Bye, Bye, Bruddah

Here are some pics from Kale's last evening in Washington. 

As always, please accept apologies for my mediocre photography skills; unlike some overachievers I'm related to, I do not possess photographic genius that I keep well hidden.  Nuh-uh--I'm full of incompetence, and I let it all hang out. 

Now, on with the show:

The REAL reason everyone shows up to our parties.  Just joking. :D

This looks like Round 2 for the speedier eaters amongst us...

Kale has trained his friends well; note the quick drop of the shaka
when the cameras come out.  Chee! :D

Mr. & Mrs. Picha.

The teenagers....

The girls....

Wow...I just realized how closely they like to sit together.

Jamie, signing the banners the girls made for Uncle. 
I wonder what's going on with the phone.... :)

Kiana's perspective--generally, much more interesting than mine (and I'm
not just talking photography here...)

Group shot.  I had to laugh at this one; it looks like Mark is having a
hard time getting his shaka to work....

Ah--there it is! :-9

Mana and Noah wanted a shot of everyone Tebow-ing, but, hmm...yeah, it
didn't work out so well.  Still, a funny pic. :D

Time for us to go home: "Hurry up and take the picture before I start crying."

Still holding it together....

And he's done.

Love my family.

Miss you, Kale.

Thankful...

...to be part of such a loving family.

...for the examples of faith and willingness with which I'm surrounded.

(I'm also thankful that there are no pictures of me on this night; I take "the ugly cry" to a whole new level, and, trust me--nobody needs that memorialized.)

Now I have to go console a few little girls who were reminded again of how much they miss their uncles.  Which reminds them of how they constantly miss their cousins.  Thanks, Kale.  And you started this round, Josh, so a great big fat thanks to you, too. ;-9  Noah, come eat. (Bring Dad and Mana, too.) ;-9

Happy Tuesday!

The Post with Lots of "Quotation" Marks

This is another "small stuff" post.  I missed opportunities to write about a few "big" things; they seem kind of "old-newsish" now, despite the impact they continue to have on our little family.  I thought I'd wait for the next big thing before posting again, but I think this really is a "little moments" kind of a blog, and those moments are happening as I write, so let's begin:

Kale's Gone:

Not to be dramatic or anything, but...Kale has abandoned this Pacific northwest ship, in favor of a canoe.  (That's my very indirect, don't-really-want-to-think-about-it kind of way of saying Kale has returned home to the Big Island.)  He, too, is a half-and-half boy: love Hawaii, love Washington, happy to be here, while wishing to be there, yada yada.  But, as most grown-ups know, he needs to go where the work is, and right now, the work is in a warm and sunny tropical paradise, near 2 of 5 of the most precious girls in the world (love you, Cali and Benz <3). I can hardly hold it against him, eh? ;-D


Mission: Accomplished:

Kohala wrapped up its very first tour of the Pacific Northwest last week; thanks so much to all who came out to see them!  "Dad" has finally arrived, and we are glad to help him settle in as he revels in the post-tour afterglow. :)  The band was thrilled with both the turnout and response, which went far beyond expectation (thanks to all, again and again! :D).   They have already secured performance dates for June, with more to be added soon; I'll keep ya posted. ;-) 

(For some great pictures of the Bainbridge concert, take a look at Bethany's post.)


Goodnight, Moon:

On our way home tonight, we spotted the moon: a tiny sliver, hanging low in the sky, surrounded by glittering stars.  It seems that we go months around here without seeing stars, and I had to wonder: is it because we always have a good little cloud-cover, or is it because I just forget to look up and enjoy?  A little bit of both, I think.  My thoughts turned toward one of our recent trips home, and driving up the mountain to watch the moon rise on Mauna Kea; just the memory of it still takes my breath away.  Brandon shared at Olympia this past year about how God didn't just make this earth habitable for us, but he went so far as to make it beautiful, a place we could enjoy; it is so true, and I don't appreciate this enough.  It was amazing, being up on that mountain in the cool, crisp air (cold enough that Malia thought we'd been magically transported back to Washington! :D), the moon looking close enough to reach out and touch, and getting a very clear picture of the tinyness of humanity.  We have so much to be thankful for. 

20 Years:

Today marks either the passing of or funeral day of my grandmother 20 years ago; I'm embarrassed that I don't remember exactly. I also can't believe it's been 20 years. I'm grateful for time spent and memories made with her, and love seeing the best of her live on in my dad and his siblings. Love you, Grandma.

