String of Bad Luck Leading to Big Change in Plans

Well, we have become a statistic, with that statistic being "people who won't be able to fly home for Christmas." On Sunday, we took a shuttle to Spokane, thinking that we would be able to sneak through the "window" of good weather and make it to Seattle, then eventually Honolulu. We arrived at Spokane International Airport to a HUGE line of people desperately trying to get on flights to get home to family. We waited in line to check in our bags for about 2 hours. As each minute went by, flight after flight was canceled, due to bad weather in Seattle and Portland. We slowly marched our way to the beginning of the line, with our flight being the only one still "on time." We checked in our bags, being warned that our flight would also be canceled. Sure enough, as soon as we got to the gate, our flight to Seattle was canceled, so we would have missed our connecting flight to Honolulu.

We got a hotel near the airport, just to have a place to relax and figure out Plan B. Before we headed to the airport, we had to claim our checked bags, to find out that someone took our bag by accident. So Alaska Airlines had to call the guy to tell him to come back, so we were at the airport for an extra 45 minutes, waiting for this stooge to come back with our bag.

Once at the hotel, we spent the rest of the day calling family, trying to figure out what to do. With the help of Kaui's step-dad, we were able to re-book our flight to leave Christmas Eve morning at 6am from Spokane, arriving into Honolulu at around noon. So we decided to just stay at the hotel until the morning of our flight. We were set.

But it didn't end that easy. That night, we had a sudden leak in a lighting fixture in our room, waking us up in the middle of the night. Then, Kaui came down with some sort of stomach virus (which at first we thought was food poisoning, since we ate at the infamous Denny's). The next day, it was Kaila that came down with the illness, throwing up a few times, once all over her face and body. So we went to go bathe her, to find no running hot water. Enough was enough, so we called Cisco's parents, begging them to come pick us up and take us back home to Moscow. We had enough of this situation.

Once we got back to Moscow, Kaila threw up again, and had a bad bout of mud-butt. We had to make an executive decision on if we were still going to fly out on Wednesday morning. After hearing that Seattle was going to get dumped with even more snow in the next couple of days (meaning more flights will get canceled), and hearing that Hawaiian Airlines canceled ALL flights leaving Seattle, and having a sick baby, we decided that it would be in our best interest to just save the trip for the summer, and stay in Moscow for the remainder of our trip. It was a VERY hard decision to make, but we just didn't want to deal with the stress and hassle of traveling with a sick baby, and possibly getting stuck in an airport again. We just didn't want to run the risk of spending Kaila's first Christmas in an airport or hotel. As we type this, the snow is starting to pick up.....again.

Fortunately, we are here with Cisco's parents, so we will be with family for the holidays. We've been looking forward to this Hawai'i trip for so long, to see family and FINALLY get to some warm weather and get a tan.

Curse this snow......curse this snow........

Edit: Cisco now has come down the stomach virus. Kaui's better, Kaila's getting there, Cisco has been "praising hail to the porcelain queen." What a Christmas indeed.

Cisco's Graduation

Whew.....what a hectic week, but it's over with all the "pomp and circumstance." On Thursday, Cisco's successfully defended his dissertation, in front of his committee of professors and family and friends. So on Saturday, he was ceremonially "hooded," and walked across the stage to receive his diploma for the final time. He was just so happy to have family and friends there to celebrate with him. Our good friends, the Yamamotos, came in from Hawaii to see their daughter Kerry graduate as well. So it worked out perfect that we could spend time with them, especially with Bryce, one of Cisco's best friends from Pacific. Below are some pics from the day.....

Dinner the night before with the Yamamotos

It was awesome to hang out with Bryce again, even if it was only for a little while

Our best friends from "Center of the Universe" (COU - Boise, ID that is) came up to celebrate. No, they don't have the COU mindset like all the other Donkeys....THESE TWO ARE VANDALS!!

No, you're not seeing double, those are two Dr. Reyes indeed.

The entire family after graduation
Our family after gradution
Michael and Erin after graduation

Cisco's major professor, Dr. Dennis Dolny

Cisco, aka. "Dragon," was so happy that his right-hand man and teammate Mr. Lokteff, aka. "Night-Hawk," got him what he's always wanted: an LA Dodgers hat for graduation. So after the ceremony, they had some fun with it.

This is what Cisco REALLY wanted to wear to the ceremony: Chucks, khakis, and his Dodgers-fitted, with the tassel

ALWAYS representin' the WEST COAST....we call this picture: "The West Coast Graduate."

Gosh, it feels SO good to be back here................

Making up for lost time...

Okay, so A LOT has happened over the past month. First off, Cisco's parents and sister came to visit us towards the end of October. Mario had a conference in Chicago, so they stayed with us for a few days before that.

Kaila was very excited to see her Grandma and Grandpa...

We carved pumpkins; this is what Kaila thought of the process:

Megan and Cisco carving away...

Our finished work-of-art... Kaila & Sadie dressed up in their costumes with Grandpa, Grandma, & Tita Megan. Kaila was a mermaid & Sadie was an angel...

Family picture...

A week later, we got the sad news that Kaui's grandma wasn't doing so well, and later passed away while Kaui and Kaila were on their way to Hawaii to see her on Halloween Day. We were very close to her and miss her very much. We wish Kaila had got to meet her Big Grandma, being that she is Kaila's, along with Kaui's, namesake (Louise).

Louise Kamila Brown Mahelona: April 26, 1925-October 30, 2008. Kaila got to eat at a favorite local restaurant in Hawaii: Zippy's...

