Keoina Comes to Washington

The day I have been looking forward to since I moved finally arrived this past week! Aunt Keoina, my very best friend of over 20 years, came to visit us in Washington! If you are going to read this properly, please note that "Keoina" is pronounced key-on-a, like key on a ring or a key on a piano.

A little history:

Keoina and I met when she was in jr. high and I was in high school. A girl at church named Jenn, who was a missionary kid and had a true gift of evangelism, invited Keoina to church. They attended the same school and Jenn and I attended the same church- so we met. Then, Keoina started coming regularly and to all the youth group events and slumber parties that I was also going to. She was the only person too nice to tell me to shut up at 3am when all the other girls had gone to sleep. We became friends quickly. But the date that both of us count as the beginning of our "best friendship" was July 1992, just after I graduated from high school. We went to a youth conference together in Cincinnati. During the conference, I got extremely sun burnt on my back and shoulders. It had been a very overcast day when we went to King's Island and I didn't worry about sun screen. Shame on me! Well, I needed someone to rub Noxzema on my back (my favorite sunburn remedy- cooling and takes the red out). Keoina volunteered. You can't help but become best friends after you spend several days nursing someone or being nursed. Other bonding events happened on that trip, too. Such as her kneeing me in the butt each night and her singing a song to me that she wrote. It was a great trip and we have been the closest of friends ever since. She is like a sister to me- thus, Aunt Keoina to Milli.

K (I call her K a lot- plus it is easier to type) arrived on Tuesday at 12:35. He plane was a few minutes early, so we only waited for her for about a minute at the arrivals gate. She was so happy to see us and hugged both of us and then fetched her luggage. Then the adventure began!

K had never been to the PNW, so I pointed out mountains as we drove and we talked about her flight. I decided to give her the rest of the day at home to recover from an entire day of travel. I had made my mother's chili for her- one of her favorite meals from when we lived together. We talked and she admired Milli for the rest of the day and into the night. She was still on Eastern Time, but forced herself to stay up until 11 pm Pacific Time!

Wednesday began with breakfast at the Old European, my favorite breakfast joint in Spokane. I had the cake plate and shared. She had the new jalapeno bacon goulash! Super yummy and clears the sinuses. In the afternoon, Miss Anna came over to meet K and to knit. Milli was good because she was being entertained this time (last time she was jealous of the attention Mommy was paying to Miss Anna and not to her). There was a lot of laughing, especially at our Star Trek Experience story. Ed made me promise to tell it to someone while K was here. I'll save it for anther post, though. 

In the evening, Keoina stayed home to rest while the rest of us went to the Lenten Soup and Supper and Greek class. K had a cold and wanted to be all cured by the next day when we would be traveling to Portland to see Jenn, the same Jenn who introduced us over 22 years ago!

The drive was easy and smooth. It was raining in the pretty parts, but we made it to the house a little after sunset. There were many hugs and lots of noise. Jenn has three daughters, the middle of which is pictured here with mine. I had seen the family a year ago when my husband and I traveled West for spring break. I had just discovered that I was pregnant and Jenn was the second to know it (the first were the people we stayed with in Salem, because I couldn't have any wine while I was there). K hadn't seen Jenn and the girls since a trip to see the rest of Jenn's family in Phoenix a few years before. There is something about certain friends, though. They never seem to age. And even though you may have not seen them for a decade, the friendship seems the same. I felt this the year before when I saw Jenn after not having seen her since her wedding in 1996; and again when I saw my friend Debbie over Christmas, having not seen her in 12 years. We pick up where we left off and have a lot more to talk about.

The girls had a great time with Milli! This is Tabby (in purple), Nataly, and Milli having tummy time together. They have a little sister who is around one named Julienne. Milli had a lot of fun laughing with them and Mommy got a break! Also, note the new flooring that Jenn's husband, Edgar, put in just a few days before we arrived! He has been building a sun room onto their house and it was completed that week. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

All the little people had a great time, as pictured here. All the big people had a great time, as well,

but we were a little more discrete- plus, I was the one with the camera. 

