Water World

The second day we were in Hawaii (4/11), we woke up and went to the pool at the Nicoll's condo complex.  That in itself was awesome!  It had a little sandy area for the kids and a hot tub.

That afternoon, after the kids got out of school, we went to the water park.  Mike was SO excited to experience the water park with Grant and wanted him to try everything.  We didn't have too much time but they covered a lot of ground!

Grant loved the little slides (above), but after going on this bigger one, he decided he didn't want to do too much more.

Remi getting her feet wet with Aunt Jen.

Pretty Harlee and Grant

 Jen stayed with the kids so Mike and I could go do a few of the big rides.  It was SO fun!  I forgot how much fun it is to scare yourself!  I have to admit that Harlee, Trex and Dax were a whole lot more brave than I was.  I kept telling myself, "If they can do it, I can do it!"

I love how Remi's staring Harlee down in this picture!

 On our way home, we picked up Shelbi from school and then went to the beach.  It's so crazy what a common thing going to the beach was!  Like a stop by the store or to the post office on the way home!

Crazy kids!  Poor Dax came running up to do one too just as I took the picture. 

Remi LOVED the Nicolls!  I have so many cute pictures of her with them.  They were all so good to her and she just loved 'em!

Pretty girls!

When did these guys get so big??

Grant with his cousins. 

These kids are awesome!

Aloha Suckers!

Last month, we took our first REAL family vacation to HAWAII!!  Needless to say, it's going to be hard to top!

Mike's sister and her family are living there right now and we'd been throwing around the idea of going to see them for a few months.  When she called and said they might be moving soon, we bought tickets!

I'm really overwhelmed with ALL the pictures and trying to decide how to fit them all into a post.  I finally decided to break it up over several and that made it seem a lot more feasible!

I took this picture on my iPod at the airport in Gilbert.  Mike posted it on his Facebook with the caption, "Grant says 'Aloha Suckers!'".

 

We flew Allegiant and it was WAY cheaper than any airline flying out of Sky Harbor and they were so nice and accommodating to traveling with our kids.  Plus, my aunt is a boarding agent for them and happened to be working that day so we got a pretty personalized send off!

Another fun thing about Allegiant is that you walk up a ramp to board the plane. I don't know who was more excited about that-us or Grant!

Six hours was a LONG flight!  Especially since Grant didn't take a nap and they don't show movies. Both kids did GREAT though and we passed the time by doing things like making forts, playing on the iPod, playing with toys, books, talking about Hawaii, and looking out the window.

When we landed, Grant informed the whole plane VERY loudly, several times, "WE IN HUUUWAII!!"

Waitin' for Aunt Jenny to arrive in the "dirty bubble" (their van).  Poor Jen was extremely gracious enough to be our chauffeur pretty much everywhere we went!

As soon as we got to Jen's house and had our stuff put away, we started off to the beach (which is about a 5 min. walk from their house!).  

Along the way, some person on a motorcycle stopped and was talking to the kids.  It took me a second to figure out it was Nate.  Haha!  Remi made friends with him right away.

 

We went first to one of the lagoons/resorts and they had these ponds with all kinds of fish.  

Here's Grant asking for permission to go swimming with it.

"Can I want to swim with the sting ray?"

First time in the ocean!

 

 F
irst of MANY attempts at a good family picture.  I'm SO frustrated with my camera!  I have so many blurry pictures from this trip.  Any suggestions for a good point-and-shoot one? Because I'm hoping this one will be making its way to the trash soon!

Betty spent a lot of time in the stroller on this trip but she was such a trooper about it!

Pretty sweet first day!

Our Pretty Lady

I remember when I was pregnant with Remi, trying to figure out who she was and what type of little lady she was going to be.  The only thing that ever really seemed to stand out was this feeling that she loved her family and for some reason, I just kept picturing light/brightness/sunshine.  I don't really know how to describe it better than that...

The name we had always had picked out for a girl was Remington Page but we couldn't quite settle on it after finding out she was a girl.  I really liked the name Ellie.  Then after finding out it means "shining light", it seemed to be the perfect fit.  Fast forward to her birth and our fears that we may never have another girl, we reverted back to Remington.  I decided if we used Elizabeth as her middle name instead, she could still be my little Ellie and even potentially go by it in the future if she thinks Remi's a little too redneck :)

ANYWAY, that GIANT story all to say that even though I still second-guess my name choice sometimes, I can't believe how fitting her super long name is for her!  She is the light of our family and my little sunshine!  I can't help but smile every time I see her pretty little face!  She is so tough and almost never complains.  It's not uncommon at all to have a whole day go by without her crying or complaining!

Maybe it's just because I'm SO behind on my blog but I REALLY can't believe it!  She's growing up SO fast!  I feel like she's practically one already!

So, here she WAS at 4 months!

Around this time, I started calling her Pretty Bitty.  Then that got shortened to Bitty. Which turned into Betty...she's going to be so confused, poor girl!  Doesn't she look like a Pretty Little Bitty Betty though?? :)

If she doesn't have her paci, she usually reverts to using these two fingers.

She LOVES the Bumbo because it means she gets to be part of what's going on.  She's always so anxious to be involved in what's going on but cool with being patient until I have time to give her attention at the same time.  She's pretty much just awesome!

I finally found a place in Springerville that sold sponge rollers small enough for her little mohawk!!

I always wanted a little girl that could pull off earrings, a bow and her brother's clothes. 

She's making so many of my dreams come true! ;)

Adios Hermano

This post has been several months in the making!  Grant is taking a nap today for the first time in about a month so I'm finally getting around to catching up on my blogging.

SO!  A few months ago my baby brother Dallin left on his mission to Columbia!  I came to multiple realizations while preparing for his departure...

I'm getting really OLD!!

He's not a baby anymore!

Chase is.

We won't see him for TWO YEARS! (That means Chase will be in school, Grant will be almost 5 and little Remi will be around Grant's age now before they see him again)

I am overly proud of him...probably in an annoying type of way so I'll really try not to go off on it too much!  But really, I'll be a very content mom if my kids turn out like Dal!

Anyway...my camera was lost the weekend he left so, thanks to my trusty iPod, I still have some photo documentation!

Saying goodbye to the boys.  I love this picture!  I wish it were better quality!

Saying goodbye to Betty!  I can't believe how much she's already grown since this pic!

Remi's goodbye present to him.  Haha!

When did he get so big??--> Another realization-I'm shorter than I thought!

 Chase-O had a sleepover at our place so my parents could spend some good one-on-one time taking Dal to the airport.  We had so much fun!!  Chase did SO great!  He's welcome at our place anytime! 

 This was the scene as I made dinner that night.  They kept growling at her trying to scare her but I'm pretty sure she just thought they were ridiculous!

*Notice their baby monitor "walkie talkies".

Only the cool kids have Spiderman PJs for their sleepovers!

 The next morning, Chase helped Grant get ready for the day like he always does.  Dressing up like a super-hero/emergency rescuer. :)  Every time he comes to our house, I lose my baby monitors to a better cause, as Chase uses them to communicate with 911 dispatch. 

Then usually, the emergency involves Remi and she has to be rescued by these two heroes and me profusely thanking them for saving my baby!

Tanner stayed home and was a HUGE help!  The day my parents came home, we spent most of the day outside.  Remster and I hung out on a blanket while the boys flew a kite.

I can't believe how much time has already gone by!  We got to Skype with him yesterday for Mother's Day and it was SO good to see him!  I'm so glad we got to live next door to him as he was preparing to go.  I've already missed him coming over with a "Hey Hermana" in Buster's voice!  But it's just the titles of our e-mails now! :)

We're so proud of you Dal and we love you!!!