Christmas 2013

Getting ready for Christmas 2013

Getting ready for Christmas is really such a big part of the season, and so much more fun and magical with kids.  The first thing we do is decorate our tree.  The kids love this and I love to make a night out of it just like we did growing up.  Complete with mini lessons on the symbolism of the different Christmas icons, which Cora remembers surprisingly well.

Cora's birthday and Halloween 2013

Here is our beautiful 5 year old girl on her birthday, October 6th, wearing her special birthday dress that I made for her.  The fabric is a little obnoxious for my taste but she loves it - it has castles and unicorns and rainbows, everything our girly-girl loves.  She has worn it almost every Sunday since then, although I was luckily able to remove the bow without her noticing after it didn't fare well in the wash.

Mom and Dad's visit in September 2013

In September we were happy to receive a visit from my parents for two weeks.

Elijah showing off his "future missionary" tag from Grandma.

End of Summer at home 2013

Here are some everyday things we got up to around the end of summertime - mostly in August. 

Shirtless bike riding.

Beach time with Eric's family 2013

We went to Shark's Cove with Eric's family while there were here.  It was super fun, even though there is not a ton of sand to camp on, there are so many fun shallow little pools where you can stand and see fish and other wildlife.  The adults got to take turns snorkeling while we all watched kids and played in the shallows.

4th of July and Ryan birthday 2013

We started off the morning of the 4th with a cute little kids bike parade at the little circle at BYUH.  Our kids may not have had the best decorated bikes, but they sure looked cute in their little matching 4th of July outfits that I made for them.  (Cora's skirt and Elijah's shirt)

Ryan's June trip to the mainland 2013

This past June Ryan was able to go to the mainland for a quick trip to attend the APTA convention in Salt Lake, meet with some people from his parent company at work, and of course, catch up with family and friends that we haven't seen since moving to Hawaii.  He got to fly into Vegas and see lots of family in St. George, including Grandma and Grandpa Nielson (no pic).  Here he is spending a little time at the lake hanging out with Aunt Janice's family.