Disney Photographs

Hello, everyone! On behalf of Tupua Vacations, Ltd., we would like to thank you all for your patience as we were updating our uploading software (and by "updating" I mean, I lost my jump drive and now I found it). So prepare for some serious sensory overload, people. Buckle up and hold on tight.
Our first stop is Mexico to visit with our very favorite mariachi band "Mariachi Cobre." We first took a picture with the children closer to us, but being the classy group that they are, the mariachis told us to take another picture with the children right in the front of them as they performed. They are awesome!!

While we were at Disney, we decided to celebrate Jarod James' birthday. So we went to Publix and got him a cake and celebrate we did. What a happy soon-to-be four year old! Cutie!!

Here are the children taking in a breathtaking view of Cinderella's Castle at Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Here the beautiful Tupua women posing after a stirring performance by the "Voices of Liberty" (the acapella group that performs at EPCOT's American pavilion).

Oh to have the energy of the young! Here the children are running to the bus stop so we could head back to the resort for a break. I love action photos!

Calling all Space Rangers! To infinity and beyond! I think that says it all.

Pausing to send you all greetings from Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. We love you all!

Here is a family photo at the Animal Kingdom. Momma and Jarod James in line for something that I do not remember.

Hamming it up at EPCOT. Simply adorable!

Another opportunity for a family photo at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Still not there yet. Maybe next time.

Three Polynesians at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a traditional Nativity Scene at Hollywood Studios.

Here I am with the munchkins at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. Ready to start our adventure. Res, see my jacket?

Well, that is all for now. Tune in next time at the same bat time and same bat station. Love you all very much.

Day Two: Animal Kingdom

We awoke this morning to start our day that will be spent in Disney's Animal Kingdom Park! We had a delicious breakfast of bagels and muffins before we set out for a wild day. The Animal Kingdom rank's as our family's second favorite theme park here at Disney World because of the memories. It is another special day due to the fact that Dianna is tall enough to ride one of Disney's headliners - Expedition Everest. On this ride, you board a train that will take you on a jouney up Mount Everest and perhaps to a "chance" encounter with the legendary Yeti. Well, anyhoo . . . Dianna rode it with Barbie and at first did not like it. There is a section that you go backwards and apparently, she liked that but not the rest. Her chief complaint was that she felt bounced around too much, but at least she tried something new. After Everest, we rode Triceratops Spin (the Animal Kingdom's answer to Dumbo). The children always enjoy this ride. We ate lunch of sandwiches, egg rolls, fried rice, and orange chicken. Yummy! We then walked a little trail called the Maharajah Jungle Trek where we were able to see tigers, birds, and other exciting animals from the continent of Asia. News flash: Bengal tigers are HUGE!!! Next stop, Kilimanjaro Safaris, where you board a "raggedy" beat up truck that takes you on a "two week" safari where we got to see way more animals than we ever had. From elephants, to rhinos, to cheetahs, to giraffes, to hippos, to flamingos, to ostriches, and I am pretty sure I missed some animal. But really amazing stuff! We also took in shows of Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: the musical (both musical versions of the popular Disney movies). After leaving the park, we went to visit our Disney "house" at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We took in the Christmas decorations and rested at one of the animal viewing areas. after all that we headed back to our resort for some much needed rest and nourishment. What an exciting day! We will post again later with more exciting news from Walt Disney World! Love you all!

Day One: Disney Christmas Vacation 2010

Merry Christmas, everyone! Well, after a long wait, the time has finally come for the Tupua family to make another long-anticipated trip to the Happiest Place on Earth! On Saturday (the eighteenth of December) we made our way to Grandma Bailey and PopPop's house in Palatka. We had a great visit, albeit short, but we will be back after Christmas. Thank you to Grandma and PopPop for giving us a place to stay for the night and the great biscuit and gravy breakfast to send us on our way.

