Isakson Family

the beginning of our first month with jonas

2012-01-21T00:59:00.001-06:00

I have a ton to catch up on so here are a few pictures of us and baby Jonas during his first month. There will be more to come!

Madeline and Boo.

Baby Jonas just a few days old. He has been such a great baby! He is a great eater and sleeps pretty well. He only wakes up to eat and then it's back to sleep. He has his days and nights mixed up a bit but we'll get that straightened out. We have loved having Grandpa and Grandma at our house. They have been so helpful and the kids have been thoroughly entertained.

Grandpa Larry & Jonas

Grandma Becky & Jonas

I love me some little soft baby feet.

When he is awake he is so alert and attentive. His brother and sister can't get enough of him. He is smothered in kisses on a daily basis.

Madeline especially LOVES to hold Jonas and snuggle him.

Little smooshy face.

We are loving those lips!

All of our kids have had this same look in the swing. It's the smooshed gooshy face.

Loving his baby brother.

Madeline taking a break from holding Jonas to dress up like a movie star.

Gooshy face again. Love his little chubby cheeks.

We are loving our handsome new little guy. He has been such a blessing and we are excited to watch

him grow!

Three Tables Beach with Grandpa & Grandma

2012-01-21T00:13:00.002-06:00

While Becky and Larry were here they headed over to three tables beach.

It's so beautiful over there and the sand is my absolute favorite. It's big and grainy.

Thanks to Becky for the pictures.

I love this shot of my little beach bum. He's a true Hawaii baby.

Madeline and Lucas had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

The most said phrase while they were here was "Grandpa get me!" The next picture

is Grandpa doing just that.

When I saw this picture of Lucas it made me laugh because we have been

seeing this face more and more. Everything rooooars!

Baby Jonas Myron Isakson

2011-11-12T16:31:00.001-06:00

**this is for my personal record so I may include some details that are too much info for some...this is your warning...ha ha**

I woke up on November 4th not feeling well at all. I wondered if it might be the day for our baby to come but I wasn't having any contractions, so it didn't seem like it was likely. Around 1:00 in the afternoon I laid down by Madeline to take a nap and around 2:30 I woke up not feeling well again. I got up and walked around and realized I was starting to have contractions. I called Jimmy at work and told him that they had started and then I hung up and timed them and called him back to let him know they were about 5 to 6 minutes apart. He made his way home and in the meantime I packed bags and got things ready to go. When he got home we loaded up and headed to the hospital, it was around 3:30 by this time and the contrations were 2 to 3 minutes apart and getting more intense. I had such a great delivery experience with Lucas so I had prepared myself to do the exact same thing this time around. We got to the hospital and walked up to Labor and Delivery, checked in, I used the bathroom and we sat in the waiting room...waiting. Meanwhile the contractions were coming...painful, but manageable. Finally a doctor came and while we were waiting for her to check me Jimmy asked me how dilated I thought I was and my guess was about 3 or 4....to my surprise I was complete complete...AWESOME! The only thing holding the baby in was that my water had not broken. YES! With Lucas I was given a spinal block after I was complete complete so that it what I had planned for this time around. I have a tendency to tear and I was too afraid to feel that. They gave me the spinal and unfortunately this time the dosage must have been way more than I had with Lucas because I could not feel a thing and I did not like it. Next time I will prepare myself to just do it naturally.

After about three pushes our little Jonas was born...perfect. He came out so fast that he had some bruising on his poor little face and some fluid in his little body that he spit up throughout the first day.

The doctor put him right on me and I got to hold him for the first hour of his life. I loved this. With our other two they took them away to weigh them and wash them and then I got to hold them. I loved being able to hold him for the first hour. When I first saw him I couldn't believe how much he looked like Madeline and Lucas when they were born. I think all of our kids have looked the same right after birth and then within the first 24 hours they take on their own looks.

Jimmy cut the umbillical cord and then I cuddled little Jonas for a while. I am so thankful that my husband and been able to be here for the births of all of our children. I can't imagine doing it without him. He is such a great support.

We decided to name him Jonas because we both like the name and because my husband is incredibly kind and let me have the name I liked most. We gave him the middle name Myron, after my Grandpa White. It means a lot to me that he has that name because my Grandpa was such an important person in my life.

Jonas Myron Isakson

Born November 4th at 5:20 p.m.

8lbs 4 oz.

20 1/4 inches

perfect and handsome...

I made up little gift bags for Madeline and Lucas to open before they came up to the hospital. They had a little toy for each of them and some snacks and big bro and big sis t-shirts.

They were so excited about EVERYTHING.

It melted my heart when Lucas first saw me. He was so excited to see me and hug me and be held by me. I love my kids. They really are the best!

Baby Jonas

We are so glad that Grandma Becky and Grandpa Larry could be here for the birth of Jonas. They have been such a great help!

Family of 5!

Madeline was so excited about Baby Jonas. She wanted to kiss him and look at him. I made the mistake of telling her that he was really hairy and that he even had hair on his back. After that comment she refused to hold him because she didn't want to touch his hairy back. Fortunately she got over it and then wanted to hold him all the time. Lucas on the other hand wasn't really sure what to think about Jonas. He didn't really warm up to him until we got home.

All snuggles and loves from big sister.

Here are a few pictures of the first couple of days at home...

We feel so blessed to have baby Jonas in our family. He is absolutely perfect and sweet. He's a great eater and sleeps all day long and keeps mom up all night. We love him and are so happy he is here!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-12T15:42:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Halloween this year. Grandma Becky and Grandpa Larry were here to celebrate with us. We started off our festivities with our ward Primary Halloween Party. Our ward always comes through and does an awesome job!

My friend Mindi made these cute pumpkins with all of the primary kids pictures in them.

Madeline (Snow White), Lucas (Puppy), Aria (Cowgirl)

Argh! Grandma Becky the Pirate!

Getting ready to trick-or-treat..

Madeline and mommy with a mullet

Lucas & Grandpa Larry

Ghost bowling...

Daddy with a mullet and Lucas...

Gosh we make a cute couple...

So happy and so loaded up on the sugar...

Rich, Bly, and Jimmy

Mindi and Rich Peralta

Grandpa as Snow White...

Halloween morning we had a scary breakfast of spider web pancakes, sausage and eggs...

Then we carved pumpkins...

Before trick-or-treating we ate mummy dogs and macaroni and cheese, and monster pudding...

Grandma was excited and ready to go...

Madeline showing off her pumpkin...

We were lucky enough to have the Peraltas and Bly and Kapeka come trick-or-treating with us.

We had so much fun and by the end this was the result....

and this too...

Happy Halloween!

38 Weeks

2011-11-12T15:07:00.001-06:00

38 weeks and counting on this baby to come any day.

My bet is for November 5th.

He is moving like crazy and occasionally I will feel the outlines of his

little feet poking out of my side. I told Jimmy the other day that I think he is going

to be close to a 9 pound baby. He seems so squished inside my belly. We are getting anxious and

very very excited for him to come!

Pineapple Train

2011-11-12T15:04:00.001-06:00

I needed to get some pineapple salsa for a recipe I was making so we headed up to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. While we were there we took a ride on the pineapple train. Jimmy had never been with us before so this time it was fun to have Daddy along for the ride.

Afterwards we of course fed the fish and stopped off for some pineapple ice cream. YUM!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-12T14:58:00.001-06:00

A couple years ago we started going to the pumpkin patch to get our halloween pumpkins and

now we do it every year. It is so much fun and we all really look forward to it.

Scoping out the area for some good pumpkins...

