Happy Holidays from the Niu's!



Brynn and Maikeli Niu



Posted by theniufamily at 3:32 PM 9 comments Links to this post
So for the last few weeks I have been trying to convince Maikeli that we need a Christmas tree. He disagreed and thought that it was better the save the money. For any of you that know Maikeli, you know that this is his reaction about EVERYTHING in life. But as usual, I kept pushing it until I got my way!
So I found a Christmas tree on craigslist for only $25! It was 5 1/2' tall and it looked perfect! It had only been used once. I e-mailed the lady and asked her when I could meet up with her. She came that following day and met me in front of my office in Honolulu. The tree was in a big box and I could see the branches in there. It looked great and there was even a picture on the outside of the box. So I gave her the money and took home my new Christmas tree!
I was so excited when I got home to put it up. I didn't have an decorations for it yet but I still wanted to see what it was gonna look like in our house! So once I got home Maikeli and I started putting it together...
only to realize that there was only half a tree in there. What the heck? Do people really do this. I was so sad. There was no way to even kinda put it together. It was just little parts of a tree. I felt so tricked. So of course Maikeli called and left her a voicemail and I e-mailed her but she has still not responded and I don't expect her to. She knew what she did. I hope she really enjoys her $25. I hope it was worth it. People make me so mad sometimes.
Posted by theniufamily at 3:07 PM 5 comments Links to this post
So for the past few months I have been doing a few races, 5 to be exact. About 4 or 5 months ago I signed up for a series of races. The races range from 9-18 miles. They are supposed to get people ready for the Honolulu Marathon in December. At the time I was ready for a new challenge so I figured this would be great! It would still be a lot of hard work but it wouldn't totally kill my body. I had a great time throughout the process. The only annoying thing is that almost all the races were in Honolulu. Since we live a good hour away we would have to wake up so early (usually around 3:30AMish) to get there on time. Maikeli was so sweet and came to every race. I told him that he didn't have to but he did anyway. I think he knew that if he didn't come that I would secretly be sad. This is at the first race 15K (9.3 miles)
I didn't have a picture I liked of my second race. I HATE the way I look when I run and forgot to take a normal picture after the race. I refuse to put any running pictures on here but the second race was a 20K (12.4 miles)
Posted by theniufamily at 9:01 PM 13 comments Links to this post
This last Tuesday Maikeli had his 26th birthday! It kinda sucked because he had an early morning class and was at school until 9:30 pm and I got home about the same time. I woke up early with him so he could open his presents and I could give him his yummy sugar cookies. I just love him so much. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. He is such a big boy and graduating in April. I am so proud of him and all his hard work in school. I have to brag about him and his school for a second... he has gotten practically straight A's since we got here. He is in the top 10% and has been on the Dean's List. He also is going to be apart of The National Honor's Society. I feel like a mom that is proud of her third grader but I can't help it. He is great! Happy Birthday Maikeli!
Posted by theniufamily at 4:04 PM 6 comments Links to this post
Summer's Shower
This last Sunday Jen and I (along with help from a ton of wonderful people) had the great opportunity of throwing Summer (my neighbor and great friend) and baby shower. She is due at the end of the month and we wanted to have it while her mom and aunt were in town. It was a little difficult keeping it a secret but I still think she was surprised...kinda. She lives right above me so we had to be quiet while setting up and we had a great time putting this together. Thanks to everyone that helped bring food and decorate!
Here she is at the big surprise! She thought she was on her way to the temple with her family but I stopped her on the way.
Posted by theniufamily at 9:39 PM 5 comments Links to this post
I was going through some pictures that I never posted and came across these. We miss having Whitney and Leland and the kids around. I loved hanging out with them on the weekends and staying over there during the week sometimes. Watching Biggest Loser, Bachelorette, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars...and much more. We had so much fun with them and I am so glad we were able to have that time together. I feel like our time in Hawaii has been split into two sections. The times when Leland and Whitney were here and after they left. I am so glad that we live in TVA (student housing) now because we have been able to make some great friends. But we still miss these kidos sometimes.
Posted by theniufamily at 2:15 PM 3 comments Links to this post
Last Saturday Maikeli and I had a pretty good day. Lately the 1 1/2 hour drive each way to work every single day (3 hours round trip) has really been getting to me. To be honest I am so sick of driving. I do like my job, but sometimes I wish I could just stay in Laie everyday. But anyway, there is nothing I can do about that because the only job I could get in Laie pays $7.50 and that is just not going to work for us. So, on Saturdays I really like to enjoy myself on the north side of the island. We went boogie boarding at Pounders Beach and it was a blast. The waves started getting really big after a while so I got out. Sometimes they scar me.
We also went to Turtle Bay Resort and used their hot tub. We find ourselves doing this a lot. It makes us feel like we are on vacation for a little bit because we are at a resort! We have to kinda sneak in but it's so worth it. There was this little kid that was so cute sitting up in this tree watching the sunset. I couldn't help but take a picture of him. It was just a perfect picture!!! I wish I could say this was Maikeli but he did go surfing at this same beach a few days earlier. This is just a surfer that happened to be out while we were watching the sunset at Turtle Bay.
Posted by theniufamily at 12:28 AM 5 comments Links to this post