We are finally settled in our home!

This is the "front" of our home in Kailua. The gate
      that you see in the pic below is to the right of the garage.

This is where you enter the our beautiful private oasis! (Most homes have walls and gates for privacy because the homes are situated so close together.)

As you continue through the gate up the walk you see the kitchen straight ahead and the screen porch to your right. There is a door on the left that goes into our master bedroom.

The hairy stuff hanging from the trees was placed there by the previous owner (its not part of the tree). I am told it is living and the Hawaiian's believe it brings good luck:)

This is our kitchen and cute pink oven- who knew there were pink ovens? It is original from when the house was built in 1953 and still works great. We don't turn it on much because it is the hottest time of year here (the high around 85 and the low around 75) and the kitchen gets too hot!

There are 2 bathrooms like this one above and the one below is the outdoor biffy with an outside shower around the corner!

As you can see, the pool and yard is amazing! We have lots of privacy and room to play. Many places we looked at renting had little or no yard so this one is a great gift!

Molly with her friend Emilia having poolside tea! Lovely:)

Maddie with her friend Cherish

The "courtyard" is like a horseshoe with the car port on the left, the garage straight ahead and the screen porch (house) on the right.

This is the screen porch

This is the room that you enter from the screen porch.

These sea turtles swam up while we were standing on a boat launch at Kailua Beach Park (about 1 1/2 miles down the road). They can be seen swimming around even in busy areas with lots of people. The Hawaiians consider these turtles sacred so people are very careful not to touch or bother them. Aren't they amazing?!

Happy Birthday Isabel!

Isabel had her 12th birthday party with her new friends. These girls are such a gift to her!

Dad and Molly played a little game of chicken fight

This beach is 1 block from our house. This is about 2 miles north of where we lived at the pink cottage. This is Kailua Beach.  The waves are pretty big. They are good for beginner surfers and not-so-beginner boogie boarders!

Molly is getting pretty good with her boogie board. She had an unfortunate run in with a Portugese Man of War (like a jellyfish) last Sunday, though! OUCH! She is doing fine now but might need some convincing to get back in the water.

Maddie's friend Keaneu looks body-less!

These waves have taught us the #1 rule- NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN!

Lots of weddings take place on the beach- it seems to be a Japanese tradition!

This is our hike to Manuwilli falls which is here in Kailua. The jungle-like setting is like being in another world!


 Behind Maddie is Kaneohe Bay and the Marine Corps Base.

Maddie and Isa are climbing up to make their first jump!

Way to be brave girls!

Molly and Daddy getting their courage up...

Bombs away! Way to go Molly

It was a pretty tough, muddy hike to get to these falls. It took us about an hour each way but as you can see it was totally worth it!

We kept waiting for Tarzan to show
up!

We still love to hike the "pillbox"!


Liv has found some wonderful friends:)

Molly and Isabel found a great park down the street from our new house (below)

Isa had a little trouble-
good thing it was a soft landing!

The centipedes here are big and some are poisinous! Thankfully we have not seen any in or around our new house!

Mahalo (thank you) for all of your prayers and encouragement. We have had some rough, homesick times but God has been so faithful to us! For those of you who have been praying for Molly, she is doing much better!! We are settled in to our home and doing very well. Blessings to all of you. Aloha!