Gifts for Friends From the Heart and Yes More Pictures of Oahu

It has been super hot in SoCal.  How is the weather where you live?  It seems like it has been hot everywhere.  Well this was my first week back at work and today was the first day of school for my kids.  I feel exhausted at the end of each day since I am not used to working for so many hours.  Hopefully my body will get used to it soon.  Each year I make gifts for my friends.  This year I wrote their name on different shapes of wood from Target.  They have a close pin on the back.  I attached a magnet to each one and wrote a message on a package of post its for each person. 

I also decorated apple shaped chalk boards

and clip board chalk boards.

I purchased all of them from Target too.  Now onto a few more pictures of Oahu.  I hope that you are not tired of seeing them.  I promise after today's post I will have one more post about my time in Oahu. The last 3 people that I met up with were Lorene,

Debbie (Both of our families attend the same church.  We met up to hang out at the beach, to go out to lunch, and had shaved ice for dessert.)

and my cousin Deannie.

Along with meeting friends and my cousin while my family and I were in Oahu my hubby and I also celebrated our 17th anniversary at Roy's.  Our kids were especially excited to eat a fancy restaurant. The food was pretty good.  The best part having a view of the beach from our table.

Here is a picture of us with our meals (I ordered the fish trio and my hubby ordered steamed fish.)

and our complimentary dessert.

After dinner we took a picture in front of the restaurant.

I hope that all of you will stay cool and enjoy your weekend.

Tea Swap, Sister Sister Swap, and a Little More About Oahu

Although it has been a busy month with unpacking, doing laundry, and hanging out with friends I have still managed to fit in some time for crafting.  Being in the three swaps that I am in have help keep me on my toes.  :) For July's tea swap my friend Gail and were paired up together.  Check out the awesome pocket card that she sent to me.

This is what I made for her and surprised her with.

Along with being paired up for the tea swap we were also paired up for the Secret Sister swap.  Gail me this awesome intricate card.

This is how it looks open.

I love all the goodies that she sent my way- some of my favorites and in my favorite color too.

This is what I surprised her with.

I put a magnet on the back of these tablets that open like mini books.

It was extra fun having Gail as my partner for two swaps and getting to surprise each other for some our favorite things.  Here are some more pictures of my time in Oahu.  I had breakfast with my friend Grace and

we went to Taj to do a make and take.

I also met up with my friend ManLe.  We enjoyed some onolicious boba together.

Check out the super ono snacks that she gave to my family and I.

Lastly here are some pictures of me having fun shopping at some of my favorite stores-  Na Hoku (My hubby got me a beautiful sterling silver ring with a plumeria and swirls on the side for my anniversary present.),

Crazy Shirt,

Ben Franklin,

 Les SportSac,

the Disney Store,

and at J's Knicknacks.

I also did some shopping at Aulani's gift shops.  This is one of the purses that I purchased.  It is a hidden Mickey Vera Bradley purse.  Don't you just love the colors?

 

Lastly I purchased some cute stuff at the Sanrio store, Don Quijotes, Target, and at Walmart. (It is my first time going to Don Quijotes and to Target.)  Thanks for stopping by and sticking around for such a long post!  Have a blessed and crafty rest of the week and weekend!

A Retirement Card and More About Oahu

My family and I are finally getting back into the swing of things after being in Oahu for 9 days.  Even though we have only been back for a week we miss being there already.  We feel like Oahu is our home away from home.  Our friend on Facebook stated that he feels like he is flying home when he visits Hawaii.  My family and I feel the same way.  For those of you that know me well knows that I like to take lots of pictures.  I like taking pictures of all the places my family and I go to so that we can have a good picture many years from now of where we went.  I often journal about where we go to and write down what is each of our favorites.  So that you are not all bored with my million and one pictures of my vacation I will post some pictures each day for the next few weeks of some of my favorites along with pictures of friends that I was able to meet up with at the end of each post after I share some thing crafty. I will also post some pictures of different friends that I was able to meet up with.  For today's crafty portion of my post I am going to share a card that I made for one of my bosses that retired.  I gave her an Asian themed gift so I made this card for her.

Here is the gift that I got for her. 

As promised here are some pictures of Oahu.  This first one is a picture of my friend Michelle and I. 

Our families had dinner at Big City Diner.  It was great seeing her and her family.  Here are the onolicous goodies that they gave to us. 

I also got to meet up with my friend Fran and her family for dinner at Tanaka's Ramen. 

Here are the thoughtful and ono gifts that they gave to us. 

 

Next are some pictures of God's beautiful creations.  I always love visiting Byodo Temple.

 

Going to the beach that overlooks China Man's Hat is absolutely beautiful.

 

If you look closely there is a huge rainbow.

This picture is at Blow Hole.

This picture was taken at Round Top Drive.  It overlooks the whole city of Honolulu.

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Annual Trip to Oahu

Aloha Everyone!  My family and I just got back from our annual trip in Oahu.  Even though it was super hot there with no trade winds, we still thank the Lord for another fun and memorable vacation visiting friends (We spent some time shopping and taking pictures with some characters at the Disney resort.)

enjoying God's beautiful creations (This was our view from our hotel room.),

shopping,

and of course eating ono food.  We tried some new restaurants like Big City Diner, Nico's, Tanaka's Ramen, Liliha Bakery, and  Gyotaku.  We of course went to our favorites- McDonalds (for their breakfast), Zippy's, Fumi's Shrimp Truck, and Loco Moco Inn. We also purchase fruits from the Kahuku Farm fruit stand.   All the food we ate were very good but our favorites were the mochiko chicken (The best was at Loco Inn.) and

poke (The best was from Nicos.).

Here are the crafty items that I made for friends that I was meeting up with.

I included some our favorite goodies with the gifts. 

Stay tune for some more pictures soon of my time in Oahu.  Thanks for stopping by!