After 2 weeks of spending some quality time with my dad, I'm finally slightly rested to blogged about our time as a family. The first two days dad hung out with me and Henry before he left to the Rocking Ranch in Anthony, Utah. Let just say that Dad had a good and back breaking time herding the cattle and being a Cowboy for four days (Aug. 29 - Sep. 2). He met a lot of people from all over the world and made a name for himself as the Cowboy Tech. What I mean about Cowboy Tech, it's because my dad brought a ton of technology with him to the ranch and on their cattle drive camp out. For a man of his age with all the newest high tech, he sure knows how to enjoy old and new things in life. Also he recorded the whole experience for my sake. Since I wasn't able to join him on this trip, he wanted me to see what I would of experience. It's was really cool for me to see his videos and photos during his Cowboy trip. After 4 days of being a cowboy and enjoying the outdoors, Dad traveled back to Salt Lake City to spend the remainder of his time with me, my twin brother Henry, my husband Mika and my sister Juanita. 

September 2 (Sunday)

It was a restful day for me as I waited patiently for my Dad's arrival from the Ranch. When he finally arrived to my brothers apartment, he wanted to have a family dinner at a sit down restaurant. We soon gathered together as a family at Ombu grill in SLC and lets just say it wasn't a great experience for my Dad. The minute we arrive and was seated the waitress was really rude and agitated for some no reason. Being a bit pushy, she really left a bad impression on my Dad. I usually don't get annoyed at the waiters when they mess up a meal but when we haven't even ordered and already she gets snappy and rude, that's when I myself would rethink about even eating at a restaurant or paying the tip. So my Dad made it hard for her to work. You don't want to mess with a strong, Military grumpy old mad when he's hungry! It's was funny seeing my Dad be rude right back to her and she finally got the clue that her serviced suck and she needed a attitude adjustment. The food was all that great that night. But Having a Dad as a chef, he made the food taste way better. As a family, we enjoyed the company of each other and nothing beats those fun moments. I know that family meals and conversations brings a real closeness as a family. With everything that has happened in my life, I'm thankful for these moments I had with my family growing up, because it left an eternal impression of family importance and communication with one another. If I didn't have this, I would be a person who don't care about others and their lives. But I am who I am today because of my parents raising me to be close to my siblings and those who I care about. I'm forever grateful for that. After 2 hours enjoying each others company and some semi good Korean Bar-b-q meats, we headed back to my brothers place and watched movies and ate yummy Banana splits. Now that's a way to end the night...with ice cream!

September 3 (Monday & Labor Day)

Shopping and Movie Day with my Ohana! Dad woke up in the morning to make some yummy home made pancakes for us before we started the day. After eating pancakes, we cleaned up, got ready and squeezed into my Dad's rental car and drove to American Fork Cine mark theater to watch Operation finale. It was an interesting movie about the Architect of the Nazi concentration camps. Honestly, I feel asleep during part of the movie because I didn't get much sleep the night before. Also those luxury seats are so comfy, how can you not fall asleep. After the movies, we went to Traverse Mountain Outlet Mall to see what Labor Day sales they have. It was fun walking around window shopping and playing punch buggy as a family. Fun times was the main thing that was going on throughout the day. Tons of laughter and jokes. We made a pit stop at Dad's favorite stores Cabela's and Sheelds. My sister Juanita was really happy we stopped at Cabela's because she really like their almond roasted nuts. And it is very yummy & addicting! Than we ended the night at my brothers place just relaxing and snacking on some yummy Hawaiian goodies Dad shipped out from Hawaii.

September 4 (Tuesday)

