Griffith Family Blog

Gage and the chocolate pudding...

2009-05-20T20:10:00.003-10:00

Not sure why I'm posting this on here...I think just about everybody who looks at my blog sees my facebook. Oh well. Just so I can say I've posted something on here...here's Gage and the chocolate pudding...

Oops...time went by faster than I thought it did...

2009-04-13T16:36:00.005-10:00

I didn't realize it had been THAT long since i'd posted anything. I'm sitting in the kitchen in an extremely irritable mood because the gas tanks for the stove are both empty...but I didn't know that until halfway through cooking our dinner when my flame went out. Stupid stove. I guess it's leftovers for tonight. Bummer. but...he's some pictures anyway...and stupid blog that keeps underlining everything. WHY does it do that?! And it must just be stupid me...cuz i don't see anybody else with blue lines under the words.

Tommy's reel he made for his kite

I swear...I fall more and more in love with this kid everyday...thank goodness he's got such a good heart....otherwise I mighta auctioned him off 2 years ago.

Family Home evening a couple weeks ago...how nice...no blue underlines. Now, if only I knew how I did that.

In Grandma's tub...

I love this picture...it's my new desktop picture.

Gage...

2009-03-18T22:27:00.002-10:00

Gage is doing better...but he still is having a hard time getting/keeping fluids into his little body...so...I picked up some popsicles the other day...

"Mom...do I have to?"

"Ok...I'll give it a shot..."

"Mom! It's cold!"

"I don't like it!"

And if I had a picture of him grabbing it out of my hand and throwing it on the ground...that's what would come next. Oh well. It really is too bad...the only liquid he's really getting right now is when he nurses...and I was so close to weaning him! *sigh* oh well.

Walking pneumonia?

2009-03-17T09:23:00.003-10:00

Gage's Doctor says he thinks Gage has Walking Pneumonia (?). Anyway...he gets the rest of the lab tests back today...poor kid :(. I suppose it could DEFINITELY be worse tho!

really long day....

2009-03-16T15:35:00.003-10:00

I took Gage to the doctor this morning because for like...the last month he just has not been well...not a whole lot of energy...just not acting himself...I could tell he's losing weight...his digestive system has not been up to par...and he's had a fever and a cough that he can't seem to completely shake...never gets real bad...just lingers. So, I took him in and he's down to just a hair above the weight he was at 6 months old...and he's almost 14 months :(. Doctor said his liver felt just a little swollen (??)...So he had blood tests and chest x-rays...and we'll find out about it tomorrow. *sigh* They poked him soooo many times to try to get blood....they kept trying different angles...got a little bit...then the vein popped...or something like that (?)...so they sent me to get the x-rays and then bring him back. He's sleeping now...probably wore out from all the trauma and screaming. Anyway...I'm sitting at the computer feeling very tired and brain dead...so I thought I'd write something. Back to making english muffins!

kite flying...

2009-03-15T12:20:00.002-10:00

Ok...here's the kite flying...it was such a wonderful day!

Gage...obviously impressed.

Elli held it for most of the time...Keith took it for a little bit and let go after a couple minutes...and it took me a good 20 minutes or so to get it untangled from the macadamia nut and banana trees...

SUN!!!

2009-03-14T21:00:00.003-10:00

So...it has been REALLY cold here...at least for Hawaii :) We've had a fire in the fireplace almost everyday for weeks and weeks...and more weeks...rain almost nonstop...like...10+ inches/day...really gets old. And lo and behold...today we had some awesome sunshine!! We actually had some sun a couple days ago...but today was just perfect. Beautiful Sunshine...perfect ocean breeze...It was perfect :) So...I had to take pictures! Notice my clothes on the clothesline...I love hanging clothes out on really hot days :) (this afternoon it got really windy...so we flew a kite...I took pictures of that too...I'll post those when I feel like I have enough energy to get up and go get the memory stick out of the camera :)

Just some recent pictures...

2009-03-08T21:42:00.003-10:00

Just some more pictures of our place! Eventually the kids will be able to have the 'loft' area upstairs. The plumbing and Electric inspections should be happening any day now...than the drywall and finish stuff...It's so nice to have a light at the end of the tunnel!

My new favorite (long) quote...

