Craziest Week Ever

So much for vacation! Whew-what a week to come back to...Brad and I were both in bed, lights out, sleep sound on at 8:38 last night!!!! I don't remember a week that was so busy and so tired afterwards! Thankfully it was a REALLY fun week going something like this...
Sunday: Spent the day shopping and getting ready for a baby shower at my house...flowers, food, arranging, setting up...went to bed late...

Monday: Had a shower for one of my best friends-Mallory-we had an awesome turnout, she got the most precious gifts, and everyone seemed to enjoy it! She is due on Valentines Day and so we did the whole shower with hearts and red and pink. We had lots of fun making Strawberry Italian Sodas and they were delish! Thanks Tiff for that great idea!!! Late again to bed...

Tuesday: My friend Sharon wanted to have an Arbonne party for me with all her work friends. There was a great turnout and they all came to the party already wanting to buy products because my friend and her daughter have had such awesome results! Thanks Sharon and Allison!! Didn't get to bed until midnight (SO late for me)

Wednesday: Woke up and found out that our computer had crashed! TERRIBLE-we lost everything on our hard drive and hadn't backed up in a long time! BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER!!! :)
Went to Bible Study - Brad stayed up forever trying to fix the 'puter with no luck...

Thursday: Finally errands get done...stay up late getting things ready to prepare for Saturday because I won't be home until late Friday night...

Friday: At work at 6:30 AM, work until 3:30, pick up Brad and go to Amy's house. She is another friend that I just love! She is having a baby boy in two weeks and I helped her faux clouds in the nursery and painted "Cale" on the wall. She did the Pottery Barn Airplane bedding and so "hopefully" the name looks like the airplanes were doing some sky-writing. We had such a great time - the guys went to the driving range, brought home some awesome pizza, and we got home around 11pm. Once home, spent the next hour making dessert and breakfast casserole...finally fell into bed after midnight...missed Laura's b-day party and Bunko...

Saturday: Up at 7 am - Mallory, Macy, and Allie came over for an Arbonne meeting-we had a great metting focusing on our plans for this year! We are all ready to take our business to the next level and it is so much fun to work with some of my best friends! We planned to go to our National Training Conf in April in St. Louis! Can't wait...Missed Lucy's party...
1 pm: Helped hostess a shower for another good friend having a baby! Another fun time and good food! She got cute little girl things, too.
4 pm: Home - Brad had just put Reid down for her nap-we were babysitting our niece for the night because it was Laura's birthday. She was so sleepy-we had to wake her up from her nap at 5:30. Took her to Chili's-she was so good! Got home, gave her a bath, in bed easily, and we were right behind her! Finally the week was done and we were in bed!!

Today we were VERY lazy! Up at 6:00 am, went to church, lunch at Laura and Todd's because Reid fell asleep in our car on the way to the restaurant, I took over a 2 hour nap, Brad slept during football, and we had "internet" church tonight with Justin, Tiff, and Lucy! We FINALLY got some much needed rain and it was a great day! I feel totally rested and recharged-ready for the week ahead...luckily just work!!
Well, I hope everyone has a GREAT week that isn't as busy! Mine isn't going to be :)

Packing Up Is Even Harder To Do

Here is part of our dessert from tonight: It is this special cream sauce with brown sugar and chocolate sauce-the waiter made each of us a different picture. Then we dipped flaming strawberries in it! OH MY - It was SOOO good!
We've come to our last night in Maui! It was such a fun day though laying by the pool and soaking in the sun. We had a great time at dinner too! We went to Nick's where Laura and Todd had their rehearsal dinner. It was awesome-the food is the best and their service is unbelievable. The staff moves around that restaurant in one fluid motion-quite impressive. It has been a great trip! I am ready to get home to my own bed and actually sleep beside Brad-even with his snoring and talking. (We have been in the room with 2 double beds-which is actually a treat for me for a couple of nights to sleep alone, but like I said, I'm ready to be in our own bed.) No matter what though, any bed is going to feel great when we get home on Thursday morning at 5:30am!! Yikes...

