When Jake and Sara brought over the three pīpī, none of the cows had names. So we’ve been calling them “the girls”, or “the cows”. Sometimes it got confusing because Nolemana and I refer to our daughters as “the girls”. So I asked Jake if he and Sara had named them, and they’d only named the tūtū pīpī, officially, the grandma cow. Sara named her “Bessie”. But the heifer and her calf had no names at the time. Then Jake told me that since I’m from Hawaiʻi, he and Sara would like them to have Hawaiian names! How sweet is that!!

Well, no way was I going to think of cow names without my sista AFK’s input, so I asked for her ideas, too. Because really, her love for cows has rubbed off big time on me. Proving that we’re sisters in heart and mind, the name she thought of for the heifer was exactly the same name that I’d thought of!

She and I grew up back home with a very famous cow, the ambassador of health and nutrition for Meadow Gold Diary (formerly Dairymens). Her name is Lani Moo, and she was and still is, a real cow.

There has been a succession of Lani Moos throughout the years, but every kid growing up in Hawaiʻi knows the name of that special cow. So AFK and I thought that Lani would be a neat name for the heifer.

We also thought the name Hōkū would be a cool name for the calf. It means “star”. The names had to be easy for mainland folks to pronounce and remember, and we thought that these two names would work.

So I talked to Jake and asked what he thought of the names. I told him the whole Lani Moo story, and he loved it. He talked to Sara, and they liked both Lani and Hōkū. But he said he especially loved Lani Moo! So it was a done deal, and I couldn’t be happier.

Now all da pīpī have names, and I am really touched that Jake and Sara wanted Hawaiian names for their girls. And a big mahalo nui, AFK, for joining me in the naming!