O'ahu - Day 2

Yep - up and at 'em. Reagan and Cole were awake at 4:45. Well, their little bodies were telling them that it was 8:45 (we've got a 4 hour time change). So, we went with it. They played on their iPads while I worked out. Then, Steve worked out while I showered. Reagan, Cole and I hit the pool while Steve showered and then picked up breakfast for us and we were good for the day.

We swam, played with friends and had a ball!!! Unfortunately, even though we were at the pool 15 minutes before it opened, we could only find 3 chairs by the pool that were together. Geez - if I had known that, I would have come down and grabbed some chairs when I worked out at 5am!!!! Yep - note to self to do that tomorrow..... and every day. Truth be told, it was still a bit dark - the sun was still coming up over the horizon. We didn't care, we were in paradise!!!

You'll remember that Reagan received a mermaid tail and a fin to put in it and a tankini top for Christmas. Well, we haven't been swimming since Christmas, so, she hasn't had a chance to use it yet.  She brought it on the trip, determined to get her fin on. Well, today, we got to the pool and there was another little mermaid swimming around the pool in a gold fin. Reagan was SO excited. She made Steve go back to the room to get her fin and her outfit. She changed and the two mermaids swam around the pool for a while. Good thing we met this girl - they leave tomorrow. The other girl didn't have the fin that goes in the bottom of the tail, but they still had a great time swimming around. So many people were watching them and asking where they got those. One grandma asked if I made them - AS IF!!!! Nope, I gave her the website information and told her the other items they had on the site - like the matching tankini and tail for Reagan's American Girl Doll.

After we had had enough of the pool that day, we showered and changed and walked down to the Outrigger. This was the first hotel that I ever stayed at in Hawaii. Steve had to come for a presentation at Hickam Air Force Base. He invited me to join him and I was beyond thrilled. However, when we arrived, a soldier met us at the airport and took Steve to the base. I was on my own to get to the hotel, check in and cart all our bags with me. It all turned out fine and we stayed at the Outrigger. Well, they have a restaurant where you order and they bring your food to the table raw. Then, you go to the grill and you cook your food however rare or well done you want it. We thought it would be a fun place to eat tonight. We had a great time. Cole loved being with Steve while they cooked our food and Reagan and I loved sitting at the table, overlooking the beach and the ocean. 

After dinner, we walked along the beach back to our hotel. What a great, first, whole day here. We are loving it. Having gotten up before 5, Reagan and Cole were sacked out by about 7. No matter, we'll go with it!!!!

O'ahu - Day 1

Last year, when we booked this trip, I thought it would be a great adventure to fly out at 6:30 am. After all, I figured, we would be in Hawaii before lunch - Yeah! Well, I guess I didn't figure in the 3:00 am wake up alarm I would get and the 3:30 wake up alarm I would have to be for Reagan and Cole to get them up and going and out the door at 4:15. Uggh!!! Oh well, we were in Hawaii before lunch, but we were exhausted.

No matter - we changed into our shorts (or swimsuits) and we hit the pool. Ahhhh - it was so nice to be back in the sun, by the beach and to have the beautiful scenery that is there in paradise. Reagan and Cole couldn't get into the pool fast enough. We scored some seats right by the pool and Steve and I just hung out while Reagan and Cole swam. Then, Steve (from the side of the pool) and Cole (from in the pool) played football for a while.

Steve said it doesn't feel like he ever left - despite the fact that we haven't been here for a year. I sort of know what he means in that it is very familiar to us and we've stayed here many times, but I love to return. I love to have the sun on my face and the view of Diamondhead. Just put me in a lounge by the pool, looking at the beach and ocean with my little ones playing in the pool in front of me and my hubby next to me and I'm in paradise!!!!

We had a VERY early night and we will be ready for our first, FULL day here tomorrow :)

On My Mark ... and I'm Cool With Myself

Cole always cracks me up. He hears things and he repeats them without actually understanding them. Or, he changes something to be what makes sense to him, but it doesn't make sense to anyone else :)

For example, the other day we were unpacking a box of clothes that I had ordered online for him. He pulled out a tie and he said "Well, that figures." I asked "Why - why does that figure?" (He loves to wear ties, so I know it wasn't that I had ordered him a tie that he didn't want.) He stopped, looked at me and said "Wait, what does that mean?" I explained the meaning of the phrase and told him he should know what something means before he says it.

Another time, he was reporting what happened at school. A friend had beat him at running laps at PE and he said that he told him "You'll pay for that." Then, he asked me what that meant. I explained and tried to show how it was figurative, not literal. Like that other time when he heard a person on the radio say that Father's Day was right around the corner. He just didn't get how a date could be in a place. Yes, our language can be confusing sometimes :)

Just today, I was timing him on doing some math facts. He was matching up cards with sums on them to cards with addition problems on them. He was trying to do all of them within one minute. Obviously, the more he practiced, the faster he could do it. I said "On your mark, get set, go!" I couldn't even finish the phrase before he stopped me and told me HE would tell ME when he was ready. I agreed and then he said "On my mark, get set, go!"  I just started laughing because he said "on MY mark", but actually, that makes sense, right? I had said "on your mark" and so, when he said it, it was "on my mark". So funny!

A couple of weeks ago, we were driving home from soccer and we were stopped at a light. Our car was seriously vibrating from the noise in the car next to us. Reagan and Cole both asked what was happening to our car. I told them that it was the truck next to us and that they had their stereo up so loud that even though both cars had the windows up, we could hear and feel their music. Cole asked why someone would listen to such loud music. I told him that some people feel like they have to do that to be cool or to show off. I told him that our car has a stereo that is plenty loud and that only we can hear it when our windows are closed. I told him that most people I know that play that music so loud are trying to be cool for other people and that if they were just cool with themselves, they wouldn't need to do that. He sat there for a minute and then said "Mama, I'm cool with myself."

Glad to hear it Cole - I'm cool with you as well!!!




He is so funny. I love to watch (and hear) him learn and grow and become the little person he is.

Skiing with Matt Man!!!!

We saw Matt at Rachel's wedding this week and convinced him to join us skiing today. Reagan and Cole were SO excited!!!! We skied and Matt snowboarded. Then, we stopped and had lunch together and we skied some more.

The weather was a bit stormy, but we didn't care. We had a great time!

Cole was in rare form - he kept throwing snowballs at me ... no one else .... just me!!!! I kept telling him "Nobody throws snowballs at Mama!!!!" and that I would get him back. He just laughed and laughed.

We miss Matt and it was great to see him and get caught up. Meet us again Matt - you're always welcome to join us!!!!

Rachel's Wedding

Many of my friends, especially the ones living far away or those whom I don't talk to on a regular basis, will be shocked, but our daughter Rachel got married this week. Yes, the one who was widowed in August.

She started dating on LDS Singles.com. She met one man, dated him for five weeks and decided to marry him. I know! We were terrified. Of course we want her to be happy and our grandchildren to be happy. We just were worried that things were going way too fast. Rachel said that she realized how crazy it sounded and that she was shocked herself, but that she had no doubt this was what she should do. So, they planned a wedding in about three weeks and Steve's brother married them in the Joseph Smith Building.

Her new husband, Andrew, has a daughter who is 8 - right between our grandchildren Anistyn (9) and Stockton (7) - so they now officially have a "brood" :)  They are off on their honeymoon right now and will settle in when they get back.

We wish them happiness and have high hopes for their new little family.

Movin' Up - Belt Test

Yep - it's that time of year again .... no not Easter, no not Spring Break.... it's time for a Belt Test in karate :) Reagan and Cole have really done well this round. Since achieving their last belt, they moved up a class which means that they are no longer the "top dogs", they are now the "non-top dogs???". Anyway, they are training with belts that are higher than them - even some black belts.

Their kicks rock!!! They have gotten more powerful, more controlled and higher!

 Their forms look better and better.

Their power karate is great!

Since moving up to this level, they have started sparring with partners. They each got to choose the color of their sparring gear. I asked Cole what he ordered and he replied "My favorite color - black!" I really had never heard him say his favorite color was black, but maybe it is a requirement for karate :) Reagan - no surprise - ordered pink. My friend Jennifer and I joke that maybe seeing pink coming at them will make the boys kick just a slight bit softer and that Reagan and Claire might not get kicked to the ground. It is funny to see how different Reagan and Cole are in their sparring. Reagan does well, but goes all out crazy. She forgets that she can only hit with the back of the hand to the side of the head or that you can only kick with a certain foot. She is in a battle and sort of, anything goes. Cole, on the other hand, is very controlled, very poised and very strategic. He really does well against people that are WAY above his skill level. Yes, he takes a kick or punch every once in a while, but he doles it out way more that than he takes.

Their self-defense techniques continue to improve!! (Just a note here - For many reasons, I've been glad that there are a few other girls in our karate class and especially, that Reagan's friend Claire is in class with us. Well, since spring soccer season started, we had to switch to alternate days for karate. Some days there were no other girls in the class. When they announced the self defense techniques they would be working on, I would cringe. No mother wants to see her little girl working on "Mounting Badger" with a boy - Ugggh!!! I would insist that they at least put her with Cole and I would lament that our friend Claire wasn't there. Oh well, Reagan is getting some great self-defense skills should she ever - hopefully NEVER - need them.)

Their acrobatic skills are improving along with their balance and their control!

They play "games", go through obstacle courses and do all sorts of things to "switch it up". They have to earn the games, though, through their self discipline and their performance during class. Cole LOVES dodgeball and will taunt black belts (a practice I have tried to discourage). Yep - they eventually get him, but he loves it still.

One day, they had an exercise where they had to wrap a jumprope around another student and then try to hold them back from running across the room. Reagan and Cole pushed so hard. I sort of felt badly for the boy holding Reagan back because she was so strong. He seriously couldn't hold her back :)

In Black Belt Training, they've been working with staffs. I love to see them learning how to control and work these weapons. I won't lie, at first I was terrified. I was certain that someone was going to get bonked on the head or struck in the leg, but they really learned where their body and their staff was in space and they kept from hitting one another. Their helicopter turns and figure 8 turns with the staff look really cool and I've loved seeing them get better and better at their routines.

The Belt Test went really well.  Reagan and Cole did their punches and kicks:

They demonstrated their self-defense techniques:

They showed off their kicks:

And they performed the routines with their staffs:

For this Belt Test, Shannon came to cheer the kiddos along. Reagan was thrilled!!!! to have her, so, I took pics and let Shanny put Reagan's new belt on her. So cute those sisters!!!!

Way to go Reagan and Cole - we are so proud of all the hard work you have put in to achieve another belt!! Keep up the good work!!!

Gymnastics Continues

Reagan continues to enjoy gymnastics and continues to progress and learn more and more. Her skills at the bars have continued to increase.

She is on the regular height balance beam most of the time now (which makes me hold my breath) and she is learning to do more on that. 

She is doing more and more on the floor and getting her balance more in control.

She is doing her vaults with less and less help and she is getting the hang of how to stay in control after vaulting in the air.

They are always doing weird things on the equipment and having little competitions. I am always excited to see what they do each week. 

Cole does his homework, plays with toys and watches the iPad with his friends. There is a whole group of them who have sibs doing gymnastics and they always seem to cook up some crazy game or story :)

End of Indoor Soccer

Cole has just finished his indoor soccer league for winter. It was pretty crazy. We've never played indoor before - boy is it fast! At our level, in regular soccer, the ball goes out of bounds quite a bit. That means the game stops, the boys argue about which side gets to throw it in, the ref helps the boy stand in the right place, and the boy takes an inordinate amount of time determining where to throw it into the field. Well, with indoor, unless someone kicks it up and over the barrier, it stays in. The ball moves faster on the turf than on regular grass and the boys don't really get a break. (Poor Cole usually is playing his game after we have skied all day - uggh!)

For good or for bad, Cole has been identified as a good defender. He plays right in front of the goal and keeps the ball from even getting near the goalie. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that we didn't really want him to be a defender. He LOVES to score and when he is a defender, he can't go past mid-field. But, in his coaches' defense, he really is a good little defender. He seems to anticipate where the ball is going and he can sprint like nobody's business to kick the ball away from the goal. He stands at the ready and goes wherever he needs to go to keep the goal safe.

