Photography by Erin

Sweet Emma

The Queen Looking out Over Honolulu
Three Generations
Honolulu Dusk

Photography by Erin

Busy as a Bee
Wing Spread
Flight of the Bumblebee
Good Eats
Good Eating

Here are some pictures I have taken over the last few weeks. The bee pictures were taken at BYU Provo, and the yummy food pictures were taken at our farewell party in Hawaii. The delicious scones were made by my fabulous baker friend Laurie, and the last picture is of a great girl named Adrian (sorry adrian, I couldn't resist putting the picture on my blog).

Photography Service:
If you are in the Utah County area, I am offering to take family portraits for a minimal fee of FREE! I would love to practice my photography on you and your family. I make no guarantees about quality, but I will take a minimum of 150 shots and you are sure to get a handful of excellent photos! I will provide you with a free cd of the shots, but if you want enlargments or framing, I will just charge you cost...typically about 20.00 for a framed lustre finish 11X14. Or 15.00 for a framed 8X10.

Call me, Email me or reply to this post and I will set up a time to shoot you!

Day 1

Earlier this year I participated in a Biathlon; I am hooked! Eventhough there were parts of the race that I absolutely hated, I am hooked on the euphoric feeling that washes over you at the finish line. Since we have been so busy with our move, I have put the racing bug on the back burner, but now that we are now settled, I have been searching for a few races. The two that stand out the most to me are: the Viking Tri (a slightly less than sprint distance triathlon) on September 29th, and the Provo National Running Day 1/2 Marathon on November 1st. Mark agreed to train and race with me, so today we started a training program. Today was a running day. We had to run 25 minutes. Tomorrow we will bike for 20 minutes and run for 20 minutes. I am nervous, but I think if we stick to the training program we will do well, and when I say "well" I mean we will finish the race. If you live nearby and would like to be apart of our training, give me a call.

I will keep you updated on how our progress continues.
GO SUMMERILL TRIATHLON TEAM!!!

CRAP!!!

Disclaimer: Ok, serious do not read this if you have a high opinion of my little family...we are now sinking to an all time GRODY low. This blog also contains refrences to nudity.



Mark and I had spent the good portion of the afternoon reshaping, planting, pruning and landscaping my parent's front yard. We were covered in muck! But, being hungry and tired, we sat down and ate dinner with my family before we decided to shower. Dinner carried on as usual:

Erin: Thanks for making the Pork Chops mom, they're good.

Mom: Thank you for working in the yard.

Erin: (grunt) um, yah.

Mom: Have you gone to the bathroom yet or are you still feeling a little constipated?

Erin: Oh, I'm good, I worked it out earlier today. (EDITED)

Mom: Well you should make sure you are getting enough fiber or you could have a blockage.

Erin: (1/2 roll of eyes) I am fine mom, but Theodore hasn't pooped since we got here. (reference to the Summerill arrival from Hawaii on Monday morning)

Mom: You better watch him, that can be bad for babies if they go too long without pooping.

Dinner conversation carries on as usual and an array of other functional topics are haphazardly discussed over pork chops, rice and corn.

Mark: I am going to take Theodore down and give him a bath, then I will wash up to.

Erin: (finishing up rice, garbles a reply) ok.

Dinner is promptly wrapped up and Erin encourages the boys to help grandma. After the table is emptied, Erin, having forgotten what Mark had said, asks her dad of Mark's whereabouts. Her father mentions that Mark has taken the baby down to get bathed. A sneaky gleam lights up Erin's eye and Erin sidles away to the downstairs bathroom to find Mark and Theodore in the tub. Erin stands in the doorway and giggles at the Summerills in the tub. Mark furrows his brow and then tells Erin that she can get in with the baby because he is going to get out and she obviously needs to still clean up from the gardening work. Erin agrees to this exchange and unrobes. Within minutes the three Summerills are changing places around the restroom, primarily in the bath tub. As the baby exchange is being made, Erin notices a peculiar smell.

Erin: Gross, what is that smell?
Mark: (confused look) I don't know, what is that thing floating near your foot?
Erin: What thing?!? Oh MY GOODNESS (edited) that is POOP!!!

(screech sounds from the thriller Psycho are heard in the background, as shots of multiple pieces of poop are seen floating around the gray bathwater)

Erin glances around nervously to find the tub a filled river of logs moving to make their way downstream.

Erin: (who is holding the baby) Mark can you see if he is still pooping? (urgency in voice) Mark, Mark, is there poop still coming out?

Mark: (clearly annoyed) I can't look at his butt right now because I am trying to get the poop.

Erin: (distressed) How are you going to do that? Can you just please tell me if he is pooping still?

Erin's eyes widen as both her questions are answered in near simultaneous timing. Erin watches horrified as Mark grasps for the floating mini-logs, missing some and snatching others, then tossing them into the nearby toilet; and then Erin feels the warm sludge of fresh baby poop (and when I say poop, I mean it could be mistaken for a grown man log) slithering down her hip and kerplunking into the brown lake below.

The scene continues as Mark grasps at turd floats and Erin screeches each time Theodore scrunches up his face, and flexes his mini torso to release yet another poop shoot! It is apparent that the 4 days of poop that have been stored in Theodore's baby body are now thrown into the toilet or floating around the bath in which naked Mark, Erin and baby Theodore now stand.

Needless to say sometimes life is just a Crap Shoot!

