ABC'S easy as 123...................

 

So when we registered Takeshi for kindergarten (year 1) of school a month ago they did a little 'test' on him to see where he was at.

They put his sticker in the middle, which meant that he was average I guess?  Or something to that affect.

So I looked over the paper and decided I'd better get started teaching Takeshi some things before he started school.  So we've started a routine.

He's now writing his name 4 times a day.  The improvement is huge with his name.  Of course to start out with it was all random upper and lower case letters all spread out.  Now he can write his name fairly neatly in lines.  It's pretty impressive for just a few weeks.

Then we went over the alphabet names and sounds.  When we first did this paper {above} he only could do 7 out of the 26.  I thought he was better than that, but I guess not.

Anyway after practicing for a few weeks he finally got all 26 letters and sounds right.  You should've seen him dancing around yelling out 'YESS, YESSS, I DID IT MUM, I DID IT'

It was pretty cute.  I wish I had video taped it. 

Now our goal is to get all 26 right 10 times and then I'll start teaching him how to read simple books and sentences and writing as well.

I also have an app on my ipad that he has to get 10 coins on.  It works on kindergarten stuff.  Numbers, letters, simple addition and subtraction as well as simple word recognition etc.  

He's doing really well and I'm proud of him.

Takeshi, I'm noticing, is a perfectionist and gets upset if he makes 1 mistake.  I'm working on this with him and not giving up when he gets something wrong or out of place.  He's also grown a lot in this area as well.  Usually if he got one letter wrong he'd cry and give up, especially now he's getting so close to having them all right all the time.

The other day he got M wrong and cried and I told him to not give up and he powered through the rest of the letters through tears.

I hugged him and told him that I was so proud of him for not giving up and pushing through even though he was so upset.

I hope he can do alright at school.  Dru's a perfectionist as well, I totally am not one in any way, shape, or form.  So I guess he gets that from his Nakaya genes.  I figure Dru's turned out alright though, so Takeshi has a good chance of being alright ;)

5th and last Journal

Here's the plane that my grandfather fought in, in the war {below}

 So this journal was the toughest one.
It's Dad's last, and I could clearly tell he was severely depressed. He said a few crazy things that I don't think he meant but he also brought a little insight as to his feelings and happenings around the last year of his life.
What I noticed is that Dad loved Christmas with us.  It was a common theme in all his journal writings.  I love Christmas as well.  There's just a special feeling around it and it was the one time I knew I was going to have a great day with my family.  I mean there were lots of other days, but Christmas was a guarantee that we'd have great, food, and fun and laughter.  I loved it and so did Dad.
Ironically this message {below} is what Dad wrote in his journal of the Christmas in '96.  I don't know why Dad felt this way this particular Christmas.  Was he meaning that we were off on missions soon?  Or could be married?  Or was he already planning his death?  It's hard to say, but it makes me sad that he had this insight and that it was true.
Had I known that was going to be the last Christmas, maybe things would've been done slightly differently.  But he said he had a great day, so at least it was a good 'last' Christmas together.

There was a lot of things that happened to my father that last year that were negative.  He couldn't find work.  There's a bit of a back story in there as well.  Let's just say that people didn't treat Dad the best.  One was our Bishop at the time and his wife.  I held onto so much ill feelings for those two people. They were so horrible to Dad.
  It's been a process over the years to 'let go' of my negative feelings towards them.  But I have to.  I have to forgive, not for them but for me.  It's not good for my spirit to have hateful feelings towards anyone, so it's been a work in progress but I think I've either forgiven them or am REALLY close.
It actually amazes me that I'm here at this point with those two people.  I've learned a lot about forgiveness over the years that has slowly helped me to see it for what it truly is and to utilize it in my favour to progress further and further in my relationship with the Saviour and to be able to see people more how Jesus would have me see them.
If I hold onto negativity then it'll eat away at me and that's not good.  In order for me to be my freest and my best I have to have only light and positivity in my soul so I can hear what the Lord is telling me and be the best servant to him and his other children. 
I have to be light to others, who am I to hold my forgiveness from these people?  God?  No I am merely an inperfect person to requires the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord daily.
It's the merciful who obtain mercy.  Am I merciful?  I have to be.  If I want mercy then I have to give mercy.  There's no way around it.
I have to forgive, it's not mine to hold onto.  It's the Lords to sort out.  So the question I've had to ask myself is 'Do I trust the Lord?'
I do, therefore I have to leave it in His hands, and I have to trust that.  It's taken years but I do trust that, I really do.
I cannot look to the Lord for forgiveness and tell him not to forgive these people.
It's been a humbling process for me, and keeps me in check and helps me to be kinder to others and has brought me closer to the Lord in so many ways. 