Hiking at Antelope Island! I've been waiting for a while to hike this trail. Honestly, this is the first time I've actually visit Antelope island. Ain't that crazy! I've lived here for 14 years and I haven't visited many places that many people dreamt of visiting. Sad but true. Sometimes, life gives you tons of distraction that we forget to take the time to relax, unwind or enjoy what's around us. That's one of many scenarios for me. hehehe But I'm thankful to have a parent who enjoys the outdoors and old school about many things in life. This particular day, we took our time getting up to get ready for this hike. I know I did. Juanita and Mika weren't able to join us on this hike because they had to work. So it was just me, Dad and Henry that went hiking. We stopped at Sill's Cafe in Layton, Utah. A simple mom and pops restaurant that serves big portion home cooked meals. It was yummy and my Dad forgot that the mainland served bigger portions of food compare to Hawaii. I ordered Ham, eggs and hash with a scone. Henry ordered the cheese omelette with a scone and Dad ordered his usual Biscuit and gravy. What a yummy meal it was! Soon after devouring our yummy breakfast, we started our 15 mile journey drive to Antelope Island. It didn't seem too bad of a drive, but the scenic views was stunning. I'm a sucker for natures beauty. We finally made it to Buffalo Trail and started our little hike. Now this hike is about less than a mile round trip and easy to walk through. Usually when I go walking or hiking with my day, we take our time enjoying the views and taking photos to remember our fun hike. The real reason I take a grip load of photos wherever I go, its because I don't know if I'm ever going back there and sometimes what you remember than might not be there the next time, if ever you visit there. We hiked on a beautiful, sunny fall day. I had a fun time enjoying the scenic view and spending time with my Dad. I know that if my mom was still living, she would be complaining to my Dad, but enjoy to peak view after hiking up the steep hill. I miss her so much, but I know that she's always near us wherever we are. After a good 1 hour of hiking up the Buffalo trail and exploring other smaller trails near by, we headed back to civilization to eat lunch and meet up with Nita and Mika. We also stopped at Walmart to see some cool gun deals and ate lunch at Arctic Circle. After wards we meet up with Nita and Mika in American fork to watch Alpha for $5 Tuesdays. That movie was interesting but it had a good message about persevering through the hard and unknown. Overall, not a bad movie. Now it was dinner time and we were hungry. We agreed to eat at Pier Pizza right next to the theater. I haven't eaten at this restaurant even though I've seen it many times. This is an awesome place to eat with the family. I really enjoyed the Trolley pizza that was freshly made. But what I enjoyed the most was the house salad, It was so yummy and fresh. We ordered the family of 4 meal that came with a 16 inch any choice style pizza, 2 house salads, cheesy bread, cinnamon pizza pie and drinks. Not a bad price of $30 and we were all full. We also got a non meat pizza for my brother since he's a pescatarian. Everyone headed out after dinner and went home since a few of them had to work the next day. A wonderful meal, a great day and an amazing family time.

September 5 (Wednesday)

Another adventurous day to hike another cool place in Utah, Cecret Lake. Started the day with a lite breakfast snack since I was still kind of full from the night before. We journey our way to Snowbird mountains to hike up Cecret lake. It was a beautiful cool morning with the sun shinning bright. The air was nice, crisp and clean. I couldn't get enough of the nice weather we were having during dad's visit here in Utah. I was milking every moment of it while it lasted. We finally made it to the trail and started our hike up to the lake. Oh man was the view stunning and beautiful. At one point in our hike my brother was too funny and recorded himself singing "The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music!". My dad and I couldn't stop laughing because my brother's singing wasn't all that delightful but at the same time he was joking around. It was too funny to see and hear that. During our hike my dad brought his Go Pro to record our hikes and we took a ton of photos. Gotta capture these fun memories. This particular hike was 1.4 miles round trip and its moderate to hike up. I paced myself throughout the hike because I'm in no way shape or form fit to hike any mountain or steep hills but I made the effort to do so. My Dad on the other hand, he's not use to the higher elevation and dryness of the air, so we really had to pace ourselves. No matter what minor obstacles we faced, we eventually made it to the lake. It was a simple, little hidden lake in the mountains. It was still icy cold to the touch and not many hikers was there, which was nice. Since this is a very popular hike, we were lucky to enjoy it to ourselves. To me even though we think that we don't have the time to take a break from our everyday life, we need to make the effort to change that mind frame of thinking. Enjoy taking walks, ride a bike, skateboard or go skating, swimming or even dancing. It hurt to take a break for yourself or with your family. Time is priceless! Use it wisely and cherish it with people that matters! This hike was well worth it. I had a fun time spending it with my Dad and brother. We finally made it up to the lake and back down to the car. Time to eat! We usually made it a tradition to eat at Dairy Queens after a family hike. And that's what we did and it was awesome! The remainder of the day, we just did some lite shopping and hanged out at my brother's place, ate a yummy steak and potato meal my dad made and watched movies on Netflix. Another awesome day with the family went by and we rested till the next day.

September 6 (Thursday)

