Aloha! Part One

Hawaii here we come!

Thanks to Rob's dad, we are able to visit Hawaii about every other year (ahem, poor us, I know). Rob grew up in Hawaii, where his dad still resides with his wife on the Big Island. Our exciting journey began the end of July.

The Farmer's Market is always a great stop. We went to one in Hilo. You find authentic treasures in clothing, souvenirs and of course, food! This year we tried lychee (pic on right) for the first time. The kids didn't love it. I ended up eating them all.

Coconut milk straight from the coconut. I think it's a must try!

Don't forget the shave ice. Another must have when you visit Hawaii. For some reason it really is better in Hawaii. I think it's the finely shaved ice.

Another tasty morsel found in Hawaii is malasadas. Sorry, no picture! But definitely worth mentioning. Malasadas are a Portuguese donut. There are no holes in these donuts, but are often filled with different flavors like custard, chocolate, guava, haupia, and strawberry. Yum!

We visited Laupahoehoe Point in the rain. This is an amazing beach that is, unfortunately, famous for a tragedy. In 1946 a tsunami claimed the lives of 21 children and 3 adults. A memorial is located at the park close to the ocean with all the names of those that lost their lives on that tragic day. Lexi was very touched by this and had many questions.

The zoo was another rainy stop. This zoo is free and very impressive.

This next stop ended up being quite a long drive. We questioned whether we should bag the idea and turn around. But we eventually made it!

At this bake shop, we bought a couple loaves of Hawaiian sweet bread and shared a tasty smoothie.

Then we drove a little further to a beautiful black sand beach.

A sea turtle was quietly hanging out on the beach while people crowded around to take pictures.

The drive was worth it!

Stay tuned!

Batty Brownies

Looking for an easy, cheap, and fast Halloween treat?

Use any brownie mix, or recipe . Google bat stencil. Using a sieve, sift powder sugar over bat stencil. Ta-dum! Fast, easy, inexpensive, and yummy!

My fave was Batty Turtle Brownies. Melt caramels to add onto the brownies. Melt chocolate chips to top it off. Enjoy!

Something to smile about

The kids were helping me crack eggs one morning. They were filled with giggles when they accidentally created a smiley face.

Aaahh. The small joys in life.

The BIG 6!

Our sweet Alexia just celebrated her 6th birthday.

The days before her birthday were filled with a few fun things.

We went to go see Seussical the Musical!
The kids enjoyed meeting the characters afterwards.

We lucked out with first row seats! Which meant we were the receivers of The Cat in the Hat's mischievous doings. We got wet from spray bottles, and sprayed with silly string. This was Dyl's first intro to silly string. At first, he was a bit freaked out by the slimy, glowing in the dark stuff that was hanging all over his body. But he soon realized it was harmless.

And of course confetti!Lex gathered up as much confetti as she could and brought it home with her to use at her birthday party with her friends.

We also went hiking up Farmington Canyon.

Lexi took the initiative to become our trail blazer. Which meant, off the trail we went. YIKES! Fortunately, she didn't lead us astray for too long.

Alexia wanted to have a Late Night Pajama Party with some friends.

A few of the things that we did were play "Don't Wake Sleeping Beauty", pinned slippers on pajamas, created and whacked a pinata (we used sleep masks for blind folds--love the $ store!), painted our fingernails, and had lots of wild and crazy fun. Phew! I was happy it was a "late night" party and not a sleepover!

Lexi decided that rather than having her friends bring her gifts, she would ask them to bring a gently used toy to donate to a child who "doesn't have that many toys." She had gone to a birthday party a few months ago where they did the same thing and she liked the idea. No complaints here! Brilliant idea!

Can you guess what was first on Lexi's list the morning of her birthday? Get dressed? Comb hair? Nope. None of the above.

Unwrap Gifts!

We ended the day with a silly string war in the dark. What a big mess! But what a fun mess!

We love so many things about our Lexi Lu. One of our birthday family traditions is to write on strips of paper 2 things we love about the birthday person. We put them in balloons, blow them up, and then the birthday person gets to throw darts to pop the balloons to reveal our messages of endearment.

