Something Different

I needed something different, so I cut off 6 1/2 inches of my hair! It is a bit trickier to do, but has been a fun change!

I didn't realize that I had so much natural curl to my hair.. at least underneath!

THIS SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT TV

This is a video for all those who are really into gadgets and big screens and things! We have just the thing for you!

James was pushing some buttons and this demo came on our TV. Instantly we thought of Tina and Jeremy, our friends from Georgia, who have always LOVED our TV. So in their honor, and for all of your entertainment, ENJOY!

MWR Night at Navy Lodge

MWR was having a Military Appreciation Day at the Navy Lodge on Ford Island. So of course we packed up our things and went to see what we could find! Our friends, the Blairs, also went with us. Hawaii has the coolest trees, so I piled all the kids into the tree for a cool picture. I think I will be heading back to this tree for family pictures for sure!

Here comes James! Daniel, McKenzie, and Jayden are getting ready at the top!

Daniel always goes down on his tummy.. has since he was a baby!

Of course the bouncy slide is always a hit! Even got a smile out of James!

Daniel was pretty funny. Of course any military guy dressed all up is an Army guy, if they are or not! These were Navy Seabees, but of course Daniel said they were Army guys! We had just finished at the Home Depot kids corner, they had several different building kits to choose from. My boys chose wood frames and we got a plant holder thing for Sophia. All the kits and help you needed to build them, for free! Daniel loved wearing his apron and hard hat! This was such an amazing night.. and it was all free! Doesn't get any better than that!

James and Daniel loved digging with all their different trucks. They even had two different kinds of dirt for them to dig in! They were having so much fun! Daniel played in the dirt with the trucks for about an hour. There were tons of booths and fun things to do, but I think this was his favorite! James' favorite was the free ice cream!

Daniel loved all the tools and things to build! He was in serious little boy heaven!

Sophia was such a trooper.. She sat in her high chair and was pretty content most of the night! She loved having ice cream and eating pretzels! The Home Depot smock worked great as a bib too!

Daniel and McKenzie built a great tower using all the different things they could find! Daniel loves to play with McKenzie. They always have so much fun together!


Gavin, Daniel, Sophia, and I all watching the show. Sterling took this picture and the flash blinded us all!

Mckenzie, Daniel, and Caitlyn watching the show!

The kids were pretty mesmerized by Wall-E for about the first 30 minutes.. after that it was all down hill. If you haven't see the movie.. save your money.. Tell Santa you don't need that one for Christmas!


Thanks MWR for all the fun! My kids can't wait until next month! We really had a great night!

Funny Daniel!

Daniel is such a funny boy! I was downstairs sweeping the floor and Sterling says "hey come here you need to see this!" So I come up the stairs and Daniel is going back and forth from his bin in his room to the stairs, putting each animal in "jail". Of course each trip had it's own dialog. Daniel isn't quiet very often, there is always something to be said, a story to tell, or a song to be sung when Daniel is around!

James has been begging us to fly the kite for about a month now. They took the fense down for the "soccer fields" about a month ago and he figured it would be a good place to fly the kite. So, Saturday we finally did it. I bought this kite when we lived with my sister Shelli in Utah 2 years ago. I flew it once while we lived there. It has made 3 moves since then, never being opened, so we finally got it out and let it fly. Of course we attracted several children from the neighoborhood as well! Sterling or I would get it going way high in the air, then we would let the kids take turns holding the end of the string while it was soaring. Daniel was so excited to fly it! What can be more fun than flying a Sea Turtle Kite, in Hawaii!

The last video is of the kids playing and holding up Daniel. While we were flying the kite James and his friend Philip found this piece of rebar. So, why not play with it right! It was pretty heavy, at first they were just walking with it, then they were showing off how strong they were, then it lead to letting Daniel hang from it! They were all pretty funny! I thought it was even funnier that the 8 year old girl was as strong as 2 six year old boys!

