FIVE.

1. Hula...

2. Lava...

3. Candles ...
(don't judge...it was early and we weren't nearly as depressed as we sound in this video :) not depressed at all!)

4. Seahorses...

5. Love ...

5 reasons this weekend on the big island was such a treat. Thank you Nana and Pops for the visit, the vacation and tour of the volcanos. Thank you Hudson for 5 years of beautiful living. Thank you Jaden and Claire for being the best friends Hud could ask for. We love watching you guys laugh together, play fight, really fight, forgive each other, help each other and grow together. Thank you Hawaii Seahorse Farm. This place is amazing, a must do when you travel to the Big Island. They do tours at noon and 2, Mon-Fri only. Awesome! 

They're here!!!

Brochures laid out, leis in hand. We were ready. 

More ready than ever perhaps...

... to hug these necks. 

There's no one like a Mom or Dad, a Nana or a Pops, when it comes to making you feel at home when you're really in the middle of the ocean. 

Today was not only "Yay Nana and Pops are here!" day, but it was "Let the celebration commence!" day for Hudson. 

In three days, our sweet and amazing Hud will be 5. I simply cannot believe it.  I remember his actual birth day so well. I was in shock at how easy everything went. He came, he smiled, he cuddled and things have only gotten better from there. Thank you Hudson for adding such joy and peace to our lives. You are a huge part of the glue of "us" and we all love you so very much. 

Commencement: Operation open special package from Gma and Dude. 

(the only thing that could have made this day better was if they were the package, but we'll wait to squeeze their necks for a few more weeks if we have to!)

It might as well have been gold because all we heard about the rest of the day were three things: 

1. they now had money and could use an ATM, so they'll buy their own $3 drinks thank you. (false, gift cards have never worked for me in an atm, shucks kids - major bummer)

2. they had more money than me and daddy probably. this could be true.

3. "can we go to target now!!!" the answer was a resounding no, many times, for many reasons. but tomorrow...we'll take her by storm I'm sure. :) Thanks Gma and Dude, we love you and miss you but send our best online hugs your way.

Alright Hudson, here's to you...enjoy your birthday celebrations this weekend, you've started it off just right. 

no beach...pool please!!!

The kids usually unanimously vote for a pool swim over the beach. Except when Jaden decides he wants to body surf or Claire wants to call herself a "surfer-gurl-pink-princess."

I'll take some pictures of our house soon and post them, I have a dedicated "paint" room...so we'll see what comes out of this. I did these blue birds the other night. The room is full of light but so far the only time I have space to paint is at night when I might as well be in a closet. Still fun to have a room all set and ready to go. 

No longer homeless. Perfect Provision

It will be of no surprise to you, it all worked out for the best. On July 20th after no luck with about 15 other houses. We found our home in Hawaii. 

Looking back, my friend Michelle was right when she said she thought God was just showing me around the island so I felt at home until our house was ready. We drove all over this amazing island for two weeks. Though I'll admit to a few discouraged moments, I wouldn't trade a mile of it. We wanted one area to call home - near the beach in Kailua - and the whole time there was a perfect little community waiting for us to discover. It's not touristy. It's not trafficky. It's simply the most beautiful area that I could imagine living in. Most of our neighbors are here to stay and feel grateful to live where they do. We also ended up with far more than we could have asked for - 4 bedrooms, two lofts for the kids, a pool and a room full of light to paint in. I'll stop because I know I'm completely spoiled and I don't want to make you too jealous, just a little will do. ;)

We are so grateful for this space. The land. The mountains surrounding us. A lovely school for the boys. The rain shower we get once or twice a day - liquid sunshine as Joel and the boys like to call it. 

Internet, home phone and cable installation took a mere two weeks to get installed...but now we're back in action and can connect across the lines of modern technology again. 

I have plenty of pictures that I need to upload, but till then here are a few of the kids: 

Claire is enchanted by hula everything, I'm hoping to find hula lessons for both of us. Not only fun but a neat way to learn about the culture and history of the Hawaiians. 

See this little beach town (Lanikai) below, that's where we wanted to live...but nothing worked out. Now we're grateful, and only about a 10 minute drive from this world famous beach and gorgeous hike called the "pillbox" hike. The views are incredible all the way up and it's relatively easy for kids. 

If you come visit us, it's likely we'll do this hike together!

The boys have proven they are indeed Joel's children by rocking the hiking trails. They are tough, determined and hilarious with their comments along the way. 