I love this picture of Dad {above}  He's so handsome, yet he has a sadness in his eyes doesn't he?  Gosh I love him so much it hurts.  He could never please his parents and so I think Dad always felt that he wasn't good enough and was always trying to prove himself to them and others.  It was a losing battle.
If we're trying to prove ourselves to anyone, we'll lose.  We have to have the kind of self esteem that doesn't rely on others liking, not liking us.  It's so, so tough and makes life complicated because I'm sure we all struggle with it in one way or another.  I mean it's nice to be loved right?  It's nice to be recognized for work well done,  and I don't think that's a bad thing really, but if it's affecting us in a negative way then we need to reassess ourselves and our lives.
What my Dad needed was some good, good counseling so he could know that despite how his parents felt about him, he WAS/IS a good man, he WAS/IS a good father, he WAS/IS a worthy priesthood holder, his beliefs in the church WAS/IS a GREAT thing, sticking up for other cultures WAS/IS a great thing to do, he was wanted, needed and important to so many people and his efforts weren't in vain to us, they were never in vain to us his children and his wife.
Also some properly diagnosed medication probably would've helped Dad to get rational again.  Dad became very irrational and behaved quite weird, even for him ;)
Maybe if he had had some of this help, he would've been ok.  We asked him and he refused.  So what else can you do?  He didn't want help and without any help the results were catastrophic to all of us.

This is the last message in Dad's journal {above} I wasn't going to put these last parts on my blog but changed my mind.  It's so personal that sometimes it's tough to share with the blogosphere.  I'm not too sure really, how many people still read my blog, so it's a little strange to be thinking about who, in fact, is actually reading this.
I know there are people who read and never comment, this boggles my mind to be honest.  Sometimes it's nice to know who is 'out there' reading about your personal life and if they're not commenting how come?  Do they not care?  Are they embarrassed?  Are they stalkers?  Weirdo's?  Feel like they have nothing to say?  Not have 1 min to write 1 sentnece and hit send? Why do they like to read my blog yet never acknowledge that they are?  Seems so strange to me.  I don't need comments as I'll blog no matter what but it's nice to know who your audience is.  Sometimes I leave comments and sometimes I don't, but I'm pretty sure I leave comments on all the blogs I read enough for them to know I'm following their lives you know. 
Well, that was a rant wasn't it..........................moving forward.
Dad did love us.  I know it and I know he loved mum.
Poor Dad.  It's gotta be bad to get to the point where you feel as if killing yourself is the best option right?
So so sad.
It was hard for me to come to the end of Dad's journals.  It was, in a small way, like losing him again.  I've loved hearing his voice in his words.  I've loved getting to know him over these weeks and having him be a big part of my life.  Reading that last page broke my heart all over.  It's just a reminder 'Oh yeah, that's right, Dad's gone from this earthly life, and you're not getting a hug, smell or touch for a while yet.'  It's just a reality check that hurts sometimes.

Mum wrote a little in the end of the journal.  Again I wasn't going to put this up, but changed my mind.
This is so personal to me and so it makes me feel a little strange sharing it was some potential 'strangers' but maybe someone needs to hear this and that's why I changed my mind I guess and also why I've stayed away from going private.  I guess I still trust.................good? bad?  I dunno.  Time will tell I guess.

I have to talk about my mother for a little bit as well here.
I've enjoyed these journals as well due to the fact that it's given me some insight into how my mothers' world would've been.
Now I'm a mother and am 36 years of age in the middle of my life, I have more understanding and compassion towards my mother and her situation than I think I would've ever had had I read these straight away.
My mother is a good person.  I can't help but feel so sad for my mother because of this situation.  Logic states that my mother must hold some guilt because of all of this.  I harboured some and so did my siblings and therefore it's logical for me to think that mum harboured some guilt due to the circumstances surrounding my father.
I hope she's been able to work through those feelings and has come to a place of peace with it all.
I know that my siblings as well as myself hold zero ill feelings towards my mother about this tragedy that struck out family.  We have nothing but love and respect for our mother and don't blame her or point the finger to her for any of this.  I hope that if she still gets sad or is hurt, it has nothing to do with her thinking we lay blame in her corner, because it simply isn't true.
In the end Dad chose to not get help and Dad chose to take his life due to his mental illness.  Mum was trying to look after us, provide for us, cope with Dad's mental illness and balance her life the best way she knew how.
It's admirable isn't it?
We just never know what people are going through do we?  It's why we have to be so kind to each other and not judge.
There was a time where I wouldn't want to tell people how my father died because I was hurt by their judgmental looks that they gave me and was protective like a wolf of my father and what they thought of him.
Now I don't care whether people judge because I know that they're not the true judge, there is only one judge, and that's the judge that counts. 
Others may judge me and my family but other's don't count and don't truly know me, my family or my father, because if they did, they wouldn't judge.  I feel sorry for them and hope and wish they can come to a place where their judging can cease and kindness and love is replaced.
This is my goal and I'll continue to work on that forever replacing judgements with love and kindness.

