Kauai in February

We were able to go to Kauai this year with Marcus' dad & step mom.  We had great weather and a really fun trip.  We went to as many places as the kids would allow.  

One of the places we went was Keipu Falls.  It is a lot of fun to run through the trail of tall grass to get to it. 

This picture was taken above the falls, such beautiful scenery.  But watch out for the little bugs... mosquitoes will eat you alive!

We also took a drive out to the lighthouse at Nawiliwili Harbor.  This was the first time we had done this and it was so cool having the airplanes flying right over our heads and watching the waves crash on the lava rock.  The kids (and grown-ups) loved it!

Payton sure does love his Grandpa MOH.  At least with these three we know what the younger ones will look like as they get older!

Another day we took a boat ride up to fern grotto.  That was pretty to see, but a little overpriced (typical for Hawaii though).  Payton was a bit mischievous on this outing.  If you look at the picture closely you will see he has a handful of poor Emma's hair while smiling for the camera.  Little punk! 

While there of course we went to a few different beaches.  We went out to Poipu State Park where they have a nice protected area that is great for families with kids.  Emma looked glamorous in her sunglasses and lei!

The kids had a blast playing in the sand, it seemed to be much more exciting to them that playing in the ocean this time.

We were able to walk out on a reef that had some fun little creatures for the kids to look at.  We also got to see a few whales breach.  It was so cool!!

 After we were done at the beach we headed over Poipu Shopping Center to get a Puka Dog.  This is a polish dog shoved in a bun, that is not sliced, with their special sauce and whatever tropical fruit sauce you choose.  Sounds kinda strange, but is actually quite tasty and a must have while there!!

Another beach we went to was Kalapaki beach.  Payton had fun playing in the ocean there with his dad.  He was served up on a platter, I mean boogie board!

Emma had fun lounging on the beach with her mom, but decided she wanted to join Payton and his fun.  So she stood up an started walking!  This was when she really started walking, at 17 months on the beach in Kauai!  She must have been waiting for the perfect moment!  Smart girl!!

Later one evening we headed back to that beach to take some pictures of Emma for her 18 month shots.  She was a cutie of course!

We also played in the sand for a while. Marcus buried Payton, he thought that was super cool!

He was trying to help bury himself and build up the sand in front of him, but used a little too much strength and got a nice taste of it. Sad and gross, but kinda funny too!

Emma decided to lay down and just chill in the sand, but she didn't taste it like Payton.  She was having fun just playing with her pretty flower!

The last beach we went to was Lydgate Park.  They have a nice little "kiddie pool" area where the waves won't knock them down.  Emma LOVED being in the water and just sitting there splashing. She even got a taste of it by licking her hand and seemed a little surprised by its salty flavor!  Funny to see!  Of course Payton loved being in the water, he is our little fish!

One of the mornings we were there watching the beautiful sunrise from our room, we got this adorable shot of Emma and her cute profile!

Overall we had an awesome trip and we are so grateful that we got to go there with our family!

Thanks Grandpa & Nonnie!

January at our House

Well, we started off this year with Megan getting Lasik.  This was her Christmas present that she has been wanting for a long time.  She LOVES it and is so happy to have no more glasses or contacts! Yay!  Payton took this picture of her with the shield on her eyes.

Marcus turned one year older and wiser too!  Megan made him a yummy ice cream cake - she stuck it in the deep freeze and it was a little on the frozen solid side when he tried to cut it. :)

Emma has finally grown enough hair for us to give her a cute little mohawk in the bath.  As you can tell, the kids LOVE their bath time.

There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping child...  Apparently our kids like to sleep on their tummies.

And Payton still likes to sleep in "the crack" between his bed and the wall.  So cute!

December & Christmas Fun

Here is a glimpse into our December at home.  The kids really enjoyed putting up and decorating the Christmas tree.  They liked wearing the antlers and Santa hat.

For FHE one night we decided to make a gingerbread house.  This was a first for us with the kids and it was a lot of fun!

This is the final product!  Payton loved decorating with and eating the candies!  Lots of fun!

We finally made it to temple square this year to see the lights!  It was dang cold, but really cool to see and the kids loved it. This is the first time we've taken the kids, there has always been something that has stopped us the past couple years.

Christmas Eve was spent at Megan's parents house.  We did the traditional Nativity scene, the kids enjoyed getting dressed up. (Payton has his eyes super wide in this pic because in the previous one we took he blinked.  He is making sure that wouldn't happen again!)

 
Here is the whole crew of 13 Grandkids in their Nativity outfits.  They love doing this every year we get together. It is pretty fun to watch and see how long the kids will last for the story. :)

Here is a recent picture of Megan and her brothers and sister and their cute babies that are getting so big so fast! 

Here are our cute kiddos on Christmas morning.  Santa touched their noses and got some charcoal on them.  Payton thought that was so cool, he left it on there all day.  

 This is our attempt to get a picture of our kids in front of the tree before they got to rip into all of the presents.

 Santa put some cool shades in their stockings.  They were pretty excited to have these - Mom and Dad are too so they will leave theirs alone.

Here's Payton posing with his loot!  I think he is pretty excited about it!  He really scored (as usual)!

 
Here's Emma with her new stuff.  She got lots for her size.  Payton keeps telling people that he got lots of presents and Emma got a little bit.  Yeah, he wasn't supposed to notice that...oh well! 

California - Disneyland!!

The highlight of our California trip was Disneyland (of course!)! We spent three days there and had a blast. The weather was far from perfect, but the vacation must go on!

Our first day there we got poured on (which we knew would happen and we were prepared for) and it was really cold (we were totally prepared for that one). We were only there for a few hours that first day, but it was too cold for the kids - even though they were troopers.

Emma's favorite ride was It's a Small World (of course!) and Payton loved the Buzz Lightyear one (and many many more).

Payton got to go on his first rollercoaster ride (which he says he did it once and doesn't want to anymore!) and liked it. He met the minimum requirement of 40" for a lot of the rides and we convinced him to try them at least once. Marcus was able to get a video of Payton on Thunder Mountain. It is funny to watch his expression go from fun to fear and back.

We got to see a lot of the characters, which was really cool for Payton - he loved i t!

Emma wasn't so sure about some of them, but as long as mom was holding her she was fine.

Payton was so excited when he saw Mater! Apparently he is one of his favorites. It was really cool when he drove by us in one of the parades.

It was fun to see some of the main characters in their holiday outfits. The parades were awesome, the decorations were amazing, and Sleeping Beauty's castle was absolutely stunning!

It was pretty neat having it "snow" on us one night after Fantasmic and the fireworks! Payton thought that was super cool (and so did the adults - Emma was sleeping).

While we were there we also got to go to Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast, which was so much fun! Although it was quite distracting for the kids, having all the different characters walking around and coming to our table, it was really cool.

Alice and the Mad Hatter were entertaining us with a bunch of pirate jokes.

Goofy was good at making sure Payton was eating his food and he also had fun harassing Emma. She had a funny little fake cry/whine whenever he got too close.

Overall, we had an awesome trip and it was fun to get to share it with Megan's parents!

California - San Diego Zoo & Sea World

This was a first for us to go the the San Diego Zoo.  That place is huge!!  We were there for 8 hours and we didn't even see everything. We saw a lot, but not all of it.  Crazy!  It was really cool and the kids loved it.

You can go inside the aviaries with the birds.  While in there Payton decided to chase one of them (because it is so much fun!), but we quickly put an end to that.  Notice the size and beak on that bird?!?  Hello, not a good idea to chase him!!

One of the main attractions for the kids was the cute chimps!  There was a cute baby chimp and some other young ones in the mix.  They were so much fun to watch and see how they interact with each other, especially their mom.

The elephants were really cool to see too.  One of them even posed with Payton with under its foot!  He and Emma both thought it was really cool!  

Another day, off to Sea World we got to see Shamu (of course!) and many other attractions.  Emma & Payton really like watching the whales jumping and splashing around.

Sesame Street's Bay of Play was a lot of fun (for Megan & Marcus too)!  They had some fun rides that Payton loved and a really cool rope course that all three of us could go on.

The penguins were a hit attraction for all of us.  They are so cute and so much fun to watch.  Emma loved the cute stuffed penguins at the gift shop that Grandma couldn't resist buying one for her. Lucky!

The Christmas decorations were fun to see while there.  It helped remind us that Christmas was coming even though there wasn't any snow (but it was still pretty dang cold!). 

Also, while we were in San Diego we ate at one of the best BBQ places ever.  We would highly recommend it!  It is called Phil's BBQ, if you are ever around there, you should stop and eat!