Graduation, a move, and a trip to Kauai

So like normal, a ton has happened since I last posted.  But right now I'm going to post some pics of our amazing friends that we had to say bye to in Hawaii.  :(  And then hopefully in the next few days I will post about Tyler's graduation, our week vacation on Kauai, and our travels to Sandpoint.
     
We will miss all of our amazing friends.  Sadly we don't even have pictures with all of them.  Here are the Mizoguchis (Yuya, Sara, and YaYa!)

      
Maddie, (Ivan) and Pheonix.  Little cutie Ben-jamin! (and his crazy Canadian parents ;)

and there are more we are going to miss...Gramlichs, Lowrys, Cari and Rara, and lots more.
We love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas :)
TLt

Mixed emotions

So right about now  it is starting to hit me that we are moving in LESS than 2 WEEKS!  We are very excited to be in a new place, with Tyler's new job, and everything else that comes with it.  Recently though, I have realized how much I really am going to miss this paradise.  I have always known I would miss it but i thought with the cockroaches and constant humidity it wouldn't be too hard to leave.  I am going to miss living in Hawaii SO MUCH!!! We have been so blessed to live on this beautiful island.  The beach is a bike ride away, we can wear shorts in December, and Tayden and I can play outside almost anytime.  We get to enjoy surf competitions, the Polynesian Cultural Center, the outdoor pools, and our personal favorite, THE BEACH!
 

We are going to the beach all the time trying to soak in last minute sun! We are going to have to buy a sandbox in Seattle because this kid LOVES sand!!!

He saw a dog and decided to chase it :)

We went to a surf competition with our friends Cari and Roxi.  We had a blast.  The kids were more excited about the sand, flags, and dogs, but I saw some great surfing. 

 We have made so many good friends within the past 2 months that live within a few minutes of our apartment, and we really are going to miss all of them.  Tyler is more excited to move because it means no more homework and a job that he will enjoy!  He hasn't experienced the "Hawaiian Vacation" like Tayden and I have.   So to sum up...Yay for Seattle! *sniffle* for Hawaii.

 Tayden and Saya still love hangin out. (Tayden can climb up onto the couch all by himself.  He is a little monkey)

 Roxi (Rara) and Tayden love playing together!  We are really going to miss all of our great friends. 

There may not be a warm ocean in Seattle but we know there will be a bath!

"What do you mean we are moving?"

  

Tayden helping us shred important papers.  It was his first paper snowstorm! :) He loved it!

        He fell asleep in his high chair for his first time!  I never thought it would happen.

Aloha from the sunny islands of Hawai'i

TLt 

DAH! aka Dog

Tayden keeps growing up! His vocabulary is growing and he knows some sign language.  He speaks in sentences a lot, all of which we cannot understand, but it is still cute!

                      Someone found my colored pencils :)

His first attempt at 'smile.'

Words Tayden says:

• Ball 
• Dog (pronounced DAH!) 
• Duck
• Bird
• Yes
• Dadda
• Mama
• Yaya (his friend Saya)
• Up
• Down
• Done
• Food
• More
• Book
• Truck 
• Car (ca)
• Banana (bana)

I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them right now.  

Words Tayden can sign:

• Milk
• Water
• Food
• More
• All done
• Down
• Outside
• Want
• and our personal favorite- Please. Except the person who came up with this sign did not have toddlers in mind. It is made by moving your hand in a small circle on your chest, but Tayden likes to rub his belly. If there is anything on his hand it automatically get on his shirt. Most of the time if it's a food that will dye his clothes so he gets to eat naked. 

He knows a lot more words, but he doesn't say them yet.  For example, bath, bed, kitchen, couch, chair, table, fork, spoon, baby, pear, tree, beach, ocean, sand, and of course "No touch." :)

-TLt

Our last Hawaiian Halloween

So this was our last Hawaiian Halloween.  We have enjoyed the warm weather while trick or treating and being outside, but we are preparing ourselves for cold Halloweens from here on out.  This past weekend we got together with a couple of friends and we carved pumpkins (and a pineapple)! We were originally going to carve them on Saturday but we had a tsunami scare and had to go up to the mountains.  So instead we carved them Sunday.  We had a blast! Our friends are great!

     

Shane and Michelle.                           Us.                              Jared and Caitlin.

Here are our final products. They were pretty impressive. 

Mine, Shane and Michelle's, Jared and Caitlin's.  Tyler's (a profile of a werewolf).  

Shane gave Tayden his first lollipop, actually it's his first real piece of candy! Thanks uncle. ;)

We went trick-or-treating tonight and Tayden loved it! He loved the commotion, the music, and he loved getting stuff from strangers and putting it in his bag.  :) Trick-or-treating here is great. The street pretty much closes down and all of the houses have music and lights and of course candy.  It's like a big party in the street. 

  

Painting Tayden green was a bit of a challenge. He didn't quite like it and by the time we got to his face he was done, but if you couldn't guess, he is the hulk! 

Saya in her Tinkerbell costume and our little hulk. 

Tyler was Wolverine from X-men, I was Lara Croft from tomb raider, Michelle was a burgular, and Shane was  a Tongan superhero :)  We had a great night!

