The Daw Fam

Christmas 2010

2011-06-21T08:10:00.004-06:00

Breakfast with Santa

2011-05-23T16:39:00.003-06:00

Every year in Blackfoot they have a "Christmas Tree Fantasy" and part of that is that you can buy tickets for a breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Clause. We went with Misti, Summer, and their kids and brought McKinley's friend Marin along with us. The girls LOVED it!

Sending back Elder Wahlen

2011-05-02T14:29:00.005-06:00

The night before my mom died, Garrett came home from his mission in Tempe, AZ to say goodbye to her. I think she was waiting for him and she was always very insistent that Garrett would have the chance to mourn his mom with this brothers and sisters and I think she was right. After the funeral my dad and Tanner drove him back to Arizona. The night before he left we went to eat at Red Lobster to say goodbye to Garrett for 14 more months. I am so proud of Garrett and the courage he has shown to serve the Lord during a hard time when it would have been easy to quit, love that Elder Wahlen.

My sisters and I went shopping on Black Friday morning and this is the haul we made in the back of my van! It was great to be together and do something fun and get our minds of of things.

'Til we meet again....

2011-04-27T09:30:00.004-06:00

On July 17, 2009 my life changed forever when my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. I was devastated and heart broken of course and the next year and a half was a roller coaster of highs and lows, dread of what was coming, test results, and tears. On November 15, I went to the doctor with my mom and dad and my mom told the doctor she was done and he agreed there was nothing left to do and gave her 2-4 weeks to live. My mom fought a good fight and tried so hard to be around for her family but the Lord needed her more with him and my mom passed away on November 23, 2010 at 9:25 in the morning and I was by her side when she went. I will miss my mom more than words can say and I am still grieving for the lost time together, she was my best friend and THE most Christ-like person I have ever and will ever have the privilege of knowing. Her love for the Savior showed in everything she did. She loved me for who I am and understood me so well and I am really missing that and probably always will. Most of all, I grieve for my children who miss their Nana so much and have lost out an opportunity to be grandmothered by my mom, and I know that would have enriched their lives greatly.

I am grateful for my testimony of the Gospel, a loving Heavenly Father, a great husband and kids and the chance I will have to be with my mom again. I love you mom, can't wait until we meet again.

1st Grade Thanksgiving

2011-04-27T09:15:00.005-06:00

So during a very crazy time in our lives, came the 1st Grade Thanksgiving Program. It was a much needed break and so fun to see my little girl up there singing and doing her part. What a great little girl!

Halloween

2011-02-15T15:51:00.004-07:00

This year for Halloween McKinley was Pippi Longstocking, Halle was Little Bo Peep, and Quincy was her sheep. It was a fun night, the ward carnival and trunk or treat, a stop at Grandpa and Grandma Daw's and a trip around the neighborhood.

Down on Grandpa's Farm

2011-02-15T15:30:00.004-07:00

In October we made our ritual Spud Harvest Visit to Kim Wahlen Farms, you know, educational benefits, etc., etc. The girls loved picking potatoes and getting to see their Grandpa's operation. They took turns riding the tractor with Uncle Tanner and we had a great time!

Easton's Birthday and Cohen's Blessing

2011-02-10T14:39:00.007-07:00

The second weekend of October my sister was blessing her new darling son Cohen and her son Easton was having a birthday party and of course who can forget the BYU game so we decided to make a little weekend out of it. We stayed downtown and the first night we got there we went and explored Temple Square which was mostly shut down because there was a gay rights protest of President Packers talk, so we tried to steer clear of the weirdos but still ran into a few. We ended up taking the girls to see the Joseph Smith movie, which they loved.The girls slept all together on the pull-out bed, quite the adventure.

Friday morning we met Jill and her boys and took the kids to the Discovery Childrens Museum in the Gateway Mall. It was amazing, we had to drag my kids away.
Halle and Quincy loved sitting in the helicopter...

McKin and Halle pretended to give the weather forecast

Halle loves this boy, he's still trying to decide how he feels about her. The enthusiasm is a little one sided, even though we know Easton loves us, the amount of attention he gets from Halle would make anyone a little weary.

McKinley loved playing grocery store,

Quincy loved the cars and animals of course,

and everytime we tried to tear this girl away from the playhouse, we would find her right back here 2 minutes later. A future homemaker in training.

Me and my darling new nephew Cohen Kimball Lucas.

Afterward we met up with the Bruderers and took our first trip to Gardner Village which was darling and McKinley and Saddie talked us into getting their eyes painted.

Sadly that is where the pictures end. What was I thinking? That night we went to eat at Benihana with the Bradshaws where we met Jon Peter Lewis (the mormon Ricks student who was a finalist on American Idol a few seasons back)! I recognized him and asked if he was JPL and totally made his decade.

The next day we went to Chuck E. Cheese for Easton's birthday and then hung out while the boys went to the BYU game and then Sunday we got to see Cohen get blessed and eat a great dinner prepared by the Lucases. It was a great weekend!

Homecoming

2011-01-09T21:18:00.002-07:00

This year Whitney was nominated as Sophomore Homecoming Attendant. We had a great time shopping for her dress and as you can see she looked beautiful.

Cheerleaders

2011-01-09T20:27:00.002-07:00

The girls performed at an Aberdeen Football game with the cheerleaders, they did a great job!

Fair Rats Are We

2010-10-04T21:16:00.006-06:00

Started off fair week at the Parade on Saturday morning. The kids particularly hyper that day.

The whole crew

We hit the fair on Monday and watched the Indian Races, ate (of course), and after Quincy fell asleep Chan took her home and I took the older girls to see the animals.

Halle plugged her nose the ENTIRE time we were looking at the animals.

Wednesday we hit the rides!

It was a great week, but I'm never really sad to see the madness go so we can get back to real life. 11 months left!

Do the Smartie Pants Dance

2010-10-04T15:29:00.004-06:00

Halle also had her first day of Smartie Pants Preschool! She loves it, if you ask her what grade she is she says "Smartie Pants." I know this is a lot of pictures, but she is such a funny poser that I couldn't leave any out! Now it's just Quincy and me for 4 hours a week, which I thought would be heavenly but not so much. Quincy screams EVERY time Halle leaves for preschool and the whole time she's gone she just follows me around asking "Where's Halle?"

1st Grade, Here She Comes!

2010-10-04T15:25:00.001-06:00

McKinley's first day of First Grade came and went. She was very excited, the second I went to wake her up for school, she popped out of bed with a huge smile on her face like it was Christmas. She has Mrs. Stocking this year and has a lot of her great friends in her class. First grade was a little harder for me than Kindergarten. She's gone all day and with all those big kids but she's been doing great!

Quincy Lou is 2!

2010-10-04T14:49:00.002-06:00

Quincy's Birthday was the Saturday before school started so we had fun celebrating and having one last hurrah! We took the girls to the zoo again, so Chan could go with us and then we had a picnic lunch and went to swim at the Shelley Pool so the kids could show him all they learned at swimming. We love our little Quincy, she certainly brings a lot of excitement to our lives!

I told the girls to act like they had just hatched from the egg. This is what I got.
.My three little birdies in their nest

Happy Birthday Quincy, we love you!

McKinley is 6!

2010-09-27T09:25:00.004-06:00

On July 30th (Yes I realize I'm very behind) my first born turned 6! It was a fun filled day, we took Marin and Saddie to the movies and went out to eat and had a great time with the 3 little divas!

That evening we had planned to go with our families to Ross Park to let the kids swim and have some pizza and cake but our plans were ruined by lightning storms which caused Ross to close but we already had all our families on the way, so we got a room at the Red Lion in Pocatello so we could use their pool and had the party there! We had a great time and thanks to our family who came and made the night special. McKinley is such a great girl with a happy personality and adds so much to our family. We are so proud of her!

McKinley lost her FIRST TOOTH!

2010-09-27T09:19:00.004-06:00

McKinley lost her first tooth this summer! It was getting pretty wiggly but she kept turning down her dad's offers to rip it out with pliers or do the old string, slam door technique. Eventually it came out and she told me she wondered if she would get the rich tooth fairy or the poor tooth fairy (got that idea from Hailey). She told us that she thinks she got the rich one because she got two dollars under her pillow, what a lucky girl. I told her you get a bonus for the first one and then it goes down a little after that.....

Cheer Camp

2010-09-27T09:15:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again, and this year both McKinley and Halle went to the Aberdeen Kiddie Camp with their Aunt Whitney. All three of them make pretty cute cheerleaders!

Tautphaus Park Zoo

2010-09-12T21:22:00.004-06:00

So a while ago we had our carpets cleaned so the girls and I needed to get out of the house for a few hours, so we hit up the zoo and met Chan for lunch. We had a great time, the girls loved it and I was impressed how many animals they had in an Idaho Falls zoo.

