Christmas Eve Eve

Growing up we always went to my Grandma and Grandpa Olson's on Christmas Eve. But now that the family is getting so big we have changed it to 2 days before Christmas. This year Lacie got to be Mary, Alexa and Ashlyn were angels and my sweet Cessilee was baby Jesus. She started crying in the middle of it so we ended up taking her down but she played her role pretty good.:-)

I Love Arizona

Fall is finally here!! 2 Days before Christmas :) I love AZ ...I really do! I love that the kids can run around and play barefoot practically year-round! I love that I just went Christmas shopping at 1100 at night in capris and short sleeve shirt. I love that we can have pretty green grass all year-round! I love that I can always drive fast because I know there is NEVER any ice on the streets. I have decided that I really am an Arizonan through and though and that I REALLY don't enjoy being cold! AND I LOVE ARIZONA. I am so happy to be home!

Christmas Break

Christmas Break is finally here!! I absolutely LOVE having the kids home all day. It is just the best to watch them having so much fun just being kids. We have had a lot of fun opportunities to take the kids to a lot of cool places but honestly there is nothing that brings me more joy then watching them run around just being kids without a care in the world!

You know how when you get so far behind in blogging you never have time to catch up well that is how it has been for me these last few months. I have so much (and yet really nothing!!!) going on that I never have time to sit down and catch up so I know I am blogging about 3 months ago but I do a blog for many reasons and one of them if for journal purposes (like most of you) so I do want to post a few of the highlights from the last few months. So I will hopefully be able to do this fast and me all caught up soon!!! :)

Our Hawaiian Vacation

Day 6
On our last full day in Hawaii we finally went on a date that we had been wanting to do since before we got there. About 8 minutes from our house is Kualoa Ranch. They have all kinds of activities there and lots of movies have been filmed there including Pearl Harbor, LOST, Jurassic Park, and many more. So we thought it would be fun to go on the movie tour they offer there and then go horse back riding. It was a blast.

You could almost see our house from up here.

After our date we went home and got the girls and finished out our Hawaii Vacation at the beach…where else! We went to Haliewa Beach. We still hadn’t tried surfing (all though Lacie already had!) So we decided to rent a surfboard and have some fun. I really didn’t want to get out there and try because it looked hard and I was 16 weeks pregnant but I decided to at least paddle out and try to get onto my knees. I couldn’t even do that! I do think Craig stood up for a second, even though he doesn’t think he did. It sure looked like he did to me. It was funny though as I was out there I was sitting there waiting for a wave and I saw a turtle poke his head up and right then a wave came and I think my surfboard hit him…poor thing . And of course the girls had a blast playing at the beach. When we first got to Hawaii Kembri would just sit on my lap and hardly walk around at all but by the time we left she loved playing in the sand. After, we had to try the famous shaved ice...yummy but I still think Bahama Bucks shaved ice in AZ is better :).

Our Hawaiian Vacation

Day 5
Hiking Diamond Head
Hiking Diamond Head was well worth it. It was a hard hike only because it didn't have much shade and so it was extremely hot. But the views from the top were so worth it. I was so proud of the girls. They hiked up almost the whole way by themselves.

After the hike we went to Hanamana Bay and went snorkeling. It is a natural preserve and it was the coolest place we had gone snorkeling at. There were tons of fish and Craig saw turtles. Lacie could see fish in the water from standing on the beach. It was so much fun. I was just so sad that we didn't go there earlier! This is the first place I really snorkled at. We did go snorkiling at Wamiea Bay but I never really got the whole breathing through a little tube thing down. But I was determined here not to panick and just do it and once I did I loved it!! It was so relaxing. As we were leaving the sun was just going down and we got some beautiful pictures of the sunset.

Our Hawaiian Vacation

Day 4
On the fourth day of our Hawaii Vacation we went to the Valley of the Temples and went inside the Buddhist Temple. It was so gorgeous there. They have beautiful gardens and a fish pond. They have a huge Buddha and a gong to ring.



Then we went to BYU, Craig had to meet with one of his Professors so we took that time to take some pictures on campus.

Our Hawaiian Vacation

DAY 3

We went and did a tour at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Farm. It was pretty fun. If we hadn't been to the Polynesian Cultral Center it would have been even better. Some of thee things the showed us we the same as at the PCC. Part of the tour was going on a little boat that took us on the lake that Gilligian's Island was filmed from and of course Lost and many more films. It was pretty cool. They even made all the girls these cool little hat things we are wearing.

Then we went in for my ultrasound and we found out we are having ......
ANOTHER GIRL!!! Crazy! We are SO excited. We love girls so much!

Our Hawaiian Vacation

DAY 2
Pearl Harbor
Today we went to Pearl Harbor. We saw the USS AZ Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine and the Battleship Missouri Memorial. I can't imagine living on those ships and especially the submarine!! I would get so claustrophobic. I also think it is so crazy that the Arizona is still leaking oil into the water after all this time.

USS Bowfin Submarine

USS Arizona Memorial

If you look closely you can see the rainbowish color and that is the oil from the ship.