Part two, Catch Up

Well, we now live in Hawaii. Or should I say we almost live in Hawaii. According to any public records, we do not. But we are easily reached at your nearest Ambassador Hotel or Honda Mini Van. We probably spend more time in the van than anywhere else and though we are currently living a gypsy lifestyle, we are doing our best to secure a home. I will spare you the saga, but we've basically been ready to write a check on 3 houses and lost them all. Today is a new day with new hope for our living situation. Can't wait to tell you about it when it happens. For now, you get the notes version of my blog. Since I don't have a computer during the day, I've been writing notes on my iPhone for the blog later. Here's day 2-4ish. I lost day 1, sorry. :)

Day 2, exploring Kailua! Saturday July 7th

Waikiki is better than I remembered. If you're not prepared well for the fact that Honolulu is not quite the idealized version of the "Hawaii" in your mind that was created by random TV shows, then you might be a bit let down by the city the first time you visit. At least, I was when I came for vacation at 18.  This time around has been completely different. First of all, I didn't come with quite as naive of expectations. And secondly, vacationing lenses are far different from moving and living lenses. I'd like to truly get to know the city, I'm truly interested in the neighborhoods...why some are ideal to live in and others far from it. The fact that they have a Costco and whole foods might have disappointed me somehow on vacation but now I'm oh so grateful for access to them for the year. That's just one example, but I find myself coming to this Island this time with less expectation and a desire simply to learn and receive this part of Hawaii for what it is than I have in the past vacationing. Even on our honeymoon my pursuit was an exclusive tropical paradise (understandably), but this time around I'm already in chanted by different things. Like the fact that a large city of hustle and bustle exists in such beauty on such a small landmass in the middle of the pacific. It's impressive really.

Dear Hawaii, I am sorry for wanting you to enchant me with your primitive existence that really only existed in my imagination. That was a nice idea, and desirable in part. And while, granted, much of your economy depends upon this very inclination in the hearts of all tourists, this time around I look forward to receiving you simply as you are. Past, present, old, new, crowded, developed, secluded, unique, enchanting or en-chanting state that you are. I look forward to living on your soil and I am grateful just to be here.

Oh yes, forgot my point...today we drove to the windward side of the island where we'll live. Kailua is the town we will call home. It is a 20-30 minute drive through a mountain (cool tunnel the kids love!) from Waikiki on the south side of Oahu to Kailua on the east side. The Pali Hwy is truly a delight to drive. I can hardly wait to lead friends and family who visit down this lovely path. It looks different every time we drive it depending on how the sun shines through the mountains and on whether or not a small rain cell is sitting on top of the mountains. This drive is a gift.

We drove by the one and only house I've found so far (3 months of looking) that looks like "our home" on craigslist. It was a far better location than I could have imagined. Perfect really. We get to go see it tomorrow, we'll let you know how it goes... (wrote this a while ago clearly...went south real fast, oh well!)


Day 3  - In love In Lanikai

With a house and neighborhood that is. Today we looked at the house I told you about. I almost passed out inside because it was way better than I even hoped for! If they would have let us sign papers then and there I may have just signed our life savings away as a deposit. Alas, they are doing the prudent thing and showing it for the week, accepting applications, then making a decision as to the best fit for the house. So feel free to join me in praying that if we aren't the only applicants, that we are certainly the best fit. :)

Yes yes, of course I know that if it doesn't work out, there's something even better on the horizon. I am certain that His hand has been all over this move and He'll lead us to great housing. BUT, I love this place and would be beyond content to live there...we'll see.

In other news, Lanikai is one of the most beautiful little beachside communities I've ever seen. It's at the far end of Kailua and every street is close to the beach. If we end up in the house I hope to, this will be one block away....
(Ok, re-reading this is kinda sad...don't worry, we're fine! the house was great though and this is the beach that was right around the corner from it. Simply Gorgeous.)

Day 4, Monday July 9th


Today we explored a few other housing options. Or should I call them no-options. They all affirmed to me how great this other place is. I'll keep looking though I admit it's hard when I know exactly where I'd like to be :).

We hit up the Waikiki zoo and had the best time. Beautiful is a word that I will likely wear out quickly here, but wow...what a lush, peaceful, awesomely beautiful place. The animals really kinda take a backseat to their habitat if we're comparing zoo's here. The coolest part was this great open ares by the Keiki play area that had wild birds that looked like miniature peacocks (not sure what their actual name is) roaming around freely. Claire loved stalking them, which I tried to teach her to do calmly.

We visited the kailua beach park for the first of what will likely be many times. The pictures at the top of this blog are from that visit!

