Priesthood Ordination

Trenton received the Aaronic Priesthood at church after turning 12 last month.  He is such an impressive young man.  He is very kind-hearted and obedient.  He doesn't let things bother him and doesn't worry about the details of life.  He knows what he wants and goes after it.  We were so proud to see him passing the sacrament the following Sunday.  It is hard to believe he is so grown up!

Poor Nathan wasn't feeling too well this day, but he would never let you know!  These are three of the most handsome boys I know!  Owen LOVES wearing a tie to church so this new suit jacket made his day.  He is just like his big brother and Dad!

Louisville Visit

Thanks to Groupon, we got a great deal on a hotel package in Louisville, so we headed down over Thanksgiving break since we didn't travel home this year.  We stayed at the Galt House in downtown Louisville and they do an amazing Christmas light display every year.

 Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  (Sorry for Owen's spooky eyes.)

 Jumping and sliding fun at Incredible Dave's, an indoor kid playground and arcade.  The kids love it there!

Santa came for a visit while we were busy playing.  He didn't mind their sweaty hair though.  Owen asked for Beyblades and Ashleigh asked for a Nintendo DS.

Trenton's Birthday Party

We celebrated Trenton's 12th birthday at CoCo Key Water Resort.  He invited 8 friends to join him from school, church, and the neighborhood.  They had a great time hitting the water slides, sneaking into the adult only hot tub, and floating on the lazy river.

 Trenton was the fastest one of his friends across this rope ladder.

Fencing Lessons

Trenton started fencing lessons this month after asking us for the past year to do so. It is quite the workout each week! After 1 1/2 hours of fencing, he is soaked from head to toe, but he doesn't complain one bit. We are excited that he has found something that he is so passionate about.

Preschool Excitement

Owen and Nathan celebrated "Dad's Day" at preschool last Saturday and had a great time together. It was actually a "pow wow" so they painted each other's faces and made Indian hats. Owen was so happy to have his Dad go to his school with him.

I did not realize what a big deal it was to bring "Spot" home from school, but Owen has never been more proud than the day it was his turn to do so. Spot came home with us for the weekend to be Owen's friend and we recorded what the two of them did together in a little journal that was then read to the class on the following Monday. Owen and Spot went everywhere together that weekend!

Dallin, 17 months

His half birthday is just around the corner, so I thought we were due for a few pictures of him this past month while he is still 17 months old! Doesn't he look like Smokey the Bear?

This is actually his third haircut, but we'll pretend it's his first since I didn't get any pictures of his first haircut! He just loves haircuts; can't you tell? This was the only one I took of him not crying.

Hawaii Highlights

Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii!We were blessed to spend 7 days on Maui without our children. It was bittersweet...it was beautiful and relaxing, but we missed our four little ones dearly! Everyday we found ourselves picking out things the kids could be doing with us and things they couldn't. We wouldn't trade the time alone for the world, but next time we'll bring them along :)

Honestly, the best part about our trip was the unbelieveable resort we stayed at. It is beyond words and was more than we could have ever dreamed of. The staff waited on us non-stop and there were so many amenities provided, that we really didn't need to leave for things to do. The pools were pure paradise! There were so many different pools that even on our last day we discovered one we had not visited the whole week!The pool area included a tarzan rope, lazy river, sandy beach pool, multiple hottubs, a bar grotto, waterfalls, water elevator, and a dozen waterslides. We had a great time to say the least, even when we were just watching the fun from the luxury of a pool chair!Our beach! We spent almost every morning here. It never dropped below 70 F while we were there and reached a high of 85 F each day.The amazing view from our room's balcony. The little horseshoe island in the distance is where we snorkeled one day.

Next to our resort, our next favorite spot on the island was Lahaina. It was right on the ocean and had so many great restaurants, shopping, shave ice (Cathy's Hawaiian addiction) and parks. This is a famous park because the entire park is filled with the limbs of this huge Banyan tree.

Black Sand Beach on the other side of the island.

On the Road to Hana. It is much more tropical on this side of the island (which is opposite of our resort). We were glad we made the six hour round-trip to check out the tropical plants, waterfalls, and amazing beaches. It is quite a trip though because the road to Hana has 200 turns over the course of just 35 miles!! Going just 35 miles took us 2 hours as a result!

A waterfall along the Road to Hana. It was the "dry" season, so we didn't see as many waterfalls as normal.

A fuzzy picture of the waterfall in front of our resort.

Since this trip was thanks to a work conference, not all of our time was spent laying on the beach. Nathan did have to attend a few meetings the first couple of days while I laid at the pool :) There is a baby lizard on the top of the sign in this picture if you look closely.

Waiting for our food at a great restaurant on the ocean in Lahaina.

We went to a luau our fifth night there. It was a lot of fun to be on the beach at night. This guy with the fire was impressive!

Sunset at the pool. Amazing!

Sunset at the beach just beyond the pools at our hotel. We miss the sun already!

So, I took 300 pictures on our trip. I took pictures of everything! You never know what you might want to remember ten years from now, so I took pictures of everything I saw, including this lovely lady. She's picture worthy, don't ya think?


And what about this sign? It's not everyday that the bathroom sign has a hula skirt on it!

Halloween 2011

Ashleigh as dancer named Rocki from Shake It Up Chicago, Trenton the Mad Scientist, Dallin the cowboy, and Owen as Indiana Jones.

Pre-rotted pumpkins (see above). Trenton carved his pumpkin completely on his own for the first time this year.

The loot! They received full size candy bars at a few houses and hotdogs at one nice neighbor's!

New Skateboard

Owen is in love with his "new" skateboard. He has been fascinated with skateboarding ever since a teenage boy moved in across the street who skateboards every day in the street. He had put a skateboard on his Christmas list, but while we were browsing through our favorite thrift shop last week, he found a very loved skateboard marked $.50. That's less than a candy bar, so it came home with us. For days, he told everyone he saw that he had a skateboard and headed outdoors at 8:00 a.m. each morning to start riding it. He loves it! Let's just say, it was the best $.50 I ever spent!

Election Day

Today was the final day of Trenton's campaign for Student Council President. The campaigning ended with speeches from each of the candidates in front of the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. This is all of the candidates who gave speeches for one of only four officer positions. There were six running for President, but Trenton was the only boy. The teachers advised them to dress up a little, but Trenton was the only male who actually did so. That's probably why he won! Just kidding, but he did get elected as President and we are all very proud of him. Way to go, Trenton! Interestingly, his Vice President is also a boy (he is standing directly in front of Trenton).

Our Nephew, Eddie

We have been dog-sitting our nephew, Eddie this past week and the kids have had a ball with him. Dallin loves throwing his toys for him to chase and Ashleigh loves to take him outside. Owen is his protector and Trenton enjoys taking him on walks around the neighborhood. While we love Eddie, we have decided a dog is not for us!

While outside with Eddie, the kids brought out the sled to play in. Too bad there isn't any snow! Actually, that would be bad because we are not ready for snow at all!

Dallin loved getting pulled around the yard. He is getting so big!!

Trenton for President

Trenton has been working hard this week to get elected as this year's Student Council President. He won a spot as his Class Representative last week and decided to go for President. We made five posters that he hung up in the halls and last night we made this t-shirt for him to wear to school today. Unfortunately, he isn't allowed to pass out candy or any other "bribe", so hopefully the t-shirt will get him some publicity. He gives a speech tomorrow in front of the whole school before everyone votes, so we should know the results soon! It has been fun to see Trenton get so excited about a project. Either way, we are very proud of him!