Aloha Oe'

Today in church we said our final goodbyes and gave our final talks. My talk was entitled Spritual Fitness: A Testimony Bootcamp, I quite enjoyed that topic...hehehe, and Mark spoke about having a firm and unwavering testimony of the Savior. After we spoke, the entire congregation stood and sang the Hawaiian goodbye song, Aloha Oe' and then came and gave us leis. As you can see in the picture below, George still has all of his on, but by the time the picture was taken, Henry and I shed most of ours.
We have absolutely loved living here in Hawaii and feel so fortunate that one of our dreams came true and is now another chapter in our lives. We have been able to see and do so much here with each of our wonderful visitors. We have grown closer as a family and especially closer to our Savior and our Heavenly Father.
I am sad that we are leaving the beauty of Hawaii, our close friends and especially my island family; but, I am equally excited to return to Utah family, close friends (pgwc) and the awe inspiring mountians of Utah. Please know that you are just as welcome to stay with us as you were when we lived in Hawaii.
If you are a friend that we are leaving behind in Hawaii, I want you to know how much we will miss you and the good times we had. The 10 things we will miss most are:
10. Papa Ole's (some of the best plate lunch on the north shore of oahu)
9. Turtles, turtles and more turtles...check out previous posts.
8. Malasadas (Hawaiian's Doughnut)
7. Swimming (ocean floating and swimming at friends...miss Maelita you better remember me)
6. Matsumotos (da best kine shave ice eva)
5. Filipinos...really, do you not remember the bathroom incident? (see older blog posts)
4. Kim Chee...so stinky it is soooooo good!
3. Makapu Light house...where all your Hawaiian visions come true.
2. Spam Musubi (seaweed, rice and spam goodness)
1. Da best car is da beach cruiser (rust, dents and mold infested)

Picture Perfect

I recently acquired a wonderful tool for taking seemingly better pictures. Since we will be leaving Hawaii very soon, I decided to put this acquisition to the test at my friend Dolly's home. Her home is a sancutary of Hawaiian foilage. Here are some of my most favorite flowers, plumerias and other scenery shots of Hawaii.

The Hunter, the Hunted and the Hunt!

Two years ago, after an unfortunate layoff, Mark and I unanimously decided to give away our dog, sell our home, purge all our belongings and move 3000 miles away to a far away island in the middle of the pacific ocean. There we took shelter and created a new life for ourselves as Mark hunted an education in Manoa (UH). Daily Mark would travel across the rugged island landscape to the far off land of Manoa to perform educational feats of analytical studies and written synopses. Traveling sometimes up to three hours a day, being exhausted by his travels and studies, Mark was fervent in his pursuit to conquer the beast known best as MBA. MBA was reclusive and often taunted him with unimaginable leaps. But matching the beast step for step and never falling short to rise to meet the beast in the eye, Mark grew stronger. Daily he stalked the beast and as the beast grew weary, Mark narrowed in on the beast's lair. Then early on a clear sunny Sunday in the days of mid August, Mark walked with an air of accomplishment and capture as he approached MBA, and seized him as one would claim a deserved treasure. Victory was his and open for all who had internet connection or a ticket to Hawaii to behold. After 2 years in the land of Laie on an island in the middle of the ocean, Mark seized the victorious beast known as MBA!!!
After the graduation we walked out to the baseball stadium and loaded Mark up with Leis!
The boys were so excited to see their daddy graduate! Mark was the last in line for the Masters students to recieve his MBA so it gave extra time for our family and friends to yell for an extra long time. If you were watching via internet, you would have heard us yell "FREEDOM" and a slew of other cheerful taunts!
Here are the Summerill Men! One has recieved his MBA, three more to go...hehehe (or some other degree).
Henry, Klai, and Rykell were excellent cheerleaders for Daddy, and Uncle Mark! We are soooooo proud of Mark. The first of 13 kids in his family to graduate from University, and to return to school having 2 and then 3 children, Mark is really a great example to our little family. Now that this feat has been accomplished, we will be moving back to the motherland for Mark to continue his career as an investment/insurance broker at Regal Securities in Utah County. If you live out that way and you want to hang out, we will be there as of August 20!

Have you read Eclipse?

Yesterday I drove to town and purchased a copy of Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. On an earlier post, I mentioned the earlier books in the series, Twilight and New Moon. Being a fan of the series, I couldn't wait to sink into the latest novel. Late last night after the kids went to bed, I pulled out my copy and read until 4 in the morning. I have to say the book was fairly fast paced, filled with suspenseful action and incredible fight scenes, so it was easy to be dragged into long periods of reading, not wanting to put the book down to even go pee. I don't want to send out any spoilers, so if you have read the novel, and you want to dish about it, e-mail me or post on this blog. If you haven't read the series, go out and read it now...thank me later for cueing you in on a great story!

School is Back in Session!

Yesterday, George started his first day of school in the 1st grade! My baby boy is growing up so fast. He picked out his outfit the night before and thanks to my Mom, he had a backpack ready to go with a matching water bottle (his favorite part!) Since we aren't moving until the 19th of August, and George expressed that he really wanted to start school with his friends, I thought it would be fine to enroll him for 2 1/2 weeks.
Henry and I walked George to school to speak with his teacher about our situation, and when I walked in the classroom I could't help but be surprised. I had heard that all the 1st grade teachers were older, but George's teacher is a young man (probaby around 23) that has facial piercings! I was a little surprised. Later when I thought about the situation it seemed comical because when I tried speaking to him I kept looking around the room, trying to avoiding eye contact because I couldn't help but gawk at his eyebrow piercing, lip piercing and ear piercings. But after our non-eye contact conversation, I concluded that he really is an "on-the-ball" teacher and George will have a great 2 1/2 weeks.