.viva las vegas.

Although we were sad to leave all of our family and friends in New Mexico, we were excited to see our Ohana (family) from Roy's Summerlin (where mommy and daddy met) in Las Vegas before heading back to Kauai.  A couple of other ohana members have had babies since we left a little over a year ago.  First of all, Kaiya did another great job on the plane ride from ABQ to LAS.  She was a happy little girl and eventually her, mommy and daddy got a little bit of sleep on the short flight.  And before we knew it, we were flying into Las Vegas.

A bunch of the old Roy's Summerlin Ohana got together on the Lanai the night we flew into Vegas.  It was so good to see good friends.  Conversations picked up like we never left, and we laughed and talked until we were practically the last ones at the restaurant.  We had such a good time, we didn't even realize how long we were all there for...we even went extra early just in case the babies got sleepy or cranky.  But luckily, all the babies were up for a bit and quietly went to sleep leaving the adults to enjoy each other's company.  

Here is Aunty Aleathia and her daughter Peyton, who was just under 2 months old.  Aunty Aleathia was the one that convinced mommy to go back to school with her and get her Master's degree at UNLV.   So mommy has Aunty Aleathia to thank for her M.Ed.!  Aunty Aleathia is from Oahu, along with her husband, Uncle Mike...who was working.

This is Uncle Andre and Aunty Anna (in black) with their daughter Bella.  Bella is just about 1 month older than Kaiya.  She is such a cute and happy happy happy girl.  She seemed very excited to meet Kaiya for the first time, bouncing around in her mommy's arms and what not.  Kaiya, on the other hand, just looked at me like we were all crazy.  :)  Uncle Andre is also from Hawaii.

Here is Uncle Brian, Aunty Jen and Daddy posing for a picture.  Uncle Brian came to mommy and daddy's wedding on Kauai.  He used to work with mommy and daddy when they first started working at Roy's.  Aunty Jen was a hostess with mommy for a few years.  She's from the Big Island...we're hoping she can make it out to Kauai on one of her next visits back home.

Here is the first group shot we took, right before Aunty Hilary left for the night.  Aunty Hilary, standing right in the middle next to Aunty Aleathia, also has her M.Ed. in Health Promotion from UNLV.  She was also working at Roy's when mommy and daddy first started.  

And here is a group shot at the end of the night.  We all think the sign we're standing in front of is a little ridiculous.  It's so tacky...it's right in front of the front door, obviously blocking it so you can't walk straight in.  

We met up with Aunty Aleathia again on Saturday for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen at Town Square.  And Uncle Josh and Aunty Britney, who are also from Los Alamos, met up with us later in the afternoon.  We also got a chance to see Aunty Nancy, who was working at Brio at Town Square. 

It was a fun, quick trip to Las Vegas and the next time we're there we definitely want to stay a couple of days longer so we can see a few more friends.  We left on a 245am flight out of Las Vegas and arrived back in Honolulu around 630am.  Kaiya did another FANTASTIC job on the airplane and didn't wake up until the final 30 minutes before we landed in HNL.  She also slept from HNL to LIH.  On when we were approaching the landing to Kauai, there was a rainbow over the ocean to welcome us home.  

.lil miss kaiya's first trip.

our first trip as a family was to honolulu.  it was kaiya's first time on an airplane, and daddy's first time to oahu...other than the airport.  kaiya was such a good girl on the plane ride to and from...after all, it is only a 25 minute flight. 

we stayed at the ala moana hotel, for convenience and location.  it is located a parking lot away from the ala moana shopping center.  we went to do some christmas shopping, so it worked out perfectly.  here are some views from the hotel room.

kaiya also got to meet uncle mikey and his girlfriend aunty sherry.  they picked all of us up and we headed over to the light parade in downtown honolulu.  kaiya slept for the beginning of the parade, but when the fire engines rolled by they sounded their horns and woke her up.

kaiya also got to meet aunty rhea, uncle trey, minor and aunty taryn.  we all met up at genki sushi.  we had such a great trip, we all can't wait until the spring when we travel to new mexico to see daddy's side of the family.