Christmas in the Desert

So we had a fantastic Christmas week staying here in the Desert. Eric's parents came into town and stayed the week with us, along with his brother Curt and Grandparents from LA. Curt will be here for the next 3 months while he does an internship with Marriott. We are excited to have him around the house, and look forward to him babysitting! Hah Hah! We did a lot of the toursity things this week with Eric's parents in town, like the Tramway. If you have not done this, I highly suggest it. We got up early and got to the top around 9 am. When we got up there it was in the 10's and freezing. It warmed up a little, and we were able to hike around. Eric and his brother and dad have now planned a Gillis Boys hiking trip for the summer up in the San Jacinto Mountains. These were the same mountains that his dad grew up hiking. Well we had a great Christmas; Eric and I spoiled each other and got a new iMac, which is sooo great. I am looking forward to all the new things that I can do with it!! Well, Merry Christmas to everyone, and I hope everyone travels safely through this time of year.

ALOHA!

Eric and I returned from Hawaii this week and had the time of our lives. It was such a relaxing trip, especially for me. Eric did work a few of the days, which I didn't mind. I kept occupied while reading on the beach, resting and shopping. I've decided I really like shopping more when I'm without kids. As much as I did miss them dearly and I can't wait to take them back. -yes we are already planning our return. Hopefully sooner than later. I did love having my little mommy vacation. I actually read a book in just a few days, mixed in with few People and US magazines. I don't think I've ever had that much time to myself for leisure reading, ever. And if I did it was before kids and I didn't appreciate it. Eric and I had a wonderful little second honeymoon. Eric went to Oahu first for work and then I met up with him on Maui and we continued onto Kauai. We spent three days in Maui and the rest of the time in Kauai. Kauai was absolutely our favorite. It is called the "Garden Island" for a reason. It's like the Garden of Eden on a island. Unspoiled, Lush greenery everywhere, and an even more relaxed atmosphere than Maui.
When we were in Maui we met up with Jenny and Phil Gee who coincidentally happened to be there at the same time and went to a Luau together. What are the odds... Eric enjoyed some snorkeling and jet skiing.
When we were on Kauai we enjoyed; nice restaurants with great views, seeing our friends and now locals the Culkins (best tour guides ever), many adventures with the Culkins, an amazing helicopter ride, sunsets on Poipu beach where we were staying, many virgin Lava flows, and a great massage on the beach. It was heaven. Just writing about it makes me miss it.
My sister Sarah and her daughter, Audrey came down from Utah to watch the kids and they had a ball. She is the best Aunt ever. They did lots of crafts and got to hang out with Tabitha, Sarah's sister in law and see Grandma Tibbitts in Hemet. I am so grateful for great sisters who would do anything for me. Taylor had a great game the Saturday we were gone. She scored 6 goals! She superseded her high this Saturday showing Eric and I what we missed by scoring 7 goals! I'm thinking we need to go over passing some more so she can share a few of the goals with others. But I am reminded by my highly competitive husband that "everyone can't be a winner." I'm not sure how I feel about the philosophy for a five year old. :)
It's nice to be home with our kids, we missed them dearly. Although as I was mopping the floor yesterday and washing Brent off after he was potty splashing in a toilet that Taylor forgot to flush I was missing my favorite spot on Poipu beach looking out at the ocean with my book in hand.

Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween! We started our day with Jack-o-lantern Chocolate chip pancakes (the chocolate chips were the eyes, nose and mouth). The kids got a kick out of it. Taylor decided to wear her Pumpkin shirt to school since she wore her costume last Friday for the carnival. I was worried when we got to school when other kids had their costumes on she would be sad and want to change. But surprisingly enough she was ok. A friend in her class was wearing the same shirt so it was ok with her. It's amazing that even 5 year olds compare themselves to others. I guess it starts early and if she's anything like me she'll probably never stop. (Something I'm not proud of)
Anyways we had some friends over for Halloween night and had Butternut Squash Apple Bisque, Chili and some yummy appetizers and desserts. The kids had fun going around the neighborhood and trick or treating. Brent wasn't sure what was going on but after a few houses, he ran down the sidewalk and squatted down and clenched his fists and yelled "CANDY"! with delight. He got it! It was so cute I wish I had it on video. I've never seen him run so fast for some more loot for his bag. Now I just have to keep the kids from over-dosing on candy. We have way too much of it.
(pictures aren't posting for some reason, so I'll post them later)

Happy Halloween!

We are getting excited for Halloween and all the festivities. You almost feel like it's over if you go into the stores, every Halloween thing is already on clearance. The Christmas stuff is already everywhere. It's like they want us to forget about Thanksgiving. Don't we need to be grateful first before we start making lists of presents we want? :)
We had a great week. Eric returned after being gone for a week and a half. He did come home between trips for about 12 hours but I'm not counting that. :) He was able to take Friday off and help with me at Taylor's kindergarten carnival. He headed up the 'Ghooley Grill.' And I helped with face painting. He was so cute and made up spooky names for all the food, the kids loved it. (Hot dogs- ghooley dogs, apple juice- spider's drool, cheetos- witches fingers) After the carnival we took the kids to the pumpkin patch and they had so much fun jumping in the giant pumpkin and picking out their own pumpkins.
Saturday Taylor had her best game of the season! She scored 3 goals and had 2 big break aways that just missed the goal by a balls length. The part dad was most proud of was her 2 big blocks right in front of the other teams goal. We were definitely the obnoxious parents on the sideline. But we did cheer for everyone, not just Tay. Even Brent was jumping up and down. What can we say, we're proud parents.
Sunday was the primary program, best Sunday of the year in my opinion. :) The kids did a great job singing and saying their parts. It's amazing how simple the gospel really is and that the kids really understand those simple truths. Taylor did great with her part and didn't ask for help. It seems like the kids always have it memorized but once they get up there they look to the helper for their line. Hey, I know it's nerve racking to be up there.

