Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái;

This year we spent Chinese New Year with the Titus family and Uncle Rocky. We strolled the streets of China Town in Honolulu, HI and enjoyed the festivities of the season. We finished our stroll of China Town by grabbing a bite to eat at a Chinese Restaurant. We sure enjoyed ourselves!

Dallas is way HOT in this picture I took of him! As you can see, he was super excited to be celebrating Chinese New Year, it reminded him of his LDS Mission in Southeast Asia.



If you look closely you can see Uncle Rocky in the background snapping some photos on his camera! LOL!

Day 2: St. Louis, MO to Salina, KS

Beautiful St. Louis Arch...unfortunately we were unable to stop and take pictures in front of the arch due to the freezing temperature!

Sadie and Sophie enjoying their traveling time.

"Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue"..."It's a Barbecue Restaurant in a gas station that happens to have '"The Best Sauce on the Planet'".
This AMAZING Barbecue Restaurant rated thirteenth by Anthony Bourdain (13 Places to Eat Before You Die), host of the Travel Channel's No Reservations , is by far without a doubt the best BBQ in the world! So wonderful Dallas' taste buds no longer enjoy any ol' BBQ! I have to agree the meat is absolutely scrumdidlyumptious!

The Honolulu Zoo With Aunt Lynn & Uncle Craig

Aunt Lynn & Uncle Craig are officially our second visitors to the island; Rocky being the first of course! We met up with the Peterson's at the Zoo and enjoyed our two and a half hour tour! It was very relaxing, I think it has something to do with the island, to stroll along and not worry about the time! Our visit was wonderful amidst all the wildlife, hooting and howling!

My New Canon EOS REBEL T1i

For our 10th Wedding Anniversary Dallas surprised me with my very own Canon EOS REBEL T1i digital camera!! A camera like this has been on my wish list for sometime! I am extremely grateful! I LOVE to take pictures of family and this will allow me to work wonders! Thanks Love!

Here are a couple of pictures I took MLK Day.

Day 1: Our Gypsy Wagon

This day was such a hectic day filled with cleaning, organizing, packing, loading, and Dallas' commencement ceremony from BOLC III. We had planned on leaving by 5 that evening, but that was not what happened! We left the house by 5:30, which wasn't so bad, but we ended up leaving Radcliff an hour later!


Dallas LOVINGLY referred to our trailblazer as the GYPSY WAGON! Dallas is such an awesome husband, he made sure everything was tied down and secure, which was a lot of stuff!


The kids bundled up and ready to begin our journey across the country!


Our home in Ft. Knox! It was a blessing to live on Post and I am grateful for the comfort it provided for our family!


The kids nice and snugly in their five star hotel bed! Embarrassing...yes, we pulled up to our downtown Hilton Hotel in our beloved Gypsy Wagon!

Saying Goodbye

Although we were excited to move to Hawaii we were extremely sad to leave behind so many friends in Kentucky. Kentucky was home to our family for eight months and in that time we met some very extraordinary people who we will not forget! Here are some pictures of a few of them, unfortunately we were unable to take pictures of everyone we grew to love!

The Baptism of our friend Megan! Megan was in our Primary class. She loved to give hugs to Sariah and Ammon!


This Elder served in Kentucky the entire time we were there! Such a hardworking and valiant missionary...His parents should be so proud!


Sariah, Ammon and I had lunch with Sophie to share in her last week of school.


Sophie being so silly because we were there to share in her special moment!


Sophie with two of her beloved friends.


Before leaving the school we dropped by to say, "hi" to Sadie.


Sadie and her bestfriend Ayeona!

Thanksgiving 2009

We celebrated Thanksgiving alone this year, we missed our extended family, but made the most of the time we were able to spend with Dallas. At the time, he was finishing up his Army Reconnaissance Course and we had only seen him several days in that month of November. The day before was spent running numerous errands to prepare for our move to Hawaii, so many errands that I didn't prepare much for Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Day came and Dallas and I spent all of our time preparing the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, rolls, and pies for the feast while nursing two sick children back to health. Dallas did the majority of the work, I was just there to help with whatever I could, he prepared the turkey and baked three delicious pies! For some reason Sariah and Ammon became sick and we were not able to have dessert with some of our friends in the Ward...they are still trying to recover from their sickness.

I didn't do too well taking pictures that day, I should of but I didn't. Dallas was able to take this picture with my new Blackberry Phone...the turkey was soooo delicious! Thanks Love for working so hard to make our Thanksgiving Day special!

North Shore

It's been close to two months since I last blogged and yes, it's been a very crazy two months! In this short amount of time we have celebrated Thanksgiving, moved from Kentucky to Hawaii, celebrated Christmas with family, visited Sea World and the San Diego Zoo and endured a long five and half hour plane ride with four exhausted children from San Diego, CA to the islands of Hawaii.

We are loving our time here in Hawaii! It is a beautiful place and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live amongst it's beauty!



