Grammie & Papa visit Maui

We were so happy to have Walter's parents come visit us in our new home for ten days.  It was an action filled week and half and we enjoyed every moment.  Sophia was thrilled to have her "Grammie & Papa" around again!  We did lots of sight seeing to some of our favorite places around the island; Lavender Farm, Goat Dairy, Baby Beach, Maui Aquarium, and Kapalua to name a few.   There were lots of cuddles and good times spent hangin by the pool at their hotel.  Sophia kept asking, "when are we going to the hotel?"

We went to a ton of great restaurants, ate so well, and probably all gained some pounds!!  We even went on a whale watch one day...thanks to Uncle Joe for hanging out with Sophia for a few hours while we were on the water!!   It was such a great trip and we look forward to the next time they come out to see us again!

 ~Christina

Birthday

Finally a warm weather birthday!  That is the problem with a January birthday, but this year in Maui it was 79 degrees.  My birthday was the 30th, so on the night of the 29th Christina and I went to the best sushi place on Maui called Sansei.  Probably the best sushi I have ever had and only 5 minutes from where we're currently living.  Whenever anyone comes to visit this will be a "must eat" place.  Then we had a drink at the lobby bar at the Ritz.  Definitely a great night!

The next day (the 30th) when I got home from work Sophia greeted me at the door with a huge smile.  We went to Cool Cats which is a 50's burger joint in Lahaina...kind of like Ruby's.  Sophia and I shared a shake and a burger.  We looked at the ocean for a long time and walked around town with Christina.  Very relaxing and a great way to spend my birthday.  Thank you to my Mom and Dad for picking up the tab for dinner, Paula and Joe for babysitting, and Christina & Sophia for making it so much fun.  --Walter

Sophia turns two in Maui

Our little girl is growing up right before our eyes! It's been an amazing two years filled with so much fun and laughter!

My sister, Paula, was sweet enough to get a few friends together for a beach birthday party for Sophia this past Sunday. It was such a fun day!! Gorgeous weather and views of neighboring Molokai. The kids had pizza and cupcakes and enjoyed running around chasing Uncle Joe and his kite. My parents were still in town so it was really nice to celebrate this birthday with them.

Today was Sophia's actual birthday. She and I had a wonderful lunch with Auntie Paula at the new Duke's restaurant here in Maui. Sophia especially loved the Hula Pie for dessert!!  --Christina

Where Do I Begin...

We arrived on Tuesday the 12th.  Tuesday was a long day for Sophia.  She woke up at 530am to go to the airport and didn't go to sleep until 8pm Hawaii time (10pm PST) with no nap.  We were hoping that she would take a nap on the plane but she was too excited and wanted to play instead.  Once we arrived we picked up our car at the port, it was pretty surreal driving our car on Maui.  We usually have a rental car.  We arrived at our new home for the next couple of weeks (the Kence's --> Christina's sister's house). Here is a picture of us after we arrived.

The last couple of days we've been relaxing and getting adjusted.  In the morning and the evening we sit on the second story lanai watching the whales jump.  We got Hawaiian license plates for our car (now I can go surf and have no worries) as well as going to the store, etc...

I checked in with my new work, the Ka'anapali Beach Club on Friday and will start work on January 18th.  I can't tell you how excited I am to be working normal hours while staring at the ocean all day, but most importantly NO BLACKBERRY!!!

Tonight was great.  We got fish tacos from the local fish market and went to one of our favorite beaches (Kahana Sunset) to watch the sunset.  It is a beautiful private beach (luckily we know the code) and to the left is the island of Lanai (first picture) and the second picture is the island of Molokai.  You can see them both from Kahana Sunset beach.  Needless to say, we're enjoying our time here.  Tomorrow is a big day for Sophia as she's having a birthday party at the beach tomorrow.  --Walter

Stuff

This was our last trip to the storage unit...good thing because it's full! So weird to see all of our stuff in this space. It was such hard work to pack it all up but will be so rewarding to unpack in such an amazing place! Once we have a move in date we will send our stuff to Maui in a container that will travel by sea. Then it should take about three weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that everything arrives in one piece...it better after all the bubble wrap I used!!! :) I'm so glad the packing is over...Walter assures me the unpacking will be easier. He swears he's a "Great unpacker"...I hope so! Aloha for now~Christina

Getting Closer...

So it's now midnight and we're getting ready for bed. We've been burning the midnight oil this past week trying to get all packed up. As you can imagine, we're not able to do too much during the day while Sophia is awake. She's taking it all quite well...she knows we're moving and keeps saying "Maui". She also knows that we're getting a lot of new stuff when we get to Maui...or so she thinks!! Everytime we sell a piece of furniture she says bye bye and tells me that we'll get a new one. :) We can't believe our move is less than a week...exciting and sad. We've been trying to see as many friends and family as we can before we go. Hope to see lots of people this Saturday night at our "Farewell Cocktail Party" at House of Brews in Huntington Beach. We're trying to soak in all the goodness of HB...Tuesday night Farmer's Markets, Story Time at the library, walks on the beach, and these amazing January sunsets. We've had six wonderful years here and these memories will stay with us forever!! It's been a great place to live! Walter is ready to ride the waves...just picked up a new custom surfboard today that will be great for the big Maui waves...as if the 5 other surfboards aren't enough. Sophia is ready for the waves too and keeps talking about surfing with daddy...body boarding of course for now! And I'm just happy sitting on the beach watching it all. Love to all...Christina

The Higlander is on it's way to Maui

This past Friday we took Walter's car to the Port of Long Beach and sent it to Maui. If all goes as planned it should arrive on January 12th...so do we!! We'll keep the Tahoe until we leave California and then send it behind us. It was strange and exciting to send the car...just one step closer to actually doing this! ~Christina

It's Official!

We just purchased ONE-WAY tickets to Maui...this is really happening!  Walter gave his notice at work last week and we're moving on January 12th.  There are a ton of emotions right now...we're super excited for this new adventure, overwhelmed by all of the things we have to do before we leave, and of course sad to leave the life we've known here in Southern California for so many years.

This move is one we've thought about for a long time.  We want to slow down the pace of life, have more time for family, and raise Sophia in a beautiful and peaceful environment.  The past couple years have been so busy for us both with working full-time, getting our Master's Degrees, and starting a family.  It's very easy to lose sight of what's most important...our family and our faith.

Sophia is just as excited as we are and is working on saying Aloha...right now it is "Ho la".  She does know that Maui is in Hawaii and is able to recite the names of our family who live there (Auntie Paula, Uncle Joe, and Sissy Malia).  We know this will be an amazing opportunity for her and that she will thrive in her new home.

These next few weeks will be filled with lots of packing, reminiscing, anticipation, and lots of Holiday cheer.

--Walter & Christina