Helicopter Tour of Kauai

One of the coolest things we did while we were in Hawaii was take a helicopter tour to see the island. We got a great deal on it after listening to a little speal on Marriott timeshares. We saw the most breathtaking views, hundreds of waterfalls, and the magnificent Napali Coast that you can only see by air or boat. It was incredible! Seriously, this goes right up there in the top 10 greatest things I've ever done in my life! It was almost a spiritual experience and certainly unforgettable!

Mele Kalikimaka from Kaua'i

Me, on vacation in Hawaii!

Mark, Macy and I left the twins with my in-laws and went on vacation to Kauai the week before Christmas with my parents! It was so completely relaxing and wonderful! A little more sunshine could have made the week even more perfect but you can't beat a week wearing flip flops and shorts. While everyone else was experiencing huge snow storms back on the mainland, Kauai was also having its share of unusual weather and was covered in clouds the entire week. The sun did show it's face a few times and I was running to catch some rays when it did. Despite the weather, we had so much fun with my parents and it was nice to have them all to ourselves. Macy was spoiled by all of us and I think she loved every minute of it! All she wanted to do was swim, swim, swim even at 7:30 in the morning. Mark was great to take her out! We tried to sleep in (hard with a 3 year old), took naps, laid by the pool, read, shopped, ate Hula pie (almost every night), played on the beach, swam in the ocean, toured the island and laughed a lot. We missed the twins, but didn't miss all the work that comes along with them. We were excited to get back to them and kiss their little cheeks. My in-laws survived to say the least. They are so great! Now, they need a vacation.

Snow Angel!

Macy making her FIRST snow angel!!! She has been waiting a long time to do so!

Macy and her cousin, Maddie out playing in the snow! Notice the beautiful, snow-covered Wellsville Mountains in the background!

PURE FUN!

It's funner going down the hill than UP!!!
(Macy and her cousin, Preston) This picture just makes me laugh!

While we were in Utah, it snowed like crazy! For the first time, Macy had the chance to play in the snow and go sledding. She was such a doll all bundled up! Mark took her up to my brother's house where they have the BEST sledding hills right in their backyard! It didn't matter how may rides they went on down the hill, Mark was the one packing the sled back up. He was completely worn out by the time they were done. Macy could have kept on sledding all day long if Dad could have kept up!

Mouse King Tea Party!

Macy & Mia getting all dolled up for the Nutcracker tea party.

The delicious salad spread Amy made up for us along with her yummy rolls!

All the little girls with their hair and makeup done!

A bunch of us got tickets for our little girls to go to the Mouse King Tea Party. It's a fun way to introduce the girls to the Nutcracker story and it's characters without them sitting through the entire Nutcracker ballet. We decided to get together for a little pre-tea party fun at a friends house. The girls had their nails painted, applied their own make-up and put on dress-ups while the mom's ate a delicious lunch. Then it was off to Corvallis High School for more treats and the telling of the Nutcracker story with small performances by the actual Nutcracker dancers. The girls loved it! Macy loved the ballerinas but started crying when she saw the Mouse King. He was too scary for her liking! After it was over, we let the girls run around and dance their little hearts out to Nutcracker music they left playing. It was so good for Macy and I to be together. I definitely need to take her out more often.

Macy at the tea party!

Sitting around the table having punch, candy canes and M&M's.

The girls were given these cute Mouse King cupcakes at the end along with a Nutcracker ornament.

Dancers from the Nutcracker

The girls posing with Clara from the Nutcracker!

Little Angels...or Not?

Okay, so I have to post these pictures of my kids taken one Sunday before church! They are little angels (most of the time) and I am so lucky to have them!

Macy clicking away at the computer working on her alphabet letters on StarFall.com.

Karlee getting in to the flour when nobody is watching!

Nicholas caught red handed getting in to the drawers! He loves to pull everything out! Definitley GUILTY!!!

Thanksgiving Roadtrip!

