My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty o thee I sing

the prospect of going to D.C, seeing the big city, seeing the historical coolness that permeates the capital and most of all seeing Auntie Kim, Uncle Keola and..... LILIE!!!, has been one of major excitement! and the Sakais did not let down:) I went with my cousin Kamakea to D.C. for our cousin Lillie's 5th birdthay party. 5 days of fun for 5 years of life!! For a day by day account of the fun times complete with pictures see "The Sakai Family" on my blog list. I'm just going to capture a few of my favorite moments.
1.)In the morning I would wake up (I like to sleep with the door open) and I'd see Lillie standing out in the hallway peeking in to see if I was awake yet. She was just tall enough that all I could see was her little head bobbing just above the railing. I would smile and open my blanket and she would come bounding in and snuggle right up next to me. she is sweet and adorable:)
2.) There were many games played including "This is a...what"-not Lillies fav, chutes and ladders -not my fav- hot potatoe- kamas specialty, and our number 1.... trouble. I only wish I could capture the funny times that entertwined our gaming times. suffice it to say Lillie has a very cute laugh (probably something she gets from her mom), Kama is very good at making her laugh, and in chutes in ladders lillie gave herself the brown haired girl, Kama the blonde girl and me the blonde boy :p
3.) When we first got there Auntie Kim showed us to the bathroom where she had a little basket of srubies and toothpaste an hairspray for us which I greatly appreciated for the practical uses , but also the cute way they matched the bathroom colors.
4.) ok well I'm remebering that there are to many good times...to many to write about- it's become overwhelming, and the excitement i used to associate with blogging is dying fast. I think I'm just tired. at any rate, suffice it to say Kamakea is a very fun minor to travel with, Lillie is a sweet heart, auntie kim is hilariouse, and uncle Keola is funny with a twist of quarky. Sakais are bom and D.C is a fun place. My desire to do my student teaching there and live with Auntie Kim them has increased ten fold.

One for the peeps in Ipt

As much as I would love to recount the funness that has been going on, this post is for my class about how to use technology in teaching. A scary and yet badly needed class for me. So here we go with this weeks scholarly topic..."Gospel Insights-What are the gospel implications for this new world of social networking?"

The "new world of social networking" immediatley makes me think of facebook. Tie that in with the gospal and I think of all my young women leaders that I've been able to keep in contact with thanks to fb. I think of all my cousins, uncles and aunties that I stay in better touch with; that I get to see constant pictures of and here about things going on that I would not otherwise get to see. This makes me branch out to blogging where I think the church would appreciate the fun stories and whitty writting I read where I am more strongly connected to my family and friends. Online networking truley allows you connect better, to stay in touch. It's nice. But just like my fellow goup member, Tegan, wrote in her blog (see link under the cool new blog roll gadget I added-learning things already in this class:) ) "Like all good things, Satan has a way of twisting them" theres always the crazos that use it for bad things. So be wise, and use caution and I think you will be able to benefit from many aspects of online social networking and avoid the not so postitive things.

Greatest Hits of Christmas 2009

So rather than discuss all the details I've picked some of my favorite moments of Christmas break:)

Track 1: SHENENDOAH: Riding in the car I was abnoxiously serandading Paul with all the songs I learned in my singing class last semester. I finished "Peace Like a River" and began on "Shenendoah". Much to my surprise papa stew new that song too and dad and me sang the whole thing together.

Track 2: OBSTAKLE COURCE: We got a wii fit for christmas and one of the games you can play is an obstacle cource. You run in place while standng on the little wii board and to jump you striaghten your legs. My dear mother hunched forward as she ran stepping as fast as she could and pumping her arms. She added throwing her arms into the air on the jumps. Effective and hilarious.

Track 3: YUGIO CARDS: We had to clean the family room. Us kids method is put everything into a big pile and then clean the pile. So I found a stack of Yugio cards...and put them in the pile. Found another stack...put them in the pile. Then I found 3 more stacks and realized there shuldn't be that many. After I put them in the pile paul and kekela "put them away" by placing them on the video stand or next to the couch. I would find them next to the couch and put them back in the clean up pile. Upon discovering this I insisted they take the stupid cards to their rooms, and was pleased when I no longer was finding them around the family room... until three days later. One stack under the couch and one on top the entertainment center. My broters are sneaky people.

