PCC Lovin'

Have I ever told you that we LOVE our PCC passes???
Feeding the fish is a weekly event for us.

Eden's new favorite is the tattoos...

Tex always has fun throwing rocks wherever he can find them...

And Poi balls...they never get old!

Dear Dentist,

We are looking forward to our visit with you next monday!!!

Our anniversary part 2 - el cheapo style

The day of our actual anniversary was quite fun and spontaneous. We didn't set out with much of a plan. We waited too long to get a sitter lined up. So, the morning of our 6 year anniversary we sat outside discussing where we'd like to go. After 20 minutes of not coming up with much of anything, but some plummeting hopes and dreams of the most awesome anniversary day ever that never was...Jonathon suggested we just put the kids in the car and be on our way within the next 10 minutes! And so we did just that.

On our drive down, we swung into TWO 7-eleven's. Jonathon bought a Boston Cream doughnut at the first store. But, Eden and I accidentally ate too much of it. So, we had to get another one for him at the next.

We thought we might take Eden to the dinosaur exhibit at the mall one last time since Saturday was it's last day before it would be extinct. ;-)


On the way there we noticed a huge multi family garage sale, so we flipped U-ey to check it out. I accidentally killed the car on the curb. Well, almost killed. It's fine really. But it was quite the bumpy ride for a moment.


The mall was fun. We ate Taco Bell and Carl's Jr. with buy one get one coupons. We tried See's chocolate samples (free), we ate delicious Hawaiian cookie samples (free). And of course spent a few minutes checking out the dinosaurs. We rode up and down the elevator for fun, and even had a few rides on the escalator.


When that was old, we headed back to the car. We were ready for some pool time. And this is when I FINALLY got out the camera!

We love this pool. We stayed at these condos with Jonathon's folks when they were out visiting a year ago...so technically we are still able to use the pool right? Well, they didn't stop us at least.

Tex finally learned how to swim on his own (in his floaty suit). Don't worry, I got it on video. See?

And we had tons of fun jumping in the pool and in the hot tub, and back to the pool, till we were all pooled out!

Dinner time!
Lucky for us, Tex fell asleep just as we got to RED LOBSTER! ;-)
(Tex woke up just in time to help us finish some fries and cheese biscuits)

And it was delicious. We had left over gift card money from Christmas. So we decided to spoil ourselves rotten. Seafood nacho appetizer, trio platter plate with coconut shrimp, garlic shrimp, and stuffed sole. We wanted dessert...but there was just no room. Though the cookie lava cake ala mode looked AMAZING. Next time though, cause we still have money left over!

After that, we enjoyed a long drive home with sleeping babies in the back. It was a splendid, spontaneous 6! And I'm pretty positive I have the coolest husband ever.

It never disappoints me

Even on days that are cold and gloomy as this....I don't think there has ever been a day that I've wished I hadn't gone to the beach across the street from my house. Sometimes I am a moody mommy, and all it takes is a 10 or 15 minute dip in the ocean to wash away the old mood and clean up our spirits!

Today was no exception... (lucky for us the sun peaked out for about 7 minutes today!)





And this day, a few months back, didn't disappoint either.

A fantastic Anniversary Weekend: Part 1

This felt like a super weekend. Jonathon just so happened to have a training meeting on friday, and the whole family was invited. So technically, we had a 3 day weekend!!!

Um...it was pretty awesome. All you can eat open shave ice bar, hot dogs, the most delicious primary colored kettle corn, and catered Korean food for lunch.....D to the E licious!

It was held at Hickam airforce base. A W E SOME. It's right by the airport, so we got to watch (and hear) airlpanes take off and land all day long!

And after lunch was over and the kids were all bouncy housed, hula hooped, necklace making, and bubble blowing-ed out... ...we headed to the beach for some paddle board fun.

We took both kids out, Eden on Dad's, and Tex on mine. Sadly we both forgot to grab the camera...but it was awesome. The kids did quite well. They both tried standing up, and I think they even both succeeded. The paddle back was HARD against the current. Plus, having a tantruming 1 year old trying to jump off the side wasn't too helpful. But I welcomed the challenge in order to burn off some of the huge lunch i had...plus the 3 bags of pop corn and multiple shave.

Tex fell asleep on the way back to shore. It was quite cute. It was definitely a perfect day. The car ride back with two exhausted kids who didn't want to fall asleep...not as perfect. But still was worth it!

Real Life

Sometimes fun or memorable moments happen when I don't have a nice (er) camera available. And so I use my phone. These have been piling up in my phone for a while now, and it's time to get them out to make room for more. I hope you enjoy these fun, candid, "in-the-moment" moments.

I remember this day, and when it happened I wanted to remember it forever. I had been having a challenging day with the kids that morning. I was moody, they were moody and we just needed to get out. We threw on suits and walked across the street. I am so blessed to live across the street from such a great kid friendly beach.

Anyway, we got across the street and I was just about at my wits end. It was one of those moments when you just didn't think you were cut out to be a mom anymore. I assume we all have those moments. So, I said a prayer, asking for help to have a little more patience, a little more fun, and find a way to relax and enjoy my life as a mamma to 2 busy kiddos. And shorly after finishing my prayer, it seemed that the sun came out, my kids played well together, they shared, and patience and joy consumed my soul. And I couldn't have been happier at that moment to be thier Mommy.

And if this wasn't cute enough, Tex walked around Eden just before we left to give her a great big bear hug for the first time ever. It was definately one of the Lord's tender mercies and one of the greatest days of my life.

Here is Eden one day at the Dr. I remember watching her and thinking she is sooooo grown up now. She just amazed me with how well she listened to me or the nurses and how patient she was with everything. She was super excited to have the blood pressure cuff put on, because we had just recently bought a Dr. kit from Wal-Mart and she had one of her own. I remember how cute and curious she was about everything.

I think it was at this same Dr. appointment that my Dr. gave Eden a coupon for free ice cream. I might have already blogged these photos. But, I was mostly confused when I took her to redeem the coupon, the child asked for Mint chocolate chip ice cream. What????? Not pink!!!?????
I bought Tex this floaty thing from Target, and the kid wore it around the house for days.

I love taking the kids to the swings!
And just recently Tex has started sitting in the big kids swings. What????? I know, I can hardly believe it myself.
Eden loves when we have the missionaries over for dinner, and I love watching her "show off"...once she gets over being shy. Here she is showing them all her princess credit cards, which are actually just playing cards. She calls all playing cards or flash cards her credit cards. It was cute watching her teach the missionaries the names of all the princesses. ;-)

I love this picture of Eden out in the front yard in her princess heels and tutu.


One day we got in the car and headed out in search of fun. I remembered that Eden's tri-cycle was in the back of the car, so we stopped at BYUH for a little fun. Tex was a little....no A LOT upset cause he wanted a turn to. And his sister is soooooo sweet, she was happy to oblige.

Well, I'll stop here for now, though I still have a few of these gems I'd like to post. But, right now it's time to get back to life in real time.