So here's a REAL selfie for you all.  This is the real me after 2 hours of crying like a baby on and off.  No make up, hair in a ponytail and real feelings about a tragedy that is a part of who I am.
I went to bed and checked on the kids (as you do) and Masaru was awake, he immediately said "Mum, what's wrong, I heard you crying really bad for a long time, are you ok?"  I felt really bad that he heard all of that and told him "I'm ok bub, I was just reading my Dad's last journal"  That was enough for Masaru, he knew and knows how hard that is for me and he left it at that and simply said "I hope you have a really good sleep mum and can be comforted.  I love you.  Can I have a kiss and a hug?"
Poor Masaru, but the reality is is that sometimes your parents hurt and have real, raw, feelings but we're still gonna be ok, sometimes we just have it let is all out, then move forward in a happier place.
There was a lot of darkness surrounding my father's death.  It makes me sad that there was a lack of light.  I think this is why it's so hard for me, all the darkness surrounding this situation. 
Us kids got grief counseling but it sucked.  The guy was useless and it did us no good.  So we've had to figure it out on our own and I've been so glad that we've had each other and how open and honest we are about it.  It's so therapeutic. 
There's no one great counselor in my eyes.  There are many and ONE is right for you.  Finding a decent counselor is like finding the right pair of jeans, you have to shop around for a while, but once you've found them, they're magic.
The only way for me to be ok is to find the light surrounding the darkness of this situation.  And that light comes from the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His plan and knowing that my Dad followed that light and is doing ok. 
I continue to ask the Lord if I can see Dad.  I just wanna see him.  But it's not my time right now I guess.  The Tuesday night I was crying and pleading with the Lord to let me see him or at least feel that he's ok.
The next day I was getting the kids breakfast and Yuki (who's never done this before at breakfast) said 'Mum can we sing a primary song?'  I thought that was a little strange but said 'Sure'  She chose the song 'Families can be together forever'  This song was Dad's favourite primary song.  I remember him singing it all the time.  That song has been hard for me to sing/hear since Dad's death. 
So I sang it with Yuki and used all of my control not to simply break down right there and then in the middle of the kitchen.
I know Dad  was there.  I know he told Yuki to tell me to sing it.  I know he wanted me to know that families are forever, he's fine and keep on fighting the good fight and he'll see me soon.
It meant everything to me and I'm grateful to my Lord and Saviour for helping an imperfect person such as myself to have the reassurance that I needed that things will work out, everything's ok and to keep being happy, positive, and worthy of the continued revelation that I need to help my family and others in this earthly life.
I love my Dad.  I love my Mum.  I love my siblings who share this pain with me and for their love and devotion to me and continued friendship.  I don't know what I'd do without them in my life.  They know me, they love me and they're there for me.  It's such a wonderful blessing in my life.  I'm grateful for my family.  I'm grateful for forever.  I'm grateful for the plan and for my Saviour.   I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to be happy and helps me to see ways to become such.  
Lastly I'm grateful to my father.  He wasn't perfect, but who is?  He did the best he could and he taught me so much.  He loved me, cared for me and wanted the best for me, always. He loved Jesus and Heavenly Father as well and was devoted to them.  He was one of the best teachers I know and I hope to be like him in that way.

Families are forever Dad and I'll see you on the other side. Save me a hug.
Love always
Your devoted daughter  forever and always xox

Fourth Journal

 So the fourth journal I think was my favourite.  Dad was ok mentally, and he wrote specifically to me, which is truly special.  It's a treasure to me that I'll always hold super close to my heart.
I appreciate being able to hear his voice as he tells me his feelings towards me and witnesses to me of his faith and counsel.
These words {above} are so precious to me.  It's true, it's forever, thanks Dad.

 I love this testimony {above} that my father shared with me.
I found the worthy man who loves me and will help me make it back to my father and I know my Dad loves Dru.  I can't explain it I guess, and it might sound weird, but Dad loves Dru, I know it.  How couldn't he I guess.  Dru looks after me so well and treats me with such respect that any father would love to have that kind of treatment for their daughter right?  I can't (but can) wait for them to meet and Dru have a chance to know my 'real' Dad and not the 'sick' Dad that left this earth.
I love that he tells me that he'll be waiting for me when I come back to him.  Oh what comfort that brings my soul at this time.
It means so much.