Today was Joel's first day at work as an actual resident. Not surprisingly he loved it and we all have a new appreciation for actual workday hours and a workplace to inhabit that is not our home (or should I say, closet....Joel has been a trooper tryimg to work from home with three little lovelies running circles around his feet. New seasons are good).

 I don't know how to move this pic to the bottom, but this movie watching exhaustion happened at the end of the day.

I think that's way more than this post can handle...each day's notes get shorter and shorter, no worries.
Aloha, Cayce

Beth Saxton (blogger friend extraordinaire), a catch up, and then another catch up

Catch up one...where in the world have I been for the past two years? Much the same place as the two before that. Remember when I acted like I was gonna blog again and did a catch up two years ago then that was all for two more years? sorry! Yes, I've been absent from blog world but very much alive. If you'd like to get a glimpse of us every now and then, we are regulars on my wonderful friend Beth Saxton's blog. She's the most amazing blogger I know and also the sweet friend who gave my little blog here a facelift of love. She loves me enough to save me from that aweful background I had on here before. Thanks Beth! I love you and I miss you so much already. You have become such a treasured best friend far beyond being Kim's sister to me. And I should thank you on behalf of my mom and Linda for posting pictures regularly of our family, they eat it up and for that we're all grateful!  You can visit Beth here: www.bethsaxton.com 

So first I'll catch up on those quick two years that have passed, then I'll catch up on the past week in Hawaii. This could turn out to be the longest blog post ever, but I'm ok with that considering it's likely I have about five readers and I've already named three of them in this post.

So in no particular order...


We moved! And this is our favorite family house yet! One story, 4 bedrooms and a back-like front yard.

 Claire and Emme grew into the two cutest little BESTIES you've ever seen. They love each other and it makes me smile to see them together. One time I walked in on one of them telling the other to be careful climbing on the bed, then the other responded with "Ok! Love you!"

This amazing bird decided to build a next right outside our breakfast room window. We watched it hatch eggs and we were there when the babies learned to fly. I think she may have even gotten used to us peering in on her so often...

The boys turned 5 then 6, and 3 then 4 (almost 5). And suddenly they seem so big. No longer preschoolers but little boys. We tried to make it to a family reunion this past year and on the way nothing really went as planned. The boys did have their first lesson in changing a tire however, and I was excited because we happened to land (blow-out) in one of our best friend's hometown. Stace, Lorena was lovely...

 One time in the past two years, I got to be in a picture with all my kids and the Saxton girls...miracle picture:

Claire turned 2 then 3. We had a joint San Antonio Birthday party for her 3rd and for Hudson's 5th since he'll turn 5 in August in Hawaii and might not have made friends just yet. Horse rides in our front yard were a hit with everyone...

Miss Gracie Crocker has become one of my very best friends under the age of 10. I love her so much, she loves me back, and she really really loves my cell phone. It was a complete delight to see her so excited to ride this horse. This picture is one of my favorites of her and I also love it of Joel...

We also spent good time with Grace and her family at the beach. We didn't talk about it much, but it was a bit bitter sweet since we all knew we wouldn't see much of each other in the coming year. Grace did her best to keep us on our toes so that I wasn't crying. Instead of crying we built sand castles with our loved ones...

The kids held a handful of toy sales. Hudson and Claire are shouting at cars...which worked ok. But what worked better was Jaden's unique tactics of asking people for ridiculous sums of money for used and broken toys. He usually walked away with a chunk of change. During their first sale the boys learned about the importance of the dollar bill...a man handed Jaden a $5 and said, "Split this with your brother." Jaden said, "Ok." and tore the bill right in half, kindly handing one part to Hudson...

Claire made her first best school friend, Ruby. Ruby and Claire spent most of Claire's birthday party swinging...

We celebrated the Fourth of July this year by packing and cleaning our hearts out. We were trying to move out of our house, get it ready for renters and somehow make it to Hawaii with what we needed for the year..Thank you Darrell and Stacy for helping us in the midst of our crazy and letting us have a slumber party! Since we slept at their house, we figured we were welcome at their neighborhood forth celebration...

Claire got glasses...

Not really, but she did spend fun time with Gma pretending and dressing up.

She loves to shrug her shoulders and make this "I don't know anything at all" innocent face. She does it unprompted at all the right times and it always tickles me. Jaden actually took this picture and I have no idea what she was shrugging about...

