O'ahu - Day 1

With Thanksgiving behind us and snow piling up (and more storms predicted for the next 2 weeks), we figured we had better head out of town. What's the best place to escape winter in Utah? Hawaii!!!!! We decided to try O'ahu for a change. We haven't been there since taking Steve's girls and their spouses there in 2004. We have kind of dismissed O'ahu as too crazy busy and too commercial, favoring the toned-down Maui, but I have to say, we have definitely reconsidered. It was great! It wasn't too crowded and the pools and beach were fabulous. One bonus for us was the ability to walk to any of our favored shopping and dining destinations. In Maui, we have to have a rental car as even grocery shopping is a 10-15 minute drive. Here, we are blocks away from McDonalds and Subway (Reagan's and Cole's favorites) and from several ABC stores as well as Macy's, other stores and our usual restaurants. We found places to eat that were by the beach, maybe not exactly like our Maui haunts of Hula Grill and Lelanis, but close enough. We didn't need to rent a car and we saw everything we wanted to see. This trip, we didn't hit the PCC or Pearl Harbor, thinking that Reagan and Cole were a bit too young to really understand and enjoy those attractions. All we needed was the area by Waikiki and we were set. Plus, without having to take a red-eye home we were able to recover faster from the time change. We had fabulous weather and a wonderful trip. No floods this time. Plus, this trip, we are home in time to really enjoy the Christmas season (that year when we returned on December 21st was pushing it a bit). Two thumbs up for O'ahu - we will definitely be back.

Our first day, we arrived at the hotel just after 5 pm. We immediately changed into shorts and headed outside. We passed the infinity pool that was gorgeous - about 3 stories high and overlooking the ocean. Alas, it was only an "adult" pool (guess we'll have to skip the infinity pool for this trip). We walked past the pools and down to the beach. After a while in the sand, we walked to dinner and returned to the beach to play in the sand a bit more. Finally, we checked out the biggest pool. Even though it was closed, we had to put our feet in for just a few minutes. Our hotel had several sand sculptures of Santa that were amazing. Then, we saw the real Santa Clause!!!! (We hypothesize that he left the North Pole at this crucial time just to check up on Reagan and Cole and make sure they were being nice.) After a long day of traveling, we called it an early night to get ready for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving

As Steve's girls were heading to St. George for Thanksgiving with their grandparents, we had two Thanksgiving celebrations this year. First, we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before the actual turkey day. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, we headed out to my parents' house for dinner with the fam. Mom made it even more interesting by bringing out her Christmas gifts for the grandchildren. Reagan and Cole were elated to receive their gifts - toy story stuff for him and jewelry and bags for her - SCORE!

We ate, chatted, played football and wrestled. Poor Cody - Reagan and Cole ganged up on him and he was found running, screaming "every man for himself!!!!" Reagan and Cole loved the game and just chased he and Braden until they yielded :)

We are so blessed - it is wonderful to take a day to acknowledge our blessings and the source of those blessings. I love that the official proclamation, by Abraham Lincoln, making Thanksgiving a holiday, acknowledges our Heavenly Father as the source of our blessings. I hope that we always remember that and that we always give our thanks to Him.

We are so blessed to have our beautiful Reagan and Cole, to have each other and to have Steve's girls and their families. We live in a free country and have the right to worship as we please with several temples within a close distance from our home. We live in a beautiful area and have great family and friends. We have all of our parents still living and within visiting distance and we have health (something that we didn't always have with Steve's back problems). Blessed indeed.... we definitely do need to give thanks!

Advertising.... It Really Works (Part 2)

In a previous post, I talked about how Reagan and Cole see a Ford logo and immediately say "Look Mama - American Idol". That continues and Cole might even be the best one at spotting them as we drive around town.

Well, the trend of advertising working on my children continues. Last night, as they were waiting for dinner, they were fishing through a pile of mail. Cole was holding a Macy's ad when Reagan grabbed it out of his hand and said "Look - its a Macy's card". I couldn't believe that she knew what that was. I asked her "How do you know it is Macy's?" She turned the paper around so I could see and gave me a look like "Duh Mom!" Steve piped in and said "She probably recognized the star." I asked her whether that was it and she replied (very matter of factly I might add) "Yes - they show me the star and then they say 'That's the magic of Macy's'." Oh my gooodness!!!! I seriously couldn't believe that she could just rattle that off.

A few weeks ago, we were driving and we passed a billboard for Little Ceasar's. Reagan was all excited - "Look Mom -- look! Right there!!! Look!" I told her that I saw a sign for Little Ceasar's and asked her what she was trying to show me on that sign. She replied "That's a sign for my favorite bread!" There was no bread on that sign - just the Ceasar guy holding pizzas and a big $5 on the sign. I asked her "Crazy bread?"She replied "Yes - that's my favorite bread. We need to get some of that." Lest you think that she is recognizing this from our "weekly" trips to Little Ceasar's, seriously... we go there only a few times a year. I'll bet we haven't been there in six months. So, I was completely intrigued that she would connect the sign, the logo, and the bread. I told her that I liked that bread too, but that we don't get it very often because it isn't very healthy. Her reply? "Well, if someone wants to die, they can eat all they like." Yes they can Reagan... yes they can.

