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.

Not Feeling Very Grateful...

For the first gray hair I found clinging to my scalp this morning! What the H-E-Double Toothpicks??

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year spent with Jeremy and Rochelle and their family. It's so nice to have "family" when you are away from family!

It was a pretty low-key day for me, as my only assignment for dinner was my stuffing. I read "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak (you all should read this book!) for a good part of the morning.

After dinner with all the usual yummy fixings, the afternoon was spent going through the newspaper adds for Black Friday. I'm a Black Friday first timer, you know. After carefully compiling our lists, clipping coupons and determining what stores to hit we went home and hit the sack.

2:45 am comes around fast! That's right, 2:45 in the freaking middle of the night! We were off to Kohl's and the good deals. The thing that really surprises me about this whole craze is the amount of grumps out there! Why in the world do you get up and go and then complain about the crowds, and long lines? Hello? If the line was wrapped around the parking lot just to get into the store, it's surely going to take awhile to get out of the store.

After Kohl's we went to Fred Meyer for their famous sock sale. Kmart for some good deals on toys. IHOP for a breakfast breather. Target for DVDs. Walgreen's for some crayon deals. Then, back where we started, Kohl's. Rochelle decided she needed to take advantage of one more deal she overlooked earlier. So, after a marathon day of shopping and being out for 12 hours...we were home by 2:30 in the afternoon with 98% of our Christmas shopping completed! Yay!

Nap time.

I'll do it again next year. The savings and deals were totally worth the crowds and lack of sleep.

Same old, same old...

Can anyone guess what words came out of my mouth when I discovered this?

Well, if you pictured me with my eyes stuck to the top of my sockets and using my favorite phrase of frustration, err, I guess pretty much anything, "Oh, my Hell!" Or maybe you think I cursed my husband for leaving the raspberry jam out on the counter? If you thought either of those things...You're wrong! (I'll admit to thinking it, but not saying it, I'm mastering self control;))

After assuring myself that he was finger painting with raspberry jam and NOT blood, I ran for the camera. Some day I'll be able to use my collection of "messy" pictures to comfort Bronson's wife as she wonders where their kids got their spunk. And, to remind her to cherish how cute they are, even when they're getting into trouble...