Sweet 16

It's hard to believe that my first born is 16 already. People tell me all the time that I don't look old enough to have 6 kids or a 16 year old, nevertheless, I am. I really wanted to make Haylee's sweet 16 memorable for her so I decided to throw her a surprise party. With some stealth help from my friends and her friends, I was able to pull it off. Haylee's birthday happened to fall on a weekend that we had to be in Anchorage for her last volleyball games. I threw her off the scent by saying that we would have a friend party for her the following weekend and just do a simple family lunch in Anchorage after her games. Her teammates were sweet and sang to her on the court after their game and I made sure they decked her out in balloons and a special crown. It was great.

I took her to Nordstroms to get her makeup done, knowing that she would be going home to a house full of her friends and I didn't want her all sweaty and gross for her party. After being beautified and getting her new makeup and an outfit for her birthday present from Aaron and I, we headed to lunch with Auntie, Grandma and Papa. So fun, and yummy seafood lunch at Charlies. Then we headed home, with my heart pounding and nerves rattled all the way home. Texting Aaron was the only way he new we were almost home and he and Becky had a great time entertaining a house full of teenagers while they waited for Haylee. Everyone was in the basement, so I had to devise a plan for Haylee to go down to the basement, something she would never do after 3 hours in the car. I told her that Dad was down watching a movie and to go get him to help unload all the Costco stuff. She didn't think much of it, but threw me for a curveball when she went to the bathroom first. Haylee's friend, Mariah was in on the surprise and came home with us, so I had her take Maycee down to the basement so she could be in on the surprise too. Hello!!! Dumb me not even thinking about it, but the next thing I know "SURPRISE" is being screamed in the basement at the wrong girl! I was sure Haylee heard and the surprise was ruined, but luckily our house is huge and she didn't hear it from the bathroom. So after a false start, Haylee went to the basement and....SURPRISE!!

She was really surprised and happy to see so many of her friends. On to the games...

Yes, this one was interesting. The kids had to pass a key that was tied to a very long string through their clothes to one another. They loved it and it was pretty funny for us to watch. After games, it was cake time. Becky, Angela, and Emily made Haylee's cake and it turned out amazing. Haylee loved it.

Present time...

They finished the night with a scary movie in the theater, notice Brandy and Dagen covering their faces, so funny!!

We are so grateful to have such an amazing daughter and know that she will do awesome things with her life. We are so proud of who she is and what she stands for and look forward to her future...especially driving!

Kidless in Hawaii

Wow, where to begin. So much has happened since I last posted, but I will catch up on all that later. Aaron and I just returned from an amazing trip to Oahu...without kids!! We decided that the kids have been to Hawaii 3 times, and each time it gets more expensive, namely because we have more kids. Anyway, my parents graciously agreed to watch the kids for 9 blissful days and we made the most of our time in paradise! We stayed on one of the best beaches on the island, Kailua Beach is a 3 mile white sand beach that was literally out our back door. It was incredible. We started the week with some sight seeing...

This was at the top of the Pali lookout, which we drove by almost every day. It happened to be very windy (notice my hair) and somewhat overcast the day we made it to the lookout, but we had a great view of our side of the island. Yes, it's our island now...

No trip would be complete without finding something for Aaron to climb in flip flops. On Wednesday, we headed to the newly renovated Laie Temple which had just been rededicated the day we landed. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to see the Prophet and dedication celebration, but all the local members talked about how amazing it was. All temples are beautiful, but the island setting makes the Laie Temple special and I wouldn't mind if one of our kids gets married there someday.

Just down the road from the temple is the Polynesian Cultural Center and it was AWESOME!! This is a must do if you are in Oahu and we had an amazing all day experience here including the luau and watching the night show "Ha, Breath of Life".

Aaron showing his aggressive side with the Tiki Man at the luau.

The next day we were up for some hiking, so we headed to Manoa Falls and this is an overlook spot along the way.

Aaron posing next to a ginormous tree at the beginning of the falls hike.

Striking a pose under a bamboo and tree root arch along the trail.

The falls were neat, but somewhat anticlimactic. When you live in a place like Alaska, scenery is all relative to the beauty we see everyday. Hawaii's temperatures are better though, I will admit.

