Ethan gets an award at school

Ethan was a super kid and got an award at school for being an example of seizing the moment (they call it "This is It" meaning they take carpe diem to heart). His teacher submitted his name. He was pretty excited! We are proud of him!

Ryden finds a sharpie pen

So, I have Sharpie pens that I use to color code my calendar for the kids. Ryden got into my bag of Sharpies (the first of the 6 to do so) and wrote all over his face. Here are a few pictures of his artwork. Sorry the pictures aren't the best, he wasn't in the mood to cooperate for pictures. Oh-you can get a glimpse of his new haircut too! :-)

Go Cougars!!

Jenna & Casey brought the kids BYU shirts (which they love more than anything that they got at Christmas!). Below is Trevon-he put the shirt on backwards first (oops!) and then corrected it! We think he looks pretty cute! And boy does he love his shirt, BYU, & the Cougars!

Trev's 1st Day of EAK

Trev started EAK this month. He was pretty excited to go to school for the first time and absolutely loves it. He has a terrific teacher with a lot of love and patience for all of the kids. We are so excited to see him enjoying his class and everything that he is learning. (He explained to me the other day that school is very important because you learn there and it prepares you for college!)

Broc's Graduation Party

Broc graduated from SDSU in December and Joanna had a fun party for him at the beach. Below are pictures of Garth & Jaleen skateboarding, Ethan on his new skateboard, and Trevon & his best pal Uncle Casey. We had a GREAT time at the beach. Congratulations Broc!

Christmas Dinner

Okay, so I took very FEW pictures of Christmas dinner. The pictures below are of Jaleen & Shelby working hard making rolls, the boys playing X-Box 360 (thanks to Gus for fixing it for us), and some of the food that we had for dinner! The Beher Family joined us for dinner as well as Broc & Joanna and Jaleen's friend Sean. It was a decent sized group and the kids had a blast with other kids their ages. I wish I remembered to take a picture of Ryden and his new friend Nathaniel. Those two are like two peas in a pod! Too cute! Christmas Dinner was great and we had a great time!

Christmas 2006

I think this just about covers everyone on Christmas except for me. (I was taking pictures.) The day was quiet and great all at the same time. The kids had fun and it was really nice to have a Christmas that wasn't as much about the stuff. I am hoping that we do this every year, since it was nice to read the Christmas Story in the morning and then head down to the tree at about 7 am. (We are convinced there is more enjoyment after 6 am!)

And Ryden sleeps...

All of my kids have had their asleep moments in the high chair. I thought Ry might miss that opportunity since he never seems to get tired. But, a little cold medicine and lunch later he was zonked! Doesn't he look pretty cute?

Mama & Papa send some packages-yeah! :-)

So, here are my very excited kids with the "for now" packages from Mama & Papa. I had to take a picture of each of them (although the pictures did not turn out the best) because they were so incredibly excited. Their "for now" packages came with their presents to open on Christmas Eve, they were very excited to have something to open right away!

Trevon's Birthday

Trevon had a great birthday! I don't know why I didn't take more pictures (it must have been the bad parent in me), but he still had a great day. His preschool friends and cousins came for a little party and he loved the attention!

Tunnels-short, but sweet

Casey found a hermit crab at Tunnels Beach. We didn't stay there very long because the kids weren't too fond of the "kid-friendliness" of the beach that day. (The surf was big and it was a bit windy." So, we took a quick picture and headed for a different beach. Not a bad life! ;-)

Hanalei Bay-the first time

Skimboarding-and crashing!

Casey's own "Y"


Some more skimboarding with great form!

Ethan skimboarded A LOT. He became quite good! (It must have been all of that practice on Garin's Sector 9 skateboard.)

And last, but definitely not least, here is Garin SURFING!!!!!! He did so well! Ethan made it up too, but Jenna has that picture on her camera!! Yeah Garin!!!

Kalihiwai Falls

The pictures are a bit out of order. We went kayaking up to Kalihiwai Falls (which is one of my favorite things to do in Kauai). The first picture is of my leg after the trip-the mosquitos not only loved me, but I think they should make me their #1 victim! Next is a picture of my very handsome husband as we were completing the last little part-hiking to the falls. Too be honest, I just like taking pictures of him because I think he is so cute! Next is a cool picture of a bird that Garth caught on "film." And then my awesome brother-in-law Casey checking out the waterfall itself. It was fun-although I heard that Jonathan, Taylor, & Chad had a blast when they kayaked up right after us-maybe I should have sent the camera?

Rock Quarry's Beach

Slowly, but surely, I will get all of our pictures from Kauai up. The first Sunday we were there we went to Quarry's with Jenna, Casey, & the three youngest kids. It is such a pretty beach and we had a great time walking along the sand and just taking the beauty in.