I need to put a plug in here for everyone who's reading this blog to WRITE A JOURNAL!!!!!  I can't tell you how much it means to me that Dad wrote in his journal.  I mean it's so healing and important for me.  I simply have to state that you HAVE, HAVE, HAVE, to write a journal.  I don't wanna get all dark but you have no idea about the future and what may or may not happen.  You HAVE to record down events and feelings so you live on after your gone.  It's so important.  I can't stress it enough.  Please, please, write a journal................please.

 So turns out my Dad was a runner.  Check out his time for the 10k.  That is SO FAST.   I can't even believe that he trained and got this fast.  So looks like by the time I'm 46 I need to figure out how to run a 10k in 43 mins so that when I get to the celestial kingdom my Dad will owe me a milkshake hahahahaha
I love that he called us punks.  That's so Dad.  We were punks.  So competitive.  Cracks me up.

 Some of the 'punks' right here.  Love this picture of my brothers.

Here's my Dad's parents and his eldest brother.  So handsome/beautiful. It's a pity I hold so much animosity towards them.

 Here's a little bit of truth my father shares about his feeling about his parents {above}  Sad man.

 Here's mum, dad, me and Llewellyn.

 Mum and dad's first home cost them 12k.  Can you believe that by selling his car he got the deposit?  That must've been some nice car!!
So for a 200k house now to get 1/3 of that money from a car (like my mum and dad did) we'd have to sell the car for $66,700!!!!  I don't know if I'll ever own a car that I could sell for that much money!!!
Just shows how our salaries haven't changed with the times to make it the same as it was back in the day of our parents.  They had it sweet man.

 Here are some of us at Bevin's birthday.  That girl up beside me is a foster girl we had for a while, Tania.  She stole mum's engagement ring and pawned it for drugs!!!  So that was a nice thanks right?
That cake is one that I made Bevin.  It's skeletor from Masters of the Universe.  Now who remembers that show? 

 Bevin and I.

 Here's a picture of my father with HIS father at school when he was little.

 Here's Dad in Dunedin before he'd joined the church.  You like that outfit?  Short shorts and socks and shoes and a long sleeved skivvy top.  Hahahaha  Cracks me up.  These shorts are pretty normal back home though.  I've got my fathers body I think. Look at his huge calves plus his legs are a little shorter with his torso. 

 Here's a poem Delwyn wrote Dad for Father's day.  So special.

Here's a poem that my mum wrote me when I left for Church College of NZ.  I think it was tough for both mum and dad to have me leave.  Not because it was me, I think it was more so that their family was changing and it was a tough change.  I think it has to be a tough transition to have your eldest leave the nest cause you know, that it's basically the beginning of the end.  I had no idea that mum felt this way at all or even cared.
Mum's not super emotional and tells her feelings towards you, so it came as a shock when I got this poem and found out that her feelings were such.
I love it and it means the world to me as well.  I don't know if mum has journals.  I asked her and she avoided the question, so maybe she does (I hope) and she doesn't want us to read them until she's gone.  Which is fine by me.

Good read this 4th journal.  Loved it.

Dru

So one of Dru's buddies wanted a 'boys night out' this week. His wife's out of town for a few days and so threw the idea out there.
 He asked me what night and we decided to do it last night (Monday). It worked best for our family as the other nights we seem to always have things going on.
They were going to go out to see a movie together.  There's about four of them that decided to all go. 
Dru said he'd meet them after he helped me put the kids to bed.
So we've had family home evening and Dru's reading 'The Great Brain' to the kids.  The kids were excited as we FINISHED it and it was a really good book.  I need to try and find the next one.
Anyway I got a call from a good mate and she actually needed Dru.  Her brother in law had started roofing and thought he could do it all on his own and get things done, but then discovered he might need some help, called my mate and her husband, and then she assessed the situation and called us for help from Dru.
Dru was on the way out the door when she rang and he had a talk to her and thought he'd pop over for a second and see how things were.
The next minute I'm getting a text from Dru telling me that plans have changed and he'll be roofing tonight instead.
So the other three, I assume, went to the movies without him.  Dru never heard from them.  And he stayed with our friends brother in law and roofed until around 10:15 pm.
Meanwhile I've decided I'm going to continue to listen to some conference talks by our church leaders and listened to this one by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
He talks a lot about how the men in the church should be serving others.  He states that:

Those who wholeheartedly turn their lives over to our Savior and serve God and fellowman discover a richness and fulness to life that the selfish or egotistic will never experience. The unselfish give of themselves. These may be small gifts of charity that have a grand impact for good: a smile, a handshake, a hug, time spent in listening, a soft word of encouragement, or a gesture of caring. All these acts of kindness can change hearts and lives. When we take advantage of the unlimited opportunities to love and serve our fellowmen, including our spouse and family, our capacity to love God and to serve others will greatly increase.

 Brethren, we as priesthood bearers have committed to be a people who love God and our neighbor and who are willing to demonstrate that love through word and deed. That is the essence of who we are as disciples of Jesus Christ.

