time flies...

Our precious boy turned

8 weeks old on Tuesday.

How is that possible??

I guess time really does fly when you

are busy and having fun!

He continues to be such a good baby.

He has had some 5 hour stretches at night,

which is REALLY nice for mom!!!

He smiles lots, is very alert, and is often

content at just looking around and observing.

He is getting so big! We are anxious to

find out all his stats at his 2 mo. check-up

next week. Many of his 0-3 months clothes

are getting snug and too short.

We love you soo much Nalu,

but can you just stop

growing so fast, and just stay our

little baby boy forever???

our GREATEST gift

We are so thankful to have grandma and grandpa Asplund home.

It is by far the greatest gift we got this Christmas!!

We have loved hearing about all their experiences along

the way, and look forward to many more stories of their time in India.

Don't you just love how authentic they look??

Christmas Morning

We tried to keep this years gifts a little more simple.

The kids still got a lot of their wishes,

we were just lucky none of their requests were super expensive.

Good thing cuz we could not have afforded it this year!

It is so fun to watch each one open their gifts.

Each time Ash squealed with excitement!!
And Kaipo is always full of excitment about pretty much
ANYTHING!!

Ame thinks she is getting too old to sit on daddy's lap,

but she really wanted those presents :)

Nothing like a sucker BRIGHT AND EARLY!!

This was Ash's favorite gift.

He is obsessed with playing bowling on

Daddy's IPhone, so this is a nice distraction.

This was a great gift for our ACTION boy.

I don't know which BOY in this picture likes it better...

Our boys are lucky their dad still likes TOYS!!

Ame got a beautiful INDIA Barbie, among all her other stuff!

And the kids LOVED their Indian Attire that

grandma and grandpa gave them.

Don't those boys look like little PRINCES

in their dress-ups? And Ame's clothes are so cute,

she can actually wear hers out of the house.
Grandma brought home lots more clothes so the

kids can play dress-up when they visit her house.

We had a fun morning opening presents

as a family, and were even more excited when

gma and gpa showed up. They gave us all

such unique and beautiful gifts from India.

We enjoyed just being together, eating our

yummy GIANT cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa,

and reflecting on our many blessings,

through which our Savior has so generously given.

I am so thankful for the many reminders from

my incredible son Kaipo, that this season is not really

about presents and decorations, but about Jesus!!

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!