Easter

I told Kono to smile and this is the pose he made. That silly boy!
Cute picture but that wet spot on his vest ruins it. He just so happened to spill his drink on himself right before pictures. Too bad I don't have photo shop. I also didn't have a tie for him and his pants were wrinkled, too long, and his shirt not properly tucked in. Oh well, there's always a next time and besides, his adorable face and smile makes everything better.
I am so lucky to be so adored by my son and to have him as my own.
Me and my two boys :)
Kono loves to take pictures with his Daddy. I think he looks cute the way he is looking at Granite.
Kono and Granite in their Sunday best.
This is the face they both made when I told them to look up and smile. Isn't it funny that it's the same?
Nahoa and Kono were sooo excited to start hunting for the eggs.
Last year, Kono really didn't hunt that well. He would get distracted and be slow about it. This year, he knew exactly what to do and was so quick about it.
Kono and his shy smile (he bites his bottom lip). The boys are all done hunting.
Kono was so pleased with all the eggs he found.
Not a good picture of me, but here is my growing belly. I even think it's huge. More pics to come soon.
The boys kept wanting to get into the cake. Pebbles made this cute cake. She was going to make it into a basket (with a Red Vine handle and a basket decoration) but decided that the taste was more important than the looks, since most of us aren't frosting fans. It was a yummy chocolate strawberry cake.
Kono getting ready to eat Jello eggs.
It's alot more fun to eat Jello when you can hold it!
Kono loves to make things for his Daddy.
This year was Kono's first time decorating eggs since he is old enough. He thought it was so cool.
We made it through with a couple of spills. I hadn't dyed eggs in the longest time, it was fun for me too.
All done! Kono applauding himself. :)

We had a great Easter. Granite and I both spoke in sacrament meeting on Easter. Preparing for the talk and speaking really made me ponder upon all the blessings that we are given because of Jesus Christ. I really tried to ephasize that though we are all going to be given the free gift of resurrection where everyone's spirits will be reunited with their physical bodies in perfect form, we will not have a "perfect" spirit if we don't use the Atonement properly in our lives and follow Christ throughout our lives. I am deeply grateful for what I consider are the two greatest things within the gospel- the Atonement and the gift of the Resurrection.

More Superman and Batman

I wanted to do some kind of craft with Kono today. I was trying to find an Easter one but either we didn't have all the supplies or it was just to feminine in my opinion. I found this one and Kono was stoked. He loved it. It's made out of toilet paper rolls. I just used a paper towel one and cut it.



Here is Kono playing with his favorite toys. He loves to play make believe with these characters. He calls them "Batman babies". He got the Batman cave for his third birthday and has slowly collected the characters which are usually hard to find. It took a long time to get Joker as it was sold out online on many websites and if you could find it, it was like $20 for a small simple toy. We finally found it at Target one lucky day for $6.

Dirt, dirt, dirt!!!

I did not leave a window open. Kono didn't put dirt all over the place. This is just what I've had to deal with for three Spring times now. It can surely make me frustrated when I clean and yet find this again and again. It is really windy here in Tuba City. And the thing about it is that there are hardly any trees and no bushes, grass or plants to keep all the dirt from blowing in the area where we live. Some days it will be so bad that you don't even want to take a step outside. Last year Kono and I got eye infections from the dirt. That was very awful and I don't want it to happen again. I think this year was the worst. For two Sundays it got so bad that I was scared that the roof would blow off or something crazy like that. One Sunday I got blown like ten to fifteen feet while holding Kono's hand walking to my car after church. I have never gone blown by the wind before. I thought it only happened to people who look like sticks. I am a pregnant woman! Anyway, the worst part about dealing with the all the dirt and wind is that I can't do laundry on the really windy days because the dirt comes into the dryer. The picture above isn't at it's worst. And one time I just didn't cook cause there was dirt falling onto my stove. It came in through the unfinished stove fan (maintenance's fault). It also really comes in through our bathroom ceiling fan getting all over our sink bathroom rugs, and tub. Yuck! I've never had to deal with so much dirt in my life until we moved here but nevertheless, we are lucky to live in a nice teacher's housing. We were very fortunate enough to get into a refurbished one (there are only two). Dealing with this has also made me even more grateful for plants and trees.

What has Kono been up to?

Kono did this train puzzle mostly by himself. I just guided him through and asked questions and he put the pieces together. He is liking puzzles now that he is getting older. I like that it makes him think. Here he is fixing it after it was all put together and he tried to pull the train. He said "Dang it" when it broke. Woops, he got that from me :(


Here he is all proud of his hard work.