As I listened to this talk I had a feeling of gratitude towards Dru.  This is who Dru is, to me at least.  He is service.
I knew when I was talking to my friend that when Dru found out about these guys needing help he would forgo the movies, and he did.  He was looking forward to being with his mates, but when help was needed, he sacrificed his time with his mates, to help another person in need.
Isn't this what it's all about?  I'm sure he knew he'd see his mates another time, but this man needed help before it started raining later on that night, and Dru knew it.  How could he turn his back and say no?  He couldn't because he's a good man and it's the right thing to do.
I'm so proud of Dru and the man he is and his willingness to always serve his family and neighbours.
He'll be embarrassed but these kinds of things need to be recorded down in our journals whether he likes it or not.
I'm grateful to Dru.  I'm grateful for the man he is and the skills he has so he can serve others.  He never wants recognition, like his wife ;), he just wants to quietly work and help people out.
I'm glad I know him and I'm grateful for his example and what a blessing he is in our lives.
Love you babe.
Milz xox

Easter

Dru had Friday off.  It was amazing and we loved having him home.
He went for a bike ride and I've already posted that Masaru and I went for a mountain bike ride and it really was 'Good Friday' for our family.
Dru and I snuggled on the couch later on that night and watched a mindless movie which was entertaining. Then we stayed up past midnight doing this {below} for the kids.


We were woken in the morning but the children's reactions to the maze of wool/yarn and where it all led to.
They had a fun time with it and all credit goes to Dru as he did it all.  He likes this kind've thing to be honest and I like that he likes it.
I had someone approach me Sunday at church and say 'The word's going around about your Easter basket hunt and how awesome it was, thanks for upping the standards for the rest of us' hahahaha
You're welcome!!
We then had soccer games all day and then the kids played with their mates and Dru and I went on our mountain biking date night.
We also made feeble attempts at dying eggs {below}
Dru hates deviled eggs so I only did a dozen.

We didn't do any 'hunting' on Sunday.  Dru and I had a talk about it and decided that Sunday was the day to focus on Jesus, hence the hunt on Saturday morning. 
We'd already had a special family home evening lesson on the past Monday about the Saviour and it was a really nice lesson and set the tone for the reason for the holiday we were having and the celebrations.
We attended church and it was a nice time.  No family picture as we don't do 'new' Easter clothes.  There's no reason we don't apart from I wasn't brought up with that tradition and Dru doesn't care.
I loved seeing all the cute kids in THEIR nice outfits though.  So, so cute and beautiful.
As primary teachers at church we were all slightly emotional and so that made for some entertainment I guess.
We had decided to do an Easter dinner and had invited over a couple of friends.  So Dru and I got to work cooking for the rest of the afternoon.
We'd been given a REAL ham from my mates Dad's farm a couple of months ago.  At the time I was thinking 'Man what do I do with this?' and then Easter rolls around and I'm thinking 'I'm so glad I have that ham'
So I texted Dru's brother who's THE master chef in Dru's family, and got some tips.  I think he got sick of my texts as he just ended up ringing me to talk.  Thanks Ryan!!
The ham turned out perfect.  I'm glad it wasn't a big deal as it was our first attempt.
We had our friends bring a vege tray and our other friends the rolls and we made beans, cheesy or funeral potatoes, deviled eggs, chocolate covered strawberries, hot cross buns and apple pie with some ice cream!!

 Dru's grandma's apple pie!! A tradition in our family. Best apple pie I've tasted, hands down.

My hotcross buns.  A recipe from my mother.  Love these!! 
We had to take the potatoes as well and these hot cross buns to mates houses to use their oven as ours had the ham in it for most of the afternoon.  So shout out to our mates for letting us use their oven!!!
While we were doing all of this cooking the kids played outside together the ENTIRE AFTERNOON.
I mean how awesome are our kids man!!!  There was little fighting and I'm so glad they have each other.  They really are good mates.
Masaru decided to take a nap.  Check this picture out {below}

I think he actually slept for a while out there.  The tramp is nice and warm and with the sun out it's just like it's meant to be right?!!
It was nice to listen to church music while cooking/baking and sing along to songs about the Saviour.  It set the mood really well in the house.
We had such a great time with our friends.  The night was really fun with great conversation.
It was such a great, great day and weekend.  I had a really nice time and everyone had tons of fun.

I'm so grateful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is everything to me.  Through His life, example, teachings, perseverance, sufferings, death and resurrection he paved the way for me and for everyone to be able to have a chance at living the best life possible as well as being able to live again with our Heavenly Father. But for me personally, I'm super grateful that I have a chance to see and be with my earthly father again and that he has a chance to be resurrected with a new body that's not full of  inperfections.  I'm so grateful for the healing power that the Saviour provides for me.
I always need help, and he's always willing to give it.  I want to be better and how I can be better is through Him. I owe it all to Him and to His father.  I'm always humbled by my Saviour and hope I can continue on the road to being a better person through following His ways.

