Double Wammy

This morning when Kaipo woke up (b4 the SUn, as usual) he seemed fine and just watched some cartoons. But then when it was time for breakfast and to start getting ready for church, he was complaining that he wasn't feeling well. I could tell he wasn't his usual self of bouncing off the walls, so I knew something was up. Sure enough, he pucked the only thing he'd had, some watered down juice. So I decided it would best to keep him home from church and see how he felted throught the day. He was fine, other than not eating anything and just laying around.

We had been invited to the Robinson's for a Superbowl/Ryan's Bday party later in the day and I thought if he didn't have any other issues that it was probably just his sensitive stomach. He had some toast and few crackers is all. But of course about a half an hour B4 it was time to leave he did it again. ALL OVER his blankets, clothes, pillow, and even some on the couch. I so love the clean up!! I told QUinn he should just take Ame and go, no sense it us all staying home. So I got all the disgusting stuff cleaned off and threw it all in the washer. Here's where the other WAMMY comes.

We have an OLD washer/dryer set, but they have lasted and lasted so why buy nwe ones?? To save you from occassions like today, is what I have learned. SO all the stuff that I listed above is what was in my washer. I go to put it all in the dryer and find it all soaking wet still. So I put it to spin and tried again and again, only to find that it will NOT spin, just hums. Oh wonderful! SO I tried my best to ring out the water from everything, remember this isn't just normal stuff. It is all the heaviest fabrics possible. Maybe THAT is what did the washer in. At least the dryer still works, right?!

SO tomorrow we get to go shop for the unplanned, but all so necessary NEW washer and dryer!!

At the end of this day though, my boy is sound asleep and seems to be doing better. We will see, for sure, in the morning (hopefully NOT in the middle of the night).

*An interesting side note: as I was praying last night, I was expressing gratitude that no had been sick this year, huh. I was just being grateful, NOT asking for anything! And of course Kaipo is the only one of the 3 kids who didn't get a flu shot.

Girls Night Out!

One of the cute Young Women in our ward

invited us to her special night.

Having grown up in central california you'd

think I would have attended a

Quinceneria Celebration at least once,

but this was my first.

Ame and Mommy had a date night tonight,

and Ame was so excited to go, even though she didn't really

even know what we were going to be doing.

She did say on the way home that this date was by far

her most favorite one. She is already requesting

to have one of these kind of celebrations

when SHE turns 15.

HHMMM, we'll have to see about that :)

Ame LOVED Lindsay's beautiful gown,

and admired all the BIG kids all dressed up.

I soo wish I would have had my camera,

Ame had a blast dancing with her friends,

doing the Hokey Pokey, YMCA, and lots of

other fun dances. Mom even joined her

a few times on the dance floor.

I don't feel too OLD very often, but I sure

did tonight! I think this is the time when

I start living through my kids, to TRY and

feel young again!!

Friday MOVIE night

Nothing beats HSM and carmel popcorn...

for these two anyway!

Friday nights (if we are home) are the night the kids

get to stay up and watch a movie, of their choice.

You'd think having watched these movies OVER

and OVER they wouldn't be soo enthralled,

but they still are!

5 P's

This week at Preschool, Kaipo class practiced the

# 5 and letter P.

So that meant today was the 5 P's Day...

Pj's, Peter Pan, Pizza Party

Ms Michelle is so fun and creative!

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

We (mom especially) were sad to miss this months field trip

to Jamba Juice. We removed Kaipo from this preschool,

at the end of December,when we THOUGHT

we were moving out of the area. Then (amidst our move-

which we are now actually only a block away from Ms Michelle's)

I heard his spot had been filled. Well come to find out, she

still had room for one more, so she graciously took Kaipo back.

Anways, in that 2 weeks he missed they had a fieldtrip to

Jamba Juice and got to make juice & smoothies,

got free coupons and the whole bit.

One I would have loved to have joined in on!!

(I'm sure Kaipo would have liked it too)

One last bit of celebration

For our Family Home Evening activity today, Ame made up a

Treasure Hunt

for Quinn

Here is her last clue, that sent him to his

Treasure
Ame made most of this cake, including the decorating.
She was pretty proud of herself, as were the rest of us!

We sure LOVE our daddy!!

Happy Birthday To You

This AMAZING man had a birthday yesterday. We celebrated at Tucano's Friday night,

with 16 of our family and friends.
We were very grateful for those who could join us
to celebrate, and missed those who couldn't be there!
The guy (Spencer) standing across from QUinn has a birthday next week,
and QUinn's sister (Kuulei) had a bday on the 11th, and his
dad's wife (Sheri) had a bday on the 5th, so...
we had A LOT to celebrate.
Of course the workers came around with a fun
song and dance to sing for all the birthday people.
Quinn with his bro, Kaleo and his sis, Kuulei.