Independence Day Weekend

2010-09-08T21:39:00.007-06:00

This year my mom's sister Deb and her husband Dave came to visit for the 4th. It was so fun having them and we spent the day boating and having fun, followed up by the famous Kim Wahlen fireworks show, which was great as usual!

Since everyone had a day off of work on Monday, we threw together a last minute camping trip with the Bradshaws. This year for Father's Day in church McKinley had to write down the things she likes best about her dad and she put down "when he takes me camping and fishing." Since we've never taken her to do any of those things we took it as a signal that we maybe we should at least do it once. So we packed up and headed to McTucker for a one night stay.

It was a fun night and thank goodness we had the Bradshaws, expert campers, with us. I told the girls that maybe we should be a "hotel family" though and they were good with that.

Summer Sales

2010-09-08T11:44:00.002-06:00

The girls are obsessed with having sales in the summer. They've sold it all, lemonade, cookies, pudding, their old toys, popsicles. This particular time it was brownies. Every time someone would drive by without stopping, McKinley would yell out "Have a heart!"

On the Catwalk

2010-08-19T23:50:00.002-06:00

So one of these crazy summer nights, the darling Manwaring kids came over and the kids ended up with some pretty crazy outfits, as you can see below! If Amber or I ever need some bargaining chips during the teenage years, these may come in handy, ha ha!

Yes, that's my old cheerleading outfit, old school I know!

Fun, Fun, Fun when the Illharreguy's come to town.

2010-07-11T22:56:00.009-06:00

At the end of June my cousin Troy who is really more like a brother (he lived with us when I was little) came to visit with his beautiful wife Marissa and their kids Devin and Emily. We had a great time with them! My dad bought a kids 4-wheeler which my girls love!

We went to Ross Park

Took boat rides and played at the park

Went to Bear World

And attended the annual Aberdeen Daze Festivities

The Grand Marshal of the Aberdeen Daze Parade was none other than Chet Wahlen!

It was a great week, so glad the Illharreguy's could visit, love you guys!

All Aboard the Choo Choo Train

2010-07-07T15:44:00.001-06:00

So recently Operation Lifesaver decided to fill some kind of community education hours by giving free train rides in Blackfoot and Grandma Daw got tickets for everyone to go. The girls loved going on a train ride with all their cousins! Thanks Grandma Lynette!

Beauty Salon

2010-07-07T15:39:00.000-06:00

McKinley decided to make Halle her first beauty salon client. This was the result.....

We'll Miss Our Kindergarten Friends

2010-07-07T15:29:00.001-06:00

At the end of May, McKinley had her end of the year Kindergarten program. It was very cute and she was "the bear combing his hair" from Down By The Bay. We'll really miss all her kindergarten friends and Mrs. Crane, the best kindergarten teach on the planet! 1st grade here she comes.

Best Friends

2010-07-07T15:26:00.000-06:00

Halle and Quincy fell asleep in the car holding hands. They are always reaching for one another in the car, sometimes to hold hands and sometimes to claw the others eyes out!

Dance Showcase 2010

2010-05-25T09:26:00.004-06:00

Sugarland, The Incredible Machine!

2010-05-25T09:15:00.004-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to SLC to go to the Sugarland Concert, I LOVE THEM so I was way excited. Chan and I rode down with Abbie and Misti (Marsh had to work) and I loved being with 3 of my favorite people in the world! We had a great time and Chan loved getting an idea of what our long runs are like...Abbie, Misti, and I

When we got there we met my brother Tanner an his friends at PF Changs for Dinner. Tanner and Bowin went out with two of Abbie's friends. Above is Tanner, Lacey, Darien, and Bowin.

Chan and I, what a trooper. He's not a big country fan but he had fun watching us girls rock out! It was such a FUN night!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-26T21:01:00.004-06:00

We had a great Easter weekend coloring eggs, flying kites, and watching conference at my Mom and Dad's. Somehow can't find the pics I took of the girls in their easter dresses, so sad. We had a great time!

SLC Half Marathon

2010-04-19T00:01:00.010-06:00

This past weekend, I ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon with some of my favorite people on earth. Friday night we all met at Olive Garden for dinner and loaded up on carbs! I took some random shots near the end of dinner.

The wonderful lady who inspired the whole thing.

Race morning we were up bright and early and took some pictures at the starting line. We didn't find Jennie and Christa so I was sad not to get any with them. Here's Misti, Abbie, and I. Training partners forever, ha ha! Misti's kids have Alpha 1 (a genetic liver/lung disease) and so her family and a few friends ran to raise money for Alpha.

Me and my brother Tanner, the gazelle. Seriously, Tanner didn't really train at all and finished in 1:41, placing #255 out of 1739 guys! So proud of him and so glad I stuck with him for the first 5 miles which we ran insanely fast.

The Wahlen Half-Marathoners! My mom has breast cancer so we decided to run our race in conjunction with the Hunstman Cancer Institute Hometown Heroes program where we raised money for cancer research. My aunts are so supportive and some traveled a really long way to do this with us, I appreciate them so much and am so proud of them! The 5k crew wasn't with us at the start but my sisters Jill & Hailey, and my aunt Debbie Briggs all did the 5k and also raised money for Hunstman and Misti's mom Joni Archibald did the 5k for Alpha. Here's the whole Half crew before the start.

The Finish line was at the Gateway. It was a great race! I got a time of 2:09:09 which I felt really good about.

Sisters, my mom and Aunt Deb

Tanner and I after the race

The runners we could find at the finish line. Hailey, Tanner, Joni, Misti, Abbie, Shannon, Jill, me, and Abbie's roommate Darien.

Hires B H afterward with some of the fam, couldn't eat much though!

After Hires, I went shopping in Park City (yay), out to eat and home with my good friends Jennie and Christa which I regrettably did not get any photos of. I could barely walk but it was still really fun. It was a great weekend and I'm so grateful to have such awesome family and friends. Thanks to Chan who stayed home with the girls and took care of everything so I could go, I missed them at the finish line but it would have been slightly crazy. I originally didn't want to do this Half a second time since I'm not really a fan of the winter training but it was so great we might have to make it a tradition.

Happy Birthday Halle Pal

2010-04-08T22:14:00.001-06:00

Yesterday our little Halle turned 3 years old, she has been waiting for a long time for that day. She'd always say "why is my birthday taking SO LONG??" Sunday we were at my parents for Easter and everyone was there so we had a little party for Halle.I bought a pan and attempted to make a butterfly cake, I'm not showing it because I'm proud of it, oh no no no. I'm posting a picture of it because I am NOT a cake maker and I stepped out of my comfort zone for my child's happiness and I want it documented for posterity.

Here's the Birthday Girl on the day, it finally came.

She requested McDonalds for lunch.

She got a new princess bike

She passed out treats at dance, we went out to eat and then had a little more cake (Ridley's this time)

We love our little Halle, she is so easy-going, kind, loves to have fun and still holds her own with her sisters. We love you Halle!

Excuses, Excuses

2010-03-28T23:17:00.003-06:00

When it comes to ways to get out of picking up toys, I was pretty sure I'd heard it all but tonight Halle (who's 2, how do they learn so fast?) came up and said "I can't pick up toys, my muscles are all runned out." Chan then told her that they only way to recharge muscles was to go straight to bed, pretty much wasn't the answer she was looking for...

Garrett's leavin on a jet plane

2010-02-19T13:17:00.003-07:00

So as soon as we get one back we have to send one away again. I am never more grateful the Lord has blessed us with all girls so far than when I have to say goodbye to one of my brothers! Because of the new MTC rule that you have to drop the missionaries off at the curb the girls and I went to Aberdeen the night before to say goodbye, Chan was in charge of mutual that night so he said goodbye on Sunday. Garrett saying goodbye to Whitney and Hailey.

Garrett with the "three little maggots" as he lovingly refers to the girls

Me and G-Dub covering a zit he had on his forehead, yes it's much less apparent with the finger on it. Excuse my tear-stained face.

In true Garrett fashion, I was bawling saying goodbye to him and he was saying "What?" and comforting me and acting all embarassed but really inside loving that I was going to miss him so much. He is such a great kid and SO funny, I know his talents will bring many people to the gospel and his strong testimony will make him a great missionary!

Jazz vs. Suns in style..

2010-02-18T14:02:00.004-07:00

So near the end of January, we were able to enjoy a great day in the Utah with the fam, thanks to Hailey watching my kids! Thanks Boog! We went to the Jazz game, and thanks to my dad's "connections" we sat in some awesome seats. Let's just say we usually sit a little higher than we did that night! Two of the seats were in the front row, we didn't make the rotation since the married kids are off the payroll, ha ha ! It was a great time!

Tanner's Home!

2010-02-18T13:31:00.008-07:00

Returning from a glorious 2 year soul saving mission, please welcome back from Detroit Michigan, ELDER TANNER WAHLEN! (little Saturday's Warrior shout out)

The three amigos, together again

Tanner, Ladd, and Garrett with Grandpa. The three Elder WahlensBrothas

Tanner, we'd like to introduce you to Quincy Lu, the craziest woman you ever met...