The little girls went to bed eventually and the big girls stayed up. But we must be getting old, because, while we still had much to talk about and remember together, as the clock approached 1 am, we all decided to go to bed. We felt rather pathetic, but we knew that we had another day and night together. Plus, when you are a Christian, you know that you have the rest of eternity together.

Nataly had a special bond with Milli. She wanted to be near her all the time. While I was feeding Milli and the rest of the family were eating dinner, Nat sat next to me and related, scene by scene, what happens in the movie Journey 2. She had the Journey to the Center of the Earth DVD and was showing me the boy and girl and telling me about it. But she had recently seen Journey 2 and really wanted to tell me about it. Apparently, she tells stories like I do- a little too detailed! She was quoting scenes and describing outfits and faces and details about actors lives outside the characters they were playing. It was elaborate! Then, I let her hold my daughter for a bit. Although, I'm pretty sure this picture was taken the next day when we watched Despicable Me.

On Friday, we went to a middle eastern restaurant for lunch. Here are a few pics.

We then went to Cafe Delirium for chai and then off to downtown Portland to ride the Max around town. K sat with the older girls and got their version of the tour. Mommies and babies sat together for Jenn's version. We were going to switch on the way back, but the car was crowded because of rush hour, so we just stood in a huddle. We also walked around the Living Room and a mall for a bit. 

In the evening, we had pizza from Papa Murphy's and Performance Night!

All the Fuentes girls got into the act! Tabby and Nat take dance, so they performed a routine to Pineapple Princess with Ju Ju helping out. This song was stuck in my head for days afterward. Luckily, it isn't a horrible song. The girls did a spectacular job and even though one of the grass skirts malfunctioned, they didn't miss a beat. I was very impressed and hope that Milli will want to do some kind of dance when she is old enough. She certainly danced in the womb enough!

The girls also did a routine to Fame! Nataly did a pom pom dance and Tabby did a rather tricky baton routine. She tossed that thing so many times I was sure she would drop it! She did once- the very last time- but was perfect the rest of the time! She also did leaps and tricky steps. It was really well done. Edgar was their sound man.

Who could go on after such wonderful dancing? Only my best friend, who was the feature artist of the evening. Keoina has done speeches, skits and monologues for Black History Month for a few years now. I was her videographer one year and was very impressed. In recent years, she has changed from high school performances to elementary school ones. It was technically March 2, but she did her speech for the Fuentes children and their cousins, all of whom are home schooled. 

Keoina becomes Harriet Tubman and tells the children about slavery. It is done in such a way that adults are entertained, but it isn't over the head of the youngest children. Well, maybe the very youngest. :) A bit like the Muppets.

The audience was spellbound.

The blonde in this picture is Edgar's sister-in-law, Joy. She and Edgar's brother were married a year or two before we met Edgar. They were not able to go back to Guatemala, where Edgar and his family are from, for Edgar's wedding, so we never met her. But we have heard stories about her over the years, especially after Jenn and Edgar moved to Portland to be closer to Joy and David. Joy was also a missionary kid and married young, as Jenn did. Keoina and I were able to go to Guatemala for Jenn's wedding and even be in it! But that is another story for another day. Joy was just that! We could easily have been her friend had we met her any time in her life.

Saturday morning, we all went to Edgefield for breakfast. Edgefield was a poor farm and a nursing home but is now a couple restaurants, pubs, a mini golf course, a glass blower's shed, and a few other attractions. Breakfast was great but afterward we had to be off to our next destination: Seattle!

The dive up was easy- Milli slept. The weather was great when we arrived- 55 and sunny, but with a strong wind. We hit the market, doing just the top floor and the strip mall across the way. We did Starbucks, of course, and Piroshki, Piroshki. I got some kumquats for Daddy (he calls Milli "Kumquat") and K got some pasta, a mug, and a scarf. We had a lot of fun and hit Boston Street baby store last. K bought Milli the cutest western skirt! I'll post of it when I finish making her hat and boots to match.

