PFISTER FAMILY

Happy Birthday Sadie & Dallas!!

2011-11-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful for the girls. Tomorrow Sadie will be 3!! Wed, Dallas is 7!! Time has flown with these girls!! Sadie has given our family spunk with her love for life! She officially went to church all three hours with panties!! Yay!! She will begin the New Year in real Primary as a Sunbeam!! She is so excited to be three. So far her favorite toys from her party were her puzzle, purse, pillow pet, camera, and slap bracelet! She also loves her happy birthday singa ma jig, new books, and her new sparkly red shoes with a pretty dress. She wanted a strawberry turkey cake so that is what we made if you can imagine! I told her she could go to Disneyland if she got potty trained so now I have to cash in!! Happy Birthday Sadie. You are officially 3 in 2 1/2 hours!

Dallas will be seven and it was her idea for the Turkey themed party. She loved the crafts pinata, presents, and cake! She loved having a party even if there were a few drama moments:)shh! Dallas loved her presents from her party: new fake nails, lip gloss, her paint polish, her new clothes, calendar, journal, jewelry, books, jammies, sing a ma jig, shoes, and tutu. She can't wait till she is officially 7 and already acts so old. She played her soccer game yesterday in the rain and loved that her Daddy took her. She loves anything that involves her cousins, aunties, uncles, grandparents (that includes you Nana!) and she will turn any scrap around the house into a craft. She loves music and loves her Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House books. She misses her friends in HI still b/c she makes friends wherever she goes. She is our night scripture reader for the family reading time. She is a good older sister and made us chocolate chip pancakes on Fri. for breakfast! She loves her back scratched and her long hair. She is outgoing and we love her!!! More birthday week picts to come.

Trunk or Treat 5th Ward

2011-10-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

Dallas: USC Cheerleader

Brenna: Horse

Sadie: Queen Bee

Layla: Baby Bee

Abby: Baby

We went to our ward trunk or treat last night and had lots of fun. Lots of candy and we stayed out way past girl's bedtimes.

Baby Cecilia is Here!!

2011-10-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our new niece!! She is a doll! Best family to be born in. Love them!! Kasie is a trooper!! We are so happy for them.

Wait for it....Wait for it....

2011-10-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Layla learned a few baby tricks on delayed command!! This is my favorite!! Just ignore me in it:)

Visits

2011-10-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, this is our first company staying in CA to visit us! It is great that all the cousins could be together with their Nana for a bit! We went over to the Mccoys for an amazing Sunday dinner party. The 3 babies got together and the 3 four year olds! There is nothing like family. We loved having my sister's family stay and getting together with my Mom and sister. We even escaped for a girls night to Footloose in Pasadena--our half way point from Santa Clarita where Brooke lives. Four years ago when the 4 years olds were born, we got together to see Wicked! I wonder what we will do in another 4 years:)!

A GREAT PARENTING WEBSITE

2011-10-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

http://leadingfamilies.com/

This website is from a professor from my FAVORITE Child Development class at BYU. I found it after a day of pure parenting cluelessness. It has great articles and I am going to sign up.

Utah Trip

2011-09-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

This trip has to be documented! After 2 years of living in HI, we finally went to Utah to visit my grandparents and other family. We stayed with my sister's family in Orem--thanks Courtney!!

Just thinking of a few highlights:

1. Courtney gave me a haircut-definitely needed it!! They are the best hosts! Kids played great and it was really fun to hang out with them.

2. Sadie saying 100 times after Nana left: "Nana says she loves my doggie kisses!!" This is funny because everyone, including me, is always telling her that nobody likes doggy kisses. Sadie was thrilled that Nana has unconditional love for her. My parents drove down with my grandparents to see us for the last night they were in town. Great to see them & they always spoil us rotten.

3. 20+ hours with 4 children under 6. Definitely a test of patience.

4. The girls singing Grandma and Grandpa about 10 songs. I don't think she remembered that they just sang but really liked it and would say, "K, are you going to sing now?" Grandma remembered the words to the primary songs and sang along. It was great.