Madeline found the perfect little pumpkin.

Lucas was pretty happy with his pick too.

He was trying to keep up with Daddy and Madeline and had a little tumble in the patch.

I felt bad taking the picture...but couldn't resist. He was not happy about being covered in dirt.

After we found our pumpkins we headed over to the petting zoo. Our kids love petting zoos. At one point Lucas had a rabbit by it's ears....hee hee.

Oh Lucas....

2011-11-12T14:48:00.001-06:00

Lucas LOVES the outdoors. Put this kid outside and you

will hear giggles and see nothing but smiles.

He recently discovered that he likes to hide in the trees out back.

We sure do love this little boy. He is such a big sweetheart.

Lucas opened a kitchen drawer right into his eye....but he sure is the cutest little boy with a black eye!

KaCHOW!

2011-11-12T14:40:00.001-06:00

Lucas has a small obsession with CARS.

Specifically Lightning McQueen, who he refers to as KaCHOW and Mater.

He LOVES them and when he watches the movie his little face lights up.

I personally think it's pretty adorable.

More School with Madeline

2011-11-12T14:30:00.001-06:00

Madeline LOVES doing preschool. We have been having so much fun.

I love seeing how excited she gets to learn and do new things.

We did the letter L for leaves.

We went on a walk and collected different leaves and then made them

into little leaf people. We then made them dance to music. Madeline and Lucas thought

this was really funny. They had all sorts of fun dancing around with their leaf guys.

Practicing her writing....

She thought this activity was really great because she got to eat the m&m's afterwards.

We also did the letter O for Owl and the number 7.

I love the pictures of her little hands writing.

We made an owl out of paper plates....

We strung cereal O's on licorice ropes and ate them....

We made owl cupcakes. Madeline did these all by herself. She was very proud of her work.

And then we ate them...of course....

We are having so much fun learning at our house!

Playhouse Ponderings

2011-11-07T20:28:00.001-06:00

Lately Lucas likes to go out to the little playhouse in our backyard for some morning ponderings. It makes us laugh because you can often find him sitting out there staring out the windows. This particular morning he decided he wanted to eat his waffle out there. We sure love this little sweetheart.

Whip Cream

2011-11-07T20:24:00.002-06:00

What could be better than a beater covered in whipped cream??

According to these pictures....not much!

Evenings at Ko'Olina

2011-11-07T20:17:00.002-06:00

Recently we discovered that we LOVE spending our evenings at the beach. No brainer huh? Truth is we mostly go to the beach in the morning but recently have been venturing out at night. It's so nice and cool and peaceful. Not to mention the beautiful sunsets.

None of the pictures below are that great....but they do show my cute family having fun so that is good enough for me!

Remembering

2011-10-15T02:26:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the importance of remembering. I feel like remembering is so vital and important to learning and growing in this life. Sometimes I feel like it is so easy to "forget" things, especially when life is wonderful and smooth sailing. I have had my share of ups and downs and experiences that have taught me a great deal in my 32 years, yet sometimes I feel like I am starting over in certain areas of my life...simply because I haven't remembered as well as I should have.

I know that everything the Lord counsels us to do is for our benefit and well-being. To me it is not a small reminder when he counsels us several times in the scriptures to remember. So my question is...how do you get better at remembering? Not just remembering events, but feelings and growth and lessons learned?

I want to be able to always remember the lessons the Lord has taught me through my experiences both good and bad. I want to remember all of His tender mercies in my life because I know that by doing so I can experience more growth. I also want to always remember the way I felt the first time I saw Jimmy or the way I felt as we knelt across the altar in the temple to be married for eternity, or the way I felt when I held Madeline and Lucas for the first time, or when I first felt them move in my tummy. I want to always remember how sweet and innocent my children are and how much they love unconditionally. I want to always remember how much my husband sacrifices for our family...and our country and never complains. I want to remember how forgiving he is...and how selfless and giving he is. I want to always remember what my children look like when they are sleeping or how it feels to have their little arms wrapped around me. I want to always remember the amazing friends that have been placed in my path all over the world. I want to always remember the weight of my grandpa's hands on my head as he gave me numerous priesthood blessings, I want to always remember my mom and my grandma's smiles. I want to always remember how much my mom sacrificed and continues to sacrifice for her children. I want to always remember the sound of my children and my husband laughing together. I want to always remember the way it feels to have a broken soul and the amazing power that the atonement has to heal it and make it whole again. I want to always remember what it feels like to be "hugged" by the Spirit. I want to always remember how happy I am and how wonderfully blessed I am. And the list goes on....

looong spanking

2011-10-06T14:28:00.002-05:00

Madeline: "Dad, after work today that means we get you home for a looong spanking?"

Translation: Dad after work today you get to be home for a long weekend.

Helping Hands

2011-09-30T00:16:00.005-05:00

I need to be better at writing down the funny things our kids say. Today I was doing something and I was having some trouble doing it. I can't even remember what it was that I was doing. Anyway, Madeline was watching me and apparently saw that I was struggling and came up and asked me, "mommy, do you need some helping hands?" I though it was super cute.

Madeline had to sit in time-out today. Lucas has become very vocal and he felt he needed to let her know what she did was wrong. He marched over to time out and waved his finger at her and said..."no, no!" We had a hard time not laughing. It was pretty funny.

Jimmy got off work early today so we decided we would spend the evening at Ko'Olina. It's a beautiful beach with lagoons so the water is PERFECT for our kids. It was so nice. Madeline and Lucas were in heaven splashing in the ocean. I am uncomfortably huge so I decided to just sit on the sand and be a spectator. I have to say that my little family brings my heart so much joy. I loved watching their smiling faces and hearing the giggles. Daddy took turns tossing them in the air and splashing them into the water and then they each rode him around like a boat. It was a little piece of heaven. As I sat watching them I couldn't help but be thankful and hopeful that we will always have such wonderful times together. I love my Jimmy, Madeline and Lucas. Life for us really feels pretty perfect.

Baby Boy #2

2011-09-28T00:36:00.004-05:00

I have been feeling so bad because I have been so behind on our blog and our little one on the way has not had his time in the spotlight. I am going to make that up to him.

This pregnancy has been so different from the other two. It makes me laugh when I think about the differences in each one. With Madeline if I was tired or sick I would lay down and take a nap or watch a movie...with Lucas there was less time to do those things but I still managed to do them every now and then inbetween taking care of Madeline and with this one...ha ha, let's just say that I find myself frequently going down slippery slides with two children on my lap at 8 months pregnant.

In the very begining of this pregnancy I was super stressed out and concerned that he wouldn't make it this far. I had a lot of bleeding at 4, 5 and 7 weeks. I had to go into the hospital for an ultrasound and despite the bleeding everything looked great and everything still does! I was convinced that we were having another girl. The beginning of this pregnancy felt similar to my pregnancy with Madeline. I was super sick for the first trimester...throwing up everyday and into the second. Midway through the second it started getting better. I was shocked when we went in for the ultrasound and they said we were having a boy. Shocked, but thrilled.

This pregnancy has felt extremely emotional. My poor husband and children! Around the middle of the second trimester I started feeling much better. This baby is sitting really low so I have new pains and discomforts. He is a MOVER! I love to feel him move and I always do! He is a strong little guy and moves all over the place. It's funny to watch my belly because it jumps! Madeline is really excited for him to come. Every now and then she will say she doesn't want a brother and that she does want a sister but when it comes down to it she is so excited. She loves to tickle my belly and says that the baby is laughing. She also likes to put her ear on my belly and tells me that he is talking. Pickes have never tasted so good. I have also craved all kinds of fruits and veggies...and chocolate. Another funny craving is caffeine! It's funny because I very RARELY drink any kind of soda let alone colas etc. I opened the fridge the other day and saw one of Jimmy's Mt. Dews sitting in there and could not restrain myself. I only took a couple of sips but it tasted so good.

