A LiTtLe GREEN

We tried to have a little fun with green

for St.Patricks Day...

Breakfast: lucky charms, green muffins and leprechaun juice

Lunch: mac-n-cheese leprechaun style, rainbow fish,

green grapes and green koolaid

Dinner: I actually made Corned beef for the first time,

and it was actually well favored.

I was going to do GREEN mashed potatoes

but decided against it (I think that was a good choice),

coleslaw and I even made homemade french bread.

Topped off with green jello poke cake w/lime sherbet.

That was the best I could come up with ON THE SPOT,

besides thinking ahead and buying corned beef brisket.

Kaipo got a nice cut under his eye,during recess,

the day before class pictures.

Early Birthday FUN...Disney On Ice

Ash is very into Disney, epecially Mickey Mouse, so

I thought it would be fun to take the kids to

Disney On Ice (since we can't afford the REAL thing).

Ash was sooo excited, kept asking

what day it was, because he knew

we were going on Friday.

Ame and Kaipo really had fun too!

Kaipo kept saying AWESOME

and Ame enjoyed dancin' to the music with me :)

And it was fun most of all to watch

Ash's excitement through the whole thing.

He leaned over a few times and hugged

me, saying I LOVE THIS MOM!!

the simple pleasures are what make life wonderful!

we didn't have the greatest seats, but there was no complaining

some of our favorites included:

-Lilo and Stitch-

-Princess and the Frog-
Toy Story (didn't get a good picture of it)

-the Christmas finale-

afterwards, Quinn and Nalu met us for dinner

@ Tucano's. A rare treat!

Our kids are huge meat and shrimp eaters,

so they were in HEAVEN!!

Kaipo's eyes were definitely bigger than his stomach.

He kept asking me why do they keep bringing us

more meat? so they can get more money??

(pretty much)
What a FUN evening for our little family.

And a memorable EARLY birthday gift for Ash!

One week ago...

Almost one week ago Ame and I took

Grandma and Grandpa to the airport

at 5:3o Friday morning, to catch their flight to Germany.

We were soo sad to say our goodbyes (again),

but are very proud of them and their committment to the Lord.

I took a picture that morning of mom and dad

(all dressed in their missionary attire) with Ame.

I am soo mad somehow that picture is gone from my

camera (darn kids playing with the camera).

We had them over earlier that week for dinner and everyone said

their sad good bye. Ame definitely had the hardest time

saying good bye to grandma and grandpa. Several tears fell

down those cheeks, as she hugged and kissed them. She

is definitely the closest to her grandparents, as they

in turn have a soft spot for their OLDEST grand-daughter.

We decided that night, that Ame would secretly come

with mom to take them to the airport

and get to say one last good bye!

The were of course pleasantly surprised to see her again.

And now just as before, we will anxiously look forward to our

weekly phone call and getting to see each other via Skype.

So together we begin a new adventure

WITH Elder and Sister Asplund....in Germany!

These are two are THE MOST AMAZING people I know!

I LOVE YOU more than I could ever express

and am proud of you just the same.

the kids NEW entertainment

(gettin' down with some friends)

The kids recently got this

Wii game and LOVE it!!

Ame had kind of lost interest

in the Wii because most of our games

were BOY games I guess you could say,
but SHE is loving this one.

I am glad because it is great exercise and she is actually

quite good at it. Ash really gets into it too. He is soo cute to watch

because he gets soo serious and concentrates very hard,

always looking over at Ame for reassurance. Kaipo joins in

occasionally too. Quinn and I have played a few times with them.

And lets just say any rhythm I may have thought I had,

is not quite like it may have once been. If you ever want

to test your own skills OR feel uncooridnated

(cuz THAT is what someone wants, right),

just try it. I guess it's kind of how I felt

the first time I did Zumba. But if you stick

to it, you just might kind of get the hang of it?!

Grandma and Grandpa even gave it a try

when they were over one night before they left.

Really wish I would have gotten THAT on video!!

My mom and I were commenting what

an awesome couples party this would be...

#6 looses #2

Well this 6 year old lost tooth #2,

with the help of his sister (the family dentist).

Ame pulled out most of the teeth she has lost

AND has now pulled out both teeth Kaipo has lost.

I think she definitely has a future in dentistry?!?!

You can't hardly tell from the picture that

Kaipo lost a tooth, since his permanent tooth

has already grown in behind. So wierd...

that was the same process with his first.

That never happened with Ame.

Seems wierd, because he never really has

a whole in his mouth. Hopefully he get to

experience that FEELING at least once.

Here is Kaipo's letter to the tooth fairy

and her response is the last word

(a short and sweet reply, what else can

you expect from the BUSY tooth fairy).

Now he has a few more dollars to

add to his LARGE savings (birthday money & allowance).

I am soo surprised he has not asked to spend it all yet?!

a VERY memorable weekend

WOW, it has been a crazy busy weekend,

but definitely one to remember!

My brothers and their families came into town

to support my parents as they begin their mission adventure.

So on Saturday we all met in SLC @ the church

history museum. The children's section is

awesome and so much fun for all the kids to explore.

Then we headed to Chuck-e-Cheese for MORE fun.

It was definitely a day for the kids!!

Of course I forgot my camera that day, but thank goodness

my mom and sister in law remembered theirs

(so I will have to steal some from them soon)!

SUnday was our boys' BIG day to turn 6.

The kids always request breakfast in bed,

but when you have a boy who wakes up at 6-6:30

you have make him pretend to go back to sleep

in order to get breakfast IN bed.

He requested Einstein Bagels, but that is a

little hard on Sunday morning, and I had even

meant to go their the evening before, but they closed

before we returned from all our family fun.