5. The three youngest girls had terrible snotty noses the whole time, which they gave to C.J. and Emma Jane. Sorry!

6. Utah is beautiful. It brought back lots of memories from living there and visiting Bountiful for dinners at the Tanners, and hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's when I was homesick, which for awhile was every weekend. Also the place where Nathan and I met, dated, and the place of Dallas's birth. We both graduated college there and I lived there for 6 years!!

I got to meet baby June. She is a doll. So good to see EVERYONE. They were long awaited visits. I really missed my grandparents, especially because my Grandpa is 89!

1st Birthday Party

2011-09-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while b/c we are still trying to get back into a routine. It has been crazy! But we went to our nephew's 1st bday party and Nate took some cute shots of the kids!! Here they are...

Back to School

2011-08-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

We are not in Hawaii anymore

2011-08-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

This mornings amateur photo shoot since we have been the only ones here...

We have been in Upland, just shy of one week. Culture shock but wonderful to see family. Our things arrive hopefully in a week and a half. It was an absolute whirl wind packing things up and leaving Hawaii. We couldn't have done it without friends help there. There are soo many things we will miss there, but mostly the friends we made!! We have grown closer as a family and we hope it continues here.

Today, the whole Pfister family will be together for Kim's birthday--1st time since Uncle Brian's wedding.

Nathan will be starting his work here in hopefully 10 days from now. He has been working so hard to make this happen and we are sure proud of him.

Layla at 5 months!!

2011-07-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Dolphin Day!!

2011-07-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Well, we took a break from our work and went out on a ride on the Sea Wolf our last hurrahs before the move. It was a beautiful day! I love being on a boat--probably my favorite thing ever. Is there anything more pretty than a blue ocean and a blue sky in the same view? We saw so many spinner dolphins. Sadie said they were "Twirl Dancing"! So fun! Sadie was the first one to jump off the boat--no fear. The girls did great. Nathan almost touched the floor of the 76 ft deep ocean we were swimming in. Layla was in good hands at a friends house. Great morning!

Officially in boxes

2011-07-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially in boxes and trying to pack away. August 7th is our moving date and we are pretty emotional about it. We are so excited to see family, but we have loved living here too and will miss many friends. Here are some pictures from lately. Can you see what number is on Brenna's knee? She thought that was really funny--her ouchy made a number!! The girls got these jackets in the mail to go up to Mauna Kea one last time next weekend! I want to go too--we will see if it happens. Also on our list is a dolphin boat trip on the Sea Wolf. Nathan took the girls last weekend to Kukio beach so I could pack. They stayed for almost 6 hours. It looked like a gorgeous fun day!

2011-07-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sadie is still talking about the horse she did one lap on at the rodeo:). It's name was Pua--flower in Hawaiian. Dallas's horse was named Patch and we forgot to ask Brenna's horse's name. Layla was a trooper even though it was sprinkling the whole time. We ended up staying home and watching awesome city fireworks from our back yard over the water. Brenna begged us to take her to bed, but we made her stay up. She was very happy she did. Nathan took out his green laser and was pointing out stars while we stayed outside for over an hour waiting for them. It was one of the best July 4ths I can remember. So happy Nathan had the day off.

2011-07-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is after our early morning rodeo--we got rained out and could hardly see, but the girls each got to ride a pony a lap around the rink and we saw a few horse races. Also great that Nathan is off work! Hooray. Hopefully parade and fireworks tonight!

2011-07-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

Layla is now 4 1/2 months--5 months on the 11th!! And has found her voice. It is hilarious. She squeals/screams all of the time. This is just a little clip of what it sounds like. I took this after changing a diaper--sorry for the diaper shot:).

The girls finished their gymnastics classes for the summer. I only signed them up for June but they learned a lot.

