Happy Birthday to Me

This month I turned 36! Man, I'm starting to get old. My sweet family took great care of me. Jarom made a yummy dinner of tri-tip roast, rosemary rolls, glazed carrots, and twice baked potatoes. He even made a cake and let the girls decorate it. They made sure to put all 36 candles on top.

I got some fun gifts including this new kindle case for my fire. Also on the gift list: new candles, medicine spoons (since all of mine have been chewed up in the garbage disposal), a new Vera scripture bag, some new clothes, and a new Vera wallet. Yes, I was very spoiled.

Some of the party guests. My son has turned into the naughty little boy who must goof off in every picture. But I don't mind. He melts my heart still the same.

Two of my pretty little ladies. These two are so funny. They very much are like oil and water when together (except for the fact that they are very much alike) so a picture of them hugging and smiling is a treasure.

I love my beautiful little family. Thank you to them for making me feel special and oh so loved!

2012! Happy New Year!

We kept it low key this year for New Years. Our church started at 9am the next morning, so we didn't want to be out late. Instead we took the kids to dinner at Olive Garden, then to laser tag (which truly was a riot!), and then home for a game of Monopoly and watching the ball drop in New York at 10 pm, then off the bed early. And yes, Kate is frowning in this picture b/c she had just been sent to jail in the game. Dad and Carter creamed us all, no surprises there.

We got out the blowers, poppers, and sparkling cider in anticipation on the New York count down. And then.......NOTHING! The STUPID t.v. channels did NOT show the count down or ball drop at 10. They got right up to it, with 1 minute left, and then.....credits. Apparently they delayed the drop for midnight Idaho time, which was SUPER annoying to me. I still mean to complain. Show it twice for heavens sake if you really want to wait until Idaho's midnight, don't just cut out and show credits. Such a let down.

So we did our own little count down and let the poppers fly and clinked our glasses together.

Here's to a GREAT 2012. We will celebrate 15 years together this year! Hopefully this will be the best year yet.

Bye Bye Baby

In mid-December we learned that my brother-in-law Bryon got a new job offer in Washington and that they would be moving in just a few short weeks. That meant that we would no longer be babysitting my cute niece Josie. It was a sad sad day when we had to say goodbye. We (me in particular) had grown quite attached to little miss Josie Pants.

She had finally stopped frowning at me when I babysat, and was talking and smiling at me.

We had figured out some likes and dislikes. He biggest like, sitting up in the saucer and watching t.v. I've only known one other baby that liked t.v. as much, and that was my Alyssa.

I miss kissing on that little bald head. I wish my sister and her family the very best of luck in their new endeavor and can't wait to squeeze this little cutie again soon.

Christmas 2011

I don't know what it was this year, but the magic of Christmas with it's glitter and gold, never did hit me. Decorations were more of an obligation this year than a joy, but I did find one little corner in my house that made my heart happy every time I glanced at it. All those sweet little homemade crafts and school projects were so cute clumped together. I know I won't have "corners" like this for too much longer, so I just had to capture a picture to keep forever.

On Christmas Eve, my dad loaded us up on the bus, aka "the Roller Express", and we went around town light looking. It was an adventure and a memory for sure.

The Roller Express Conductor and his trusty side kick Cameron.

Grandma Ruby, Cameron, and me on the bus. It was fun to have my nephew Cameron with us this year. He's getting so big and talkative. We loved hearing him say, "Hanna Caus bring me juice!"

My girls on the bus.

When the bus ride was over, we came home and opened our Christmas Eve gifts. New jammies and ornaments.

The scene Santa left on Christmas morning!

New bikes for Christmas! Then time to open the rest of the gifts.

Halle got a triple barrel and she has loved doing her hair with it.

Alyssa excited about her Monopoly game. She has wanted this one for a while.

This kid is Trouble with a capital T. :)


New lipsticks for Kate!

Santa was super tricky and left another present hidden under the Christmas Tree. Kindle Fires for all!

This was pretty much the scene for the rest of the morning.

Love this picture.
I have to say this was the quietest Christmas we've ever experienced.

Not to worry, we did take advantage of this no snow year and took an exercise break on our new bikes.
Seriously, this is the most snow we've had this winter. I'm glad we got it for Christmas day. And I'm also glad that the sidewalks were still clear so the kids could play on their bikes.

The little trickster.

In the evening, after church, we went out to my mom's for a nice dinner and the annual Christmas Nativity. My friend Katie and her kids joined us and we made them dress up and participate too. I'm sure this was a Christmas she'll never forget.

Hawaii!!!

Prepare yourself, we're going on a big ol' blog ride to Hawaii today. It's 1 degree outside in Idaho this morning, and I'm missing the warmth of the beach. So I figured today was a great day to relive our trip we took in early December and get it blogged. We went because Jarom wanted to go to an away BYU game, and if an away game also includes a trip to Hawaii, you better bet I am in! Then to top it all off, we talked our friends into coming too. Really, you can't get a much better combo, BYU/Hawaii/Friends, what's not to love?

