Kailana is an adult!

Kailana Turns Eighteen

My daughter Kailana turned 18 last weekend. She spent the day at Kua Bay with her friends and came home to a dinner Luke and I cooked for her. This was followed with a cake and candles with just the three of us. She really prefers the small family gatherings to a large splashy party. Small, intimate and enjoyable...a good birthday was had by us all!

And here is Kailana's sister Leilani's blog about her little sister as she turn 18-

Enlightenment

Today, is a day to be written down in history.  Today marks the day that my little sister, Kailana Hoshino Powers, becomes a legal adult in the United States of America.  Over the years we have gone from enemies (sibling rivalry wise), to friends, to best friends, with trips back to enemies once in a while when she steals my clothes... Regardless, we've come a long way over the years and have gotten as close as some sisters can get. 

Of the many things I know about Kailana, one thing is that above anything else, she treasures her friends.  The way she talks about and treats her friends surpasses even how she treats herself.  She goes to lengths that sometimes makes me wonder who's closer to her: her friends or her family.  But ultimately, what it comes down to is that her friendsare apart of her family. 

So this year, I went to them and asked them why they love her.  Even with all the busy-ness that comes with their last prom, college apps/decisions, and preparing for their high school graduation; they stopped what they were doing and answered back.  I asked them to choose one of the following, and I would post what they say in my blog: 

"Your options are, but not limited to, one of the following:
a) Pick a word that best describes Kailana, and why you picked that word.

b) One of you're favorite memories with my sister, and why it's you favorite. 

c) Why you're happy to have been able to be friends with her."

~Here's what they had to say~

“It's funny, I was just thinking the other day about when we all used to play Monster. It was the most terrifying, most fun thing to play after school or when I'd sleep over. I haven't spent time with Kailana for a while, but I know that if we hung out again it would be just like every single day in elementary school, when best friends would jump on trampolines, rummage through clothing, play video games, and laugh hysterically at everything, and we were best friends.”

-Megan Saks

"I would describe Kailana as hilarious because every time I hang out with her sense of humor cracks me up.  My favorite memory is when we showed up at an event dressed in the exact same outfit and we ended up being partners in a game, and even though we lost we had a great time.  I guess I have known her from Kona days but became good friends playing volleyball with her as middle hitters!  I love Kailana, Happy Birthday!"

-Bridget Walker

"I can pretty much say I'm so glad we are friends, Kai! I know at first we didn't really talk as much but as the years went by and senior year came around, we got to know each other more and more. Not only do you give amazing presents, but you are so fun and always laughing/smiling. I'm so happy we'll only be two hours away during college! Happy Birthday Kailana! I love you and thanks for having my back

ps. you ALWAYS look fashionable."

- Allison 

"To my Kirana,

A) CLASSIC! We have always had so much fun together, no matter what we're doing. We can just be sitting in a boring class, and it can be the most fun I've ever had. We have THE MOST CLASSIC moments together, in any and every situation, we're laughing. There are so many original and unique qualities about you, and I really hope that you work to keep those throughout your life.

B) I have so many memories with you crazy girl, it's really hard to choose. One of my favorite memories with you is when we hung out together all day at my house after my 18th birthday party. Neither of us were feeling too great, but we just watched movies and ate and drank smoothies and laughed the whole day. We both went in and out of sleep, and we were just so comfortable together. I love this memory because it is everything that I love about our friendship; how easy it is for us to be ourselves around each other and make the simplest days the best days.

C) Our friendship has not been perfect, and of course it has had ups and downs, but there have been a hell of a lot more UPS than downs. You have been there for me during some of the hardest times of my life, and you often really do know what is best for me. You have a way of saying the right thing at the right time. Senior year has been a weird transition time for everyone, but some of our best memories are from this year and I will never forget the last 7 years we have spent together. We have watched each other grow, and stood by each other's side whether we knew we needed it or not.

Happy Birthday Kailana, I am blessed to have had you in my life. Thank you for all of the laughs and all of the love we have shared. I will never forget any of it."

Love your small white friend,
Katy Pacheco

"Bro. That’s the word that describes Kailana. Because she’s probably the only chick I can just hang out with and not get irritated or bored with. Every time were together we have fun and usually were just talking or doing something that otherwise wouldn’t be very fun, but we have fun because we have the same type or humor I guess we know each other very well so hanging out is pretty effortless. She’s definitely one of the best people I know and I can say that she’s my best girl friend. I cherish all the times we’ve had so far and can’t wait to make some more at pacific.

Love you bro, Happy Birthday : D"

-Zack Greenbaum

" 'Exquisite' because it sounds SUPER cool and I think it means beautiful and charming and.. beautiful.. AND THAT'S YOUUU!  I love hanging out with you because you always make me laugh and you are so cute and so sweeeet and you're just EXQUISITE! I hope you have an awesome birthday! Miss you and love you LOTS!"