And at the end of the night Tayden was still trying to figure why he was green :) 

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

TLt

Seattle Here We Come!

So it's official....WE ARE MOVING TO SEATTLE IN DECEMBER!!!!! Tyler got a job working as a Quality Assurance Analyst, which basically means he gets to try and break programs and then fix them.  He is really excited about it.  We all are! It will be quite different from here but I'm sure we will adjust fine.  It will all work out! Yay! SEATTLE! We just wanted to let you know our exciting news. :)
TLt

Pumpkin patch in Hawaii!?

We are officially in the Halloween spirit.  No, not because the leaves are changing colors or it's getting colder, but because we went to a pumpkin patch today! Yes, Hawaii really does have pumpkin patches.  Although we might also carve a pineapple for Halloween because this is our last Hawaiian Halloween.

Notice the ocean in the background. 

 Tayden loved it! When we first set him down to walk through the field all he could say was, "BALL! BALL! BALL!"

       We found a big 'ball' to take home with us.

Yes, there really was this chair sitting in the middle of the field. :)

Thanks to the wind for styling Tayden's hair. :)

I just had to put this picture in because we think he is adorable.  This is Ivan and Maddie's little boy, Pheonix.  He is such a cutie.  

Hope you are all getting in the Halloween spirit too!

TLt

Tayder the Skater

Just wanted to share Tayden's new talent with you all...skateboarding! He climbs onto the skateboard all by himself, with the occasional falling off.  He pushes the board around the house and rides it on his stomach also.  He is for sure "Tayder the Skater."

   

This morning Tayden had some papaya for the first time. He liked it for awhile and then he decided it was much more fun to play with than eat. 

Here we are on conference Sunday. Growing up we always played legos so we carried on the tradition!

Have a great weekend!

TLt

Dear Hawaii,

Dear Hawaii,
When we leave in December we will miss you.  What we will absolutely NOT miss are the cockroaches that would like to call our apartment home.  For future residents of Hawaii we think it would be very considerate of you to teach cockroaches that they should remain outside at all times, or better yet, that they should go swim or fly to some uninhabited island in the Pacific and become extinct.  Even though they are harmless we do not appreciate finding roaches in our cabinets, behind our oven, in our toaster, on our walls, or skittering across the ground! So PLEASE TELL THEM TO LEAVE! Thank you,
Millers

Seriously though, we have scrubbed, cleaned, and sanitized everything we can, placed about 10 poison containers out, and we keep all the food sealed, but nevertheless they keep coming back.  Big ones, little ones, you name it! We kill them last thing at night and sometimes first thing in the morning.  Oh, and they have taken a liking to our car as well.  AGH! They drive us crazy, but soon enough they will be gone along with our beach, the beautiful weather, and everything that comes with Hawaii, so for now we will just try to enjoy life and ignore them and stop keeping a head count (about 20 since we have been back).  :) Roaches...we loathe you.

GGRRRRRR....

All right, so here are some much cuter, less roach-y picutres! Saya and Tayden are pretty much best friends. They get so excited every time they see each other. They wave and even attempt to say each other's names. Saya is "Yaya" and Tayden is "Ayyen." These kiddos are too cute!

   

Tayden is still our beach boy.  He now charges at the waves without any fear at all, but don't worry my eyes are glued to him every second. 

  

We visit the PCC about once a week.  Taydster loves it! I love watching all of the Asians taking pictures this little blonde hair, blue eyed boy.  :) They love him and his cute belly.  He got a REAL tattoo this week! Ha ya right.  It started coming off with his sweat. If only he were a little more tan with a little bit darker hair he could almost pass as Polynesian.  He is nice and thick, he grunts, he always sticks his tongue out, he has a tattoo, but his is %100 white.  Sorry dude.  

  

Here he is with Kap (the Samoan Chief).  We think he likes him ;)  Here he is showing off his tat. 

Tyler is still doing great in school and working hard.  

I actually got to go surfing with Maddie yesterday for the first time in forever! It was so fun! Tyler and Tayden had a boy's day out and Maddie's husband watched her 3 month old.  We loved soaking up the sun and just being out in the water without having to pay all of our attention to the kids, but it was great to come home and be with my boys again.  We are loving life.

TLt

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TORNAYDEN!!!!

Tayden is ONE YEAR OLD today!!!! We can't believe how fast the time has flown by but it has been one of the best years of our lives and it just keeps getting better!

 He came out smiling.............................and drooling :)

He came out ready to fly! And make all sorts of funny faces. 

He started eating real food, which led to eating everything in sight!

He fell in love with the beach,

his stroller,

 

bike rides,

and his cousins.

He learned how to crawl, walk, and climb.

He said his first word, "BALL!" in his demon voice.

He learned how to brush his teeth  (with help)               and how to walk in the sand.

He has received many nicknames, including our newest favorite for obvious reasons...Tornayden :)

Tayden had an awesome birthday party with colorful cake that he devoured and he got his very own big blue bouncy ball!

Happy Birthday to our Tayden the toddler (he is no longer our little baby).  This year has gone by so fast and we can't believe all that has happened.  Thank you for sharing this amazing year with us!  Wish you could be here because this kid is too much fun!

TLt