Other things that Kono has been up to are:
Wanting to do everything himself! This makes things that can happen in a couple of seconds end up being more like a couple of minutes but I'm glad cause he's learning and becoming independent.
He loves to dress himself most of the time. This morning he changed out of his pj's into his clothes for the day with his "training pants" on and short cuts on backwards. He looked so cute but I never did take a picture. He is also doing pretty good with potty training. He does it all on his own about 85% of the time. I am so proud of him because a couple of months ago, I thought there was no hope. And if you know Kono, he doesn't like to eat, but he'll guzzle drinks in a flash and constantly soak his diapers. It is now changing, he eats more and drinks a bit less. He uses the potty numerous times throughout the day and it makes me worried if he can do this away from home.
Two funny things he said recently: I spilled my makeup bag and he willingly helped me pick up the cosmetics. He got the blush and told me to put it on my eyebrows. I started laughing and he said "Make yourself nice-nice, all pretty!" That was so funny, I never told him that makeup makes me pretty, how did he know? Maybe he recognizes the difference when I have no makeup on. Hahaha.
The other thing was that I took out a bin to look at his baby clothes. He saw one outfit that he really wanted to put on. He tried and tried and I told him repeatedly that it's too small, and that it's for his brother now. He pulled up my shirt and said very frustrated "How do you do this?" trying to find a way to open up my belly. I said "What are you doing?" He said he wanted to climb in my belly and grow so that he can be a baby again. Ahhhh, poooor Kono!

The Batman Boys

Kono loves wearing capes no matter what kind. He wanted to wear his cousin's cape and every time he put it on, it just wouldn't stay over both eyes. He looked so cute looking around with just one eye. And it didn't seem to bother him, just as long as he was...... "Batman!".

Kono and Kekoa had such fun together. They absolutely loved playing with each other. Of course all the toys that they played with were super hero toys and costumes.

We were eating lunch yesterday when these two "Batman boys" came out of the room all dressed up on their own with their masks, capes and belts. Both belts were custom fit to their trim waists with ankle tape.

More Pics in Hawaii

The first day we were there, we went on a hike up ummm.... I don't even remember the name of the little mountain but it was to a lighthouse. It was very windy. I didn't even bring shoes or comfortable clothes to Hawaii thinking that we wouldn't even have time for something like this. It was a nice hike and such beautiful scenery.

There's the lighthouse. At one point, there's an area where you could whale watch if you're lucky. The whales didn't want to play while we were there, just our luck.

Although this is not a good picture of the little tikes that came on the hike, I just wanted to show the beauty of the scenery in the background. This is at the very top.
I loved looking at the beautiful ocean that was different shades of rich blue and the white sandy beaches.
Here's another picture of us three (or four!) at the viewing/funeral.

It was such a treat to see green, green, green, everywhere! I love places that are full of plant life.

Off to Hawaii

This is Granite with his Grandma Tano in Summer 2004. We went to Hawaii that Summer and this was the only time I met her. She sadly left us on Feb. 18, 09 at the age of 95 and so the whole reason we went back to Oahu was for her funeral. At first it was just going to be Granite's parents as well as him and his sister Pebbles (Azha) going. Bahii (Tazbaa) and her husband already decided they were going to go. After receiving the offer from Granite's sweet parents to help us with the tickets, we could not refuse. So the whole family was fortunate enough to go.
Beatrice Yoshika Kono Tano is her full name. And so that is how Kono got his name. It's her maiden name. She is full Japanese but was born in Hawaii and lived there until she left the Earth. She definitely had the "aloha" style with the way she treated others. This woman was so talented at making sushi and sewing so many things. She sewed all her life, making clothes for her own children while they were young and many quilts and bags for her grandchildren and friends. She did everything by hand too! That's the part that really amazes me. Ever since she became a convert to the church with her husband Benito Barlaan Tano, they never stopped going to church. They have always paid their tithing even when Grandpa Tano was only making 5 to 10 cents an hour while working in the pineapple fields. This was a long time ago when he was earning this much. They raised their family in the gospel and because of this, most of their posterity are active members in the church. This is so neat to me and and such a blessing to be part of the Tano family. Beatrice and Benito had 8 children, 57 Great-grandchildren, and 1 Great-great granddaughter so far. I never got to meet Grandpa Tano since he passed away when Granite and I were engaged. It was fun to be around Grandma Tano though because she always said funny things (without meaning to) and was so cuuute and nice. My sister Celeste went with us on that trip and she asked her "Are you married yet?" (She was only like a sophomore in high school). Celeste said "No" of course and Grandma's reply was " Oh no rush, no rush, you're still young." She asked her again another time (this was when she was starting to get forgetful) and after Celeste told her "No" again, she said "Oh, you need to find yourself a husband." I loved the way she talked, it was slight pigeon. One of her grandsons, Derek, talks pigeon "to the max" and she could understand him. This made Celeste and I laugh because we could barely understand him but I guess it makes sense, she grew up in Hawaii all her life. We shared a room with her one night and when she was asked if it was okay if Celeste shared the air-mattress with her she said "It's okay, just as long as she doesn't steal my blankets". :) She asked a few times if Celeste and I were twins and she also said we were pretty. Celeste said one thing she remembers is seeing he kneel for prayer even at the age of 90, what a great example she showed.
Her funeral services was the best I have ever been to. This was because it was an LDS funeral where everything was gospel based. This meant that there wasn't extreme emotions of not knowing where she is, where she'll go and wondering if you'll see her again. It was not a service where you'd get bored or tired from sitting. It was interesting, uplifting, and planned well. One of her famous quotes was "The church is true, so don't make me late!" It was said that she always made it to church on time but was mostly early. She will be greatly missed and remembered by so many.




















