M.E. PATERNOSTER: June 2008

Just a re-cap of the past couple of weeks.

Monday, June 9th

I received an early morning phone call from my sister Melanie. She was calling to tell me my mom had suffered a major stroke early that morning. I was of course beside myself. Her status was that she was stable and seemed to be doing pretty well so far. Luckily my Dad found her soon after the stroke actually happened. They didn't know what kind of damage there was, but the doctors seemed hopeful. That day was a rough one for me, and the extra stress didn't help the contractions I was having. The next day she was doing better and starting to talk, which was a good sign. The tests came back and showed damage to her left brain. The Dr's told my dad that basically her right brain was having to learn how to speak (or teach my mom how to speak I guess). They weren't sure at this point whether she would make it to Hawaii, in fact they were pretty against it. I, along with the rest of my family, had no intention of going without my parents, especially since they were the reason we were all going at all. Wednesday morning the dr's decided that she was doing well enough to go home that afternoon and that she could go to Hawaii if there was a coagulation center where my mom could get her blood checked every other day while she was there. So my brother-in-law, Don, got on the phone and checked it out. Luckily there was one and the trip was a go! Fortunately I had continued to pack all week in case we ended up going after all. So we were ready to go! I was so grateful my mom was ok. She received an amazing blessing from their Stake president and neighbor Monday morning and my whole family held a special fast for her that day as well. The Dr's were so shocked she had recovered so well and so quickly. They kept telling my dad how amazing how well she was doing.

Thursday, June 12th-June 20th (Hawaii)

We woke up bright and early (4 am) to get ready to fly to Maui! We landed in San Francisco and met up with my sisters Heidi, Holly, Maureen and their families, as well as my neice Megan and her husband Bart. It was so fun to see them! I hadn't seen them since last May, and this was their first time meeting Brooklyn (except Heidi). We loaded the plane and flew to Maui. The flights were uneventful luckily and Brooklyn did pretty well considering she was exhausted. My Dad greeted us in the lobby of our hotel and we met up with everyone else. I went and saw my mom and got totally emotional. It's amazing how your priorities and perspective changes when something so serious happens in your life. She was tired from the flights, but was doing great, and had already been to the beach snorkeling and everything! I think she was mainly trying to prove the Dr's wrong because they told her that she wouldn't be able to snorkel because it would be too intimidating. She showed them! So anyway, we took Brooklyn down to the beach and got her aquainted with the ocean and sand. She took to it right away! The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We just got settled in and visited with my family. Friday morning we woke up and took a walk down by the beach (long before anyone else woke up, thanks to Brooklyn). We went to Black Rock beach and hung out there for the day. The waves were pretty big, so it was tough with Brooklyn, but she was content playing in the sand. That night we went to Bubba Gumps. Yum! Saturday was my Mom's birthday. We mostly hung out at the pool and the beach by our hotel. We had birthday cake that night for my mom too and went to Pizza hut (so authentic!) with the Whettens. Sunday we woke up and went to church and then had the luau that night. We all wore our t-shirts and Brooklyn wore her hula skirt and coconut shells over the top. She was a hit! About 10 people (strangers) asked if they could take pictures of her. She was very popular! The luau was great, and the food was awesome. We ate until we couldn't move. Unfortunately, Erik got really sick that night (flu symptoms) and was up all night. Poor guy. So the next day he took it easy and Brooklyn and I just hung out at the pool with the other small cousins. Wednesday we took Mom and Dad with us up to the other side of the island to find some good snorkeling. We stopped off at a restaurant called Mama's Fish House. Oh, my, heck, the food was so amazing!! I made Erik take pictures it was so good. Erik and I had shrimp wontons with a delicious ginger dipping sauce, cilantro ginger shrimp, and crusted pork tenderloin with a macadamia nut ginger sauce. SOOOO good! For desert my mom and I shared a passion fruit creme brulee. Oh my goodness, it was the best desert I have ever eaten. Dad had a banana macadamia nut crisp with vanilla bean icecream. It was also very good! Needless to say, we were a little heavier when we finally rolled out of there. Brooklyn loves the restaurants in Maui because of all the little birds that fly in and eat what she drops. She calls the birds "Dodo's." Pretty funny. After lunch we hit the beach. Unfortunately, it was pretty windy, so the waves were huge and the water was too murky to really see anything. But it was a fun excursion with Mom and Dad anyway. That night, Erik and I went to Cheeseburger Paradise. It was ok. We walked around Lahaina for a bit, then headed home. It was a good thing we went home because now it was my turn to throw up all night. Fun times. Thursday I still wasn't feeling great, and was starting to have contractions again, but I didn't want our last "real" day to be wasted! So I FINALLY convinced Erik that I was well enough to go to the beach with everyone else. We went to Kapalua Bay. It was so nice because the waves weren't as strong and the snorkeling was great! I didn't last too long though since I was exhausted and having contractions. But it was a great last day at the beach anyway. That night we had a schmorgasborg with everyone and their left-over food. We had full kitchens in our condos, so everyone had stocked up at Costco the day we landed in Maui. There were a TON of left-overs. Brooklyn LOVED being the center of attention. She couldn't get enough of her cousins and aunts and uncles. Megan and Harold came over that night after the kids were in bed and shared some Gauranan with us. And Harold opened our eyes to where his kids get their crazy ideas (he's just like a little kid). We were on the 8th floor, so he had some fun. :) Friday was our last day and we decided instead of getting all sandy before our flight home we would take it easy. Plus, Erik was water-logged. I could have gone to the beach again, but oh well. It's a little tough with a baby and being pregnant. So we walked around Lahaina with the Duffy's, Mom and Dad, & Megan and Bart. We met up with the Whettens later and found a ghetto beach that was on the way to the airport. I say ghetto, because it literally seemed like we were in the ghetto. There were some sketchy people. We didn't stay long, especially after Ryan (Megan's little boy) found a beer bottle and threw it on the rocks. Like I say, it was a ghetto beach. So we headed to the airport. The flight home was long, but Brooklyn at least slept the whole way thank goodness. We were sad to leave, but happy to get home. It was such a wonderful trip and I already miss everyone! Thank you so much Mom and Dad for making it all happen. I seriously think we should make it a yearly thing. : )

Sunday, June 15th (Father's Day)

Erik kind of got the shaft this Father's day since we were in Maui. I brought a card, but couldn't bring his gift with us on the plane (Gaurana). But I want to pay tribute to what an amazing Daddy he is. He was made for Fatherhood. He loves his little princess so much. And she loves him so much! My favorite time of day is when he comes home and her whole face lights up when she sees him. She's definitely becoming a Daddy's girl. Erik is so excited to have a little boy too. He can't wait to play baseball with him and teach him all the manly things he needs to know. I love how Brooklyn totally has him wrapped around his little finger. She can do no wrong in his eyes! We love you honey!!

Well we made it back this morning, after a long night of plane rides. Luckily Brooklyn slept the whole time!!

We had a ton of fun with Marcie's extended family, and Brooklyn was excited to meet the rest of the Hill's that she hadn't had the pleasure of meeting before...especially her cousins. She is definitely becoming a social butterfly and loves to play and interact with all kids, but especially cousins and family. From hugs to pushes, and kisses to disses, she had a blast with everyone of them and seems rather bored with her parents now that we are back in Seattle.

We did a lot of swimming, snorkeling, sun bathing, and just spending a lot of time in the beautiful surroundings and great company. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Hill! What a blessing this was for the whole family!!

Once we get more photos that others took, we'll post them in our Picasa slide shows (to the right), but in the meantime, here are a few of our favorite photos.

Brooklyn: Day 1