(Here's a funny little aside:  While trying to figure out how long it's been since Grandma's passing, I discovered I'm actually a year older than I keep claiming to be.  Simple math, DoRe'--simple math. :D)


Wow...that took up more brain power than it should have; can I blame it on the fact that it's bedtime?  I was hoping if I dragged out the writing, my computer would start cooperating and let me upload some pics, but no dice.  Oh, well.  Time to ho'i i ka hiamoe. :)  Good night!

{ Happy Saturday! }

Weekend Update

Another great weekend. :)  

We headed down to Portland on Friday:  Daddy and girls, to explore the city; I, to hang with my homies, my "ONWGs (Original NorthWest Girls, duh ;-D),"  my "peeps" from my early days here in Washington. 

(Let me know if I'm trying too hard.... ;-9) 

Truly, though, these girls were the first friends I made after moving here: they embraced me in all my shy, ignorant, timid 18-year-oldness, and have never let go; for this, I am thankful. 

Just chillaxin' on Friday night. 

The party spread on Saturday.

Liev got to be man of the house for the weekend.  (I know it's blurry, but I
just couldn't resist posting this.)

This is what he looks like with clothes on. :-D  CUTE.

The Rallier-of-the-Troops, Party Planner Extraordinaire, and Mommy of Liev.
To her right, Homemaker Extraordinaire, in the only pic I have of her
on this day; she was always working diligently behind the scenes, making sure
things were running smoothly.  A quiet reminder to me of having the
heart of a servant.

Mama of the Mama. :)

Big sister, proud sister.

Mylene's oldest. :)

Mylene's youngest. :)

She has always been stunning...

Glow on wit' yo' bad self, girl..... :)

The "We *Heart* iPhones" club.

Duty calls.  I mean, husbands.  Yeah... husbands. :)

Sisters....

More sisters, on Sunday morning. :)

Kiana calls these "texture shots."  (What do *I* know?)

Yum...

After meeting on Sunday.
(Why, yes, I am standing on a step; why do you ask?) :D

I wish we had pictures of dinner with Aunty Karen and Koral on Sunday night, but I forgot the camera at the hotel. :(

I'll close with a couple pics from Valentine's Day:

The Valentines the girls made for each of their classes. 
I can't tell you how much joy it brought me to cut out 120 tiny little paper leaves.

Pretty in pink... :)

It's good to be home. 

Now in the throes of putting a goodbye dinner together; thanks, Kale. :-S

Happy Monday!

It's Friday, folks--otherwise known as the start of the musician's work week.  :)  Not surprisingly, my brain is operating in a slightly different mode this week, as we watch/help Dad prepare for the start of this mini-tour; he's excited, and so are we. :)  Kohala's kicking off with their first show tonight in Seattle, and then back to this side of the water tomorrow night, on Bainbridge Island.  Let's look at this one more time; apparently, I'm too lazy to type up details:

Looking forward to seeing many of you, and tickets are still available for the rest of you feet-draggers. ;-D  Click on the link in my sidebar to your right.  For those of you in the Portland and Eugene areas, Kohala will be coming to you; you can click here  for a full list of this tour's performances. 
 
For tonight, though, all bets are off; I have cleared the calendar, and we are going to sit around and do nothing.  (But how does "doing nothing" translate into an early evening playdate and trip to the mall for Youngest Daughter; a long-overdue Daddy/Daughter date for Middle Daughter; and Oldest Daughter hanging out at the uncles' house, doing cool tween-agerish things?  Odd....)

I think this will be all for now; it feels like there's been much to write about, but for some reason, I'm at a loss.  Kinda anxious to start doing nothing, I think. ;-)  Enjoy your evening, and remember to smile:

It's Aloha Friday!





Ah....

New month, new blog background.  At least, I think that's how this will work.  We'll see; I'm notoriously flaky at this sort of thing. 

Just another day here in DoRe'ville...

The sky was a brilliant blue when I took the girls to school this morning; the kind of blue that makes Pacific Northwesterners feel a little feistier than usual.  I rushed home to finish my chores (!), and by the time I headed back out to the gym, the blue had surrendered to a nice little cloud cover--oh, well.  It was exhilarating while it lasted. :)

In other mundane news, I finally got around to loading the Photoshop I got for Christmas; moved all our photos over--I think it said there were 15,000+ of them?  I can't wait to go through and start organizing them, like I've always said I wanted to.  No, really.  I'm totally excited about it.  Okay, no, I'm not.  BUT.  I did find some oldies but goodies, and then I saw this vid I uploaded to Youtube a while ago, but didn't share, I think? 