On another note: I am excited for the 4th of July. I really hope we get to see fireworks. We are planning on going to a rodeo in the morning up in Waimea. I have been reading a lot about our family history and found out that we have a great great great grand father that fought the British in the War of 1812--that is the same war where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the words of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Astrophotography

2011-06-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

So here are a few of Nathan's latest pictures from Mauna Kea. He took the girls up last weekend to the freezing cold to test out his telescope so he could be ready to teach the scouts about astronomy.

Here are two amazing astrophotography pictures he took (he thinks they are not very good).

The 1st--A Nebula

The 2nd--Star Cluster

Def. of Nebula:s an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases. In these regions the formations of gas, dust, and other materials "clump" together to form larger masses, which attract further matter, and eventually will become massive enough to form stars. The remaining materials are then believed to form planets, and other planetary system objects.

Somewhere over the....

2011-06-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Rainbow!

2011-06-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was filled with waffles and pineapple syrup--easy recipe: 1/2 cup cup sugar, 1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup butter. Heat to boil. Yummy.

For dinner: pulled pork and coconut (haupia) chocolate pie from allrecipes.com.

We stayed home from church because Dallas woke up with no voice and very bad cough. We are headed to Oahu for her follow-up eye appt. Trying to figure out an activity for the day there--maybe Dole pineapple plantation??

Check out Dallas's hair do in rags--I thought I would never do this to my kids but it is so fun!

What does that spell?

2011-06-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

She is trying to learn her name. She loves to make us laugh.

Ode to Joy

2011-06-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

1st Memorized Song of Dallas. Since it is summer, she has had more time to practice...And since we are down a car, we have more time at home:)...

2011-06-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

The beach was so crazy windy last week, but great for these kite sailors.

The girls are growing so so fast. Brenna gave her first talk in Primary this Sunday. I was so proud of her because she practiced so much and didn't need my help. It was about Jesus walking on the water. We got it from here. There is a clip at the bottom I made her say it for me. She had little trouble in the middle in the video:)

Plumerias

2011-05-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

This is from a few weeks ago...Nathan took pictures for a friend and the girls went with them. They wanted wavy hair for church so we braided it Sat. night. This was the day Dallas learned how to braid. She helped braid Brenna's hair.

Is there anything better than plumerias??

3 1/2 months

2011-05-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

Paskell

2011-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

So Nathan and Dallas were in heaven last night when we went to a birthday party at our friends and they pulled this cute little guy off the tree! Cute, but not cute enough for me to touch or hold:)!

We told Sadie the it was Repunzel's friend, Paskell!! It looks just like him huh!! So fun! I actually haven't seen Nathan that happy in a while!

We are also showcasing Brenna's skirt we made in an hour from 2 fat quarters--no cutting needed!! It is different fabric from the front to back but we just wanted to see if we could do it.

This is the cute hat Dallas let her sisters wear--she bought it with her points for reading so many books this year. She also bought nail polish so Brenna is showing off her manicure too. Dallas will finish 1st grade in 5 days!! What?? So old!

2011-05-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Skype & Bread

2011-05-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is us at the end of the day. We made bread tonight since Nathan was at an astronomy meeting and I wanted to keep busy. It has been quite hot, so everyone is a bit sweaty:).

Layla finally fits in the bumbo. Not her favorite yet, but we are working on it.

We skyped today with a friend from Argentina that Nathan met on his mission. Their whole family is amazing. It was really funny since Nathan wasn't home and I don't know Spanish--except a few words. I definitely need to learn Spanish and I am officially dying to go to Argentina! The girls were blurting out Spanish quotes from Dora and then counted to fifteen for her. It was a crack up.

A Wonderful Day

2011-05-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

I love being a mother to these girls!!

Layla almost 3 months old

2011-05-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here is our cutie pie Layla who is getting a bit chubby:). What I have learned of her in the last week is that if she naps well and I don't have to wake her up to pick up Dallas from school or run errands, she is a happy girl. If not, a crabby crying girl. We are learning to work around her schedule. This next week she will be 3 months old.

I also posted a few shots of the girls in my high heels. They love to walk around and as you can see Sadie loves to twirl.