We then set off in search of wonder and magic. We found both! We arrived safely on property and aimed to visit the Polynesian Resort to see the decorations and to play a game. Our game actually started several months ago. Barbie read about this game online somewhere and we liked and decided to try it for ourselves. I give you "The Monorail Game." (Dum-da-da-dum!!!) The rules are simple. Each of us chose a favorite monorail (by color -- Barbie chose the purple line, Dianna the silver line, Jarod the orange line, and I chose the blue line.). The person whose monorail we see first gets to choose the park that we would go to for the day. There are several monorails in use on Disney property, so there was no guarantee that any of us would win. We headed to the Polynesian because we knew it had a monorail station, therefore a good chance of seeing one of our choices. And the winner is: Jarod James! Jarod picked Disney's Hollywood Studios. We did not do a whole lot because of the time of day we arrived at the park. To start with, we went to a live show of "Beauty and the Beast" (a broadway-style musical show performed daily right here in Orlando, Florida). The children really enjoyed the show, since they only recently saw the movie. After the show, we watched a parade that we had never seen before - it was the "Disney-Pixar Block Party", featuring characters from "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life", "Monsters, Inc.", and "The Incredibles". It was really fun; I mean, how many places can you be and see all of those characters and get hollered at by a green "plastic" army man? Fun, right? It was a great time (say that as Scotty from Star Trek)! Well after that great fun, we went to ride the ride that Dianna has waited for months to ride -- The Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror, or as Dianna calls it "the ride that people scream on because they are having fun." This trip marks a new era in how the Tupuas do Disney, in that the chidren are now tall enough to ride new rides ("big kid rides" as Jarod calls them) So this was the first time for both of the children on this Headliner. This ride is computer-controlled and takes riders up in an "elevator" and drops them randomly. Up, down, up-maybe-no down. Jarod and Dianna (and myself) were screaming out in sheer terror. Dianna said she would not ride it again until she was a little older -- it makes her dizzy, all the ups and downs. Jarod said he would never ride that ride again because it scared him too much. After being scared out of our wits, we figured it was time to check into our resort (Pop Century) and get some dinner. Barbie made triple cold cut sandwiches for dinner (very yummy), which we ate with chips. For dessert, chocolate muffins that Aunt Terri made for us (super delicious). And now Jarod and Barbie are asleep and I am working on this post and Dianna is watching the Disney Channel. Well, we are off to bed; busy day tomorrow. Animal Kingdom opens at 7:00 am! We will post something tomorrow. Alofas to all. E Mauia le Kerisimasi!!

A Little About Cisco

Here is a picture of little Cisco relaxing in his kennel. We use the term "little" loosely. At sixteen weeks old, he tips the scales at 12 lbs eight oz (I do not have an "eight" button on our laptop keyboard). From tail to snout, he measures 24 inches long. The vet tells us that he is predominantly Golden Retriever with a little Beagle mixed in. Cisco is golden brown with a black strip on his tail. He has a white chest and floppy ears. They tell us that he probably will not get over 35 pounds. After his first vet's appointment, the nurse handed us a bag of dog food for "large breeds" ,and I said to Barbie, "Can we instead get the bag of food to keep him small?" He is a good little dog. We are enjoying having him around. Cisco likes to run, jump, and dig. Jarod loves to play and run alongside Cisco. Dianna is still skittish around Cisco; although, she is getting better. He is so much fun to have around. At his last appointment, the vet said that we needed to help Cisco socialize with more people than jsut the family, so he does not bite people out fear. There is a dog park in town, so I think we are taking Cisco to the park on Saturday. We love you all. Hope you enjoyed this little write up of our new family friend. Alofas to you all.

Blue Angels' Veteran's Day Air Show

So we did not go to the air show, but a co-worker did, and was nice enough to share his photos. I hope you like them; I know I did.
This first one is of the Blues doing some manuevers over the crowd's heads. This next pic is of the Blues coming at the crowd performing one of their spectacular stunts.

These next two pictures are the coolest pictures of the bunch that he sent around in the email. These were at the close of the show - the fireworks display and fireballs are just so cool.
Hope you all enjoyed the pictures, even though I didn't take any of the pictures in this blog. I thought they were really cool and wanted to share them with everyone. Love you all. Should have some new pictures of the Munchkins this weekend. Alofas.

Birthday Parties and Beachy Pics

This weekend, Jarod received an invitation to a birthday party at Chucky Cheese. It was great fun...loud but fun. Our first picture is of Dianna enjoying some birthday cupcake. She is adorable!

Dianna and Barbie went to a "Mother-Daughter Tea Party" where the children got to decorate and participate in a box fashion show. So cute.Here are Jarod and me at the birthday party. We were putting on shoes again after Jarod attempted to climb in the playground.Dianna is seen here riding in a roller coaster simulator at the party. She had such a good time at the party.Here is a picture of Dianna posing at the beach.Here is my Baby and me at the beach. I am so lucky!! Here is my cuty boy taking a break from doing what it is he does for a picture.

Here is a picture of my beautiful children at the beach. So cute!!
We love this picture of the children. Just so adorable!!!

