Updates, Finally....

I am finally updating the old blog again. It has been a very busy fall and beginning of winter. We have been very blessed this year. Just updating the last few months I am overwhelmed with all we have to be thankful for. We are loving our new home and the neighborhood. I truely feel we were led to that area for multiple reasons that would benefit and help our family grow. Kalun was sustained as the 2nd councelor in the bishopric earlier this month which has added a little more craziness to our lives. But we are excited for the blessings and growth that this opportunity will give us. Kyli is thriving with the help of the amazing YW in this ward. The other kids are all also doing well and have been very good friends. I am excited for what this new year will bring!


P.S. I have been having major camera malfunctions lately. So sorry about any blurry pictures, that seems to be all my camera takes anymore. We have been taking lots of pictures with our phones but I haven't had a chance to upload those. So we are missing a lot of pictures and events (especially of Alcatraz and San Fransico). Hopefully one day I'll get those uploaded.

Temple Square

We haven't gone to Temple Square the last couple of years, it was my goal to go this year. Unfortunately December flew by and we didn't make it before Christmas. But we had some friends call and invite us after Christmas. I'm so glad we went. We tried really hard this year to focus on Christ throughout the month and it was a perfect way to end our month.
Outside the Conference Center
Cute Kids


Logan and Tate were very fascinated by the manger scene. We brought Hot Chocolate in a thermos and took a hot cocoa break.

Thanksgiving Point Wagon Ride

My parents wanted to do something fun with all our families so they decided to take us all on a wagon ride through the Thanksgiving Point Lights. We went the 26th. It was lot's of fun. We were only missing 2 siblings and their families. The kids had a blast, I think my mom and dad did too.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was so much fun! The kids are at such a fun age. Addison didn't like being woken up early but other than that the morning went very smoothly. We had church at 9am so Kalun and I got up about 6:15 and hurried and showered. At 6:55 we were impatient and went and woke up the kids. We got everything unwrapped and scarfed down breakfast and headed off to church. The church service was beautiful with lots of music and 2 short talks. Then we headed back home and the kids actually got to take some time and get out some of their new things to play with. Tate and Haylie were a little upset because they both got new bikes and were so excited to ride them but since it was Sunday we told them they had to wait until Monday. Kalun's parents came over after church for a small brunch. My parents came and visited later also. We then had a huge Christmas feast with a neighbor whose family all live out of state, it was delicious! A little rundown of some of our gifts: Kalun and I got a snowblower, Kalun also got a double shot basketball game (which has already gotten a lot of use), I also got a really sweet BYU hoodie. Kyli got a desk and chair for her room for homework, coat, some books, and DS games. Tate got a bike, remote control airplane, ninjago legos, and hero factory. Haylie got a bike, princess play tent, barbie cloths, play beauty stuff. Addison got a little princess couch, aquadoodle, a barbie, and a stuffed doggie. It was a very wonderful Christmas we feel very blessed.

Jeric's Wedding

Kalun's brother Jeric got married in November. Kalun was one of the best men, Kyli was the Jr. bridesmaid, and Haylie was the flower girl. The all looked so good in their fancy outfits. Haylie was so excited to be the flower girl. She talked about it for months before the wedding. She was so adorable. The wedding was at the Cascade Golf Course in Orem. There were definitely some hiccups but the wedding turned out nice. When it was time for the bouquet toss there weren't many single ladies, so guess who caught it? Kyli. There was lots of good food but the kids had the most fun when the dance music came on. All the kids loved dancing. Addison and her Uncle Jason.
Kyli was the only one who didn't want to dance, we had to make her. But, once she got out there she had fun.

I then left early with all the kids to put them to bed. (They wanted to have alcohol at the reception but waited until later so the kids weren't there) Anyway so Kalun stayed and the rest of us left and he became the designated driver. The kids were so exhausted from a long day they fell asleep minutes after we got home. Later we went to check on all the cousins having a sleepover in our basement and they were all crazy and on top of each other, it was so funny. They were so tired!

