6th Anniversary!

Six years ago (yesterday) I married this handsome guy:

(photo by Whitney)

Lucky me!  Happy Anniversary, Nate!

Reading

Manu loves books.

 It must be genetically inherited from his Daddy.  He loves looking at books, reading books, and our weekly trip to the library.

Our library has toddler-sized tables near the board books.  These squatty little counters have wooden letter puzzles on them, perfect for a pint-sized library frequenter to play with.  Early on in our library adventures we had a scolding from a worn-out librarian who did not appreciate Manu's rather enthusiastic exploration of the alphabet (In her defense they were all over.  I'm sure she was tired of picking up letters).

We've since made friends with the old librarian, and even though Manu is still sometimes downright boisterous in his pursuit of alphabetical familiarity, she gives us a smile.   And Manu seems to like the library more each week.

But most of all, he loves when Nate is home to read bedtime stories to him.

Nate's UH Graduation!

This is Nate's graduation countdown chain:

Notice that there are no links left.  

We couldn't be more excited about that.

Congratulations, Nate!  

To celebrate we've gone hiking, went out for super awesome burgers, ate ice cream with homemade magic chocolate shell, and gone to the beach.  We're already loving having Nate around more!

5th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary (yesterday) to my best friend and my dearest love!  

I'm grateful every day - yes, all of them ;) - that you are my forever.

Photo Credit: Whitney Hardie

Five years have flown by.  Thanks for making life a beautiful adventure.  I love you!

Christmas and a Day at the Beach

It's been awhile.  We've all been sick on and off since New Years and I'm definitely glad to be heading out of January and starting a new month.  Goodbye colds, headaches and stuffy noses!  Goodbye food poisoning!  Hello healthy family!  I think my 2012 is going to start in February.

Because I know you were all crushed not to see pictures of Manu at 5 months I'll share this gem of a photo with you:

Manu's Christmas outfit from his Aunt Candy and Uncle Josh!    Is anyone else singing Newsies?

Here's a few more from December:

Manu helping with the laundry.

Manu, Nate and I at the Laie temple.

Last week Nate finished his work for his Masters!  He did a great job on his presentation and is graduating in May!  Hooray!   So to celebrate that and Manu's 6mo birthday (he can wear sunscreen now!) we packed up and headed to the beach!  It had been far too long. 

And now it's time for the really cute stuff.  Prepare yourself.  No really, you might want to sit down.  Ready?  OK.  

Manu at Kailua beach!

Feeling the waves and enjoying a little sand between his toes!

Manu and his Daddy!

It is so different going to the beach with a baby!  We had a great time though.  The highlight for me was standing ankle-deep in the cool water with the warm sun on my face and Sam snuggled up in a towel in my arms drifting to sleep on my shoulder as we listened to the waves.  It just doesn't get any more soothing than that.  Ahhhh.

Happy Birthdays

Okay, let's pretend for a moment that today is October 23rd.
Happy Birthday, Nate!  I love you and am so glad that you are a part of my life.

You are an awesome Dad.  I love to watch our Manu when he's with you.  Like father, like son.

I've never seen a prouder, more loving daddy.  Manu and I are so blessed to have you.

You have a great sense of humor.

And you always keep me on my toes.  Thanks for sharing life's greatest adventures with me!  I love you!

And now, let's pretent that it's October 27th.  Manu is three months old now!  We've seen a lot of changes this month:

Manu helping with the laundry.

Manu is now enjoying tummy time!  Hooray!

Manu has also discovered his hands and loves to suck on them and whatever he can grab hold of.

And, he's still our happy little guy!  We love making him laugh with raspberries and silly noises.

We love you, Manu!