thanksgiving

thanksgiving is one of my favorite times, not because of anything historical, but simply because it allows us a time to reflect on things in life that we are thankful for.

*sam - thankful for late night runs and a delicious thanksgiving dinner provided by his work. families were invited, but napping babies prevented me from making the party.

*thankful for our friends from madison who came to celebrate thanksgiving with us.

they are like surrogate cousins. the kids were ecstatic about being able to play together - and i was ecstatic to catch up and visit with their mama.

we were all thankful for the perfectly warm fall day which allowed us a beautiful walk amongst the colorful trees.

*i'm thankful that everything turned out but the pumpkin seeds. if i had to fail at something, i'm glad it was the pumpkin seeds...

mosiah had his first taste of turkey. he liked it.

*we were all thankful for a lazy afternoon of fun movies and games. sam took the boys upstairs to play risk (so mimzy wouldn't wreck the game).

however, mimzy was fast asleep, napping off her turkey dinner.

it was sad to see the day end, and our friends drive back to madison. but we were so grateful they took the time to be with us.

we have this tradition, of sorts, that we all cuddle up, eat thanksgiving leftovers, and have a movie marathon. sam chose anne of green gables. he didn't have to, but he loves me, and i'm thankful for that.

i am thankful for family and friends.

the end.

Breakfast in bed

there was no special reason or occasion.
maybe it was just a "thank-you."
at 6:00 in the morning, my son came into my room with a breakfast tray.
he had prepared a bowl of cheerios for me.
it was such a loving gesture, and it warmed my heart.
thank you for the breakfast in bed, isaiah.

crowfoot kid activities

*playing with knives shouldn't be on the list, but somehow this baby managed to find a lost swiss army knife underneath the sofa. um, i'll take that, thank you very much.

*lots of reading goes on around here. when the baby isn't playing with knives, he is perfecting his scooting technique. he's getting around.

*we like to paint our nails blue, just because we can.

*and sometimes, we attempt to play board games for family home evening. however, we only ever get to play for 5 minutes before samiyah runs across the board and throws the money in the air.

we grumble, gripe, laugh, and just have to wait until she goes to sleep to continue the game.

the end.

8 isn't great, it's awesome!

just after you were born, i went out shopping for baby sleepers for the upcoming winter. you must've been only a couple months old. unsurprisingly, i grabbed the wrong size and didn't realize it until i came home. size 4?! that seemed lifetimes away from here and now, and your tiny newborn self. i planned on taking it back, because it would be forever until you'd be able to fit in a size four. days went by, and i forgot to take the package back. before i knew it, you were blowing out four candles on your birthday cake and those humongous sleepers were actually just the right fit.

i know i say this all the time, and you are probably tired of hearing it, but how in the world did you grow so fast?!

today you are 8. last night as i was cataloguing movie clips for your birthday video, my throat tightened, my eyes stung and all i could think of was how grateful i was for each and every day of each and every year that dad and i have had the pleasure of watching you grow.

we've witnessed your first

cry,

tears,

giggle,

crawl,

your first spoonful of butternut squash  (which was your absolute favorite, by the way),

your first day of school.

we've held your soft skin against ours,

we gave you your first bath,

pulled your first tooth,

kissed you your first kiss.

we've watched you grow into an incredibly honorable young man.

you protect your little sisters and brother, just as you should.

you stand up for your friends.

you are respectful.

you are honest.

you are virtuous.

you are helpful.

you are so very fun.

you are kind.

you are loving.

 i am utterly amazed at what a righteous young man you are. despite my failings and shortcomings as your mother - although, i've done my very best - you have taken the very best pieces of life and it's teachings and exemplified these qualities. 

i am so proud of you, especially at this very special time of your life. you are eight years old. you have been preparing to be baptized. you are now responsible for your actions, good and bad. and deep inside my heart, i know you will be making the right decisions that will make you happy in life. i know you will continue in helping and serving those around you. i know you will continue to stand up for what is right, honest, true, and good. yes, you will make mistakes. dad and i will always love you in spite of them. use these mistakes to learn and grow from. pray, repent, and always remember you are a child of God, and He loves you.

you are so much more than i ever was. i know i'm your mom, and it may be a little backwards, but you are an extraordinary example to me. you motivate me to be a better person everyday. you inspire me to dream and accomplish my goals. you fill my days with joy, laughter, and love. your sweet face brings back special memories and comforts my aching heart. and i can't help but feel something heavenly and unearthly about you. 

you are my hero.

happy birthday, my handsome boy.

we love you forever.

happy number 8.

having just returned from a big trip, we wanted to have something easy and low-key. i decorated the house with balloons to surprise isaiah in the morning.

before heading out to church, we had blueberry birthday pancakes.



isaiah had requested split pea soup for his birthday dinner.
for dessert we had captain america cupcakes and red "superman" juice.
it was a comfortable evening of cuddles, movies, games, and chasing after balloons.

happy birthday to my favorite eight year old.

we are looking forward to the many wonderful things you will accomplish this year.

we love you forever.

Happy Birthday Isaiah! (homevideomashup)

Here is a highlight reel of your life thus far!

- Love Dad

recouperating

this week we are resting from our trip. morning buses were missed on a couple of occasions, dishes piled up, and mounds of vacation laundry had to be faced.

it was quite uneventful.

here are the highlights.

*mimzy show and tell - just after her diaper change. "baby, this eww gross."

by the look on mo's face, i think he agrees.

*she's so incredibly perfect, i could stare at her for hours if she'd only stay still and stop making messes.

*mimzy is like a doll. one of those poop and pee dolls on steroids wreaking havoc wherever she goes. but she's just so dang cute about it.

*after a week of getting back into our regular routine, we were due for a family movie night.

there's nothing better. well, maybe family movie night in hawaii, but still...

the end.

Last day in Hawaii

all good things must come to an end.
we really were sad to leave this place.

we packed up our "home" and checked out. a couple days before, a family who was leaving left us all of their extra groceries. they had also left us with some pool floaties which we used last night at the resort pool. swimming beneath the black sky and popping stars is quite magical.
but, now we were the ones packing up and giving groceries and pool toys away.

we dressed for one more dip in the ocean.
it was a good thing we had time - the waves were ginormous! i'd never seen waves so tall. the kids and i stayed safely near the edge of shoreline while sam - dangerous man - ventured out with his board. if you're wondering where the babies were, they were in a makeshift cave of beach towels. it was incredibly windy, and the babies were napping anyway.
sam caught a few stunning waves and rode into shore. there was a lady who went a little too far out and just got hammered by one particularly extraordinary wave. she was okay, but i made sure to scoot just a little closer to the sand, just in case.
all in all, it was incredibly fun.

we'll miss you 82 degrees of perfect sunshiney weather.

we'll miss you waikoloa resort - you were a good home to us the last 9 days.

we'll miss you open island roads, cruising along to island music.

we'll miss you passion fruit juice, and passion fruit tarts, and passion fruit jam.

sigh.

we picked up food for a picnic and headed over to the park and ate our dinner.

we survived the security check-in, barely.

at times like these, i wish i were an octopus with 8 arms.

while we were waiting to board, we met a family from calgary. she and her husband were traveling with two small children. she said, the time in hawaii is so unbelievably perfect - but the airplane rides quickly make up for that, and you pay the price for days of perfection.

truer words have never been spoken.

our flight left around 7. it was a short one to oahu. there, our flight was delayed. the kids fell asleep and we ended up carting them around on luggage carts and wheelchairs. we didn't leave until midnight.

we had to wake our sleeping children to board the midnight plane - it was not happy. i don't blame them. the kids slept on the flight to L.A., but it was impossible for sam and i sleep while holding babies. we dozed off here and there - but sitting on a plane for 6 hours is horrid in itself. at least it wasn't an 18 hour flight to europe all by my lonesome with my firstborn baby and lost luggage. ugh, airplanes.

so, from L.A. we fly to phoenix, then texas, then minneapolis.

we reach minneapolis at 9pm on sunday.

we were in and out of airports from saturday at 7pm to sunday at 9pm. 26 freaking hours, only to come back to 22 degree weather and snow flurries.
we still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.

we were beat down and exhausted.

we raced home and fell into our beds. i think i'm going to be out of commission for a few days.

the end.

thank you nana and umpa

today is my parents last day in kona.

they fly back to arizona tonight. this meant, we had to make the most of our day with them.

their conference had ended yesterday, and we had them all to ourselves today.

we dressed up and took family pictures at the kona temple.

umpa with the boys.

nana with the girls.

(mimzy was only cooperative with her passion fruit juice in hand - diva!)

nana and umpa.

after a quick change, we took my parents to the beach. my mom was terrified of the ocean and was ready to face her fears.

i held her hand and we inched our way into the warm, salty water.

she gained courage with each bubbling wave and went out pretty far.

we laughed and held onto each other as the waves crashed into our legs.

it is one of the best memories i now have with my mom. she has been my dearest friend, guide, counselor, nurse, etc - and i'm so grateful i had this opportunity to help her overcome her fear of the ocean.

even my dad came out! ;)

they walked into the surf and up and down the shoreline.

it was really sweet.

daddy was busy walking along the shoreline, too.

isaiah and makayah fearlessly jumped into every wave they possibly could.

the sun was setting on this glorious day, and it was finally time to see my parents off.

thank you, nana and umpa, for the best time of our lives. we are truly grateful for your generosity in sharing this beautiful experience with us. we had an amazing time with you both. we love you forever.

the end.

hapuna beach and an evening show...

thursday

beach bums. that's what we've turned into since being here.

everything about being at the beach is perfect (except for the part when you have to shower off all the sand - that's a bit tedious).

but hey, considering all the enjoyment the beach has to offer, we'll take it.

we deliberately chose this spot, close to the rescue tower. ;) 

however, mimzy was drawn to the rescue board like a magnet and almost tipped it over.

there was a warm ocean breeze. why can't wisconsin have warm great lake breezes?

it was wonderful setting up our spot, sitting back and watching the kids play in the sand and surf.

i was soaking up all this r&r while i could.

ocean gazing.

beach babes.

it's tricky getting family portraits.

the best part about going to the beach is running into the waves, feeling the gentle pull, falling over, and splashing into the water with my babies.

that's all we did, over and over, and over again. i can't remember the last time we laughed so hard and so much.

boogie boarding was so fun, too.

we all caught some pretty sweet waves - nothing too crazy.

more wave jumping.

more sand castles.

mimzy was tuckered out.

after showering off all the sand, we gussied up for the luau that night.

isaiah got up on stage and learned a dance or two, as well. he did a great job.

the kids had a free ride at a 4D show during the intermission.

we met a family from utah. they had heard us calling out our kids' names and had said hello shortly after. they were super nice and took our family photo for us.

nothing beats a day at the beach and an evening luau.

all is well.

the end.