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!