Sudden trip

(started to write this back in July)
Well, we have left the Garden Isle, and returned to the Land of Oz!! I have been saying for a few months now that I wanted to go back to KC for Hallie's 3rd birthday, not knowing I would be coming back on different terms. I hadn't booked a ticket, when I got a call that my Dad had fallen on his afternoon walk, and was in the hospital. All I knew was he couldn't feel his legs. Talk about feeling FAR AWAY FROM HOME!! At that moment, all I wanted to do was be there with my family, hear the doctors speak, and find out the expected outcome of my Dad's condition. My girlfriend from high school had just gotten to Hawaii to visit for a week. So, its not like I could just jump on a plane and go. When I found out that my Dad had hurt his neck, was going to need surgery, but was expected to recover nicely..I decided to wait and fly back with my friend 5 days later. Being the only girl in the family, with 4 brothers, I have always been very involved in my parents medical care and I'm the "go to" person when there is a family issue. It was hard for me to not be that person, but allowing my brothers to be there for my parents felt awesome. I have to say, they have all impressed me with their loving and supportive nature. My oldest brother, Casey, has power of attorney over my Dad's medical care, which takes a great strain off my Mom. Casey knows my Dad very well, and knows what he would want. Kelly, Zach and Chase have all been visiting and helping whenever possible. When I arrived in KC, I picked up my car and headed to the rehab hospital where my Dad is at. It was very hard to see him in the state he was. The first few days were the worst because he was just so confused, defiant and not understanding the severity of the accident. For him to heal, his mental state had to improve. Finally, over about a two week period, it slowly got better and better. He started walking with a walker and feeding himself with the use of an assisted device.

UPDATE: My Mom, brothers and I have all been there as much as we can and are doing everything possible to help him improve. I am back in Hawaii so I can only do so much, but I do call my Mom alot to talk and see how things are going. We got them a patio furniture set for their birthday's, which they have been thoroughly enjoying. Thankfully I can say he has come a very long way in the last 2 1/2  months. It is crazy how life can turn around in a second. I trust that everything that happens is supposed to happen, and there is always good in the (seemingly) bad. This accident is going to allow my Dad to slow down in life, appreciate his family and friends, and live happy and healthy for hopefully another 30+ years. God sure does have a way of working things out. It has been shown to me numerous times over the past few years. My prayers have been answered in so many ways and I just know that things will all work out with my Dad. My brother took over my his Chiropractic office and is loving it! I miss my parents everyday, but I am so thankful they are both here to Skype and talk to anytime I want  <3

Our new home away from home..

Dang! Here I thought I was going to keep up with my blog, and its been since May that I last posted.

So much has been going on. We bought our very first home on Kauai!! It has been taking up most of our time, I will get to that in a minute. Leading up to finding this wonderful piece of property...Joe and I had thrown around the idea of buying a home here. We love it and he is committed to his job here for a few years, at the least. So, a few months prior to us finding this house, we would randomly go look at houses that came on the market in our price range, both for fun and with the thought that if the right house comes along, we might want to buy. Well, Joe brought me to a house and told me to try and "look past all the crap".. Well, that meant look past all the trash, birds, dogs, nasty everything!! I was not completely sold on the home, although I did see the potential right away. The one thing I wanted to think long and hard about was the location. It is not on our ideal side of the island (or so we thought our ideal was). We went back a few weeks later to view the house again. After many discussions, we decided to put in an offer! Long story short, they accepted our offer and we closed on the house in May 2013!

We had all our stuff from the mainland shipped over here to our small piece of paradise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After months of construction on the house, we finally are moved in! We have not unpacked all of our boxes, but that will come in time. We had the interior painted,  hardwood floors put in and our kitchen cabinets painted GREEN, which I am in love with. I feel we have done a pretty good job manifesting all the things we dream of having in life! About a year ago, I made a list of things we wanted in our future..I found that list a few days ago and probably half of them were crossed off or in the near future going to be crossed off. We have our home, on land, with an outside shower, room for a porch swing, ocean view, and bigger space than we have been living in. We have yet to cross of the garden, but I am pleased to say we have plans for a kick ass garden and also we have fruit trees already on the property which we are giving some extra special love to in the hopes of getting better fruit from them. I have always made lists of the things I want to have or acquire in the future, and I love looking back at those list and seeing that they have come to fruition. It is proof that we really are capable of anything we set our minds to. What we think about comes about, so think good thoughts. I am looking forward to our future here as a family. The kids have a wonderful piece of land to call home the most beautiful island in the world. What a blessing it is. I am excited to see what the future brings us. I foresee our yard becoming full of yummy fruits and veggies, a swing-set, motorcycle track, my parents and other visitors coming out and maybe another little keiki running around in cloth diapers:) lol That one is a shot in the dark as I think my husband would agree we have our hands full right now, but in my heart I see it and believe it, and therefore I embrace it.