Winding Down...

I am having mixed feelings about the summer winding down,

as I am sure many other mothers are too.

But one thing I am grateful for is that

the SUMMER FUN has not come to an end yet!

In the past week we have had...

cousins get-togethers WITH water balloons

LOTS of popcycles (and shave ice)

Nalu even discovered the goodness of these treats

Ame and mom did a 5K Fun Run w/our stake.

Ame rode her bike, as I tried to keep up with her.

we took 2nd place in our division

our 1st race together-

Hopefully we will have many more!

MORE swimming. This time daddy joined us.

A real treat, as we don't get to enjoy his

company very often (poolside that is).

Kaiya had her 3rd bday party.

We were soo glad we could celebrate with her!

Don't want to steal Karli's thunder,

so I'll let her blog about the party

(but look at that FUN cake).

much enjoyed by all!

Luckily we have one more fun-filled week

of SUMMER left. Lets see how much

FUN we can fit into our last few days b4 school starts?!

my BABY is 9 months old today

My baby boy continues to grow way too fast!
Today we had his 9 month check-up

and these were his stats:

weight=20.5 lbs=55%

height=29 in=80%
I was a bit surprised by these finding,

mostly because this boy *LOVES, LOVES, LOVES

to eat and I feel like he is hungry all the time!

He will eat anything and everything.

Some other bits of info about Nalu at this age:

*he is close to crawling, but just doesn't quite make the

move yet. He does a lot of reaching! Mom is not at

all anxious for him to start crawling. I am fine for

him to stay immobile for as long as he'd like!!

*he enjoys interacting and playing with all sorts of toys

AND his siblings are soo entertaining!

*he is not shy, nor does he have a fear of

an unfamiliar face. He just smiles away!

*Nalu LOVES swimming & playing in the water

*he loves being outdoors

*doesn't like to be left alone-sometimes

dad or one of the kids can entertain him a bit,

but he pretty much ALWAYS wants MOM

*he has discovered how to use his mouth/voice,

exploring sounds he can make-squealing,

smacking his lips and spitting

(not so fun at feeding time)

*still doesn't sleep through the night,

but he does nap really well (usually 2-3 hrs at a time)

so mom gets some time to rest her arms!

*he has 3 visible teeth, and a few others that

keep poking back and forth through your gums

(you haven't been so happy about that).

Oh Nalu, you are such a joy. You bring soo much

happiness to our family. We really could not imagine

life without YOU!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH

(please just stop growing up so fast)

neighborhood fun

There was a emergency preparedness fair

in our neighborhood last weekend and the kids got to

have a tour of the fire truck and ambulance.

Kaipo had LOTS of curious questions

and they were all pretty facinated

Hula Pics

Once a year they try to get the whole group together for pictures.

While waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

for everyone to show up I took lots of pic of just Ame

Oh this girl...

Ash insisted on coming too

(after about a half an hour he

was ready to go home,

so for 2 hours I got to enjoy his

whinning about wanting to

GO HOME)
He did have a little fun...

watching the SCARY, BIG geese in the pond

Keiki 1, 2 and 3 groups

Ame and her friend Emma-

they have been taking Hula about the

same amount of time together

MOST of the group

Ame has been apart of the group for about 4 years now.

Something I hope SHE wants to be apart of

for many more years to come!

MORE Fun WITH Cali Cousins

This past week was filled with LOTS more fun

with cousins, Evan and Kyle.

We visited temple square-got a tour from

Valar (my parents cute friend from India)

and then afterwards we spent some time

at the Church History Museum

which has a discovery area for kids,

and they had soo much fun there. I LOVE this picture of Kaipo and Valar.

He thinks she is pretty neat and is soo intriqued

by her (I love that this picture captures that).

After our teomple square visit
WE got to have our turn with the cousins.
Kyle and Evan had a sleep over at our
house. We fit in as much fun as possible!
First the kids had some Wii time...

then we went to the park and had an

evening pizza picnic AND lots of PLAY time

each of the kids took a turn

on these crazy spinning cups

after the park, it was home for

popcycles, and even a movie and popcorn.

the next morning it was time for some

swimming...

this lady in our ward who opens up her

backyard to whoever wants to come

(every thursday), has an

INCREDIBLE yard with a pool, tree/clubhouse,

swings, trampoline, hammocks, and

even a fish/duck pond. Quite an amazing place!
When I told Kyle she had a

TREEHOUSE he was soo excited!!

We had soo much fun with Evan and Kyle.

They are such sweet, polite boys!

Their momma and papa should be very proud!!

We were so thankful WE got to have them

stay with us for part of their time here in Utah

and that we got to spend soo much time

playing, getting to know them and

making memories!

Primary PaRaDe

Thursday evening (in honor of pioneer day),

the kids had a primary parade.

They got to decorate bike, scooters,

whatever they planned to ride, and then

parade down the streets of the neighborhood.

Kaipo couldn't decide between skates
or scooter, since his bike had a flat
(and dad was not home to fix it)

after the QUICK parade, the kids
all gathered for root beer floats

can't beat that for a fun AND hot summer night

way to go girl

I forgot to add this with the last post, but after seeing several of her cousins do it, Ame was determined she could jump off the high dive too. As scary as she thought it would be to, and after several attempts...

~SHE DID IT~

She had quite the cheering squad, including her cousin Jake (I LOVE his reaction in the video).

Way to go Girl!!

2 days of fun!

On Tuesday we met my mom, cousins Evan & Kyle

(they came back w/my parents from Cali for a 2 wk visit),

Karli and her girls, AND LeAnne & her kids, for a fun

filled afternoon of swimming (and of course eating).

As you can see it was enjoyed by all!!
the kids in the lazy river

b4 we all packed it up for the day

(Karli had already left by this point)

we got the kids to sit still for some funny face pics

Then on Wednesday, we enjoyed our yearly visit from

our dear friend Jamie and her kids (and a few extras).
There were a total of 11 kids in the house.

It was a bit crazy, with just a few melt downs,

attitudes/arguments, but all in all the kids

had a blast and us moms got to

talk and catch up (and even a little remeniscing).

We all hope that one day Jme and her family will

make it back to Utah TO LIVE so we can see each other more

than once a year. Until then, we will just look forward

to our once (or twice) a year get togethers!!

~Love ya Jamie~

the kids got to make mini pizzas for lunch

who doesn't like pizza, especially when you get to

make it just how you like it?!

then after running wild for a bit, the kids calmed down

enough to make some smores. SOme were not so sure about

the sticky treat, but most of them gobbled it down!

SUmmer Fun, with friends and family...

it just doesn't get any better than this!!

MMMMMM......

Each Sunday we usually make a different treat.

SOmetimes we try something new.

We made a real good one this time...

indoor smores

SOOO easy and MMM....good!!

great job Kaipo

Kaipo has given a few talks in primary, but this time he was determined to do it ALL BY HIMSELF. After practicing only a few times he had it memorized! We are so proud of you Kaipo and the smart, amazing boy you are!!