Quinn is someone that no one ever forgets.

He is so full of ambition and has a passion for soo many

things (one in particular)! He is a person overflowing with knowledge

and is so willing to share all that he knows with those around him.

Quinn is continously thinking of others, and how HE can help them.

He does everything in his power and works SOO very hard

to provide for his family, and WE are so blessed to have him!

He is an amazing father and husband, and know exactly

what makes each of us happy!!

We love you QUinn and

hope you felt special on YOUR day!

couldn't forget this one!

I don't know how,but I actually forgot to post this after Christmas,

but it was too cute to leave out.

I had a post explaining the stress about my parents

getting their packages.

This is the incredibly AWESOME idea that

Quinn came up with.

One SNOWY day he took Ame and Kaipo on the

Frontrunner Train to the Gateway, in downtown SLC.

He was taking them to Build-A-Bear

to make a special gift for my parents.

Quinn constantly amazes me at HIS creativity! The excitment and anticipation on the kids faces,

explains how THEY felt about their experience.

Quinn also did an outstanding job of getting
video of their experience!!
(although it turned out a bit blurry)


I LOVE how serious Ame takes wish making.

The video doesn't show it very well, but she is

NO DOUBT making a true wish!

Where are we...some may wonder

I don't have any pics to go along with this one (wish I had taken some from the moving fiasco). I have been putting off, writing this post. One because I have been soo busy the past week-packing, cleaning, moving, cleaning, unpacking, and trying to make life seem somewhat normal in the process, for the kids sake. Two, because I knew this would take some time to write and may even make me a bit sad. So, just to back up a bit...some may not even know that we were even considering moving, others knew of the idea, but to where? Our plans have changed several times in the process, but we finally made the right choice for the situation we were in.
SO here goes:
Way back, last semester Quinn started teaching at UVU (almost full-time) and we thought there was a strong possiblity he could become a full-time professor soon and so we began to contemplate the idea of moving to Utah County. I was NOT keen on the idea. I LOVE , LOVE, LOVE where we live, my friends, my ward, how comfortable I feel here. QUinn was more into the idea because all his family is in Orem and he has so many ties there. So we looked at houses periodically and contemplated the idea casually, while also putting our house on the market. We showed our house several times, but not offers. As time went on, the idea took a place on the back-burner, UNTIL someone out of the blue called us to rent our house (which was the option QUinn was more into). This was the beginning of December, so....we now had people to move into our house and No Place for US to go.
We decided together that we loved the area we live in WAY too much to leave and the UVU idea was not amounting to full-time, so we really had no NEED to move down there, but the renters for our house put quite bit of money down and QUinn committed to them that they could move in (maybe he jumped the gun a bit). With the market the way it is Quinn decided if we were going to buy or build again, now would be the time. So we looked HARD for a couple of weeks, found some great homes but nothing we could agree on as THE ONE.
So, now we are renting a home, for the next 5 month in Riverdale, about 5 blocks from our house. Ame can now finish Kindergarten here, we are going to stay in our same ward and we can find the RIGHT home for us. The home we are in is older, but has LOTS of space and more than meets our needs for the next few months. In the mean time we are deciding whether we want to build again or just find a GREAT house. At least we don't feel rushed into finding something, just because we have to, that we aren't going to be completely happy with for a long time and now we have some time to make this HUGE decision.
We moved on MOnday and I am mostly unpacked now, feeling somewhat less frazzled. This side of moving is always way less stressful, and I can now do things in my own time. I am only unpacking the necessary things to live, since we will only be here a short time. But I am soo exhausted from the HUGE job it was to pack and clean my house. I am definitely going to use that massage gift certificate, I got for Christmas, VERY SOON!!


***I want to thank Frankie and Jeff for sacrificing their time to come up a couple of different time to help us pack and move. You are so generous and we seriously couldn't have done it without you!!!

Also, thank you Keaka and Raschel for coming up. Keaka was a tremendous help with getting things moved out of our house and into this one. Raschel you were a true angel, and just what I needed to help with the kids. Especially Ash, who was sooooooo hard to pack and clean with (constantly at my knees, wanting to be held). YOU are a much more entertaining mom than I am :)

I KNOW everyone is sick of helping us move, especially those who have helped numerous times, but I want you to know it has really meant A LOT to us, and we truly LOVE YOU for your sacrifices on our behalf. Hopefully we are nearing our moving days***

Another Great Memory

These kind of get togethers don't happen very often,

so I really do cherish them.

