Little E's First Communion!

Our May was filled with so many good things this year!  Two weeks after Big Sis made her Confirmation, Little E received his First Holy Communion.

This was a very big day in E's life and we were excited to celebrate with him!

E was asked to bring the Offertory gifts up to the altar.

E receiving the Eucharist from our favorite priest, Father Dave.

Doesn't he look like a innocent angel? ;)

The First Communicants performed a song at the end of mass.

Grandma O and E!

E with his fan club!

More fan club members. :)

Ike was able to altar serve at his brother's special mass.

E, we pray that the Holy Spirit guides you through life in a safe, happy and loving way.

Blessing and love

Confirmation

Big Sis started our May off by receiving Confirmation.  This a sacrament in the Catholic Church when a youth receives a blessing of the Holy Spirit and chooses to become an adult in the church.

It was a beautiful mass and Big Sis enjoyed her special day.  Aunt Angie and Grandma O. came in to celebrate with us and we had a fun time with everyone.

Big Sis, Bishop Wester and Sis' long time BFF Mo.

Grandma was her sponsor.

Sis and Mo have been buds since preschool.  They go to different schools and participate in different activities, but their friendship is special and they always have a good time when they get a chance to be together.

The Fam!

What a wonderful young lady Sis has become, we pray that she will continue to make the world a better place as long as she's on it.  :)

Blessings and Peace.

A Picture Only Post...

 January -  April:  Catching up through pictures.  This is by far the fastest way to catch up blogging...a picture only post.   Enjoy!  :)

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get."

Ta Daaa!  Selam loves her Dora jammies!

Little E with his buddy J.  They were on the same basketball team this winter.

Ike's team had a great season and even won a couple of tournaments.

Big Sis with her basketball buds.

Team bonding...they are missing Gina in this pic.

Mom's birthday gift.  A wagon to haul all our baseball stuff...perfect!

Happy birthday mom!  Obviously it was late, but the kids wouldn't let mom not have a birthday cake on her birthday!

This group of 8th grade girls were amazing.  They had chemistry and they were actually friends off the court too.  Onto high school ball now.  :)

Another tournament win.  Way to go boys!

Selam is the only one who didn't have anything going on this winter, but we had to include a pic of her  too!

Ike and his buds at Biz Town.

Playing some family ball at the old house.

The kids had a free photo shoot with Highlite Photography.  They wanted to use them to test their new spring set.  Free pictures?  Sure you can take pics of our kids! :)

Little E with his first home run ball!

Saying goodbye to our old house.  

Lots of Cleats for Feet donations.

Sprinkler fun!

A great kid, named Sam, did his Eagle Scout Project to benefit Cleats for Feet.  He collected and washed 160 pairs of shoes.  Incredible!  Way to go Sam!

Little E all snazzed up for the May Crowning Mass.  He was asked to present flowers to Mary.

Spring Break!

Spring break in Maui never sounded so good!  After a cold winter and a rather busy time in our lives we were super ready for some sun and sand.  Who better to add to the fun, but Grandma and Grandpa O!  They had never been to Hawaii before, nor had they ever been on a tropical beach vacation.  Lots of firsts for them!

We really had a great time.  As tradition has it, our family vacations consist of doing as little as possible.  Room service is a common phrase and we try to adhere to no schedule.  We've learned the hard way, with 4 kids it's just easier to go with the flow.  No pressure to behave, no pressure for the parents to make the kids behave, thus no one is stressed.  Everyone is happy, happy, happy! :)

We spent the majority of our time at the pool and beach.  We went whale watching, to church on Easter Sunday, shopping, a few dinners here and there and the guys (and Ian) played golf.  That pretty much sums up our vacation.  It was perfect.

Whale Watching

You can't visit Hawaii and not see it with the top down! Dad even has the peace sign going! haha

View from our Lanai

A Sea Turtle swimming right off our resort beach, he's obviously used to humans.  He didn't seem a bit concerned about us being there.  This was the same day there was a shark attack about a mile up the beach.  

The pirate ship at the kiddy pool.

Lunch at Lealani's

I love this pic of the two boys.  

Grandma and Papa O!

Heading to church on Easter Sunday

The Lanai...where we spent so much time enjoying the view.

Of course they needed starfish from grandma and papa on Easter morning.

Ahhhhh, what a little beach baby!

The just couldn't get enough of the beach!

A wave may or may not have knocked grandma down... :)

Our very first day on the beach a nice family gave us 3 body boards.  They were leaving the island that day and wanted to pass on the fun!  So grateful for this kindness.  We found a family to pass the boards to when we left as well.

It's an understatement to say that Selam loved the water.  She just couldn't get enough of it!

Easter morning, walking to Duke's to have brunch.

We were engaged on April 1, 1995 in Maui.  On April 1, 2013 we celebrated our 18 year "engagementversary" with a dinner at MALA in Maui.  Dinner was incredible and we had a table with this view.  Love my man! 

God bless,

DJ & Danielle