Tanner was reliving his old glory days when he ran through the banner we made for him so we tried to recreate it!

The whole airport clan

Tanner with my Uncle Val, Aunt Lori, and Ladd.

Tears of Joy

Grandpa, Carla, and Tanner

Tanner and Whit, she's changed quite a bit over the last two years!

Good to be Home!

It has been so great to have Tanner home, I know he was an awesome missionary! Halle and Quincy weren't sure what they thought of him at first, but warmed up quickly! We love you Tan!

Once there was a Snowman

2010-01-17T23:14:00.002-07:00

New Years Morning, Chan took the girls out to make a snowman. I wanted to take a picture of the girls in their snow stuff and Quincy didn't want to be left out so she snuck in there. So excuse the lack of pants and one shoe.

They were so excited about their snowman and I'm so mad that I didn't get a picture of the final product, but it was pretty stinkin' awesome, just sayin.

Back to Disneyland???

2010-01-17T23:08:00.002-07:00

The other day I found Halle and Quincy had taken everything out of a box of things I ordered and both gotten in. Halle said they were riding a boat to Disneyland, oh how I wish it were true!

Christmas Kindergarten Program

2010-01-17T22:43:00.002-07:00

At the beginning of December, McKinley's teacher Mrs. Crane and another Kindergarten teacher Miss Law put on a DARLING Christmas program. McKinley was the moon, from "Hey Diddle Diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon." A little boy in her class would jump over her and she would stand up and wipe her brow like "phew." All the kids said parts and did great!After the program with some of her friends. Saddie, Reagan, Marin, and McKin. She refused to keep her costume long enough to take the picture, oh well!

McKin at her desk in her classroom

Breakfast with Santa

2010-01-17T22:25:00.002-07:00

This year we started to make it a tradition and Misti and I took the kids to Breakfast with Santa at the Shilling House again. The kids had a great time!

Go COUGS!

2009-12-08T12:41:00.007-07:00

So since our lives revolve around BYU Football (of course I wouldn't have it any other way) we had to be back to Utah in time for the big game. I was planning to watch the game on TV at my sister Jill's house in Clinton so I could watch the kids there, but my WONDERFUL friend Misti ended up watching them for me at her in-laws in Lehi so I could go to the game. Thanks MIST! I totally owe her, and thanks to the Bruderers for letting the girls come there and helping with them. Even though they are Utes, I think they have a LOT of class, ha ha! The game was so exciting and I was glad I got to go, especially since the right team ended up on top!

A Newport Beach Thanksgiving

2009-12-08T10:40:00.008-07:00

So for Thanksgiving this year we were able to spend a wonderful fun-filled week at the Newport Beach Coast Villas in California with my family. As you can see it was beautiful, we had a great time. We flew in Saturday night and went to my aunts' church on Sunday. We walked in just in time to see my Aunt Wendy get put in as Primary President, she will do such a great job! We went the Harbor House after church, a Huntington Beach must and it was as good as I remember. That afternoon we went to the Markhams for dinner, it was delicious and so fun to spend time with such a great family. Monday and Tuesday we were off to Disneyland! My Aunt Sue and Aunt Wendy very generously offered to help out with Quincy so we could focus more on the older girls who would remember it. Quincy did get a little Disneyland time Tuesday morning and that was plenty! McKinley and Halle LOVED Disneyland, I can't wait to take them back!

There were these awesome fountains in California Adventure that all the girls loved running through, they could have stayed there all day!

On Tuesday night the whole fam went to eat dinner at Ariel's Grotto, and it was the best part of Disneyland! A little spendy but each princess came to our table to talk to the kids and take pictures and I have never seen two happier girls than McKin and Halle. Totally worth it!

Getting ready to learn the princess dance, taught by all the Disney Princesses!

After dinner we went to Midway Madness, one of the coolest rides in Cali Adventure. However, the line was deceptively long so we took a few pics while we were waiting. Here's the farmers with Mr. Potatohead!

Wednesday we hung out at the beautiful pool and ate and shopped. Thursday we went to Carlsbad to have dinner with the Kimball Clan and Aunt Wendy, it was SO delicious and SO fun. It was so fun that I regrettably forgot to take any pics of the day. My Aunt Deb made a great meal and put in a ton of work, thanks Aunt Deb! Friday we went to the beach, HSS, and Knott's Berry Farm Restaurant for lunch before we flew out.

Nana helped the girls find lots of seashells

We were very grateful to spend Thanksgiving with people we love and have such a great time!

A Hawaiian Halloween

2009-11-08T21:33:00.002-07:00

This year my three little ones were all hula girls, since their mom got a great deal on them in Hawaii this year, and they did rock the coconut bras! My Mom and Dad and Whitney came down after the Aberdeen game for some of the Halloween Festivities, which was really fun. We went to the Trunk or Treat and then around our neighborhood, it was a fun night!

Shelby, Saddie, Marin, McKin, and Jase at the Trunk or Treat.

Harvest Time

2009-11-04T21:48:00.003-07:00

Every year we like to take the girls to Aberdeen to check out Potato Harvest. It's fun for them to see what Grandpa does and where I spent A LOT of time as a kid. There are also the added educational benefits of learning where our food comes from, etc. etc.....Quincy loved rolling on the pipe

My cousin McKenzie Baker and Piler Operator Whitney with the girls.

It is the quite the operation and I don't know how he keeps it organized, guess he's good at what he does, Thanks Dad!

You turn your head for 2 seconds...

2009-10-07T15:43:00.003-06:00

The other day I was giving the 2 little girls their baths, Quincy did not want to get out yet but I had things to get done and I can't leave her alone in the tub like I can with the older girls. I got Quincy all bathed and dressed and left Halle in for a little more tub time and put Quincy in her room with some toys while I went to get started on breakfast clean up and not one minute later Halle is yelling "Quincy's in the tub!" and this is what I find...The little stinker had went into the bathroom and crawled back into the tub, fully clothed! My older girls thought it was sooo funny. Even though I had to go through another wrestling match to change Quincy's clothes, it was pretty funny and a great example of how determined Quincy can be when she knows what she wants!

The Best State Fair in our State

2009-10-06T18:26:00.002-06:00

Well, the fair came and went and we did the usual fair activities. It was fun to see McKinley and Halle ride all the rides. Luckily, Whitney was there and willing to ride a few rides with the girls. I'm sure most 14 year olds wouldn't be willing to go on the kiddie rides, but she was great and the girls loved it. McKinley went on her first "roller coaster" and was so funny, Chan and I were dying. She was screaming and I couldn't tell if she loved it or hated it, but afterwards she said she wanted to do it again so I guess that was my answer. Quincy wanted to go on the rides so bad that we couldn't stand near the railing because she would grab on and try to pull herself over, maybe next year Lulu! Chan also took McKinley to the Motocross with some friends, she loved it. They saw someone wreck and she couldn't stop talking about it. We also went one night with just Chan and I, and then with my family one time. Can't wait until the carnies roll into town next year!

While the boys are away, the girls will play

2009-10-05T22:29:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago while all the boys were in Dallas golfing and going to the BYU/Oklahoma Game, the girls got together to have a little fun. We got a babysitter and my mom treated us all to pedicures (Whitney was getting a manicure, she has a thing with people touching her feet.) Thanks Mom!

We went to the Aberdeen Homecoming Football Game to see Whitney cheerlead and I was so excited to see 2 of my very best friends from High School so we took a pic of the old crew. We did everything together during my HS and College days, love these girls. Me, Kamber, & Beth

While the kids were outside riding the Barbie Jeep, McKinley got on the hood and said "I'm the Prom Queen." A little too much Disney I think...

That same weekend, my mom was getting all the flooring re-done in her house so everyone stayed with me. We ate a lot of good food, got a very small amount of sleep, and got to go crazy when the Cougs beat the Sooners. It was a great time!

Kindergarten

2009-09-16T23:54:00.004-06:00

So the much anticipated day came and went, McKinley's first day of Kindergarten! She was so excited, and even though I shed a few tears at how big our little girl is getting I am so happy for her to experience new and exciting things. She just got right on the bus and didn't even look back. She has a lot of great friends in Mrs. Crane's class with her and it has already been so fun. Monday night they had a "Kindergarten Kick Off" night where the whole family got to go to the school and McKinley gave us a tour, she thought she was pretty hot stuff for sure.

I tried to take some pictures of the girls before we went to the Bus Stop. Prior to this experience I was contemplating getting updated family pictures taken, I've decided we are not ready for that since these are the best ones, that's right, these below are the best ones.Waiting for the bus
The Pheasant Hollow Kindergarten Crew: McKinley, Analise, Jaiden, & Dusty

Walking home from school with the big girls!

Just as most moms probably wish, I hope that McKinley's love of learning lasts a LONG time!

Quincy is ONE!

