2009 The Year in Review

Hard to believe that 3 months have gone by since we last updated the blog......So now instead of just updating the last 3 months, we will go ahead and look back at the entire year.

While looking back at this year's pictures it was amazing to see how many things took place...new arrivals in the family, we said goodbye to loved ones, friends and family came to visit, new schools, new jobs....so much!

This may be the longest blog post in the history of blogging, so relax, sit down, grab a cup of _______ (coffee, tea, beer, scotch, rum, tequila...whatever tickles your fancy, really) and let us share with you some of these precious moments.

Like every year, 2009 started with:

JANUARY
Weather in Hilo had been quite wet, gray and cold. So we decided to head over to the other side of the island with our good friends the Chrysostomous' and the Cookes'. We went to Hapuna beach and enjoyed of a beautiful sunny picnic day at the beach...
All that rain in Hilo meant, tons of snow on Mauna Kea! so 3 days later we grabbed our winter clothes, boogie boards and headed up to the summit to play in the snow....

Hiking up the slopes

Yeee Haw!

Geronimooooooooo!

Only in the Big Island....from sunny beaches to snowy slopes in one hour!

It was also in January that Hana discovered her dare-devil personality on her bike.... we thought for sure there would be another visit to the ER this year....

In January Hana left St. Joe's and started in a new school, E.B. DeSilva which she loves!

FEBRUARY

The second month started a bit wacky......Nonna came to visit and she said she had missed spending Christmas with us, so......

we decided to celebrate Christmas, Again! in February!.....

We called some of our good good Hilo friends who we knew could not pass the opportunity to celebrate Christmas one more time, Jim & Jeri.... Macario & Leslie.... and Ema Rose of Course

We had a fire going on in the backyard and a Christmas meal with all the trimmings, turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Leslie's oyster casserole....da works!

After eating we went inside where the girls tried to teach Macario how to play Wii....Rock Band...

February was also the month in which Sydney's soccer team participated in the indoor soccer tournament in Hilo.....

And although we did not do all that great, the girls had a lot of fun and it was a very good experience for them.

More soccer! this time it was my turn...President's Day Weekend tournament in Kona where we came in 3rd place....

Charlotte's Brownies went to the Humane Society to learn about puppy care (or something like that)...

And still in the girl scout arena, this time with her Junior troop they participated in a walk-a-thon to raise money for some good humanitarian cause which right now escapes my memory, but it was for something good....

Charlotte and her Junior Troop

MARCH

This month started with huge waves in Bayfront. A North swell that brought us big waves for 2 weeks straight! why you ask is that worth posting? usually these types of swells only last 2-3 days max.....we had it for 14 days! by the end of the swell there were people from all the other islands here crowding our break....

Charlotte and her Pisces sister Ivy celebrating their birthday...

And then for Charlotte's birthday we went whale watching.....we saw one....apparently they all had gotten tired of the non-stop rain and decided to head back to Alaska early....But the girls had a lot of fun on the boat.....

APRIL

Kirk Banks Tournament in Honolulu! The Hilo Wildfire did a very respectable job...but it wasn't all just soccer!...There were picnics at Waikiki.......Night fun in town....... Pool parties at night....

And in the end.... a great time together!

More girl scout activities! Camping at Camp Kilohana

Flag Ceremony

Hanging out by the campfire...

And making tye-dye shirts and socks....

Easter!....our good friends the Cookes' came over, they played making big bubbles.....

Went on an egg hunt......

The master piece was a big Rib Eye Roast!....hmmm....ono!

Chickens got a new fancy coop this month.......

They liked it, although.......

They were still laying eggs in weird hidden places!.....

MAY

End of school year, awards and new family members.....

One of Hana's best friends from school moved to the mainland at the end of the shcool year so we had a little going away party at the house..... Hana's school has no uniform dress code, which meant.......

no, not really.....she wore that to "Funny Dress Day".....

She also started playing soccer! One more in the family tradition....

Hana ran in her school's Fund-Race to raise money for the school's PTA

Sydney won an award for a poem she wrote about friendship. Here she is receiving her award from Hawaii's mayor (Billy Kenoi) and one of the navigators of the Hokule'a

And then in the graduation ceremony at St. Joe's Sydney took almost all the academic awards (missed religion and science just by a fraction of a point) and she also received a national award for penmanship......

This one is going far.........

MOWGLI!...Sydney found a little cat abandoned in the bushes. He was so young that he still had the placenta attached (not kidding). We left him out there to see if the mom would come back for him, and it didn't happen. So we took him in and bottle fed him (Charlotte would wake up every two hours at night to feed him), helped him poop and pee....and slowly, but surely, he opened his eyes and became the new member of the Family....

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Our beloved Angus had passed away a couple of months back, and the girls wanted puppies...so they went to the humane society and on a bargain deal (two for one!) they brought back these twin lab mixes (more mix than lab) home.....And named them Pie (the one with no tail) and Scout (the one with tail).....

So the Romo Family continued to grow.......

JUNE:

Hana was given a Citizen of the Month Award at her School.....so you see? this one is going far too! Then there was the Ho'olaule'a at her school where she danced Hula...

Great Performance!

Mowgli, a couple of weeks old and starting to show his true colors....hmmmm....wonder why the mom abandoned him? ......At this youg age he was introduced to the dogs and right from the get-go he took charge. He has been terrorizing and bullying them ever since.....

Lucy comes to visit!

We went to Kapoho....

Hikes to Boiling Pots...

