Christmas 2013

We had a great December getting ready for Christmas!

These are our digital Christmas cards. Over the last couple years I've been a real slacker at sending out cards--this year this photo was shared via Facebook & Instagram.

Merrick was a reindeer at his school Christmas concert

We headed up to the mountains to see a bunch of Christmas lights. The kids are enjoying some hot chocolate and cookies when we got back to the car

Merrick busily whipping up a batch of cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve

Aubree happily sitting with Santa and sharing what she wanted for Christmas this year

Then, Santa brought her this!! A shelf for all her littlest pet shops

Merrick got a bunch of Legos!!

Merrick aiming his "fart gun" at his sister while they pose in front of the tree

Oh! And Merrick got a guitar. He's so excited to learn how to play

And my present from my brother David and Marc was Christmas lights on the house this year.

Hope you all had a great Christmas!!

Merrick turns 8!

On November 28th my baby boy turned 8 years old! This year his birthday fell on thanksgiving!!!  He was beyond ecstatic about that. (Probably because mine and Aubree's birthday always fall on a holiday & he was able to officially join the holiday birthday club!!)

So.. We kinda went overboard with a turkey theme, including turkey cupcakes for his class

And a turkey hat!! That he may or may not have been wearing for a month before his birthday. 

He wore this hat the ENTIRE day! And when I say entire I really mean it. He went to bed with it the night before so he could wake up wearing it and had it on his head when he went to sleep that night 

My boy loves meat! And really likes the legs?! So, because it was "his birthday" we let him take care of the giant turkey leg!

He had asked for a turkey birthday cake. But because he'd had cupcakes on Monday. And had requested a chocolate fountain for Saturday. We decided to cut the traditional birthday cake and go with birthday pie! So he chose a s'mores galore pie from Shari's.

On Saturday November 30. Merrick was baptised into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of his decision.

He was baptised by his dad

Merrick was supported by many friends and family that night. 

Happy birthday Merrick! He is growing up so fast, literally! (He is only 10 inches shorter than I am!)

 I'm so proud to be his mom and watch him grow up. He is such a kind and loving boy. 

The big island of Hawaii

Here are some pictures from our trip. I know some of you were waiting on pins and needles until I got these posted!

Here I am at the black sand beach, standing on some lava rock

And at this beach there were 3 turtles (that we saw)

Here is a close up of the black sand. It was very coarse and NOT soft on my feet. And, I may or may not have some even when there was a sign that said something about "not removing sand"

Marc and I just coming out of a lava tube

And here is a volcano, if you can see steam? That's the volcano

Oh! And here, it looks just like home

This was on our drive over to the luau.

Here I am with two of the dancers from our entertainment that night

Marc and I on the beach in Hilo

We went on a submarine ride. These are some of the fish we saw. We also went snorkeling and saw a bunch of fish like these and the ones on finding Nemo. But because of my high risk/fear of drowning...  We lost the waterproof camera and don't have pictures of that fun, but it was one of the favorite things we did ( even if I might have almost drowned)

And we had sno cones!

Marc and I getting ready to board the boat that would take us to the sub

The kona temple

Hapuna beach. The sand was so soft! And there was no sign at this beach, so I have some of this sand! If I hold on to it long enough maybe I'll warm up?!

Marc and I on a hike to a waterfall

This waterfall!

A scenic drive we took, I really liked the jungle like look that we saw

And we saw this fruit a couple times. Yes, it's a fruit! We never tried it. But it looks cool

And marc standing next to a tiki guy

And a bunch of other tiki guys

This was hours before we left. We had so much fun! And I LOVED. The weather!!

One last look at the ocean

And milk really is expensive over there

There are 2 macadamia nut factories on the big island. And this is the camparison between the hawaiian macadamia nut isle and jerome macadamia nut section at Walmart!

Hope you enjoyed our pictures and could feel some of the sunshine. As I sit right now in my living room drinking hot chocolate, bundled up in sweats and a blanket ...AND still cold!! I look back at these pictures and can almost warm up.

My favorite foods

Marc and I took a little vacation. Ok, kind of a big vacation for us! We just got back from a week in Hawaii! I haven't gotten around to getting all the pictures uploaded, but here is a picture of all of my favorite food from our trip to the big island of Hawaii!!

In the center was a waffle with macadamia nuts, banana, pineapple & a mango sauce!  It was a perfect way to start the vacation! So yummy and fruity !! I really liked it!

Top left is a fresh fruit smoothie, not sure if it was as good as or better than jambas juice. But I really liked it.

Top right is a salad. Nothing special. But had to include it 

Bottom right was fish and chips. Oh that was so good! It could have been partly because we were minutes from the beach, but it was definetly good

And my all time favorite food of the week... Bottom left.

On the plane ride over marc was sitting next to a local of the island and he said "whatever you do, don't eat at the hotel. And make sure you go to super J's" and left it at that. So on our very first day we looked up super J's it had a 5 star rating and we headed that way. Now I know in the picture it might not look so appetizing but...  Wow, it was good! It was kinda funny too. We walked in, almost like walking in to this lady's home. Said a guy on the plane said to eat here. She said pork or chicken. We watched a 3 minute video and then she handed us these plates. 

On the plate was a traditional Polynesian food, lau lau. Some rice and macaroni & potato salad. So simple. But by far my favorite meal of the entire week. 

And this is where all that magic food makin happens!

A little tease

For the one person who reads this blog...  We are going somewhere fun!!  Stay tuned for some really great upcoming posts

And it's not San fransico ;)

Bow ties

So one of the first things on my "kids are back to school" to-do list, was make Merrick some bow ties. He loves them! I had made the green one for St. Patricks day and he wanted more. He loves wearing them to church and I think it's a perfect fit for his personality!

My favorite one is the blue striped one. But so far he's only worn the red one. I may have to make one for each of the holidays coming up.

Here he is this morning all ready for church "playing" the piano while he patiently waits for the rest of us to go. He looks so handsome in his ties!

Sometimes I don't have a "title"

Aubree was over at a friends house so Merrick and I headed across this bridge. We cross this bridge sometimes several times a day.  This time we were after a Jamba Juice! On the way home we noticed several "jumpers" so we decided we would stop and watch a few of them

... don't worry, If you didn't know this bridge is one of only a few places in the country where  Base jumping is legal.

BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E. jumping, is an activity where participants jump from fixed objects and use a parachute to break their fall. "BASE" is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).


In all the years we've lived here, I'm not sure I've ever shared this on my blog

Merrick on his way up from the view point and you have a good look at the bridge

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Aubree and I were hanging out in my room one day while the show "Say yes to the Dress" was on. I don't typically let her watch that show because I don't really want her to fantasize about immodest wedding dresses or weddings that don't take place in the Temple. But this one day it happened to be on. It sparked a conversation about weddings and dresses and how trashy some of those dresses on the show were. Then she started asking about my wedding dress, so I pulled it out!

at first she just tried on the veil...

...then the whole Dress!!

I just love how smiley she is! I just kept taking pictures. I know soon enough she will be wearing a dress of her own (although at this point she said she wants to wear mine) and be getting married. I pray she looks this happy and glowing on that day and that its in very distant future in a beautiful temple with a worthy companion.