I just hope she doesn't do the same thing during the Kohala concert.  (That's next week Saturday, by the way; got your tickets yet? :D)  Dad arrives in Washington tomorrow night, and--wait, scratch that.  Charles Recaido arrives in Washington tomorrow night, and then I expect the guy we know as "Dad/Papa" will be showing up in a couple of weeks, after the tour is over. :)  This is serious business, and will require absolute one-track-mindedness  focus; you don't become an award-winning guitarist any other way, I suppose. :) We just stay out of his way. :-D Love you, Dad.

Well, all for now; it feels like bedtime.

  Happy Wednesday!

Stuff

(Exhale...)

It's been 7ish days since my last post; it seems it would be a good time to update.  I've even been feeling the need to write, but maybe it's more to get my thoughts in order, rather than to try and create something for public consumption. 

I dunno; let me see where this goes.

My thoughts are all over the place, but a major theme as of late has been death--there's been a lot of it.  It seems like every time I open my email, I can expect notice of someone's passing; you'd think I'd smarten up and quit checking my messages.  Haha--not really, but I tell you, somedays..... I have to remind myself to breathe as my inbox loads.

The most recent passing was that of a man I've only ever crossed paths with a few times in my life; perhaps that is why this deep sense of loss is so striking.  My earliest memory of Dellas is not even a clear one; I only recall that he was on the Big Island for special meetings at some point during my childhood.  What does remain crystal clear is the memory of my mother on the car ride home and in the days after those meetings, listening to her speak of all that had spoken to her heart; it was evident that what Dellas had shared that day resonated with her in a way that would affect her spirit, her choices, her life, even if only for a little while.  A child does not soon forget the person who has spoken a message that moves her mother so deeply.

In 2010, we were fortunate to be at two conventions with Dellas; first at Olympia, in August, and then at Hawaii, in November.  The smaller size of the Hawaii convention seems to lend itself to more opportunities for visits with various ones; one evening, my (tall, slender, handsome) brother and I were standing with Dellas, waiting for dinner to start, when he asked us, "So, you two are brother and sister, hm?"  "Yes."  He looked at Kale and pronounced, "Looks like you got all the food growing up."  It makes me laugh to remember the kolohe (mischievous) look in his eyes as he said this; I reassured him that I got my fair share, along with the misfortune of only growing sideways, instead of "up."

So, we are Salem-bound on Friday evening to attend the funeral of this man who gave his entire life for the ministry.  I remember being struck by the gravity of that as we listened to him speak at Hawaii; he was seated, too weak to stand for the duration, but remaining faithful in delivering the same powerful message.  This image has oft encouraged me in my place since then. 

He will be missed.

Tidbits

• French pusher cup
• Madonnna/Lady Gaga
• Happy Birthday, Jennifer
• Start a blog, Josh
• Deriving joy
• The rain falling on my windshield this morning looks suspiciously icy
• This song should never have been remade

tid·bit

 noun \ˈtid-ˌbit\

Definition of TIDBIT

1: a choice morsel of food

2: a choice or pleasing bit (as of information)

 

 

As it were, I guess these are not really choice morsels of anything; most are just little bits of the unrelated chaos that zing through my brain as I go through my day.  No life-changing wisdom to be found here today; my brain is in a funny place this morning, and I seem to be having trouble developing thoughts in their entirety. :-9  If it's any indicator, I just tried to put the plastic wrap away in the refrigerator, and then I thought I could set a timer on our home phone, which has no timer function.  (Hm.  Should I be admitting these things?)  Anyway....

Now, let's see if I can write a remotely interesting and relatable post out of these random thoughts.....

French Pusher Cup:

Yes--I, too, thought Malia was referring to an element of a Madonna or Lady Gaga ensemble when I heard her speaking these words.  As it turns out, a "French Pusher Cup" is really just what she calls the handy little french-press travel mug Heidi gave me the other day.  Thanks, Heidi. :)

 

 

Madonna/Lady Gaga:

Speaking of, these two are not often on my mind, but virtually one and the same in my mind--they carry a similar vibe, relative to their time.  I heard LG's "Born This Way" for the first time yesterday, and I've gotta agree: it is reminiscent of a coupla Madge's songs, which I guess she's annoyed about.  I wonder, is this "tribute," or "copycat"?  I also wonder, "Why am I even thinking about this?" :-p

Happy Birthday, Jennifer:

Yesterday, my dear, wonderful, thoughtful, intelligent, shopping-savvy and multi-talented friend Jennifer turned onescore and 19 years.  (I'm counting on flattery to save me from a beatdown for revealing her age. That, and the Happy Feet-makers I got her for her birthday.  :-D)  Our friendship, slow to develop at first, has over time become one I value tremendously.  Jen has a weird sense of humor that cracks me up, and a thoughtfulness about life that has encouraged me to look at things differently than I may have otherwise.  We also get a big kick out of being so physically different; we are oft stared at when spending time together, as people try and figure out how in the world that tall blonde Swedish woman, and that short round Hawaiianish person know each other.  I think most of them end up concluding that I'm her adopted child.  :-D (I am SO not earning friendship points today.  I understand this. :-D)

Start a Blog, Josh:

My brother Josh is in Japan for a few months; I think it would be fabulous for him to start a blog chronicling his days there--just a pic or two, with a word or few, so we can see how it's going for him.  I wonder if he doesn't already do this on Facebook, but I'm not there.  So, oblige a loving older sister who thinks of you daily, Josh.  :)  Love you.