-Angel Wu

"My Kai Kai,

We've been friends for at least 6 years now and I can't imagine a better way to have spent those six years than with you. Some of my most favorite memories are at your moms old house by the farms and horses. We would watch old movies and make delicious food and play with the kittens. We've had so much fun throughout these years and I'm gonna miss you so much next year. I can't believe you're eighteen now, I remember when you were just a little seventh grader with balloon hair. I'm so happy we got to grow up together. I Love you gecko and I hope your birthday is magnificent."

 -Tori Campbell

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAILANA!!

One Word: FEISTY
Why? Because you are wild, crazy, ridiculous at times, normal at times, a trouble maker, a beautiful siren, artistic, and creative.

Why we’re friends? I remember at volleyball closing, you said that you didn’t know why we’re friends. We’re both stubborn and competitive and our personalities clash, but it works. Somehow we can’t get enough of each other. This year especially has been a whirlwind, and I wouldn’t change any minute of it. The mommas and the daughters are inseparable. The FANTASTIC FOUR! Haha, you have been there for me for every laugh, every hardship, every tear, every late-night baking sesh, every heart-to-heart, every movie, everything. You make me laugh, you give me a house to stay at in Kona and Waimea, and you give me advice. I think opposites do attract because no matter how different we are, we are still best friends. In 7th grade you were one of my first really close friends at HPA. I may not have been yours but do you remember baking in Cookies & Carols and Crafts with Mrs. Kopra and John-Henry? Haha, and since then we’ve been best friends. I love you, thanks for always being there to do my make-up, my hair, tell me how to text, give me a place to come to, and for listening to me. Thanks, and HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY!!!!! You’re now 18!!! Wooo!"

-Katie Case

~*~

A) Enlightening.  Through the years, I've always said I don't hold you to expectations and that I'm not judgmental (I know I'm admitting it), but with all this thinking about you and recalling our past, it has made me see and understand things I do and say from your point of view.  Something I claim to do all the time and that you just don't understand, but in reality I was the one who didn't understand, who didn't see.  

Don't get me wrong, through all your phases in life I have always thought you as a smart, strong, and kind person.  Otherwise, I may not have pushed you in the ways I thought would be best for you.  But sometimes, I do get distracted from my view of you being my little sister, someone I have to look out for and make decisions for; instead of the strong and smart young lady you've become. 

Over the past few years I haven't been there, and yet I still open my mouth as if I knew what was best for you from way up on my invisible high horse.  I realize how annoying and sometimes hurtful that must have felt for you.  For that, I'm sorry, but I want you to know I didn't mean any of it to be hurtful, only to be helpful in the end (as hard as that may be to believe).  I guess I'm not that far off from the typical nagging and overbearing older sister.  

I want you to understand that I accept you for who you are (wonderful, kind, smart, hard-working, I could go on), I look forward to seeing who you will become as you start the next phase in your life, and most importantly I love you.  And as many expectations I may seem to have, the only one I really want you to live up to is to be truly happy with who you are.  If you want my opinions or help, you can always ask, you know I have a lot of them and endless ways to help, but until then I'll keep my mouth shut from here on out.

b) Gosh, favorite memory.  So many to choose from; sorry guys, never realized how hard this question could be to answer...my bad.  As it stands, I can't think of one memory from beginning to end, but in every glimpse of a memory I just had, every one included us laughing like the freaks that we are.  Laughing with tears in our eyes, with all genres of laughing and rolling around clutching our stomachs because they hurt so much from laughing so hard for at least 10 minutes straight.  One of the main things I missed when I was homesick in Oregon, Japan, or California was our laughing fits or the opposite, when we would sit quietly at the beach reading our books in comfortable silence.  Thank god you're coming to Pacific, we'll probably be less homesick if we're together.

c) I'll change this question for it to make more sense for me to answer: Why you're happy to have her as a sister.

I'm thankful that somehow the universe chose me as her sister because she keeps me humble and when my mind is floating around with clouds, she keeps me grounded and helps me focus.  She is always there for me, even if the last time we spoke I started a fight with her (as it usually is me who starts them).  But it's not only me she's always there for, she's always there for her friends even if they may not have been on good terms last time they spoke.  She forgives and moves on for the sake of the relationship, with both her friends and her family.  She puts her self and her needs second to those around her all the time and it just amazes me how giving she can really be. 

If everybody were able to unconditionally love, forgive, and cherish their friends and family as she does, there would be no conflict in this world.  But saying as to we're all different, I guess she'll have to keep the scale in balance by simply being the amazing person she is.

Love you Kai, I haven't been there for your birthday for years now, but I'm always thinking of you and hope that you have a wonderful birthday!  Don't get too crazy, I want you to make it to a full day of being 18 years old.  

**Also, side note: turns out we don't have any good recent pictures of us, only really embarrassing ones that because it's your birthday I decided not to put up.  Let's work on that...