We had a good time at the park!

November 6, 1999

I love this picture with the fall leaves and the beautiful flowers at the Temple.. all in November!

We didn't get to take the "standard" pictures with the Temple because they were building the Conference Center and there were crains all over the place.

It all seems like so long ago!

A lot has happened since then!

Isn't he so handsome!

We look so young! Amazing what 9 years can do!


I love this picture! My little flower girls were so excited to hold up my dress! I really felt like a princess! What girl shouldn't on their wedding day right!


What cute little flower girls!

Brittany, Emily, and Kimberlyn

What Temple wedding would be complete without the picture of the big doors!


My favorite things about Sterling:

He makes me laugh!

He is a really great dad!

He loves to go on dates!

He is an extremely hard worker!

He loves me!

I figured it out!

I figured it out, I figured out why people pay so much money to come to Hawaii. Up until now it has been a complete mystery. It is a neat place, but not anything more amazing than the next place.. until today!
Sterling and I will have been married for 9 years on November 6th, so for our anniversary I suprised Sterling with a day cruise. We started at Ko Olina and went up the west coast past Waianae. It was extremely beautiful. We were on this amazing catamaran and we couldn't have had a better time! We stopped for about 45 minutes to go snorkeling. Sterling and I had never done it before so we were really excited. It was so amazing! There were 6 or 7 Green Sea Turtles. We had to work not to swim into them. Evidently if you touch one it is a $25,000 dollar fine. I don't know who the turtle police are but they said not to touch them. But it was amazing.. at first I was a little freaked.. but then I just had to remind myself I was swimming with Crush ( from Finding Nemo!) It was so cool! We had such a great time! The fish and the turtles, the reef, the water were all amazing! Then we got back on the boat and had some yummy lunch. It was a 4 1/2 hour trip and it was fabulous! So the combination of no kids for the day, ( or weekend or whatever length of time people come here for) and the fabulous snorkeling and beauty and time alone with my husband... that is what people pay for! That is why they come over and over again! I finally get it!

The pictures of the turtles aren't that great but they were right by the boat after we swam with them so we thought we would take some pictures to show the kids! We will have to invest in a waterproof camera for our next trip!



We can't wait to do it again! We didn't see any dolphins and our trip is "guaranteed" to see dolphins or whales and we didn't. Like we didn't have an amazing time anyway.. but we get to go again for just the price of the food! So how cool is that!

Halloween Fun

This was the first time I have really had excited kids for Halloween and it was so fun. Daniel couldn't wait from the time he got out of bed for the sun to go down. He kept telling people, anyone he could find, what was going to happen tonight and what he was going to say when he got the candy. He was hillarious.

We didn't get many pictures, by the time we had the kids dressed and ready to go, I got one picture of them all together on the porch then I wanted to do individuals but a trick or treater came long enough to destract me, and they slipped away. I tried to get a picture of them, with Sophia walking, but then they were gone. I kept thinking they would be right back because one of the kids wouldn't want to go, but that wasn't the case.. About an hour later they came back, but it was dark and they were tired. They had a really great time. I guess Halloween is about the kids having a great time and not about the mom who stayed home to pass out the candy! I wanted to see my cute kids go trick or treating! I did learn, that next year.. I'm leaving the candy on the porch and I'm going with the kids!

Sophia is a cute little Dalmation puppy! James is an Army guy and so is Daniel!

Yes, Sophia is holding a potato. Daniel really wanted to carve a pumpkin, but was just as happy to mangle a potato. First he took the pumpkin carving tools and stabbed it a good thirty times and then I got out some thumb tacks for him to make it a face. It was pretty funny. We put it on the porch with James' pumpkin. Daniel showed it to all of his friends. He was pretty proud of his potato. He didn't care one bit that it wasn't a pumpkin, that would have been 10 times harder to do anything with.. What a good boy!

I am afraid this is as close as I can get to letting my children be in the Army!

What cute kids!