A Hula, Hula, Hula Birthday!

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY, BOB~BOB!!!!! Well, here's the reason we are here-my dad's birthday. Although technically it was the 2nd, we chose tonight to celebrate. We had an AWESOME sunset dinner at the Hula Grill-one of our favorites, followed by a Hula Show in the Whaler's Village Shopping Center, ended with Hula Pie from Leilani's! The night couldn't have been better.

We have all loved writing tributes to our hubbies and best friends, but tonight is all for Bob-Bob-the greatest dad in the world...
I have so many favorite memories with Dad that this blog would take a year to write, but here's some of his best qualities and favorite memories...
1. He's THE most patient man I know-guess you learn this with 1 wife, 3 daughters, and 3 granddaughters!
2. I could talk to Dad forever and he always gave his undivided attention. (These talks were usually over Long John Silvers and Ice Cream.)
3. Dad was also the one that would tuck us in at night. He would get down on his knees and we would say our prayers. He and I used to get in SO much trouble because he would also read me "Oh Say Can You Say" by Dr. Suess. He would read this book of tongue twisters BACKWARDS making me laugh so hard that I would break into an asthma attack - that's when Mom had to break up the party!
4. He is so generous in all aspects of his life. He would go to any lengths to help anyone-not just his family.
5. He is a man of his word whether in business, with family, or with friends.
6. He has EXTREME will power-especially when it comes to dieting! Once he started a "Sugarless Delight Frozen Yogurt Diet" and only ate that!?!? In the last few months, he has stopped eating sugar and salt and has dropped 40 pounds-his clothes are hanging off.
7. I love that when he walked each one of his daughters down the aisle, he had his "quiverring" lip-His lip quivers when he is trying not to cry.
8. I love that his face can turn beat red when he laughs really hard.
9. Every Saturday night Mom would give us our baths and then Dad would dry our hair-most of the time while watching HeeHaw and eating tangerines. He always gave us a "cowlick" down the middle of our hair that drove us crazy.
10. When he wanted to wake you up in the morning, he would bust in and start singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" - again driving us crazy.
11. Almost every night, Dad and I would play PacMan and whoever lost had to dip the ice cream-seems he always dipped even if I lost.
12. Dad's motto that we hated growing up, but have learned to actually live by: Don't let other people control your emotions!" Man, that was the WORST when he would say that, but man, is it true and do we try to apply it!
13. He is a man of God-trustworthy, honest, spiritual, and to me-the definition of wise.

Again, I could write a novel and probably already did according to most of you, but he really is the greatest and I couldn't have asked for a better father. I love you, Dad! Happy Birthday!

My Three Girls

What can I say-I love these three! For X-mas this year, we gave gift cards to Roy's with an attachment for free Hawaiian babysitting! So, tonight is Date Night for Laura and Todd, Amy and Brian, and Mom and Dad. They are off to Roy's and we are here at the house with the girls!! We had to DRAG Mal and Abby out of their beds because they were SO sleepy from swimming all day. We finally enticed Abby out with an agreement that we would watch "Little Mermaid II"- She is a princess fanatic. When the movie started, Mal said, "MeMe, we need some popcorn!" and Abby followed that with, "Yeah, and some icecream!" They had also just told me that they weren't hungry for any dinner yet-but magically they were ready for popcorn and icecream-girls after my own heart. Reid was so content tonight just playing with Baby Tad! She was super cuddly too! On a different note-you know vacation is great when you don't know what day it is-I called my friend, Amy, today because I wanted to know how her shower went today-she just laughed and said, "Have you lost track of your days already?" The shower is tomorrow (Sat) and I was thinking about her all day wondering if she had fun! What a dork! Have a great weekend! Enjoy whatever day you think it is!! Here's some more pictures...