We are so excited and are anxiously awaiting his arrival. His due date is November 12th but I will not be surprised if he decides to come early. I must say that I feel so blessed. I feel so thankful for the opportunity to be Madeline's, Lucas's, and this little baby's mother. I know I am far from perfect and despite everything they love me unconditionally and it is the best thing in the world. I also feel so blessed that my children have an amazing father. Jimmy is the best thing in all of our lives...if I do say so myself.

We still haven't decided on a name. So far it is narrowed down to Jude or Jonas....anyone want to cast a vote?

Some belly pics:

23 weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

We can't wait to meet you sweet little boy!

Family Home Evening

2011-09-28T00:23:00.003-05:00

I think Family Home Evening is SO important. I also think it can be challenging with young children. I want my children to learn the gospel and understand the things that we are teaching them. I know that they absorb more information than I think but with little wigglers and short attention spans we have come up with a fun solution for our family home evenings. We have been trying to always incorporate a craft that goes along with our lesson and it has been working wonderfully. Madeline remembers the stories because she remembers making something about them. It has been a lot of fun too!

Thank heavens for washable markers and paint!

Noah FHE

Jonah and the whale

Since we started doing crafts we have also done Daniel and the Lions Den and made lion sack puppets.

Madeline & Mommy Preschool

2011-09-27T23:58:00.006-05:00

All of Madeline's friends are in preschool this year and she has been begging me to go. I have felt like 3 is too little to start so we are waiting until next year to go somewhere for an "official" preschool so to make it up to her this year we are doing preschool at home. It has been so much fun and she absolutely loves it. It makes me happy to see her love learning so much. She gets so enthusiastic about everything we do.

Right now everyday we do the days of the week, the month, the abc's, we count to 20, we talk about the weather. We do a letter and number of the week. She learns how the letter sounds and how to write both the letter and the number. She already knows her capital letters so we have been working on lowercase and number recognition. We also do a theme each week and with the theme we do snacks, crafts, and "field trips." It has been alot of fun. Mixed into everything we do games that teach her about sequencing and other stuff.

So far we have done D for Duck. This is the craft we made that week...

We went to the botanical gardens and fed the ducks some bread.

Lucas thought the bread was for eating...

We made "dough" Peanut butter playdoh....awesome by the way...eat and play at the same time...

We also did D for Dog and the number 6.

She gets so excited when she does a good job writing.

We dressed up like dogs...

We have done A for apple...

and the number one...

I have been so impressed with how quickly she picked up how to trace and write the letters and numbers. I personally think she is pretty much a genius.

Lucas gets in on the fun too...

We have done other things too..these are just the ones I have pictures of.

One week we did I for insects and we went to the pet store and bought crickets for a little bug aquarium we have and we looked at them with the magnifying glass and played with plastic bugs. It was a fun week. Jimmy and Madeline ended up catching a lizard to go with the crickets. Last week we did Z for zoo, which she absolutely loved. We finished off the week with a trip to the zoo. This week we are doing C for camping...I think s'mores are in order.

Creative Movements Class

2011-09-27T23:50:00.003-05:00

We decided to put Madeline in a creative movements class. It's a dance class for 3 year olds. She was SO excited about it. They do a trial class before you sign up and pay...I knew we would need this trial class. Madeline is SUPER shy when it comes to new people and things. Generally it just takes her a little bit to get comfortable but this dance class was a different story. She got all dressed up and was bouncing off the walls with joy that she was going to do dance. When we got to the studio she was super excited to see all of the girls and was still bouncing off the walls. They called them back for class and she went smiling. My hopes were high. A few minutes later the teacher came out asking for Madeline's mommy. I went back and she was in tears. We sat there and watched the class...me thinking that maybe if she saw what they did she would want to participate. No such luck. She turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm just not ready....maybe when I get a little bigger I can do this." Sometimes she sounds so grown up to me. So that was that. Maybe next year! It makes me giggle because I was the SAME way when I was little. My dance teacher, who was my neighbor bribed me with barbie dolls to dance at recitals.

She looked so cute....and really was happy about it...at first...

Big Boy Bed....Sort of....

2011-09-27T23:46:00.001-05:00

Lucas did so well sleeping on a bed during our trip to Utah that we decided to change his crib into a toddler bed when we got home. BIG MISTAKE! After one week of him climbing out of bed NUMBEROUS times a night and coming to get mommy...the crib went back up. I was so sleep deprived I couldn't think straight. He is now happily back in his crib for the time being and we are all sleeping much better.

It was FUN while it lasted.

Disneyland (Utah Trip 2011)

2011-09-27T02:00:00.024-05:00

We decided to fly out of Los Angeles on our way home so that we could visit Disneyland. Madeline is in a major princess and Mickey Mouse phase so we thought she would really love it and we were right. My mom came a long with us and I wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way. It was perfect to have her there....plus this was her first time too!

We woke up early in the morning and left St. George for Anaheim. We got there early in the afternoon. The kids were AWESOME travelers. Madeline was so excited that we just dropped our bags at the hotel, hopped on the trolley and headed over to Disneyland.

We got there right as the parade started. She was so thrilled to see everything. We took a lot of random pictures but my favorite ones are those that capture her wonder and excitement with everything.

Here she was so excited to see the princesses.

She was so excited she started climbing up on daddy for a better view.

So excited to see the castle and eating their first churro.

Visiting Toon Town.

It's a Small World. Madeline LOVED this ride.

We stayed in the kid area of Disneyland because she was kind of scared of alot of the "bigger" rides. We spent most of our time on the tea cups and the carousel and seeing the different princesses. We did take them on Pirates of the Carribean...Madeline wasn't so sure about it and Lucas fell asleep. ha ha.

My beautiful mom. Madeline was so happy she was there (so were we). She was attached to her almost the entire time and wanted Grandma to do everything with her.

We looked around in the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and Madeline fell in love with this Snow White dress. We let her try it on and she instantly started twirling with a big old grin on her face.

Hanging out while Daddy and Grandma went on some of the bigger rides.

Madeline's very favorite ride was by far the tea cups.

They got so excited about this little door. Madeline ran up and turned the doorknob and came back sulking because it was "locked."

Lucas didn't mind so much.

She kept going back....she really wanted in.

Madeline was SO EXCITED to see the princesses. We stood in line FOREVER to see them and she was so super shy. It was so funny. She kept rubbing her eyes or covering her face. She LOVED it though and was super happy that she saw them.

She wore her Cinderella dress just for the princesses and her special princess light up shoes.

She picked out some Cinderella "glass slippers."

We headed over to Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell. Lucas handled the boredom of standing in line in his own way. Sometimes he is so good at entertaining himself.

Super shy again...but so cute.

Lucas loved the mushrooms and flowers.

and so did Madeline.

Of course we visited the petting zoo. Our kids LOVE animals.

We got tricked into waiting in line for pictures with Mickey....ha ha. We thought the line was short but it kept going and going and going....at least there were things for the kids to climb on while we waited.

Ha, and this is what we ended up with!

We decided to cool off with some ice cream. Madeline thought that was the best idea ever!

Of course we had to catch the parade again. This was one of Madeline's favorite things at Disneyland. She kept asking to see it over and over again. Here she is running to get a better seat.

So excited!