This is our Kailua Beach at sunrise. Isn't it amazing? We would wake up to this everyday, well Aaron would while I slept in, and then we would go for a run on the beach...barefoot and all. Not a bad way to workout! We really didn't bother going to any other beaches to play because Kailua was so incredible and convenient for us.

For any that know me, these next pics will be shocking!! Yes, that's me in the water. While I don't mind going in the water, I will only go in warm water and Hawaii's is at the colder end of what I will tolerate. I also have a very vivid imagination and have a hard time enjoying the ocean when all those sea monsters are out to get me. Fortunately, our beach was very shallow and the water was amazingly clear, free of seaweed, coral, and monsters. Aaron really wanted me to play in the water with him, so I sucked it up and took the plunge.

This is how I looked most of the time while I was in the water, trying to keep my face above the gross salt water. Aaron on the other hand, did plenty of body surfing for the both of us. I may be a new woman when it comes to water, but I still will not be going in our lake at home any time soon...too cold and you can't see the bottom where the lake monsters live.

Aaron loves the water, but I love hiking, so hiking Diamond Head was a must on my to do list.

The view from where the gunners used to perch during WWII was pretty cool.

Again, it was another really windy day, so my hair wasn't cooperating for this picture, but all the sweat held the flyaways out of my face.

We had to do a day on the North Shore to see what all the hype was about. We stopped to check out lots of beaches along the North Shore, but none could compare to Kailua, so we didn't play much at them.

We did stop to watch some surfers hang 10, but the surf wasn't anything like the big stuff you see on the movies.

Checking out some snorkelers...watching tourists provides it's own entertainment.

Another must do on my list was to eat at a shrimp truck, namely Giovanni's which is supposed to be the best on the island. While it doesn't look very sanitary, yes that is grease running down the side of the truck, the shrimp was fresh out of the ocean and amazing, even though the garlic kept Aaron away for almost 2 days.

No vacation would be complete without eating way too much good food. Besides the shrimp shack, we ate at a local's joint in Laie called the Hukilau Cafe...so good! We also ate very well at the luau, an incredible bakery on the North Shore where I got the best avocado sandwich I have ever had. We also went to Mauii Tacos, Fatboys, Pinky's, and even the Sizzler (it was by our house and open late). We ate at Kimo's and Boots for breakfast twice because they have world famous banana pancakes with macadamia syrup. Aaron is barely humoring me while I take his picture of his omelet...don't mess with him when he is hungry.

I will admit I licked the plate clean with these pancakes...to die for!

We had an amazing time together and enjoyed the freedom to do anything we wanted. We wouldn't change our lives for anything in this world, but it is nice to be able to escape the daily grind every once in a while and remind yourself how much you love your spouse. Aaron and I went to 5 movies in 9 days, shopped until we dropped at the swap meet, braved the Honolulu mall, ran on the beach, and crammed as much as we could in the time we had. I am so grateful that after 16 years together, we still want to spend time with each other! Love you babe, and Aloha!!

The Birthday Girl Party #1

Our sweet Maycee turned the Big One on 9-29-10! Since her special day happened to fall on a very busy Wednesday, we decided to save the big party for the weekend and squeeze in a quick celebration at the Hansen's between activities. We started with a photo shoot in her new birthday outfit. She will probably give me a lot of grief over this to die for tutu in 15 years, but for now, she looked amazing on her big day.

Maycee loves to walk, but for now she still needs help. We took a stroll out to the porch for a picture in Logan's rocking chair.

She loved rocking all by herself until....

...she had enough of the picture taking. So far, Maycee's personality has been quite pleasant, but she definitely knows what she wants and is getting more expressive in her opinions. We decided to go all out and let her feed herself a gourmet birthday dinner of spaghetti. So I carefully stripped her down to her diaper and we all enjoyed watching her dig in. She didn't go crazy, mind you...she is a little lady. She just used 2 fingers to grab the noodles and that worked quite well for her.

"Man this eating stuff is hard work, I need to take a break!" After dinner, it was cupcake and pink #1 candle blowing time. She loved everyone singing to her, but didn't quite know what to do about the fire in front of her face. Her siblings quickly took care of the the fire issue and it was on to digging in to the gooey goodness.

"Hmmm, this looks interesting." "Yep it's good."

"Let's see if I can get the whole thing in my mouth!" "Don't worry, Mom only had to prevent me from choking once."

