Your Help Requested

Hello again please read the letter below and help us out in any little way you possibly can! Thank you for your love and support!

March 21, 2011
Brian P. Dawson
Bachelor of Arts in Pacific Island Studies
55-550 Naniloa Loop
#6301
Lāʻie, Hawaiʻi 96762

Dear friends and family,
We all know education and real life experiences would not be complete without one another. Therefore, I am excited to share my news about a real life learning experience that I have been selected to be a participant of. For the spring of 2011, I have been chosen to be a part of a special internship program in the Cook Islands with the Political Science/Pacific Island Studies department(s) at BYUH.

Many of you have shown confidence and support time and time again in my educational efforts and I am reaching out to you at this time for some financial support with this new opportunity. My goal is to reach $2000, and I am attempting to reach this by 28 April, 2011.

For my Internship, I will be assigned to work in the Office of the Minister of Education, Marine Resources & Tourism, under the supervision of Honorable Teina Bishop. I will be receiving instruction through His chief administration officer, Mr. George Turia, an experienced leader who was previously an executive administrator of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand.

I will undergo a high profile work experience and will be placed in an office in the center of Avarua, the foremost district on the island of Rarotonga, the national capital of the Cook Islands.

A numerous amount of you are aware that the focus of my studies has been in the Pacific Islands. As such, this experience will serve to strengthen not only my knowledge of Oceania, but will create a strong foundation in the field, producing a springbord for future educational endeavors.

I have established a PayPal account linked to my familyʻs blog for convenience. The blog website is located in the left column. If you are uncomfortable with the internet in situations such as these, my address is provided in the left column as well. As a thank you for your support, I will be sending you a piece of a Pareu (a commonly worn screen printed fabric) with your surname.

In regards to PayPal and the blog website: a yellow “donate” icon has been attached at the top of the blog, under the “ocean” picture. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to contact me if any questions need to be answered.

Thank you in advance for your support,
Brian P. Dawson

If you need to contact us by phone and need our number just drop us a note in the comments sections and we will send our number to you!

Itʻs a great Pumpkin PATCH Charlie Brown

The one and only Pumpkin Patch on the islands. Me and the girls got to go and check it out with another friend and her girls... The most exciting part was getting there. Hereʻs the breakdown:
4 girls under the age of 4.
whiny and sick with colds
The whining began for snacks 15 mins into the hour and half ride
Had to stop for the first potty break for the older 3 girls at a starbucks (the fourth is still in diapers)
Then we got lost 10 mins before arriving at destination
1 girl had to poop an hour into the ride
WE stopped at a gas station to fill up, use the bathroom, regroup yada yada yada
The bathrooms were closed for cleaning and would take 20 mins to be done. (at the gas station)
The little baby (mine) finally woke up
She doesnʻt like carseats AT ALL she screamed and cried
So I nursed and fed her (at the gas station)
The girls attempted the bathroom once again at the gas station (SUCCESS)
We spent a total of 45 mins at the gas station.
Finally hit the rode again and arrived at the one and only Pumpkin Patch 10 mins later
As other friends of ours are leaving or have left the one and only pumpkin patch
So we played by ourselves at the one and only Pumpkin PATCH

We took pictures to remember the exciting day at the pumpkin patch... yes the one and only







BUt no worries we will most likely do this again next year!! Life is an adventure that we donʻt want to miss out on!
I canʻt wait to puree the pumpkin and bake goodies with it... It will make that day ALL the more worth it

In Honor of Halloween

Pretty sick right!!

Donʻt worry people it was only a strawberry...
I love it when babies can start to eat. Itʻs a beautiful mess. She loves to eat bananas, gauva, apples, peaches, pears, green beans, carrots, peas, avocados, mangos.... yes she has had all of this and more but only after turning 6 months. Iʻm pretty adamant about waiting to give my babies real people food because itʻs a step towards weaning or AWAY from me!
I know I need to let my children grow up and be their own person but they are only babies once and that time that they are completely dependent on you flies by much tooo quickly. So I hold on as long as I can.
But when I do let go it makes for great pictures, here is more of the strawberry slaughter.






Hereʻs a throwback picture of Chioma as well. Just for fun!

Make new friends & keep the old

Chioma is our social butterfly. Her first word was "HI." So needless to say she has this desire to always be surrounded by "her friends" regardless of how much older they are than her. So many days if we go for walks or go to the park she believes that we are going there to play with "her friends." Her little face is so sad when she gets to the park and her friends are not there... Then the questioning begins "Mommy whereʻd my friends go??" Makes me wanna cry. But this post is to show Chioma and what she does best... Making friends

This is a pic of Chiomaʻs best friends in NY getting ready to eat her birthday cake right before bedtime. Oliver and Aolana will forever be good friends to our CJ! you donʻt get much better friends then these guys.


Here she is at a birthday party spreading frosting on a cookie with her new friends from her nursery in our church.


Hereʻs Chioma and Noe one of her favorite new friends here. I think itʻs because they are both into the same things like princesse,s and disney characters, and getting their own way, and hugging their little sisters. But they are so cute because they get so excited to see each other every sunday at church. IT looks like they are just meeting for the first time in this pick but I guarantee Chioma is just trying to get some of her snacks. HAHA


Chioma and little Gwennie who taught Chioma how to jump into the pool from her trampoline... so fun!


Chioma, Gwen and ʻDeli emptying the water from the pool that they should be playing in. OH well!


My favorite pic of Chioma and her best buddy Lana on the last day they saw each other. They have been buddies since the day they were born...Actually lana was in the room when Chioma was born that should say something about their bond. Chioma got to see her this last week on skype and for the next 2 days she kept asking me if she could go to Lanaʻs house...sad face I just choked up and said we donʻt have money to fly to NY to see her but one day we will get to see her. Hopefully her mom will get here soon (wink wink April)

A tired daddy

Brian has been in school full time and working part time since the day after we moved to Hawaii. It really feels like there has not been much of a break for him except for the 4 days that he got in between summer term and fall semester. Currently he gets up at 5:30 am to make it on time to his 7:30 am Tongan class. And then if he works that same day then we (meaning I donʻt cause the girls are asleep) donʻt see him until 10:30 or 11:00 pm that night. But he does his best to spend time with the girls when he is home even if it means the time together is sleep time.



I love this man and I love how important it is for him to spend time with his family regardless of what it is we do.
In family relationships Love is spelled T-I-M-E. -Elder Dieter F. Uctdorf

6 Months and counting

Hi all well I turned 6 months and Iʻm doing all sorts of things. I learned to crawl. I eat real food. I crawl around a lot. I play with my big sister. I love to babble. Iʻm pulling myself up on everything, and did I mention I love crawling?? Here are some pics to prove it