2009-09-02T13:42:00.003-06:00

Because of the little trip and all the chaos surrounding the half marathon, we didn't really get to have a proper celebration on Miss Quincy's birthay, so the Sunday after we had a real shin-dig.She got to open presents...

And have some cake, here is BEFORE....and AFTER..

We sure love our little Quincy Lulu. She is such a trooper and brings so much joy to our lives with her happy personality. She is almost walking, but not quite and is quite possibly the most wiggly human being EVER. Happy Birthday Quinc!

Mesa Falls....We Did IT!

2009-08-31T23:50:00.007-06:00

So on Quincy's birthday August 20th we left in the afternoon and headed to West Yellowstone with the best company ever, the Bruderers. Hailey and Marc were able to come to and we got to go see Guys and Dolls at the Playmill. Saddie and McKin with the birthday girl.

Quincy got "Happy Birthday" sung to her at the playmill.McKin and Saddie loved the show. McKin said her favorite part of the play was when the guy tried to kiss a girl and she slapped his face, hope she keeps that attitude up later in life, ha ha!The next day we headed out to Yellowstone, and saw an elk in the background on the island behind the kids. Halle and Easton were holding hands just like this pretty much the entire time.We then went to the Paint Pots...and then off to Old Faithful.After Old Faithful, we headed back to Ashton so our kids could get some much needed naps along the way. We went to the best little pizza shop in Ashton and our kids decided to dance..

So although this trip was great, I don't recommend sharing a hotel room with your 3 kids for 2 nights before you run a race, something I'll remember for next time. Saturday we got up bright and early and went to get on the bus to go to the starting line.Our fans were waiting for us. When we turned the corner to the finish line, I saw Marshall and Chan and the kids as expected and my Mom, my Aunt Deb, Hailey, and Whitney who I didn't expect to be there. I started crying when I saw them, and then had to hurry and dry my tears because I didn't want everyone to think I was crying because the race was so hard! I was so glad they were there and it meant a lot to me.

The pink ladies coming in to the finish line!We DID IT! Thanks to Abbie and Misti for being such great running partners. I'm looking forward to many more races together!

Happy Birthday McKinley

2009-08-30T20:34:00.004-06:00

So only one short month ago (I'm still a little behind with the blogging) my oldest turned 5 years old. The day started with her cheer performance in Aberdeen and then back to Blackfoot for a zoo birthday party with 12 of her closest friends. Then to Idaho Falls for a movie and dinner, it was one jam packed and fun day. McKinley brings so much joy to our family, she is a great help to me with her younger sisters and I love jamming out to Hannah Montana with her in the car. She is going to Kindergarten this week and I will really miss spending that time with her but I can't wait for all the experiences that life has in store for her. We love you Kin!

Summer's almost over

2009-08-25T23:09:00.008-06:00

Here are a few of the things we did this summer.....

Whitney came to visit which we always love,
McKin took swimming lessons and passed!I got to go the American Idol Concert with Joni and Misti, which was great. A little more of Kris and a little less of Adam and it would have been even better!

We went to the American Falls Stake Pioneer Day Parade with my mom,

McKinley went to stay in Aberdeen to go to Kiddie Cheerleader Camp, Whitney is a darling cheerleader and got to be McKin's teacher! They both did so awesome,

So did little miss Jenny Wahlen!We spent A LOT of time at Ross Park in Pocatello, the girls love it. Aunt Wendy came into town and we even got spoiled with 2 traditional Wahlen Ross Park days instead of one!

So excited to go..

Cousins Easton, Taylor, Jack, and Peyton even came down from Utah for the festivities, it was a blast as always.It has been quite a crazy summer for our family, the summer of 2009 will be one I will never forget, that is for sure. Now the summer is almost done and my little first born will be going off to Kindergarten. I don't know whether to shout for joy at the possibility of some free time or cry my eyes out, it will probably be a little of both......stay tuned to find out.

We are in a recession....

2009-08-22T21:10:00.003-06:00

So throughout the summer our sweet kids have been thinking of ways to help out the family cause, and in partnership with the neighbor kids they have opened several new business ventures. The first was a nail painting stand, many of our friends and neighbors stopped but this idea quickly died because apparently not a lot of people are willing to pay money to have 5-8 year old kids paint their nails (I even had to suck it up to contribute to that one). Halle was perhaps the only real willing participant, she got about five coats of polish that day.

Having already shut down one stand, they turned to a classic and sold Lemonade which did very well. So well in fact, that even more neighborhood kids joined in.Their most recent scheme was delivering vanilla instant pudding (homemade by McKinley) to every home in our neighborhood. They were under strict instructions not to charge for this, but we've found out since that they were apparently accepting donations. Well, I guess we've all got to do our part, right?

Mesa Falls

2009-08-13T16:51:00.004-06:00

So one bright sunny afternoon in July we decided to go with the Bruderers to scout out our half-marathon location and have a little picnic and enjoy Mesa Falls while we were there. The day started out great, except on the way to lower falls we start to realize how many LARGE HILLS there were. Misti and I were madly texting each other in disbelief, what had we gotten ourselves into? We decided we'd pay closer attention on the way back, maybe it wasn't so bad.

Halle, Easton, McKinley, and Saddie at Lower Mesa Falls

As our picnic was winding down a little it began to drizzle a little, but it was no big deal and we packed up and heading for Upper Mesa Falls deciding it would stop in a few minutes and we'd have dessert there. By the time we get there and park it was raining a little more so we decided to hurry and go see the falls, wrong decision! By the time we had walked almost all the way down there it starts to pour and hail! We had 5 little kids all together and my two little ones were in tank tops/sundresses and we didn't have any jackets or umbrellas. Chan took Quincy and took off for the house/ranger station running and some nice ladies let me Halle, Saddie, and McKin share their umbrellas. We were all ok but soaking wet, so we broke out the dessert!

Finally it calmed down and we actually go the see the falls. The cute Bruderer fam....

And our little fam. I know what you are thinking.......she is running in a half marathon?? I too was once under the impression that anyone who ran a bazzillion miles would surely be skinny but as you can see that is not the case.On the way back down we evaluated the hills once more and began to feel sick. We hadn't trained hills at all and it appeared to be all this course was. Since then we have done more research and realized we were looking at the wrong course, thank heavens! It was a fun day, full of adventure for sure. Thanks Bruderers!

Soccer

2009-08-12T22:05:00.003-06:00

Another one of our many summer activities was soccer. McKinley really loved her Monday night soccer games and scored quite a few goals, some games more than others depending on the mood. Her favorite part was taking up her mom and dad on their goal-scoring bribes at Rupes but just for the record....we do feed our kids even if they don't score goals. We were so proud of our little soccer player!

Halle and Quincy LOVED every minute of watching their big sister play soccer,

Well I guess not every minute.......

4th of July

2009-08-12T20:35:00.005-06:00

The late summer blogging continues as we move on to the 4th of July. For Independence Day we did our traditional boating with some Aberdeen family friends and then had the Kim Wahlen Fireworks show, complete with sparklers.

Also, on July 2nd Chan turned the big 30! There have never been 4 luckier girls!

Girls Camp

2009-07-26T17:38:00.001-06:00

So right after the Wahlen Reunion, I headed off to Girls Camp and had a great time with the Young Women in our Ward. We won the award for the best skit and cheers and Chan told some scary stories. I really love our ward, and had a great time!

Kelsey's Wedding / Wahlen Family Reunion

2009-07-26T16:35:00.003-06:00

At the end of June, my cousin Kelsey got married in the Rexburg Temple to Bronson Funk. Kelsey is the sweetest human being alive and it was great to be at her wedding.In conjunction with Kelsey's wedding, we got to have an awesome Wahlen Reunion. We have a close extended family and it was so great to see my cousins and their families. Here's Halle and my cousin Katie's little girl Taylor.

McKenzie and Whitney

My cousin Mitchell with McKin

Wade, Garrett, & Chan

My Grandpa with his daughtersMy Grandpa Wahlen with all 7 of his kids: Jan, Susan, Wendy, Dave, Eric, Kim, & Val

The Typical Ute

2009-07-26T16:10:00.002-06:00

We were in Utah recently and happened upon a vehicle with a U sticker, it's pretty representative of the entire Ute Nation......ha ha

Congratulations Garrett

2009-07-26T15:55:00.002-06:00

At the beginning of June, my little brother Garrett graduation from Aberdeen High School. We love Garrett so much and are very proud of all he has accomplished. Garrett is going to BYU Idaho in the Fall and then on a mission. We love you Garrett!

Memorial Day

2009-07-26T15:19:00.007-06:00

This summer has been so crazy so I am about to do a marathon of Posts and try to get caught up starting clear back with Memorial Day weekend....On the Saturday of the weekend Chandler's Goodwin family got together, some came clear from Arizona and it was great to see them. We went to visit Grandpa Goodwin's grave.

The Goodwin kids, Craig, Lynette (Chan's mom), Lane (in back), Grandma Goodwin, and Gary.

The grave needed a little bit of repair so the boys fixed it, Goodwin style..

Quincy and Macki had a great time, Macki couldn't get enough of the licorice!

Monday we headed to Aberdeen to visit Grandma Wahlen's grave with the Wahlens. My cousin Wade is so good with babies, Quincy loves him. McKin loves to take pictures of Nana! We sure love her!

Summer Tennis

2009-06-18T14:14:00.004-06:00

So I refuse to list for anyone all the activities that McKinley is involved in this summer for 2 reasons. First, because my inability to say no to anything is slightly embarassing and second, I have kids to raise and simply do not have time for a mental institution as applicable as it may be. I will say that just one of those activities is summer tennis, and she loves it. Her little friend Saddie and her got matching purple tennis rackets (thanks Mist!) and even made up a cheer to go with them where they each raise their rackets and say "Goooooo McKinley, Goooooo Saddie"Here's hoping we make it through the summer alive!

Hello Sunshine

2009-06-01T13:54:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, McKinley had her year end dance recital. The video was too big to upload but she did an awesome job, she really rocked out. McKinley and her cousin Camdyn before the show. McKin and Brynlee Wheeler, one of her great little friends!

The best little Mom

2009-05-27T20:48:00.004-06:00

So while I was with McKin in the kitchen having a Hannah Montana dance party (those are pretty frequent),I heard the water running and went to check on Halle and found this......Miss Halle giving her baby a bath,Complete with towel dry, lotion, and a diaper. Halle is going to be a great mom someday!

Pre-School Graduation

2009-05-21T12:24:00.005-06:00

So last Thursday was McKin's second and last pre-school graduation. She did a great job! Here she is at the pre-graduation dinner at Wingers.

Looking cool in the glasses. McKin did a great job on her part, which was "We also practice the Pledge of Allegiance each day at school." However the best thing was before she said her part, she grabbed the microphone and tapped it a few times with her hand like "is this thing on?" It was pretty funny, what a sweet little nut I have!

Grandma Goodwin and Grandma Daw came, along with Grandma Wahlen and Garrett. Thanks guys! Our little graduate
Saddie & McKin chowing down.After the graduation was over, I was trying to get McKin together with her friends to take pictures but she was so worried about the food (She'd been telling me all day about the treats in the back after the program and let's face it, she does have MY genes) that I couldn't hold on to her long enough, but I did get one of her and sweet little Saddie.

Saddie, Misti, Me and McKinley. I know it looks like I am laying my head on Misti's shoulder but I really wasn't going for that.

Kindergarten.......here we come!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-05-21T10:36:00.005-06:00

So my birthday was on May 9th, quite a while ago I know but I've been busy since then so here it is. On Thursday my wonderful sister Jill and Easton came to Blackfoot and took me out to lunch at the Shilling House for my birthday since she was going to be home on Saturday. Thanks Jill!On Friday afternoon, we broke Whitney out of school and went to lunch in Idaho Falls at Red Robin with Chan, and then went shopping with my mom and Hailey.
The best birthday gift, Miss Quincy FINALLY holding her own bottle!Regrettably, there are no pics of the rest but on Friday night my awesome girlfriends took me out to Cafe Rio and to a movie. The movie wasn't so great, but the company was awesome and Chan was great to watch the kids so I could have a girls night out. Saturday Chan and the girls gave me a great present, a new set of pots and pans. I know I'm old, but I was so excited. I've been using the same cheap pans since we got married so it was sorely needed and Chan went all out and got me the top of the line. Saturday night my family came down and brought dinner and we had a little party which was great. Thanks everyone for making it a great day!

Kris Allen

2009-05-20T00:27:00.006-06:00

Well, the first part of the finale is over and thanks to Dial Idol I successfully voted for Kris Allen 701 times tonight. I hope you all did your part, because I don't know how much longer I can take the drama queen ways and guy-liner of Adam Lambert! But no matter what, the day Kris Allen's album is available on Itunes, I'm there.

Happy Birthday Kambrel!

2009-05-19T16:47:00.004-06:00

Today is my sister in law Kambrel's birthday, we are only 10 days apart and I've loved having her as a sister. We are a lot a like and I love spending time with her and talking to her. Her and Rich have a great little family, their little girls are precious! She is really smart and is a pediatric nurse and is great at it. She's very funny, beautiful, and she's also a great mom who balances out her hectic life extremely well. Hope you have a great day Kam and that you get spoiled, you deserve it! We love ya!

Nacho Libre AKA Halle

2009-04-30T22:58:00.003-06:00

So yesterday I was folding laundry and Halle picked up McKinley's underwear and said "Dee's underwear?" and I said yes and explained that when she wanted to be a big girl and go potty all be herself in the toilet that she could wear underwear too. Well she decided that was too long to wait and put on McKin's underwear right on top of her clothes.

I thought it was pretty cute and let her keep them on and kind of forgot about it, and she ended up making a little trek around the neighborhood, Nacho style. What a fine parent moment, I'm sure the neighbors got a kick out of me carrying home my kicking child over my shoulder with underwear on top of her pants. However, as Amber pointed out; she did pick out underwear that coordinated with her outfit, that's my girl.

Goodbye Grandpa Kimball

2009-04-30T22:20:00.005-06:00

On April 15th my Grandpa Kimball passed away after a long battle with cancer. I will really miss my Grandpa Kimball, he always told you what he thought and was a great man who helped so many people. But I am so glad that he gets to be with my Grandma again, living without her by his side was really tough on him. Last weekend we traveled to Northern California to be there for the funeral. It was a long trip with 3 young kids, but I wouldn't have missed it.

It was a bitter sweet trip, my mom grew up in California and we spent a lot of time there as kids visiting my grandparents. I felt like it would probably be my last time in their home as well as at many of the spots we always went growing up. We went twice to the Hick'ry Pitt, one of my grandparents favorite places where we always went on visits.

Halle and Whit at the Pitt

My cousin Troy's little girl Emily and McKin. McKinley & Halle LOVED Emily!
We spent a lot of time at my grandparents home, where I have a lot of memories.

Some of my fondest memories are of spending HOURS on my grandparents player piano. They have a whole cabinet full of music rolls from the Big Band Days. My girls were amazed to see a piano that played by itself and it was fun to see them love it as much as I did as a kid.

All of the Kimball Kids. From L to R: Kathryn, Deb, Connie (mom), Jeff, & Scott

My parents and their kids (minus Elder Wahlen) in front of my Grandpa's casket.

Despite the sad occasion, it was great to see all of my Kimball cousins and I'm glad I will be able to see my wonderful grandparents again someday.

Random catching up

2009-04-15T00:31:00.000-06:00

So we've been up to some fun things the past few weeks, but I never got around to dedicating a post to any one of those things, so here's a little montage. A few weeks ago, Chan played in the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce basketball tournament with the Pleasant Valley Potato team, and they won 1st place!

From L to R: Val Wahlen, Ryan Wahlen, Wade Wahlen, Austin George, Garrett Wahlen, Chan, Jody Phillips, and John Murdoch.
Also, we are lucky to have Chandler's Grandma Goodwin in Idaho. After many years in Phoenix she is back in Blackfoot and living in the Gables, which is very nice. We are glad to be able to see her more often, our girls love to visit.

My sister Jill decided to come back to Idaho to do hair once a month or so and we were lucky to have her and Easty Beasty stay with us for a few days. We got to go see Hailey and her classroom. It was great to see her in her element. McKin and Halle loved doting on Easton, but he wasn't too sure what he thought of it. The girls got haircuts, here's little Hal for her first official haircut ever, she did so good!

Grandpa Wahlen came to see all the grandkids in action.

Halle found my mom's makeup drawer. I swear she has an internal radar leading her that stuff. Check out that face.

My Aunt Deb and my cousin Troy came from California to visit my Grandpa Kimball. It was great to see them. Troy lived with our family for about 2 years when I was around 6 and was a great big brother figure to me. I remember that when I missed the bus I got to ride to school with him in his sports car and he'd play his music real loud and I felt like the coolest 1st grader around. We were sad that his wife and kids couldn't come. He's great with kids, Quincy had a great time.

Hailey made her traditional holiday sugar cookies with my girls, they loved it as always. Thanks Boog!

Some other random things my kids have been doing and saying that are probably boring for everyone else but I like to have:

One night for Family Home Evening, we talked about the Word of Wisdom and the next morning when McKinley was picking out cereal she picked out Honey Bunches of Oats and she usually hates nuts, so I said "You know this has nuts in it right?" and she said "Well......does it have alchohol in it?" and I told her "No" and she said "Ok, then I'll have it."

McKinley's also been talking a lot about her driver's license. Everything that she wants to do but can't yet because she's too young, she thinks will happen when she gets her drivers license. For example....Me: "I need to make this part of the cookies, that's kind of a mom job." McKin "but when I get my drivers license then I can make cookies all by myself right?" She even told me that when Tanner gets home from his mission she'll probably get her drivers license. I have no idea where she gets this.