Nathan is back from California and it is so nice to have him. Sorry to my sister whose husband is in India while she has a newborn:( at home. I cannot wait to meet Baby June Belle!

Today I have been cleaning the grout in the tile downstairs--with a toothbrush dipped in bleach & water 1:5 . My hands are fried and so is my back. But a great feeling to see it go from dark to light. I think it had been too long. Where was my House Cleaning 101 in college?? They should have offered one. I would love to learn how to clean with bleach, ammonia, and baking soda and would love to learn more ways to use vinegar to clean with.

ps. Just so I can record for the future: I am LOVING our family of 4 girls and an awesome Daddy!

Cute little ones before church today:)

2011-05-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

I should have taken a picture of Layla because she has been so dang darling--you know the stage when they smile with their whole body and wiggle. She is standing up now as I hold her with her new strong legs and also starting to laugh. It is the best!! So grateful for all my girlies!! The crying sleepless nights are a blur now and we are in a happy phase. Thank you to everyone who helped out with them at church today! That is a task keeping everyone happy/quiet for an hour and fifteen minutes:)!!

2011-04-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the ideas of Easter--so creative! I also just realized they had the week before Easter events and scriptures to go along for each day on the Friend website here. Yesterday was a long but great day going to Dallas's doctor's appointment in Oahu. Brenna and Dallas each put their money together to make 75$ to pay for Brenna's flight (we paid the other half). We went to the zoo in the morning and then her appt. in the afternoon and then a stop at Old Navy to finish off the exhausting day. We left our house at 5:30 a.m. and got back at 8:45 p.m. Nathan had the day off so he stayed home with Layla and Sadie. Dallas had a Spring Festival at her school today where they performed this Hawaiian butterfly song. Here are the pictures from our trip:).

The week before Easter

2011-04-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is a picture captured right before church. Nathan had early meetings so he was home to help us get ready--so nice! Layla's dress is 3-6 months and I think fits her well.

I have always wanted to do something creative for Easter the week leading up to it for kids--like one thing everyday about Jesus. Have you heard of any ideas?

Potty training began today. So far we are 0-4! But I am not freaking out yet. I know it takes some getting used to and this is when I really appreciate tiled floors.

I also got my first filling today:(. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Luckily Nathan numbed me up really well.

Saturday

2011-04-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is our first trip back to the beach as a family since Layla was born! We couldn't have gone without this half tent. It was great. The tide was soo low that they were able to catch lots of fun things with the net and bucket!:)

2011-04-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Layla is 2 months old now and had her first immunizations today:(. She weighs 10 pounds 10 ounces and is 22 inches long. But we had the best getaway trip to LA last week--met up with all the family there and I got some one on one time with Layla.

I went to my first nephew Luke's baptism! Yay for Luke! It was great to see his Dad baptize him--It is a great thing to be 8! Then I also got to witness the official adoption in court of my newest nephew Adam! He is a special happy little baby. It was great to see everyone and I felt really lucky to go! All the kids had grown so much in a year!

Nathan had a great time with the three girls at home and deserves a great dad award. He even cleaned out the garage and did a huge amount of yard work! It looks great and so nice to come home to a clean house!

The week before was General Conference and we had a nice time at home together watching it. The kids kept asking when we were going to go to church. LDS.org has really updated everything and made everything so easy to watch. Another favorite website we always go on is friend.lds.org for kids. It has so many fun games/stories/songs for the girls.

I have lots of pictures from the Pfister's but at the McCoys, I always just take pictures with my Mom's camera--so you will have to look at Brooke or Courtney's blog to see more...

Friday!

