hau`oli lā hānau

 

we flew to hawaii on caleb's birthday, so first off, he DID get to play video games on the six hour flight over. and SECONDLY, it was straight to shave ice when we landed. so a couple of important birthday boxes checked for him.

caleb continues to love legos, star wars, lego star wars, video games, lego star wars video games, card games, delicious foods, and card games about delicious foods. he would like nothing more than to enjoy a hot breakfast, a hot lunch, and a hot dinner everyday. 

new interests include kiwi birds, new zealand, and cats. caleb is willing to give anything a try once. his memory is ironclad. his heart is soft. his feet are loud. he loves hugs from his sisters and making pure, unadulterated, and for no other reason than just because mischief with his brother. 

he wants to do everything fast and always be first. 

and now, he's nine. 

happy birthday, bobby! may you continue to be full of questions and curiosity and grow into the fantastically unique human being you are destined to be. 

(we tried three shave ice places while on the big island, and gecko girlz--pictured below, and the stop for caleb's birthday--was the winner for our crew. the treat to beat, however, continues to be matsumoto shave ice on oahu.) 

paradise of the pacific

they snorkeled, hiked, beached, boogied, and swam, and swam, and swam until the sun went down. they saw volcanoes, waterfalls, sea turtles, fish, flowers, fruit, white sand, tan sand, black sand (but didn't make it to the green sand), and ate their weight in shave ice and island treats. 

big island. big adventures. BIG MANTA RAYS.

he huekai nani. 

on this day

"in all the world, there is no heart for me like yours.
in all the world, there is no love for you like mine."

--maya angelou

celebrating seventeen years.

bunny hop

four kids.

a dozen confetti eggs each. 

five minutes on the clock.

one backyard in early spring. 

and no. holds. barred.

into everlasting life

 

"Jesus did not need to go to Samaria. The Jews of His day despised the Samaritans and traveled a road around Samaria. But Jesus chose to go there to declare before all the world for the first time that He was the promised Messiah. For this message, He chose not only an outcast group but also a woman—and not just any woman but a woman living in sin—someone considered at that time to be the least of the least. I believe Jesus did this so that each of us may always understand that His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy.

His grace is sufficient. He alone descended below all things. The power of His Atonement is the power to overcome any burden in our life. The message of the woman at the well is that He knows our life situations and that we can always walk with Him no matter where we stand. To her and to each of us, He says, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but [shall have] a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

--Elder Robert C. Gay,  Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ, October 2018

back in the habit

 today our middle schoolers got their turn to head back to in-person learning.

so here's to the last second first day of school of the '20-'21 school year for the wheelers! 

afton's first day on campus as a middle schooler!

fly my little birdies!

spring is here.

previously on this is us

one year ago today, our three hundred sixty-five days much younger family ventured out to enjoy the peeking sunshine and blooming cherry blossoms at UW--those signature sanguine signals of spring in seattle. 

and in digging through the memories of the past year, photos of this last (of what would turn out to be awhile) outing popped up, so i dusted them off to share. 

so glad that spring is in the air again. 

hi ho, hi ho

it's off to school he goes.

caleb was very ready to go back. he does his best concentration and learning in a school environment (out of my four, he is my one for whom the structure and expectations of a classroom is an educational game changer) and was so excited to see his amazing teacher in person again.

he had his backpack and mask on a full thirty minutes before it was time to leave for the bus. 

a smattering

 of a few more snowy baptism pics to remember the day.

not pictured: brian collinwood who came down early in the cold morning to fill the font (and also shoveled the walk!); james pace who trekked out to attend in person (bringing our total physical attendance numbers up to five); marcy candland who quickly popped on her boots and dropped off fluffy, warm towels (after a frantic phone call) because we forgot ours; all our loving and dedicated family members who participated via the wonders of technology; and summer and dallin who had to zoom in to the baptism from home because, well, that was just the hand the morning dealt us.

caleb, for his part, took everything in stride as he is wont to do. it was a good day. 

michael caleb

after waiting nearly a year, not even a pacific northwest snowstorm could keep us from the church building yesterday (bryan putting grandpa mike's off-road fj cruiser to good use), and our mr. caleb, sir, felt very loved on his zoom baptism day.

"If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth 'that all things work together for good to them that love God.' 

So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

snow capped mountains white

a few more snaps of dallin's birthday snow day.

this crew might look like they're all laughing and smiling and having a grand ol' time in these pics, but most of them did NOT care for the forty minute hike in the snow (some of it deep snow) to get here. unfortunately, their daddy loves him a hard hike: the stress on the body and the mind and the views that make it oh so worth while. 

so, sorry kids: this won't be the last mountain you climb (whether you like it or not). 

but see? worth it. 

then there was this!

and as if turning seven wasn't enough, dallin got to celebrate 2021 with an extra special bonus of attending his first day of in-person learning in almost a year. 

cheers to the teachers(!!), staff, community members, and families for their hard work and dedication in making in-person learning a possibility for our youngest learners.

dallin was one of those who had to switch teachers due to the necessary reshuffling of kiddos based on in-person/remote options, BUT! the first grade team had done such a phenomenal job of integrating their learning across classrooms throughout the year that he was undeterred and super excited to be in person with his new teacher and classmates. we love our first grade teachers!

he had a great first (half) day.

masked up, washed up, and ready to learn. 

le sept

 yesterday, little man turned seven years old.

he wanted to go sledding in the snow, and eat at mod pizza, and have ice cream sandwiches for dessert, and so we did all those things (plus plants vs. zombies, too).

dallin still brings all the big feelings energy to our family. he still says everything. all the things. all the time. talk, talk, talking with no inner monologue to be found. there is absolutely nothing so minute as to be unworthy of his commentary. we love it. he's fascinating and passionate and his vocabulary is prodigious. the facial expressions. the voices. the hand movements. the aggressive pointing. dallin lives life on the edge of his seat and takes everyone else along for the ride. 

when he's not talking, he's reading. when he's not reading, he's practicing the piano. he's working on his sticker art. or he's fighting--i mean plotting--i mean playing with his brother. 

our micro mighty man. he who loves cool ranch doritos more than nacho cheese doritos (the horror!) and vehemently argues that cookie crisp is actually a cereal (never!) 

who never, ever, ever times a thousand plus infinity gives up on ANYTHING he believes in. 

here's to you, woo! we wish you the happiest of birthday years, and better luck next time on that bike, son.