Jarod wanted us to do a silly picture together....so here it is. We love you all. Have a good week.

A Surprise Package from the Aloha Isles

Upon arriving at the house after work and school, the Tupuas found that there was a package on our doorstep. Being of a curious nature as we are, we hurried to the door and snatched up the package. It was from Auntie Annie and family in Hawaii. Thank you, Auntie and Uncle for the lovely surprise. We were all very excited. What a treat!! The children loved their bags of goodies. Here is Jarod's happy face over his things!I thought the Pez dispenser was very appropriate for Jarod. Cute! Here are Dianna and Jarod holding their bags of newly gotten loot. They were so happy and delighted with all of their stuff.

Here they are going through their stuff. They could not believe all the cool things they got.

This last picture is for Auntie Annie, Uncle Frank, Grandma Ella and Grandpa David. We love you and thank you for your love and generosity. We miss you and cannot wait to see you. Love you all.

Can anyone tell me why the Pez dispenser was an appropriate gift for Jarod?

Hello, Heidi!

Hello! We are doing very well. Dianna and Jarod did very well at the Master's Club tonight. They are learning their verses and being able to recite them well. Dianna came home with two more badges for her vest and 25 extra Master's Club Bucks. Jarod James said his verse and colored his project for this evening. He was excited about seeing his club leader tonight (who had been out for the last two weeks due to an ill child), but he was back and that made Jarod very happy.
In other news: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was in town this past week to build a house for a family. Below is a picture of the 3,600sf home built right here in Pensacola. I initially thought that the home was being built a little ways away, but upon doing more research, I found it was less than ten minutes away (and that was including traffic). The episode is a Chistmas Special due to air on December 12, 2010 on ABC. Cool, huh? Here is a picture of the Aiga setting out on Family Day. I think we were off to Publix and MacDonald's. They are so beautiful!! Lastly, a picture from the past. Jarod wasn't asking for much; just one Mariachi player.

Have a good week everyone. We love you and miss you very much. Bye for now!

Community Helper and Stuff

This first picture falls undee the category of "stuff". I could not remember if I posted this picture of Cisco's first visitors. Here are the Phillis' with their dog Chloe. Cisco was only 7lbs . He had a vet appointment today and he weighs 10.3 lbs and received another round of shots. Now on to what you came for: pictures of the children. This past Friday was Communtiy Helper Day. The children were asked to dress up as a real professional, and Dianna chose to be a teacher just like her mommy.

Dianna wore her white sweater with a denim skirt. Accessories included an apple teacher pin from Mommy and a pair of light pink sunglasses (like her Mommy's glasses).

Here is Jarod being silly....cute, but silly. Is he not adorable?

This was taken before we set out this morning for the day. By the way, the children chose their own and dressed themselves. Too cute. Jarod is shooting a bow and arrow, and Dianna is working her model looks.

Taking a break from watching something on the Wii to take another picture for Daddy.

This evening we were able to take part in a Missionary Kids Dinner that was hosted by our sunday school class. There were over sixty missionary kids from countries all over the world. At our table, we sat with two college students that were missionary kids from Germany and Italy. There were types of foods from all over the world - Philippino, German, oriental, and then there were desserts (mostly pies, but yummy). Well, we will talk to you all later. Love you.

Hix Pix Nix

Alright here we go. Before we begin, can anyone tell me where I got the title for my post today? Anybody? Anybody? I will reveal the answer at the end....and if any of you are thinking: "I have never see taht movie." Wrong! We have all seen it. With that out of the way - off we go!
I only have one new picture of the children. Here they are waiting in the exam room at the vet for Cisco's appointment. They are singing "Ireland's Call" by Celtic Thunder. They are adorable. Since I only had one new picture, I thought we would have a little stroll down memory lane. Kind of like a "Before they were stars" episode. Here we have a picture of Dianna Noell in the waiting room at Baptist Hospital when Jarod James was born. Look how small she is! Adorable!!!Next up is Jarod James' first phot op. Look how tiny he is. He could not even crawl yet. So cute. I do not remeber him being chunky, but he is cute. I love his hair. Last up is a picture of a sunset view we had last week. Isn't it pretty?
Well, that is all for now. We love you all and cannot wait to see you all again. We will talk at you all later. Bye-bye for now. Oh, yeah. The title is from "Yankee Doodle Dandy." The part where George was retired and the young kids came by the house and he was reading the paper. The translation reads: "Small Towns Refuse New Pictures." Anyone get it right? Love you.