Happy 1st Day of School!

Helen started 2nd grade this fall and is doing great adjusting to the new school.

 Jane is so happy to be in Kindergarten and could hardly sleep the night before her first grade.

Fun with the Finch Family

The Finch Family has graciously let us live in their basement while we've been in the house buying process. Not only has it been fun to be around 7 cousins all the time, but there are also 6 chickens that need daily human interaction as well. 

(I have serious doubts that they are ever going to lay eggs after all the psychological and physical trauma they've been through in these kids hands. But perhaps chickens are made of tougher stuff; they have been around for a long time. Our kids cannot be the first kids to harass our avian friends.)

 Our kids were quickly (instantly) incorporated into the job chart when we got to Amber's house, and Hunter and Helen have been great buddies. Okay, the truth is both of them like to be the boss and there is no small amount of friction. Here is one of their quieter moments.

 Alice and Bianca love jumping on the trampoline during sprinkler time.

 Here are the kids doing their best to keep the Sabbath day holy while enjoying their fowl friends.

 A couple weeks ago I broke down and bought a tea set for $2 at a garage sale. It has been a big hit.

 Being around all these older kids has given Carl all sorts of ideas... This is not my favorite idea: potty train a 22 month old in the middle of the biggest family move of our life. No, I'd prefer bamboo shoots under my fingernails.

Utah Fun

Working our way east across the globe, we made a long over-due stop to Grandma and Grandpa Hackett's in Sandy, Utah.  In addition to being together and catching up on stories, everyone had their favorite part about being at Grandpa's house:  Ryan = lots of chocolate snacks, Michelle = lots of naps, Helen = making ice cream with Grandma, Jane = wading pool in the backyard, Alice = sidewalk chalk, Carl = new kitchen cabinets/drawers to empty.

We were so lucky that Royce could spend the weekend having fun with us too.  I don't know if he's ever explored the "Princess" children's books at the library so thoroughly.

He also took us on a great hike up Big Cottonwood canyon to Donut Falls.

We spent a day up in Salt Lake too, and started with a visit to Great-grandma Johnson's home.  She had the best motorized toy cars, lots of family pictures, and we really enjoyed lunch together.

Next we spent some time seeing the conference center, temple square, and the visitors centers.

Daily dips in the backyard wading pool was a huge highlight for the kids.  Carl is definitely not supposed to be in the "big kid" pool, but he's a tough guy to keep track of.

The hammock also kept the kids giggling, especially when Grandpa would pretend to not notice they were occupying said hammock as he rolled it up.

Aloha

In the second half our our trip we learned how to make leis. The girls and I loved it. Carl spent the whole time wandering from one piece of mischief to the next while Ryan watched him like a hawk.

Here we are on a hike to Akaka Falls. We were all so excited to see bamboo that we stopped to take a picture. It's the little things.

 It was tough to get this picture without any tourists wandering in a out. We can assume that our kids photo-bombed any number of other people as well.

 We took a tour of a chocolate farm and factory -- certainly a highlight for Ryan. Those are the cacao pods hanging off the tree which Jane is so elegantly pointing out to us.

 Wading with small children is not fun. The independent attitude + slippery rock + waves is a recipe for disaster. After about 10 minutes of extreme wariness we let the kids play on the beach far from the tide pools. Carl was just as happy piling sand on his legs. The feel of the sand on his body (and slipping into his diaper and waistband) had a hypnotic affect on him.

 The girls and I created this fabulous coral garden.

 While in Kona I got to go to the temple while Ryan watched the kids. I loved it! It reminded me of the Columbus Temple where Ryan and I got married.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

En route to the mainland soil we took a brief stop in Hawaii to visit the most active volcano in the world. We've spent the last year reading all the books on volcanoes at the library and jumped at the chance to see one up close and personal. Here we are on the bird hike in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We never actually saw any birds, but we heard them and saw a strategically placed feather on the trail. I suspect it was a plant by the park ranger. 

 Here are the girls on Desolation Trail. Helen made sure we stayed in the right place.

 Here's another fine trail with great steam vents. I was really happy we brought a baby carrier when I saw the "fence" keeping my children from falling into the crevice below.

We made it - the actual crater! It was freezing and raining, but we are happy. (This was mere hours before a gastrointestinal virus struck our family, leaving us quarantined in our military base cabin for two days.)

 The girls came back at night later that week to see the glowing vapor. 

 Ryan, Helen and Jane got to explore some lava tube caves while the rest of us were still prostrate will illness. 

The kids loved the zoo in Hilo, especially the benches. 

Sayonara, Japan

At the end of June we finished our assignment in Japan and are officially separating from the Air Force. Here is the fabulous sunset we saw from our temporary living facilities once we were out of our home.

 I'm sure the kids are thinking of the great unknown in their future or maybe about what we are going to have for dessert.

 

Carl loves to stop and smell the flowers, or maybe it's the thrill of tearing the weeds out of the ground by the roots.

Here is Carl in the infamous "Hackett Jacket" which was worn by his father, Ryan, when he was considerably older than Carl and by his grandfather, Richard, before that when he was even more mature. It's a great piece of Hackett history, but the washing machine has not been kind.

 Here is the last picture in front of our flowers with our playground in the park in the background. I was feeling really sentimental. Luckily with four kids you don't really have time to be sentimental.

Campout

Over Memorial Day weekend we packed up our van and headed south for a great camping trip. We started at a cute little aquarium.

In Japan when you pay for a campsite they let you use a wheel barrel to cart all your things to your site. This is a really nice feature when your site is 1/4 mile away from the parking lot. Our friends and our family were the only ones there. It might have had something to do with the gale force winds.

 Camping is even better when there are rocks to climb on!

 It was all I could do to keep up with these little billy goats gruff.

 Here are the pack horses of our adventure.

 These kids would have hiked right into the ocean if I hadn't been there. One more reason to have a mother.

Happy Birthday Jane and Helen

We had such beautiful weather this spring that we had picnics more often than not. I love not sweeping, so I am more than happy to eat outside with kids. 

Jane turned 5, and was treated to a birthday party with our neighbors. 

 Helen just turned 7, and she's demonstrating how they show 7 with fingers in Japan with her Mt. Fuji salad she chose for dinner.

Helen asked for Mango Volcanoes for dessert. I had to scour all the old Japanese thrift stores until I found an ice shaver. (To be honest, I came home with three and then had to test them all.)


Have you ever seen such a beautiful azalea?