Nuhi/Au Family Reunion 2012...

*Warning:  Some pictures may gross you out*

And another family reunion has come and gone but it was tons of fun!  Every two years my family from my Great grandpa and Great grandma Kahana's side come together to catch up with one another, eat onolicious Hawaiian food made entirely by our family and to just have plain fun. 

{Naysa, Belinha, Dezi, Ian, Kia'i}

Every reunion my family makes (from scratch) the delicious Hawaiian food that everyone can't wait to grind on.  And that includes the pig.  My uncle brings a pig every year and shows the family (who can stand to watch) how to make Kalua pig from beginning to end.  Last year was a little scary with the pig running off and the men chasing it down with it's neck slit wide open!  Believe me everyone was shocked to say the least.  So this year was improved upon.  They tied up the pig, shot it in the head, then slit the throat.  I liked it much better since you couldn't actually hear it squealing from the pain.  It was already dead.

After that they bled it out, poured hot boiling water on the skin then scraped the skin and hair off using the back of a knife.  I was proud that I got in on the action too.  It stunk to high heaven but at least I can say I helped.

The remainder of the hair of shaved off using a woman's shaver.  That's Gil in the orange shirt.  Then it was torched or burnt slightly to take off any excess hair and the toenails.

Then it was time to gut and rinse.  Gil did the gutting.  It was too gross so I didn't post pictures but here they are rinsing the whole thing out.  Then they wrapped it in bed sheets, hung it from a tree for some hours (I'm guessing to dry it out?)  I never asked about that part, then put it in the Imu which was prepped earlier that day.  It cooked over night and was shredded the next day right before we served.  It sure was good.

I love that my family gets together and we can experience all these things.  I am definitely more grateful for the Kalua pig that I eat now, now that I know all the hard work that actually goes into it.  Another 2 more years and the fun can begin all over again!

9 month old Ava...

I do realize I missed her 8th month.  We've had some problems with our cameras but I'm glad I'm back in business.  Oh this princess of mine...her personality is really starting to come out and to tell you the truth I'm a little scared!

1.  This little princess finally decided she wanted to crawl.  At her 9 month check up her doctor told me, "she's just not built for crawling."  Two days later that's exactly what she did.  However, she only crawls to an object (hopefully mommy) to pull herself up to stand.

2.  She LOVES to stand.  She will pull herself up on anything that doesn't move.

3.  She spits while eating and thinks it's the funniest thing in the world.  I guess it kind of is at first, then I realize I have to clean it up.

4.  She loves to give kisses and will keep kissing you until she is satisfied.

5.  She screams to get your attention.  (You see why I'm scared?  LOL!!)

6.  She wants what she wants and will cry and scream till she gets it.

7.  Ava is quite the talker and will voice her opinion anytime she sees fit.

8.  This princess also needs to be held.  ALL THE TIME!

9.  Even though I get exhausted sometimes, all she has to do is smile at me and everything melts away.

10.  In the last few weeks two teeth have popped out!

11.  She loves to play and hit faces.

12.  I don't where she gets it from but has a REALLY long tongue.

13.  She is a self soother.

14.  Loves her "Lovey Blanky."  Can't go to sleep with out it.

15.  Loves rice and bread.

16.  She pulls her hair when she's angry and has had enough.

I love this little girl to pieces!  It's been a whirl wind 9 months but I wouldn't change a thing!  I love you Ava!

7 month old Ava...

This little angel of mine is now 7 months old and growing fast!  I must admit in the first few months of her life I thought, "Can you please be 3 months already?"  as I was told that was the magical month for a colic baby to turn over a new leaf.  Well it was.  Her first 3 months are a blur really.  But now I need things to slow down a bit just so I can enjoy and remember her at such a young age.  So without further adieu here is "the list"


1.  My little Ava is a feisty girl!  She grabs and plays with things so intently.

2.  She will definitely tell you when she is not happy by yelling and screaming at you.

3.  She loves her brother to death and will mangle his hair and face for as long as he'll let her.  (Which is usually about 30 seconds at a time until he gets absolutely fed up with her.)

4. She is such a mamma's girl!  You read that right...MAMMA.

5.  Ava now reaches out her little arms to embrace you!

6.  Her favorite thing to do is kick.  She kicks while changing her diaper, eating, watching Einstein videos, watching her brother play,  doing tummy time, etc...

7.  She hates green beans and will gag with every bite (I probably only get a quarter of the way down the container before I feel bad and stop).  But she'll eat everything else.

8.  She is now starting to eat table foods.  Bread mostly.  It's so fun to watch her expressions as she tries to figure out how to eat it and what it is.

9.  She LOVES to be held and cuddled!

10.  Oh does she LOVE taggies!  She will find the tag in a pile of toys and start to suck on it.  Her new fav thing is her taggie blanky.

11.  SHE GOES TO SLEEP ON HER OWN!  I feed her a bottle, talk to her for a bit, kiss her goodnight and lay her down.  The rest is all her.

12.  I don't think she wants to crawl.  When I put her down for tummy time she either rolls over, lays down, or cries.  She'll prop herself up for a bit then doesn't want anything to do with it.

 

A visit from the police man...

About a month ago Dezi's school had the Police Department come down to do a little career day.  They spoke to the kids about what they do, how they help people and the differences between some of the other community helpers like the firemen.  The kids got to sit on the motorcylces and ATV's and got to go inside a police car.  The officers even let the kids start up some of the vehicles and push buttons to hear the different sounds they made.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to take some pictures of Dezi at a school function but it didn't go as I had hoped.  

Dezi was not at all into wanting anything to do with the police.  Which I have to say is probably Gil's and my fault since we would tell him that if he was not good the policeman would take him away.  Ooops!  But since then we have not mentioned anything about the police man in a negative way and now only talk good things about them.  Whew!

In the picture above you can see how totally unhappy Dezi is about being so close to a police man and sitting on the bike.  I asked him about it later and he said.."But mommy I didn't want the police man to take me away from you."  I feel bad about it now.

In this picture his teacher Ms. Mary is coaxing him to take a photo for his I.D. card.  He eventually did it but you should see his expression on his card.  She also had to be there when they took his finger prints too. 

Oh my Dezi Kain.  He can be so sweet, so annoying, so outgoing, and so shy at any given time.  But I love this little man to pieces!

My kids...

They crack me up!

They love each other!

Are to adorable for words

Are my world!

Are super silly...I love them so!

6 month old Ava...

 Ava is 6 months and I don't like that she is growing up so fast!  I need a "slow motion" button to slow things down.  But, I get to write another list of her accomplishments thus far, Yay!

1.  As you can already tell by the picture above everything is now in danger of the slobber monster!  She'll shove her whole hand down her mouth if she can and has gagged herself  a few times.

2.  She still has that smile that can light up a whole room.

3.  She is now starting to notice that she doesn't like to be out of mommy's sight OR arms.

4.  Still does what girls do best....TALK!  But it's super cute to watch her expressions.

5.  She is now eating baby food.  And does not like prunes at all.

6.  She is constantly blowing bubbles and spitting and especially loves it when I am feeding her.

7.  She can pretty much sit up on her own now and only topples over a little.

8.  She grabs at everything in reaching range. 

9.  She gets angry and flaps her arms when you take a drink from a cup and don't give any to her.

10.  She loves her brother and wants to grab at him when he holds her.  (He doesn't like it but I think it's hilarious to watch how irritated he gets...Is that mean?)

So there's my list for 6 month Ava.  The pictures below are just because she is so darn cute!

So here's a question for ya....
I've seen people post pictures as a collage and even can write on each picture and was wondering HOW DO YOU DO THAT?  Any and all information would be kindly appreciated!  Oh and Thanks a bunch in advance.