Viva Mexico!

Cancun 2009

How hard can life really be for an 8 and 6 year old?

Mexico was fantastic... regardless of the swine flu.

Unfortunately, we probably brought the swine flu to Mexico :). Tanner was sick for 4 of the 8 days, and Kaitlyn was sick for 2 days. Other than that fact... they would have missed school anyway, so they might as well have been in Mexico sitting by the pool.

This is really the ocean... It was so warm and wonderful.

And of course, perfectly caribbean blue.

Romantic walks together on the beach when you travel with children are nonexistent. So, you get to take walks alone with your children.Just as precious.
The view from our room. Pretty nice.

What a babaliscious!

What a cute Macaw. It had just given Tanner a kiss.
Moments before he was cradling a green parrot.

Tanner enjoying beach side dining. What a life.

More Yucatan wildlife. What a huge Iguana.

We were lucky enough to witness baby sea turtles hatching from their shells.

Truly AMAZING and WONDERFUL.

Then at night fall... we were able to release 2 turtles each (out of 230 that hatched that day)

into the ocean. It was a truly special and unique experience.

Kaitlyn and Tanner were fabulous at snorkeling.

We saw dolphins, a sea turtle, and of course, MANY, MANY fish.

The coral was more vibrant and fantastic than we had ever seen before.

We were so glad that the kids had such a great first experience

What a cute girl. She was anxious to get to the next snorkeling spot.

These cute little guys were so strong and so absolutely adorable.
The baby sea turtles hatching and releasing them into the ocean was a

trip highlight for me.

They'll be grown before I know it.

Blurry... but too cute - my little man.
Two of a kind.

As I was mowing my lawn today with my husbands riding lawnmower (I say husbands because I would much rather push a mower myself... he liked the manliness of a tractor), I was able to be alone with my thoughts. I truly enjoy thinking uninterrupted and it doesn't hurt that I am driving around a death trap tractor, which my children know not to approach. As my thoughts swam in complete nothingness (truly enjoyable) I realized that time is truly slipping away from me. Addison is 13 months old now. Kaitlyn was just baptized. Tanner will be in 1st grade and in school all day now. Sydney attempted underwear today, which she successfully peed in... NOT the potty... buy a first time wearing underwear nonetheless. I began to realize... that they will grow up faster than I think... just like the old ladies always tell us. "Enjoy them while you can" they say, "they'll be grown before you know it". Today, as hard as it is to deal with a 2 year old peeing her pants, a 2 year old that seriously can not go 5 minutes without making the HUGEST messes, 2 sets of poopy diapers, fighting over who gets to have the red popcicle, crying because the butterfly flew out of the net, and yet another need for a bandaid on of course the smallest wound... the endless tattling...I will treasure it always. Someday, they won't need me for the bandaids... and they won't think I'll be able to help solve their problems... and hopefully... they won't need me to change their diapers anymore.

Precious Addison Claire trying to blow bubbles. She was really "blowing". So cute.

Little "Miss Independent" had a go at feeding herself while we were at tennis practice. Of course with an oh-so-messy yogurt that I did not foolishly surrender to her. She stealthily made her move when I was saving Sydney from utter destruction at the park. When I returned to the blanket... this is what I found. She cried when I tried to take it away from her. Since the mess was already made, I let her have at it.

She's so cute trying to reload her bubble wand.

Neighborhood bike wash.

Chalk art class with grandpa Richie. He enjoyed teaching them about abstract art and blending chalks with your finger to make the color more vibrant.

10 Year Anniversay

From this moment...life has begun. As was sung at our wedding 10 years ago today. And wow.. CHEESY I know but on wedding days and anniversaries it's allowed. It seems like the life I lived before Dallin was all a dream. I can't imagine my life and world without him in it. Happy 10th Anniversary to my beloved Dallin. In 10 years... we've come along way baby...and I am so glad we've hung in there together.

TEN years = 4 years of Dental school + 2 babies + ALOT of tests + 2 years of pediatric residencey + 1 dental practice started from scratch + 1st home + 2 more babies + 1 trip to Hawaii to celebrate 10 years.

A beautiful hike to Manoa Falls, Oahu, Hawaii.

If we were getting married again... this would be a great wedding announcement

don't ya think?

Me getting clobbered by a wave on Flat Island. Hilarious

Gorgeous turquoise water at Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. Sea Kayaking was super fun.

Kailua was my favorite area. Sea Kayaking, snorkeling, paddle surfing and lounging on the gorgeous white sand beach with my brainless beach reading. Heaven.

My favorite view. The mountains aren't bad either.

We were lucky enough to find a beach the sea turtles favor to bask in the sun. We saw 2 this morning in just 30 minutes of each other. They are beautiful creatures. We snorkled about 4 times and everytime we had a contest to find a sea turtle. We were 4 for 4.

We definitely found our favorite places to eat. Along with Matsumotos shaved ice with ice cream, we also favored other North Shore fare ... the Shrimp Shacks. YUM!

We also enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center a couple of days, Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, and TONS of beaches.

Breakfast in Bed

Last night my Tanner said he wanted to

eat breakfast in his room.

I told him that it sounded like a super fun idea and I would bring him breakfast in bed.

Upon his great excitement, he set up the little table and chair by his bed in anticipation of his great breakfast feast. His excitement could not be contained yet again when he got out of bed 3 different times to remind me to: 1, bring him a drink with breafast; 2, not to forget the siverware with a knife; 3, and last but not least, he wanted me to have a reminder note so I would not forget. He put the note by my bed.

So here is the wonderful breakfast in bed that he almost lost sleep over.

What a cute boy.

Now, I need to get him off the idea of having breakfast in bed everyday :).

My Tanner boy.

