Christmas Tree

Since Matt and I were married we've gone up to the Uintahs every year the day after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree (even 2 years ago at 9 months pregnant, and this year at 8 months pregnant thank you very much!). We LOVE this tradition and look forward to it every year. The kids were SO excited this year to go up. They were both such good sports. This little adventure requires a lot of hiking and cold weather, because we have to find the perfect tree, and those trees are not right off the road. So this picture below was taken right when we got to a good parking spot. The kids couldn't wait to go find a tree. They were both laughing the whole time. Parker did a face plant within seconds and his face was covered with snow, but he barely cried. As soon as the snow was off his face he was ready to start running again. He looked a little like Randy from "Christmas Story" all bundled up. We had several layers on him. One can never be too safe.



So here we are just before we left, of course Libby has to come. She loves this tradition more than any of us!







This is our "perfect" tree.
Amber was not in the mood to hike, and complained that she was tired and needed to rest. Every tree stump we came across Amber said "I want to rest on that spot." After our trip was over and we were returning home in our warm car, we asked Amber what her favorite part of the day was, and she said "um, getting out of the snow, taking a break, and eating pretzels." Matt and I laughed so hard.


And here it is lit...thanks to Matt. I don't have the patience to decorate it. I just want it done, so Matt has decorated it the past few years. Thanks babe!

Fall Fun

Yesterday I attempted raking the leaves in our yard. You can't get a whole lot done with two little ones because they LOVE to play in them. I forgot for a moment what it was like to be a kid. At first I wanted to get upset like "come on, I JUST raked up that pile!" but then I remembered very quickly LOVING this time of year and doing the same thing over and over again.

Growing up, my neighbors had this gigantic tree in their yard. Each fall millions of leaves would fall from it. I was always so jealous of the HUGE piles they'd get to play in. One year, I must have been seven or eight, I took our rake over there, and raked a huge pile together, and then proceeded to rake it over to my house. These neighbors were two doors down, so I had to rake them on the street. Once the task was done, my pile was MUCH smaller (thanks to the asphalt shredding the leaves in to tiny pieces) and I had a very distinct trail leading from our neighbors

to my parents house. I bet my parents were so embarrassed!

Here I am at 32 weeks. Not too much difference. I am purposely in the same place wearing a similar shirt so I can easily see the difference! Abby just had her baby today, so it's making me realize how close this is! We have so much to do still. I keep thinking I just need to get through the holidays and then get stuff ready, but after that I'll only have a couple weeks. This is going to fly by!

I'm feeling pretty good though. I'm surprised I haven't had as much heart burn with this baby. In the past I've easily gone through a giant sized Tums bottle by now. I've only had maybe 4 this entire pregnancy.

My core strength is weakening daily. I still go to the gym a few days a week, but it's not helping the ab area. It takes everything out of me to sit up.

Congrats to Abby though! 7 pounds 2 oz., 22 inches long, born at 1:22 AM. He was 3 weeks early! Everything went well though she said. I can't wait to go see him. She said he has lots of hair. I'll get some photos to post later.

30 Weeks and Counting

I need to do better at documenting this pregnancy. The poor 3rd child syndrome. I was so good for Amber, and took a picture almost every week. I think this is my second photo of this pregnancy. I'm actually 31 weeks now, but this picture was taken at 30 weeks, right after my doctor's appointment. I was right, and Hawaii did give me a spike in my weight gain. I wish I had more self control! It's no wonder I gain so much while pregnant. It's so depressing leaving the hospital with a baby and 30 pounds to loose. On to better things, I'm feeling good, just large. I hate not being able to bend well, not being able to snuggle with my kids, the heartburn, the constant out-of-breath, and mostly the feeling something is going to drop out of my at any second. I feel so much pressure and seriously feel like I'm in labor all day. But what I LOVE, is feeling this baby girl kick. There is nothing like it! I love it when my belly is lop-sided. She moves so much, 24-7 it seems. That's how Amber was too. Parker wasn't as active.

I had an ultrasound last week (at 20 weeks they found a cyst on her kidney, so this was a follow up to see if it had grown, etc.). We were so pleased to find out the cyst is no longer there, or it's too small to show up on ultrasound. It was a huge relief. I wasn't too concerned, but the unknown was concerning. I guess it's really rare in a fetus, so my doctor and the radiologist didn't know a whole lot about what it could be. So it turns out nothing! We feel really blessed! It was fun to see her moving around so much during the ultrasound, but also being able to feel it at the same time as well was cool. They said she weighs about 3 pounds now, and my official due date is January 17th. Pretty crazy. I'm getting so stressed about 3. I have not heard anyone say three wasn't too bad. EVERYONE says it was by far the biggest adjustment and so dang crazy. Having a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old and newborn does seem a little crazy, but I'm really looking forward to meeting her and seeing the kids with her as well.

On an entirely different note, I finished Harry Potter, the ENTIRE series! I am so dang proud of myself. I have mentioned before I am NOT a reader. Before reading the Harry Potter series I think my list of books consisted of 5 books at most, most likely less. It was so fun to read them back to back. I was determined not to watch the 5th movie until I had read the book, and then was even more determined not to go to the 6th movie until I had read it as well. Fortunately for me, they postponed the premiere of the 6th, so I'm in the clear. I LOVED reading the books, and am so sad I'm done. I'm tempted to do it again. What do I do now? For my birthday I got Pride & Prejudice because that movie is my absolute FAVORITE. No joke, I've watched it at least 20 times. Any time Matt is out of town (work, hunting, etc.) I watch it, sometime every night that he's gone. It is such a classic. Every time it's over I find I want more, the movie just wasn't enough. So I really enjoyed reading that book, and read it in three days. But honestly, now what? Any ideas? Should I attempt The Twilight series? The only way I can get through the gym now is with good reading materials, so I'd appreciate any input!

Happy Halloween

Here are a few photos from our Halloween. Amber initially wanted to be Donkey from Shrek, but after lots of cute costumes to choose from from Target, she was happy to be Tinkerbell. Parker didn't really have a choice in the matter. I thought a candy corn was too cute!







I was actually proud of my attempts at Amber's hair so I had to capture it before it went bad!



Katie, Amber, Parker, Issak & Emily (Skyler is the sprawled out one, wish we could see his cute face!)

Cute little Will Rogers, he's the only friend we saw that night. We spent most the night with cousins.

More Hawaii

This is in Laie, Hawaii at The Point. This is really close to where my dad lived

Dad, pointing to his old house (which has since been torn down)
It was so fun to hear him talk about his childhood/teenaged years of living here, and all his crazy experiences. When he lived there (over 50 years ago) there weren't many "white folks" so he told us of having to gain respect amongst the locals, and also the fun and crazy things the locals taught him. He sure loved his few years there, and it was so fun to see this side of him.


This was the only turtle we saw! The tide was so high while we were there it made snorkeling tough.

This is Dad's high school. He graduated class of 1958 and was there the week before us for his 50 year reunion.

Before we left Oahu, we took a trip to Pearl Harbor. I've always wanted to visit there. I still can't believe what a sad day that must have been. It was amazing to walk through the museum and read letters, see pictures, and gain a better understanding of what happened that day. What a sad day!

This is our first official day in Kauai. We went to a place called "tunnels" to hopefully snorkel, but the waves were just too crazy, so there were signs everywhere and lifeguards who wouldn't let us in the ocean. It looks calm from where we're standing, but there's a better picture a couple down that put the waves in to perspective.

The whole family took a hike along the Nai Pali Coast. It was so beautiful! I LOVED all the scenery, the smells, the flowers, shrubbery, EVERYTHING! This was probably one of my favorite things about this trip. It was so incredibly beautiful, I can't even begin to describe. I'm glad we all were able to do it. My poor mom needs knee replacement surgery, so the way back was really challenging for her. She did amazingly well though, four miles round trip! Way to go Mom! It was raining pretty heavy on the way in, which was awesome! It added to the fun I thought. I don't think I'd rather do it any other way. It just magnified the green, and the yummy smells. Every few hundred feet, I'd get a wif of something yummy (some yucky too), but it smelled like fruity chap stick, maple syrup, cinnamon, bread (or more like rolls rising...like yeast or something), and many other smells I couldn't quite figure out. It was so dang awesome. If I weren't pregnant, I would have wanted to do the 10 mile hike that takes you way far back along the coast to where all the crazies live. From what we've been told, there are people who've lived back there for over 30 years!!!

Isn't is so green!!!

Just one of the beautiful views along the way

Here are a couple pictures of some of the waves...due to the large reef NO ONE was allowed to get even a toe in the water. If you did, you quickly had lifeguards buzzing their horn at you. I guess the day before this some tourist died thinking they'd be safe out there.

This picture is taken right outside our door to our condo. We had the most amazing view of the ocean! It was seriously such a beautiful resort. It is only a couple years old, so everything seems so new and modern.



Matt hates spiders, so I was shocked to see this picture. I asked how he dared to get so close to it, and he said it was easy, he just zoomed the camera in. Technology these days!

We had all gone snorkeling this day. I didn't last too long out there though. The waves were pretty crazy and it made me a little nervous. I'm a baby! We saw some cool fish though, some were huge they kind of scared me! We saw an eel which was kind of scary too.

We went to dinner one night at Duke's, and so we made everyone pose for the camera. We had some locals sing to us a song I think called "The Hawaiin Wedding Song" that sounds wrong now that I typed it out, but anyway, it was really cool, and made a lot of us a little emotional.

Dad and Mom


My brother Brian and his wife Julie

My sister Joan and her husband Chad

My brother Steve and his wife Mandy

My sister Carrie and her husband Jason

My brother Roger and his wife Susan

My brother Eric and his wife Katie

Matt and me of course

This is a Monk Seal that showed up on the beach of our hotel Friday morning. Isn't that cool? We read afterwards that you're supposed to stay 100 feet away from them...oops.

Here is a picture of just one of the beautiful sunsets

This is our last adventure before we took off and headed home. We went on a helicopter tour of Kauai Saturday morning. It was so beautiful, but unfortunately I got SO sick! I luckily didn't barf, but I was sure I was going to. It didn't make it as enjoyable for me, but I've enjoyed looking at the photos Matt took during the tour.

Here we are, 24 hours after our helicopter tour home with the kids. They loved their souvenirs. I was so glad to see them! I missed them so much. It's amazing how much patience I had the week that followed. I have a whole new appreciation of how much we actually NEED vacations from our daily routine. I was surprised how happy our kids were too. It seems in trips past we truly paid for the time we were away, and our kids "punished" us for being gone. But it was really the total opposite. They were so happy and loving and couldn't have been cuter!