After Maycee couldn't eat another bite, I had to run to a pack meeting, so Becky bathed the very dirty babies in the sink. Could they be any cuter?

Happy Birthday big girl, we love you!!

A Blessed Year

The week leading leading up to Maycee's birthday was quite a nostalgic time for Aaron and I. We kept thinking about were we were a year ago..."Oh, I think I'm having contractions 3 weeks early, oh well." "Hmmm, that lesson in relief society about learning to receive service was a good one. I need to be better about that." "I think I need to go to the hospital." "Yep, in labor and having this baby 3 weeks early, yay!" "A 7.9 pounder, she would have been huge at full term!" "I don't like the way she is breathing...she is really struggling." "Please let her be okay." "You are taking her to the NICU in Anchorage? On a plane??" "We need to get a blessing for her." "Please, Heavenly Father, let her be okay."

The next 16 days proved to be the most trying of our lives to this point. Aaron and I grew closer to each other and the Lord more quickly than ever before, but that is what trials do; they bring clarity to what matters most. We continue to be grateful for each day with have with all of our children and even more grateful that we have the knowledge that they are ours forever. We thank God every day that Maycee is a healthy, sweet, and happy 1 year old and cherish those simple moments that we used to take for granted.

Happy birthday Maycee Faith! We are so glad you are ours.

The Big 34...best one yet!

I have to say that my amazing husband makes aging a pleasure. Every year he surprises me with some wonderful time for my birthday, and while I knew something was coming, I didn't know what he had up his sleeve. Thanks to the help of the grandmas and Grandpa Ron, Aaron took me for a weekend in Anchorage. Miles and Becky tagged along for the day and we had a blast eating great food and shopping at the mall. At day's end, Aaron surprised me again with a night at the Alyeska Hotel in Girdwood. While I have been there many times, I have never actually stayed in the hotel. It was awesome. We literally traveled through the clouds (fog) to the top of the mountain to enjoy the best food of my life at the 7 Glaciers restaurant. This was after we got an unforgettable couples massage (I was sore for 3 days and Aaron had bruises!)

These pictures were taken from my phone in the dark, so they don't do the views justice. The beauty was incredible and very romantic. I just have to say that my birthday dinner won't be topped for a very long time. We had 5 courses of very fancy and incredible food, the type you see on Food Network! I wanted to take a picture of every course, but when the waiter would bring the next course out, I completely forgot to take a picture and dove in. I did use some restraint and took a picture of my amazing "baked Alyeska" dessert. It was incredible...yes that chocolate ribbon says happy birthday on it. Wow

That weekend was unforgettable, and I am proud to say that I am a spoiled girl. Thank you, my sweet hubby!!

For my actual b-day, we had a last hooray on the lake and had the Massey's, Pond's, Hansen's, Williams, and Richards over for a barbecue and lake fun. Keep in mind, this was September 20th, very much fall in Alaska (notice the yellow leaves). Yes, we are crazy, but you can do anything in a wet suit, right?

Me, blowing out my fancy birthday candle! Thanks Becky for my yummy poppy seed cake!

Here is a view of the back of the house with the landscaping project of the summer. Those concrete walls will be covered in slate for next summer's project and then I can plant to my heart's content. Notice the wide variety of beach toys cluttering the beach? Yes, I'm pretty sure the neighbors think we are crazy.

Here is Aaron catching some air. It thrills me to no end to see Aaron playing like a kid and reaping the rewards of all his hard work.

Aaron and Shayne tearing it up.

Maycee chillin' on the beach. Doesn't she look like she is having a blast?! Logan tries to get her to smile, but she is a tough nut to crack.

I did plenty of smiling on my birthday, and when it was time to take the big kids on the lake, I laughed so hard, I almost wet my pants. I do not like cold water...at all...so my official job is driver of the boat. I love this job. This was the first time towing 4 tubers, but Brian, Jeff, Aaron, and Becky provided me with lots of laughs. Ready guys?

Aaron is pretending to be bored because I was taking it easy on them at first. Okay, honey, you asked for it!!

Hold on Becky!!!

Brian, you are supposed to ride on the water, not Jeff's back!

Becky, you're going in!!
"I've fallen and I can't get up!!" I really did have a memorable 34th birthday, and am so blessed to have such amazing family and friends that make me feel so special.