I love all of her happy faces in these pictures.

This is where the princesses came by and she was so excited. She is yelling "Hi Snow White, Hi Ariel, Hi Cinderella!" Cinderella saw her and waved. That made Madeline's day.

We also spent some time over at California Adventure Land. We all loved the Toy Story ride and Jimmy was able to go on the rollercoaster. Madeline also really really liked the Little Mermaid ride. Aw, we loved everything...what's not to like when you are in Disneyland right?

The first day we were there we stayed for the fireworks show but the following two days we went home before they started because the kids were spent.

Madeline LOVES the carousel.

We tried to get Madeline to go on the Dumbo ride from the beginning and she did not want to...until the last day. Jimmy was going to take Lucas and when they got up there she decided she wanted to join them and then she couldn't stop talking about how fun it was.

She did that with a few of the rides...ask her about the "rolly coaster" that she rode on with Daddy and she will tell you it was TOO FAST and SCARY, but she laughs about it...so that's alright...right?

Lucas loved Dumbo!

She wanted to ride on the pink teacup so BAD! She was not happy to be in the yellow one. I think it's funny...she still talks about how she doesn't love the yellow teacups.

Madeline did not want to go on the boat ride where you go through the whale's mouth. She was terrified of it. We finally convinced her to go...

and she covered her eyes and kept her head in daddy's lap...

We had such a wonderful time at Disneyland. Madeline asks if we can go back pretty much everyday. One day she said..."We can get on an airplane and go to Grandma's house and then go to Disneyland again and then come back to Hawaii." If only it were that easy!

My mom took a ton of pictures that I will be adding next.

It was a WONDERFUL trip. We loved being around family and just being together for 3 whole weeks. It was awesome.

Utah Trip 2011 (Bryce Canyon, St.George)

2011-09-26T00:33:00.011-05:00

We had such a great time in Utah. It was so wonderful to see our families and a few friends. Like always there wasn't enough time to see everyone that we wanted to...so if we didn't see you please know that it wasn't because we didn't want to.

We decided to drive from Utah to California on our way home and take a pit stop in Disneyland. In between we decided to stop at Bryce Canyon and then stayed a few days at Jimmy's parents house in St. George. We were lucky enough to have my mom come along for the ride.

Bryce Canyon was beautiful.

He's so handsome!

Jimmy went off the beaten path for a picture and ended up with one less toenail....

We drove through the canyon to get to St. George and stopped at Cedar Breaks....also BEAUTIFUL.

We had a lot of fun in St. George. I got to see a video of Jimmy's first haircut...adorable. We played and were lazy and tried not to melt in the heat.

We spent one afternoon at the Splash Park.

Eating slurpees...

Lucas LOVED the splash park once he got up a little courage to try it out.

Jimmy loved it too!

It was a great trip and the perfect amount of days spent relaxing before we set out to drive to Disneyland. Our kids love Papa and Grandma Becky's house with all of the little critters.

Utah Trip 2011 (Roomies, Cupcakes w/Grandma)

2011-09-25T13:17:00.003-05:00

(Audrey, Melinda, Lori, Wendy, Me)

While we were in Utah I was fortunate enough to see some of my beautiful roomates from college. It seems like we always try to not be running around everywhere but with so many people to see and things we have to do on our yearly trips to Utah it is always crazy. These ladies were awesome and came and had dinner with me for a couple of hours. I wished I could have stayed longer. These girls are amazing and seeing them once a year is hardly enough.

Grandma Terri and Madeline made mini cupcakes. I had to run to the store when they were getting ready to make them and all Madeline had to say to me was, "mom aren't you going yet?" She was pretty excited to spend time making cupcakes with grandma.

This pink dinosaur has become pretty popular with Madeline. She asks about it and talks about it all year long so we always plan stopping by to see him into our trips. She is never disappointed.

Too bad Lucas was sleeping, he would have loved it too.

Utah Trip 2011 (Carter Creek)

2011-09-25T05:30:00.015-05:00

For the past 5 years Jimmy's family has spent time every summer up in the Uintas at Carter Creek. We have never been able to go so this year we decided to plan our trip so we could join them. Becky and Larry were staying for a week and everyone else was coming up for the weekend. We decided it would be fun to spend the whole week and we are so glad we did. The kids had the best time playing outside non-stop.

Madeline found some blowy dandelions and was THRILLED.

It didn't take us long to get dirty.

We spent most of our days fishing. Madeline was so excited to go fishing. We bought a little princess fishing pole for her and she loved everything about it...except when someone caught a fish...they were too wiggly for her.

Helping Papa reel in a fish.

My handsome fisherman. We caught lots and lots of fish.

Madeline realized that she really loves worms. She spent most of the days playing with them and giving them names.

Checking out the latest catch.

It was so cold so poor Lucas got stuck in a pink girls hat....

Madeline and Meredeth checking out the worm.

Worms are stretchy...right?

Handsome little man, loving the outdoors.

My boys.

It was so beautiful up there and the weather couldn't have been better.

Jon, Joanna, Becky, Jimmy, Larry

One day while we were fishing the little boys found a "dead" chipmunk in one of the bathrooms. They were so proud of their find and came to show everyone. After they recieved the do not pick up dead animals speech they discovered that the little thing was still alive...barely. These little kids took him and made him a little bed and got him some food and water, put him in the sun and eventually he got up and walked away. It was pretty amazing and they were all pretty pleased about it.

There was a really pretty walk by the cabins. Madeline loved all of the wild flowers. (Claire, Owen, Madeline,Lucas)

Lucas loved running down the hills on the walk and jumping over the logs.
Madeline and Mere playing peek-a-boo under their blankets.

We had some adventures with chipmunks on this trip. One afternoon we went fishing with Larry, Becky, Jon, and Natalia. Natalia and Madeline decided they wanted to catch a chipmunk so they put some goldfish crackers on a rock with a fishing net nearby. I figured it was just something that would keep them busy for an hour or so. Well, within 5 minutes Natalia comes running over with a chipmunk in her net. It was hillarious.

We had such a great time and were so glad we got to spend time with Larry, Becky, Joanna, Claire, Owen, Liz, Alex, Tommy, Henry, Lucy, Jon, and Natalia. We ate lots of great food and had s'mores every night. We played Perquackey. We fished and fished and fished. We played in the river and had so much fun!

Madeline really wanted to see snow and kept asking about it. On the way home we saw some snow a little ways off the road. Jimmy being the wonderful daddy that he is, pulled over, jumped out and ran and got some snow for her.

She was so EXCITED.

She ate the entire snowball and then wanted more.

It was such a fun week! We are so glad we didn't miss out this year!

Utah Trip 2011 (Dad & The Robinsons)

2011-09-25T05:11:00.006-05:00

We were able to spend some time with my dad, it was really nice. He has become high tech and wanted Jimmy to show him some things on the computer. The kids loved playing with all of the toys! It was a good afternoon.

We also were able to meet up with some of our great friends. Mark and Julia Robinson. This was the first time we met Julia. The Army sometimes makes it hard to travel for weddings and things and we weren't able to make it to theirs....so needless to say we were super excited when we heard they would be in Utah at the same time. We met at the Red Iguana and our kids went crazy so we took our food to go and sat on the grass at the capitol building and talked and played. It was so much fun. We think they are just so wonderful!

Before meeting up with the Robinsons we went to Temple Square and let the kids kind of run around. Across the street at one of the museums they had a kid's exhibit. Lucas loved this truck.

My beautiful family.

We were hoping to get a picture in front of the temple with the temple actually in it...oh well.