Kono at the airport, excited to be boarding the plane soon.














It was Kono's first time on the airplane. We were seated at the tail of the plane making it very bumpy during turbulence. Kono was laughing the whole time from feeling "butterflies" in his tummy. Others felt either sick or scared but not Kono.















Kono just had to hold Miya before take off.














This was Kono's first time at the beach. I felt so bad that it wasn't a good experience for him due to the windy weather which made it very cold and not pleasant to be at the beach. The water was a little bit warm but you had to be underneath it and moving to stay warm.














I took Kono and Nahoa back to our rental van because they were both shivering. I've never seen Kono so cold before, it made me feel so bad for him. I put him in dry clothes and wrapped him in a blanket and he was still shaking and shivering so much. Whenever Nahoa or anyone else mentioned the beach, he would get upset. Poor guy, next time we take him, I'll make sure it's in the summer. You can't really tell from the picture, but the water is such a beautiful blue color, it's sooo pretty to see the beach here.














I love Kono in this shirt he is wearing.















This was at the "viewing" before services. I love these guys.





























Kono is so handsome in his white shirt and "aloha" tie.



















Here is a picture of the Tano family years ago. Both the white and pink and purple and pink traditional Hawaiian quilts were made by Grandma Tano.














Kono gave me this tiny flower to wear in my ear. He says I'm a princess.




























This was at the burial. She was buried right next to her husband. It's too bad it was a cold day. It was actually quite cool (but nice) the whole time we were there. It was nice to not see and get bitten by mosquitoes though.















Granite drinking a poi flavored bubble tea. It's not made from tea, it's just a sort of smoothie almost with these gummy textured mochi balls that you slurp up. I got a mango one. I wasn't too crazy about these drinks but Granite loved them.














We eat at this place called Genki Sushi where there is a Sushi cheif in the center of the restaurant. He makes all different kinds of sushi and places it on a a fancy conveyor belt the circles the restaurant. So all you do is sit at your booth and when you see one that you want (and are willing to pay for of course) you simply grab the plate off and eat it. The plates are color coded so you know what the prices are. It was yummy sushi. I didn't try a big variety only because I am pregnant and can't be eating raw fish and unknown things. Kono kept wanting to grab one and I didn't want him to because I didn't think he would like sushi. But he did like this egg one that had a slightly sweet taste.














Kono was so proud of himself when he was finally told he could grab one off and he did it successfully.















Granite is having a grand time trying different types of sushi.















From my chubby cheeks, it looks like I eat a ton, but only had like three plates worth. (And the sushi rolls aren't very big). This was probably from being in Hawaii a few days of doing mostly eating at family gatherings. It's a good thing I don't live here, I'd probably would have gone to the weight gain limit by now. Hahahaha!















There were eight of us adults there and a few of them were competing to see who could eat the most plates (which aren't very big). All together we ate 64 plates! Granite's good cousin Keao was kind enough to pay for us all!















Granite's cousin Amy acting so full from the food. Bahii was there too but had left the table when we took the pictures.



















We made it in the nick of time for the famous and authentic Matsumoto's Hawaiian Shave Ice.
Kono loved it but we were cold when we ate it.






























We then went to this beach (I forget the name) to go see if we can find these giant turtles that often hang out on top off the rocks on shore and eat the algae. They weren't there at the time. Too bad, Kono would have loved to see them.















There's Amy looking for those turtles.















We didn't even take a picture at the beach on a sunnier day. (It's just like me to do something like this). This was taken in the evening.














Cute Kono with his hands on his face.



















Kono wearing Local slippers. He looked sooo cute in them and loves wearing slippers.















On our way back home. Kono got to sit by the window this time but he was so tired that he fell asleep before take off. He was awake before and during landing though so he got to see all the lights from way up on top of Las Vegas. Kono didn't want to take another picture. I have few more pictures to post (from other family members cameras) so I will be making another post soon.
Oh yes, if you are ever planning on going to Hawaii I recommend going with Hawaiian Airlines. The stewardesses are so kind and they serve a free meal (most airlines now charge).