Ethan's 5th Birthday

I can't believe Ethan is already 5! Time flies when you are sleep deprived...I mean having fun! :) He is such an awesome little boy and I am oh so lucky to be his mom! He told me I am his best friend and I honestly can't think of anything better than that! He is still obsessed with Superheroes. He has branched out a little lately and has gotten into Lego's and video games. I asked him if he wanted a friend birthday party and he said no, just family. I was excited I didn't have to put anything on but then the day of his birthday he asked when his friends were coming over to have cake. AHHHH! We were already having Joy School at our house the next day so we had Birthday cake with his Joy School class mates and he was happy.




Ethan loved blowing out his candles so we did it a couple times. Don't you just love a little spit with your birthday cake? :)




Ethan was thrilled with the Yoda cake but was disappointed that Yoda's light saber was red. I know red light sabers are only used by the sith...but the gel colors were limited at the grocery store and they didn't have another shade of green. Oh well!




I asked Ethan what kind of cake he wanted. He said he wanted a Yoda Cake. I was actually asking about the flavor but I guess I should have been more specific. I looked on-line to try and think of how to do a Yoda cake and they had really cool molds and stuff but it was the day before so I had to come up with my own idea. This is what I ended up doing....I took a coloring page of Yoda and placed a piece of wax paper over it. I then traced it with frosting gel and then flipped it over onto the frosted cake. I gently rubbed the wax paper and pulled it off slowly. It worked perfectly.



Pirate Legos- I actually ended up building the set the first time for him because he was so impatient, but he has since taken it apart and built lots of cool lego pirate things. He has a great imagination.




It is our tradition to open presents right after we wake up, this is why he is in his pj's and sporting the cute bed head hair. He is really into Batman the Brave and the Bold series...this is Aquaman.

New York with Family

Lanny's parents were coming to New York City with his father's job so they wanted to know if we could meet them there. We said yes of course!!! Getting to see family and see New York City...perfect combo!



Sorry I got my pics a little out of order.....but anyway. I have a cousin that lives in New Jersey so I asked if we could see her over the weekend and she came with her cute family and meet us in the city. She was a lovely tour guide and showed us the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, and took us to the Brooklyn Diner. (Very Yummy) [Picture- Laura with her cute kids Kate and Ben (her husband, Brian was taking the pic)...then of course Lanny, Ethan, Asher and I)]




Ethan and I in the Ellis Island Museum. This is actually the room where the immigrants would come to register. Very cool but Ethan and Asher basically were into running around the museum and trying to play hide and seek. Oh well.




Ethan and Daddy in front of the Ellis Island monument/museum.




Asher running around the Statue of Liberty. I love him in this puffy coat (thank you Amber) It is kind of funny, he can't put his arms all the way down...reminds me of that movie...I think it is called A Christmas Story?




Daddy chasing Asher by the Statue of Liberty....I love the picture of New York City behind them. It was a very cold Spring Day...it was just lightly snowing a few hours before.



Lanny, Asher,Grandpa Lee,Grandma Laurie, and Ethan in front of the Statue of Liberty.




Grandpa and Ethan in front of the Dinosaur at the Toys R Us in New York City. It was very life like (Roar and all) and the boys loved it!



The Toys R Us also had a ferris wheel inside the store...how cool is that! Grandma treated us to a ride and we lucked out and got the megablocks car to ride in. (We were crossing our fingers hoping we didn't get the Barbie or Cabbage Patch car) Ethan also got to pick out toys for his birthday from his grandparents since it was only a few days away. He was so thrilled with this, he kept saying I am soooooo happy!



We got to take the subway around New York and Ethan thought is was the coolest. Most of the time it was very crowded but this just happened to be a time when we got the car all to ourselves.



Ethan playing on the subway!

I have to say we had a blast with our family and thought New York was very exciting. But I would just like to warn those of you with small children...not the most children friendly city. Public bathrooms are very hard to find and the monuments were not so exciting for the kids...but it was a great adventure. So if you can come with out your kids it would be a blast...but if you take your small children it will be a wild adventure! (I wish I could have taken more pictures but I found myself chasing my little monkeys more than usual)

My Second Honeymoon!

So Lanny got tired of waiting for me to post our Hawaii pictures. I kept telling him I had to blog about Christmas first...but life just kept happening and I never found the time so Lanny got on and blogged about Hawaii but I feel like I want to blog about it too...so here it goes.

Last Spring Lanny told me about a conference being held in Hawaii and wanted to know if he should submit a paper for publication so we could go to Hawaii and present it. I said that would be the coolest so to go for it. Well we heard back in the summer that the paper was accepted and that he was invited to present it at the conference in January. I kept trying to think of ways to justify the expense and decided that since we only got a three day honeymoon in Utah...that we should take a second honeymoon in Hawaii. My parents took the kids and we got to spend 5 days alone! Well it ended up 2 days of travel so only three real days in Hawaii but hey I will take anything I can get. I must warn all of you though....if you go to Hawaii don't just spend three days there...there is too much to see and do...let alone you need time to relax and sit on the beach. We were so busy with the conference that we only got to sight see one full day and only got some walks on the beach at sunset...no tan :( I missed my boys like crazy and cried a couple times but overall I loved just staring at the love of my life and enjoying an uninterupted conversation. It was fun to see Lanny present his paper and learn more about his area of study. Returning home was sweet too, Ethan gave the best hugs and kisses and Asher gave me the sweetest smile and just stroked my face (I wonder if he was making sure it wasn't a dream). Oh I love my boys...all three of them!

Hawaii Vacation Videos Part 2

Hawaii Vacation Videos

Hawaii

We were so lucky this year to be able to spend part of our winter break in Hawaii. Fortunately, Lanny was able to publish and present an article in the Hawaii International Conference of Arts and Humanities located at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the island of Oahu. Here are some of the photos:

This is a view of the sunset from our hotel in Waikiki.

Our hotel had many animal habitats, including these flamingos.

This is Laie point. Lanny lived just down the street when he was a little boy.


This is a view of Sunset Beach on the North Shore.

There was such a special reverence here at the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Diamond Head Crater

'Ali'i Tower-where we stayed.

This was the view from our hotel room balcony.

Hanauma Bay-we had a blast snorkeling here!

This is the beach from the movie, "From Here to Eternity."

Lanny called this beach "Temple Beach," because of its proximity to the LDS Temple.

The next two pictures are from a serene lookout spot.

Laie Point

Lanny had to try the pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation.

Laie

Laie

Sunset Beach

Dole Plantation

Dole Plantation

Pearl Harbor

This anchor weighed over 16,000 lbs.

We were hoping this was Jack Johnson.

Hanauma Bay

This was our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

More Pictures of our Boys in Action