Vote for Makana, so she can Eat Mor Chikin!

If you didn't know, one of Makana's favorite restaurants is Chick-fil-a. Please click on this link to vote for her picture. You will have to confirm your vote through your e-mail account. If she is one of the top 20 vote recipients, she will win some Chick-fil-a stuff and just be so thrilled!

One way Dave was able to get Makana excited about our move to Alabama was to inform her of his Chick-fil-a sightings (while house-hunting for us). Makana would then boast to her friends as the count increased daily. The final count in our area is at 5. She'd tell people, "My daddy found FIVE Chick-fil-a's in Alabama, and I'm going to move there soon!" Surely enough, as we were on the outskirts of the city, I rec'd a phone call from Dave stating that Makana had just spotted the billboard for Chick-fil-a (I was driving behind Dave in the van.). Daddy was telling the truth that this city was serious about her favorite restaurant. :)

Pinata Fun

Daddy helped Makana discover what a pinata was when they were on one of their dates. Makana came home telling me that she would have a pinata at her birthday party. Immediately I began to scheme as to how we would make such a thing. Thankfully, Makana asked for a fish pinata even though she had butterflies for most of her party things.

Makana and I worked on making her pinata. The first attempt popped as it was blown onto our rather pokey grass while it was drying outside. Dave then told me not to worry, as we would end up buying one anyway. Well, so much for a vote of confidence in our pinata making--we now HAD to make it and make it good! :)

Makana enjoyed decorating her fish that lasted the many blows by the girls at the party. Little did we know that Jamie and Makenna would love hitting the pinata! :) It definitely was a "hit"! :)

After allowing the girls to expend their energy on the pinata, Dave finally took it upon himself to break through the pinata that survived the girls' attempts.

We took a tip off the show with the 18 children: We packaged all the girls' treats individually with their names so that they would have to help each other out politely. It worked well to keep the treats contained and evenly distributed. :)

Bouncy Time

When Makana was present at her 1 year-old celebration in Hawai'i, she could only watch her cousins and friends participate in the bouncy ball game. This time around, she was in charge of showing her friends how to play. The funny thing is that the girls still didn't care much about winning, so they took turns using the two different balls. All who participated won. :)

da 'Ville Visit

Our visit to Louisville included lots of time with our brothers; it was great! :) Makana did much of the entertaining.

She had a wonderful time with the "Jo(h)n's" and meeting new friends and enjoying their company. :)

Stephen's Expressions

The nurses in the NICU said that Stephen was a "little man" of many expressions. Here are two of them (recorded w/in a span of a minute of each other).

A Surprise Treat for the Best Friends

For Grace and Makana's 3rd birthdays, Jaren had the BEST idea: Take the two best friends to Build-a-Bear to make matching friends. The girls loved their time together, and Makana cherishes her bear Anya tremendously.

In 1 Week

When Grandpa + GiGi came to visit on March 24th (pics w/the train blanket), they were able to notice how quickly Stephen grew in just one week. They went away for a few days to see Aunt Jeanne and saw a bigger boy when they returned.

We are thankful that the two siblings get along. If Stephen cries when we are driving, Makana reports on his status like a good big sister. Sometimes she'll feed him, but only for about 5 seconds. I love it when they smile at each other. See how much Stephen has grown compared to March 10th when we brought him home from the hospital? :) Praise the Lord for that! :)

March 31st

Makana anticipated her birthday so much more than in previous years. She had her cake selected a month ahead of time when she and Grandma were waiting in the hospital as I tended to Stephen. One of her activities was to cut and paste parts of a strawberry cake. When I came out of the NICU, Makana said, "I want this cake for my birthday!" We celebrated with Grandpa and GiGi, as they took a special trip during the spring just for this occasion. At the time of the planning, we didn't know anything about Stephen, but it was also special that they could meet him at this time. :)

Dave took Makana out to weed and for a walk, so the grandmothers and I arranged the balloons (that Makana and Dave had blown and hidden under blankets) and presents (including those from our outside of Arizona). Makana was truly surprised by the festive welcome when she returned.

After the day was over, she kept thanking Dave and me, "I had a great birthday! Thank you!" :)