2009-03-07T00:03:00.001-10:00

Ok...so it's not one of those short nifty little quotes...but...I really like it. Anyway...it's way late...morning will come way to fast...and I need to go to bed...but this was too good for me to not do anything with it :)

"The world can at times be a frightening place in which to live. The moral fabric of society seems to be unraveling at an alarming speed. None—whether young or old or in-between—is exempt from exposure to those things which have the potential to drag us down and destroy us. Our youth, our precious youth, in particular, face temptations we can scarcely comprehend. The adversary and his hosts seem to be working nonstop to cause our downfall.

We are waging a war with sin, my brothers and sisters, but we need not despair. It is a war we can and will win. Our Father in Heaven has given us the tools we need in order to do so. He is at the helm. We have nothing to fear. He is the God of light. He is the God of hope. I testify that He loves us—each one.

Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order to be tested, we must sometimes face challenges and difficulties. At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel’s end—no dawn to break the night’s darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea “Is there no balm in Gilead?” We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, I plead with you to turn to our Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you, but He will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face."

- President Thomas S. Monson

Elli's hair...and a random keith picture...

2009-03-02T14:02:00.003-10:00

Elli got a haircut the other day...actually, I did it...then wasn't quite content with it...it was...ok...but...there was a part that i really didn't like and didn't know what to do with. So...I had a friend who came over and 'finished' it. It's pretty short...but I really like it...and she likes the idea that it won't get so tangled. Anyway...

This is the back...but...I took this this morning before she took off her pj's, brushed her hair, all that stuff. so...this is the back...fresh out of bed.

This is the side...

And...this is keith. See...he had thrown a couple little rocks in the pool the other day, and when it was being vaccuumed, one of the little rocks made a hole...or something like that. So...he went out while Tommy had to get his snorkeling stuff on (and it was pretty cold and dreary) and patch the hole...the intent was for him to feel horribly guilty and never want to do it again...which...he did to some extent...i think it suprised him that it actually made a (pinprick sized) hole. Anyway...does he just look like he's suffering from painful guilt?

I hate laundry. (actually, I just lectured Elli on using the word hate.) So....I VERY STRONGLY dislike laundry.

2009-02-13T23:08:00.005-10:00

My goal for this week is to do one load of laundry a day (vs. 4-6 on Friday). Why do we have so much clothes?!? I think I need to de-clutter...again. And I need to fix the tear in my apron so I don't go through so many clothes. Ugh. I hate laundry. Especially when you live in a place where electricity is soooo blasted expensive that I have to be feeling rich to use the dryer. Which isn't so bad when the sun shines...but...it's been raining...and raining. And Tommy's painting the trim for the windows in the shop...so I don't have half of my covered clothesline space. Sorry. I should be more positive....Positive Mental Attitude! Maybe if I sleep on it it'll help. It better anyway...I have 2 more loads to do that I would really like to get done so I can start the week with all nice clean clothes.

catchup...

2009-02-12T08:20:00.003-10:00

I have a burning urge to put a picture of a bottle of ketchup. But, as I am tight on time and it's a miracle this is getting done at all today...I will refrain. Anyway...

Just some pictures from the last few weeks...

Elli's 5th Birthday (January 17)

she wanted an easter egg cake... (??)

Gage's 1st Birthday (Feb. 2)

I've been wanting to make this Pavlova (sp?) thing for a while...so I made it for Gage's birthday...if it didn't take so long to upload I would post the video of him throwing everything but the bananas over the side of his tray. Oh well...I personally thought it was delicious :)

Keith...sporting a new scrape.

Keith's 3rd Birthday!

2009-01-13T08:22:00.000-10:00

It was Keith's 3rd Birthday the other day...and he wouldn't take a normal picture! He kept making these really random faces!

So Tommy tried to help him smile... :)

Elli....very much so being the big sister...

And then there was the candles...

Yup...the candles were definitely an adventure!

The past two weeks...

2009-01-12T20:32:00.008-10:00

I can't figure out how to get this underline off....oh well. Anyway...here's the last couple of weeks...just random stuff :) I want to post something from Keith's birthday tho' and if I don't post these first...it'll be out of order...and that just goes against my logical and analytical brain.

Elli has taken a serious liking to talking on the phone...especially to her fancy auntie nancy... :)

Keith got a haircut...he looks stoned or something tho' in this picture...I promise he wasn't!

