My Word to Live By

There have been a lot of people choosing words to live by for the year. So I'm going to too. The word that kept coming to my mind was Soft. There are a lot of reasons I need to work on being soft. Here's part of the list:

Using a soft tone of voice, especially when talking to my husband and children.

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."

Proverbs 15:1

Softening my heart, so I will be more open to the Spirit and not miss out on the really important things in life.

Being a soft place for my family and friends to fall. I want my home to be a peaceful place that people will want to gather.

Now that I have this written down, I'll be held accountable to it, be reminded of my goal to live a softer 2009.

Da, da, da, daaa! Da, Da, Daaaa!

This is "Happy" Dr. Jones, first thing in the morning.

Now, just add the "Indiana Jones" music and you know what I've been hearing for the past couple of months. Bronson is absolutely obsessed! It reminds me of when Logan only answered to the name of Lilo, after watching "Lilo and Stitch" non-stop.

But, back to Bronson...He has now acquired a real whip which plays the song and makes whipping sounds (I sure hope those batteries run out soon!). For Christmas he got "Indiana" dress-ups, guns with a holster, the whole sha-bang! He also carries a stuffed monkey around (from the "Raiders of the Lost Arc" movie).

It is so cute to see his imagination working. He tries to whistle with his fingers in his mouth (because Indie whistles for a horse in "The Last Crusade"), he is forever trying to make anything with cords into whips, and talks about "Indiana Jones" from the moment he wakes until he crashes at night.

I love having a crazy little boy with a great imagination!This is "Tired" Dr. Jones, after a long day of saving civilization.

And, this is Dr. Jones in drag. He found Logan's lip gloss while I was cleaning the bathrooms today. I'm learning to take pictures of his messes instead of getting too upset:) He came up to me and said, "Wooka me, mom!" I couldn't help but smile through my gritting teeth!

Beach Retreat

We had our second annual Book Club at the Beach last weekend. It was so much fun! We stayed up way too late (or early, for that matter) talking and laughing and eating treats. Most of the night was spent by candle light or flashlight because the power was off until 2 am.

Darilyn and I scared Jodi and Rochelle to death! They were happily talking the wee morning hours away in their bedroom when their world's were rocked! Darilyn crawled into their room unbeknown to them and popped up suddenly, mid-sentence... Followed by jumping, screaming, tears for fears, (Jodi and Rochelle) and uncontrollable, hysterical laughter (the rest of us). Man, I wish I would have been able to video the whole thing! We were a tiny bit worried during the planning stages that we could send Jodi into labor. Our fears were put to ease when we realized we had Krista, the new RN with us and she could probably handle birthing a child:)

The picture below was their WEAK retaliation. They froze both of my bras, dipped 'em in water and stuck 'em in the freezer. Hard as rocks by the time I found them! I had just bought a new one that day because I melted my old one in the dryer during the week. The early risers figured they were mine, purely by looking at the size...let's just say I'm not nearly as well-endowed as my friends:)

This is me during our walk on the beach. I was channeling my past-life as a cheerleader, trying to do a "herkie". The next morning I could NOT figure out why my butt muscles were hurting so bad. Then it hit me that I haven't even thought about doing a "herkie"since 1992. Oh well, it was more fun being a cheerleader this weekend than I ever had during my Sophomore year of high school. That was the year a lot of my friends were cheerleaders and told me it would be "so much fun!" It wasn't. Can you imagine me wanting to stand in front of the crowds in a little skirt, jumping around with a huge smile on my face all the time? How about fist pumping, head bobbing or jazz hands? Me neither.

Can't wait until next time!

Snow Angels

How did we spend our snow days? We played hard!

Nalani LOVED the snow. She especially liked making snow angels:)

Maika getting ready for her first trip down the hill.Building a snowman in the backyard...before the snow REALLY hit.Dad, using Maika as his personal Snow Shield...the front person got covered in snow! Getting to eat icicles almost as tall as your baby sister.Logan, after a successful ride down the hill.And, then there was Bronson, who fell asleep in the truck. I guess he couldn't think of anything else to do when he woke up...

Mele Kalikimaka 2008

Another Christmas has come and gone. I think this was one of the best ever! We had about 17 inches of snow, and that NEVER happens here:) Thanks to the snow, the kids had an extra week of Christmas Break...I wasn't prepared for that. I came close to losing my mind a couple of times! I think we made the best of it though, even Dad had some extra days off and we were able to play in the snow.

For some reason I forgot to take still pictures of Christmas morning. I guess I was too intent on getting it on video. Bronson got some cool GeoTrax sets, and some Indianna Jones gear. Nalani got some Princess toys, a shopping cart and groceries. Maika got new Ugg-like boots, beading stuff, and a Martian Maker. Logan also got some Ugg-like boots and a new volleyball and basketball. As a family, we got some new games to play and new jammies. They also received some gift cards that they've already put to good use. It was like a whole other Christmas, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and our neighbors Trish and Boyd.

We had our traditional Navajo Tacos on Christmas Eve with Jeremy and Rochelle and their kids and our neighbors Trish and Boyd. We watched the Christmas story, circa 1989; put on by Kelly and his family, to send to his brother, Mitch, who was on his mission at the time. It was so much fun to see his family back then; to see what has changed and what has stayed the same about each of them (Jennie and Kahea still tear up at the drop of a hat, Kelly still sits exactly the same and doesn't say much...thankfully Dan got some new frames for those glasses, haha).

After the movie Spencer and Nicole brought over their chimes and we got to play Christmas carols on them. The kids loved it, and the adults had a lot of fun too. Then, we opened jammies and went to bed so Santa could come.

Christmas day, we ate breakfast at Jeremy and Rochelle's house. We got Christmas naps, and the kids played with their stuff. Then, time for more food: ham, potatoes, rolls and salad. Like I said, this was a good Christmas! We hope you all had a great one too!

Happy Birthday to Nalani!

Four years ago our family got the best Christmas present ever...Nalani! She is such a sweet little girl. I love her sparkly eyes and her sweet little personality. It seems like she's always singing a song or humming a little tune. She likes to play with her big sisters and little brother, she also likes to tease and get a rise out of people:) Hmmm, I wonder where she got that from??

Once again, our ward party landed on my kid's birthday, so I feel like we had a built in birthday party too. Hey, she's four, she doesn't care where the party's at, just as long as she gets to see her friends:) Plus, with our snow days this week, I think the roads were too scary for friends to come to a party. Maybe I'll adopt the idea of celebrating half-birthdays in the summer, for my December birthday girl...We love you Nalani!

Here are few pictures from the last four years.

Recycling

One of the many good things about marrying a cute Hawaiian boy is having three cute Hawaiian girls I get to share this little sun dress with.

My parents brought it home for me from a trip to Hawaii. I think I was just over two in this picture and my sister, Melanie was about 6 months. I think I can see a little bit of Bronson in this picture...

Here is a picture of Logan at around two, wearing a similar dress. I don't think my mom had given me the original yet, so we found a similar one at the swap meet on Oahu. Logan obviously wasn't happy at the moment.

Here is Maika at around 7 or 8 months. She was in the weird hair phase:)

And, here is Nalani just last week, 3 weeks before her fourth birthday, wearing the dress. Don't you just love the dress-with-jeans fad?

So, living in Oregon has turned me greener than I realized. I've had the same dress around for 30 years and it's still so darn cute.