Track 4: Volleyball: We went to the church and were passing around a volleyball. It was a hard ball and none of us had played in a while and we all had red forarms. Kekela notices and says "we all look like Haole's who have been in the sun to long"

Track 5:BRAZIL CALLING: Kale called! It was good to hear his voice. His hello made me shriek and his goodbye made me cry. In the middle we all took turns talking and listened to his fun stories. He's a good missionary:)

Track 6: COLD NIGHT: Kekela got cold in the night so Maka gave him his blanket. He also took rooster salt and pepper shakers at the youth white elephant activity to give to my mom for her birthay. Nice kid...most the time;)

Track 7: HULA GIRL: One of the wii games is a hula hoop contest. Basically doing an ami as many times as you can will get you a high score. Princess Nika schooled us all doing 450 amis to the left in 90 secs. More than I did! lol. Homegirl got skillz!!

Track 8: TAKING DOWN THE TREE: Paul and I were in charge of taking down the tree. It led to the finding of some stockings and this little number
This barely even covers it. The whole break was full of pactical jokes, teasing comments, wresling matches, much eating, and lots of laughs. Dorothy had it right. There is no place like home.:)

Hola, Este es la hermana de Elder Kauwe

Turns out Monday was the peak of my sickness, and I've sense been getting much better. Meanwhile all those who mocked me in my days of turmoil have sense been sniffling. hehe! na I feel bad they are getting sick now:( They have my true sympathies. But while I happen to be at the height of my cold it was email the little elder day. It's hard to think of anything nice to say, when your nose and ears are plugged and your throat is on fire, so I admit, in a moment of weakness I wrote a complaining email to a missionary. so much for uplifting this week. Luckily my brother is tough and can not be brought down by my whining. Here's his response:

Sorry you are sick dear sister, and i know how it is to have a shortage of paper, in our house were going on our second week lol. and yesturday they cut our water. so we went and payed the bills today, and slept at the the Lz´s house. Im still learning resposibility.

2 weeks!!oh kale! haha I am humbled. Here's some pics too. They are a little outdated, but for those of you who havn't seen the kid with his nametag (which he forgot lol! mom had to send it down later) these are fun. This is his district in the MTC. He went in April, 8 2009 to the MTC in Sau Paulo, Brazil. It's called the CTM there haha I am 88% sure this is his fist comp in the ctmThis is him in ron of sau borja hs first area- he loved t here! now he's in his second area...Agrete. it's harder here. but kale is kale. chill enough to be happy anywhere and hardworking/stubborn enough to get the work going.So Elder Kauwe is doing good. We called Brazil today to make sure the number worked. I dialed of course because the parentals are not so good with phone cards. Maria answered. I said hello, she said hello, I said hello, she said hello, I said hello again, she said hello again, then I said hola, and then I don't know what she said because mom took the phone away from me at that point. I had it all ready how to say I was Elder Kauwe's sister(see title of this blog). In Spanish anyway, which I figured had to be close, and then I choked. Good thing mom went to Portgal on her mission and learned ortugese. Maria said Elder Kauwe has a good spirit and that she really likes him:)

Can you hand me a tissue please?

Well, I have a wicked cold. It's a bad one. My nose is stuffed and my throat feels like it's closing in on me. Everyday for the past half week I wake up sure that I'm suffocating, but alas it's just a cold. Bad news is Friday we ran out of tissues and sat and sun there were toliet paper shortages. But reinforcements came in this morning and I've taken to carrying a roll with me everywhere I go. Sadly, I've gotten no sympathy from the fam, well a little from mom and dad but nothing from the boys. Quite the contrary they called me gross and discusting and i've gotten many bad looks. Hello people!! I am suffering here!! and I told them this when we were playing monopoly. I belted those exacts words, and then I rolled the dice and won free parking. fate is kind sometimes cause it was a heavy lot too... for reasons pertaining specifically to my family...love the fam jam and love being home:D...MERRY CHISTMAS YO!!

