Celebrations

We have had a lot to celebrate this spring - me (Abbi) graduating with my Ph.D. in May, Alex and I both turning 30 this spring (me February 17th, Alex May 6th), Kiana's upcoming arrival (due June 10th) - a lot of blessings! However, we haven't had a whole lot of time to do commemorate these moments. So, on Saturday, we hosted a "luau" (or the closest thing we could get to it) at our house to celebrate all of them!



We went all out, and it was *awesome*! We bought kalua pork from L&L downtown, and made the rest: terriaki chicken, (sashimi grade) ahi in (fresh frozen) coconut milk, sweet potato fries, green salad, fruit salad, banana bread, rolls, pumpkin mochi, haupia, and even mud pie (& a more kid-friendly Rocky Road in oreo cookie crust ice cream pie alternative), as well as snacks (cheese/crackers, salsa/chips, macnuts), and drinks (passion/guava/pineapple punch, beers for the non-pregnant people) - it was totally decadent and delicious! I ordered from a Hawaiian florist and decorated with fresh ti leaves, lauae ferns, and antheriums, and had a maile and orchid lei for me, a kukui nut and ti leaf lei for Alex, and a ti leaf lei (that Aidan refused to ever consider putting on) for Aidan (I made the ti leaf leis from imported loose ti leaves). So, verything was beautiful as well as delicious! (We even had a housecleaner for the first time on Wednesday, which made it possible to concentrate primarily on cooking, and which I *loved*!) We had lots of friends and family over (Pat & Mike, and my cousin Heather came, as well as lots of friends from the neighborhood - Dorota/Andy/Jake, Rebecca/Tardo/Angus, Christa/Mark/Johnny/Oliver, Mary/Cira, Kimberly/Jarod/Rowan, Abbie/Stephan/Olivia, & Laurie) - & everyone loved the food and had a good time. People even dressed up in Aloha/summer-y clothes, and tried out the flower hair clips I had gotten for the wahines' hair!



The rest of the week went fine, with lots of work (for Mommy & Daddy) with upcoming deadlines, and prep work (for the party). On Sunday, we took a break from everything to celebrate Mother's Day - Daddy let Mommy sleep in, cooked waffles (with chocolate chips!) for breakfast (with leftover fruit salad and haupia - yum!). Afterward, we took trains & buses to see Mount Sinai medical center (where I will be delivering Kiana), have pizza, and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the afternoon, Aidan and Mommy took long naps, had delicious luau leftovers for dinner, and then Mommy finished reading the third Twilight book ("Eclipse")before going to bed. It was a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend!