Hawaii...

We are back from Hawaii and just wanted to share a few pictures and thoughts from our trip. These pics are a repeat on Face book...sorry!
We had originally planned on staying 5 nights, but the second day we were there we spent four hours on the beach. We all covered heavily in SPF 50 sunblock, but silly me, forgot to cover the tops of my feet. I got the most horrible burn EVER!!! The picture above doesn't even really depict how bad it was because by then it was healing, but it was so bad I could barely even walk and my feet were completely swollen (which I have never experienced with any other pregnancies.) It took three days to heal, and we felt our whole vacation was practically ruined! So we decided to stay 5 more days...and even though it costed us, it was sooooo worth it!!!
A few things I loved about Hawaii is that I never saw any bugs are even flies!!! I saw honey bee's and ants now and then and that was it. Instead of having flies eating your food, it was birds...which Grace absolutely LOVED!!!!!! She chased them everywhere! I also loved the up beat atmosphere of Waikiki. Our hotel room was at the center of it all, and Chris and I would put the kids to bed and sit out on the balcony and just people watch. The city was busy even late at night. It was fascinating. My favorite part of the whole trip was watching the kids experience something new. Originally Chris and I had considered coming alone, but watching their reactions and the fun they were having was priceless. Oh, and being that I am now almost 32 weeks pregnant, I LOVED not having to cook or clean. Oh well, I guess we can't live it up forever!!! We also took the kids to the Polynesian culture center (which was amazing!!) and to the Temple visitors center and were able to watch the Joseph Smith movie that they play in Nauvoo which I LOVE.

We are happy to be home even though we are still trying to adjust to the three hour time difference and cold weather. I feel truly blessed that we were able to do this. We aren't the type of people that spend lots of money on expensive vacations, and I feel we have been very blessed to have been able to make it happen. The memories will be cherished forever!

Happy Birthday Connor!!!

My Connor turned the big 7 today!! I thought I would quickly do a little "spotlight" on this wonderful boy. Connor is my roughest most loud child by far. He tends to yell in a very deep voice, and be very over zealous with out even realizing it. But honestly he has the softest heart. He melts into tears when hurt, and would not ever hurt a fly. His heart is mightier than most people I have ever known. This must come from his dad, because I am just not as sweet as he is! hahaha. Connor would never admit it out loud, but he LOVES girls. Whenever they are around you can bet he's putting on a show. I hope he grows out of this by 16!!! I am just so thankful for Connor. All of my children are such a wonderful part of my life. There may be days where I feel I will completely lose my mind, but when all is said and done, if I ever lost one of them my heart would break. Happy birthday Connor!!! WE LOVE YOU, and wouldn't change a single thing about you!!!! :)

Birthdays and Bra's

The picture below is of the set of scriptures my husband was given from his parents right before his mission. As you can tell they aren't looking so good! I guess this is a good sign that they are and were put to good use. For his 39th b-day (can you believe it??) I bought him a new set. He had wanted some for so long. I guess I am lucky to be married to a man that asks for scriptures for his b-day! lol.

Normally under NO circumstances would I allow my underwear to be paraded across my blog, but this was too sweet and cute to pass up! Every time tried to take it away she would run as far away as possible. I guess she's ready to be a woman a little earlier than I had planned! hahaha.

P.S Chris and I celebrated our 12 year anniversary on the 21st. I have no current pics of he and I together....I am so grateful to be spending my life with this great man. He really is my very best friend. I married UP!!!! :)

One Big Happy Family

Believe it or not, this is not a typical scenario at out house. I usually have the kids split up a little bit more, but tonight I had no time, so here is the whole clan...minus Halee of course! They had so much fun all squished together in the tub!!! Makes me happy to be a mom...

Curly Headed Freak...

is the nickname my older sister April so lovingly designated for me as a child. I used to hate, hate, HATE my curls. It was only later when we were grown that she admitted she was only being a jealous sister and I grew to be content and even excited to have curls. I can understand why she gave me this horrid name though because I used to be so jealous of my younger sister Gina because of her beautiful long blond straight hair!!! This is what happens in a house full of girls! My mom had very straight hair and had no clue how to style curls. They were always brushed giving a major frizz fest effect! I have noticed especially lately that my little Grace has my curls. This is just what mine looked like at her age. I have made it a point in my house though that no name calling is EVER allowed! That doesn't mean it never happens (because I am realizing kids are far too sneaky) but oh boy, there are serious consequences to this rule! Hopefully Grace will love the hair I always hated, and appreciate me for scrunching it and not brushing it!! hehehe.

Pregnancy Update

I thought I would give a little update on how I am feeling at 21 weeks of pregnancy. I am absolutely thrilled to be to the half way point! I have felt so, so, SO good the last few weeks. I do admit though I do get tired easily which I don't remember feeling this early with other pregnancies...does this mean I'm old?? Anyway, for the most part though I am in good spirits and not wanting to hurt any of my children which is definitely a plus. Here is a current picture of my growing self. I always miss being pregnant when I'm not, but when I am I just want to be skinny and go shopping again!! haha..I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts and have fun living in the moment!!! :)

Highlights...

I figured since I have been so very horrible about blogging I would catch up with just a few fun and neat occurrences at our house lately. The first is Christian below. Yes, he found Tampons and has absolutely NO clue what they are actually for, so using his imagination he turned them into "dynamite." He has these put safely away in his top drawer just in case he ever finds need to blow something up... I am a do laundry everyday kind of girl. If I don't it just gets out of control and can truly turn scary. I always do it when the kids are in school and Grace gets incredibly bored. Her new hobby is to hang out with the Littlest Pets inside the dryer. Sounds like loads of fun right?!

Austin had gone to bed the other night and he got up and said he wanted to share an experience with me he'd just had. He was reading his scriptures on his bed and the flashlight was going out. He said he decided to say a little prayer that it would burn long enough to finish the chapter. He says it got brighter as he read and then went dim as he finished. I could tell by the way he told me, and more so his urgency to tell me that his testimony had been strengthened by such a small act of faith. Sometimes I think Heavenly father sent these children to me not so I could teach them, but so they could teach me. I learn so much from them!