When he does play forward, he is really good at getting the ball out of the corners and away from the wall. He is aggressive and challenges anyone. For this indoor season, they played us up a year, so, we were playing boys (and girls) that are a year older than us. It was rough sometimes because we had a hard time keeping up, but it was a challenge and our boys met it.

Like I said, Cole LOVES to score. He is so excited when he makes a goal and he is not subtle in his celebration (I guess that could be good or bad). He keeps track of every goal and he knows the score throughout the game. 

I'm glad that he has continued to get better at his skills and that he enjoys playing. It has been tough having one practice and one game each week all winter - especially since the indoor fields we played at were all way WAY on the west side, but we are done with indoor and are now playing and practicing outside much closer to home. It is cold right now, but it will get warmer and warmer. For now, another "season" is in the books.

Easter Decor

Once again, my sis helped me to turn our home from Valentine's decor to Easter decor. It was so fun! We were climbing up and down ladders, checking how things looked from different angles and incorporating new items into our oldies but goodies. My favorite area continues to be up on top of the cabinets. It is such a fun place to decorate for each holiday.



Tai Pan continues to be one of my favorite places to find things generally, but I wasn't very impressed with the Easter decorations that they had this year. Could it be that I've reached full capacity and have no room for anything more? ......  Nah!!!! I just didn't find anything that I loved more than what I already have.



Gotta love gum balls, right? They continue to be a staple of our decorations. We fill apothecary jars with them (in whatever color matches the season) and then when we get close to the end of the season, we bag them and give them away to primary teachers, karate teachers, gymnastics or soccer coaches, piano teachers and friends. I love it. Orson Gygi is a super fun place where I always seem to find something new and fun.



Thanks so much Amber for your help, your hard work and your incredible creativity and vision. You are so fun to decorate with!!!!!

Best Ski Day Ever!!!!

We had a great day skiing. Actually, it was our best day ever!!! It was a beautiful, sunny day. The temperature was just below freezing, so, the snow wasn't melting at all. There was a fresh layer of powder and we were loving it!


We took several runs and then headed to the lodge for a lunch out on the patio. Reagan and Cole are convinced that the lodge has the best hot cocoa ever. After lunch, we headed back out for more runs. It was such a clear, beautiful day. Like I said - Best Day Ever!



Reagan and Cole continue to get better and better at skiing. They are going fast, trying to improve their s-turns and they are not deterred when they fall. They get back up, they pop their skis back on and they head down the mountain. We are loving skiing as a family!!!

AMAR Dinner & Concert

We have some friends who are involved with the AMAR Mobility - Hope cause. AMAR is a British charity and the Mobility - Hope project specifically funds the purchase and distribution of wheelchairs and training in how to use them. We were invited to attend a fundraiser for this cause. This fundraiser was to provide wheelchairs to Iraqi disabled persons. The great part was that if our little fundraiser could raise $50,000, then the Church would match 15 to 1 with a $750,000 donation. Wow! So, we decided to help a bit and attend the dinner.



Our friends who are involved are also very into race cars. He races (car number 503) out at the Miller Motorsports Park. So, the dinner was out there. We've never been out there - it is way out by Tooele. It was quite the sight! There were race car rides, go cart rides and tours of the car museum. I was really taken by the museum. The late Larry H. Miller apparently has the largest collection of Shelby cars anywhere and some of the most expensive ever.



We had a great dinner and there was a concert by Alex Boye. Even though we've never actually met him, we feel like we know him. He is the Brother in Law of my friend Kelly in our stake. Remember, he did that great video for our YW Stake Standards Night? The cover of That's What Makes You Beautiful. So cool! Plus, his family lived by Rachel and Kevin when they lived in Sandy. We saw him at Kevin's funeral. Then, here he is helping our friends raise money for a good cause. We had to shake his hand and introduce ourselves.



The picture on the wall of the clubhouse was also in the museum. It was a historic race where Shelby cars won first, second and third in the race. There is a long - and very interesting - story about how that came about and how it was actually invalidated because of politics, but it is a really cool picture.



The end result was that the fundraiser raised $41,000 and the Miller Family Foundation donated another $10,000 to help reach that critical $50,000 so as to trigger the match by the Church. Success! We had a fun night, Reagan and Cole got to spend the evening with Grandma and Grandpa, and we helped a good cause. Yep - what a good night!