I am so grateful for dear friends and

the fond memories I have with each of you!

random Ad-Ons

First of all, we were SOOO glad my parents

got all of their packages.

All of our families had put together and sent them

2 packages containing 12 days of Christmas gifts,

in early November and they didn't get it until like

2 days b4 Christmas......talk about nerve racking & last minute.

The weekend b4 Christmas, Quinn decided we should

Fed-ex them another small package because WE were so

concerned they weren't going to get the original package.

Now they just got an extra amount of LOVE.

We hope that missionary bear reminds you

just how much we really do

LOVE you!!!

And now you can get hugs and kisses

(from Ame and Kaipo) any time you want now!

*We hope you had a memorable

& Merry Christmas*

Good thing mom knows what Santa is getting everyone.

This is the one thing Ame said she didn't get,

but really wanted.
She was surprised Christmas morning when it

made its way ALL the way to Provo!

We'll see if Kaipo can get the hang of this one.
He also loves all of his new Star Wars action figures!

Ash was the hardest one to shop for, for sure!
But he seems happy with his toys, just about as much as
his brother and sisters toys.
DOn't they always want what someone else has??
(which makes for friendly sharing of toys...NOT)
And here is another sledding picture.
Looks like fun, doesn't it?
Mom missed out cuz she was inside while Ash was sleeping,
but daddy did get to join them!

MORE celebrating

Christmas Eve was full of fun and craziness,

with the Hanamaikai crew.

We ate AND ate, talked, laughed, played, and

even had our own little Nativity Play

(with Joseph & Mary, an Angel, Shepherds, and

Wisewomen-you do what you gotta do when the girls dominate)

we opened presents and
loved what we got!

Ash does NOT leave mommy's side, except to see Uncle Clint

Quinn's brother, Keaka, took all the kids sledding Christmas Day.

They all had a BLAST!

We were so grateful to all our loved ones for their thoughtfulness, love and generosity. We love each and every member of our families, near and far, and are so thankful for the ways in which they touch, bless and enrich our lives! Most importantly, we LOVE our Savior for His life and His sacrifice. May we always remember him, and strive to keep him apart of our lives each and every day, is OUR goal, this coming year! Happy New Year to YOU and hope you have had a Christmas Season filled with much Aloha!!

An early visit from Santa

Because we were going to be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Quinn's family, in Orem, we decided to just spend the night (also because the weather was suppose to be stormy) down there. So, mom and dad decided it would be a good idea (thx Jme) to have Santa pay our home an early visit. When I brought up that idea to Ame, of course she had NO PROBLEM with that, cuz it really meant Christmas lasted even longer!

So we did our Christmas eve stuff, and I decided to start a NEW tradition of Navajo Taco, so here is my fry bread. The family seemed happily impressed, so I think this one is here to stay!

We enjoyed some of the MANY yummy treats that have been graciously been given to us, and some sparkling cider.

We watched this wonderful video...to TRY to put our focus in the RIGHT place.

and did our LOVE stocking.

Ame would not let us forget to leave cookies for Santa. She left a cute note for him as well. I guess he was pleased, cuz this is the note he left in return.

Ame got a BIG surprise from Santa. Not what she had asked for, but she has been happily cruzin' her new scooter around the basement (since it is way too snowy outside), with NO complaints!
Ash is loving one of his new gifts as well!

Kaipo was more than ecstatic with his new Mega-blocks castle. He is a TRUE knight now!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Asplund for the great gifts you got us (via mom)

We're hoping this one helps Ash say a few more (or ALOT more) words.

This one is a BIG HIT too.

Daddy liked his gifts
And mommy too
I made monkey bread last year and everyone thought it was just OK.

I thought I would try it again, and see if there were any opinion changes.

As good as I thought it was, I think I will be looking for a NEW Christmas morning breakfast.

Quinn and his family LOVE spam, eggs, rice, and the whole bit (which is what we had this morning), but I want something that is OUR tradition. (Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated)

One of our neighborhood friends brought this over on Christmas Eve (day) and I thought it was such a creative & fun gift idea.

*I may just have to borrow this one*

So the early visit, although it was a LAST MINUTE decision, actually worked out quite nicely. A LOT less stress on the REAL day, but I dont' think I want it to be a permanent thing. It still felt a little wierd! But our Christmas was still VERy Merry and Bright!!!