We still celebrated Halloween. Kaila, the mermaid, and cousin La'a, the Grim Reaper...

Kaila with Grandma, being a ham...

Kaila being goofy with Papa Reppun...

Kaila finally got to meet her Papa Torres...

Her first swim in the ocean....she loved it!

Trying to float on her back like cousin La'a...

Such a silly girl...

Kaila fast asleep after a long day... Dinner with Pacific friends: Joni, Casey, Wendy & baby, Amy, Marisa, Tina, Kaila, & I...
Pictures of Kaui and Kaila in Grandma's 83 year-old wicker rocking chair. It's a family tradition...

Kaila's 10-month picture.....sassy girl!

Visiting with Kaui's best friend from high school, Kristine and her two boys, Kekoa and Ka'iee...

Picture with the family: Uncle John, Mom, La'a, and the three brothers, Darrell, Leonard, and Lopaka... Uncle Gabby and Aunty Sue's 'Ohana...

Part of Aunty Lei's 'Ohana...

Aunty Wanda's 'Ohana...

Visiting with my former co-workers at my old job, AECOS...

At Papa and Grandma's grave...While in Hawaii, Kaila learned many new tricks. She started standing, with no hands, by herself, but it doesn't look like she is even close to starting to walk. Grandma taught her how to "blow kiss" and say, "Howzit!" We're still working on "Shaka," although she does get the concept because she'll wave when you say it. She's refining her speech and says, "Dad" or "Dada" a lot clearer. She started to say "Mom" and "Mama" a lot more, but "Dada" is still her favorite word. She did get to try some poi and papaya while we were there, and she liked both...that's my girl! :) She got to meet and had tons of fun with a lot of new family members, and of course, she wrinkled her nose at everybody. When we got home and she saw Sadie, she went crazy happy and started saying, "Say, say, say, say, say!!!" So she is definitely still working on Sadie's name. Speaking of Sadie, she also likes to throw toys for Sadie to fetch and she'll actually carry around her toys in her mouth, like Sadie, while crawling around...it's pretty funny! Next thing you know she'll be acting like a dog ;)

When we arrived back into DeKalb, we finally put our foot down and made Kaila start sleeping in her own crib, in her own room. It was long overdue, so we knew we had to start now. This was a picture on her first night. She cried a lot on the first night, but we stuck to our guns and never picked her up. She ended up crying herself to sleep. After only three nights, she is doing really well in her own bed, barely wakes up during the night, and has been sleeping for about 10 to 11 hours. We are so proud of our Little Girl!!!

We put up this year's Christmas tree. Because we will be leaving in a week, we didn't get a real tree, but used Kaila's tree instead. Here's Kaila getting help, trying to hang her first ornament.

Kaila started gaining interest in her baby Emma doll, so Kaui opened it up for her. Sadie was the first to greet her. Here she is, guarding her "niece."
Kaila trying to bottle-feed her baby Emma, but not quite getting it...Kaila riding her wooden rocking horse...she was actually rocking herself on it and almost went side-saddle a few times.
We spent our first Thanksgiving away, with just us. It was nice and small and quiet. Kaui took out all our good china, she cooked the stuffing and mashed potatoes. Cisco put the pre-cooked turkey in the oven, and pressed "1 hr., 30 min" on the timer all by himself.
Kaila enjoying her first Thanksgiving meal...
Daddy with the two girls after dinner...
...Mommy with the two girls (Kaila's saying "Mommy's #1!")

Jonamac Apple and Pumpkin Orchard...

Yesterday, we went to the Jonamac Apple and Pumpkin Orchard in Malta, which is about five miles west of DeKalb. It's a neat little farm, with a petting zoo, small kiddie rides, playgrounds, and areas to pick your own apples and pumpkins. It was a nice Illinois fall day, so we decided to go. Kaila seemed very subdued the whole time, but I think she was just taking it all in, because as soon as we got into the car to leave, she got all excited & started to babble a whole lot. We all had a really good time. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Can't wait 'til Kaila can ride the ponies...

We finished the wooden maze...yay!

We didn't realize when we went, that Jonamac had a celebrity guest, and WE WERE ABLE TO MEET HIM. On showcase was the Boise Junior College mascot: Da Donkey. Here's a pic of Kaila greeting him. Daddy was behind the camera, giving the donkey "the bird."

Kaila petting a llama. For some reason, this llama kept following Cisco around the pen, with a look on its face asking, "are you my father?"

This little potbelly pig was so cute!! Believe it or not, it was the size of a rabbit.

This little goat was the cutest of all the animals. It was so tiny...

The wall of hay...

It took awhile, but Cisco finally figured out the "no-left turn" maze.

Kaila was so subdued during the visit. So Mommy tried to get a smile out of her...

Picking Sadie's and Kaila's baby pumpkin...

A field of pumpkins. As you can see, a lot had already been picked...

They had a hayride hauling visitors to and from the main area to the picking area. We caught a ride on the way back, since we forgot to grab a wheelbarrow.

Three pumpkins: Daddy, Mommy, and The Girls.

Riding the hayride back to the main park...

Sadie has been sleeping on our bed for a while now. She usually either sleeps at the foot of the bed, or in between our legs. But when we woke up this morning, Sadie was in a new spot: laying with her sister.

With it getting colder here, we bought Kaila some mittens and a winter cap. She looks like a Filipino-Hawaiian Eskimo.