Wow did we have fun with these kids who live and thrive in Maui. It makes me smile when I think how I worried that I wouldn’t be able to love my second child as much as I loved the first one. What a joy it is now, not only to love our children in different ways but equally but also to love all twenty four of our vastly different grandchildren both collectively and individually equally in their own right. Spending quality time with each of them is a fun and exciting challenge!
What fun we had catching up on what has happened in the lives and the personalities of these four cuties since we saw them last.
They added this bouncy bit of fun to their yard at Christmas:
They live “upcountry” in Maui which means that they awaken with dogs barking, roosters crowing and heavy machinery starting up for the day. Their neighborhood includes some pretty crazy cars, wild chickens (see the rooster’s home below), beautiful scenery, a veterans cemetery, a horse that is NOT to be fed and a goat named Trough.
Ana and Cam have a really excellent tennis teacher (trained by Billy Jean King as a youth player) and they are really flying! Their Dad practices with them two or three times a week in addition to their lessons.
They are swimmers! They swim three to four days a week and have vastly improved their strokes since we were here last. We love those swim meets! This one was at Lahaina one of our favorite places to visit! There goes Ana with a perfect dive!
And cute Cam (yellow cap) getting ready for the backstroke:
And proud mama catching every heat!
They enjoyed every last drop of their well-earned lunch!
After every event(Ana’s school, swim meets and just for fun, we hit the beach where there is never-ending fun!
Oops, Po got dropped out of her towel on to her head. It was a very gentle fall but not a pretty sight. She took it like a champ! It was one of many falls that she tookwhile we were there but she popped right up without a complaint.
This child is pretty darn self-reliant and usually manages to get herself out of trouble with her adorable grin. I have to say that Aja was pretty sad when she discovered Vaseline smeared all over the brand new sheets she had just put on their bed. Cutie Po also she opened the door to the chicken coops one night to let give the chickens a little freedom.
This is a positively adorable two year old who never stops until she drops!
Don’t know if you can see that adorable skinned knee (about five times). What a cherub!
Mornings are soft and peaceful. Jonah reads scriptures to the kids before school and dreamy Elsie makes sure that she gets her vitamins!
Elsie pretty much lives in an imaginary world! See the title of her latest book below. When asked what belly-buttons were for, she answered after a moment of contemplation,”They’re bathtubs for fairies.”
This is Ana’s favorite place to do her schoolwork. She is homeschooled but she joins seven other students in a class about half an hour away twice a week. She and Cam are two of the few who passed the state tests with flying colors!
Ana and I had such a fun Grammie Date in the village where she was thrilled to find some finger puppets that Elsie would love. She could hardly wait for the library to open so that she could get this album which she had been on a wait list for, for a very long time!
Just as we were sitting down for lunch Saydi called with the news from the Boston Marathon. She was at the Marathon but not near the finish line. The Boston Marathon is part of our family fiber. Even though no one has run it…yet…but we’ve had kids in school in Boston for 16 years and they are always out to cheer the runners on. What a tragedy!
That afternoon Ana also did a radio show with Grandfather and I on BYU XM Radio and told the audience all about how she earned the money to buy her own horse and tack and feed and shots. We put her on the phone and she went on for about 13 minutes, hardly taking a breath. She was spectacular!
On Sunday we went on a hike with friends and their kids through the magical, mystical forest nearby their home. We went there last year but this time we went off the beaten bath to find some wild berries. We found a few wild raspberries but even better we found the perfect spot to build “a hut”. The kids all rallied along with the adults and with long sticks and massive amounts dry grass a creative shelter was constructed in about 45 minutes.
Look at Cam’s face above (stick overhead). He is a solid block of gold, quietly going about the business of life with confidence and enthusiasm. See the triumph on that cute face.
What an idyllic childhood!
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