A Birthday, The End of Summer, and Potty Training

Well it has been a fun and busy time for our little family.

Our little Hema turned 7 earlier this month. He wanted to know what lobster tasted like so we took him to Red Lobster for his birthday dinner. He loved it... I had to explain that it is one of those things that people don't get to eat very often. Notice his option included crab and shrimp. 

He wanted to go fishing for his birthday so we invited a couple of friends and some cousins to join us down at the fishing pond. The fishing was slow but the kids still had lots of fun. My little girls were to busy posing and showing attitude that they pretty much left their poles unattended the entire time.

We got in as much sun and water as possible before the kids had to return to school. We are not sunbathers but some things just come natural to cute little girls.

The kids absolutely love to swim. My little Vela wants to be a mermaid when she gets older. This summer she finally got enough courage to try the diving board... not stopping her now!

Little Hema wanted to give outdoor soccer a try this year and was excited to be the goalie... not so exciting when the other team couldn't get the ball past mid-field. It was a long half and he hasn't volunteered for goalie duty since.

 The kids love Grandma & Grandpa's farm. Feeding and riding the horses is one of their favorite activities. 

But nothing will ever beat the SWING!!!

 Summer has to end sometime and my little ones are back at school. 

Hema on his first day of the 2nd Grade and excited to ride his scooter to school.

Vela looking absolutely beautiful for the first day of preschool. She is in her second year and is doing awesome.

My little girls have so much fun together and Cora wishes she could go with her big sister to school.

 Now that the older ones are at school it is time to get serious about another kind of learning. Fun, fun, fun. My little Cora is making great strides in the potty training efforts with very few if any mistakes. We are so proud of her. I am also happy for a wife who is patient enough to sit for long periods of time next to a child on a toilet. Boy... I love her for that!

It has been a fun filled family summer but I am sad that each summer comes at the cost of my kids getting older. Our kids are teaching us things everyday and hopefully they are learning a few things from us as well. Thank you Heavenly Father for the blessing of parenthood. - Hema

A Mission to Boise, Idaho...

Psyche... no one is going on a mission... but our family did go to Boise, Idaho.

Our sister Jessica and her Fillmore clan flew into Boise before heading off to the Fillmore Family Reunion. They weren't going to make a stop in Utah this year so we thought we would take them some Utah Hawkins family love to Idaho. It was a quick but fun family trip. Long enough of a drive to be considered a vacation... but close enough to qualify as a stay-cation. To be honest with you my kids think going to a hotel is the vacation and have even asked why we have to drive so far when we could just go to the hotel next to Thanksgiving Point (1.5 miles away) for vacation. Be careful what you wish for, that might just be in my future plans.

You can really tell the family resemblance, I can't even tell whose kids are whose. I hope I brought the right ones home with me.
This is how little Cora likes to travel... they stopped me at the airport last time I tried this (J/K).

Here are the kids on the roll-away bed at the hotel. Can you guess which of my kids is a morning person.

We had to check out the local Man vs Food joint and ordered this baby at "Big Judd's". I kid you not, this little guy killed half of this baby by himself. Probably not a healthy option but seriously, this kids gonna eat me out of house and home.

Sterling suggested we check out Malad Gorge on our way back to Utah. Our navigation app sent us into backwoods Idaho and we spent about 45 mins wandering through some tiny towns. You know it is  a small town when the local gas station doubles as the Chamber of commerce. We eventually found it and of course it was right off the highway exit and I-15 was bridged right over it. Go figure!

This Mountain Goat came right up to our van and there is a walking bridge that spans the gorge

Me and the kids on the bridge.

The view of the gorge from the bridge. It was a cool stop right off the highway. It has a park and nice restrooms if you just need to make a pit stop.

Here are the kids at the overlook in Twin Falls. Also cool, next time I would like to drive down there and check it out.

Shoshone Falls was another awesome stop on the return home.

Looking down the river from Shoshone Falls.

But the best part of the trip... by far... was meeting up with our family and strengthening our family ties.  

We love you guys... sniff, sniff... no, I'm not crying... I got allergies... for reals!      - Hema

Family Camp 2012

This year we held our Katoa family camp at Rockport Reservoir. Fun, fun, fun!!!

The kids always want to be the first ones there but then it is just torture 

waiting for all of their cousins to get there.

Camp is all set up and the kids are jumping for joy.

Vela and Nita enjoyed playing with the dirt in the shade.

Joe, Fau, Hema, Joey, & Gene watch a movie and stay cool in the shade.

Cora was spoiled by all her cousins. Here is Loseli, Joe, and Tiara fighting for her attention. I don't think she had to walk more than 5 feet before another family member swooped her up.

Vela and Daddy spent some quality time together fishing. Here she is showing off her prize catch.

 Uncle Pita spanked everyone in chess.

 Aunty Salote found a new way to store our plastic cups.
Uncle Misi and Pita were awesome BBQ chefs. Thanks.

 A grill full of yummy meat and corn. We had lots of good things to eat.

 Cora lounging by the fire eating a treat. So happy!

We have plenty of professional smore makers in the family 

and a bunch of professional smore eaters too!

Grandpa Katoa relaxing in the shade. He loves to just sit there and watch all the grandkids run around.

Nita, Hema, and Sioti chowing down on one of Hema's fish. These kids love fish!

We love spending time with our family. This is such an awesome time for our kids to associate and strengthen their family ties. Can't wait until next year!

Camping at Jordanelle

On Monday we didn't have anything going on so we decided to do a fast one night camping trip. It was so fun and relaxing! 

The fishing was awesome and the kids and their dad caught lots of fish. There were a couple big ones worth taking a picture of! We even brought one home to eat. Yumm! 

Vela loves to pose with and kiss every fish that is caught. If they ever throw
one back before she kisses it she is so sad!

Little Hema LOVES to fish and nothing could make daddy Hema happier! It is so fun to watch the two of them fishing and getting all serious and also laughing and playing. 

Hema posing with a good catch!

The kids love to play in the tent! Especially if there is an air mattress to jump on. I used to constantly be telling them don't jump it might pop, now I just enjoy the joyous laughs. It is a lot more fun for everyone. 

Sweetest little monkeys!

 Vela is a mermaid in training for sure! If there is water this girl will find it and play in it all day long even if it is freezing cold. It is definitely her happy place. She is such a cute little swimmer! 

A little posing for the camera!

 The kids couldn't wait for the sun to go down so that they could roast marshmallows. None of them like to eat them, but they are really fun to roast anyway. I love Cora's face in this picture, total concentration putting the marshmallows on. 

 Hema has become obsessed with roasting the PERFECT marshmallow. He is getting really good at it too! 

 Check out this awesome smore creation. Graham cracker, marshmallow, banana and peanut butter cup. 

AMAZING!!! I won't say who ate it to protect the guilty. 

 Ooops! I guess you know who now!!

 We picked up a pizza in Heber so we didn't even have to cook dinner. It was great. Here is Hema warming up a slice. Total lazy camper's meal. 

We had such a great time, we will for sure be doing a lot more camping this summer starting with the Katoa Family camp this coming week! Wooo Hooo for summer!