Battleship Missouri

Our Hawaiian Vacation

DAY 1

Craig has been working so hard at school all most the whole time we have been here and so we haven't been able to do many things we have wanted to do. So school is out and now our vacation has begun! Of course Craig ended up still having to do two finals today even though he was suppose to be done on Friday. So we only had a couple of hours to do something. We went to Waimea Valley Park, which is so beautiful!! There is 3/4 mile of botanical gardens and then at the end is a waterfall. It was really pretty. We went behind the waterfall but it was hard to breath so you couldn't stay back there long. You know all those pictures of people standing in front of the waterfall...yeah not happening. It was about 30-40 feet deep and so powerful it was hard to even get under it.

Going to Orlando

We have really enjoyed it here in Hawaii (there are a few things I hate:)) but over all we really love it here. But Craig and I have thought a lot about it and we feel like for our family right now we need to move back to AZ and get a little more of a stable life for the girls. Also a huge part of the decision is because of me being pregnant. I don't really trust the Doctors out here and I really would like to have a VBAC and none of the Doctors will let me out here. There are so many reasons we feel like it is the best decision to move home even though we really don't want to. But I will always be so grateful for this opportunity we had to come out here!! It has been awesome!
We had decided a while ago that we were going to go to AZ to sell security this summer. We knew that they don't sell as much out there but we both felt like it was just asking to much of the girls to put them through another move. Also with my pregnancies I have to go to the Doctor SOO much that it makes it so hard when I am out in some state with nobody to help watch the kids. Well come to find out our company decided not to have a team go to AZ this summer because they do so bad there. So we thought oh,... well we can go to Iowa because Craig's sister lives there with kids our girls ages so the girls will have a blast and there will be help when I need it. Come to find out they aren't having an office in Des Moines, either. So then we didn't know what to to. Craig was talking to one of his friends from last summer that we thought wasn't going out this summer and come to find out they are going to Orlando, But with a different company. Orlando sounds fun to the girls but I was VERY nervous about going with a different company. But in the end we left it up to the girls :) And they choose Disneyworld for 3 months. I hope the sales do ok and I sure hope we like our manager as much as we have liked Craig's manager the last two years...but we are taking a chance and hope it works out ok. So next week we are off to Orlando. Then I swear we are going to move back to AZ and stay there forever....or at least for a while!! But who knows come 3 months that might even change.

I have been wanting to wake up and watch the sunrise for a long time but I hate to wake the girls up so early and have them cranky all day. So when Craig's parents told us they where coming to visit I thought this was a perfect opportunity. It was so neat to do that. I know it is probably crazy but I don't think I have ever watched the sunrise. Of course there had to be a HUGE cloud right in front of it almost the whole time but we did get glimpses of it.

Later that morning, Craig and I took the girls to a Easter egg hunt at Gunstock Ranch but we were still in the parking lot when we heard the count down begin. So the girls took off running but they were only able to find 1 or 2 eggs. But they still had a great time. They also had a little petting zoo and they were able to ride horses which was a blast for them.

Lacie loved riding the horse.

I asked Alexa, "Was that fun? " She said," Yes!" Then I said," Was it more fun then you thought it was going to be?" And She says," I actually thought it was going to be even more fun then it was." :) That's my Alexa.

Ashlyn held on so tight I thought she might start crying, but she didn't. By the end she looked a lot more relaxed.

And Kembri was terrified!! We just sat her up on it for a second because we knew she couldn't ride it and she did not like it at all.

After the Easter egg hunt we went and met up with Craig's family at Waimea Bay. We went snorkeling there and saw a huge Turtle. And I actually got completely in the water for the first time here in Hawaii. For some reason this is the only picture I ended up with.

Craig's Parents Visit

Craig's Parents, Jeff and Samantha came and visited this weekend. It rains everyday here, but for there first full day here it didn't stop raining...EVER!! It was pretty sad. They went on a tour at the Kualoa Ranch and got rained on the whole time. Then we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and ended up soaked. Oh, on the way to the PCC we saw a seal lying on the beach which was pretty cool.

On the way to our house from the airport we stopped at the Poly Lookout.

When we got home the girls were there, eagerly waiting with leis and a Hula dance :)

At the Polynesian Cultural Center.

John Locke

Last week at Waimea Bay I ran into "John Locke" (aka Terry O'Quinn) from Lost. I was getting ready to get out of my car and I look to the left and there he was parking right next to me. So of course I roll down my window and ask if I can get a picture. He was so nice, really I was so surprised at how nice he was. He opened the door for Alexa. I said to Alexa, "Hey this guy is on Lost do you want to take a picture with him?" Of course she says.."umm no." :) So he joked about that. But somebody walking by offered to take the picture for me. (Then of course got there own) As I was getting Ashlyn out of her carseat she says, "I want to get a picture with him." So I get her out then she takes off running in the parking lot. So I call her back. Then he says, "Ash do you want a picture?" I was really surprised how nice of a man he was. I expected him to try to hurry, get the picture, then hurry off. But he talked with me for a few minutes, complemented me on my girls, and I asked him a few questions about Lost :). I was really impressed with him. After I got home looked him up on line (to figure out his real name) and I read that he has been married for over 20 years. Now a days that says a lot about a person, especially an actor.