Date night........

So Dru and I went for our first mountain bike ride together Saturday night.  Our mates put the word out to do a mountain bike together and we quickly found a babysitter and went for it.
I'm glad we did.  It was SO.MUCH.FUN.
We laughed and laughed and had the best time together.
There was 7 of us and it was a great group.
There were even sheep on the trail making me feel right at home.  I'm not kidding you when I say this, THOSE SHEEP SMELLED GREAT.
It totally reminded me of home and was the cherry on the top of a great night together.
I did better than what I thought.  We cheered each other on and did some big hills.
We left the men do to their downhill as we'll just never be that fast and quite frankly I'm fine with never being that fast.
I don't know how the men do it and I don't care.

Fun right?

When we were almost to the top there was this guy who'd gotten his chain stuck pretty good.  So we all stopped while the men helped out and fixed the problem.  I'm glad they were able to help this kid out.  There's no way he could've done it on his own and so I think he was super grateful.
Us girls just chatted and hung out.  It was a nice break.

We found this stone just standing on it's own like this.  So I figured I'd take credit for it like some kind've magic trick or something.  I didn't mean for my face to be so intense.  Oh well.
We went and grabbed some dinner around 9pm and headed home.
We were smashed.
I had already run 4 miles that morning!!
I initially thought we'd be quite the anchor's to the men, but each of them said it was fun riding with the women.
One man said it like he was surprized.  He said 'It was actually a really fun time and I'm glad I came with you guys.'
His wife was out of town at the time.
I mean we might be slower, but we're a lot more fun I think ;)
It's great riding with people but sometimes it's great just riding on your own as well.  But I would be useless if something fell off, so I guess I'm always better off with someone else.  The trails have so many people on them though, I'd sure someone would stop and help me out.  There's a lot of great people in Boise.
I'm so glad we did it and Dru said it was a really fun time which I'm happy about.  I was wondering if he'd enjoy it and he really did.
I hope we do a lot more of those fun nights together with mates.
That's the last mountain biking post for this week, promise!!!

Mother and Son in the mountains.

So I took Masaru mountain biking with me last night. We had to stop a few times, but I think he did great. We talked and I tried to give him goals to reach certain places without stopping. He figured out his gears pretty well too which is always nice. 

We stopped at the top and had a snack and took a couple of pictures. I decided to take a picture of our shadows off to the side of the trail. 

He drunk so much water that he went through his water and had to have mine. So we also had to stop for a potty break as well hahahaha. Thank goodness he's a boy and can take care of business a little more discretely and on his own. 

So we were going downhill and he was doing great and going pretty fast and I looked back up and he was on the side of the trail with his bike over him laughing and laughing. He'd crashed and thought that was the funniest thing ever. So I checked him out then laughed with him. He took it a little slower the rest of the way. 

It was a fun night and made me excited for when he gets better and better and can start keeping up with me then passing me then only wanting to go with dad *sigh*

But it'll be tons of fun when I can take Yuki as well. Takeshi is gong to break his collarbone first try, I know it. 

Love mountain biking and I love we can potentially do it as a family and how close tons of trails are. 

It was a great night with my favourite 9 year old. 

Fish museum

So my mate Nat and I went to a really cute fish and animal museum in down town Boise. The kids had so much fun and I'm really glad we went. There was way more to do than I ever thought and they simply had a blast. Here they are with some cute puppets. 

Here's my mates kid a little upset due to trying the horns on and them not being as fun as he thought. Poor guy. 

Yuki looks great with horns don't you think?

Takeshi looks like he's about to ram me. 

Here they are holding onto different kinds of fish weighing their REAL weight. Look how cute Emiko is. 

Then we went outside and the kids ran and ran and ran. Then they played and played and played. There's some neat ponds/rivers with fish in them that they were fascinated with. Apparently there's. 7 foot fish weighing a whopping 200 pounds swimming around in the river. We saw a big fish but not The big fish. 

We then played at the park and ate until Nat and I were Popsicles and decided to head back to her place for more play.

The kids had fun and so did I. My mate Nat has moved back this way and I love it. 

Another one down.....................