Trip to the Panaewa Zoo with Lucy and Devon....

Shave ice in Kona!

Kayaking around Coconut Island...

And jumping off the tower!........(terrible place for a kid to grow up)

JULY

More soccer! this time the Volcano Tournament in Hilo!.....And it rained and rained and rained......Sydney in goal. The fields were completely flooded and covered in mud...

But this is Hilo! so we played!

Friends from TAIWAN!!! The Mann Clan came and spent some days in the Big Island, we went to hot pond....

Showed them our chickens (last pictures of the chickens....the dogs ate them shortly after this)

Hanging out with her new friend!

Picnic at Coconut Island

AUGUST

Humphrey was showing some signs of old age....so we decided it was time to say goodbye....and we took advantage of Obama's Cash for Clunkers deal and got BUMPHREY! (either for Humphrey's baby brother, or Humphrey's Bum brother).....Meanwhile Tiger & Mowgli were learning to cope with each other.....at least during their naps...

September

Move over Kona! the Romos' have coffee!!!...we harvested our first handful of coffee beans! Learned how to process them and roast them!.......(we have not brewed them yet because we don't have enough for one cup.....but another batch is being sun dried as we type this post)

EB DeSilva Garden!

Charlotte started a part time job at Hana's school teaching a gardening class to all grades. But before she could teach a gardening class, she had to have a garden. So we gather up a bunch of volunteer parents, teachers, and school Principal and set off to turn a piece of the school yard that was being taken by the jungle from this.....

Built some raised beds... and turned it into......

this!

The proud bunch of volunteers in front of what would become the greenhouse

Frame is up!

and Voila!......all in one day!.....But dirt is not easy to find here, so we had a truckload of it delivered.....literally......and then Charlotte took advantage of the cheap labor she had at her disposal (students) and filled the raised beds with it.....

Got Dirt!?

Show off your muddy hands!

SILVERTHORNE

Mike (my boss) sailed solo from San Diego to Hilo in September. We spent some good quality time with him on board his beautiful sailboat the Silverthorne....

Where everyone took turns at the helm....

Yes, even Hana!

The boat became a launching platform

Then Carolyn came to join him while he sailed over to Maui. Here they are, enjoying a meal at Cafe Pesto!

In September we got to spend quite a bit of time with Ema Rose while Leslie and Macario went to Honolulu.....We had lunch at Subway.....

Went swimming to coconut island......

Meanwhile Mowgli continued to terrorize and abuse the dogs.......

Even taught them how to behave like a dog......

This cat has some serious issues.......

OCTOBER

October started with an unfortunate situation for Mike and Silverthorne....the boat got stuck in Kahului, Mike was forced off the boat and the tide carried her to the shore over night......He just finished all the repair work and sailed to Honolulu. He plans to spend the Holidays in the mainland then return to Honolulu where he plans to take off (solo) to the Marshall Islands, to continue then to Japan, and then back to Hawaii.....it's his Sabbatical..... October brought Furlough Fridays....the brainchild of our governor and the head of the teacher's union...who trying to balance the budget could not come up with a better plan than to basically cancel school on fridays for the rest of the school year.......So Furlough Fridays became beach fridays.....Hana's October-Halloween theme school outfit.....

Charlotte started a new Brownie troop at DeSilva and had her initiation ceremony this moht

Hana turns 9! so she celebrated with some friends having a Criquet game......followed by a full SPA session....

We had our own family B-day celebration for Banana

HALLOWEEN!

Charlotte dressed up as garden queen for Hana's school Halloween parade.....

Hana was a witch

And she won again the Citizen of the Month award! in spite of being a witch!

NOVEMBER

Hana got some money from Nonna and Nonno for her Birthday and went on a shopping spree...like this hoodie......

There was also Black and White Night in Down Town Hilo....

One of the most discussed events of the whole year was during a trip I made and in which I attended a conference in Phoenix with a delegation of the UAE.....the detail that sparked all the attention was that I had to dress up!......(It certainly triggered an unprecedent amount of traffic and comments in facebook!)

Thanksgiving!
Our traditional smoked turkey was once again a huge success.....the secret is hanging out with the bird while it cooks, enjoying a good beer and a good book.....

The results are always the same....one good looking bird!

20th Birthday 20th Anniversary

Huge party to celebrate that infamous age....

We had a DJ playing 80's music all night long, good music, good friends, good food and good beer! what else can one ask?

And turning 40 actually doesn't feel any different than turning 39!

DECEMBER...HO HO HO!!! Charlotte once again with Girl Scout Activity, this time the Brownies went to Hale Anuenue to sing Cristmas Carols to the patients there
Christmas Concerts

Sydney started in a new school this year as well, she is in 7th grade in Hilo Inter. Since she had some band experience from St Joe's she joined the 8th Grade band playing Saxophone. They had a couple of Christmas concerts, like this one at Hilo High School.......

Girl Scout Camp
A two night camping trip for Charlotte's cadette troop and one night for the Brownie troop at camp Kilohana.....

Making Smores in the chimney inside the lodge......

Craft fair....

All the girl scouts that attended the one day craft fair....

So as this year winds down, we'd like to send all of our love and best wishes to friends and family....may 2010 be a prosperous year that brings you joy.....

In Loving Memory:

Every year brings happy and sad moments. For us this year without a doubt the hardest loss was that of our old friend Angus.....He was the best dog that anyone could wish for, and will always have a very special place in our hearts........

Angus McCracken Romo, Jan 19, 1995 - March 27, 2009