Christmas 2013

Mele Kalikimaka! This year has been a year of trials, faith, blessings and miracles. My guess is that Heavenly Father really wanted to teach us about trusting him completely! And like the scriptures say, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). Two big incidents were in finding an internship for Haans over the summer, and finding a job to support our family while he finishes school. Haans literally found his internship with Waikiki Health, the week before we would have had to change our school plans and postpone graduation and we are grateful Haans really enjoyed his experience. As for finding a job, after months of unemployment and lots of prayers and generosity of so many people, Haans found a great job the week before Thanksgiving with the State of Hawaii Ombudsman’s Office. We just need to remember that sometimes the Lord likes to wait till the “11th hour” to bring about his miracles.

Speaking of another miracle, Hyrum Lassen Endecott was born on November 16th. He was 6 days late which is right on schedule for me. Hyrum was a healthy 10.3 lb. boy! I still can’t believe I gave birth to a toddler! He is so handsome and sweet and it is so fun to see Haans interact with his first son. The girls love him too and can’t wait till he can play with them. He is now a hearty 13 lb. six week old. I defiantly will get some good biceps from carrying him around.

Evelyn is 2 ½ years old and she is still our spit-fire. She knows her own mind and is very independent. She is also full of fun and has a very contagious laugh. She loves to read and paint and is a very good friend to Charlotte. I love to hear them playing together and it helps me remember why I wanted them to be so close in age.

Charlotte is 4 ½ years old and has been my right hand during this long pregnancy (yes, 9 months is long) and as I adjust to a newborn again. She is so helpful at getting me diapers, cheering up Evelyn, helping Hyrum stop crying, and reminding me to not yell or get frustrated because I “just need to feel the gospel.” Charlotte is still participating in a homeschool preschool co-op group. She is still figuring out her letters, but loves to write her name and is really good with her numbers. She also took her first ballet class this year and is really good at improv modern dance moves.

Haans has one more semester at University of Hawaii until he has his Master’s in Public Administration. He is getting good grades which is awesome as he has had to work full-time and go to school full-time. We are super proud of him. He is enjoying his new job in downtown Honolulu and we will see what future adventures come upon his graduation in May. Haans is also keeping busy with his church calling as a primary worker to a class of rambunctious boys.

Although I was in the last stages of pregnancy during the hottest and most humid time in Hawaii, I am still grateful to live in a warm climate, although I greatly welcomed the winter rains where the temperature is a freezing 77 degrees. I am thankful I am able to stay home with our children, another miracle, considering we live in a very expensive state. I love taking my girls to the beach, pools and parks with our wonderful friends. I am still the Primary Chorister and love that church calling. It takes a lot of planning and energy but I love teaching our huge primary, and I enjoyed being part of our yearly Primary Program, even if I was 38 weeks pregnant.

We had a wonderful time in June hosting my immediate family when they came to vacation here on Oahu. We delighted in passing on our insider’s knowledge as we explored the island and the beautiful beaches. And we loved being around so much family!

We truly have had a blessed year full of many more miracles, and we hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the greatest miracle of all, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year!
 Love,
The Endecotts

Comings and Goings

When we aren't living it up as tourist. (insert slight sarcasm) we have our daily comings and goings.

The girls love any reason to bring out their umbrellas and since it rains often enough, it's often!

Common sight at our house, Loo Who with markers out everywhere and usually a few walls with some evidence too!

Baby-sitting rough-housing style!

 Shoe model in the buff! I love how Haans is "trying" to get her to come to him!

My man can bake!

 Haans is GREAT at reading stories. If you didn't know Haans is really good at accents, but it's funny when the girls don't approve of the accent he has chosen for the book.

 One of the Curly's preschool projects. The book from the library still had Pluto as a planet and even though I tried to explain that its not any longer considered a planet, she was heart broken and refused to leave it out of our solar system. So we nixed Venus. Oh well at least we have Pluto.

It is true that you don't need lots of toys to be creative. Just kitchen bowls, a laundry bucket and a towel to keep you warm while standing in water! 

One of many park days with friends!

 Curly's graduation celebration from homeschool preschool! Complete with ice cream, of course!

 Loo Who is slightly obsessed with purses!

This picture looks like it should belong in the Friend! 

This past July we moved Loo Who to the big girl bed!

 My girls are definitely princesses. They even had to make a crown for their daddy the KING! 

Typos

Haans and I both have the same weakness when it comes to spelling or the amount of typos we make. We are always asking each other, "How do you spell .......?" Or we make mistakes like "accrued" instead of "occurred!" I had a good chuckle this past Mother's Day when he sent me flowers. This is the card that came with the flowers.

He later told me that when he was ordering them online, the screen had one line for the message and another line for the sender to type his name, but instead they combined the two lines and this is what I got..... a message FOR my hubby instead of for me. I still loved the flowers and I LOVED teasing him.

 It's a good thing I understood what he was "trying" to say, cause he's definitely a keeper!

Beaches

The different Hawaiian Islands are known for different things. Kauai is the garden island, Maui has the best waterfalls, Big Island has the active volcano. Oahu is knows for its beaches. And we love hitting them up!! Though we do have some favorites. But here is a sample of some of the beaches we have enjoyed just with ourselves and also with some GREAT friends!

An evening dip at Ala Moana!

 What Haans wants us to think he does while at the beach......

What he really is doing!! :-)

 Lanikai is breathtaking with its overshore islands and flour-like sand!

 Here is our awesome turtle!

 And here's what happens right after we are done building it!

We have a good friend that works at Dolphin Quest and she let us know when they were releasing their 2 turtles into the wild so we could come watch! It was really fun!

Enjoying Kahala beach while we waited.... I know so hard to wait with this scenery!

 Curly has gotten really good at using her mask and snorkel!

 And they are off!

 I sure love this family of mine!

We were scouting out places for my family to visit and this is at Kaka'oko beach! Not much for a sand entrance, but still pretty and we use the nearby hill to do cardboard sliding. Pictures to follow.

 By the way, did you know that palm tress are not native to Hawaii! Just a little bit of trivia for you!

 This is Waimanalo Beach. Nice boogie board waves, but a little powerful for my girls! 

 Loo Who and her very concerned face about life!

This is better!!

 All us ladies went out to ride the waves while our husbands watched our many kids! So fun!

 I love watching my family play at the beach!!!

What a stud!