Gun range time and getting a new MAC book pro! Woke up rested and refreshed for another adventure with my family. Dad made a yummy bacon, eggs and potato breakfast. I love it when my Dad makes any meals for me. It's always delicious and fulfilling. After breakfast, we for a morning walk and made a few pit stops for Dad's personal errands. I'm glad that my dad was able to purchase a gun he wanted for awhile. He got it shipped out today and he's so excite to pick it up at his friends store in Hawaii sometime next week. Now that we got that done, we went to Gets Some Guns in Murray to shoots some rounds. It was only my dad and I that shots some rounds since Henry wasn't feeling too well, so just watched us. Usually my brother would hop on the opportunity to shoot some rounds but I guess today wasn't the day. Anyways, I had a blast. I used a 9mm pistol and my accuracy was spot on. My Dad was very impress with my shooting. All he wants me to do now is to practice and take a shooting class to be more comfortable handling a gun. Miguel who is one of the employee was amazing and very friendly to us. We talk about guns and the military which is something my dad and brother can talk about for hours. As for me I just listen and enjoy the conversation because half the time I really don't know what the heck is going on. After hanging out at the gun range, we went to Fashion Place Mall just a block away to window shop. You gotta love window shopping!?! So I thought we were going window shopping but my Dad wanted me to pick up a laptop. I told him its OK since I have a iMAC at home, but being the dad that he is, he wants me to be able to travel and have a device to use on the go so that I can easily edit photos, videos and blog. Also my husband is attending online school and would need a computer when we travel. My dad is so thoughtful and got me a brand new 2017 Mac boon pro. I don't ask much of my dad or even money, but he loves me very much and wants the best for me, that he would randomly do awesome stuff for me and this is one of those awesome moments. My husband was planning on getting one but work has been busy for him. Now we have a new laptop and I couldn't wait to edit some of my Dad's videos and some other work on it. As I sit here typing using my new laptop, so much joy and shock just keeps overwhelming me knowing how much I have an amazing parent who went out of his way to get me something he knew I needed but didn't ask him for. Love is bought, Love is earned and given to those who patiently waits. Thanks again Dad, you have no idea how much this will help us. You are the best!!

We did a bit more shopping before heading back to my brother Henry's place to relax and prep tomorrows dinner since Nita will be joining us. As for dinner, I wanted Dad to relax since he had a nice deep tissue massage when we were at the Mall which says a lot about Dad. He usually never get a massage since Mom passed away, but I know he knew he really needed it. And I'm glad that he did. We ate pizza from Papa John's and it was yummy. Another fun day and evening spending every moment with my Dad. We ended the night eating Supreme pizza, honey barbq wings and banana splits while watching Guardians of Galaxy movies.

September 7 (Friday)

A free day to do whatever we want! Nothing fun that we did today, just finishing up any random errands with my dad. My husband and brother went to the VW dealership to deal with things about our car and my Dad and I went out shopping and spending some quality time window shopping, getting things for my new laptop, food for the house and eating lunch at Mc Donalds just for the hell of it. Honestly I didn't want the week to end, but spending every waking moment with my dad, I also felt that annoying feeling of his vacation coming to a close and he will be leaving tomorrow. Time sure flew by when you're having a fantastic time. I know I have tons of memories to cherish about this special time I had with my Dad. After hanging out at Best Buy for who knows how long, we stopped at TMobile to get my Dad a brand new blue Samsung s9+. Now my Dad is so up to date with technology. Its funny helping him and seeing him with the newest gadgets. Sometimes I think that my Dad is more tech savvy than me! hehehe. After getting his new phone and being excited about having the same phone as me, we went to the See's candy store next door to get some yummy candies before heading home. Fun memories were talked about as we were in the See's store. Especially talking about mom. She love See's candies. Her memories was share a tone throughout Dad's trip and I'm so happy to continue to keep her alive within our hearts and minds!
Ending the evening eating a yummy meal Dad made which was Char-siu pork, spicy pork chops, Hawaiian Bar-B-que beef, kimchi and brown rice for Dinner. And for dessert, banana samoan panikeke. What a yummy feast we had! We also enjoy watching westerns and some hunting YouTube videos. Nothing beats quality time and chit chatting with one another about everything and anything. Soon we settled down and had a few laughing moments with Dad before heading to be. I thought that this was going to be a very sad night, but I was wrong. I wasn't emotional like I usual would be whenever my Dad has to leave. No, I was ok. Shocking for myself but I was calm through it all. I watched my Dad fall asleep like a creeper. lol And soon after I was ok and at peace. We slept comfortably knowing that everyone is safe and sound.

September 8 (Saturday & Dad's last day in Utah)
An early morning to say Goodbye! I'm not really a morning person and I know I'm not a happy camper when someone wakes me up when I couldn't sleep well the night before. But being woken up at 5am by my Dad, I didn't hesitate to get up. It was just my brother Henry, my sister Juanita and I with my Dad all up at the crack of dawn to slowly make our way downstairs to the rental car to bid my Dad farewell. Yes I know I was ok last night but I was feeling a bit more sad this morning. No tears, thank goodness, but mainly sadden of the thought that I won't see my Dad for quite sometime. I was happy to know that I will have the fun and adventurous memories we had this time to cherish. We hugged and said our goodbyes to my Dad as he got into the car and drove onwards to the airport. I'm very grateful and thankful that I was able to enjoy my time with my family and my Dad these past weeks. Creating more wonderful memories as a family and learning new things along each day. I can't wait to visit him in Hawaii next month and visit my mom's grave in Laie too. Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing me to have a fantastic relationship with my family and to experience it everyday.