Tommy reading to Gage...

We went to bird park again...I love that place :)

Keith was very fascinated by the dew drops on the grass

I told him (oh great...now it's blue and underlined...what's up with this??)...anyway...I told Keith to show me his big muscles and this is what he did...

Keith's uncle Jon gave him this sweater...it was once a little bit bigger...but...when all wool meets washer and dryer...all kinds of possibilities open up!

Keith got a haircut! Doesn't he look older?

Gage has this kind of wierd crawl...instead of crawling on his hands and knees...he crawls on his hands, one foot and one knee. It's amazing how different all the kids have been. Elli hated crawling...crawled a lot when she was 2-3 and she'd play with Keith...but hardly ever before that. Keith was crawling up stairs by 7 months or so...and Gage...does this...oh well :)
Gotta love 'em all!

Sick kids...

Keith kept asking me why he had to sleep on the plastic tablecloth...I felt so bad...but this stomach bug that we (all) got was vicious...and even I sometimes had a hard time grabbing my bucket thing on time. yuck yuck yuck. I shudder to think about it...One of the few times in my life that was worse than morning sickness. Oh, and I did lay a blanket on top of the plastic table cloth so he wasn't laying directly on plastic...but he squirmed off of it in this picture.

A day at the temple...

2008-12-30T09:19:00.005-10:00

We went to the temple the last weekend that Jon and Paul were here...it was wonderful! We tried to take advantage of everyone being together and took some family pictures...but..(and i'm hoping it's the memory stick)...a couple of pictures on my camera came out REALLY wierd...like...my head is floating next to my body kinda wierd...we also took some pictures of the kids...so i'm sticking some of those in here too...

I showed this picture to my brothers and all of them said, "she looks so old!"...it really does seem like just the other day I was holding her little five and a half pound body...

So...here I am decapitated....go figure...

And here's everybody...

family history...

2008-12-29T21:15:00.003-10:00

I was trying to find something cool to do for some of my family members for christmas...i had scanned in some OLD (like...my great great grandparents) photos....and framed them...and i thought i'd go see if we had any other cool family history related stuff...and i found my great-great grandmother's old sketchbook...it was pretty cool... :)

This is a picture of my....great great grandmother (whose sketchbook i found) and my grandmother

These are just some random pictures...

I knew my family was wierd....but...

2008-12-29T21:07:00.003-10:00

So....my brother had his mac...and had a little too much fun taking pictures...yes...definitely too much fun...don't you agree?

odd. very very odd children. who's are they anyway?

Decorating the tree...

2008-12-18T16:02:00.005-10:00

Forgot there was one other thing I wanted to post pictures of...tree decorating!!

Gage has this thing with being upside down...it's very rare that it won't make him extremely happy...(very odd if you ask me...but then...I'm odd...so I suppose it shouldn't suprise me!)

Keith sooo would not stop moving around...talk about wired. I don't think he even remotely slowed down at ALL the entire night. He asked me today if I still had the pictures of him dancing (so that's what he was doing!!?) And yes, those would be his pants falling down...when he made it out of diapers...everything was suddenly too big...and I didn't feel like pulling down all the other stuff from the attic...soo....most of it fits now...but there's still a few...

These next two...are my favorite Christmas pictures this year (at least so far!)

Just a few more pictures...

2008-12-18T15:29:00.003-10:00

I didn't post anything for awhile because the Christmas newsletter my Mom sent out directed people to our blog for a bunch of pictures. So...I posted them...and then I was afraid of piling a bunch of stuff on top of it...and having all those poor people have to scroll through our day to day life to get to the Heinzen family highlights of the year. So...I put a link in the blog title description thing...and am now putting up all the pictures I had put off putting up.

Here's Gage...10 and a half months old :) He's getting sooo big!

Talk about nostalgic...I used to absolutely love setting up marble mazes!

I think she went through a growth spurt...or something? My brother Paul just came home from serving a 2-year chinese-speaking mission for our church in Canada (I'll post pictures of that as soon as I get them off my mom's camera)...anyway...I was looking at the pictures of Elli two years ago when he left...It is so crazy how fast they grow!

My tired baby...

Nuts...nuts...and more nuts...

