thelen's on the move

it seems like i was just blogging about our big move to hawaii. yet, it also seems like so much has happened since then. coen is pretty much an adult now, and we created another human that is almost 3! we have been on the big island for about 5 years, and it has been quite an adventure! i personally have had highs and lows while living in the middle of the pacific. i feel overwhelmed when i think about the relationships i have here. so many loving and sweet souls that really filled the void of leaving everything i knew behind. yet a constant pull in my heart to be closer to all the people we love on the mainland. God has blessed us beyond measure. all the doubts i had about living in Hawaii He banished, and provided more than i could have hoped. while i would go through seasons of being done and ready to leave, the reality now is that this really did become our home. we will for always carry parts of this season with us as we continue on. i am most grateful for each and every person i have met thru this season. i try to think about what if we didn't come to Hawaii, and i just can't imagine not knowing and meeting all the people i have. each person is so unique and so different and has in some way shaped the type of person i am today. i am thankful that i had a chance to widen my circle of relationships and stretch myself beyond my own comfort level. i am humbled that God trusted us with this adventure.

and so it goes, we are thankful to announce that we are relocating back to washington state in the upcoming year. hopping back across the pond, but we will always have sand in our pockets.

this picture is from when we told coen about the move.

he exclaimed, "life is so much better!"



oh hey there, tooth fairy!

my sweet boy has been so eager to loose a tooth. most everyone in his class has lost multiple teeth, and i think he was beginning to feel like it was just never going to happen. he would get a loose tooth, and then it would tighten back up. so tricky! but finally, one loosened right up and he was just ecstatic. days and days of wiggling that tooth and then one day, he popped out of bed and ran in with a tooth in his hand. but it wasn't THE loose tooth, it was the one next to it! weird! he was still super stoked, especially because he still had the original super wiggly tooth. so we tucked the tooth into his sweet tooth pillow, and he drafted a note for the tooth fairy. the next morning i awoke to a sweet boy covered in gold fairy dust holding 2 golden coins. it was only a couple days later the original loose tooth fell out, and we had another visit from the magical tooth fairy. we are still finding specks of fairy dust around the house, and finally getting used to coen's new smile.

 



 

 

namakani camping trip



we recently bought a huge tent and have been eager to take it out on it's maiden voyage. coen has been asking us to go "real" camping for a long time,  so we escaped the heat and went up to volcano for a family camping weekend. we had such a great time! the weather was cool and refreshing the first day/night and then a huge thunderstorm rolled in on our second night. it poured and poured and our tent was dripping wet inside. wes and i hardly slept that night, but the kids snoozed right through it. we surprised coen with a new bike, and that was super fun. our good friends joined us the first night, and while i have no pictures of that we really enjoyed them!

 

i snuck a peak in coen's writing journal at school and loved finding this reflection from our weekend. can't wait to go again!



hello, august!

in hawaii the kids go back to school early, so august feels more like september except that it's smoking hot outside. really, the summer just feels too short. this year they started school the last week of july. i mean, seriously?! anyway. like i said, august was so hot. just sitting still caused you to full on sweat and no matter how many fans you plug in, it was hard to get relief. i complained at home, but the classrooms at school were blazing as well. at one point they reached 96 degrees inside the class! not okay! hey hawaii, were are you rair conditioners?!

 

woah. sorry about the rant. this years heat was just nothing to be forgotten. moving on, we had a great august....

 

a tower of bday doughnuts to celebrate a special friend. 



 

sweet stories while i cook dinner.

 

we harvested at least a hundred avocados from our 2 trees. and then we ate them.

 

pool party with friends.

 

marin's 1st drawing of a person. (be still my heart.)

just like that, she's off to aunty sarah's. we love this sweet in home preschool. marin goes two days a week so that i can volunteer at coen's school. not in coen's class though. he said that it, "stresses me out to have you in my class." so i went back to the kindergarten class this year, and i love it. 

 

1st grade open house at ha'aheo elementary.

 

sometimes we invite ourselves over to other peoples houses for dinner.

but we bring ribs, so it works out.

 

Sammy didn't get any ribs.

 

coen's ultimate passion right now is soccer. all. day. long. side note: the coach is hot ;-)

 

i took c on a bux date and the this is how his order came out. even the barista gets him.

"i'm such a great helper!"

 

since marin naps on the floor at auntie sarah's house, she insisted that she and all her friends sleep together on the floor in her room at night. this lasted about a week, then i insisted that she sleep in her bed. i mean, she has a bed!

 

the odd couple.

 

our little ninja!

 



hello, 1st grade!

first grade?! how on earth can it be? i tell you, these kids...they just grow so fast! mr c was bright eyed and bushy tailed about starting first grade. there is a new found independence this year, and we are so proud of him. although i am a little bit sad about not picking his clothes out every morning. but that's for the best, i suppose. hey, coen....go rock 1st grade!

 

 

stinson beach

we had yet another wonderful week at Stinson beach. it was totally chill, and we just hung out and enjoyed the beauty of one of our most favorite places. oh, except that wes decided to run a 27k on our first morning. yikes! several other family members joined in too, either walking or running. the kids and i made sure all the finish line snack were edible. other than that it was, beach time, themed dinners and loads of collecting beach treasures. already looking forward to next year.