J/K

The Saturday B4 Christmas my parents were scheduled to arrive home from INDIA. Their plane was suppose to land in SLC at 6:30pm. But then we found out (after making it all that way safely, and then to have trouble on the very last part of their trip) their flight was delayed indefinitely. They FINALLY got in the air, headed here, and we all made it to the airport to greet them, with signs and balloon, just as mom said she invisioned it. After waiting AND waiting, AND waiting...no sign of them, we got word that as they entered the SL area (and my mom & dad were prepping to get off the plane-lipstick, combing hair, etc), they were told they couldn't land and had to detour to Boise. WHAT???? My mom said of course she had a good cry at that point, and when we all got word of this we were so disappointed too.

The video captures our anti-climactic experience well!

They wouldn't be returning until 1:30-2am, so we all headed home, SAD, without having seen grandma & grandpa (Chris returned alone to pick them up).

Our reuniting came the next morning when we met at their ward to go to church together. Oh how wonderful that LONG awaited hug was!!!!

Gingerbread HouseS

Ame got to make a gingerbread house at school,

as part of their Christmas Celebrations. And then we made them at home too.

One of OUR holiday traditions.
Ame added a fire hydrant to hers...funny, huh?!

Santa visit #2

Last night we had a neighborhood Chistmas party.

There were probably 12+ families there, so the

hosting family's home was very full, but that didn't stop us

all from having a great time. Everyone brought their favorite

appetizer or dessert, and we all ate and talked

AND ate and talked for hours.

The kids all played and watched a movie in the basement

so us adults got to just hang out and talk upstairs.

We also had a surprise visit from Santa-

well his helper of course!

This was the 2nd time our kids got to visit

and give their wishes to Santa's helper.

We went to the mall last week

but I don't buy those pictures and they hawk you like

crazy if you TRY to take your own picture.

Luckily we got some pics this time.

Ash was soo excited to sit on the old guys lap,

with no hesitation...

Kaipo said he tried to pull off his beard

and then knew it wasn't the real Santa.

oh that kid! what are we gonna do with him???

And Ame, the little angel, ACTING somewhat shy

and embarrased, but we all know she is not!

And the fun continues...
Hope everyone is enjoying this Holiday Season.
Ours is going to get even better in just 2 days-
when Grandma and Grandpa Asplund get home.
We can hardly wait, and are just soo excited!!!

Grandma's House

This is one of the kids FAVORITE things

to do when we visit Grandma Frankie.

That and tromp through her garden?! Sorry Grandma!!!!!

Ward Christmas Parties

Last Saturday was the Christmas Party for

the ward we are now in here in Layton.

I attended as a single parent, since Quinn was

teaching class. It was great fun, with a yummy

breakfast, a craft for the kids and a nice program.

Unfortunately I didn't remember my camera at that one.

But this morning we visiting our old ward

in Riverdale, for their Christmas Breakfast.

And I didn't forget my camera this time.

As you can see Ash enjoyed the waffles.

They had a great waffle bar, with ALL the fixin's,

plus cinnamon rolls, hot cocoa, juice and fruit.

Here is Kaipo for a brief moment that I got him to sit still.

No I am not crying, for some reason my eyes were extra

sensitive and watery this morning...honest!

Notice the other kids trying to be good and listen

to the program, but some kid keeps distracting them???
You can see why I debated going to this
alone, cuz this is what I got to deal with-
MY kids running wild!
Luckily we had been in this ward long
enough that everyone knew my crazy kids,
so I didn't stress too much!!

And here they are again, being reverent as

can be down the halls of the church.Here is Kaipo with his GIRLFRIENDS

As challenging as I knew it would be to do this by myself,

it was worth it to see all my old friends!

I sure miss our old neighborhood and ward,

but we are really starting to enjoy our new area as well.

My friendships are expanding here,

yet I will always have a special place for all my

dear friends in Riverdale :)

more SWEETNESS

A week or two ago, Nalu started giving me

some REAL smiles. Of course getting

them on camera is a bit more challenging.

Whenever I thought to get my camera he was done.

But here is what I got...

Oh I just love this sweet, tender boy!

Our NEW Friend

This was the REAL reason I was getting pictures

off my phone. We made a new friend and were

soo excited to meet Sister Sundaram, from India.

If you read my parents blog

http://www.adasplund.blogspot.com/

you can read all about this sweet girl.

We got to pick her up from the airport

(despite some delays and crazy weather conditions)

and let her stay with us overnight. Then my sister

took her to the MTC the next morning. at least one of the pictures turned out
It was so interesting to spend just a few hours with
Vallar, and see her experience so many new things:
the snow, the cold, being in a car, traveling on the
freeway (as we were drivingshe told me I was
a very good driver), a very different/new culture, new food,
very BIG cups (she pointed out, as I served her breakfast)
a huge house, christmas trees & lights, a shower, my CRAZY
kids, asking her a million and one questions (especially Kaipo)
that she probably didn't even undertand,
and so much more that I'm sure I didn't even notice.
Now she is at the MTC (and has been since yesterday),
and I know experiencing soo many more new things.
We are excited to see her after her 5 weeks @ the MTC,
when she is a missionary on Temple Square.
So when YOU visit, after the holidays, you will have to
look for her. She is such a sweet, humble, beautiful girl!

Hawaiian Style christmas fun

You can see from this picture why I don't

like my phone pics. If these is even the slightest

bit of movement, it makes the picture completely blurry.

But here is Ame with Malia, her polynesian dance teacher.

We love her and think she does an outstanding job!

She really know how to not only teach the

art of polynesian dance, but also teach them how

to be great performers and love & appreciate what they are doing!!
Ash is being so attentive in listening to the directions for the craft activity.

Here is what they made-little ornaments.

Quinn (and Ash) playing pictionary

This is one of Ash's favorite places to be with dad

(that is if he is not off somewhere sneaking dad's iphone,

so he can play bowling or Uno)

We are glad we could fit the Ili O POlynesia Christmas Party

into our schedule this year.

We had a lot of great ethnic food (of course),

and a fun time playing games and just hanging out!

A bit overdue

I don't take pictures with my phone camera very often because it doesn't take very good pictures, but sometimes when I have forgotten my camera (as I seem to do A LOT these days, with an extra child in toe) it is nice to be able to snap a few shots and HOPE that they turn out. So I was pulling the pics off my phone and found these ones from way back in October, when Ame's school had a carnival. SO I thought I would add them to the blog, just for the fun of it. There was face painting... music and dancing, games...
and even rock climbing

And here is an added random picture of Ash from the electric park. There is a new Jr. High next to our development, that was just finished at the end of the summer. There are tennis & basketball courts, as well as a little park. It is a really different one though, with all sorts of electric activities and these spinning cups (that Ash is sitting in). The kids make themselves sick, spinning each other super fast in these things. But it is all in fun!

already????

Yesterday Nalu was 4 weeks old, and tomorrow

will be officially 1 month since he was

born. How can it be, that he is already that old??

At the same time, he feels so apart of the family,

that I can hardly remember what it was like

when he was not here.

He is such a GOOD baby and

we all love him soo much!!!

PS. I don't understand how a baby this

little can have so much poop! HE has only

has a few explosions and this

morning was one of them. It seems to

happen when he sitting on my lap

burping and his poop just shoots up his back.

It was one of those...I don't even know what to do

or how to start to clean in up. His onsie had

no hopes of getting clean, so that went straight

to the garbage and into the bath Nalu went.

Now he is my sweet smelling, clean boy again :)

compare & guess

My friend, Katie, did this with her boys,

so I am borrowing the idea. (thx Katie)

I didn't have this outfit with Kaipo, so I am

only comparing Nalu and Ash. Plus Kaipo,

believe it or not, was a MUCH chubbier baby.

So tell me who you think is #1 and who is #2.

************************************
#1

#2

Thanksgiving Recap

It has taken me a few days to get caught up after taking out first official outing, with 4 kids. First we went up to Logan on Wednesday evening to celebrate our cousin/nephew Jake's Bday. My sis, Karli and her family joined us too. It is always fun for us all to get to spend time with Jason, LeAnne and their family. They are such great hosts! The kids have a blast and us adults enjoy our time to just talk and hang out.

Then Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we made our way to Utah county. First, to have dinner with Quinn's mom. Of couse she cooked up a grand, delicious meal. We enjoyed time just talking and relaxing, and she is always good about having us share OUR FEELINGS (as much as all the siblings hate it). We each got to express what we are grateful for-Mine was that I have a wonderful husband that ALWAYS provides for our family! Then we spent time with QUinn's Dad, some of Quinn's cousins and most of the siblings. Once again another feast to enjoy. SO yes, we got to have 2 dinners and get royaly stuffed!! What great memories and fun times we were able to have with those we love. (we just missed gma and gpa Asplund-but not long until we get to spend much awaited time with them :) Here's the kids in their homemade headdresses-Ame had to make sure the others knew SHE was the chief because SHE had the most feathers! And Ash felt left out that Ame and Kaipo had a hat and he didn't, we took Ame's turkey and made it into a hat for him :)

I unfortunately didn't take any pictures, except for these ones of Nalu, with his cousin Amaya. She was just born on the 20th. I wanted to get a few shots of these two together, and didn't think they would struggle as much as they did. It was quite funny. They are already irritated with each other, and pushing each other around, at such a young age...hahaha

Grandma Asplund asked for us not to

let Nalu get any bigger, not that we can

control that (other than not feed him).

Sorry Grandma, he IS getting bigger

too fast. Already growing out of his

NEWBORN clothes :(

**********

Despite a lack of pictures from our festivites,

we did have a nice, relaxing thanksgiving.

And I feel full of gratitude and am excited

to enjoy the continued Holiday Season-with

SOO much to enjoy and look forward to!!

more firsts

(this is a little old) When Nalu had his first REAL bath,

as you can see, he didn't like it soo much.

He just hates to be undressed!

Pretty much every time I start to unsnap his clothes

to change his diaper or change his clothes, to

the second I get him all done up again,

he lets out a REALLY good cry! But once he is all cuddled and warm, he is quite content!!

And since I don't want to only write about the baby
and there actually are others around our house who are doing
things as well, even if they are small & simple things,
let me share about them.
I am trying to be a good mom sometimes, and not totally
neglect the others, so I decided after MUCH begging from
Kaipo, that I would take him and Ash outside to play
in the snow. The baby was sleeping as usual, and I
really had no other excuse, other than I didn't want to,
so we bundled up and went out to play.

Not TONS of snow, but enough for the boys to

have some fun! So another first-

the first actual bundle up & play in the snow,

since last winter.