So he was happy with donuts mom

picked up the night before.

We had a lazy morning opening and enjoying
presents for our birthday boy, then it was off
to grandma and grandpa's ward.
They gave wonderful-inspiring talks,
and we had a few other surprises as well.
ALthough she had been soo sick, Karli and her family made it, as
well as a surprise from my grandma thurgood and other family members.
Quinn shared his beautiful talent with us all, and sang
Our Savior's Love (SOLO I might add). He tried to convince
Ame and I, and others to sing with him, but we all chicken out!
He did an amazing job, and I am not even biased :)
I just can't express enough how much
I love and admire my parents for
their dedication to the Lord and HIS church.
Despite all that may be missed while they are gone,
they know they are needed and they GO and Do as the
Lord asks of them! They are true examples of LOVE and SERVICE!
As much as we will all miss them remendously,
we are excited to share in another adventure with them.
Definitely a bitter sweet opportunity!

In addition to enjoying a wonderful day with family,
who joined us from near and far,
I got some snuggles with
sweet Avery.
That evening most of us got to join my parents
at their setting apart for their mission.
They even invited the 3 oldest baptized
grandchildren (which included Ame)
to join us for this special opportunity.
It truly was special and a most spiritual memory!

And today, Monday, we had this...

and here HE is...

For some reason the pictures from the first half

of the party got deleted off my camera.

But they began with a archeologic dig for

Indiana Jones Lego pieces, after which they

worked together to put the lego's together.
The kids also had tons of fun with the Mummy wrap.

even Nalu had some fun with the T.P.

Kaipo wanted to be completely mummified

Ame was a GREAT help with the party

and loved taking charge, especially with the treasure hunt.

She wrote all the clues and

kept all the boys in line.

treasures included bugs/snakes, prizes and treats of all kinds.

We had a creepy things taste test, including:

monkey brains (cold pasta), eyeball soup (grapes in water),

beetles (chocolate raisins), sour worms, snake guts (jello).
Unfortunately that was at the beginning and I have no pictures.

But this was the SAND cake Kaipo requested-

We had a fun bunch of kids.

We were sad that some of our friends couldn't make

it, but were grateful for the friends and cousins who did,

and I think they enjoyed their ADVENTURE!

As much fun as this party was, boy it a lot of work for

this busy mom. After working Thursday and Friday,

then having all the family fun Saturday AND Sunday,

I was left with little prep time.

But Kaipo said it was THE BEST DAY,

so it was definitely worth a few late nights!!

We Love You Kaipolani and hope it really was

a Grand Day for you. You are our ONE OF A KIND

boy and we can't imagine life without YOU.

********************

We feel soo blessed with our own SWEET family

and all of our extended family...mom's, dad's, brother's,

sister's, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, dear friends, etc.

A little of this and a little of that...means its been too long!

Life just never seems to slow down, let alone provide

a few moments to blog. SO this post contains a lot of

randomness of what is keeping us busy...

LOTS of LOVE and playing

a little crafting
a LOT of EATING

friends and Joyschool

LOTS of time in the car and SOME smiles

mom and daughter haircuts-

no that is NOT mom, she was on the other side

of the room getting some serious chopping done.

For some reason NO pics?

and the MOST exciting event...

the birth of this beautiful little

(well not soo little really @ 8lbs.8oz) girl
*AVERY RYENNE*

she already know who her FAVORITE aunt is (haha)

Life is exciting, busy and mostly happy.

Lots to be thankful for!

Ame's first post

This is me,Ame.

On Friday I went to my friend,Irelyn's birthday party.

She had a beach party.

We had hawian hay stacks & drank lemonaid.

Her mom Krislyn made grape ice cubes.

It made the drink taste like grape lemonaid.

YUM!

We played this game where Krislyn made a tray of objects, then she

would take away an

object(They were things that you use at the beach)

and we woud write down wich one we thought

she took off. We also played limbo.

Irelyn's mom made a sand cake for her birthday.

(She realy just put gram crackers,vanilla wafers,cool whip

& pudding)She scooped it out with a shovel.

Then we opened her presents.

We also made candy leis.

After we watched Jonny Lingo.

Then it was time to go.

I had sooo much fun!

I got these fake nails for christmas. My mom finally helped me put them on the other night. But I ended up taking them off right after because I realized they would bug me too much at school and I wouldn't even be able to wear gloves. They were really cute, and I was sad I took them off. I will have to try them again when it is warm and I don't have to worry about putting gloves on!

Birthday Celebrations

We gave daddy some gifts-homemade cards, a candy lei,

and a few other things in the morning before church.

As well as had some donuts to celebrate.

Later in the day we headed south to spend some
time with HIS family. We had a combined
January Birthday Party, since there are four
in the family to be celebrated.
We ate, and played

had cake and cupcakes

and were thoroughly entertained
by these 2. They LOVED the sliding
glass door, followed each other around,

and are just soo darn cute together!!

All in all, it was a pretty mellow day, but

hopefully Quinn felt LOTS of LOVE,

relaxation, and was well fed!

Quinn is a wonderful man, friend,

husband and father.

He is always thinking of the best interest

of his family and others.

We LOVE you soo much honey and

hope you felt extra SPECIAL on YOUR day!!
(oops forgot about this last picture of Kaipo)

Someone is having a birthday???

I pulled off a last minute surprise dinner for Quinn

@ Rooster's, with some of our neighborhood friends.

We had such a fun night just talking and hangin' out.

That 2+ hours went by WAY TOO FAST!

We don't get to enjoy this kind of opportunity often enough!!

(I hope it was a great start to his birthday celebration)