We started out early in the morning leaving from IF and flew to San Fran with our friends Karen and Scott. Karen had a hankering for clam chowder and potstickers for breakfast. I decided to go along with the potstickers idea and ate myself a big ol' order.

When massive turbulence hit about an hour outside of Maui, the potstickers didn't stick so well with me. The poor people sitting near us; everyone was so friendly and QUICKLY started chucking barf bags my way. (Seriously, I ended up with about 6, but thankfully only needed one.) So embarrassing. Thank goodness we had a small layover before hopping on the next plane to Oahu. I was able to walk off the nausea.

But by dinner time, I was feeling much better so we made our way to Benihana's and enjoyed a nice meal.

Bright and early the next morning we hopped in our ride, a convertible Mustang which was a tight fit for the four of us- but made for some very fun memories, and headed out to the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

I had to get my picture with the cute little Hula Pineapple b0dy. It's been 5 years since we last saw each other.

Just look at the colors of these plants. It was gorgeous!

This tree didn't even look real. It looked like the trunk had been painted.

Karen was our lovely tree model. This lady is a riot!

We enjoyed breakfast at the little cafeteria in the Pineapple Plantation's gift shop. It was surprisingly good. We had grilled ham and cheese on sweet bread, fresh pineapple, and a pineapple float. I've been craving that sandwich ever since.

Which way should I go? After wandering around for a bit, we decided to head on up to the North Shore to catch some sun rays and watch the surf.

Pretty scenery on our way to North Shore.

North Shore beach


The waves were massive. And we had a great time watching the surfers. They were pretty impressive!

More big waves!

The Women's International Surf Competition was happening just down the road from us. We were on our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center, so we didn't have time to stop. But we like to say that we maybe-might've-almost-did see Bethany Hamilton from Soul Surfer.

This barefooted tree climber at the Polynesian Culture Center was very neat to watch.

We had a great time milling around the PCC and learning about the history of the Island People.



They have a little boat parade, where each island is represented with costume, song, and dance.

The costumes are beautiful.

These boys could dance! Man they really rocked the boat. What happens when you're the little boat driver and the big boys start dancing?

You end up in the water. Man that was funny to watch.

There was a little old man in our group who looked SOOOO much like Jarom's Grandpa Holley, who passed away about 11 years ago. It was pretty fun to glance over and see him sitting there.

We had a great, full day at the PCC.

We even saw celebrities! Well, BYU celebrities anyhow. Scott, Tom Holmoe, and Jarom

Jarom and Chad Lewis

And last but not least Heisman Trophy Winner, Ty Detmer! Oh boy, was Jarom excited about that one. Notice how Jarom's arm isn't even around me, but he's sure hugging Ty! LOL!!! I laugh about it every time I see this picture. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to meet him, and he and his wife were very friendly.

We enjoyed our pina coladas in a real pineapple at the luau dinner,

and Karen and Scott enjoyed a 20th anniversary dance.

Then it was time for the night show. No pictures due to the "no cameras are allowed" rule, but boy was that impressive! The night show is definitely worth seeing if you ever find yourself on Oahu.

The next day was Game Day!

We spent some time at Pearl Harbor, which was really neat because it was the anniversary of the bombing. There is always a special feeling at this memorial, but it felt extra special and sacred this time around.

Karen even scored a picture of herself with several Pearl Harbor Survivor War Vets who were staying at our hotel.

Then it was on to the stadium for some BYU football!

Our seats were a little high in the stadium, but I was grateful for the shade and the coverage from the overhang when the rain started.

Oh and look! Our new besties Ty and Chad were down on the field.

And how about that? BYU wins! What a great game!

We attended church at the Oahu Tabernacle, which was a GORGEOUS building!

This sweet family blessed that beautiful baby and I just couldn't resist sneeking a picture. You know how much of a sucker I am for hairy babies.

Church was wonderful. We were able to hear so many sweet, pure, and simple testimonies from the Hawaiian members. I am so glad we attended.

We took a day to just do nothing but sit on the beach in Waikiki and soak in as many sun rays as we could, knowing that our bodies were returning to an Idaho winter and wouldn't have the chance to see sunshine for a few more months.

Scott and Karen doing the "fire power" pose with Diamond Head volcano in the distance.

Jarom and I decided to do some "Haka" faces. I'm supposed to be puffing my cheeks, but I just look stupid. LOL!

We rented a couple of paddle boards and Jarom and Scott had a great time playing around in the ocean.

Several sea turtles made an appearance and they all had a great time "turtle hunting".

It was a fabulous day and when the sun went down it was time to go back to Idaho.

So very sad our vacation is over. Don't make us go!

Goodbye beautiful land where the bathrooms have cute little lei wearing people on the doors!

We were lucky to get an empty flight on the way home. I took a couple of Dramamine this time around and I was asleep before the plane even left the ground. I have no memory of take off whatsoever. We were home and back to our single digit land of frozen air in no time. What a great trip!! I'm so glad we went. Thanks Karen and Scott for being such fun travel companions! Where are we going next time???