2008-12-18T14:54:00.004-10:00

The kids spent the afternoon picking macadamia nuts. Keith had to earn some money because he dumped a bunch of dishsoap into the sink when he knew he wasn't supposed to....so...he did hard labor. Anyway...they pick the nuts...Then the nuts get sold...and all you fine folks get to buy yummy chocolate covered macadamia nuts (and he gets to pay for all the dawn liquid soap that he dumped down the sink).

He looks like he's trying to think of his next great adventure...hopefully this one doesn't involve dishsoap.

Joy School...

2008-12-18T14:44:00.004-10:00

We've been doing Joy School this year with another family that lives about 10 minutes away or so...it's been a lot of fun...and I finally got around to taking pictures this week. Just thought I'd stick them in!

This is Keith on our last day of 'school' before christmas break.

This is Cynthia and Elli....they get along really well...unfortunately Keith sometimes wants to join them and is still learning the proper way to get their attention...

We made christmas cookies the other day for our Christmas program...that was a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-02T21:27:00.013-10:00

This year the Heinzen Family Christmas newsletter included a note directing family and friends here to view some pictures of some of the wonderful things that have become part of our Heinzen family life this year!

So...here we present the Hawaii Heinzen's...a year in Review...

Lotsa Heinzen's in Hawaii!

Heinzen Brothers...making memories in Gilroy

Moving the Jeep and the Model A to Gilroy.

Tommy and Anna and the kids on their lot.

Elli (4), Keith (2), Gage (5 mo.)

The newest addition to the family...Gage Nemezio Griffith.

Jon hard at work in Provo!

Jon hard at play in the snow!

Paul singing with other missionaries at a Mother's Day Program

Paul at a Baptism in Canada

Sam's Graduation...class of 2008!

Sam, Papa Bino, and Lauren

out of the mouths of babes...

2008-12-01T20:24:00.002-10:00

Sooo....Keith fell down a couple steps outside the other day...got a good sized scrape on his cheek and on his knees...i was about...20 yards away or so. He's in nursery yesterday...and he told his nursery leader his mom pushed him down the stairs!?! What on earth possessed him to say that is so beyond me. Anyway...tthat's my random story of the day.

Another vow to be better at this...

2008-12-01T13:26:00.003-10:00

5 months later...I know...it's atrocious...we have been busy...but that is no excuse. I really am going to try to be better about this!! I know I have said that before...but...I have also come to a new....realization I suppose you could say. Up till now, I have (still) not had a good working camera so I have not taken pictures...and I figure nobody's going to want to look at it if it has no pictures. I decided though that I'm going to post...even if I have no pictures (sorry folks....hello boring blog)...I have realized how fast time is flying by and how fast the kids are growing...and there's been so many times one of them has said something funny or done something cool (or not cool)...and I've wanted to write about it...but it just hasn't happened...and for their sakes...I want to have something...and it is sooo much easier for me to type than to write.

Anyway...with that said...these past five months have been insanely fun and crazy. It just amazes me how the day seems to fly be...it is never boring...never slow...there is always something to do from the moment I (or Gage) wake up...to the moment I finally close my eyes for the night. Gage is on the move (finally...lol...he's the last of all the kids to really move around...elli was cruising around 8 months...keith was crawling around 6). His favorite thing to do is lift up the kitchen rugs and help himself to a lovely buffet of tasty bugs, lint, day old cereal, etc. Keith has really been testing my patience lately...but when I really pay attention to him and have plenty for him to do...he is such a good kid!! Unfortunately...if he is left to his own imagination to come up with things to do...the list is endless...he is so much like his Uncle Paul it blows my mind sometimes. Yesterday I found my poor helpless bar of soap impaled by a bobby pin (??) Certainly in the great scheme of things...no big deal...but really...where does he come up with these things!? With Paul coming home in a week and a half...it has really made me realize how much the kids have grown. Elli's really gotten into puzzles...which has been fun for me...because I absolutely love puzzles...and it reminds me of my Grandmother...who literally had closets full of puzzles. The kids and I are sitting at the kitchen table right now with a bag of beans Elli just harvested from the garden. I don't know what it has been about this particular crop...it's only about...5 feet long...one row...but it has been extremely proliferic...hope I spelled that right. Elli and I are snapping the ends off and snapping them into smaller pieces. Keith's eating his little pile raw. Well, this week is my week for Joy School...so I'm going to pull that up and make sure I have everything I need...I'll post again soon :)

