Christmas 2009

We had a very nice Christmas this year. This is our tree after Santa came to visit. I just love sitting in the living room with only the tree lights on. There is something so relaxing about it. And, during this season we all need something a little relaxing!

We spent Christmas Eve with Jeremy, Rochelle, and their kids. We also had Rochelle's cousin, Tresa, with her boys, and a new friend, Marla that we met at church. Tresa's husband is deployed to Iraq this year, and Marla's daughter was with her dad for Christmas. A special treat was to have Jeremy's dad, Lane here too. He got to play everyone's grandpa for Christmas:)

I made the kids line up on the stairs for a picture before all the madness began...it's funny how they all have their "blankie's" in this picture. I think Maika's is hiding under the blanket that actually keeps her warm...you can see what's left of Logan's hiding behind her back.

NOTE: I switched to the video camera at this point...

Here are the highlights of what everyone received.

Bronson: added to his collection of GeoTrax trains and Transformers.

Nalani: A vanity, dress-up make-up, a Barbie head that she can put make-up on and comb her hair, clothes.

Maika: A Nintendo DSi

Logan: An iTouch

Aundrea: two pair of boots, one pair black, one pair brown, both comfy!

Kelly: A Camelback for his bike rides, a gift certificate for 1 1/2 hour massage.

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and hope everyone felt love during this season!

Five Years Old

Nalani turned five this year! What a big girl! She recieved some really fun gifts this year: she got a Leapster with a bunch of books for it, cash, the cute new dress she's wearing in the picture, and some dress-up stuff. We love you, sweet girl!

Make a Wish

These are our good friends Jared and Chelsea...they have four darling kids: Payton, Tate, Cohen, and Tessa. Over Thanksgiving weekend we were able to see something wonderful happen for them!

Last Spring, Payton was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his optical nerve. It's been a whirlwind for their family since then, with chemo, doctors appointments, brain surgery, and just the stress of having a sick child. When this all started, the twins, Cohen and Tessa were just around 7 months old. I can't imagine the work of twins, and potty training a two-year old, then adding cancer treatments to the mix! Jared and Chelsea are both so strong and faithful. I know they have a wonderful support system of family, neighbors and friends...but they are truly Super Heroes!

That's why it was so nice to be there on this special night. The Make A Wish Foundation wanted Payton to be their Guest of Honor to kick of their Season of Wishes. He waved his magic wand and lit the Christmas Tree in the Pearl District. Then it was time for his wish to be granted...A week at Disney World with his mom, dad, and little brother, Tate. A break from the babies for Jared and Chelsea because grandma is coming to town to watch them. A week of worry-free fun! I can't think of anyone who deserves it more! Love you guys!

Maika Jordan

Maika's basketball season is almost over:( We are absolutely loving watching her play! She is a little hustler! She drives down the court, shoots and scores! She is NOT a ball hog and happily passes to her teammates under the hoop. When Maika is dribbling the ball she has her tongue sticking out in concentration. I'm afraid she might bite it off one of these days! There are the cutest little girls on her team. This little number 50 constantly has a smile on her face...even when she's doing something wrong (like stealing the ball from her own teammate) you have to love her cute smiling face!Kelly signed on to be the coach this year. I think he was dreading it when I talked him into it, but now he really enjoys it and likes spending time with Maika!

Nalani, Bronson, and Logan entertain themselves by taking silly pictures of each other...
We will enjoy these last few weeks of the season and then in 2010, start up with Logan's volleyball and basketball. We'll see how Bronson handles sitting in a gym ALL day...should be fun times!

Max Hall Hates Me and Thinks I'm Classless!

Because we are Ute fans. Ever since Uncle Jay became a coach for the University of Utah, we are fans! It gets a little sticky when they play BYU, but this year Max Hall made it a little easier to be a Ute fan:) We still love BYU too, don't worry. That's (one of) the nice things about not living in Utah...you can love and cheer for BOTH teams. This year Utah played the Ducks in Eugene, at Autzen Stadium (where it NEVER rains, yeah right!). We were so excited to get to go! Here are Logan and Maika making the "U" We were pretty-much surrounded by Utah fans, so it was fun and loud. I thought Logan's trash talking would get us into some trouble...she takes after her daddy.Here are the three of us, decked out in our red and white....Hey, I wonder where Kelly is?

Oh, he had a field pass and was hearing some major trash talkin' from the Duck fans behind him. He said it was fun to be down there...actually I think the Ducks were still pretty embarrassed by the whole "Incident" with Blount, so they were pretty mellow.
Jer, Rochelle, Talon, Layne and Jared came to the game too. We had a lot of fun, even though the U lost. In the past four years Kelly has spent a small fortune buying t-shirts for the teams playing against Oregon: Oklahoma, USC, Arizona, Utah...I told him it must be bad luck because "we" always lose. I think he's still getting an Ohio shirt for the Rose Bowl. I sure hope it works. It will be a long New Year's weekend if Kelly is moping around because Oregon won!

Cross Country 2009

Logan decided to try Cross Country this year. We all had fun going to watch her participate. Some of the meets even had races for younger kids so Maika ran once too. She figured out real quick that it's better to train:) On the sunny days Bronson and Nalani entertained themselves in the stream that runs through the park. On the rainy days we all huddled together under an umbrella and were grateful that we weren't out there in our shorty-shorts running:)

Logan did a great job! I think it's good that she enjoys something now that she can continue her entire life...if I would've been a runner and done it my entire life, maybe I wouldn't be battling the gym 5-6 days a week trying to get this "baby weight" off.

Star Students

Last month we were excited to get notes in the mail from both our girl's teachers. Maika is loving 2nd grade and her new principal, who decided that it's good to have awards for kids even though it's not considered PC because it might make others feel bad! Maika received an award from her music teacher. She is excited/nervous to perform a solo part in her upcoming Winter Program later this week. We are proud Maika and happy to hear she is such a good student. It's funny to hear her teacher tell us how "she always stays on track," because at home I swear I tell her 20 times to do something before it actually gets done. I'll have to ask her teacher what the magic trick is.

Logan also received an award from her science teacher for the term. I always like going to the assemblies and seeing her interact with her teachers and friends. Boy, things have changed since I was in 6th grade :) Keep up the good work, girlies! Love you!