February

The best thing we decided to do was take a trip to Hawaii with just our little family. We stayed at the Disney resort Aulani and made such fun memories together. The plane rides were long and certainly not easy, but the kids did better than we expected.

 The beach was perfectly manicured and the waves were small which made a great experience for the kids. They were so excited to run around in the waves and play in the sand. Anniston wanted nothing to do with the sand and would not even put her feet down until the last day we were there.

 Bentley ran fearlessly into the waves and was having a great time until he got pummeled by one and had a face full of sand. He was also freezing because it was 6:30 am.

 Colorful coy fish.

 Auntie's beach house was a blast. We went inside to explore and ended up having a dance party with Chip and Dale.

 In my arms is where Anniston spent most of her Hawaii vacation.

 The little island men called Menehune were everywhere and we went on treasure hunts and found them all around the entire resort.

 The last day we were there we had the chance to feed the coy fish.

 The best shaved ice ever!

 Surfing party on the lawn where we learned how to surf.

 The kids learned how to boogie board.

 Bryce, Jayda and Bentley snorkeled in the private snorkeling reef but Bentley and Jayda were a bit scared and decided the water was too cold. Bryce loved it and we were able to watch him swim around from an under water window.

 Our family loved the free classes they had like learning how to draw Disney annimation cells and build our own paddle boat with Uncle.

 The luau was incredible and had fire dancers and incredible singers.

 Nani and Papa gave the kids money to pick out souvenirs so they all chose stuffed animals of course. The stitch animals fold out into pillows for the plane ride home.

 The kids finally got  brave enough to try out the slides and crazy splashing in Menehune cove and it turned out to be their favorite place. I love that they tried new things on this trip and were able to overcome some fears.

January

 January was a month of staying home and being with family. Anniston had her 12 month checkup and shots. She hates, hates, hates shots and will cry for a good 15 minutes afterward just to make sure you know she is mad. 

 First pig tails.

 I was able to go on Jayda's field trip to Discovery Gateway with her class. She spent a lot of time with her best friend Addison.

 We drove up to Idaho for Chandler and Tanner's wedding. Jayda was a flower girl and Bentley was the ring bearer. We don't have many pictures because we thought the photographer would take some but that didn't ever happen.

 I tried to get pictures at the Target studio and it was a giant disaster. The photographer was terrible, Anniston didn't cooperate, and I spent money on pictures I will never use. This is the best one we got. She is super cute though.

December

Navy turned 4 and had a candyland themed birthday party with a face painter. This little tiger and lion had a blast and were not happy about washing their faces.

Christmas dance recital was so much fun. Jayda danced to a jazzy version of Hark the Herald Angels sing. Nani thought it was irreverent but I think it was just fun and it's nice to hear a song about Jesus at a dance recital :)

The girls loved seeing Santa and telling them waht they want for Christmas. Bentley wanted nothing to do with him.

Bentley's preschool had a Christmas program at the library. They sang songs and once again Santa made a special appearance but Bentley refused. In this picture he is sitting next to Malu. He's a "black human" who is Bentley's best friend.

Jayda also had a Christmas performance so she wore a Christmas sweater. She was so animated and got so into all of the songs that I think she might love theater even though she says she is scared and doesn't want to try it. She did fabulous and was fun to watch.

 

This was probably the last Christmas eve we will sleepover at Nani and Papa's house. We played games, the boys drank egg nog and we all had a great time together.  

Christmas morning waiting to open gifts

So You Think You Can Dance has been a 3 year tradition now and is a blast. This year little Jayda was inducted into our group and ate it all up.

 Bini turned 1 year old. She has lots of teeth and lots of attitude.

 We got a huge snow storm over Christmas break and the whole neighborhood came out to shovel and hang out. We ended up ordering pizza and having a party at our house as well.

 Jayda asked to get her hair cut again. She looks super cute with short hair and likes how much easier it is to brush.