Trip to Bird Park

2008-06-29T21:35:00.004-10:00

There's this place...'bout 20 - 25 miles or so away from our house called "Bird Park"...It's got a really nice little pavilion with a little fireplace and everything. It's almost always empty, so it's a lot of fun going up there and just relaxing. It's really quiet (except for the birds) and it's full of trees and flowers and grass and everything. We went up there this evening and cooked some simple foil dinners, did the s'more thing...and then just sat around and enjoyed being together as a family. It was a lot of fun. It's evenings like this that I just want to hold on to and savor for forever :)

It felt so good to be out in the fresh air! I'm glad the kids enjoyed it too (it got them nice and wore out for bedtime ;) - I won't deny my alterior motives!)

You know, it sure seems like this next one deserves some creative caption...but for the life of me, I can't think of one. I feel slightly braindead. I'll blame it on all the s'mores :)

Yay! we got a smile!

Elli really loves Gage (she loves Keith too...it's just harder to show it when he's trying to wrestle with her while she's reading a book or play with her doll). It's so nice to have such a big helper!

I love foil dinners. My favorite is brocolli, onion, potato, garlic, mushrooms, and a little bit of bacon :). Zucchini's not bad in them either. The kids actually ate most of theirs too...I was quite impressed :)

Y'know...it's been a while since I've had s'mores...and tonight I rediscovered the joy of crispy graham crackers, melting chocolate, and a golden brown marshmallow with creamy white oozing out the sides...all smooshed together. It was quite the taste esperience.

Anyway...it was a great night...gave me a great 'pick-me-up' for the week!

Guilt

2008-06-26T12:21:00.005-10:00

So...I've been feeling extremely guilty at not having any pictures of gage. Especially after looking through elli's photo albums. I was a first child though...and I look through my albums and there's like...20 pictures of me wearing the same clothes, standing by the same apple tree as a three-year old striking different poses. None of my brothers ever had quite so many pictures...they just had more nude pictures than I ever did (go figure?). So...the kids and I had some fun taking pictures the other day. :)

He will be 5 months old on July 2nd.

I pulled this jumper thing out of the attic the other day...and he absolutely loves it.

As I was watching him kind of rock/launch/scoot on his belly the other day I was thinking about when Keith and Elli crawled. It's interesting...with Elli, we were so excited...took pictures...etc. etc...With Keith it was still pretty cool...now with Gage...I just keep remembering all those times that I swear I vacuumed the floor several times over...and the crawlers still managed to find something icky gross to put in their mouths. I really do love being a mom...I wouldn't trade it for the world...my kids bring me so much joy...most of the time :) And I do love as they get older 'cuz their personality starts showing and all that...eventually they stop eating dried up bugs and lint and week-old cheerios :)

Elli kept saying, "take a picture of me!"...and Keith kept trying to pop his head up and be in the picture too...for the most part they do well with the attention Gage gets...but every once in a while they want the spotlight :)

I absolutely love this next picture :) anyway...gotta run... ;)

A few more...

2008-06-19T21:16:00.007-10:00

i don't have any real good recent pictures of Gage...poor third child. I'll blame it on our broken camera. I will try to get some more soon tho'...

So...we made this pinata for my brother's graduation...do you like our one eyed alien? It was way fun...but I don't think I've seen Keith that confused and shocked in awhile. I mean, think about it...Elli and I spend DAYS making this thing...then we all hit it with a bat...and then the thing breaks and candy and twinkies and waterguns and all kinds of goodies fall out of the sky. talk about one confused 2 year old. (Notice Sam making away with all the twinkies...)

These next few were from our trip to Arkansas...I sure do miss that neck of the woods :). It was a lot of fun. This is Tommy's folks backyard. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway...Elli loved going fishing with Daddy...in the first picture Tommy was actually trying to get a fish I had caught. The darn fish swam under a log and wouldn't come out. Eventually the line broke and the fish got away with my hook (that I baited all by myself with a live squigly little worm from the compost). I was so bummed it got away...I'm telling you it was huge! ;) *grin*

Elli scaling the fish DJ caught.