If only it was this blissful!

It has been six years since Mark and I have been home to spend Thanksgiving with family. We debated going since we knew we'd be making the same drive just two weeks later, but we decided to do it anyways. What's a 12 hour drive??? After all, we did move back West so that we could make trips home more often! Everything started off just fine, but quickly took a turn for the worst. Read on....

We are packed and ready to go by 1:30pm. I had made an appointment with the pediatrician to see Karlee on our way out since she had been pulling at her ear for a few days. Sure enough, she has a raging ear infection and so after the doc's, we run to Rite Aid to get her prescription filled. A half hour later, Karlee's prescription is finally ready but the pharmacy needs more information from the doctor to fill a second prescription since she also has an infection in her eye. The pharmacy is finally able to get the information they need from the doctor and then we wait another 30 minutes to get that prescription filled. We're finally on the road. About an hour into our drive, we make an emergency stop for Macy to go potty. This puts us right on track to hit rush hour traffic in Portland. The time is now 5:00pm. Remember, we left our home at 1:30pm. After sitting in traffic for an hour, the twins have had it and are screaming their heads off. They are tired, hungry, sick of sitting and need their diapers changed. Granted we are only an hour and a half from home and looking down the pipe at at least six more. I'm sitting in the back of the car yelling (nicely) at Mark to turn around. It was not going to be worth what we were going to have to go through to get there! Mark takes an exit and parks in some random parking lot. We sit their for a few minutes trying to make a decision. Bag the whole trip or endure! We just knew if we could get the babies to fall asleep, it would be smooth sailing. We decide to keep going! We no sooner get through traffic, than Mark decides he's STARVING and we have to pull over to get something to eat! Then Macy, once again, needs to go potty. I'm laughing to keep from crying at this point! We drive on. Everyone falls asleep and we drive like there is no tomorrow. We stop at a hotel in Ontario, Oregon to sleep (which is a little more than halfway to Logan). We pack all the luggage in and kids and by this time everyone is wide awake, loving the hotel and being able to crawl around. We set up the pack-n-plays and turn off the lights. The twins, of course, won't go sleep because they see us lying right there and they want us to get them out! We are so exhausted by this point, not to mention that it's midnight! Mark and I are lying so still in bed thinking that the babies will eventually just lay down. Well, it isn't long before Macy is up and out of her bed trying to comfort the babies. We tell her to get back in bed and to not move. After about ten minutes of screaming (I'm sure we woke up everyone in the hotel) the twins finally give up and drift off to sleep!As do we!

Despite a horrible first day and Macy getting the flu and throwing up one whole day, not to mention in the hotel room on our way home, it was a WONDERFUL trip! Really! We loved being with our families and going out to dinner and shopping. Macy loved seeing her cousins and everyone loved seeing the twins crawling around everywhere. I got to see my cute pregnant sister, Lezlee. We were out shopping bright and early on Friday morning with the rest of the crazies! Everything we wanted was gone before we could get to them and I think the things we did buy were NOT on sale! Of course! It was fun just being together and running into lots of friends from high school out shopping too!

We are home now and somewhat recuperated and yet... we still have the same drive to look forward to (or dread) next week! How soon we forget! At least, we know that Hawaii is waiting for us at the end of this next trip! WE DESPERATELY NEED A VACATION!

A Happy Halloween!

It was one of the funnest Halloween's we've had yet. Mark had the whole day off so we took complete advantage and played all day long. We had a lot of fun dressing up the kids and taking them first, downtown Corvallis Trick-or-Treating, then to a block neighborhood party, followed by MORE trick-or-treating. Macy was so excited to be a fairy princess, which was a very popular costume this year. There were wings everywhere! I think the release of Tinkerbell the movie had a lot to do with it! Nicholas made such a cute turtle and Karlee, of course, the always adorable, ladybug!

This video gives the whole effect of the turtle and ladybug costumes! I was loving it! Look at these cute little babies!