Elder Spiderman

This has to be super fast, but I just got an email from Kale, and with a Christmas Phonecall fast approaching I just wanted to let out some feeling about the kid. Kale is my best friend. He has this awesome sense of humor. It's like whitty, and a little sarcastic and usually making fun of some one... in a fun bonding sort of way. He is such a TEASE- but he can take it to which makes him so fun. He just really understands when a funny situation is going on. I miss the understanding looks we used to give eachother right after my mom said something silly and a little bit flighty. But mostly I miss how sweet he was. He is up there on the list of thoughtful peeps. Up there with my mom and probably mother tereasa. He really is just geninly kind and loving and forgiving. Growing up I was mostly just short tempered and impatiant and firy and mean, and he was just chill and easy going and nice and always forgave me so fast when I was mean to him. And he dosn't care what people think about him. He always does the nice thing-Befriedns the loner, cheers up the sad girl. He has a way of finding the underdog or the forgotten one or the picked on child and stands up for them making them feel loved. and it's all genuine because he really does love everyone. and homeboy can really stand up!! He'll bring you off your high horse fast and he'll do it with whit and style! The other summer when I was in Hawaii my dad had to have heart surgery. and he'd already had a stroke and it was kinda scary to be so far away(my fam jam is in washington)and I watched stupid family guy and the guy had a stroke and it freaked me right out, and I called kale and it must have been two in the morning for him, but he answered and talked to me anyway and he calmed me down and them told me what my dad had eaten that day. Kinda silly but It was healthy food and that is what made me feel the most better. I think only Kale could have made me feel that much better. He is so great. I love him and I'm jelouse of all the people in southern Brazil that get to seem him. and 'm proud of him for being such a hard working missionary. I can't wait to talk to him!!! He's the best. now that I think of it all my brothers are the best. I could talk forever of their coolness, but I'll sum it up this way

Kale: happy yellow: patient and forgiving
Kaulu: solid black: diciplined and dependable
Maka: firey Red: Outgoing and Frienly
Kekela: Science green: down to earth and logical



and then they are all absolutly hilariouse!! and really hard workers. I got a good fam- no one I'd rather be with:)


and heres a shout out to lil nike shocks!! (my sister Nika) she would be bright pink
because she has the cutest laugh in the world and it's always going

"Amco, this is Brian"

So my car ended up being in the shop for about... oh the entire month of November! It was quite the mystery case for the boys down at AMCO Transmission, and so each of the 30 days I called in and each of the 30 days my dad called in and it was always the same thing.
ring ring
"Amco, this is Brian"
"Hey Brian its Haliaka...the gray hyndai. Have you guys figured out about when my car will be ready?"
"well that is the question of the hour. hang on"
"yeah we just can't seem to figure out what is wrong...blah blah blah... we don't know when you'll have it back... you're car is annoying... were frustrated with it and sick of it being here"...ok so he dind't say those exact words, but I got vibes.
and then i'd hang up and call again the next day or so. Over all between dad and me we probably talked to Brian from AMCO for at least an hour that month without ever seing or meeting him.
So then last Wednesday I'm going to school. I'm lazy and it's cold so I drive everyday and I park and walk across the whole parking lot(which is farily large..and I remind you that it's very cold) and I can hear someone walking like right behind me. Then as I near the edge of the lot the footsteps quicken and the feet are even closer and this boy says "hey do your lights turn off by themsleves" And I think to myslef...all four windows are taped up equalling ghetto car- do you think my lights are really going to turn off? Why did you follow me across the whole huge parking lot before telling me? But I also was very grateful to the boy. A dead car after school would have truly been aweful on this particular day. and it was really nice that he gave me a chance to not be stupid. you know like he didn't just assume I left them on on accident he gave me the benefit of the doubt first. so with a little chuckle and a big sigh I turn to go back and then the boy says "oh hang on, I'm brian...from AMCO" I bursted out laughing!!!"REALLY?! I say, "YOURE BRIAN?!?" more laughter. It was a good moment. He said how he recognized my car since it had been in there for so long and I just laughed more because now I was really embarrassed that I left my lights on. Then I immediatly called my papa and we exchanged surprised and amused comments. It was fun to run into ole Brian snd I'm glad I have a face to put with the saying I have heard so many times before "AMCO, this is Brian" :)