I turned 30! I still feel very young and I think it's safe to say I am. It always baffles me when people feel old turning 30. I'm barely out of my parents house! Sweet Joel treated me to dinner with some of my favorite people. After dinner the really committed tried to stay up for a concert at Flores, but we lasted about as long as it took to get this picture...not old, just tired sometimes.

Jaden graduated from Kindergarden! He had such a fun year and looked forward to school every day. For that, we are truly grateful. Jaden has grown into such a fun, intense, focused, sweet kid who is pretty amazing with his younger brother and sister. We have loved watching him love school, love basketball, and grow more into himself. This is from fiesta time...

Hudson cut off all his sweet curls because he wanted hair like "Daddy and Jaden." Which he now has, and it may not be all it was cracked up to be, but we now know Hudson is just plain handsome no matter what length his hair is. He woos everyone with his big blue eyes and kind, beyond precious ways. He'll steal your heart and I'm really not exaggerating here even though I'm his mom.

Jaden made a new best friend named Brooks and that has been the saddest part for him about our move...saying goodbye to his buddy. Thankfully Brooks is also moving...to Austin where I'm sure many slumber parties will take place when we return to visit Gma and Dude...

Clairey still loves her passy or "baba" according to her. Jaden loves to help her feed the addiction...

We became an Aunt and Uncle to baby ELLA!! Jay and Fredrik had the most beautiful and smiley, sweet baby girl last fall. She has been a joy and we got to spend some time in Gruene with her. Claire loved to hold her and still always talks about what she'll do with or say to "baby Ella." Jay and Fredrik are fantastic parents of course and it's so fun to have a new addition to the family that I didn't birth :). Welcome to the family "babyhead!" (please don't be offended, it's a term of endearment coined by Claire)...

Joel's cousins, Renee and Cookie, have an amazing farm outside of Austin that they've been sweet enough to host us at a few times over the past two years. Look them up...they are selling their organic produce:

http://www.rrrfarmtexas.com/

Jaden and Hudson had a great time chasing chickens and collecting eggs last time we were there...

Joel quit his job at KIPP and started doing consulting.

It has been the best move for our family and having him around more has been a complete gift. This little maneuver also lead him to a job in Hawaii for a year. We moved on July 6th and now I have no schedule, no job, no friends yet, but I do indeed have my lovely family and this blog that I now sit in front of...

Kim and I opened another Bella in Austin, which we are currently selling (if you're interested, contact us at sanantonio@bellabridesmaid.com). We have loved being business partners, but things have gone in completely unexpected directions for both of us and ultimately we love being best friends more. She won survivor and is getting married (!!), I moved to Hawaii and when we do have time together, we'd rather hang out than talk taxes...so we're selling Austin and most likely I'm selling SA to her in due time). Here I am in one of our lovely twobirds rosette bridesmaid dresses. One of my favorites from the store...

I should clarify that last comment about Kim...our Kim, the one I met at camp when we were 18 and so silly together all the time, applied to be on a game show and won! It's the toughest game show I know and she was simply amazing...more than the cameras could show too. Joel and I got to go the finale where she won 1.1 million and it was truly one of the most fun nights of my life!

Here she is signing autograph's for Mrs. Smith's 7th grade class...

This is at the after party in New York the night she won. I think I still tell her thank you about once a week for letting me be a fly on the wall, because there's nothing I'd like more than for my best friend to do all that and let me get to watch. There's no one I would have rather cheered on than her. It was the most fun...

My best friend from college, Marty, had two precious baby boys in two years and this is me finally getting to meet baby Gabe. He and Joseph are two lucky boys to have that one for a Mommy!

I met Gabe in Memphis at a wedding and I got to re-connect with these lovlies who I miss and think the world of. Erin and Ash, yall will always be favorites to me.

We went to the zoo quite often and even more to the train in Breckenridge part...

Tracy introduced me to painting with a twist and reminded me how much I love to paint...

We celebrated wonderful holidays with both sets of parents. Gma, Dude, Nana and Pops have been the most available, giving, fun and thoughtful grandparents our kids could ever ask for. They are certainly highlights in our lives from the past four years of living in San Antonio and they are the hardest people to leave for our entire family. There has been much talk about when we will get to see them again and when exactly they'll visit us here...

Abby went with us to that parade and here's a shout out to Abby...I think everyone of the kids has asked about you since we left San Antonio - you are a special friend to Jaden, Hudson, and Claire and we love you!

There's so much else but these were the pictures I had on hand. You can let your imagination fill in the gaps :)

Ok, I better put the second catch up - the one for this week in Hawaii - on another post so your computers don't crash trying to load this lovely long post.