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

Well, I hate to say it - but this is what we have been waking up to the past two mornings! WOW! It is so beautiful here and the view is spectacular! We are up on the mountain a little bit making the whole scene gorgeous. It is peak "Whale Watching" season and so we are keeping our eyes peeled for some big splashes! Mallory is learning to look thru binoculars-although I'm not quite sure what she is "seeing". The boys are off playing golf right now and we are staying here at the house getting ready to hop in the pool. We taught Mal and Abby how to "lay out" yesterday but they enjoyed Uncle Todd and his "Cannon Ball" splashes much better! So far, only Mal has fallen in the pool-saved by Uncle Brad! He says that makes 2 life-saving rescues for him and Mal in her two short years of life! (Remember the seizure story?) Reid loves to get in the water-it was a little chilly yesterday so we hung out in the hot tub b/c it was a little warmer than the big pool. She splashed and splashed wearing herself out! We are having so much fun! We ended the evening with a YUMMY dinner at Bubba Gumps! If you haven't been to one of their restauants, they are so fun! We knew all the trivia about the movie and won several "prizes"!
I'll post more pictures later-Brad's got the camera at the golf course!

Thankful For Just the Two of Us!

Happy New Year!!! I feel like we have so much to be thankful for from 2005! As the year began, we were in the midst of craziness! We had a precious, new niece, Reid; Brad had just made a major career change: from the life in corporate America as a Financial Analyst to the stresses of starting his own business in Insurance; and we were in the emotional roller coaster of fertility treatments!


When I think back over this last year, I am so grateful for the way things turned out with each situation! Brad is doing awesome in insurance-I have never seen him happier about work and what he does. He is so driven and motivated and loves being able to help people. It is a big change from sitting behind a computer all day. I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished this first year and never worry that he won't be successful!


After many months of fertility treatments, our doctor finally told us that InVitro needed to be our only option for my safety and the safety of any babies we might conceive. This started my year off with a very overwelming sense of sadness, fear, disappointment, and longing. Because our insurance doesn't cover the cost of InVitro, we needed to start some serious savings-we didn't want to wipe out everything we had just on that and not have anything else left-making me go back to work while there were twins or triplets at home...We put several time lines and goal dates and everytime we approached one-we continued to push it back a few more months.

In the meantime, I started a new job with Dr. Weyandt and have fallen in love with working again. Now, I am not ready in the least to do the InVitro and have decided not to put any type of time frame on it. I am amazed at the patience God has given me and the peace He has placed in my heart about it all. This has been a true year of growth in that respect. I wouldn't change the year we have had together and I am so thankful that it is still just the 2 of us! I am thrilled we are going to Hawaii and only have to pack 2 small bags (and golf clubs), and not all the carseats, strollers, etc! I laugh as I see all my sisters have to pack up!!!

So, to 2006! Whatever this year may hold~Who knows!? I resolve to continue to keep saving for when we are "ready"and continue to allow God to bless me and fill me with the love and peace He did in 2005. And for now, it is time to fill my suitcase with swimsuits and shorts and head to the beach! Aloha ~ I'll update from the beach!!

Christmas...

What a great Christmas!! It all seemed like a whirlwind over Christmas Weekend, but we had a great time! Friday night and Saturday morning we were with my family! After I told you all about our traditions, we ended up changing plans.

We still had seafood, we just went out for it and then we went and saw a little Christmas village in town. The girls loved it!
We opened our pajamas, the boys played poker, and all the girls hit the sack! We woke up and had our traditional breakfast and presents and then we ran out the door to go to meet Brad's Family!
We had a lot of fun with them and spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday with them-presents, good food, and movies occupied the weekend right up! I love the holidays and getting to spend time with family!! It was fun to have little Emily (Niece #4) at Christmas this year! Our families are only going to be getting bigger! I am still waiting to know when my sisters are each going to have more!!

Monday is was back to work for me!! YUCK-but it was good to get in a week of work because as of Wednesday, we will all be in MAUI!!! ALOHA!!! We are so pumped and ready for a long vacation!!