Catching Up

Although I don't know that I want to admit it, I did continue to age this past year. My sweet family helped me celebrate the big 3-4 last month. Kyle got me a yummy Coldstone ice cream cake and he and I celebrated by going out to dinner together and getting a movie. Thanks, everyone, for your sweet birthday wishes!

Kylene had her first official "sleepover" a few weeks ago with her best friend, Rachel. Every year our library celebrates "No Screen Week" by letting everyone who keeps their pledge to not watch TV or play computer games for a week spend the night at the library. Kylene (being the reader that she is) read all about it one day when we were at the library and totally wanted to sleep over. Me? Not so much. (I know, I'm a party pooper.) I decided to compromise and let her have a friend sleepover if she didn't watch TV for an entire week. She did remarkably well, even avoiding the TV when Spencer was watching and not complaining, etc. (I only wish it had lasted longer than a week!) Anyway, her and Rachel had so much fun giggling and laughing. They ended up getting scared sleeping downstairs (aahh, doesn't that bring back memories?!), so slept in our hallway right outside our door. It was fun to fall asleep listening to their giggling and whispers.

Kyle hit the books for his final stretch to get his MBA on January 12th. He only has three classes left and we are counting down the days until graduation on May 21st! Yay! Since he has class in Portland from 6:00-10:00 every Wednesday night, the kids and I have tried to come up with fun things to do: pizza, movie nights, lots of acting crazy, etc. A couple of weeks ago they were playing dress-ups right before bed and really started going crazy. I just love the pictures I snapped.

Kylene's Note to Mommy

Kylene of late has wanted us to write notes to one another and leave it under our pillows. I left her one last night and immediately after waking up this morning, she penned a reply. I saw her up in her bed working on it, so I was excited a short while later to find this note under my pillow:

"Dear mommy Thank you for the note. I like that you're our mother. I love you."

My heart melted! I was excited with how much she spelled correctly and how well she sounded out the words she didn't know how to spell. Later, she told me she copied some of the words from the note I had left her, then sounded out the others. I told her way to go on being resourceful! Anyway, I knew she could write, but this actually really surprised me. It is neatly written, includes proper spacing, has some upper and lower case letters, and mother is spelled remarkably well for being phonetic. (That is a difficult word to spell phonetically.) I was a proud mommy, not to mention feeling very loved!

(I didn't ever think she would "suffer" for being homeschooled in Kindergarten; however, moments like confirm it for me! Phew!)

Christmas Eve & Day 2010

I know this post is out of order, but history must be recorded, right?

Christmas Eve 2010 we had a wonderful day at my parent's home in Wilsonville. My mom and dad were there, of course, in addition to Alva, Wendy, and family; Scott, Jana, and family; Nate and Cami; and Kyle's Grandpa, Allen. We were so excited he was able to join us before his move back to Indiana. We had a really fun white elephant gift exchange (Kylene, yet again, found the "lucky" gift!), our family gift exchange, a music recital/caroling (Kyle and his Grandpa sang, "Mele Kalikimaka"), and a delicious fondue dinner and dessert. Way too much food, as always! Here's a shot of Kyle's grandpa. The other pictures my dad took, so hopefully I can add those later.

Christmas day was nice and quiet at our home. The kids were soooo excited; the magic of Christmas will live forever, as long as there are children on the earth. Here they are Christmas morning before walking downstairs. (Nice hiding from the camera, Kyle!)

Kylene with her Fur Real Pet ("Lucy"), from Santa Claus.

Spencer with his new Superman cape and Spiderman umbrella. A real super hero!

Acting out the Nativity.

My kids have said several times this past month that they want Christmas to come again. I assure them it will, they just have to wait a whole year! An eternity when your this age, I suppose!

A Few Hawaii Photos

My dad just emailed out some of the formal photos he took while were in Hawaii and it inspired me to get a few more on my blog.

My eternal sweetheart and me.

Love is in the air!

My amazing, loving, giving parents. The reason we went to Hawaii at all. Happy 40th! Here's to an eternity of wonderful years together!!

One of my favorite group shots.

From Dream to Reality

After 10 glorious days in Hawaii, it has been a bit hard to adjust back to reality the last few days. I'm still feeling overwhelmed but, hey, it's what I deserve after taking 10 days off, right?:) Here is just a preview of the beauty of an unforgettable vacation with my eternal companion and my wonderful ohana (family).

Here we are after an incredible morning serving all together in the Laie Hawaii Temple:

This was me at sunset on our last night in Hawaii:

And this is what I was looking at:

Like I said, glorious!!