Madeline and Lucas looking at where mommy used to work.

Another great couple of days on vacation!

Utah Trip 2011 (Part 2) Corn on the Cob

2011-09-25T05:04:00.004-05:00

My family got together at my brother Scott's house for dinner and family pictures. It was so nice to see everyone. The last time we saw everyone was about a year ago and it's amazing how much kids change in a year. Everyone seemed all grown up.

Lucas decided he LOVES corn on the cob and so did Oakley....

Utah Trip 2011 (Part1)

2011-09-25T03:50:00.016-05:00

We were able go on a three week vacation to see our families at the end of July. We talked about the trip A LOT with Madeline so she was super excited to go. The kids did great on the airplane. Madeline got a new princess suitcase and she rolled it around like a pro traveler.

We arrived in Utah in the morning and spent some time with my mom and Grandma and then headed over to Jimmy's brother Jon's house for dinner.

The next day was my birthday and we decided it would be fun to spend the afternoon at the Hogle Zoo....and it was!

Feeling big and pregnant and like I definitely measure up!

My mom came with us and she has annual passes that allow you to ride the rides as much as you want...Madeline was super happy about that.

After the zoo we headed back to Grandma White's house for cake and ice cream.

That night my mom watched our kids so we could go on a birthday date. We went to the Olive Garden (which we have missed!) and to a movie. It was a wonderful birthday!!

The next day we headed over to see Grandpa and Grandma Heath. They recently moved to Utah and we were so glad to see them. The last time Jimmy saw them was at our wedding almost 5 years ago.

Lucas & Grandma Heath

That weekend we spent time out at the cabin in Tabiona. My mom, Grandma White, sister Samantha and her girls Abbey and Chloe, Natalie, Nathan, and Justin all came out with us. Madeline and Lucas were in cousin and grandma heaven. They played and played and grandma did all sorts of crafts with them. Madeline was super sad when it was time to leave.

One morning while we were out there Jimmy drove up to Payson Lake and met his Dad, Grandpa Heath, and Uncle Teddy to go fishing. I know he was really happy that he was able to go spend time with them.

These girls had so much fun together.

Madeline, Abbey, Chloe

Lucas was in heaven because he was outside pretty much the whole time.

Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.

and being silly....

My boys.

Growing up we always picked suckers from the sucker tree while we were in Tabby. It has become something that Madeline really looks forward to.

Showing their loot.

Whenever we go to Tabby Madeline always wants to see the cows and horses.

Justin caught some fish and the kids thought they were the best thing ever.

At night we pulled out the bedding and made popcorn for a movie night.

It was a great weekend. Tabiona is a really special place for me. I have a lot of fond memories attached to it. It was nice to be able to spend time out there with my family making more of those memories with them.

mornings

2011-09-22T00:43:00.003-05:00

I found Madeline like this one morning. I love how she set up her animals to join her. Makes me wonder what she was thinking about.

And this little guy was just hanging out on the floor looking through books.

Primary Temple Trip 2011

2011-09-22T00:24:00.005-05:00

I have been lucky enough to work with the Primary in our ward for the past 2 1/2 years.

Even luckier is that some of my best friends are in there with me. We have so much fun and the children are absolutely wonderful. We had a month of sharing time about Temples and

decided that it would be fun to take the children to the temple for a tour and lunch afterwards.

It was a lot of fun.

Louise Prestige, Ka'ili Kaonohi, Bly & Kapeka Aphongphong, James & Maile Yates, US, Elias & Ezra Yates, Moani Aphongphong, Andrew Stewart, Madeline, Blake Lawrence, Aliyah Stewart, Derek Lawrence, Nakoa Castro, Jade Lawrence, Virgie Decker, Lucas, Armi Lawrence, Malcom Lawrence

We were able to watch a video and then the sister missionaries took us on a tour of the temple grounds.

My favorite part was in the visitors center when all of the children stood in front of this statue and sang I Love to See the Temple.

Our sweet Madeline

Laie, Hawaii Temple

Madeline is hiding because the sun was shining right in their poor little eyes. What good sports.

Fourth of July 2011

2011-09-19T01:32:00.010-05:00

We had such a fun fourth of July this year!

We started the day off at the park in Royal Kunia.
The kids played on the playground while daddy got in some

fourth of July football with his friends.

I love holidays that allow me to dress our kids in

specific colors. I made this cute little hair bow to go with

Madeline's dress.

After the park we headed back to our house to get ready for

a BBQ with some friends. Bly, Kapeka, Moani, Nakoa, and Rich came over

and enjoyed burgers and other festive foods with us.

I had to run to Lowe's last minute because our propane was gone...

ha, guess we should have checked first!

After the BBQ we packed up the kids and headed up to Schofield

Barracks for their festivities. They had carnival rides, food booths,

and a petting zoo.

Madeline still LOVES animals so the petting zoo

was really exciting.

Then we headed over to the field to grab a spot for

the fireworks show.

Lucas really liked the kettle corn. Who can blame him, it was some good stuff!

I think the kids loved this part of the day the most.

They just rolled around and laughed on our blanket and periodically

got rained on.

It started raining pretty hard right before the fireworks started.

We did our best to stay dry but we ended up soaked anyway.

The fireworks show lulled Lucas right to sleep.

We look miserable in this picture...but we really weren't...it was just

really wet.

It was a wonderful day full of friends, family, and FIREWORKS!

Sibling LOVE

2011-09-19T01:25:00.003-05:00

Madeline and Lucas love each other.

The older they get the more they enjoy each other

and play together and I love watching it.

Lucas thinks Madeline is the best thing ever.

He laughs at everything she does and wants

to copy her.

I have to say, one of the greatest pleasures in my life is seeing

my kids enjoy each other.

Bye Bye CRV

2011-09-19T01:18:00.003-05:00

The CR-V was the first car we bought together. It has been perfect and wonderful until now...we have officially outgrown it so it is gone and we have welcomed into our family the Pilot.

So long CR-V you served us well.

Three Tables Beach

2011-09-19T00:59:00.006-05:00

We spent the morning on the North Shore

at Three Tables Beach.

It was lovely.

Mermaid Madeline

I love it when they do this...melts my heart.

evening at the park

2011-09-17T21:52:00.003-05:00

We met Jimmy after work to spend some

time playing at the park.

Madeline and Lucas love the slides. Especially

when mommy or daddy go down with them.

We spent the evening running and rolling around on the

grass. It was kid and parent heaven.

Dole Pineapple Plantation

2011-09-17T21:44:00.002-05:00

My good friend Maile invited us to

go to the Dole Plantation and

ride the train with her and her boys.

Madeline loves the train and she loves Ezra so

she was super excited.

Madeline and Ezra riding the train.

My little pineapple.

Taste testing some pineapple.

It was a fun morning topped off with some

yummy pineapple ice cream!

Waikiki

2011-09-17T21:35:00.003-05:00

We went to the zoo and afterwards decided to

go across the street to Waikiki.

We didn't have any intentions of getting wet....but

that was silly with two toddlers! Next time

we will bring swimming suits just in case!

Madeline running back funny because her pants got wet.

Our kids LOVE the beach.

I love watching them enjoy it so much.

Two soaking wet kiddos.

They got to ride home in their skivies. (not sure how to spell that...but

you get the point)

Bathing Beauties

2011-09-17T21:32:00.000-05:00

Love me some clean babies!

Waipahu 2nd Ward Campout--Bellows AFB

2011-09-14T02:33:00.006-05:00

We had our ward campout in June at Bellows.

It was awesome....and wet, very very wet.