Halloween 2011

Many of you know about the Polar Express train ride in Lindon. We had heard that they do a halloween train ride but we had never tried it. This year we did. It was very cute. All the kids dressed up and we brought some friends with us. We went around 4 so that it wasn't dark so the kids wouldn't get scared. They had a lot of fun.
We of course carved pumpkins. The kids were a little more helpful this time. Tate and Kyli were able to help clean out all the guts, and help cut their's out. For years Kalun has wanted to sit on the porch and scare trick-or-treaters. I have never let him because we lived in such a young neighborhood that I was worried he's make everyone cry. Well this year I caved. He looked more excited than a kid at Christmas. He's the freaky gray thing with the white mask. So we set out our candy on the porch and Kalun crouched next to it in the bushes. It looked so funny most parents that came up with their kids thought he wasn't real. I warned him to take it easy on the little kids but he could scare the older ones. So he would sit there really still while they rumaged through the bowl and then he would growl "just take one" or something and everyone would jump and scream. It was actually really funny. He got a few neighbor ladies pretty good that were out with their kids. He also got a bunch on YM and YW really good. The only sad story was this cute little 8 year cub scout of ours (we were both in cub scouts at the time). Kalun figured that he was 8 so he could handle a good scare. So he jumped and scared them. This poor little boy was terrified, he ran off crying and jumped in his mom's car. So, needless to say Kalun spent lot's of time trying to win this little kid back over. He's still a little scared of Kalun. Overall though, it was a very fun Halloween.

San Fransico Getaway

This fall Kalun was traveling like crazy! He had a ton of huge projects he was overseeing. A couple of those trips were for 2 weeks at a time. So we decided it would be fun for me to fly out for a weekend to be with him. My mom was very kind and took the kids. It was the funnest, cheapest trip I've ever been on. I flew for free using Kalun's frequent flyer points, then the hotel and rental car were being paid for by Kalun's work, and so was Kalun's food. So, we basically paid for my food and a few activities. I flew out on a Friday. Got to the hotel and Kalun needed to finish some work. Well all you mom's out there will appreciate this, I laid on the bed and took an uninterrupted 2 hour nap. It was heavenly! Then we got going and went to dinner and a movie. I know this sounds kind of lame, but we don't get out much. Our family dynamic makes it VERY difficult to ever get a babysitter, so something simple like dinner and a movie is a big deal for us. The next morning we woke up really early and took the BART (Bar Area Rapid Transit) into San Fransico. We were staying in San Jose. It was fun passing through Oakland and looking out the window and seeing the beautiful temple. It was so interesting to me because the Bart goes through a rough part of town, it was really beat up with graffiti everywhere and then out in the distance was the beautiful temple. We actually talked with a family about it on the ride. It was really fun to have the opportunity to talk about the temple with non-members. It was Fleet Week that weekend. Which meant that there were extra special activities going on such as, a naval boat parade, and all day air shows. The parade was so cool. We saw an aircraft carrier, destroyer, and other huge ships. There were air shows like every 30 mins. We also had reserved an alcatraz cruise. We took a huge ship across the bay to the island and explored all over. It was so interesting. Kalun and I were mesmerized. We also went to an aquarium. This place had some of the craziest looking fish I have ever seen.
That night on the way back to the bart we watched this crazy show put on by acrobatic street performers, they were so good. The next day we went to a beach and just relaxed. It was really hard to get on a plane and come home without Kalun. I was anxious to see the kids, but the kid-free time with Kalun was really nice. I wish my camera was working better so I had more pics. We both have a whole bunch on our phones maybe one day I'll download them and add them on.

Pinewood Derby

Kalun is the cub scout master and I am the bear leader right now. I never had any idea how busy scouts is, probably because we don't have a scout yet. We successfully survived the pinewood derby this week. Kalun put so much work into it, but it went so well and we got lots of compliments on all the little details. I wish I had taken more pictures of that night and the way we set it up and decorated. Kalun and I made these trophies...aren't they beauties?? Then Kalun scowered the internet and I asked all around and here are some of the other ideas we stole....First we made Pit passes/drivers licences. All the boys got there and checked in with me where they had to take a driver's test (a cute test Kalun found online about the rules of the pinewood derby). Then they would hand in their test and they would have to "pass" the eye exam and then we would give them their license. We had flags all over the gym, and then I had cut out a ton of triangle and hung string down each side of the track where everyone colored and made flags to add to the track. Kalun also made a certificate and came up with 25 awards. He had this huge bracket so each boy raced at least twice. We even had a little intermission where we served homemade rootbeer floats while all of the leaders hurried to designate prizes to each boy. It was so much work and I don't think anyone will truely know or appreciate how much time we put in to this derby, but it seemed to be a huge success. Of course we lost Addison a couple of times because we were each so busy trying to do our parts. One time was actually really scary as she had followed some kids outside. It has been quite a challenge having both of us serve together, this is not the first time Addison has been "misplaced" at a pack meeting and the rate we are going I'm sure it won't be the last.

