Family pictures...

So a couple weeks ago Jen Johnson was so nice to take some pictures of Maikeli and I. She did such a great job! I wanted to have some nice "Hawaiian" pictures of us while we are here. The last time we took nicer pictures was our engagement pictures that were 4 years ago. Sorry there are so many but I couldn't pick what ones to use. Thanks Jen! If I were able to do Christmas cards this year then these are what would be on them. So everyone, consider this a...
Happy Holidays from the Niu's!

I can't believe people

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.

I did it!

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)

This was at the third race 25K (15.6 miles-I think)

My fourth race I didn't have any pictures of either but it was the longest. It was a 30K (18.6 miles)

Here is the last race. It was a 1/2 marathon.

Overall I had a great time but I don't think I am going to do the Honolulu Marathon and I am totally OK with that. I want to just enjoy my holidays and not worry about training for another race. I am still really glad I did these races. I never had intentions to actually run the marathon but I thought that I might end up doing it. Oh well. I want a break from running and just want to do normal working out. I am sure I will be wanting to start up again in the next few months though!

Everything has been going really well for us in Hawaii. We are looking forward to coming home for Thanksgiving in about a week. I wish we had more than just 5 days there but I am thankful we even get to go at all. I know our time will be super packed but it will be fun to see all our family and friends. Maikeli is doing great in school and we are still deciding what we will be doing when he graduates in April. It is kind of a weird feeling that you can do whatever you want! We have lots of great options so we will have to see what ends up happening. I do know that we were supposed to come to Hawaii. We have always felt so good about the decision we made to move and I can't imagine if we didn't. I have grown so much since I have been here and it has truly opened my eyes to a new world. I am so thankful for the opportunity to come. BYU Hawaii has been such a blessing for Maikeli. It is such a neat experience to learn in an environment where your professors are also LDS. It allows you to look at things in life very differently. I am thankful for my job. I feel so blessed that I was able to continue with my aesthetics and I have learned so much from working with a plastic surgeon. I hate my long drive (about 1 hour and 15 minutes each way) but I try not to complain because I should be thankful to even have a job right now. I absolutely love it here! I love living in TVA. Since there is not much opportunity in Hawaii for us after Maikeli graduates I know we won't be staying here, but whereever we go, I am thankful for the short time I got to spend in Hawaii.

Happy Birthday Maikeli

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!

Baby shower and Halloween

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.

Some present opening time!

Sorry Summer, I couldn't resist putting this one on!

Summer, Jen and I. These girls are great! I forgot to put a picture of the blanket I made Summer but I have to brag about myself a little here! I hand made her a cute little pink baby blanket. It was a fun craft for me and I think it turned out great!

The group!

Some decorations (my favorite part)! We had pink wrapped water bottles and we even make pink and green ice cube/blocks to keep them cold.

*Thanks Jen for taking such great pictures!

Haunted Lagoon

We were able to go to the Haunted Lagoon twice this year. The last 2 years PCC has put on this amazing haunted lagoon. The actors, lights, music, smoke, and costumes were amazing. They really did a great job. You ride around in a canoe through the production. It kinda felt like Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland only scarier. They have swamp men in the waters that creep up to your canoe and come over the edge onto the boat. They scared me so much because they would come from all angles and they even grabbed me a few times. I wish I would have taken some pictures worth putting on here but it was so dark so they didn't turn out that great.

Shaved Ice and Surfing Contest

Last Saturday we went to Matsumotos shaved ice. It is the best shaved ice on the island and so worth the drive up to North Shore. I would go every weekend if Maikeli would let me.

Then we stopped at a surf competition at Sunset beach. It was fun to finally start seeing some big waves again.

Changing times

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.

On another note... the fix it pro is amazing!!! I saw it on TV the other night and wanted to buy it so bad. But after they add all the the "free" stuff for a limited time (you only have to pay shipping) it adds up big time, especially since it's extra to ship to Hawaii. But I was determined to have it so I quickly went to an "As Seen on TV" store and found it! It is seriously so amazing. I should probably start working for the company. Its just a little clear marker that fills in scratches on your car. It will match any color of car. So easy and I love it. I have had a ton of scratches on my car for so long and now they are all gone!!!

The actual product is just the little pen in the bottom left corner of the picture. It's the only picture I could find

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

A vacation day...kinda

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.

So pretty!