The sky was amazing and we spent a bit of time looking at the mountains.

The above picture is my favorite of the trip. We had a great time even though Keoina was getting over a cold and had given it to me and Milli had some car sickness. She had done so well on the way to Portland and from Portland to Seattle. But as we hit the pass coming home, she decided she had had enough. She began to cry harder and harder, choking and losing her breath. K was in the back seat trying to calm her; she couldn't drive the mountains, so I had to remain out of Milli's eyesight for over an hour. I teared up a little at the hardest cries. She finally nodded off for about 10 minutes, but when she woke up, she vomited all over. K said it was amazing- projectile vomit. I pulled off at the first exit I could. K had done some clean up, but I needed to completely change poor Milli. She was still crying, so I calmed her a bit first. She had also had a blow out diaper. It was a long while before we hit the road again. She continued to be upset off and on until we were about half way home. We left Seattle at around 5:30 or 6 and were only half way home at 10:40pm. We had stopped about 5 times for her, to comfort, feed or change her. I sat in the back for awhile to see if that would help, but it didn't much. I did discover, however, that I can nurse her while she is strapped in a car seat! Necessity, the mother of invention. We finally arrived home just before 1am. Ed had been a little worried, but all ended well.

We spent the next two days resting after our long adventure. We went to church where I was supposed to sing, but my cold prevented me. Everyone chatted with K and we stuck around as long as possible- but then it was home, into our pj's and to bed for a nap. Ed watched Milli for us. After we woke up, we watched all three episodes of Sherlock on Netflix and ordered Chinese food for dinner. It was a typical sick day- but spent with a friend, it wasn't so bad.

As you can see, Keoina is smitten with my baby. Milli was pretty happy with Aunt Keoina by the end of her stay, as well. I was super happy to be able to show K around where I live and introduce her to people, but I was also happy to have another set of arms to hold my little one. I love her to death, but she is getting heavy!

Monday was spent doing laundry and hanging out at home. We did, however, go to the Steam Plant Grill for dessert! I have to take everyone to the Steam Plant to show them the really awesome decor. This is one of the few pictures I have of me and Milli. I have a million of her and her dad or her and other people or just her- but Mommy gets neglected. I guess that is OK, since I am not very photogenic.

Tuesday was Keoina's last day in Spokane, so we had to make the most of it! We started out day with breakfast at Frank's Diner downtown. I had never been there, but people rave about it. Frank's is an old railroad car and has really great woodwork and lighting. The food was alright and the service was old timey diner style. Our waitress had the best diner waitress voice. Milli liked that there was so much to look at. Come to think of it, I like that, too. And I will praise Frank's to the skies for having a changing table in their bathroom (oh, the things you don't think about until you are a mom).

After Frank's, we hit Starbucks. All my favorite partners were there, so K got to meet them! Milli was passed around and had a great time, while K and I chatted with several partners and customers. Then it was home to freshen up and then on to our walk downtown!

It was a beautiful day and we had a nice long walk in the sun. The falls were beautiful and put on a little show for K. Milli was good and happy and we just had a nice time. It was perfect for our last real outing and I wanted to show K how pretty Spokane can be. We also hit Ed's office for a quick second to say goodbye, as he would not be seeing K again before she left. I wanted to give her a full campus tour with him on Sunday, but we were too sick and he was not free to do it Tuesday. 

I also discovered that taking those really cool perspectives pictures is really a lot harder than it appears. I could not get a really good angle for this next one, and I could barely see with all the glare of the sun on my camera where K's hand was- but it could have been worse.

In the afternoon, we went to see Miss Anna at her house. We spent some time there, went to South Perry Pizza and then headed home to pack. It had been an awesome trip, but was over far too quickly. Wednesday, I made K some strawberry pancakes for breakfast and then we were off to the airport. Milli was all smiles all morning, so K had a lot of good memories to take home with her. Then I went home dejected... and thinking about this summer when I get to travel home and see my Keoina again.