We spent Thursday thru Saturday in the pouring soaking rain

with our great friends the Peraltas, the Yates, the Lawrences,

and the Prestiges.

We enjoyed hot cocoa, thunder and lighting like you would

not believe, lakes under our tents, roaring winds, and yummy food and

wonderful company. The rain really was quite ridiculous but it was fun.

The kids had the best time ever and could have cared less about the rain.

Finding grapes in whipped cream....Madeline was very

hesitant to get her face dirty.

Lucas found a mud puddle and went to town...

look how happy he is!

The kids spent a lot of time like this...

We really had so much fun and would do it all over again...even with the rain!

New Hat

2011-09-14T02:29:00.001-05:00

Madeline made daddy a new hat.

Isn't it lovely??

Outside Movie

2011-09-14T02:26:00.002-05:00

The NEX was showing Toy Story 3 outisde for free. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. They have never sat that still in a theater!

day at the beach

2011-09-14T02:21:00.001-05:00

These days Madeline LOVES the sand..

and Lucas LOVES the water!

zoo

2011-09-14T02:10:00.002-05:00

Lucas has a new found love for goats.

He will snuggle them and try to get them to give

him kisses...it's pretty cute.

Madeline got herself all dressed up for the zoo.

I love this age, I love to see what combinations

of clothing she will come up with. She

even packed her little backpack

with things she would "need" at the zoo.

Fun times!

Beautiful Babies

2011-09-14T01:55:00.004-05:00

We just LOVE these little faces!

Lucas loving on his blankie.

They are pretty much inseperable!

Sometimes when you ask Madeline

to smile for the camera she does her

crazy smile....

A typical "I'm not going to smile"

Madeline face.

LOVE THEM!!

Madeline's Actual Birthday

2011-09-13T23:32:00.005-05:00

We had Madeline's 3rd birthday party the weekend

before the actual day, so we decided on

her day we would spend some time as a family celebrating her.

When she woke up I asked her what she wanted to do

and her response was...
"Make a letter!"

"and a fort!"

When Daddy got home from work we went

to Chuck E. Cheese.

One of Madeline's most favorite places.

We had a great time!

After Chuck E. Cheese we headed over to

Dave's for ice cream.

Madeline of course picked chocolate!

To end the night we took the puppies on a walk.

Another one of her favorite things to do.

We sure do love our little Madeline.

She is such a sweetheart and a fireball

all wrapped up in one beautiful little girl.

We feel so blessed to have her in our family.

The After Party

2011-09-07T00:41:00.002-05:00

After the birthday party it was all princess everywhere....

and bubbles....

and one VERY HAPPY little girl....

Madeline's 3rd Birthday Princess Party

2011-09-06T23:56:00.008-05:00

For Madeline's 3rd birthday we had a

princess and knight party.

Madeline talked for months about her birthday

and all of the things she wanted.

A castle cake was on that list.

I spent all night and morning making that cake

and then it slowly melted throughout the day! Ha, forgot

to figure in the Hawaii heat and humidity in a non-airconditioned house!

We went with a princess and knight theme because

the majority of Madeline's little friends are boys and

we weren't sure they would be too excited about a princess party.

The girls came dressed in their princess dresses and decorated

tiaras. They also wore candy necklaces and bracelets.

The boys wore their knight crowns and decorated shields and

had little swords.

Grandma Terri sent Madeline a special princess dress

to wear on her special day.

Allyah all dolled up.

We had lunch and ate ice cream and cake.

Adam McClintock

Ridge Peralta

Edge Peralta

Maile Yates

We played pin the tail on the donkey, had a pinata, and played

outside with the bubble machine.

Mikey Oleksy

Madeline and Ezra Yates

Little Lucas even got in on the party.

Madeline's friends spoiled her with lots of princess presents!

She had been talking about wanting a piggy bank

for months so we got her one with her name on it.

Needless to say she loved it.

Moani Iokia and Madeline

Moani, Madeline, Clarissa & Molly Bell

Ezra, Moani, Clarissa & Madeline

We had such a fun time and Madeline loved

every minute. She talks about it, months later.

Thanks to all of our wonderful friends for making

her day so special.

Little Helmet Heads

2011-09-06T23:43:00.002-05:00

Madeline and Lucas are loving

their bike helmets...and

even more riding on the

backs of mommy and daddy's bikes!

Paper Bracelets

2011-09-06T23:28:00.001-05:00

Making paper bracelets for her friends

in nursery.

What are the chances that she will always be

this easily entertained?

2011-09-06T23:22:00.001-05:00

Even with his face all dirty I still think he

is the sweetest little thing I have ever seen.

2011-08-27T02:19:00.000-05:00

What fun is eating if you can't get a little on your face??

April & Brickman

2011-08-27T02:12:00.003-05:00

April and Brickman Ethington came to Hawaii

for a visit and we had the pleasure of

having them stay at our house for a few days.

We went to the Spam Jam and snuck out

for a date night with them.

We had a lot of fun!

April also fixed my screwed up hair color and tied

pretty little tinsels in Madeline's hair.

They even got us hooked on the TV show The Voice.

To this day Madeline asks me when her friend April is

going to come and give her sparkly hair again...

soon we hope!

Military Ball at Ko'Olina

2011-08-27T02:08:00.002-05:00

We went to a military ball at Ko'Olina.

It was really nice and I enjoyed it.

I was in the middle of "morning sickness"

so we didn't stay too late but I always

look forward to getting all dressed up and going

out with my sweetie.

2011-08-27T01:57:00.002-05:00

We went to Sea Life Park with our friends the

Yates and the Peraltas.

It had everything to do with animals so

Madeline was in heaven.

If you can't tell from the picture above, Madeline adores Ridge.

She says he is her best friend.

Little Lucas even got in on the action

and was facinated with all of the animals.

Ezra, Ridge, and Madeline

Watching the dolphin show.

It was an awesome morning with great friends!

Beautiful Madeline

2011-08-27T01:46:00.002-05:00

We just love this little girl.

She is so beautiful and such a little sweetheart.

She had her third birthday in May.

At three Madeline is so grown up!

She definitely has a mind of her own and is one

determined soul.

She has a wonderful imagination and loves to play

with her stuffed animals and toys and will

play make believe. She also loves to include the dogs

in her adventures.

She has such a huge desire to learn new things.

She loves to draw and color.

She also loves to help mom cook in the kitchen.

She is a candy nut like her daddy and will eat

it every chance she gets.

She also still loves her broccoli.

Madeline loves books. We probably read 10-15 books

a day to her and if she had her way it would be much more.

She loves her little brother and is such a good sister to him.

She is so happy and witty. She is a problem solver and a thinker.

We love her so much!

This one makes me laugh because I used to pose like

that when I was little.

Easter

2011-08-27T01:21:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year.

It started off a week earlier with our annual

Primary Easter activity.

We had potato sack races...

A water balloon toss...

Pin the tail on the bunny, an egg relay and much more....

and of course and Easter egg hunt...

We colored Easter eggs....

And the Easter Bunny stopped by our house and left us

some treats....

It has been a good day when you have chocolate

on your face before nine o'clock in the morning....

After church we had a wonderful dinner together of ham, cheese potatoes

and homemade rolls. YUM!

2011-08-17T01:40:00.001-05:00

Madeline got herself dressed and she was so proud of herself.

The shoes and socks were a big hit!

Ear Tubes

2011-08-16T23:59:00.003-05:00

In April Lucas got tubes put in his ears at Tripler.

He was such a little trooper and the results have

been AMAZING!

