LaLa & Gabe

Melissa and Gabe were married for all time and eternity the 3rd of January in the Mesa, Arizona Temple. It was wonderful. Melissa wore a beautiful wedding gown topped with a flower headpiece (haku) I made specifically for her in remembrance of her time in Hawaii, which is where she and Gabe met. She was gorgeous.

Our parents were happy for Melissa and Gabe.

The little girls wore mustard yellow and blue muumuu's with shelled lei's, they were all adorable! The little boy's wore mustard yellow ties and were handsome as ever! Unfortunately everyone is bundled up this picture because it was an extremely cold day in Mesa, we were expecting it to be at least ten degrees warmer.

This is kinda of a random shot taken in between my cousin Julie's photo session, but I like it because it feels very natural...it seems to flow. My parents looked really nice that day...my Dad could have modeled for GQ! Just kidding Dad we like to tease you, but you both looked really nice.

I put together Melissa's wedding bouquet as well, that was a lot of fun!

This is one of my favorite pictures, the Father and the Bride.

This is another favorite, Mother and the Bride.

The 5 Kinlacheeny siblings; Jeff, Spencer, Melissa, Me and Brian.

Jeff, Maren, Spencer, Gabe, Melissa, BJ, Dallas, Monica and Brian

The Kinlacheeny Family

Dear LaLa,

I am so proud of you! Thank you for being the greatest sister! I didn't think I was going to have a sister after three of our siblings were boys and then you came along. I remember picking you and Mom up from the hospital, I asked for you to sleep in my bed that first night you came home...I was that excited!

Our time together seemed to be cut short though, I was married your seventh grade year and you felt as though Dallas had stole me from you...hence the ginormous snowball thrown in his face! But our relationship has been the greatest! We are VERY close. My heart ached knowing that I may not be present for your sealing because I lived thousands of miles away in Hawaii, but I was blessed with a miracle that enabled my entire family to be present. 
Melissa you are the BEST! You are beautiful, smart and VERY talented. You have the sweetest spirit and the strongest testimony of the Gospel. Thank you for living/helping me while Dallas was at Basic Training, in Georgia for two months, deployed in Iraq and during my miscarriage ...you are the GREATEST! The Gilmore children adore you, you will always be their "Nanny" LaLa. I hope you were able to learn as much from our family as we have learned from you!
Love you LaLa
B
P.S.
Gabe, Take care of my sister. 

O Hallows Eve

 We continued our Halloween festivities with pumpkin carving. Dallas helped the kids prepare the pumpkins for carving, he was a real trooper and carved two pumpkins this year...unfortunately I did not get a picutre.

 There was a lot of pumpkin cleaning involved, once again we were fortunate enough to have four extra pumpkin cleaners.

 Sadie saved the pumpkin seeds from her pumpkin. She air dried them and then roasted them a day later with salt, they were pretty delicious.

 Sophie enjoyed pretending to devour the pumpkin interior, pretty funny! Well, I guess I should include Ammon and Sariah as well! They had just as much fun!

 Here is our Trick or Treating snapshot. Sadie was upset at the moment and didn't get her picture taken obviously, she dressed as Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games...costume was real cute! Sophie was an astronaut...adorable as well! Sariah was Belle from Beauty and the Beast...simply beautiful! Ammon was the Amazing Spiderman...dashing! Noah was a football and was carried by my HOT hubby the All Star Football Player! I didn't dress up...maybe I will be more festive this coming year.

                                                   Sophie is too cute!

                          Sariah is enjoying her Halloween loot!

When the kids got home from Trick or Treating they dumped out their loot across the kitchen table for us to examine and  began their trading process. Earlier in the week we also attended our annual Ward Trunk or Treat in Wahiawa, it was a blast! We had plenty of candy to distribute, but for some reason we parked in the wrong spot and only had two trick or treaters! The agony!

Creepy Crawly Things

 We got a "little" festive this year for Halloween and the kids loved our excitement! We had fun spreading 15+ feet of spiderwebs over our Hawaiian shrubbery. Ammon was all for it as he is obsessed with ANYTHING Spiderman.

 We clumped all the spider webbing in one area and then later learned we had to stretch it very thin to get a natural look, that took awhile, but as you can see we had a lot of help.

              Sariah throwing a double whammy shaka!! Crazy girl!

 Ammon was getting pretty good at placing the plastic spiders all over the webbing.

 Here is a closer look at two of our plastic spiders on the tea leaf plant.

 

Creepy crawly things...sorry Chelsea, but this was our front yard for Halloween :)

 Here is the huge spider by the front door and the kids standing by our creation, they don't look too excited in the picture, but they were.

Missing our Hawaiian Hale! Good times were definitely made in that home :).

Jeff & Maren

We were able to attend Jeff and Maren's wedding in the Salt Lake City Temple, what a joyous occasion it was for my family, to see my brother sealed to his sweetheart for time and all eternity! I didn't think we were going to make it for this special occasion, but the stars aligned and a miracle proceeded. Heavenly Father knew my deepest desire, which was to be present for my siblings special ordinances in the temple (more on that later)...I am forever grateful!

Dear Jeff,
I am so proud of your worthiness to take your Maren to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity.  What a special privilege it is to have this special ordinance performed and what an honor it is to be your sister! I have witnessed your growth from child to man, have been there to support you whenever and however I can and have enjoyed hearing your ever growing testimony...for this I thank you. I know you will make a wonderful husband and father! My wishes to your sweet Maren...so grateful she loves you so much!
Love BJ

Sophie's Cross Country Experience

Warming up for the meet.

Stretching her legs.

Hale Kula Elementary School XCountry team photo waiting for the meet to begin.

Tender Moment...made my heart swell...Daddy giving some words of encouragment and advice.

And we are off!!! Sophie ran her best :)

Team Photo...Victory!

Sophie made the XCountry team while attending Hale Kula Elementary School in Hawaii. Only a select few get chosen from each grade, those with the fastest timed mile are allowed to compete. Sohpie felt VERY honored to run for the Hale Kula Elementary School XCountry team, she practiced on her own and recieved A LOT of encouragement from family. The day of the meet she asked me to join her as the team walked to the field to compete, I was one of the few parents who walked with their child. On the way over to the meet Sophie recieved several text messages from family members encouraging her to run her best and she was very grateful for that.
Dallas and I were very nervous for her...we both had butterflies and were anxious for her to do her best! And she did!  Each of the grades were divided up and allowed to compete. When it came time for Sophie to compete it was raining pretty hard, but she prevailed and ran her little heart out! She came in sixth place for the fourth grade girls with a time of 9 minutes and 30 seconds!! As a result, her team won the meet!!! Beating Solomon Elementary School, Wheeler Elementary School and Wahiawa Elementary School who were also in attendance for the XCountry meet.
Looking back a couple of weeks later Sophie shared her testimony in Sacrament Meeting and she commented on her XCountry experience, she shared something to the effect that she was grateful to have such supportive parents and family. She commented on how she felt great comfort while I walked with her to the XCountry meet. My heart melted as I sat in the mother's room nursing Noah! How did I get SO DANG LUCKY to have such a WONDERFUL DAUGHTER!!! She amazes me and if ANYTHING she encourages me to bear my testimony often. I love you Sophie!