Funny Story: Friday we took a drive up to North Shore and Laie...breathtaking! The waves were in full bloom and surfers were enjoying them. We slowly drove along the coast and could not believe the size of some of the waves. Finally, we stopped and got the kids swimsuits on and headed out to the beach, not too long after we arrived the lifeguard informed parents to not let their children play in the water...I know he was referring to us because we had just arrived and our children were the only children near the shore ready to jump in! I became nervous, which is no surprise, but Dallas remained calm and let the girls continue to safely stand by the shore. All was going well until some massive waves started climbing up the shore line and some old lady walked way too far out to shore! Instantly the girls were BLOWN OVER and carried up the shore were they luckily caught hold of Dallas' legs! It was a sight to see! Scary at the time and funny now that I blog about it! Anyway, the old lady who walked way too far out to shore, LITERALLY, was being carried out to sea! She could not stand up and was having a very difficult time making it back up to shore! I yelled out to Dallas to go back and help her after he rescued the girls and like a gentleman he did. After Dallas and the old lady were back up shore the lifeguard yelled out, "The family in front (we were standing somewhat in front of the lifeguards on duty) please keep your children away from the shoreline, they could be carried out to sea! Also please keep Grandma away from the shoreline!" I about died! I was extremely embarrassed because this was our SECOND WARNING!! Dallas just laughed it off as a few people clapped in the background!



After being mortified, we sat on the beach and let the kids play in the sand. It's amazing how being a member of the church (LDS) opens up so many opportunities...not long were we sitting there when we met a young mother and her two children who were in fact from Mapleton, Utah! We learned they came to the island for maternity leave and decided to stay and take up residency! WOW! They, the young family, were members of the church and we talked for about fifteen minutes about family and living on the island; it was awesome!





Our drive up to Laie was rushed, due to the fact that the minivan we rented was getting extremely low on gas and our children were all wet and sandy from playing on the shoreline! The Laie Temple was simply beautiful among the mountain range and clouds. We came up on it suddenly and I was surprised to see the road to the Temple lined with homes and an Elementary School, a little bit different from what I was expecting, but all in all the Laie Temple is by far the most beautiful I have yet to see!

We safely made our way back to Schofield Barracks on gas fumes, literally!

They Have Arrived!

Well...the Glow in the Dark Looney Tunes t-shirts have arrived! Thanks to all the family members that contributed to Sadie & Sophie's school fundraiser! The girls are extremely thankful!

The Toy Truck

My Dad insisted that we buy Ammon a toy truck for his Birthday. My Parents know that we are moving so, it didn't matter what size the toy truck was, just as long as Ammon got a toy truck! So...here it is! Ammon enjoyed making truck sounds while playing! Way cute!


Sadie took this awesome picture of Ammon!

Thanks Dad & Mom for Ammon's Birthday money!

Ammon Turns a Year Old

Ammon has brought so much joy into our family. I can remember the morning I went into labor and Ammon's excitement to be free from my womb! Dallas and I were eager to add our first son to our family of three beautiful rambunctious little girls! It was a special moment, as we gazed into the eyes of our handsome little son. A rush of love, hope, and inadequacy swept through me as I held my precious son. How was I, as his mother, going to teach him all that our Heavenly Father would want him to know! Would I teach him to live up to his namesake (Ammon)? Would I instill the desire to serve a mission or have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Yes. I would try. Just as I have been trying to teach my three beautiful girls...I would continue. Being a Mother of four spirited children has given me a glimpse of the love our Heavenly Parents have for each of us.

Dallas decorated this AWESOME YANKEES CAKE! Great Job Love!



It took Ammon awhile to warm-up to unwrapping his gift and destroying his cake, but once he got started he had a blast!



Ammon's Yankee Jersey is the gift he received from both Dallas and I! Pretty sweet don't you think? Personally, I think Ammon wants to be packaged in this box and shipped to Grandma's! Just kidding.

A year ago, we bundled Ammon in a receiving blanket...today he is bundled in a fleece throw! Where does the time go!

Our Man Child

This is how our MAN CHILD (weighing in at 25.8 lbs) walks around the house, he uses the Sponge Bob bat like a cane! Ammon started walking last week! Love you Buddy!

Halloween 2009

We began our Halloween Festivities with a little Halloween Party, which included snacks, pizza and "Scooby Doo." Dallas and I encouraged Sadie and Sophie to each invite a friend to share in our little festivities, they were way excited to say the least!




**********************Halloween Night****************************

You can barely see my face, but I don't care because the kids look adorable! Sadie is a Witch, Sophie a Fairy, Sariah "The Grand High Witch", and Ammon a Mouse!



The kids had to work for their Halloween loot this year. We no longer were we in Provo, UT trick or treating amongst BYU students, instead we were walking from house to house on Fort Knox, KY looking for those willing to share in the Halloween spirit.



Our first "Army Halloween" makes this Halloween one I will remember for years to come! The children were way excited and wired the entire night! Dallas and I are extremely blessed to be able to share in their joy of Halloween! We love our family to pieces!