Happy Holidays - Santa Edition

Santa at the Grove, 2019

Student Council UPDATE

OLIVE WON!!  OLIVE WON!! OLIVE WON!!

Guys!!  Olive won for 3rd Grade Goodwill Ambassador at her school.  I have no idea what a Goodwill Ambassador does...but I have to say I'm soooo proud of her!  She beat out a lot of her friends which was sad....but she will definitely do a great job on student council. 

Holiday Pictures - Max Wanger

As most of you know - my favorite photographer is Max Wanger.  He was offering mini sessions for the holidays.  And by mini-sessions....I mean like 15-20min. for each family.  Sadly, the kids were not on their best behavior and got an earful when we were done.  Thank goodness he's amazing and the pictures were still cute.

Student Council Here We Come

A few weeks ago Olive ran for 3rd Grade Goodwill Ambassador for Student Council.  She made it through the first round and had to make a poster.  Today was the speeches.  Let me say this - my baby was so poised and well spoken.  She stood up in front of her peers and gave a great speech.  I would definitely vote for her.  Cross your fingers and toes that she wins!  She's got some stiff competition.

2019 School Pics

Olive Cahn - Mrs. Greenger 3rd Grade 

Buster Cahn - Mrs. Orr 1st Grade

Hawaii Part 2

On our second to last night we had dinner at the fancy restaurant at the hotel.  It was delicious although VERY expensive! (WHY IS HAWAII SO CRAZY EXPENSIVE?!?!?).  After dinner we went to the beach where we watched the sunset.  

On our last night on the Big Island we took a sunset cruise on the ocean.  It was more of a boozy boat ride than anything else - but we still had fun.  As far as beaches, food, and people go - Mexico is still my favorite.

Happy Halloween

Circus Family, Halloween 2019

Andrew - UPDATE

I'm pretty sure I fell into the above category when Andrew was going through chemo. It's not easy knowing the "right" thing to say to someone. I'm sure I put my foot in my mouth every single day. The entire thing was hard on everyone. Andrew, me, and the kids. He was really really sick for such a long time and it was so hard to watch.  The worst part was that I didn't know how to help him. My main priority had to be the kids. And he was on isolation protocol for almost 9 weeks.  In any case - he's through the worst of it and slowly starting to feel better.  There were a few times where we didn't know what would happen - in the hospital for 8 days with a blood clot and an infection and back in the hospital a week or so later with a temperature of 104. He ultimately had to have a blood transfusion which made him feel so much better.  From there it was mostly uphill with just a few little setbacks. Today - he is feeling much much better than he was 4 weeks ago.  But again it's been almost 4 weeks without chemo.  He's been back to work for 3 weeks which I think has helped him too. I'm sure being in a bed for most of the day is no fun.  We are slowly getting our life back together which is nice.  Hopefully he gets the all clear in the next few weeks from his various CT scans and blood tests.

Olive Runs for Student Council

Now that Olive is in 3rd Grade she is able to run for Student Council at her Elementary School.  She's made it to the second round for 3rd Grade Goodwill Ambassador.  Andrew had the great idea of making the above poster! Olive absolutely loves it and it was supposed to go up on Monday.  However, with the fires all of the schools in the area are closed. (It's been 3 days of not leaving the house and I'm going a bit crazy to be honest!)

Hawaii

Back in July, Buster and I went to Hawaii.  I think its important to do special things with each kid individually and it was Buster's turn this year!! Sadly what I discovered is - is that I don't LOVE Hawaii. I prefer Mexico far more.  It just seems more exotic, less expensive, and more fun!

On one of the 5 days we were there we took a little roadtrip (I mean...lets be honest all we wanted to do was hang out by the pool) and went to Akaka Falls and Hapuna Beach.  Thankfully it wasn't a crazy hike to get to the waterfall and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Hapuna Beach is one of my favorites on the Big Island.  Andrew and I stayed there before we were married and I definitely wanted to take Buster. One thing about both of my kids - THEY LOVE THE BEACH.

Fourth of July

I have quite a few pictures from the Fourth of July...but this is by far my favorite. I really really really love it there and can't wait until we can all go back soon.

C-A-N-C-E-R

Wow - who knew those 5 letters would come into our lives?  On the 4th of July Andrew went to the emergency room only to discover that he, did in fact, have cancer.  Over the last month it has been a slew of surgeries, doctors appointments, and chemotherapy.  He's going to be fine....but it isn't going to be easy.  I'll try and post updates when I can. 

Yosemite 2019

In June, after the kids were out of school, we drove to Yosemite for a little mini vacation. Every year the entire family goes for a few days. This year we were leaving the kids with my mom for a week!

The second day the Oliveiras went home and we hiked lower Yosemite Falls with my mom and Auntie Connie.  I use the word hike VERY loosely since it's not very difficult at all.

On our last day we explored swinging bridge. The bridge didn't swing (which would have been cool) but the views were GORGEOUS.