Hawaii 2009

So we all went to Hawaii for Thanksgiving this year! We stayed at the Hilton, and it was amazing! Our rooms had a view of the ocean, and the dolphins, which the kids got to swim with! It had its own lagoon that came in from the ocean so it was full of turtles and all sorts of fish. One of my favorite place's was this beach mom took us to, the kids loved it because it was really shallow and the lava rock had it closed off from the rest of the ocean it was so warm and the water was so blue! Mom surprised Morgan Tiff ,Danny,and I with massages at this amazing place, it was something off of a movie I swear! We walked through this rain forest setting and then they took us to our own little private hot tubs, where we got to just relax for 30 min then we got to get couple massages! It was so fun I will always remember that, Thanks Mom!! My Mom is a true little hippy chick, she is so cute! Every morning she would get up early and go sea shell hunting, she is a pro at it too she actually has this stick that she found on one of her trips over that she brings every time she goes back to Hawaii. She uses it to dig through the sand, and she found so many neat shells! Ali and Ashton loved hunting for them with her! I couldn't help but miss Dad while we were there though. I wish so badly that he could have been there with all of us, we all miss him so much especially on family trips like this one, it's just not the same without him!

I loved watching my kids have so much fun playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean, we made so many memories while we were there. Thanks for the amazing trip mom, Love you!

The Miley Cyrus Concert!!

I have had to keep this concert a secret for about 2 months!Ali loves Miley and when I found out that she was going to be in SLC I knew that I had to get tickets for us! I checked her out of school yesterday and told her that just her and I were going to go shopping without the boys! She was so excited to just be going with me alone that Iknew she was going to freak out when she found out what we were really doing! After shopping and eating, we went to the hotel and I gave her my little surprise bag I made for her...When she read my note about where we were going she freaked out and started screaming, and yes I started crying(I know I am so emotional!) It was so cute when we got to the concert she just kept saying "this can't be real mom!" After buying a t-shirt for her we went to our seats to wait for the concert to start! It was so fun to see how excited she was when Miley came out on stage, she sang her little heart out and danced around to all of the songs! I am so glad that I have a little girl to do fun things like this with... Love you Boo!

My Chicken Coop

So I have wanted chickens for a couple of years, and I finally talked Morgan into letting me get some! He built me a coop, and it turned out so dang cute! He did a really great job, he even matched it perfectly with the kids' playhouse! I got my chicks from Josh and Damion, they are called Bantams they are so cute and fluffy! The kids each got to pick one out: Ali's is named Tweety-Mcfluff (she made that one up all on her own!) and Ashton's is named frisky. It will be fun when they are old enough to start laying eggs.

Ali is a 3rd Grader!

So my boo is a big 3rd grader this year and I am having the hardest time with that. Third grade is such a huge year it really is the turning point from little kid to big kid!! She has Mrs. Weber for a teacher (which she is so excited about) and when we walked into the classroom on the first day, her best friend Emily Siddoway was sitting there! It was so cute to see how excited they got when they saw each other, even though at that point mom and dad were completely nonexistent! Ali loves school and I hope that this year is just as fun for her as the past three have been!

Ali called nama at 7:00 this morning to remind her to come and watch her get on the bus for the first time! Good thing Nama is a such a good sport!

Dad's Birthday!

This is the last time we were ever at the lodge with my Dad.

This year my dad would have turned 52. We celebrated his birthday at Red Canyon Lodge .... Dad loved it up there he loved to go fishing, ride our bikes, and just be together! Mom got his favorite, chocolate cake with white frosting, and we let the kids sing" Happy Birthday "and blow out Papas candles! It was so sad not to have him there with us, but it is so important to all of us to keep doing the things that dad loved so that we can always keep his memory alive. Every time we go to the lodge, there is a huge red tailed hawk that comes and sits in the top of one of the huge pine trees while we are eating, and this year watching him fly away reminded me of a saying that I love:" When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully and let go. Only one of two things will happen, either he will catch you when you fall or he will give you wings to fly!" I love and miss you so much dad, Love Spike