 So Yuki earned 10 'dry nights' of sleeping and so asked for me to knit her a headband.  I collected 4 patterns that I thought were cute and let her select which one she wanted.
This was the one she chose.  She also chose these colours.
At first she wanted bright red and yellow, it took all of my energy not to say anything, but I was like 'don't say anything man, let her choose'.
She changed her mind once she saw ALL the wool I had and I'm glad for the change!!
These colours go with her winter jacket which she'll still fit for the third winter in a row!! Yaaaaaa

 It was easy to knit up and I simply did it yesterday after church.
SIDE TANGENT:  Emiko threw the BIGGEST TANTRUM EVER yesterday during Stake Conference (a huge meeting of mormons that we do twice a year)
I took her out but they closed all the doors over the chapel to try and drown her out to no avail.  She's SUPER LOUD man and my worst tantrum thrower and FOR SURE my loudest.  Usually she does it at home and I just put her in her room and lock the door till she's calmed down, no biggie, but what could I do in this situation?  I just did the best I could.
I'd like to think of it as taking one for the 'mother' team because I'm sure all mother's were thinking 'At least that's not my kid'
So 'your welcome' mother's of the Boise 'whatever' stake, that I belong to, for making you feel good about your parenting skillz, which it turns out I still need to polish.
Just the other day a woman said "Melissa, I wanna get some parenting advice from you" to which I replied "I dunno if I can help you.  Every kid I have I realize I know less and less about parenting.  You should've asked me when I had no kids, I would've been FULL of advice then" Hahahaha

 Ok getting back to topic.  I liked this pattern and was excited for Yuki to wake up this morning and see it and try it on.  She said she loved it and wore it to school and showed it off to everyone and even wrote about it in her journal.

The flower is a little big.  There was more I could've added, like another colour.  I'm glad I didn't. I didn't mean to make it that big to be honest.  But I can't be bothered taking it apart and re-doing it, so it is what it is and Yuki loves it, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters right?
Now onto my sister in law's knitting project.
Don't expect another knitting post until December.  These pillows are gonna take forever to knit!!!  But they'll be beautiful and I'll probably never want to make them again hahaha

Because of Him........

He's everything and I love Him.

Finally finished

So I finally finished my nieces knitting project I started 3 months ago. I love it and am glad it's over. 

Little leg warmers and a hat. Seems easy right?  It kinda is but a little fidgety.  Worth it though. I hope Ari likes it. Well we'll see I guess. 

Now moving forward to a promised project for Yuki then onto my big project for my sister inlaw. 

Wish me luck. 

Moab

This post has a TON of pictures. So sit back and let the scrolling begin people!!

Can I just say how far Moab is now we live in Boise?
We left Thursday after Dru's work and got to Bountiful around 9ish I think and stayed the night.
The next morning Dru put the snorkel on the cruiser and I got to hang out with one of my BFF's from NZ Ryan Harris.
Unfortunately I don't have any pic's of us hanging out.
He quickly decided he was gonna come over for conference and the mission reunion that was going on.  It was nice to hang out with him and catch up for a couple of hours.  He looks good and seems happy and I'm grateful for that.

We then headed down to Moab and found our regular camping spot.  We showed up around the same time as our mates the Wallin family, and had some dinner.  The kids started climbing all the cliffs and rocks straight away.  Here's some pictures of them.

 The Wallin's kids are all older than our kids and so I was wondering how that'd go.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  Their kids are just wonderful.  They played and played with our kids all weekend and were just amazing.  They have some pretty awesome children and I'd camp with them every time if I could.  My kids loved them.  Their youngest is Masaru's age and their oldest is 15 turning 16 this summer. 
We set up tents and eventually put the kids down in one tent and Dru and I slept in the other tent.  We had some pretty awesome blow up camping mattresses and so were comfortable.
The sleeping went really well, all in all.  We had no throw ups and no kids wanting to sleep with us and it was actually amazing.
Camping must take all of their energy for that kinda stuff.

 Of course my children didn't want to ride in our 'lame' cruiser and only ever wanted to be in the Wallin's cruiser.  They were really obliging the whole time and had kids hanging off their vehicle the whole weekend.  I can't blame them though, it's a pretty sweet rig.

 The next day we got up and had breakfast and then decided to do a trail called 'Cliffhanger'
It was so much fun and we had such a great time doing it.
Look at this beautiful view.

 Brandon did a great job all weekend and made everything look easy.  It was fun watching him doing something so amazing.  There's Takeshi in the back, taking it all in.

 All the people we met on the trail were very surprized to see Dru and his car on the trail.
-"That came up this trail?"
-"Are you going to be able to make it back down?"
-"I can't believe that got up that"
-"Are you going to be alright?"
-"That car did better than I'd ever imagined"
It's nice to show people that with a nice spotter and a little effort that our car can make it up things as well.  Don't get me wrong, it can't do what Brandon's can, by a long shot, but our baby is still pretty awesome combined with Dru's mad skillz and Brandon's great spotting.
Isn't she beautiful?
I love our land cruiser.

