I am 1 year old!

Makana turned 1 year old today, and we celebrated with a cake decorated with cheerios. Dave thought of the idea, and our little girl absolutely thought it was wonderful! She didn't eat any of the cake, even though Daddy cut her a piece. She only saw as far as the cheerios and was more than satisfied.

We didn't dare try to duplicate the adorable Einstein caterpillar cake Kawika (and Mary) made for her party in Hawai'i, but we were glad Makana was blind to the discolored pudding frosting and lop-sided cake today.

This morning we gave her a little hair cut, giving her bangs, for her hair was getting a bit unruly. She also loved to look at her hairpieces after they were put in her hair, so that often left her hair either half or completely undone.

We are truly blessed to have Makana as a part of our family; we are so thankful. Our prayer is that God will continue to protect and grow her physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Question

What should one do when reading (to a child) incorrectly written sentences in children's books?

a) Read the sentence as printed (albeit incorrect).
b) Read the sentence correctly.
c) Cross out the typo (or just plain poor grammar, spelling, etc.), edit the text, and then read the sentence correctly.
d) Other options?

New England Trip, Part 1

After loading part of our trip's photos, I have decided to split them up into different segments, as there are MANY! Unfortunately, because I had started to load them in alpha order and not sequential, you are viewing pics from the beginning, middle, and end of our trek to New England.

We had a wonderful time with Dave's family. We visited Donna (his sister), Tony (brother-in-law), AJ, and Dominic (2 cousins) on the way up to Vermont. They took us in at around 3:30 am (Is that right?). Yikes! They have an amazing play room for children! As you can see, all three children enjoyed playing in there.

We then stayed with Grandpa and GiGi in Vermont. :) Everything was about Makana, but we did take a little time to celebrate Dave's father's birthday. :)

It's Final!

We finally finished our adoption procedures this past Monday, March 26th! WOW! That surely was a L-O-N-G process! Shown here is our Arizona homestudy coordinator in one picture, and the judge in the other. :)

A Glimpse . . .

. . . into our past 3 weeks . . . .

We're Home Again! :)

Whew! :) We were in Vermont in the frigid cold at the beginning of this month and have just returned from Hawai'i. We have tons of pics that I've yet to upload. In the meantime, these are three pictures from my cousin Im (also known as Cheryl). :) Thanks, Im! They were taken at Faith Christian Fellowship after the Sunday worship service. :)

BTW--FCF is special to Dave and me, for that is the venue through which we met.

Makana is wearing her birthday lei we got for her in Chinatown. I had to alter the length and didn't get it on her until the day AFTER her party! She smelled heavenly with the sweet pikake interwoven with the baby roses. :)

Some of My Favorite Things

When we went to the park, we saw a cat creeping toward the swing area. Both Makana and her new friend (in the background) were quite interested in what the creature was to do once it got close.

Finding Nemo is one of Makana's favorite pastimes--literally. We hide Nemo, and she tries to find him. :)

Makana is allowed to go into my scrapbooking bag, where I place ribbon at the top. She loves to play with ribbon. It may be the color, the texture, the length, or something else that intrigues her. Whatever it is, she reminds us of a little kitty getting excited over a ball of yarn.

We did a taste test while we were waiting to be served at the Macaroni Grill (where we never did get served). Out of Gerber Puffs, dried apples, and Cheerios, Makana preferred Cheerios. No matter how we served it, she would fish out the Cheerios from amongst her other choices. After her Cheerios were gone, she'd eat the other things. It's fine with us; Cheerios is the most cost effective. :)