We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams . . .
yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

January Fun

This January hasn't produced an abundance of pictures, so therefore, not an abundance of posts either! But, it is near the end of the month, so I thought I'd catch you up on our comings and goings. I may throw a few thoughts and feelings into the mix, because I've realized this is my only outlet for remembering the sweet things in my life. Here goes!

My pregnancy is still pleasant...going into my 7th month, I am not a swollen balloon yet, and my back is holding out...hooray! Mike is super-supportive of my crazy moodiness and uncontrollable nesting ( I can't stop organizing, throwing away, and giving to good will!). For my birthday this year, I actually asked for containers! Mike just smiled at me and said, "maybe I'll ask you when you're done nesting." Good idea...although I'm pretty sure I love containers even when I'm not nesting!

Lucy is a reading fool. She is also so sweet and so hard working at school. I have to constantly remind her that spelling tests aren't the most important thing in the world, and she can just RELAX!

Elliott is big into telling tall-tales right now. When he gets really serious and thoughtful, he smacks his lips a lot, like this (this symbol ** will represent the lip smacking): "Ummm ** once I saw a snowman , umm ** that** went all the way up to the sky! It was far away and ** it melted so nobody else saw it." I love it. It does make me wonder where he gets it...am I a lip smacker and I don't even know it?

He is still playing strong with his friends. Here are Elliott and Bo playing Iron Man!



He also loves to listen to Kids Bop music. This particular day, when he was done dancing, he grabbed some headphones and headed to the computer so he could be "the guy who plays the music". He turned the volume up and down throughout the song. He felt ( and looked) pretty darn cool.


It was the best day ever for Elliott when a routine trip to the grocery store provided a meeting with a real, live, construction truck! Never an ordinary day.


My parents just moved from Pocatello, Idaho to Mesa, Arizona so they can help out my brother and his wife as she goes through chemo-times. We weren't able to see them off, but we did make a trip over to Poky the weekend after they left! My sister Ruth and her family met us for a fun weekend at my parents' home. Uncle Kimball was there and Aunt Charice and family. It was very nice, but we DID miss Gramma and Pappa.
I was glad the kids got to play with the babies and frolic in the snow. They started out the trip with snow angels and a snowball fight with Uncle Kimball.




After the snow fun, it was time to wait for Ruth, Jeremy, Karver, and Kason Crozier to come to town. The kids sat by the window for at least 20 minutes waiting for them to arrive. They sure do love those guys.


I didn't get any pictures of the cousins playing, but it was so great to see. It makes me feel good about bringing our little guy into the family because of the adorable way they all played together. Lucy didn't care that Kason was a boy, she just held that little 6 month old every chance she could get. Elliott was so gentle and entertaining (he loved hitting himself and saying "ow", that always got a laugh). I think we are ready to welcome a little guy into our family. The only problem might be fighting Lucy for baby-holding-time!

Thanks for the fun times Crozier family. Thanks for the yummy cooking fun Kimball (korean fried chicken, chow mein, and super-flaky morning buns!). Thanks for the dimpled chubby cheeks Carmen and Breana (but mostly Carmen). Thanks for the playtime Charice and Christian!

This last shot is a picture of Elliott after he enjoyed some M&M's, the official sponsors of our trip. I don't think he ate them fast enough, as they seemed to have melted in his mouth, and his hands...and his face....and, I don't know what's going on with his hair--we were on vacation, remember!?!

We love you Papa and Gramma. We miss you, but we are glad you are doing good things in Arizona. We can't wait to see you again, either here or there!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Happy Birthday Grandma Joan!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREAT-GRANDMA JOAN! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Christmas Time at Last

Finally we get to Christmas time! Because of Heather's surgery, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get together to make Christmas goodies. But, she's a trooper, and we did get together, and Emily was able to join us, adding to the fun and the amount of food we made! YAY SUGAR!!

The kids were old enough to help a little more this year. They helped cut out shapes, and of course, decorate.