This is Jack

This post is long overdue.

Introducing my little Jack.

I say "MY" because my children lost interest in him within the first 10 minutes.

So now I am his primary caregiver.

And he really does just love me. First, I must say, I am not a pet person at all. My daughter asks constantly for a pet (Jack doesn't count apparently). But for some reason, when he looks at me with those creapy little rodent eyes, I just melt. For real. Many of you find me crazy, as do I... but I couldn't bear to get rid of him. Until 2 days ago when

he bit my Sydney and made her bleed!

I'm not totally insane... my baby comes first so now he's definitely on my bad list.

So if anyone knows anyone who wants another pooping, peeing machine that's not good with kids, I've got just the pet for you. Because seriously, look at that face.

What a sweet face.

This is what I live with...I don't clean my bathrooms anymore
because I'm always cleaning up my hamster's "bathroom". If you look in the bottom left hand corner you can see little spots... yeah, that's his pee. He somehow squirts it out of the cage.
I seriously hate him.

I don't think this picture needs much of an explanation... except, I had just scrubbed the kids' bathroom because Sydney decided to use the bathtub for her potty. If it's not hamster poop it's toddler poop. Seriously. So the bathroom is super clean (of course I cleaned EVERYTHING). So you see piles of towels and sheets to be cleaned. And of course the never ending mess of toys that follow Sydney around. By the way, she saw me with the camera and ran into the shot. Awesome.
(This picture inspired by my cute friend Kristen and her "messy" house :-).

Christmas Snow

I found our Christmas snow storm pictures. This is the view from Dallin's mom's house. This was the snow accumulation from just overnight. It continued to snow throughout Christmas day totaling over 20 inches of snow. It was beautiful.

Let it Snow!!

A lot of snow fun during Christmas in Sun Valley. We played in the snow A LOT! Sydney is my newest fan of the cold wet stuff. Tanner got to ski for the first time this year. By his 3rd time on the magic carpet (on the kiddie hill), he was ready for the real lift. Dallin said that Tanner was fantastic (sorry no picture) and fearless. Sun Valley got snow almost everyday while we were there. Over 20 inches just on Christmas Eve night to Christmas morning. So we had a lot of snow to play in.

Sydney's sled is a boogie board. It was the only thing we could find that we could tie a rope to so I could drag her along. It did not go fast at all...so if I wanted to give her some speed, I would have to run down the little hill. Seriously, it was that slow. She thought it was great.

Just a cute picture of her cold nose and rosy red cheeks.

Sydney's first time playing in the snow (technically her 2nd time, but she didn't like it much last year).

King of the Mountain. Tanner is standing at the top of one of the snow-plowed "mountains". He and Kaitlyn would ice-climb up the mountain and slide down a smooth side.

This little cave is the entrance into their fort.

Just behind Tanner is the slide the kids had "constructed" from the piles of snow. Their fort included 2 bedrooms, a "playroom" area, and of course, a refrigerator. Plus an ice-climbing wall with a slide to go back down. It was super fun. I even did it.

You can see that the snow is as deep as the deck is tall. On the right of Tanner is the deck and the snow reaches above the bottom of the deck.

Christmas 2008, part 1

I love the big smiles a successful Christmas morning brings. Kaitlyn asked Santa for the robot lion cub. It's eyes open and close, she growls, purrs, and sleeps. It's pretty cute. Hopefully it will pass for a pet. Kaitlyn still wonders why we can't have a horse in our backyard. So, instead, Santa brought her a "littlest pet shop horse" that's like a game. You have to feed it, etc. She also got Pokemon cards.

Tanner is now among the "gamers". Of course he is thrilled. He also asked Santa for some power rangers, Pokemon cards, and bubble gum (all of which he got).

This year we spent Christmas in Sun Valley with Dallin's mother. We had a very nice and relaxing time. It snowed 24 inches on Christmas Eve. I thought I had taken a picture of it, but I guess not. It was amazing to go to bed with maybe 2 inches of snow and to see such a HUGE increase by morning. It was a wonderful white and snowed in Christmas. We lounged around and relaxed for 2 days. We finally got out of the house on the 27th. With that much snow you just don't plan on leaving. It was great.

Christmas 2008, part 2

Sydney is quite the gentle little mother :). She seriously is a very sweet and gentle big sister to her baby sister. She always feels bad if she hurts someone on accident. She has a very tender and sweet heart. She really loves this baby and the stroller that santa brought her.

Sydney and Addison received Puppy dog mittens from Omi. In this picture, Sydney's puppy mitten is "licking" Addison, sound effects included.

On Addison's first Christmas she did what was expected of her: Eat the wrapping paper and her gifts. Way to go Addison, at 7 1/2 months you're right on target.

My cute Kaitlyn

My Kaitlyn wanted all of her friends to sleep with her this night. Notice how they all are looking in the direction of the doorway. What a great way to be greeted upon entering Kaitlyn's room.

Rock Museum

This is the sign in book for Kaitlyn and Brinley's rock museum. I first called the museum (on my cell phone to my house phone) to inquire about hours and special exhibits. I paid an extra $15 to view the "rare and special" rocks.

A nice lady in our ward, Sis. Harelson, gave Kaitlyn her daughters super great rock collection. My children were thrilled. I could hear my Tanner and Kaitlyn planning the construction of their rock museum. They wanted to use the vacant lot across the street to build their museum. They wanted it to be like a dog house but bigger. Their other plan was to paint Kaitlyn's room brown and display the rocks on the wall. Brinley was wise to say that might not be a good idea because when we took the rocks off, the wall and paint would tear. Very wise indeed :). So this is their museum for now... which I LOVE! They just got a book today to help them identify different rocks to become true geologists.