Here are just a few things we love about the birthday girl!
We love-- the way she reads to Dylan, how she hums and sings while she cleans, her pretty blue eyes, how she picks a favorite cd (Mercy River is still a fave--go Brooke!) and then with fancy shoes and a pretty dress on, she dances her little heart out.

We love our Lexi!

8 things...

Our dear friend JJ tagged me........here we go!

1. Answer the six "8" items
2. Let each person know they have been tagged

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. I don't watch much TV
2. However, I have been a faithful watcher of "So You Think You Can Dance." Love it!
3. In the past, I have also watched "Dancing With the Stars" but I haven't watched it at all this season.
4. I hear The Office is really funny
5. I did watch some of Chuck when Rob had it on, and it was really quite humorous!
6. Friends was always a fave. ( I know, I'm a few years behind. I'm trying to fill up 8 blanks here!)
7. Occasionally, Rob and I will watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond. That's always good for a laugh.
8. Morning talk shows--I had minor surgery done at the beginning of June. My kids were with my mom for a couple of days and then with my sister for a couple more. I soaked in the morning talk shows that week while I recovered on the couch. I have to say, that was quite enjoyable.

8 Things I did yesterday

1. I woke up and we all got ready for the day.
2. I picked up the neighbor kids, dropped Dylan off at a friend's house, and then took the kids to school.
3. I went with Lexi and her class on a field trip to Black Island Farm. We rode on a hay ride, picked pumpkins and had fun with the other activities on the farm.
4. After picking up Dyl, eatting lunch, and putting Dyl down for a nap, I put together a dog costume (no sewing involved!) for Parker (skit for scouts) and forgot to have Lexi do her reading.
5. I took Parker to scouts, and Lexi to dance.
6. I ran to the store and then picked Lex up from dance.
7. Made dinner. Cleaned up (with my dear hubby's help). Put kids to bed.
8. Ate some yummy cookies that Rob made and went to bed.

8 Things I look forward too
1. Laughing with Rob and my children
2. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
3. Weekends
4. Girls nights!
5. Date nights!
6. Game nights and movie nights with friends
7. Vacations
8. Running errands without kids

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Kona Grill (in Denver and I miss it!)
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Rumbi Island Grill
4. Mimi's Cafe
5. Indian
6. Thai
7. Qdoba (I had to put this one on for Rob, also a Denver fave.....it's like Chipotle, but better)
8. P.F. Changs (and Pei Weis, the fast food version)

8 Things on my wish list

1. A magical self cleaning home (including laundry)--to clean only what I want. And then to magically get my children to perform their responsibilities without any complaints and tears!
2. Personal Chef
3. Personal Trainer
4. Free babysitter for any length of time and at any time of the day
5. Comfortable amount of money
6. Obedient loving children every second of the day
7. A third car garage and big back yard
8. An endless supply of patience and love
9. To go to Italy with my mom to research ancestors
10. To go on a cruise with my hubby
11. For my children to be independent, confident, wise, leaders, compassionate, and gospel loving individuals.
12. OK, OK I know that's more than 8! This is a fun question to answer. :)

8 people I tag (if you choose to participate and haven't already done so)

1. Becca
2. Celeste
3. Stephanie
4. Bonnie
5. Tiffany
6. Brooke
7. Camie
8. LuAnn

Does summer have to be over?

Rob and I were given tickets to the Colbie Caillat/John Mayer concert. The concert was outdoors under the stars and very fun. Although, I do have to say that I would have liked to listen to Colbie longer and John less. John made some off the wall crude remarks that really were a turn off.





This is our make shift bike trailer. It actually works quite well when we venture out on a family bike ride. I was impressed with Parker as he pulled Lexi and Dylan around the cul-de-sac.



With a bit of planning and a few phone calls, Parker had an evening of night games organized. It was wild and crazy, but the night was filled with giggles and squeals.








They just can't stay out of the water can they? Church clothes won't even stop them. We were at Rob's cousin's wedding reception. It was a beautiful place to have a reception. So beautiful, I don't remember the name of the place. I just remember having a good time.




My oh-so-handsome boys.




And my oh-so-pretty girl.





Our neighbor friends have a great water bottle rocket system that provides hours of fun.