Deriving Joy:

Yeah--I definitely haven't thought this one through; just starting a running list of those things from which I derive joy--it's good for me to think of this.  I wonder what would be on your list?


The Rain Falling on my Windshield This Morning Looks Suspiciously Icy:

My relationship with the weather has gone from merely observing it, to actually having an opinion about it.  I wish I didn't; there really is as much loveliness to be found on a rainy day as there is on a sunny day.  I just find that I am having a growing preference for sunshine and blue skies.


This song should never have been remade:

There are some classic songs that should just be left alone.  Been there, done that, and (most importantly), nailed it.  Now, let it be, and go make up your own song. :-p

Oh!  I just had one more thought (aside from "What's up with this formatting?!):

Where did they get those eyes?:

Oldies, but goodies, and the effect is still the same on this mama; I really must strengthen my defenses.  :)

One more:

A less-angelic moment that still makes me grin. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Kohala in Washington...

Well, it's official:  Kohala is coming to the Pacific Northwest for the first time ever! 

(In case you didn't know, that happy guy on the left is my dad... :-D)

Looking forward to it; these guys have strong ties to this area, so I say this tour is long overdue.  Dad is excited to be coming back to the area, where he'll spend some time before heading home (again) to prepare for Kohala's Japan tour in August--busy guys. :)   

I hear they'll have some pretty cute guest artists at the Bainbridge Island concert,

so you won't want to miss out:

I'm not biased, or anything. :)

Want to learn more about Kohala?  Palm Records

Find tickets to the concert here:  Brown Paper Tickets 

(Do it.  Right now.  Don't wait. :)

See you there!

Storm

Those of you who have access to Kiana's blog may have seen this before; I apologize for the redundancy. But, in the (modified) words of Lesley Gore, "It's my blog, and I'll redundantly post if I want to/redundantly post if I want to, redundantly post if I want to/You would redundantly post, too, if this poem happened to you." (Dunh-dunh-dunh-dunh-dunh.)  Now, on with the show:


A poem by Oldest Daughter:

Storm

Rain drips
Sky rips
River rushes
Lightning flashes
Branches break
Deep Earth shakes
A storm is born.
--Kiana Arnall


Good stuff, eh? :-D

Fine...I'll post. :) 

Already 17 days into 2012, and nary a word from DoRe'ville--what's up with that?   (Hau'oli makahiki hou, by the way; wishing you a joyous and prosperous new year, I hope all your dreams come true, reach for the stars, may the force be with you, and so on. :-p  )  I've been more busy and less opinionated than usual, which makes for some pretty "blah" blogging, I think, and so I've been in hiding.  This latest bout of writer's block has reached epic proportions--maybe an effect of the winter blues? Could be. But I hear people are getting tired of seeing Mana's face at the top of my blog, so I'll try and change things up a bit--no offense, Manz; you know we love you. :) 

Hm...I seem to be in a mood.  Let's try this again:

Gooooood morning!  Long time no see!  Ice on the lake, snow on the ground, and a sick Middle Daughter reading Archie comics in bed; winter is here. :)   Let me see if I can scrounge up a few pictures...apparently, the honeymoon with our amazing camera is over, since we never seem to want to take her anywhere anymore.  Poor ol' gal.....



"'Twas the night before Christmas...." 
Kiana and Uncle Kale

They were a little bit excited about their iPods.



I just like this picture.  This was a few weeks ago. 
I miss blue sky.*



I miss pink sky, too.*

Crunchy grass.*



I've been meaning to post this pic of Malia, during her class'
Gingerbread Celebration.  I'm not sure she enjoyed it at ALL.
:-9



Daddy-daughter date!  Off to breakfast at the Pancake House.

Well, all for now.  I guess middle school students are being released early due to deteriorating weather conditions, so Oldest Daughter should be home soon.  Fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow; either that, or let's skip to summer already.  :-9

Happy Tuesday!

*Naturally, the really cool scenic shots are Kiana's.  But you already knew that, didn't you? :)