Gymnastics

Haylie has begged me for like 2 years now to do gymnastics. So we finally got her enrolled. She is doing a really good job. I'm not going to lie I'm a pretty proud mama. It reminds me so much of my childhood that were so filled with nights at the gym. But really I'm just happy to find things that she loves to do that keep her busy. By the way sorry the pic is a bit blue the kids play with my phone alot and screwed up my camera for awhile.

Preschool

Haylie has finally started preschool. She is a lot like Tate. She really doesn't care to learn anything but she loves the social! She is going to school with a few kids in the neighborhood which she loves. Her teacher gave them all a canvas bag and told them to decorate them. Haylie being the funny girl that she is had to go immediately to the store to pick out some sparkly stuff for her bag. Needless to say we pretty much bedazzled the crap out of it and she loves it! She just wishes school was everyday instead of just 3 times a week.

1st Grade

Tate is in 1st grade. He was so excited to start school again, not because he likes learning but because he loves the social part. He hates doing homework especially reading and it takes a lot of encouragement and creativity to keep him interested. However, he comes home often with a new friend. He literally walks in the door throws down his backpack, and grabs a snack as he's running out the door to go play with his friends. They opened a new school down the road a bit so him and some neighbors ride their bikes to school everyday, Tate loves it. He's growing up way to fast and often acts more like a teenager than Kyli, but he is a good kid and we love him to pieces.

8th Grade!

I can't believe that Kyli started 8th grade! She is so grown up and old all the sudden. She is doing really well this year so far. She knows a lot more people this year and is feeling more comfortable. The move was the best thing in the world for her. All the YW in the ward are really close and really watch out for each other. They eat lunch together everyday, which has been a huge relief to Kalun and I(she ate alone a lot of last year). The worst part of her being in 8th grade is that next year is 9th which is in the high school.....we are not ready for that!

Summer Picnics

I am so grateful for our new house, but I am even more grateful for our new neighborhood. Not to take away from our old neighborhood where we had/still have wonderful friends. It served it's purpose at the time. However this new neighborhood is definitely serving it's purpose at this time in our lives. Kyli has come out of her shell a bit and has been able to find some amazing friends. Tate and Haylie have also found some great new friends. There is this super cute family that has a boy Tate's age and two little girls who play with Haylie. They have become the best of friends and they are such cute little kids. Haylie and Leah are the same age. Then there is Maddie who just turned 3 who they let play with them every day. And then when they are at our house they even let cute little Addison play with them. Addison seems to be growing up faster than we can blink while she plays with the older girls. The other day they decided to have a picnic and of course Addison wanted to join in. These 4 cute little girls where smiling and giggling and having the best time. It is moments like those that help keep you sane during the not so cute moments.

Flaming Gorge 2011

Here are just a select few pictures of our annual trip to the Gorge. It was so much fun to have almost everyone there all week. We had so much fun and were always on the go. We love having our kids play with their cousins, and I really enjoyed spending a little time with Jodi (my sister) before they left to move to Connecticut.

Neighborhood Party

We have carried on the tradition from our old neighborhood of organizing a block party with the neighbors. We used to have so much fun doing them that we decided this summer even though we moved the tradition must continue. So Kalun and another new neighbor organized a whole neighborhood party. (We used to do just a street party at the old house, but we live in a newer development that is still mostly empty lots with only about 1/4 of it full so we invited the whole neighborhood). We had an amazing turnout and had so much fun. We continued the tradition of inviting the local fire department. We did that a couple times in Lehi, but it was an even bigger hit here. The neighbors all seemed to have a really good time.