Washing Daddy's Car

2011-08-16T23:51:00.002-05:00

Lately Madeline and Lucas love helping their daddy wash his car.

Mom likes to watch.

Afternoon with Maka and Papa

2011-08-16T23:41:00.002-05:00

We spent a fun day with Maka and Papa at the Honolulu Zoo

and then headed over to the beach at Waikiki.

The kids were exhausted by the end of the day!

Feeling BLESSED

2011-07-18T12:34:00.003-05:00

I am in the midst of updating our blog. I unfortunately am months behind. It's important to me that I include the missing months before moving on because we use our blog as family record. Today I just wanted to take a minute to write about some of my thoughts about things that have been going on.

A few months ago Jimmy was offered a job in the ARMY that was very unexpected. We talked about it, prayed about it, and thought and thought about it. We wanted to make sure this job would put him on the path toward his ultimate career goal. After some phone calls and e-mails, Jimmy was given the information he needed to feel good about accepting the job. I COULD NOT BE MORE THRILLED!!! I feel like it is a huge blessing for our family. He will be taking the Rear D command during the upcoming deployment. This means we will have Jimmy around for the next two and half years. There are other great things about this job but that alone makes for one incredibly happy wife. I really do feel like it is not only a great opportunity, but a huge blessing for our family.

I sometimes feel like life gets way too busy. We don't have kids in a hundred different activities yet, but somedays we run all over the place and spend so much time going. With baby number three on the way I have decided that I need to simplify and organize myself and our house and pretty much everything we do. It has been a lot of work, and I am not quite done yet...but it feels good and I can tell a difference already. My goal is to feel less stressed about things that don't really matter and to feel more at liberty to spend TIME with my wonderful family...enjoying them, instead of worrying about things that need to be done.

I think sometimes (for me anyway), it is so easy to get wrapped up in everyday life. I have been trying to find joy in simple things and have been finding so much joy in creating for my family. I LOVE to cook for my family. It makes me happy to see them enjoying food that I have made. It also makes me happy when my kiddos want to help out and come sit on the counter to cook with me. I also have been dabbling in a little sewing for Madeline. I found this GREAT website with free tutorials on so many adorable kid things. I have been busy making skirts for my skirt obessed little girl. I never thought I would see the day when sewing would be so enjoyable for me. Just ask my mom about that one! I have found such satisfaction in making things for the ones that I love.

Our kids are getting bigger...way too fast if you ask me. We always joke that it's a good thing we have another baby coming because right now we don't have any in the house. Madeline carries on converstations like an adult. She will tell you that she is in charge. She is so eager to learn everything and is so excited to start school with mommy next month. She loves to sing her ABC's and loves to have books read to her. We have quite the nighttime routine with her, and have had it since she was tiny. She insists all day long that she is a BIG girl but when I ask her when she will go to bed by herself she tells me that she's not that big yet and that we need to still lay by her. Sometimes the routine feels a little much, but most of the time I really enjoy the snuggle time with her. She likes to pick out a couple of books and then always sneaks in more. Then after prayers and songs she will eventually snuggle up and fall asleep. Before she does that though, she almost always talks and talks and talks. I love this part of the routine most. I love to hear what she is thinking about. Yesterday she had kind of an emotional day and she snuggled up to me and said, "mom I have had a hard day." A lot of times she will ask me if we can have pancakes in the morning (which we do on a regular basis) and everytime I say yes she gets so excited and hugs me and says, "oh thank you mommy." I love how excited she gets about the simplest things. She is very observant. She notices tiny details and thinks things through. She has recently been noticing how some of the Disney princesses wear their dresses off the shoulder...we have had to have some talks about modesty...thanks a lot Belle! She loves her friends and talks about them non-stop. She also loves nursery. She is silly and fun. She knows what she likes and what she wants and when she gets an idea in her head she can't stop thinking about it until it happens. She is very determined. She is still in the princess phase. She loves to dance. She also loves to run races with her daddy when we take the dogs for a walk. She really LOVES to run. She frequently will hug my tummy and say she's tickling the baby or giving him snuggles. Recently we were in the store and she ran away...nothing like that frantic feeling of loosing sight of your child. Well after a conversation with her about running away and how it is dangerous and how bad people could take her if we are not careful. She looked at me and said, "oh mommy.....I run REALLY fast!" Madeline has a memory like you wouldn't believe. She can recall things from a long time ago when she was tiny and she remembers the funniest details...like, "mom grandma Terri has a drawer with candy in it." Funny things that kids would remember I guess. She is learning how to say portuguese words and is doing a great job. She loves Lucas. Currently she loves to go out in the sprinklers and fill up big buckets of water to pour over his head...good thing he's such a good sport. She is such a sweetheart and I am constantly amazed with the things she can do or say. She has been such a blessing in our family.

Little Lucas is not so little anymore. He is a BIG sweetheart. He really is happy pretty much all of the time. It seems like the only time he gets a little cranky is if we don't feed him soon enough or if he doesn't get a nap on time. Otherwise, he is all smiles. He LOVES music. Turn on some music and his little body will start bopping. One of this favorite things to do is sit out in Daddy's car with the music on. He loves to dance! He is in the phase where he likes to take off his diaper. It's funny because I cannot remember Madeline ever doing this. He loves to shimmy it off and take off running. He loves trains, cars, and balls. He is a true boy. He is happiest outside. He loves to explore and dig in the dirt. He really loves to find the giant snails and bring them in to show us. He loves the ocean and the sand. He is starting to really love books. He adores his sister and follows her everywhere and wants to do everything she does. He is attached to his blankie and will take it everywhere he goes if he's allowed to. He thinks his hair functions as a washcloth and will frequently wipe his hands off on his head. He is a great eater and will eat almost everything. His favorites are still strawberries and green beans. He can say: Momma, Dada, Boo, thank you, hot, more (he loves to sign more too), fishy, Madeline, strawberry, he also loves to make car vroom sounds. He jibber jabbers all day long. He loves the movie CARS and gets so excited when he sees Lightning McQueen. He loves to chew on ice....that may be due to the fact that all of his teeth are coming in at the same time. He loves to go down for a nap or bedtime. All it takes is a kiss, some music and his blankie...and for now his pacifier. We are still trying to get rid of that thing! We have him down to just bedtime so we are making progress. He struts around like a big boy and you can tell he thinks that's what he is. He gets so proud of himself when he does big boy things. He smirks a lot. Especially when he does things that he knows are funny or mischevious. He likes to color, but still tries to eat the crayons too. Recently when he gets upset it is quite the sight. He will clench his fists and tighten his jaw until he shakes and that is usually followed by something getting hit. We are working on that one. ha ha. It's pretty comical to watch though! Lucas is really good at listening and doing what we ask him to. He is super curious and happy. Another sweetheart and giant blessing for our family.

I just wish that they didn't grow so fast!! That being said, I really do love watching them grow and learn.

So in a nutshell, that is what has been happening around here.

Dog Beach with Maka & Papa

2011-07-14T04:15:00.002-05:00

We spent some more time at the beautiful beaches of Hawaii.

These were taken at the dog beach and the tide was WAY out.

Lucas following Grandpa around.

More of Grandpa & Grandma's Visit

2011-07-14T03:59:00.002-05:00

Still trying to get caught up.

Here are a few more pictures from Granpa Larry &

Grandma Becky's visit.

We spent some time at Madeline's favorite place...

Chuck E. Cheese!

We got a night out with just the grown-ups and

Jimmy's parents took us to a SUPER NICE restaurant called

Alan Wong's. This was the view from our table.

I thought I had some pictures of the food, but I don't.