Finally, at state basketball my dad taught McKin how to call his cell phone by herself. Since then he gets at least a couple of calls everyday, and she has now learned my mom's number too. They swear they don't regret teaching her that but I'm sure the day will come.

Also, Quincy has started to snort when she gets really excited, a trait I'm sure she'll LOVE when she gets older! Good thing she's cute! She's such a happy baby who's always laughing and smiling, well not always.......but a good amount.

Easter Festivities

2009-04-12T22:09:00.000-06:00

The fun began with coloring Easter Eggs on Wednesday night.Quincy didn't get to do much, but she had fun watching and looked pretty dang cute doing it. There seems to be some law in our household that all we can manage is completely goofball poses. Beleive it or not, these were the least goofy of about the 10 pics each that I tried to get of these crazy kids.Saturday Morning, we met Joni, Misti, Saddie, & Easton at Jensen's Grove for some CRAZY Easter Egg Hunting! McKinley & Saddie are getting ready for the big moment, the best picture we could get beleive it or not. We also tried desperately to get a picture of Halle and Easton (wouldn't that be a great pic to show if they got married some day?) but that was definitely not happening.

Quincy Lou waiting for the fun to begin McKin and Saddie going for it, no one should ever underestimate McKin's love of candy, it runs pretty deep.The girls with their hauls
After we returned our easter eggs, (that's right, we are in a recession I suppose, so we return the plastic eggs for reuse and keep the candy) we let the girls play on the toys for a while.

Sunday morning they found their Easter baskets, filled mostly with books. The Easter Bunny was very into learning this year, he must have hit the 2 for 1 sale at the Kindergarten Center Book Festival.

Sadly, we have 9 am church and in no version of reality does this leave us time to take pictures of my darling girls in their dresses before we leave the house. So here's the pics of my kids in forward facing car seats in their Easter duds. We'll try to re-create it sometime.
After dinner, we got to have the Dunns or the "Bunns" as McKin calls them, over for dinner and we got to have Camdyn stay the night! The girls were so excited and hugging and jumping up and down.
And the best part of the Easter, my darling niece Camdyn snuggled up in a BYU Cougar blanket. Sorry Rich, it's all we had........he heHope everyone had a great Easter!

Happy Birthday Miss Halle!

2009-04-07T21:51:00.000-06:00

Today my sweet little Halle Pal turns 2, can you beleive it? Halle is my little sweetheart, she almost always obeys, not all the time, she is only 2. She loves to help her mom clean, has good manners, run "fass" and has a great reportoire of "tricks" aka jumping up and down and halfway doing a somersault. She loves to give her sisters hugs everyone morning and say "good morning Dee, good morning Bubba!" (dee is McKin and Bubba is Quincy, how she got that, no one knows) Halle just goes with the flow and is happy and kind along the way and we love her to pieces. Today also marks the end of a 3 day birthday marathon.

I thought that for this birthday I would finally attempt to make a cake. That's right, I have 3 kids and this is the first birthday cake I haven't ordered from Wal-Mart. It turned out ok, although a little cheesy, but I don't know if was worth the stress. I was really freaking out about it for a few days before, we'll see how I feel come July.

We had a party with my family at my parents house on Sunday after conference, everyone was already together and my Grandpa Kimball isn't doing well and my mom needs to be with him so we brought the party to them. Halle loved her gifts, almost as much as McKinley did. Here she is blowing out her candles with a little help from McKin.
Continuing the birthday festivities, Monday night we took the girls to Monsters vs. Aliens, which they loved and Halle actually sat and watched. Today Halle got a couple more presents and was ready to party.Grandma and Grandpa Daw and the Dunns came over for pizza, cake, and ice cream. Here's Hall and Macki having a good time on the swing.
McKin and Camdyn thought they were pretty hot stuff in the Barbie Jeep!
It was a great couple of days. We love you Halle, don't ever change!

Hawaii

2009-03-16T22:13:00.000-06:00

So we just got back from Hawaii and I'm ready to go back! However, we did miss our girls like crazy and a big mahalo to everyone who helped with our kids while we were gone.

We had a great time in Hawaii! Here's us right after we got off the plane in Hawaii, I look a little akward wearing boots in Hawaii but I had a hard time dressing for both Salt Lake and Honolulu, I quickly changed to flip flops. Bear with me on the number of photos, I had to choose out of 227 photos and that's considering that my camera got ruined by a wave with 2 days left. I went a little crazy I think.Waiting for the rental car Shuttle. We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore in Oahu and it was amazing! It was a 4 bedroom villa with everything you could think of and best of all, here was the view from our balcony!Me performing my Tour Director duties! Monday we headed to Haleiwa and thanks to Misti ate at the world's best burger place Kua'Aina
And here's the reason I will be doing some major dieting now. We got some famous Matsumoto's Shaved ice which totally lived up to it's reputation.We went and visited the Dole Plantation and took a train ride which was really interesting, and we had some great pineapple!The next morning we went to Waimea Bay and did some boogie boarding, here's Chan and Marc.
Garrett's pockets were so full of sand he had to dump them out a few times. so we took the sand Garrett dumped out of his pockets and buried Marc. Ha!

We got cleaned up and spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural center, here we are at the Canoe Show.Chan and I on the canoe tour

The Fam in "Fiji"Hailey, Garrett, Shannon, my Dad, and I got tricked into going on Stage and doing a polynesian dance. It was a little weird but I don't think we did too bad.

Chan and I at the Luau, you can't tell but there's a whole roasted pig behind us.Wednesday the boys and Jill went golfing and my Mom, Whitney, Hailey and I watched the surfers at Sunset Beach, did some shopping, got more Matsumoto's and met the boys to eat once again at Misti's burger place, yes.....it was that good.

After golfing we hung out on the beach, snorkeled, and tried to play a great trick on Marc while he was getting the snorkel stuff by digging a big hole underneath his beach towel but he didn't fall for it, dang it!

Thursday we went into Honolulu and went shopping, to Waikiki and Benihana for dinner. We saw this sign on the way so just in case you didn't know.....

Everyone at BenihanaFriday morning Chan, Marc, Garrett, and Jill went on the Hawaiian Shark Encounter where the take you out 3 miles in a boat and put you in a cage in the ocean while sharks swim around you which Chan thought was awesome, but the water was so rough that he was the only one out of the 13 people on the boat that didn't throw up. I felt so bad because they all looked horrible when they got back, but they still found it in themselves to take surf lessons that afternoon. Here's Chan getting ready to surf and that's as far as I got before a wave came unexpectedly high on shore and soaked my camera but he did awesome! He stood up and rode his very first wave the whole way in. Saturday we packed up and went to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu and got a lot of great crap! Then we went and visited Pearl Harbor and the Battleship Missouri Memorial which was really cool and moving to see. The rest of the trip was great, we played a ton of games, laughed so much it hurt, and ate REALLY well.

A BIG Mahalo to my wonderful Mom and Dad for taking us on this trip and being so generous! The memories we made will last a lifetime!

Happy Birthday Booga!

2009-02-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today my beautiful little sister turns 24! Here's a few of the things we love about Hailey:

She is the ultimate trickster, she's played some good ones in her day. Sunday I played the greatest trick on Chandler, which I later had to confess to him because I couldn't stop laughing about it. The whole time I was thinking how Hailey would be so proud and I couldn't wait to tell her about it.
She is a great aunt and loves my girls and they love her! She is always thinking of fun things to do with them, she will be perhaps the world's greatest mom.
She has a very strong testimony and is a great example to our family. She is constantly trying to increase her knowledge of the gospel and always tries to do what's right.
She is a best friend to me and I know I can always count on her.

We love ya Boog! Hope you have a great day and we can't wait to party with you on Saturday!

Disney Princess Party

2009-02-24T14:55:00.001-07:00

So, on Saturday Snake River High School Choir put on a "Disney Princess Tea Party" fundraiser. My friend Jennie let us know about it and some of my friends and I took our little girls. Misti took Saddie, Celeste took Baylee, and Christa took Marin. I of course took the two little princesses below who were very excited.They were announced when they walked in as princesses and they got to design their very own crowns. Here's Baylee and McKinley working on theirs.Saddie and Marin being creative,and Halle needed a little assistance but loved putting her hands in the glitter glue and spreading it all around.
Rapunzel let down her hair to reveal wonderful prizes! In our case, a necklace and plastic makeup for McKin and a purse and wand for Halle.

They got to go to "Mulan's Makeovers" and get their hair done and glittered and their nails done.McKinley's finished product

Halle's finished look

At the end they had a "tea" (aka sprite) party. Here's the four little friends Baylee, McKinley, Saddie, and Marin.Halle sat on the other side by some random, but very nice little girl who kept providing Halle with pretzels and keep her sprite "tea" refilled.
The whole time we were there, Halle kept pointing to the "Genie" who was walking around on stilts. She was fascinated by him the whole time but when I tried to get her picture with him and a "princess" helper she didn't look too happy about it.Thanks to Jennie for keeping us filled in on the community happenings, and thanks to my wonderful friends for bringing their girls. Halle and McKin loved it!