2011-04-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

2011-03-27T00:23:00.000-07:00

Layla is 6 weeks old as of yesterday! She is growing fast and we are learning to do a little more with her everyday. This past week I ventured out with her to run errands like Costco and the post office and it pretty much went well. Except I knew I was a little scattered when I got a phone call from my bank saying I left my debit card and office max 10 minutes before. Whoops!! But I even took her to church last Sunday. She slept most the time in her car seat. And other days this week we went to the park with the girls and for her 6 week mark yesterday, I took the girls to the keiki ponds--kid beach for those outside HI. She slept in the baby bjorn the whole time. I got completely fried with an ugly bjorn tan line in the back, but it felt soo good to get out in the sun and be around friends. At night it has been bouts of crying spells that have been so so long some nights, seriously to my breaking point almost. But I read that 6 weeks is their fussiest age, so I guess she is by the book that way. The girls are doing good, but today they were all begging for some Mommy one on one time, which is hard to give in between feeding, rocking, changing Layla and then trying to feed and clean up after the big girls all day, plus laundry and clean house:). Oh, the life of a mother. So I took some time with Dallas and we cut up one of my dresses that was too small and she sewed a skirt. She has been wanting to sew something forever and has been helping me so much and I think feeling neglected also. Anyway, this is my poor attempt at taking pictures lately. Hopefully since Nathan is home some tomorrow, he can capture some better ones.

ps. My favorite part of the day is Layla bath time. She just loves it!! Oh, and also I have been getting out for some night time walks with my ipod. I do love to blast Wicked Soundtrack, Black Eyed Peas, and Pointer Sisters when I am walking up our huge huge hill we live on. It makes it so fun!

2011-03-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

I caught a bit of a smile of Layla but it's a bit blurry. Nathan took the rest of the girls to the beach today since he has the day off. They LOVE to go to the beach with him and he has so much fun with them too. Layla is happy for about 5-10 minutes after she eats and then she has been pretty fussy the rest of the time. Dallas is on spring break this week and I love that the girls can play together all day.

LAYLA'S ARRIVAL

2011-03-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

Layla will be 4 weeks tomorrow! It has been a whirlwind of events:

(pictures are a bit out of order:)

My mom flew over 4000 miles on February 7th to help us. We couldn't have done it without her. And thank you to my Dad for letting her stay for a month!
I delivered Layla on Feb 11th--epidural didn't work--just to document :).
She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 inches long.
Layla cried quite a lot in the beginning but has mellowed out to a sweet happy baby.

My dad flew out before Nana's Birthday for to meet Layla!
The kids had soo much fun with Nana & Grandpa! They entertained girls so I could just sleep and feed Layla pretty much:)!
Layla's Blessing
Nathan's Birthday!!
Girls have been quite sick with very high fevers and colds that follow. I think my Mom cleaned up throw up at least 3 times! Twice in the car:).
We got to see Dallas get student of the month.
I am sure there is a lot I missed but I can't remember b/c of lack of sleep:)

I have so many pictures, I want to put a slideshow on here. Does anyone know how?

The 3 Girls before there are 4!!

2011-02-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

Thinking about Valentines--since that is my official due date--here are a few of the girls LOVES.

Dallas LOVES:

riding her scooter, coloring, and more coloring, her cousins & Gma's/Gpa's, snorkeling with Dad, movies, her animals in her bed, brushing her hair:), getting her hair braided at night so it can be wavy in the morning, reading scriptures with the family, Primary, playing the wii, making up songs, jokes, eating--she is always hungry lately, weekends when she is not in school, playing with friends, making crafts.

Brenna LOVES:

dancing, making up stories about everything, playing on her leapster, coloring and learning to write words, being silly with sisters, singing, taking long baths, dressing up fancy, eggs, her pink blanket, horses & dogs, the park, watching princess movies and reading princess books, the pool & beach, getting up early, cooking with Mom, snuggling with Dad, puzzles.

Sadie LOVES:

her baby, her stroller, her purse, sunglasses, singing all the time, laughing with her sisters, juice, snuggling, my little ponies, dress up and more dress up, fancy shoes, the beach, her friends, dogs & horses, doing everything by herself (me do it!:)!), putting the soap in the dishwasher, washing her hands in the sink, kisses, talking silly, books.

2011-01-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

These are the fun sparkle shirts the girls loved from their Nana & Gpa! And they especially loved the candy. Shhh-don't tell their Daddy:). It has been gorgeous here lately. We are getting ready for the baby to come. Car seat is washed & my clothes no longer fit. PS. I will no longer be answering my phone in the car:(. Kona Police are watching....

Beach Day

2011-01-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

It was supposed to be too rainy for the beach, but we needed to get out in the sun! Our neighbors gave the girls these boogie boards and even though there are no waves at this beach, they had fun anyway. Nathan even took the girls out to refresh their snorkeling skills. Dallas and Brenna were laughing so much out there! They have so much fun together. I think I am officially on countdown to delivery...4 weeks away. Is that too early to count down?

The Big Thirty!!

2011-01-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

Last night our amazing friend and Nathan's coworker babysat so Nathan and I could go out for my birthday!

The kids were a bit crabby during the day so I was really looking forward to a night out:).

Nathan surprised me to a fancy restaurant up North which had the best dessert ever! Here is a post to document the night and the big 30! On our way up, we could see snow on the top of Mauna Kea! Amazing to see ocean on your left and snow on your right.

Brenna is 4!!

2011-01-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

A fun filled day of going to the beach, going to see Tangled and eating out, Brenna had a great birthday. Nathan had the day off so it was extra special! She got tons of packages from family and loved being the Birthday Girl for the day! Here are a few pictures of her!

One more day before school starts

2011-01-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

I have so much enjoyed this break from Dallas being out of school and am not ready to see it end!! I love having no schedule and not having to wake up Sadie from her naps to pick up Dallas from school. They have so much fun when they are all together too! Brenna and Sadie will really miss Dallas when she starts back.

On to another story: Today I was so tired after being awake for a few hours last night--so nauseous and so worried I had food poisoned everyone with Salmon that maybe was kept in the fridge a few too many days:). Anyways, we are all fine, but sometimes in the night my mind will not quit running/worrying about everything. K-so it was nap time, but Sadie had slept the whole time in the cart at costco so I just had "quiet time" for the girls and they were laying downstairs, etc. I fell asleep and I woke up worried where Sadie was. I had forgotten to shut my bedroom door and she decided she was going to paint her nails with my fav. red nail polish!! Luckily, no spills!! Pretty good for a sneaky two year old. She even put it back and was so happy to show me them because she thought they were so pretty. I need to keep the nail polish a little higher I guess!

Last post 2010

2010-12-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

Before the New Year begins, I am documenting the last picts for 2010...finally! Christmas was nice. Kids loved it. We had Christmas Eve dinner with a huge family in our ward. Christmas morning was started with realizing Sadie messy diaper fell off while she was sleeping and I was cleaning her, myself, Brenna's feet b/c she stepped in it, and their carpet for an hour while Nathan made yummy French Toast on pink guava bread. Then, we opened presents, watched Beauty & the Beast which the girls had never seen and then played outside with new bike/scooter. The best thing about the day was skype-ing with family and eating the delicious Prime Rib Nathan cooked! It was seriously better than a restaurant! Poor Brenna got sick that day with a cold, but still had fun riding her bike and watching movies. Dallas LOVED her scooter and didn't mention at all how she didn't get a Jack-in-the-Box like she wrote to Santa on Christmas Eve Eve.

Now on with New Years! Brenna, Dallas, & Nate went horse back riding today for an early birthday present of Brenna's. She loved going last year and so had to go again. But this time, she made me ask if she could ride the white horse when I scheduled it. They said yes and she had a blast riding Maui. Dallas rode Kailua and they couldn't remember Nathan's horse's name:). Sadie and I had so much fun going to the pet store:) and doing some shopping:). She loved having me to herself and sang songs and waved to everyone in the stores. She was pretty sad when they left but soon forgot about it. I also had to document us in our "Slippers" b/c it is Dec. 31st and So HOT:)!

Happy New Year's Everyone. I am excited for the New Year! And excited for this baby coming in about 6 more weeks:)!