Just Another Week

This week was pretty ordinary except that we missed Eric terribly. He had a conference in Chicago and then went straight to Houston to be there for his brother Brandon's mission farwell. Brandon has been called to serve in the Moscow Russia mission and reports to the MTC on Wednesday. We are so proud of him and excited for this opportunity for him. Me and kids are really jealous that Eric is home without us. He picked my mom up today (our parents live about 10 minutes from eachother) and took her to dinner with his family. I hear he drove really carefully with my mom in the car. (Eric is a pretty crazy driver, especially for my mom's grandma standards. She has been know to sit in the back with her head in her hands as she is a passenger in his car.) He was a sweetheart and helped her hang some things in her house. Did I mention we are jealous we arn't there....

Eric and I are going to Hawaii for week in the beginning of November so I am trying to focus on that positive to look forward to. We are flying my sister Sarah down to be with the kids. That way Taylor doesn't have to miss school or soccer. And Eric and I can get some well needed couple time.

Taylor had a week full of smiling and curling her hair. She had school pictures on Wednesday and soccer pictures today. Her team, the Tinkerbells played the Fairies. We were missing our best cheerleader, Dad. Who usually runs on the baseline cheering her on. I had to keep
Brent off the field and happy so we had to stay pretty stationary on our chair. Taylor had a great game and did well.

Back to Blogging

Well after a long hiatus and some coercing from some friends we are officially back to blogging. I'm still learning how to do all of this, the blogging baton has be passed from Eric to me. Which I'm not sure why I wasn't doing it in the first place. Anyways we are all doing well. Our kids are growing so fast... even faster when you see the last blog entry's I think Brent is a newborn. We have started our first soccer season cheering on Taylor and her team the 'Tinkerbell's.' She just missed the cut off last season by 20 days so she is one of the oldest in her group. Which competitively speaking is an advantage. :) There is just something wonderful about going to the soccer fields on a brisk Saturday morning and putting out the chairs to cheer on your little girl in a soccer game. I just LOVE IT! The hard part is keeping Brent off the field. He thinks he's on the team. Taylor is doing really well. She has scored a goal in both her games. And even if they don't have goalies or even keep score, She has left each game knowing her team won! Eric has given many incentives for scoring goals including five dollar bills and a snow globe from Chicago. (He leaves for Chicago tomorrow for a business trip)

We went to the D-land two weeks ago and after talking all about Taylor I had to include a picture of Brent and his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse. :)

Day Two in China (Hong Kong)

Today was a very busy day. We made our way over to Victoria Peak Cable Car that is close to our hotel. It is a cable car that takes you up on a peak that overlooks Hong Kong. What an amazing view! It reminded me a lot of the Rockefeller Tower in NYC.

After Victoria Peak, we took a cab over to the Island of Lantau. We took a brand new tram up and over several mountains and were dropped off at a tiny village up in the mountains. The village consists of some touristy restaurants and shops, and then the Largest Outdoor Budha in Asia. It was pretty amazing. We had to climb this massive section of stairs to get up to the statue, but it was well worth it. Below the Budha was a Budhist Monistary. We were able to see the monks do there chants and see some pretty interesting worshiping practices. There were a ton of chants and incense being burned. I caught a lot of it on video.

From this little village, we took a taxi cab down to a little town on the ocean called Tai O. It is a city that is built on stilts. It was very poor, but they had a very neat market. There were dried fish every where including sharks. Little vendors here and there trying to sell their goods. It was very different from any market that I had been to though. There was a little guy there bar-b-quing some dried squid and brushing some hot sauce on it. So we tried it!! It tasted like a spicy fish jerky. Interesting! After that, we made our way into a temple that was built in the 1500's. It was very ornate and definately of the Budhist faith. It was amazing to see something so old an so important to the little village.

Well it was definately a busy and tiring day. We are looking forward to a good meal tonight, and some good rest. Enjoy the pics!

Day One in China

Well I arrived in Hong Kong as dead as dead can be. Flying coach for 15 hours on an Asian plane (the seats are made for the smaller Asian) was enough for me. I arrived in Hong Kong in the morning, and was able to see the area on the bus ride to the hotel. What a beautiful city! It reminds me a lot of Rio with it lush mountains on the water.

I had my first Chinese meal today. There is a mall that is connected to my hotel. It is a real upscale mall with Coach, L'Occitane, Armani, etc. I went to the food court and had a rice bowl with BBQ Pork. It was actually really good, and could become a staple for me! My classmates came in later in the day. It was good to have some company.