Well, I suppose that'll be all for tonight...I can't believe it's only 9:30...I might actually get to bed before 10 tonight. I really will try to get more pictures up. Things are going good...we've been busy...but I suppose that's good. I'm trying to think if there's anything else exciting going on that I can write. Gage is getting so big...it seems like the time goes by faster and faster with each child. I'm getting the hang of having the three of them...but not to the extent that I actually have free time...just to the extent that I'm not going totally insane. Today I went outside and Keith was building something very carefully with some scrapwood in the woodbox and he looked up at me and very seriously said, "I'm working." It brought back so many memories of my brother Paul...it seems like just yesterday paul was two years old and talking about how he was a "hard worker". They are so much alike. If 18 years from now Keith is "working" as a missionary like Paul is...I will be one happy mommy :). Anyway...I'm exhausted...goodnight online world :).

some more pictures :)

2008-06-19T20:54:00.005-10:00

ok...here we go again...*grin*...i'm using my old laptop...that seriously runs slower than molasses in winter :)

We had a bunch of the Heinzen side of our family over the other day. They were on a Hawaiian cruise and their ship docked in Hilo...it was a lot of fun to see everyone!

. . . "Love at Home" . . .

I love this picture of Keith...I'm not sure why he looked so bored...he actually loves being down on our lot...

Daddy and Elli...

This is Tommy's addition ...he built a basket/cage thingie that goes on the front of his forklift...it has been worth it's weight in gold in this whole building process!

(p.s. I am the world's biggest dork. While uploading these pictures, I realized that there was a "upload another picture" link. Up until now I was uploading one than clicking submit or whatever...then doing another one...it seemed so tedious. Maybe I can blame my lack of blogging on that. Perhaps my newfound knowledge will lead to a more productive blog. Maybe. )

i am so lousy at blogging...and some recent pics...

2008-06-16T15:51:00.003-10:00

i really am lousy at this whole blogging thing. *sigh* so...anyway...here are some random pictures from the past few...ummmm...months? :)

this is so sad...these pictures are like...3 months old. he looks way different now. he's got big chubby cheeks and thighs...and he smiles more and looks confused less :)

2008-02-20T11:13:00.000-10:00

Here's our new addition! Gage Nemezio Griffith was born at 12:20 am, Saturday, February 2, 2008. We're all healthy and happy (although slightly sleep deprived). I don't know what the deal is with the lines going through the pictures...I called Sony and I'm supposed to send the camera back and they'll send us a new one. But...oh well. Anyway! He's a couple minutes old in the top picture...and a couple hours old in the next one...

Gage with an extremely proud big sister and a somewhat clueless big brother...

Elli can't get enough of him...He's 2 and a 1/2 weeks old now and she wants to have him lay by her when she goes to sleep at night...she wants to hold him every chance she can...it's been fun. I personally think I look like death warmed over in this picture...but we won't go there :)

i really should try to be better about this!

2008-02-20T10:54:00.000-10:00

Just a few Christmas pictures...this is grandpa, keith, and daddy...decorating the tree :)

Elli really wanted a christmas tree in her room...they had little prelit ones at walmart for pretty cheap...and it was actually kind of fun having them in the bedrooms :)

We FINALLY poured the slab...hopefully we'll be in our own place...sometime remotely soon! Hopefully things will go a little quicker now :)

Well, the kids (and myself) are getting hungry...I'll post some pictures of Gage after lunch. maybe.

2007-12-01T13:56:00.000-10:00

Last month we took a quick trip to the mainland. I have a family history paper to work on and had some interviews to do and some records to find and go through. It was great. The kids had a blast...I was so grateful for how well they did with the 'break in routine'!

There was a park close by and both the kids could have stayed there all day!

2007-10-03T13:59:00.000-10:00

Aloha!

2007-10-03T13:29:00.000-10:00

This is an attempt at a family blog...we'll see how it goes! I'll try to keep it fairly updated...but then...that all depends on the napping schedule of our two kids (Elli - 3 1/2, Keith - 1 1/2). We are currently living in Hawaii...and are in the process of building (and let me tell you...it is a PROCESS!) We really love it here....there's definately something special about these islands. However, it does make it hard to see family and friends as often as we'd like. So...hopefully this thing will span some miles!!