1st Pfister Girl up on Mauna Kea

2010-12-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Dallas & Nathan went up to Mauna Kea for the Lunar Eclipse. They were both very excited! Here are a few picts from it. Nathan's work had a Christmas party this past weekend that we had a babysitter for. Thanks Shaylie! I was very happy to win the "Paper, Rock, Scissor's Tournament"!! Whoo hoo. The prize was 50$. Actually, Nathan and I were the last ones standing, so either of us would have won:). So funny. Violin & Piano recital videos are coming!

24 Days Until Christmas

2010-12-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Does anyone have any ideas of things to put in an advent calendar??

This is the first year I am using one:) and the kids are all excited. Welcome December!! Happy Holidays to everyone. Last year, I missed the cold. This year I am enjoying the sunshine! I feel like I need to make a thankful list because there are so many things to be thankful for right now.

Here are a few pictures Nathan and our friend took for us last weekend. The group one is going in our Christmas card:).

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-28T18:10:00.000-08:00

Nathan had Wed--Friday of for the Thanksgiving!! It was great. I was most grateful to him this Thanksgiving b/c Wednesday he cleaned out the entire garage!! If only I had a before and after picture! It looks amazing.

Thursday, we had friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. Nathan played football in the morning with the guys from church. It was nice day with a yummy dinner/feast!!

For Friday, we had planned to go into Waipio Valley, which we heard is the 2nd most visited spots on the island. It is gorgeous with a black sand beach at the bottom. So we had planned to take this mule drawn wagon tour. And the girls were so excited. We had been talking about it for the last two weeks. But when we drove their it was SO rainy. We all got soaked on the tour and I have to say it wasn't the smartest idea me being preggo bouncing around down this 4WD only trail 1000 feet down into the valley! But Brenna got to sit up front and hold the reins to the mules. And seeing her face made it worth it!! Last night we got some babysitters and went out to a fancy luau/fundraiser. I won a haircut! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to all be healthy again!!

Dallas's 6th Birthday

2010-11-19T14:47:00.000-08:00

This top picture is from when we went to Laie Temple Open House--pre getting my hair done...The rest are some pictures from D's 6th birthday, Nov 16th! The cutest was her waking her sister's up in the morning saying," I'm 6, I'm 6!" The day before her birthday, she woke up really early and was in the play room. She had found my nice 12x12 card stock and was writing on each one in huge writing--1 more day until my birthday!! She was making 19 of them to give to each kid in her class. She was pretty sad when I crushed that dream of giving them all away. Luckily she got lots of coloring paper to draw on for her birthday. After school, she opened most of her presents and then played with them until we went out to dinner. I could kind of tell she wasn't feeling the best that night. The next day she threw up in her class room all over her new clothes and was pretty sad about it. Anyways, she is so happy to be 6 and seems older already to me! Thanks family for all the amazing packages for her!!

SADIE IS 2!!

2010-11-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, Sadie is two today! We are really grateful for her in our family! She is a lot of fun and makes us laugh. She gives great hugs is full of energy. She had a great day today. She loved opening birthday presents/packages and playing with all of her new fun toys! She was happy playing with them most of the day and did not want to share. She is recovering from a bad cold/croup, but pretty much better except a cough. Hard to believe last Sunday night, she was in the ER getting a shot for croup--she could not breathe at night! Overall a good day today, except Nathan now is sick:(!

Lots of PIctures

2010-10-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

So Nathan is back from hunting! And he brought the girls pink fishing poles. They are really excited about fishing and can't wait to go. Here are some pictures from his trip, the girls in their costumes, our jack-o-lanterns that only lasted 2 days before getting so moldy, and some other self explanatory picts:). I am getting a bigger tummy. Nathan is officially in the bishopric as the second counselor. Dallas and I have tickets to Oahu on the 10th for her tonsil checkup and we are going to the Laie Temple Open House. I am pretty excited about that and to get over to a mall to do some Christmas shopping hopefully. The girls birthdays are coming up as well. I am excited for the holidays.