 Stopping for some lunch.
When you get to the top of cliff hanger there's a HUGE drop off into the bottom of the valley.  There's no fences or anything, so we decided to stop for lunch on the way up rather than right at the top where potential kids could fall to their doom.

 Pretty sweet right?

 The first day I did the girls hair up in a hair do that would hold the whole time we were there.  Yuki complained but in the end I think she was grateful she didn't have to brush her hair every morning.  You just get so gross and your hair is so ratty that it's the only way I can cope with the least amount of screaming.

 Here's the kids hanging out.

 There's Brandon spotting Dru over something.
He asked me to spot him over a couple of things but I don't have enough confidence to see what would happen as I spot him over things.  It's too much pressure.

 See that bag hanging off the tire?  That's called a 'trasharoo'
Pretty awesome right?  We put all our trash in it.  It was awesome to have.  I think it's either Dru's brother's or Brandon's.  I forget.
We borrowed a few things from his brother who wasn't able to make it.  It wasn't the same without him.

 That night when we got back Chris and Luke had shown up.  That's my brother in law and my nephew.  My nephew Luke got started collecting us some firewood.
HE.WAS.AMAZING!!!!
We basically had a bomb-fire the next two nights due to all of his hard work.  It was great having him there.
Then it was nice having Chris to talk to around the camp fire.  He's always good for a laugh and for a nice chat.
They had a crap sleep and so left early the next morning which was sad.
We decided to try a couple of trails.  The first one was Pritchet.  I'm not sure if that's how you spell it.
We got to a point where it would've been a trial and error to get our car over the next two obstacles.  So we watched Brandon do them then turned around.

 Look at that great view.

 So pretty.

 Then we had lunch at this indian ladder place. 

 It goes all the way up.

 See those bits of wood wedged in there?  Well that's the ladder that you climb up.  The Wallin's did it, but our kids were too small.

 We then headed up Moab rim.

 This ones always a little scary cause it's basically cliff-side the whole way up and down.  I do a lot of ignoring and singing to myself.

 So, so pretty though.

 At the top it overlooks Moab and is amazing.  So we got some pictures.

 Emiko wasn't complying too well.

 The Wallin's.

 The Nakaya's.  Masaru wasn't too happy to be in the shot and Takeshi decided to be a T-Rex.

 We then did the extended version of Moab rim and went around the back.  It was really good.  It's the first time I've done that and it was such a great trail.  We need to do it more often.
Here's Emiko driving.

Then she fell asleep.  How?  No idea, but I had to hold her super tight so she wouldn't get some kind've brain damage from all the movement.

 There were these amazing sand hills that we came down.  I couldn't believe we went down them.  It was honestly just a huge sand hill.  It was pretty fun.
Brandon went all the way back UP the hill.  Man it looked like SO.MUCH.FUN.  I'm glad my kids were in the car.  They were like "Mum, mum you should've been in the car it was AWESOME!!"
It looked amazing.  Brandon couldn't believe he made it to the top.  I guess sometimes you can and sometimes you can't depending on the sand and if it's a little softer or harder.  We had a sprinkle that morning and so I guess it was enough for him to make it.

 Then we made it back home and had some dinner.

 They have a bike park that we went to to let the kids ride their bikes after dinner.
Here's Keston.

 Masaru getting some air.

 The younger kids getting their own kinda air.

 Masaru trying the BMX and getting some air.

 Takeshi getting out some energy.
"That's right my little boy, keep running and running and wear yourself out"

 We made smores every night apart from this last night.  We got some ice cream and hot chocolate and some brownies.  We were stuffed.

 We sat around and talked and talked.  It was a lot of fun.

 Dru took some pictures of the kids in their tent the last morning.
What's Emiko up to?

 They did so well.
Like Emiko's 'sleeping bag'?  It's this awesome snow suit that kept her as snug as a bug in a rug all night.

 Takeshi the crazy kid.

We packed up, got on the road around 11am and headed out for the LONG drive home.
We made it to Bountiful around 3pm and hung out for a while and Dru dropped off all of his brother's stuff while the kids and I played and talked with cuzzies and my sister in law and mother in law.
I knitted a bunch and am almost finished a project I've been working on for a while.  I'm so close to finishing it I can feel it.  I just need to get a grip on my house first and then maybe I'll be able to finish it.
We got back to Boise at 10pm and unpacked, semi cleaned the kids and got them in bed and ourselves in bed by 11pm.
I had the gall to set my alarm for 5:15 intending on going to bootcamp class.
YEAH RIGHT, the minute that alarm went off I turned it off and sleep for 2 more hours!!

What a great weekend with great people.
It was a long overdue trip and we simply had the best time.  I love moab, camping, 4 wheeling and the Wallins.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend and I'm so happy we did it.  These are what memories are made of.