Truly, I am amazed at how much they watch, listen and repeat. Scary! They really are just little sponges soaking up everything around them. Gratefully, that also includes scriptures, school work, articles of faith, great music and good books, but it makes me all the more aware of how much we can try to limit the negative or degrading things that they see or take in, but we can't insulate them from everything. It is a constant challenge for us as parents, but I want to be vigilant in trying to fill them with good. I remember a talk from one of the Brethren about giving the Lord equal time. I want to be better at doing that and at giving good things more time than bad things (or even than ok things). I may be competing with advertising that really works, but, I can do it. After all.... I'm the mom!

Disney On Ice

Some of our friends from dance class invited us to Disney on Ice. It was my first time and I loved it! Reagan had a blast when she went with Shannon earlier this year and I knew that Cole would enjoy it as well. I think Steve took his girls when they were little, but hadn't been in decades. So, when the chance to go with our friends came up, we were in. The show was great!

They had stories about Ariel, Peter Pan, Lilo & Stitch, and Lion King (Reagan & Cole's favorite). Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were on hand as well. It was a fun, fun day and being there with our friends made it even better. As is her MO, Reagan was dancing, clapping, and totally involved in the show. Our friend Kelsey said her favorite part was watching Reagan. Now they see what I was talking about when I said that she couldn't stay in her seat during the Lion King theater performance. She cracks me up. Here's some pics from the show:

A Game, Some Family & Some Fun

Last weekend, we were psyched about the Utah/TCU game. Of course, we couldn't watch it alone, so, we enlisted Annie and Brett (Steve's brother) and their family to watch with us. (I have to laugh that almost every pic I take of Brett, he has this expression on his face. Someday I may have to dedicate a post entirely to Brett faces and make a collage of his pics... ha!) Annie didn't care about the game, so we broke out the crafts for the kids to play with while the Petersen Brothers watched the game. It was a blowout! Poor Utah - Steve said it was like they were a totally different team - he said they were playing like BYU (a little "gotcha" to me). Well, after the game was over and we'd had our fill of snacks and crafts, Annie and Brett left for another event and we just "kicked it" for the rest of the night. It was great to not have to be anywhere or do anything.

Sunday, Shannon and Matt came over for dinner and to watch some football. We still had the crafts out and Matt got a little too involved (check the pic). Shannon and Matt are so sweet - they put up with everything Reagan and Cole dole out. They play hide and seek, serve up gum and treats, play ball and put on makeup. Despite my objections, they never say "no" to Reagan and Cole. As a result, they kids would often rather sit with/eat with/be with Shannon and Matt than us. Too bad Reagan and Cole... you're stuck with Mom and Dad. Actually, we love to hang with Shannon and Matt and love that we get a slight break when they are around since the kids go to them first with all their requests :)

Trick or Treat!

After waiting all month, wearing the costumes for weeks and having parties for days, Halloween (or the day Utah celebrates Halloween - Saturday) finally arrived! As I mentioned a few posts back, I woke up that morning and decided that I needed to have Reagan and Cole's pictures taken in their costumes, so, we got up and got ready for that. After pictures, we met Rachel and her family, Shannon and Matt and the girls' stepdad Mike (visiting from Vegas) for dinner. Then, Shannon joined us to Trick or Treat and invited her friend Jessica and Jessica's son Adrian. We've played with Jessica and Adrian several times before and always have fun with them.

Even though it was cold, windy and drizzling, we braved the elements in search of friendly houses that would give us more of the candy that we already have and don't need. Right? Seriously though - we HAD to go. With such a small primary in our ward, many friends and older couples in our ward told us we had to come to their house and that they would be waiting to see Reagan and Cole in costume. We are never disappointed on Halloween. So many times, after answering the door, someone inside would say "it's Reagan and Cole.... get the Other bag." We came away with toys, books, stickers, makeup, bubbles, and yes... candy! We have such great friends! Even though we collected great loot, Adrian's favorite part was that we drove the golf cart... so funny! He LOVED it! (This is one of our 2 new golf carts that were FREE - courtesy of Obama's ridiculous policies.... a topic for another post) So, with the wind and rain, the golf cart and the friends, the candy and the costumes, we had a wonderful Halloween!!!!

Ward Halloween Party

Every year, our ward has a Neighborhood Halloween Party. Because the Primary is so involved with planning and executing it, we make it one of our quarterly activities. This year was a great party. We had soups and bread and desserts; games for the children (throwing beanbags through a jack-o-lantern face, pinning the mustache on the Bishop, and a cake walk); a parade/fashion show/dance party for the children and a trunk or treat. Whew! What a project to get ready and what a fun time we had! One guy dressed as Edward Scissorhands and he COMPLETELY freaked Reagan out. He is new in our neighborhood and I couldn't understand why if he was making a 4 year old cry, he wouldn't just freaking. stay. away!!! He kept coming up to her and asking why she was afraid of him - uggh!

Steve's costume was his Dracula outfit (from the Monster Mash party), sans makeup; Reagan was Princess Tiana and Cole was Buzz Lightyear. All of the primary presidency dressed as witches. We wore all black and had THE BEST witch hats. My friend Stacey (yes the tutu, jewelry making, party planning friend) bought black, witch hats and then took decorations from Tai Pan and made us each hats - they were fabulous!!!! I seriously may wear it every year! We were laughing that with half of our presidency working for Tai Pan Trading, we are ALL about presentation!!!! Our decorations for the trunk or treat were great and we had so much fun putting it all together. Here's some pics from our party: