More train station Pictures

I couldn't fit all the pictures I wanted on that last post so...here are the other pictures I just love. I can't decide which ones I want to put in the boys room..so if you have a fav let me know.

Train Station Pictures

We had such a fun family night when we went to the train museum. I was able to take a lot of pictures and had lots of fun! I can't decide which pictures I like best. The kids loved being at the train station and with them having so much fun, it was easy to take their picture. Isaac wanted his picture taken by every color of train...what a boy!! Kaden loved the boxcar and had fun in it. Abbie loved the fountain but the best pictures of her were on the railroad track.

I am trying to be a photographer !?!

I tried my hand at taking my own kids yearly photos. I read up on how to take good photos, borrowed my sisters great camera (thanks Jennie) and went on location to try and take a few photos. You'll have to let me know what you think. I made the pettiskirt that Abbie is wearing. Such a fun project...I found the pattern on the internet and away I went. I had to order the special fabric on the internet....you can't find nylon chiffon in UTAH!!! Good thing it's a cheat fabric...even with shipping...because it's so light. Oh well, the project turned out great and Abbie's three year old pictures are so fun!! I took pictures of the boys with trains. I will post their pictures soon.

Design Team

Heartstring Designs asked me to be on a design team and I am thrilled!! We will put together the monthly scrapbook kits and monthly card kits. These people are just great and always have such fun ideas! The team consists of Heather, Kristina, Megan, Diane and Me!! You guys are great to work with!!

I love Fall!!!

I love this season and as you can tell I am ready for it!! I hung up my antique ladders from the ceiling ( I know...such a surprise from me) and put the vine and fall foliage on it. I hung votives and other little things that I already had in my fall stuff. I love the changing of seasons and can't believe that it's already here.

I love projects!!

I have had a lot of fun refinishing and distressing furniture lately. I have done chairs, tables, a small, short table for the kids play room, and the biggest project has been making a bench out of an antique door. I am finishing the rest of the upholstery today so I will post pictures when it is completely finished.

Camping

We went camping this year while Isaac was off track in August. We had a blast. We went with our friends the Ketcham's. It was really fun to be in nature and enjoying each other's company. It's so nice to have good friends that you can do fun things with. The men also took time to be able to go bow hunting. Neither of them got anything but saw a lot of elk and enjoyed being out in the moutains. I am so thankful that all my kids love to go camping. We were able to borrow my aunt and uncles pop-up trailer which made it like a home away from home. Thanks David and Paula for letting us live the high life in the mountains. While we were camping Mandy and I took the kids on a nature hike. We collected leaves, berries, sticks, rocks, anything that the kids thought looked interesting. We were half way through our nature hike (we hadn't made it very far from camp) the men came back for meal time and were able to join us with the kids. We went back to camp and used the leaves and things as stamps and made pictures with paint. The kids had a really great time and the pictures turned out great!!

Hubby Tag

I thought this was a pretty fun tag, so here goes...... 1- Where did you meet? We met through Reed's roommate. He was in the CLS program at Weber State University that I was in. We met at an institute dance...that's how it all began!! 2- How long did you date before you were married? We met in October and were married the next July...so not quite a year. 3- How long have you been married for? 7 years! It has just flown by!! 4- What does he do that surprises you? Dishes!!! I never have to ask for him to do them....he just does...and I love that!! 5- What's your favorite feature about him? I love how he is my biggest supporter of all my great idea!! He always wants me to make my own decisions and be the best person I can be!! Love that!I also don't mine how he's so tall and handsome. 6- What's your favorite quality about him? Reed is a very kind person. He is always very kind especially to the elderly that he treats...he is loved by all who know him.7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it? Yes, mostly dear, Cas, or other lovey dovey names. 8- What's his favorite color? Green, brown, any color that makes up Camouflage. 9- What's his favorite food? Steak or Dutch Oven...with a big side salad. He loves rabbit food (that's what I call it). 10-What is his favorite sport? Probably basketball...it's hard to narrow it down. 11- Who said I love you first? I don't remember (lame I know but, what does it matter when you say it every day since)...we probably said it together!! 12- When and where was your fist kiss? Near christmas time after a great date!! 13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? We go camping, fishing, anything outdoors with the kids...but our favorite time as a couple is snuggling under the stars camping!! You can always see the stars better out in the mountains. Reed especially loves it if it's lightning or thundering...because it scares me and I cuddle real close. 14-Do you have kids? How many? Yes, we have three kids. Isaac (almost 6), Abigail (3 years old) and Kaden (2 years old). 15- What's a hidden talent that he has? He can make me think about things in a new way...sometimes I need to look at the big picture. He also is very whitty...he thinks so much faster than I do with jokes. 16- How old is he? 32 17- What's his favorite type of music? Pop, some alternative, some rock, some country. He likes many different artists and songs. 18- What do you admire most about him? He is such a hard worker. He never complains about going to work and he is always fun to be around. When I'm not around him...I am always missing him. 19-What's his favorite past time? Probably just being with his family or friends, camping or hunting. He really loves to be in the outdoors, even if it's a stinky duck swamp. He's a happy man. 20- Do you think he is going to read this? Well maybe, but only if I tell him it's on our blog. I tag Becky and Jennie (get a blog!!)

More Hawaii

One of the fun treats we had was at Matsumoto's...a shaved ice store. They have shaved ice with ice cream and other things that you could add in. The ice cream was certainly yummy. My favorite was the pina colada ice cream shaved ice. Certainly different from anything you get here. There were pictures of many famous people with the Matsumoto's. (Tom Hanks, Hurley from Lost, lots of surfers, and other famous people) It was such a fun little stop...we stopped a few times. Yummy!! One morning...due to the time change...our kids were up at 5 a.m. So, we decided to just go to the beach. We built sand castles, played in the waves, Reed snorkeled, and built more sand castles. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the early morning trip to the beach. It was really fun being just our little family playing on the beach while early morning surfers came out to catch a few waves. We went swimming and got to take some fun photos. This beach had beautiful clear water with great snorkeling spots. Fun for all!! Hanauma Bay was fun playing on the beach...but didn't get to see very many fish due to the muddy water. You had to swim out a ways to get to clearer water and the tide was really strong. It was fun to see the fish and the Coral but my favorite part was watching Jordan get washed up on the beach like a beached whale!! He was laughing so hard as the waves crashed him into shore and we were too!!! I could barely take the pictures because we were laughing so hard! On our last morning in Hawaii, Reed adventured down the beach and found a lot of sea turtles. He came back and we all went to see them. There was one that was in between a lot of rocks. The turtles looked like rocks and as you can tell in the pictures...you almost can mistake them for rocks. It was really cool that you can get so close and take a few pictures with the turtles. That is something I will always remember. Too much fun in Hawaii!! Can't wait to go back. Aloha!!!

Pictures of Hawaii

The Arizona memorial was a really neat thing to see. I had always seen it on tv or in pictures but it's actually quite a large memorial. It can fit a lot of people on it at a time. It was surreal seeing the oil still coming up from the Arizona. I am really glad we came and saw this. It is always good to remember where our freedom comes from and why we need to support those that protect it. Before we went into the aquarium we found a huge tree with swinging vines. Each of the kids took a turn and Reed had quite a few turns swinging from the branches. Such a fun little side adventure. Out of all the kids...Kaden enjoyed this the most. He was completely fascinated by the shark tank and the port hole. He just laughed, pointed, and kept admiring all the fish. Such wonder for someone so young. I guess we all were that way the first time we saw fish so bright and sharks so close. We were also able to go and see the Seals. Abbie and Isaac liked watching the trainer work with the seals. The polynesian culture center was an all day event and boy was it worth it. We learned all about all the different countries and how they are each different and unique. The boat show was my favorite along with the coconut tree climber. The show that night was truly spectacular and the kids laughed themselves silly watching the fire walkers. Isaac was busting a gut watching these guys try to put out their fires with their grass skirts. This is definetely something everyone should go see if they go to Oahu. We decided to go do the Dole Train ride instead of the maze. The kids thoroughly enjoyed riding a train...what kid wouldn't. I learned a ton about how Pineapple are grown and didn't know that it takes 20 months for the first pineaple to be ready from the plant. Then the next harvest isn't ready for another 15 months. I love pineapple and don't know if I could watch it grow in my yard for that long...I might sneak a taste. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter since it would die in the snow here in Utah. Hee Hee I took some fun pictures of the kids in the face holes of the pineapple Hula and Ukulele player while we waited for the train to come. Hawaii is still spectacular!!

Hawaii

On sunday we went to see the Laie Temple. The grounds are spectacular. Then afterward we went to the beach nearby to see what that side of the island looked like. The waves were really neat and the kids loved running on the beach. We also got to write "Hawaii '08" in the sand on this beach and took pictures of our toes in the sand. It was really fun to see the kids so excited to see the ocean. We had seen it by the Beach house but it wasn't as sandy as this beach.The kids really loved to run up and down the beach. They thought the waves were chasing them as they ran. It was really fun to see them enjoying the ocean so much. The next collage of pictures is some taken by the beach house. The house was one of the best things about the trip. Being so close to the ocean for the entire trip made it up close and personal to seeing what it would be like to live on an island. The volcano rocks are so black and stand out so solidly from the ocean. We collected some sea shells and watched the sunset. It was quite the view from our back yard. One of the first sea life we saw were turtles!! The kids were thrilled to see them up close. We got to take a lot of pictures because the green sea turtles came right up on the beach to sun themselves. It was the first time we had seen turtles up close in the wild and not at the zoo. They are really big and are surreal to see in person. Hawaii was so much fun!! Waimea valley was so beautiful. There are literally flowers falling from the trees. I see why so many Hawaiians put flowers in their hair...they are so abundant! The flowers are really spectacular.

Hawaii Pictures

I am finally getting this to work and am thrilled. I will finally have pictures on my blog. This first picture was taken on the Laie Temple grounds before we went to Waimea Falls. The family picture is taken at the Falls. We had so much fun I am going to have to blog some more with more pictures. Til' then I guess that's all for now.

Back from Hawaii

We just made it back from Hawaii and had a wonderful time. The whole family went and loved it. I think we came back with three fishes instead of children. They loved to swim. We were able to go swimming, go to the Dole plantation, swim with sea turtles, see the aquarium, eat at Hard Rock, Honolulu, and do a session at the Laie, Hawaii temple. It was such a whirlwind vacation that I can't believe that we are back already. Eight days in Hawaii just doesn't seem like it was long enough. I guess it's never fun to have to come back to reality. Oh well, I guess it had to happen sometime. It was sure fun and we are taking home alot of memories that hopefully the kids will remember. If not, there are a ton of pictures to prove that they were there.

Starting Over

Well, it looks like I had to start over. Hopefully that will never happen again. I will post some pictures soon so it looks like a real blog.