Philip and Jaime Connor

I just wanted to post this picture. I took it today on our way home from church. Joslyn borrowed my sunglasses and I thought she looked just like a little movie star.

So, Nathan got a rocket for his birthday and we had to take it for a test flight. There is a great park in Mililani that is perfect for the launching of rockets, so we took the family to create our own Cape Canaveral. It was so much fun. We had two motors that came with the rocket (you can get more at the hobby store), and Nathan got the go ahead from Houston. The rocket shot off, up in the sky and once it reached it's top height of about 600 feet, the chute deployed and the rocket came down. Nathan chased after it and brought it back unscathed for a second flight. Joslyn got the honors the next time and everything went great. The kids were really excited about the rocket and are eager to try it again in the near future. A successful retrieval. All I got was smoke. Hey guys, I want a turn! Cute girl

On Saturday we celebrated Nathan's 7th birthday. Can you believe it? My little guy is seven years old! Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday he was a baby and now he is seven and getting ready to start second grade in a few days. We had a party at our house and it was a lot of fun. Several of Nathan's friends came over and we had hot dogs, hit a pinata and ate chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The good news was that no one was hit with the broom stick even though it was being wielded by a bunch of kids on a sugar high. Nathan declared it "the best birthday ever!" which is all you can ask for as a parent. I have to admit that I had my doubts about the day, especially since it started out with inauspiciously. Nathan got into the shower in the morning and was confronted by a four inch centipede. It scared him really bad and took me about 5 minutes of hitting the thing with a flip flop before I incapacitated it enough to get it flushed down ...

I took my motorcycle driver's test on Thursday and was able to pass, if not with flying colors, at least with acceptable marks. I got docked for going over the line on my U turn and for running over two cones on my swerves. All in all not a bad showing. I am very proud of myself and happy that it is behind me and that I have my license instead of just a permit. Phil and the kids were there and Phil was very pleased with the way I rode. I am especially glad that I was able to finish it now since I will only be able to ride for a few more months at most and then will be out of commission until after the baby is born. The only bummer was that they made me retake my driver's license photo after the ride and I had a bad case of helmet hair. Oh well, life goes on.

Well, it has been a while since I wrote and I want to start off this post with the big news. Phil and I are expecting our fourth child in February. I'm eight weeks along now and am feeling pretty good, although I have been suffering from nausea, fatigue etc. Well, what else do you expect? That is all normal stuff, I had it with all my other pregnancies except for Caleb, I didn't get sick at all when I was pregnant with him. We are all very excited and both Nathan and Joslyn have expressed a desire for a new baby sister. Caleb of course is oblivious, but he'll catch on soon enough. This will mean four children born in four different states: South Carolina, Utah, Maine, and Hawaii. I haven't been to the doctor yet, but I will be going in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, I will do my best to keep up with the kids and keep my lunch where it belongs, in my stomach.

What a great holiday weekend we had. Phil was lucky and didn't have to stand duty this weekend so we got three days, you heard right, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to spend together as a family. It was so nice. On Friday, we celebrated the 4th by heading to the beach. We went to a new beach along the North Shore and again had the opportunity to swim with the sea turtles. It was very cool to see them just swimming along, feet from where we were and poking their heads above the water to take a breath every once and awhile. They are so big, yet they are very maneuverable in the water and it is always inspiring to see them swimming past. After the beach, we went to get yummy snow cones, yes, we got the ones with the ice cream and that was so good, especially because it was a hot day and we were tired from all the playing we did. Phil left us in the car and stood in a very long line so we could have something sweet and cold, now that is what I call dedicated. In the evening we r...