Surgery Take 3, Giving Thanks, and 57 Degrees with Snow

A few days after Mom and Dad left, we had friends come to town and met them at Polihale for a bonfire.  These were friends we went to Polihale with more than a dozen times when they lived here about five years ago.  They live in California now and it was lovely to catch up.

Matt, on the left, has moved back to Kauai--our second friend to come back of the many who have left.  Megan and the kids will join him after Christmas.

The kids were good sports, especially since there were no other kids there.  They ran around in the sand, roasted their mallows and fell asleep by the fire.

I'm so sad we never think to bring our camera on our Sunday night walks, especially with gems like this that I would love to blow up and put on the wall.  I loved that we looked up and this was the scene.

I've known for 2 years that my Morton's neuroma needed to be removed, but I delayed it until I could not cope with the daily pain.  After my knee surgery, I was especially apprehensive.  Recovery is a bear and the disruption to daily life and activity is hard to deal with emotionally.  I researched and went for another opinion before deciding that all the conservative methods had been tried and failed.  Then, I scheduled it and got it over with.  My surgeon said it tied for the largest neuroma of his career.  While I was in there, I decided to try Topaz for my plantar fasciitis as well.  My foot was one swollen, black-and-blue blob for a couple weeks.  I was surprised how easy the recovery was with crutches and a boot the first week--nothing like knee surgery!  By week 2, though, I expected to feel better than I did and now at week three, I'm getting a little impatient and ready to walk and stand without so much discomfort.  Hopefully I'll get there in the next few weeks.  I'm most anxious about my plantar fasciitis and desperately hoping the procedure stimulates recovery.

Three weeks later:

The night after surgery, watching the kids get the crazies out with Brady.  My crutches were a hit with the kids.

Owen has never been one to watch a show but he did plug in a couple times for me the first day.  Keeping him happy while I was home alone with him was my biggest concern and it was not as hard as I anticipated.

Brady was sure to run around with him after he got home from work.

That Saturday, Brady and Zachary woke up and did the annual Koloa Sugar Mill race, both competing in the 5K.  Zac improved his time from last year and was excited to run most of the way with his friend, Keen.

The following week, Zachary went with his entire 4th grade class to Koke'e for a three day field trip in the mountains.  I was not in a position to chaperone with Owen and my foot, and Brady couldn't with the house.  We knew the chaperones well and he wanted to attend.  He loved it so much!  What a growing experience away from us, learning the history of the island and developing better relationships with his classmates!  I wish I had chaperoned but this was not the year.

Highlights from the trip, according to Zachary:

-4 mile hike that was awesome!  I loved jumping over the water on the rocks.
-Learning how to play chess from my classmate Chandon and winning several games. Actually, a lot.
-Playing kickball.
-The really scary ghost stories.
-My perfectly golden s'more around the campfire.
-I was really good at Sharks and Minnows.
-I got to sleep next to my friend, David.

Kate and Owen kept each other entertained at the park and both said they missed Zac every day.  Owen kept saying, "Zac?  Zac?" each morning and Kate lamented that it was quiet at the house and the dinner table without him.

That weekend, Zachary had a birthday party so we took Kate to lunch and worked on house errands for a few hours.

Owen chooses the funniest ways to get into mischief.  For example, eating asparagus right from the package for 10 minutes???  Today, he rubbed gobs of sunscreen into his hair.  He feels like he has every right to sit on the counters and table and we pull him down 30 times a day.  He gets on the computer and piano and bangs away.  He loves drinking from a cup but it mostly ends up on the ground.  He hates bibs.  He loves drinking milk from a bottle.  He brushing his own hair and hates it when I style it, rubbing his hands all over his head.  He dresses up in Zac and Kate's clothes and loves his Darth jammies with a cape.  He immediately finds a light saber and marches around the house to our ooohs and aaahhs.

 Zachary can't find a safe place to keep these from his destructive little fingers.

