Congratulations!!!

jess and dennis with baby lucas, who passed away at four months old in march

To my sister Jessyca and her husband Dennis, 
who welcomed their 

sweet baby girl 

into the world yesterday!!! 

I'm so

excited/stoked/overjoyed/happy/ecstatic

for them!!

baby girl born saturday, september 17, 2011

on applying makeup in trees:

first, you amply apply lipgloss you stole from grandma

like so

then, it's all about the eyes

"how do i look, mom?"

Christmas Weekend

Christmas eve started out bright, sunny, lovely. We headed over to the Visitor's Center with some friends.

...then we went to the beach and soaked up some wonderful sunshine...

...until the clouds rolled in with some cold winds and rain, making it feel a lot more like Christmas for us hawaiians.

Christmas day started with the sorting and opening of presents!! Santa left notes for the kids, reminding them of the true meaning of Christmas (the birth of our Savior) and to love and be kind to one another and their parents. they were both delighted with all of their gifts, thanks to all the santas out there. among them being clothes, an etch-a-sketch, legos, a tea set, makeup, a rocket, barbies, barbie clothes, toy cars...they were pretty spoiled! (and i must admit, i was having a blast reliving fond childhood memories -- messing around with the etch-a-sketch and legos is very fun!)

then we headed over to grandma and grandpa ho's house for some good company, conversation, and food!!! we were also able to visit with the lowes and grandma and grandpa ayoso. amity and aunty colleen put together a lovely calendar with memories, recipes, and photos of great-grandparents sproat for all of us. i love it!!

the day after Christmas was spent at the beach, swimming and enjoying one anothers company.

Merry Christmas

for some reason, i was thinking i needed to make an advent calendar.

silly me, i forgot my mom gave me this one:

i've just got to fill each pocket with a fun activity now...only 2 more days 'til december!!!
can't do 'write to santa', because that one's already been did:

here is faith's wishlist.

mom, did i want makeup when i was 5??

"new books" -- despite the fact that our shelves are {literally} overflowing with them...i guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

oh, and on the bottom, she asked me how to spell out, "santa, how can you see us when we are sleeping?"

and all malik says he wants for Christmas is "real" legos that he can stack into cars. i'm guessing he means legos that can be made into cars, as opposed to the jumbo-sized lego blocks he has now. every time we go over to aunty kapewa's house, he loves admiring and playing with nine-year-old ezra's things, like legos.

santa's gonna have to think about that one... isn't almost-4 a bit young for those little things?

oh, i love my kids -- they make the holidays so fun and worthwhile.

Christmas Memories

Feeling Christmasy yet?
December's right around the corner. I'm recalling our "white" Christmas of yesteryear. It's fun looking through pictures, reminiscing. We're missing our Oregon, Alaskan, and all the rest of you mainland peeps!!! Enjoy the crisper weather for us!

Happy Holidays!!!
We love and miss you all!!!

"Family home evening brings my family together and helps me grow closer to my Heavenly Father."

This was Faith's part for the primary program today in Sacrament. She did such a good job and memorized it. Me and Doug sat and smiled. She waved to us with a HUGE grin on her face three times. It made us laugh. Every time the children stood up to sing, we could see her enunciating the words and really opening her mouth. She knew most of the words and she did it with a smile on her face. I was beaming. I was thinking maybe I should get her into a childrens choir -- she seemed to be enjoying herself so much. When Malik finally caught sight of his sister, he started giggling and pointing, saying,"There's Faith! I see her!" I had to hush him a few times, but he was excited. It wasn't the first time she was up there, but it makes me happy to think that she is learning this wonderful Gospel with every primary song she learns, every Sunday school lesson, every good example she sees, every family home evening, every prayer...

the small things add up.