Catching UP

2009-02-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

So I know it's been forever since I posted, it's been a little busy at our house, with what exactly....I'm not really sure but it seems like it's been crazy. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to. Clear back at the beginning of January our good friend and neighbor Ellie Manwaring got baptized and we were lucky to go. McKin, Ellie, & Anna.Dad's been giving rides, we love him! The good news is that this didn't even result in more chiropractic visits! My Grandpa Kimball was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma cancer, and even though we wish the circumstances were different we've been lucky to have him come from his home in California to Idaho to live with my parents, so it's been great to spend more time with him.

Grandpa Kimball, my Dad, Garrett, and my Grandpa Wahlen after a close win against Grace.

Hailey and Marc had our crazy clan over for a great dinner and Hailey made Valentine's sugar cookies with the girls, what a great aunt!
McKin learned about pirates at preschool,

and since she has a summer birthday, she had her "preschool" birthday on Thursday. She was pretty pumped to bring her pink cupcakes that she helped make and decorate. She also informed me that since it was her birthday she got to pass out her treats and be the calendar girl and do the weather board, life doesn't get much better than that!

So that's the last couple of months in a nutshell, we'll be back soon with princess party pics!

Bug Tag

2009-01-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

So my friend Sari tagged me and I'm supposed to say 10 things that really bug me, let's see.....

1. When a tenant owes rent that they don't pay and we see them with big screen tv's and carrying Victoria's secret bags into their apartment. Seriously...prioritize the bills people.

2. When your kids want something impossible and scream because you can't get it for them. Like when you're on the freeway and they decide they want chocolate milk and are devastated that you can't make it magically appear.

3. Knowing someone else is having fun and I can't be there.

4. Socks with sandals....sorry Dad.

5. My food storage being not totally up to par.

6. The girls on the Bachelor. They've spent like 1/2 hour with one guy and 24 other girls and are either bawling about going home or talking how they know they will marry him. On this season, Shannon in particular totally bugs me. She all pulls Jason aside and is crying about how she wants to lay on the couch in her pajamas with him and ask him how his day was. Are you KIDDING ME? You don't even know him! AAHH!

7. People who act like Obama is the Messiah, the next Savior of the world. I wish him all the best but sheesh...

8. When the toilet paper roll goes under instead of over.

9. When I've just cleaned something to find my kids have ruined it again.

10. Whining, when my kids start to use their whiny voice I'm not very good at keeping my cool.

Thanks Sari! I tag Hailey, Jill, Whitney, & Misti.

Calling All Super Readers

2009-01-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

There's a little something for all you Super Why fans. Now down to business, I have to present some options for a book selection next week at my book club. Since Quincy arrived, I haven't had much time for reading, and the last time it was my turn I was in the same boat with Halle. So having NO personal experience to draw from I got online and did some research and presented what I thought looked like good choices. The one everyone ended up going with had great reviews and even had a gold sticker on the front. You can't go wrong with a gold sticker on the front right? Wrong, the book ended up being a little racy at best and the whole time I was reading it I was dying knowing that everyone was doing the same and thinking "Wow, I can't beleive Angie picked such an inappropriate book." So now my book club reputation has been somewhat tarnished and I have a chance for redemption. If anyone has a suggestion for a CLEAN, yet intriguing book club selection would you please comment?

FYI - I will someday be leading the crusade for a National Book Rating System like the movies have, it is sorely needed.

Brother-in-law Birthday Bonanza!

2009-01-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

So in the space of 2 weeks, 3 of my brother-in-laws have had birthdays!

On January 2nd, possibly the funniest person on the planet, Rich Dunn (he's married to Chan's sister Kambrel) had a birthday. Rich is honest, a very hard worker, determined, a great husband and father, and HILARIOUS! He teaches PE and coaches and is great at his job which he loves. We hope you had a great day Rich (which we know you did, you got a Wii), we love ya!

Today, my brother in law Shannon (married to my sister Jill) turns 28! Shannon is a great guy and a great husband and father and a hard worker. He's amazing at helping with the housework, Jill got seriously lucky. He's fun to go to sporting events with and I love to see him cheer on the Cougs! We hope you had a great day Shannon, we love ya! I also hope that you really splurged on your birthday and ate a TON, so that I can triumph in the Wahlen Family Biggest Loser! PS - You really need to pose for more photos - sorry I had to use the same as everyone.

On Tuesday Marcus Gene Bradshaw (married to my sister Hailey) will turn the big 24! We love hanging out with Marc, he's great to our girls and is fun to talk to about any subject. He's always up for some fun and even after I'm partied out (which takes quite a bit) he's always ready for more. He is amazingly talented, humble, smart, and just an all around great guy! We love ya Marc and we're pulling for ya on the 4-wheeler you asked for! Just to be safe don't get your hopes up...

Road Test #1

2009-01-07T21:22:00.001-07:00

Today McKinley's good friend Brynlee came over and the Barbie Jeep was removed from it's basement obscurity and put to test in the real world of our driveway, FM radio and all. It was successful. Summer...please hurry!

Christmas

2009-01-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm very late but we had a great Christmas break. We stayed at my parents house on the 23rd and my Dad took us out to eat at Fairview Inn and then we stayed up late playing games. We stayed until late on Christmas Eve and then came home and woke up the next morning to see what Santa brought the girls. Even though we missed everyone it was fun to do it at our own house and see the girls reactions. Every little thing McKin got she would say "I have ALWAYS wanted this!!!!"

We went to the Daws for lunch on Christmas day and they had handmade the girls their own dollhouses, which are beautiful! We got to talk to each of our brothers on missions, Sagean in Chile and Tanner in Michigan and it was great to hear their voices! Besides a lot of snow putting a damper on some travel plans, we had a great Christmas. Among other things we.....

Cooked...and ate ALOT thanks to my wonderful mother,

Had a fun FHE at my Grandpa Wahlen and his wife Carla's house (McKin and my cousin Ryan's little girl Jenny)

hoarded the m&m's (look at that face, that's some serious hoarding),

and put baby headbands on grown boys.
We had an awesome nativity scene with McKin as the Angel, Halle as Mary, Easton as Joseph, and an absent sleeping Quincy as the baby Jesus. Luckily Halle's baby made a great understudy. Afer that we went caroling and sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." McKinley was kind enough to remain in her angel costume to create a more visual effect.
We also went to Garrett's basketball games and kissed our un-interested cousins,Got our cameras stolen only to be reclaimed with some pretty crazy photos on it,received a new method of transportation,and managed to get in a little sledding down our hill. It was a great Christmas and I'm sad it's over. Now the snow that provided a gorgeous Christmas landscape is just annoying as ****. Well....here's wishing everyone a great 2009!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-12-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today is Chandler and my 7th anniversary! To spare everyone the mushy stuff, I'll just say that I'm very lucky to be married to a great guy who is also my best friend. Love ya babe, can't wait for Sushi tonight! Now I'd better go call Chan and tell him to read our blog.....

Happy Birthday to the Coolest Aunt EVER!

2008-12-22T00:25:00.001-07:00

Today, my Aunt Wendy Annette Wahlen has a birthday and turns 25 (close enough)! All the Wahlen cousins will agree that their is no cooler lady around than Wendy. She is so awesome that we even named little Quincy Annette after her in hopes she will be half as neat. Wendy is a great teacher in Long Beach and is working hard to get certified to become a principal. The kids she teaches don't have much going for them in life, but they do have the best teacher who cares about them and teaches them life lessons they might not learn elsewhere. She loves politics (yes, we are related) and got to go help out with Mitt Romney's campaign this year and even got to ride on his plane! She is a great example of ALWAYS standing up for what you beleive in, no matter what. She has a great testimony and loves her nieces and nephews so much and would do anything for us. I have wonderful memories of when I was little and Wendy would go to great lengths to make sure we were always having a fun time. I know I can always count on her and treasure all the time I get to spend with her. I love you Wend, hope you have a great day and a great Christmas! You deserve it!

Rooftop Christmas Party

2008-12-15T09:44:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had our annual Christmas party with all our employees and their spouses. We are really blessed to have great people to work with. They keep our business running smoothly and are great to be around. Dori is our office manager and one day my Dad asked McKinley what her dad does for work and she said "Oh, he works for Dori." We really are grateful to all of them and it was fun to get together and show our appreciation! Thanks Guys!

From L to R: Emily, Dori, Connie (my Mom), Abby, Destry, Chandler, Me, and Jane. PS. Thanks to Abby for the picture.

The Holy "wawa"

2008-12-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Halle calls her sippy cup her "wa-wa" and the term has been taken up by all in our household. If the "wa-wa" cannot be found it is a bad time in the Daw household. This morning during family prayer Halle was crying for the "wawa." McKin was saying the prayer and said "Please bless that Halle can find her wawa, so that we can have the Spirit of God." AMEN!

Is there sugar in honey? Then YES!

2008-12-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

So we've been watching ELF quite a bit lately at our house. Tonight Chan brought home some honey from a gift basket one of our vendors gave us and we had spaghetti for dinner and McKin said she wanted honey on her spaghetti like ELF (he had syrup, but it's all sugar). We let her try it on a little piece because we thought she would think it was disgusting and stop but she loved it and had honey on all her spaghetti. YUCK!

Family Pics

2008-12-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have asked who did our Family Photos, so rather than respond to each one, I thought I would just post it. We got them done with Bobbi Thomson of Journey Photo in Pocatello. She charged $250 for our family and then just gives you a CD and prints and you can order whatever you want. I think they turned out pretty good, although I'm slightly biased.

Breakfast with Santa

2008-12-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

Bright and early Saturday morning (who eat's breakfast at 8:00 AM on a Saturday? CRAZY!) some of my friends and I took our older kids to eat breakfast with Santa & Mrs. Clause. It was this cute little thing they were doing at the Christmas Tree Fantasy in Blackfoot. It was way cute! They got coloring stuff, little gift bags, huge breakfasts, and got to hang out with Santa, Mrs. Clause, and a REALLY random artic wolf named Elizabeth. They kept telling the kids that she helps in the North Pole. I've never really seen wolves associated with Christmas, but I'm open to new ideas. After breakfast they got to go listen to a book read by Mrs. Clause and then talk to Santa and draw him pictures. As you can see, McKin had a great time!

I just love this one, because look how excited Saddie is! She had the cutest Christmas dress on, told Misti that she could be married to Santa, and then Mrs. Clause told her the same thing!

Saddie, Marin, Jase, & McKin. Thanks to my great friends for coming, and thank you to Misti for the pictures. Thank goodness that there are good friends around to help a girl out who can't remember her camera!

McKin's Quote of the Day

2008-12-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

"I'm going to tell Santa to put Darth Vader on the naughty list." She's been watching Star Wars with her Dad, heaven help us.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday G-Dub

2008-11-27T00:34:00.000-07:00

So first things first, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the Daw Family..

Now on to even more important news, today is also the day that my little brother Garrett turns 18 and makes that ceremonius first trip to the Aberdeen Maverick for cigarettes and lottery tickets....just kidding. Garrett is such a stud, he's a man of few words but when he speaks up he's the funniest guy you have ever met. One of my all time favorite quotes from when he was pretty young - "If a man never spent a dime, he'd be rich but he'd be naked."

He's a great uncle and example to our girls and isn't afraid to do what's right. He loves sports and is fun to watch, someday he's going to be a great coach or sports analyst! Have a great day Buckwheat, even though it's Thanksgiving we hope you get a little of the spotlight. Our wish is that you will get to sit in a clean house, watch ESPN, and that it rains (little inside joke). Love ya!

Crazy 8 Tag

2008-11-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

So, my blog is filled with tags lately and my sister Jill tagged me so here it goes:

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1. The Office
2. American Idol
3. Biggest Loser
4. Jon & Kate plus 8
5. Supernanny
6. Hannity & Colmes, O'Reilly Factor (I'll group them since they are pretty similar)
7. Dateline
8. Home Shows (House Hunters, Property Virgins, etc.)

Also, my guilty pleasure is Desperate Housewives. I can't beleive I just admitted that on the internet, but it's really pretty good and funny!

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Wasabi (yummm....sushi)
2. Benihana
3. Johny Carino's
4. Olive Garden
5. Rodizio Grill
6. Outback
7. The Sea Grill or Tavern on the Greene in NYC (I'll probably never go there again, but they were awesome!)
8. Maddox

8 things that happened today (the tag is supposed to say yesterday, but I can't remember that far):

1. Got our water heater hopefully fixed! Yay! No more carbon monoxide poisoning for this family, no sir. It's a long story but we are all alive.
2. The new fireplace for our basement was delivered.
3. Exercised, every little bit helps I guess.
4. Watched Christmas movies with the girls and helped them make Christmas lists. It's a little premature but there's nothing wrong with lengthening the Christmas season as long as possible.
5. I folded laundry and made stir fry for dinner, really exciting I know.
6. Annie the Nanny came over, yay!
7. Had a wonderful but rushed FHE lesson on the First Vision given by Chan and wonderful treats made by me with some help from the girls and then had to stand firm and not let McKinley have any because she didn't eat her dinner. I hate that.
8. Fought with McKinley about taking her Flinstone vitamin.

8 things I look forward to:

1. Hawaii with my family in March!
2. Sundays, or weekends in general, but mostly Sundays.
3. Not having 2 kids in diapers.
4. Summer, I know it's a little early but still......
5. Christmas, Christmas shopping, I pretty much love the whole season.
6. Taking some fun family trips when the girls are a little older.
7. Uninterrupted Sleep
8. Chan getting home from work everyday

8 Things I love about fall:

1. Football, mostly BYU Football
2. School starting, it's always exciting
3. Harvest
4. Apple Cider
5. Knowing that Christmas is getting closer
6. Primary Programs
7. Time change, gotta love the extra hour. There's nothing better than thinking you are going to be late for church and then realizing you have an extra hour and that you are doing awesome! However, I'm usually still late.
8. Halloween and seeing your kids in their costumes.

8 things on my wishlist:

1. A full year's supply of food storage
2. To be skinnier, that will probably be there forever.
3. Millions of dollars
4. I agree with Misti, season pass to a spa
5. For BYU to kill Utah in every single athletic competition the two ever meet in.
6. A Son
7. A kindle, that is the coolest invention ever.
8. Not to get too mushy, but mostly that my kids will grow up healthy, happy, and with strong testimonies.

Halloween Bugs!

2008-11-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

So for Halloween this year, my 3 girls all went as insects. I usually try to dress up them in a theme, but we'll see how long that lasts. I have a feeling that when Halle starts to have an opinion about what she is, that will go down the drain. This year McKinley was a butterfly, Halle was a ladybug, and Quincy was a caterpillar.

We went to the ward trunk or treat, McKin and Ellie made camp by the Manwarings van to start in on their stash.

After Halle had gotten her candy she helped Dad and Quincy hand out candy.

Quincy and her future best friend, Macey Montano. They are only 2 weeks apart.

We had a great Halloween, after the Trunk or Treat we visited Chan's parents and then went with the Manwarings around our neighborhood and it was surprisingly nice weather. It was really nice not to have to figure out how to keep your kids warm and still have their costumes show. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Happy Birthday Mom and Nana!

2008-11-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

Today my beautiful mom turns 52 (sorry Mom if that was a secret)! Doesn't she look great? She is a great mom and grandma, always willing to help me with my kids and be a best friend to me as well. I love talking to and spending time with her. She is so unselfish and giving of everything she has. She also works for our business and does a wonderful job! She is always telling Chan and me that if we want to hire someone else for her job then we can, and we look at her like she is crazy because we could never find anyone as good. We are grateful for all that she does for us and wish her a wonderful birthday! Love you Mom!

Tag from Jennie

2008-11-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Jennie Cannon tagged me a while ago, and I had the whole post ready to put up when my internet stopped working and I had to re-start my computer and lost the whole thing. Sooo, I was quite frustrated but now I'm ready to give it another shot.

Here's 6 weird/random things about me (it was hard to narrow it to 6):

1. My most FAVORITE food is Sushi, but the food I hate the most is chinese food. I know it doesn't make sense but I'm talking about the nasty cheap chinese food that you have to scrape the shortening off the top of your mouth when you are done and that buy MSG by the barrel. Sadly, this is one of Chan's favorite foods so I do tolerate it once in a while to prove what a good wife I am =)

2. I love politics and watch a probably unhealthy amount of Fox News. Maybe someday I'll be the next Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck.....

3. I can't seem to write anything without using the ellipsis (....) It's my favorite punctuation! I like to use it for dramatic pauses, or for trailing thoughts, and I use it probably way too much. See above.

4. One of the things I can't stand the most is knowing that someone else is having fun, and I'm not. I LOVE parties, and my family will attest that I will go do GREAT lengths to not miss anything fun.

5. I LOVE to read, but don't do it as much as I should because I know what happens when I start to read (because putting down the book for anything less than a natural disaster isn't an option): my kids eat junk whenever and wherever they want, my husband complains that I don't talk to him, my house turns into a disaster, and I don't shower or sleep.

6. One of my worst habits is interrupting. I used to be horrible at it, but I like to think I have gotten a little better. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize right now to everyone I have ever interrupted.

So there ya go, 6 of the probably thousands of weird things about me. I'm not going to pass this on because I'm way too tired to leave all the comments, etc., etc, but if anyone wants to do this, then feel free!