An Incredible Lady

Today was my DEAR FRIEND Jodi's birthday,

so we met for lunch (with our kids-hence the location)

and enjoyed some time to catch up on each others busy lives.

Jodi and I met when we first moved into

our old ward in Riverdale. We had an instant

connection for so many reasons. We have such

wonderful memories together, and have been a huge

support to one another through some difficult times

in each others lives. She fought through the greatest

challenge last year, and beat the odds of a

brain tumor. She has had a bumpy road of recovery

(of which she still faces incredible challenges, daily)

AND through it all SHE has inspired me and taught me

so much! I love and admire her beyond words!!

Jodi is one amazing lady

and I feel blessed & privileged to be her friend!

I miss not living a block away from her so we can see each other

every day & I miss our morning runs together.

But I am glad we still find time to get together, even

if it is with our CRAZY kids.

Our boys are very close in age, just within

months of each other.

Kaipo, Ash, Casen, Daven

* Happy Birthday Jodi*

MORE PLEASE

So I was feeling like a LAME mom,

since I didn't MAKE Ash a cake for his birthday,

only store bought one or his party.

So today I TRIED something new.

I made a funfetti cake, and then made it into

an ice cream cake by putting rainbow sherbet

on top and freezing it. OOOHHH yummy!

Everyone wanted MORE!!!
I am all about making it easy, and this one
is soo simple AND way delicious!

Competition

Ame joined the competition dance team this year.

And now after LOTS of practices

it is competition time!

They had their first of three on Saturday.

They have learned 2 dances.

In Saturdays comp. they got

1st place for their jazz routine and

2nd for hip-hop.

WAY TO GO!!

When we signed up I knew it was going

to be a BIG commitment (both financial & time),

but I think it was even more than I anticipated.

Quinn had class on the night of her practices,

which meant I had all of the kids to entertain

for an hour and a half while she was at practice

(as it was too far away to come home).

She has really enjoyed it, but I think we are

going to take a break from this dance

(still take hula) and try something new-

sports, music,...whatever Ame wants.

She's young and this is the time to explore, right?!

I am very proud of Ame for her hard work & dedication
even when we got to twice a week practices and she

was WAY oversheduled (also doing the play and hula),

and she had little time to just be a kid.

You are one very

cute & amazingly talented girl

Ame'lia!!

Its Hard to Believe...Ash is 3!!!

Friday was

Ashkiilani's

3rd birthday.

He started off the day with

DONUTS with his CRAZY sister

(Kaipo surprisingly woke up after the pictures)
That afternoon we met some of our cousins
at Boondock's (again) for a PARTY!!

Nalu being a patient sweetheart

(as usual)

waiting for everyone to arrive

Quite a funny expression!

He was very excited about his

BOWLING cake, since he is obsessed

wth 2 things:

bowling and golf
which was the reason I chose boondocks,

so we could do both.

But unfortunately we ran into a few disappointments.

#1-the Draper Boondocks doesn't have any

bowling, which was soo surprising since the

Kaysville one did when we went for

Kaipo's birthday (mini AND regular).

#2-we had COLD, RAINY weather,

which meant no outdoor mini-golf.

Such Bad Luck!

But we found some other great entertainment

The only thing they did outdoors was go-carts,

cuz they are quick, not like golf which would have

taken forever in the COLD!

looks like the birthday boy was happy anyway!

Quinn and I even tried out this CRAZY Ride.

It closes up and takes you on a simulated ride,

that spins upside down about 15 times and in ever

other direction, just like a REAL roller-coaster.

WAY FUN!!

I hope Ash knows how much we LOVE and ADORE

him. Despite all the tantrums, he is such a sweet boy

that has definitely figured a few things out.

Like how to handle his own with his brother

& sister; how to work the I-Phone and BEG to

play it all the time; how to hit a golf ball

(I really need to video him, because this kid

has some potential and determination already);

eat cocktail shrimp (w/the sauce) like no other;

drink & beg for milk 24/7; do puzzles and trio's

all day long (when he's not playing Wii or the

I-Phone that is). These is just a few things

about our Ashy Boy, at age 3.