girl power

this was just too cute to not take a picture of. here we are leaving the beach with some friends, and ALL the girls had to hold hands. no one was left out. sweet girls.

wordless wednesday

shopping lessons from aunty lori

yyyyiiipppppeeeee!!! here are pictures from our trip to oahu in july. we met aunty lori at ala moana one day, and she treated us to lunch at nordie's, then showed grace how to shop in style.......a balloon from the kids shoe department. maybe this is why cousin aaron says grace is spoiled??

no diets here!!

according to my dad, there are no new diets in the house of academia. all diets have been deleted. almost forty and my dad is still telling me what to do. all protesters are urged to leave a comment. mahalo for your kokua.

mellow fellows

eh-eh-run

cousin aaron came for a visit from honolulu. he is the best teenager in the whole world. he is very patient with grace, and she loves him. he went with us to volcano for our church retreat. it was a great visit with him, and we hope he wasn't too bored with the slow pace over here. thanks for coming aaron!!!

dancing girly girls

here is grace with her friends at our church retreat in volcano. we were on a hike and came across a hula stage.....and the girls were inspired.

eight eight o eight

that is how memma blackard always said her birthday. eight eight o eight

i just read patti kaye's blog, and decided to share some memories too. click on to patti blog (link on the right side) and check out the groovy picture.

i was probably the luckiest grandchild, because we usually lived the closest. and out of my sisters, i was the only one who knew how to "fake a fever" on thursdays so i could go to quilting with memma. (ooh the food those ladies would make)

memma always made peanut brittle (in her microwave) for people. if someone came over to do something for her, she went into the kitchen and whipped up some peanut brittle. i make brownies or butter mochi.

she always drove fast. and so do i. we had a nickname for her......anyone remember??

she always made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast. thanks goodness. i don't like oatmeal, and she had it every day. EVERY DAY! i think i remember her making kevin chocolate gravy.

when i would argue with my sisters, she would always tell me i would be sorry one day. they would live far away and i would give anything to see them. she was right.

when i saw mom was cooking liver for dinner, i would secretly call and invite memma over. she didn't like liver, so mom would have to cook something else too. i still don't like liver.

she planted purple iris on the side of mom and dad's house, and they are still my favorite flower.

we would spend the night with memma on saturday nights. then we could watch the carol burnett show, but only after suffering through the lawrence welk show.

memma would always cut out dear abby articles from the paper and give them to people she thought needed them. i still have one about a rebellious teenager giving her parents a lot of grief. hhmmmm.

the first time i traveled abroad alone, i got a little freaked out. then i thought of memma and all of her stories from traveling. she did it and so can i!! my favorite travel story is one she didn't tell me. i met up with peggy (hardgrave) horne and brother larry when they were in hawaii about 10 years ago. she told me about her,aunt judy, uncle ben, maybe diane and memma all driving to spain from germany in a volkswagen bug ( i think ) and all the girls bought these really big spanish hats (something like a sombrero maybe?) and she will never forget them all trying to fit back into the bug. memma probably said something like "land sakes" or "well i'll be".

i remember going to wal-mart with memma to put together a care package for todd, sherry, and kevin and looking for red licorice. memma said they couldn't get it in germany. then she recorded us sending greetings to our cousins on a cassette tape.

i remember memma talking about visiting robin, and he had a little sports car that he drove memma around in, and zipped in and out of traffic. she said he could fit that little car anywhere. i was secretly hoping she would trade her big car in for a little sports car after the colorful stories.

on special sunday's, she would wear her mink to church. she would drape it over my and vanessa's lap. we would just pet it the whole service.

i could go on and on ......

the most important thing i learned from memma is how to love the Lord. it may have taken me a while to get my priorities straight, but it was always in my heart.

thanks memma. you rocked!!!!