Oh how we will miss sweet and juicy watermelon.

Our future basket ball star

Rob would say the next Michael Jordan. I would say the next Karl Malone. I always loved that guy. I have a picture with good ol' Karl. His massive body and my sad 8th grade hair. I haven't followed basket ball since the Stockton to Malone days. Yes, I know. That's a long time ago. I got busy with college and my roommates and I lived without cable. Thus, the end of my faithful Jazz days.

Once Dylan has a growth spurt, watch out Boozer! (Did I even spell his name right?)

Find joy in the journey.....today!

Like many others of the LDS faith, for me, General Conference weekend is a time of inspiration and renewing. (What's General Conference? Go to http://http//mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/glossary/glossary-definition/general-conference to find out!)

President Monson's talk on finding joy in our daily life matched recent thoughts and feelings I have been having. He stated, "Let us relish life as we live it." My kids are not going to be little for much longer. Most days, I want them to freeze at the age they are right now.

Of course, there are moments (far too many!) when I wish I could have some time by myself, away from them to collect my sanity. And yes sadly, there are times during each day that it is hard to remember how blessed I am. When I feel like I'm drowning in dishes and laundry. When I'm unsuccessfully trying to be the referee. When I twist my ankle after stepping on a toy that was left on the stairs. When I want my ears to stop hearing the constant, "Mom. Hey, Mom. Right, mama? MMMMOOOOMMMM!" and other constant chaos.

Nonetheless, I am fully aware of the treasures my children are. I am very blessed to have three physically and mentally healthy children in my life. And a loving husband who finds tremendous joy in these three treasures and whom is very much involved in their lives.

Life is good.

This is the way.....

that Parker plays the outfield. Do you think he can catch a ball with his feet? P-Diddy has a mean throw and great batting arm.......but his out fielding skills, ahem, yes, need some work. To give Parker some credit, the ball wasn't in action at the moment this picture was taken. But still, focus Parker, focus!

*FIRE WORKS*

We enjoyed fireworks a couple of times this summer. Our neighborhood also had a couple of

firework nights.

Dyl Pickle wasn't especially fond of these neighborhood firework fiestas. Too loud for his little ears!

This summer brought quite a bit of roasting experiments over an open fire. Before fireworks on July 4th, we joined our neighbors around their fire pit and roasted different flavored marshmallows (strawberry is pretty tasty!), starbursts, and pickles.

Yes, I did say pickles! I personally didn't brave the pickles, but Parker was a big fan. Dyl also braved the pickle (after all he does love pickles). After this smorgasbord of roasted treasures, Dyl came to me with his hand on his tummy. "Mom, my tummy button hurts". What little 3 year old tummy wouldn't after such an eclectic sampling of roasted treats? I asked Dyl if he wanted to go home. With his hand still on his belly he nods his head up and down. I turn to set down my roasting stick and.......eck! Dylan's little tummy exploded onto our neighbor's driveway. There was, however, actually something humorous about this situation. The husband is completely horrified of throw-up (when they have kids I hope this changes, for his sake). As the other men are analyzing the expelled contents, he quickly got up to get the hose to wash off the driveway. I, of course, didn't make him clean it up. I let him keep his distance. Now that Dyl's tummy felt better, he decided to stay for the rest of the campfire fun.

This is Rocky.

Isn't he such a cute little thing! If you are thinking, "What?! Jamie got a dog?" You are simply mistaking. We have dog sat this cute little guy a couple of times for a friend. After he has pooped and peed on my carpet, I'm happy for him to return home. In all honesty, he is kind of fun to have around. The kids love him and it's always a good experience for them to have to take care of the not-so-fun parts of having a dog. The second time we had Rocky, I finally got smart and restricted him to the kitchen. Am I ready for a dog now? The answer is still no. Sorry Rob and kids!

Splish, Splash!

In our 8 years spent in Colorado, we always had free access to our community pool, our friend's community pool, and our friend's private pool. So you can imagine our pool side withdrawals this summer. Our teensy pool wasn't nearly as good as the real thing. Nonetheless, the kids still had a great time playing in the water.

It's true! Even Daddy couldn't resist the water fun!