Elliott was a proud little man this month because he earned is red stripe in taekwondo! Here he is after just receiving it. His next step is a black stripe, then onto the big kids class with a real-live yellow belt.


Christmas Eve was spent with the entire Hynes family. We did a progressive dinner starting with appetizers at Jason and Kristine's, then soup and salad at our house, and finally, dessert at Larry and Yoon's. At each house the kids got to open some presents, so the anticipation and excitement built with each location. It turned out to be very fun. On a side note, Kristine bought Baby Boy Hynes his first present.; even I haven't bought him anything yet! CRAZY...FUN!!!

This is at Harmony and Had Abogi's house. The kids are all playing a SpongeBob fishing game they gave to Elliott.


This is the first year in the history of my life that we have given pajamas as the ONE present on Christmas Eve. I just couldn't resist when I saw the Steelers football team footsies! I don't know if it will be a die-hard tradition or not, but it was fun to do it at least once.



I didn't get many pictures of Christmas morning, just lots of videos! Sorry. Here are some random shots of the kids when I thought they looked cutest.



YAY CHRISTMAS TIME!

On a non-Christmas note, Elliott got the coolest thing I have ever seen come out of a quarter machine at the grocery store.....a fake mustache! Not just a plastic fake mustache, a GREAT one! It even matches his hair color. This boy is just determined to have a mustache one way or another. The creepy thing is...he doesn't look strange at all with this mustache on! It almost looks like it's supposed to be there---He's known all along, but I'm just figuring this out. So, here are some pictures of my mustache man, Lucy and Mike all donning the 'stache.




We rang in the New Year at Jason and Kristine's house. The kids were old enough to stay up until REAL midnight...not pretend New York midnight like I used to do when I was a kid. We played rock band and ate ourselves silly until we toasted in the New Year.



We can't wait for 2011. In 2011 Elliott starts kindergarten, Lucy gets baptized, Baby Boy Hynes will be born, I will run a half marathon* (*this is an optional detail in the year's schedule), we will head back to AZ for a family reunion, our Korean Aunt and Uncle will visit America for the first time, Elliott will move up into the "big kids" class in taekwondo, Lucy will be on her way to a blackbelt, and we will make many more great memories to share with you. We are glad you shared the last year with us. Keep checking the blog, and we will let you in on all the happenings of this great new year! We love you and can't wait to see you next year!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Getting Closer to Christmas

On the way back from AZ, we hit a big snow storm and had to overnight in Pocatello. Funny thing...my parents were driving home in the same storm and held up in Cedar City, Utah, so we were bunking alone in their house! All that snow to play in , and my kids just had their light Arizona jackets. So, we pillaged my mom's winter accessory bin and found what we needed.

Thanks for the pink and white mittens Gramma!

Thanks for the warm hat Gramma!

Lucy and Elliott kept busy giving each other massages. Always nice after a long day on the road.



We were lucky to enjoy the winter storm in our own gear once we got home. Here are the kids living it up safely back at home.




Gotta love those rosy, chapped cheeks!

The snow just kept coming! It was a record snowfall, and here is what it did to Elliott's dump truck.







This is a snowman Lucy, her friend Lauren, and Elliott built all by themselves! Elliott made the head, Lauren the tummy, and Lucy the bottom. They were so proud and worked so long and hard on it. They even cut branches off a bush for the arms. Such independence and team work! I love the decorations, and I love how proud Lucy looks. I also love Elliott's smooth, cool pose on the snowman's shoulder!

Elliott is loving making movies and taking pictures with my iphone lately. Here is a bit of his airport setup. They are teeny planes set up on my table....I love how they look like real planes taking off.




Here is some snow fun Lucy had with her Harmony while I was running errands. After shoveling snow all morning, Harmony still had the energy to play in the snow with Lucy and make an amazing snowman!


Her neighbor built an igloo Lucy played in.


Here comes Christmas! Just wetting your appetite with a picture of our first REAL Christmas tree!! The kids loved it...Lucy picked it out...Mikey took care of it....and I decorated it. FUN TIMES!!

Coming soon...Christmas 2010!