The following Saturday, the kids both participated in a futsal tournament.  I was so impressed Kate wanted to participate, and although she was cautious and nervous, she played and her team won their age division.  Zachary was really bummed it was not a double elimination tournament, but had some great goals and passes.

That night, we went to Brick Oven.  The kids played with their dough and died over the "pupu pizza" and Kate insisted on wearing her sunglasses inside "like a movie star."

Owen adores Nic.  If Nic is around, Owen fights to get out of our arms and into his.  He snuggles up and throws a fit if Nic is not the one to put him in the car after church.  It's so adorable.

Sunday night pumpkin pie.  The kids claim it is their favorite, which works nicely because it's my favorite, too.

Owen likes it so much, he double fisted it last Sunday while we were distracted.

I love this series of bro shots.

For Shay's birthday, she picked Kate to dress up and get pedicures.  Kate felt like a princess.  She loved how it tickled her feet when they were scrubbed and getting bumped around by the back massage chair.

I've had exactly two pedicures in my life so she will pass me up in a hurry.

Ohana picnic and math day!  Zachary was excited for a week to play the math game he invented with us.

Another couple brother shots:

It's a little strange to go to a Christmas performance before Thanksgiving, but it was darling listening to Kate sing her heart out with the Hawaiian lyrics.  She kept a huge smile pasted to her face the entire time.

Kate with her good friend, Daysha:

Kate with her teacher, Mrs. Miyasato:

At the end, the kids were surprised with Santa and "snow":

Thanksgiving Day started off with Turkey Bowl.  We asked Kate if she wanted to play but she preferred playing at the park with me and Owen.  From the park, I was still able to see Zac make a few clutch plays in his game and Brady throw a touchdown pass.

Thanksgiving this year was the BEST.  We may have found ourselves a new tradition--eating at a hotel!  Every year, I slave away in the kitchen the day before and most of Thanksgiving Day, feeling annoyed because I'm cooking all kinds of food I never make the rest of the year (with loads of help from Brady).  I love hosting the meal and I love gathering with friends, but we were in no position to host a big gathering in the house we are renting (plus my foot was not in good shape).  Instead, we went to dinner at Koloa Landing with the Hadleys and Clarks.  The morning was so relaxing and enjoyable.  The day before was stress free.  I thought flavor would be compromised with the buffet-style meal but it was fabulous, complete with crab legs, shrimp cocktail, sweet potato stuffing, incredible mashed potatoes, savory butternut squash soup, and pineapple lilikoi salad dressing for the kale salad.  Zac's favorite part of the meal was the "Panda Express" rice.  Kate's favorite was the crab legs.  Mine was the sweet potato stuffing.  Brady's was the potatoes.

Nic's nose was causing him havoc after getting pummeled at the football game.

I will say the only thing I missed was pie.  I'm not into the tiny fancy desserts, and prefer a nice slice of pumpkin pie the last Thursday in November.  Good thing we loaded up on Sunday pumpkin pies all of November.

That night, Zac said, "I think I had one too many plates of food.  My belly.  Oh, it ACHES!"

Todd got us access to the pools, and the kids loved swimming even though it was so brisk and windy. 

We thought the 4 day weekend would include at least one day at the beach, but it's COLD.  I know, enough with the comments about chilly weather but when it is 57 degrees in our house and we have no heat (and minimal warm clothing), we are not super excited to get wet--in the shower or the sand.  Instead, we had a family movie night, baked cookies, had friends over for a game night, and put up Christmas decor.  It seems so early to have Christmas up but the kids disagree.

Zachary completed a project for school and he and Kate did a couple Tinker crates together.

The kids also renewed their love of Play-Doh.

The house is coming along!  In the past two weeks, it went from looking like a bunch of sticks to feeling like major deja vu now that the drywall is in!

We order mass amounts of products right now, which piles on credit card points and also a few surprises like this monster that nearly got Brady:

The biggest changes in our home are that we vaulted upstairs and increased the size of our kitchen.

Christmas season: here already?!?