Hawaii

Without further ado, our pictures from Hawaii! 

I could give you all kinds of excuses for why I did not get back to posting these sooner {sickness, injury, technical issues}, but let's just cut to the chase, shall we?! 

A couple days after Christmas, we got the kids fully dressed, tucked them into bed, and caught an early flight the next day for beautiful Hawaii.  It is hard to believe we did this just two years ago with six-week-old Julia.  Colton's turn! 

Party of nineteen on this trip!  Good thing I have such a cool family. :-)

Peyton was more excited about the volcano than just about anything else.  Naturally, he was attracted to the fire and smoke, and told us they, "interrupt".

There is so much to see, and I believe the Big Island is home to almost every climate of the world {thus the cactus below}.  We saw more sea turtles than ever, swam with dolphins, watched whales, got stung by sea urchins, jumped off cliffs, found new incredible beaches, and  soaked  up  the  sun.

Olivia named this little bay, "calm waters".  All beaches in Hawaii are public, so it is just a matter of knowing where to go.  Thank you to Daniel & Liza for finding this one!

David had to fly home four days ahead of us for work; I'm so glad we got this family picture before he left.

Thank you, Dad and Mom!

Christmas in February~

Hello!  Are you still there?  It has been so long I don't even know where to begin, and yikes, the longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to come back.  I'm not sure how I found the time to blog before?!, but perhaps having four little nuts is kicking my booty more than I realize or I am still finding my new groove?  I remember the transition to three as not very difficult, but time is in short supply with four!  I feel such a great responsibility to make sure each one is being challenged, loved, trained, and so forth while maintaining a somewhat clean, orderly home, and happy husband... you get the picture!  Anyhoo, here are a few pictures from Christmas so I can work towards getting current!

Christmas:

It snowed our first day of Christmas break and Grampy showed up on horseback while we were eating gingerman-pancakes.  It was lovely.

Most of our Christmas decor consisted of nativities, and Christmas sets the kids could play with.  My, how things have changed!  One little person stole some moss off of the roof to feed the livestock.

My parents looked into taking all the grand kids to the Polar Express, but decided to get draft horses for the morning instead.  Friends and family came, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and sipped warm beverage. 

Our growing family took up a whole corner of the table at Christmas Eve.

We did try to get a family picture.

Christmas was so fun and incredibly memorable.

We drove to the barn in our pajamas and boots where David had a manger set up.  He talked of Jesus' coming and the kids were so giddy.

We turned our attention to feeding the horses as the sun was coming up and just in time to discover Olivia's Christmas present.

Who is that? 

Her very own wild mustang!

Meet Sam!

I will have to tell you more of the story another time.  Let's just say I fell even more in love with David as he shoped for, purchased, concealed, and planned for her horse.

They are so loved.

The best cinnamon rolls I've ever made... finally!  Thanks, Meg!!

One of my favorite gifts was this flower that Peyton wrapped himself and hid in the basement for some time.  Sweet boy!

Next up: Hawaii pictures!