Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Unlike one of our "friends" who claims that he will assume some responsibility for his child when the child can hold a football, Steve has been trying to get Reagan and Cole to catch, throw and hit since they were babies. Having played sports all his life, he loves any kind of sport and wants Reagan and Cole to enjoy playing as well. Well, since the weather outside has been less than cooperative some days, Steve opts to have practice inside - to which I say... "Uhh ohhh!" Yep - we've had balls hit dishes, picture frames, windows and people. On this particular night, Steve got hit right in the smacker - it was a big, bouncy ball, so, the injuries were minor, but I think it serves him right for not keeping his eye on the ball. What do you think?

Training Dragons

Reagan and Cole have only been to see a couple of movies at the theater. We took Reagan once when she was about 4 months old and it was sooooo loud. I didn't notice it as an adult until I had a little one and realized how loud and crazy the sounds were. A few months ago, we took them to see Princess and the Frog and then Shannon took them to Chipmunks and to the Tooth Fairy. Well, last weekend, we took them to their first 3D movie - How to Train Your Dragon. They have worn 3D glasses at Disneyland attractions, etc, but never for an entire movie. They loved it... mostly. We met Matt, his mom Barbara and his sister and her family - what a group. I had to snap a few pics as we were waiting for the movie to start.

Cole only lasted a while with the

glasses (Reagan lasted a bit longer), and spent most of the movie standing up, leaning over the seats in front of us, staring at the screen and turning every so often to ask a question... usually "why Mama?"

When it was over, Cole said "it witta bit scawwwy" to which Reagan promptly replied that she was not at all scared. Steve and I enjoyed it and enjoyed getting together with the Simmons family - always a good time. Thanks for the invite and we'll catch you later in the year for the Shrek 3D movie coming out. (Oh - and join us and the Norris family for Toy Story in June.)

Happy Easter!

This is how I imagine Easter morning - all dressed up and ready for church in our Sunday best. But.... when Easter falls on General Conference weekend, our Easter morning attire consists of pjs and slippers. In some ways, I loved having Conference be on Easter - I mean, how appropriate to hear from the General Authorities on such an important day. Yet, I somehow felt like it wasn't quite Easter without getting our new clothes on and heading to church for the Easter sharing time and Sacrament program. On the other hand, Reagan and Cole were still on Hawaii time and we were all still feeling the effects of the red-eye flight we had taken 24 hours before. So, this year, it was nice to just get up, stay home and watch conference. We also ended up going to have dinner with my family at my parents' house. Because of our Hawaii trip, we did less decorating, the Easter Bunny brought less "stuff", and we actually were able to focus on Easter, conference and family. The pics above are from a post-Easter Sunday, so here's some pics from Easter morning. (ps - please disregard Cole's mis-matched pjs - he woke up with quite a full diaper, so, we had a diaper and pj bottom change before we could venture into the living room to see what the Easter Bunny brought.)

Big Island Day 11

This is it - our last day here. We were up and getting packed early, but then headed out to get as much time at the pool as we could before we had to leave. Usually when we leave Hawaii, our flight departs at 10:30 or 11:00 pm (as did Matt's last night). So, at about 3 as we were sitting at the pool, Steve mentioned 8:30 and I was shocked. I wasn't sure I had enough time to get everyone showered, packed, fed and cleaned up in order to be at the airport by 6:30. Well, it worked out just fine and we were able to wave to the pilot as we walked to the stairway that leads up into the plane (yeah - no concourse walking right on to the plane. Nope - you walk out of the airport, across the tarmac and up the stairs to the open plane. Steve mentioned that it was probably pretty cool for Reagan and Cole to see just how big their airplane is - not just seeing other airplanes from a distance). Neither Steve nor I slept on the plane as we were just holding Reagan and Cole and trying to ensure that they were able to sleep. We arrived almost an hour early to LAX and then had about 2.5 hours until our connecting flight to SLC. We always say we won't do that again (especially a red-eye with a stopover), but we somehow end up forgetting how bad it is and scheduling it again (maybe like childbirth???). Anyway, we arrived home safe and sound to the beautiful snow (that everyone else is complaining about). Sure you can survive winters in Utah.... you just need to take a break in Hawaii!! Here's a few pics from our last day in paradise.

Big Island Days 9 & 10

Another great day here and we are soaking up as much sun as we can. I walked around with Reagan and Cole a bit today and just kept snapping shots of them - they are soooo cute (I know I am totally biased). I just had to love how they would stand together, hold hands and yell "cheeeeeeese". Their blogger mommy has trained them well. Reagan actually has this fake - smile that she does on command, but you can totally tell it is fake. I usually have to encourage her to laugh at a joke or threaten a tickle fest. Oh well - whatever it takes. After all, it is my responsibility to "document" our little family's adventures. Anyway, here's a look at Day 9.



Day 10 brought Matt's last day here with us. We are so sad to see him leave, even if it is only a day before us. We asked Matt what he wanted to do for his last day and he was right with us - more sun and swim time! Well, maybe he really wanted to go touring or to do something else, but if he was lying, we bought it. Reagan and Cole were thrilled to head back to spend the day at the pool. First, though, I asked Matt if he would take a few pics of our family. He did a great job - some of my friends who have seen our pics have asked if we had a professional photographer take these (and other) shots. Way to go Matt! After pics, we swam for hours. Then, we cleaned up and had dinner before Steve had to leave to drive Matt to the airport for his red-eye flight. Thanks Matt - it was great having you here for a few days. Take a look at Day 10.

Big Island Day 8

On day 8, feeling guilty that we haven't left the resort much, we decided to take a drive. After our morning pool time, we headed south to the Four Season's Resort to check out where we might stay on a future trip. It was a smaller area resort, but had a golf course that Matt loved and had some nice, sandy beaches. After that, we drove to Kona for some shopping and then back to the hotel to crash. All this relaxing can really be tiring :)

Big Island Days 6 & 7

Day 6 brought the fun - our son in law Matt! We had been telling Matt and Shannon that we had a suite with a whole extra sleeping area that we wouldn't be using. All they had to do was get there. Shannon had WAY too much going and it was bumping up against her other trip, but Matt was able to make arrangements and we were thrilled to have him join us. I should say that Reagan and Cole were especially thrilled to have him join us - he would swim with them, throw them in the air, and chase them. Fresh blood as they saw it :) Steve and I were thrilled as well to get a bit of a break while Matt played turtle and swam Reagan and Cole around the entire pool.

Day 7, we did something new.... NOT! We just swam and swam again. I know we should probably see some more of this beautiful island, but the volcanos are 4 hours away and we've been told there isn't really much volcanic activity going on right now anyway. Can't we just relax and enjoy? Yep - that's what we're about for this trip - just swim!