a list a mile long of why this might not be the best decision and then followed with "...but just because it isn't logical doesn't mean it isn't the right decision!!!"

So we made a phone call to my mom and she said she will do what ever it takes to keep us away from Rhode Island. ahhahahahaha!! She said she just didn't feel good about it and couldn't have us so far away. Solutions started to manifest, we felt soooooooooooo good about our decision and the logical part started to diminish. So with all that comfort and peace we chose Whittier Law School in Orange County, CA just two hours after receiving the email! We knew back in February it was the right choice for us so it was easy to remember why we wanted it.

Here is the plan.... in three short and rapidly fast weeks we will pack up and move completely out of Utah. Ekemona and I will go live in my parent's house in Idaho with my sister, Brittany, for however long needed, while Gian goes and stays with some friends/family in the area to start school and search for apartments and possibly jobs. This plan of moving is subject to change... there are a lot of "if's" and "what about's" that we still need to straighten out.

You guys, we are sooooooooooooo so so so excited!!! I could cry right now!! The best part is we will be living 8 miles from Disneyland and we will be close to the ocean {both my dreams are coming true}. I can barely hold back all of this joy!! I am soooooooo proud of Gian for all his hard work and dedication and for knowing what is right for our family and following through with those thoughts and feelings. Every now and then one of us will sigh with excitement and burst out a comment about how relieved and ecstatic we are.

And this is how I like to imagine we will look truckin'  660 miles with everything we own!! I think it looks quite glamours don't you?!?!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you women out there!!

I want to deticate this post to my favorite mother I have ever known Kathy K., my mommy!! I love you sooooooooooooooo so so so so so so much mom!!! You are the most amazing, talented, go-getter, driven, beautiful, funny, happy, brilliantly smart, independent, supportive, unconditional and strongest woman I have ever know. You are a great example and gave me the best childhood I could have ever asked for!! Thank you for being there for me all the times I needed you especially when I come to you in hysterical tears not knowing what to do!!! You are the best and have given us the best life ever!!

P.S. in the picture below, I have no idea who the girl on the far right is....

I love you forever, I like you for always as long as I'm living my mommy you'll be!!