It was not only incredibly delicious but it was

incredibly beautiful to look at.

Papa Larry & Maka Becky--Botanical Gardens

2011-06-18T02:46:00.002-05:00

Jimmy's parents came to visit us for a few weeks

and we had so much fun!

We love it when Grandpa and Grandma come visit.

Madeline and Lucas were in heaven.

They followed them around and Madeline

made Grandpa do puzzles and play trains with her.

On one of the days we went to the botanical gardens for the afternoon.

It was a fun day!

Strawberries

2011-06-18T02:39:00.003-05:00

This little guy LOVES strawberries.

mmm...cake

2011-06-18T02:36:00.001-05:00

I made this cake for my friend Mindi's birthday.

I can still taste it. Yum!

feeding the ducks

2011-06-18T02:27:00.003-05:00

We went with our friends the Yates and the Peraltas to

feed the ducks at the botanical gardens.

This is one of Madeline's most favorite things to do.

Madeline, Ezra, Ridge, & Elias

There were some baby ducks and Mindi picked one up and let

Madeline take a turn holding it.

Lucas is in heaven when he is outside.

He loves to explore and run around.

Ridge & Madeline

my handsome boys and my beautiful girl

2011-06-18T02:23:00.002-05:00

I sure do have some handsome boys!

and one beautiful girl!

Madeline got herself all ready for church.

She was especially excited about the hat.

St. Patrick's Day

2011-06-18T02:17:00.003-05:00

A leprechaun left his little footprints and

treats all over our house.

He even left us some green milk and pancakes.

mmmm...

Pililaau Army Beach at Wainae

2011-06-18T02:01:00.003-05:00

Enjoying a day in the sun, sand and water out

at Wainae.

Madeline's new thing is being buried and made into

a mermaid.

We have to keep a good eye on Lucas.

He loves the water and will walk or crawl right in waves or

no waves!

2011-06-18T02:00:00.000-05:00

2011-06-18T01:57:00.001-05:00

Sometimes we have bad days....

Lucas turns 1!!

2011-06-18T01:20:00.006-05:00

Our little man turned the big ONE!

Where did the time go?

Our little Lucas has been such a sweetheart and a joy

to have in our family.

We love this little guy so much.

At the ripe age of one he is walking and running all over

the place. He eats and eats and eats. This little boy has an appetite.

He loves to be involved and loves to do everything that his big

sister does. He loves to give the dogs big open mouth

kisses. He is so snuggly and loves to give hugs.

He is attached to his blankie and will snuggle with it all

day long. He loves green beans straight from the can and he can

eat strawberries by the pint.

He says momma, daddy, and boo.

He is an awesome sleeper and actually LOVES to go to bed!

He is always so happy and smiley and we just can't

get enough of his big blue eyes and his sweet little dimples.

Stats at one year:

weight: 22.3 lbs

height: 29.5 inches

We decided to just have a little family party with a train theme.

His day started off bright and early as usual and full of smiles.

and a big birthday hug from sissy.

We spent the day playing and getting excited for his party.

Madeline could hardly contain her excitement about everything.

As soon as daddy got home we opened some presents.

Thank you friends and family for the wonderful gifts you sent Lucas.

His poor cake was a complete disaster.

Everything that could have gone wrong did.

It was pretty terrible.

I owe him next year.

Madeline and Lucas had a lot of fun running around in

their conductor hats and blowing their train whistles.

This picture cracks me up because it is

so Madeline. ha ha.

We had pizza and cake and ice cream and

a lot of fun being together.

Madeline tried to teach Lucas the right way to

eat birthday cake. He wasn't too interested and mostly wanted

to keep his hands clean.

The day ended just like it began...with some smotherings from

big sister.

Happy first birthday baby boy!
We love you!

New Helmet

2011-06-12T01:46:00.003-05:00

Handsome Little Man

2011-06-12T01:41:00.003-05:00

I just can't get enough of those baby blues and dimples!

Two Peas in A Pod

2011-06-12T01:37:00.001-05:00

These two little monkeys sure do love each other.

They love to sit and giggle.

Notice the fruit. Both of them have gone through

this phase where they like to take bites out of

multiple types of fruit.

We love our little monkeys.

Honolulu Aquarium with Mikey

2011-06-12T01:34:00.002-05:00

Madeline loves a lot of things, but there are two things that I am sure she will never get tired of and will always love. Animals, and her friends. So going to the aquarium with Mikey was pretty much a perfect day for her.

Great Aloha Run

2011-06-12T01:19:00.003-05:00

We did the Great Aloha Run for the second year.

It's a little over 8 miles from the Aloha Tower to the Aloha Stadium.

It's a lot of fun and our kids seemed to have a good time.

We woke them up super early to get there on time and they were such good

sports about it.

Madeline was such a trooper, she ran a lot of the race with us.

She was very into it and insisted that we let her run. I

felt bad though because she was wearing her crocs, had I known she

would actually run we would have put her in tenis shoes!

This girl LOVES to exercise.

This year we tried really hard to run as much as possible with our stroller.

It's kind of tricky to do because it's SO CROWDED and almost impossible at

some points to get a stroller past people but we did a good job.

Beach Days

2011-06-12T01:00:00.003-05:00

When you live in Hawaii you can pretty much

go to the beach year round. We never seem to get tired of going either.

We found this great beach where we can take our dogs.

It is definitely not the prettiest but we have so

much fun there. Our kids love the shallow water and the puppies

can run free and wear themselves out. This is the beach

Madeline asks to go to.

I love this picture because Madeline has been doing

that with her arms since she was a little baby.

It makes me laugh.

Digging in the sand together.

Eating strange ocean plants....mmmm.

My handsome hubby.

Loving the sand!

Beautiful Madeline.

Lucas LOVES the ocean. He will walk right in, even if

there are big waves. He really could care less. He just wants

to get wet!

Mighty "Mo"

2011-06-08T03:41:00.002-05:00

We had the opportunity to attend a naval retirement

ceremony for a friend in our ward.

It was really neat. The ceremony was held on the Missouri in

Pearl Harbor.

Makapuu Lighthouse

2011-06-08T03:34:00.001-05:00

During whale season we decided to hike up to the lighthouse

and see if we could spot any whales.

We did!

stampin' it up

2011-06-08T03:31:00.001-05:00

Madeline discovered a stamp. Need a stay more??

zoo with friends

2011-06-08T03:29:00.002-05:00

Ezra Yates, Molly Bell, Madeline

Madeline always loves the zoo, but she especially loves it when we get to go with her friends.

valentine's day

2011-06-08T03:21:00.003-05:00

My mom always made a big deal about holidays when I was a kid.

I have so many great holiday memories and have tried to

do the same for our kids. Sometimes I am sucessful and

sometimes I am not. This year for Valentine's Day

I decided to make my family a special breakfast.

They were so excited when they woke up.

I made them some snuggly blankets and heart shaped pancakes.

It was a hit.

Madeline got a special valentine from her little friend Ridge.

I got a special valentine from my sweetheart.

uncle rick

2011-06-08T03:16:00.002-05:00

Our good friend Rick came to visit us for a few days.

We had a lot of fun visiting with him.

Madeline still talks about Uncle Rick.

Princess crown

2011-06-08T03:12:00.001-05:00

"B" is for boat

2011-06-08T03:08:00.002-05:00

We have been working on learning the letters of the alphabet. We always make a letter and make something that goes along with that letter. On this day we did B for boat and decided that we needed to make some boats out of laundry baskets. Best idea ever, ha ha. The kids played forever in their boats!