Aloha!!!

Well we made it all in one piece.  It was tough, but worth it!  It all started rough Thursday night.  We didn't leave our home till 11:30 at night and got to my mom's after midnight.  We almost had the packing correct, with the exception of 2 bags being too heavy and one being way light.  Jason fixed that!  

He left around 5 a.m. with my mom and dad.  My dad drove them to the airport.  After Jason and my mom were in the terminal and my dad had gotten to work at Primary Children's, he noticed his bag missing.  Jason had accidently grabbed it, thinking it was my mom's.  My dad got to the airport just in time for Jason to run back out of the terminal, hand it to him, go through security again to then get on the plane just as they were boarding.  Lucky!

I left my mom's at 11 a.m. with little sleep.  I tell ya I was frazzled at this point already.  I almost forgot to deposit some tuition checks at the bank and while doing so I remembered I had left the camera battery charging at my mom's.  So back up the hill I went to pick it up, to then pick up my mother-in-law, and then to the airport.

Curbside checking is awesome!  Even the security check went fine....8 bags later including getting out all the electronic devices, liquid bags, shoes and jackets off, etc.  We ate lunch at the airport, boarded the plane, and all went smooth.  No fever for Kai.  My medicines helped my tummy and head conjestion.  

We landed in LA and doom!  It was tough at that point.  I had to drive the stroller loaded full of all of our stuff outside of the airport, board a shuttle bus, then walk to another terminal to then do a security check AGAIN!  This time longer lines and lots of eyes on me!  I was looked at oddly as soon as I exited the plane into LAX.  

We got through security, found our gate, used the bathroom, and the 1 1/2 hour layover was gone in an instant!  We got back from the potties and they were already loading the plane.  It was tough, but the kids were all champs.  The airline checked a few of our bags under the belly which was great!  I didn't have to walk to the very back of the plane carrying 8 plus bags...with little help from my little kids.  They flight was great.  Eli fell asleep quickly and slept the rest of the way.  Kai and Kezia did great.  The food was awful though...some Italian pasta salad stuff...not for kids...but thank goodness I packed other snacks.  

We were greeted at baggage claim with a smiling Jason and Mom!  They greeted us with some beautiful Leis.  Hawaii is so beautiful!  It's been amazing so far.  We are so pale then everyone...this is to change.  Please continue reading Kai's journal entry.  He sums it up well.  Aloha and Mahalo to all!

The following is a journal entry written by Kai for his weekend news that he shares with his class at school.  His words explain a lot of what we have done so far this weekend.  

Dear Class,

I know this is late for the Monday Weekend News, but we are 4 hours behind Utah and it's been busy to finally sit down and write.  Hopefully our internet connection will work while I type this.

Happy Birthday Kami!

It's great in Hawaii.  Our island is Oahu.  When I went on the plane, it wasn't just one plane I went on, it was two planes.  One to Los Angeles and the other to Honolulu.

Mrs. Meisch,  I have already finished reading "High Tide in Hawaii."  Thank you for the book.  It is good!  

Mrs. Pilkington,  I have to write on my journal and my mom and dad put it on the computer.  

At Hawaii, my family- me, Kezia, Dad, Mom, Eli, and Grandma Simmons went to Costco on Saturday.  We had to get a lot of food and stuff to help our house.  We also went to the beach park in Kailua.  This is where we are staying for the first 6 weeks.  We went swimming in the ocean and then came home and went swimming in our backyard.

On Sunday, I went to church.  The hallways of the church were outside.  I met some new friends.  After church, we went on a trip around the island.  We saw the Pacific Ocean.  We went to the North Shore and ate at a restaurant across from the beach.  We went to the Pipeline to see the surfers.  We went to the Laie Temple.  It wasn't lit up at night because they are remodeling it.  Instead we went in the Visitor's Center.  There were all different kinds of Book of Mormons in many different languages.  

We have come across many insects and birds.  In the mornings, we can hear all kinds of birds chirping.  We have lizards in our backyard.  A few cockroaches in our house that  slowly die after eating the bug poison.  We also saw a frog and centipede in our swimming pool.  

Have a nice spring and summer.  Kai

P.S.  My name is the most popular word used in many names of places.  Such as Kailua--the city we are staying in.  We are staying on Kainui street.  We have driven past Hawaii Kai.....Kai in Hawaiian means "Ocean".