2010-10-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

So the girls have been cracking me up lately. One thing nice about open tiled floors is that it entertains the girls for quite a while with a bouncy ball. Sadie LOVES her new toddler bed. Every time she talks about it she says "Daddy big girl bed!" because Nathan put it together for her. She loves her Daddy. Did I mention she also won't go any where without her sunglasses, purse and 3 cell phones. Transition tips from crib to toddler bed anyone? Nap time is hit or miss with this new big girl!

These pictures are right when the girls got up one morning I am pretty sure.

Hawaii Zoo

2010-10-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Dallas's Fall break was so nice! I loved having her home for a week. I got a little teary (which is not that surprising lately) dropping her off at school again this morning. Nathan had Wednesday off and we went to the Zoo & Planetarium in Hilo (the other side of the island). It was a long drive but we made lots of stops! And we had good company. We even went the Southern way so we could go by a black sand beach and pick up Black Sand for my sister-in-law Paula:). But I totally got in trouble taking sand from the beach. A Hawaiian lady said she was going to watch me while I dumped out each little bag and that she knows how many I had. I felt like I was in 3rd grade again!! Anyways, it was really embarrassing. I guess they think that if I took the sand, there wouldn't be any left. Oh well! I will have to be more sneaky next time. The zoo had the first white tiger I have seen. And the planetarium show was supposed to be about starts. It turned out it was about Mummies:) But luckily, there weren't too many scary pictures of dead bodies. Brenna was the one with all of the questions.

On our way to church Sunday, Nathan hurt his back and seriously couldn't move for a day. He has been home recuperating but today he went to work! We are crossing our fingers he will get better. Our memory foam bed is perfect for me, but not so good for his back:(.

Nathan

2010-10-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Nathan hiking into a crater with his friend. He also ventured up to the summit of Mauna Kea (which is above 10,000 feet). He got a special tour in these two huge telescopes-which he was so excited about and absolutely loved it. But they tested his oxygen level up there and it was down into the 70s! Normal is above 90. That is why kids and pregnant women can't go up there, because of the decreased oxygen. He has learned so much about astronomy!

New Glasses

2010-09-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

2010-09-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Primary Presentation was at church today so we got their early to set up so we had some time for pictures! The kids did such a good job in the program. Dallas had the longest part memorized! D is getting some pretty pink glasses tomorrow we are picking up. We got the call yesterday they were ready. We will have to post picts. She is so excited.

I finally saw Invictus. Such a good movie.

Loving the Beach

2010-09-13T00:41:00.000-07:00

2010-09-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sadie is teething, with a cold. And when Sadie gets a cold, she also gets croup:(. After a sleepless night last night, she is a pretty happy girl today. I think with the humidifier and a dose of her inhaler tonight, she should do okay. And she needs to because...

I am going on a Relief Society (amazing church women's organization) Campout. Nathan is watching the girls and we get to go up north a few hours, have dinner, devotionals, sleep over, and then wake up and have more classes, and activities. I have never left him overnight with the girls that I can remember, so I hope it goes okay for him--and for me (I am not the best camper).

Yesterday was picture Day for Dallas at school so I took a picture of Brenna too. The girls sure love their bikes. Brenna's bike has a few issues where her chain always falls off, but she has figured out how to put it back on herself! What a big girl!

Brenna also got a very needed hair cut. I have NEVER seen her hair this straight! It didn't last long though in this humidity.

Best news yesterday: bought a Scentsy candle from my friend here who is starting to sell them. I LOVE good smelling candles and really miss the Salt City Candles. I also had fun making baby bibs yesterday

Worst news yesterday: A lawsuit from a guy who is sewing me from a fender bender 3 years ago just made it to TRIAL. They are requesting my presence in April in LA. Not fun, but on the other hand, If I have to go, I would LOVE to go visit family. I am going to start searching for cheap tickets now.

2010-09-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

THIS BIRD FLEW INTO OUR HOUSE TODAY!! We had our garage door open and in flew this little bird straight to our kitchen sink. He kept trying to get to a window but there were screens on all of them. We had a fun time trying to get it out.

This was right before we headed to Kukio beach where Brenna and I were snorkeling and saw an EEL!! It looked like this picture but more bright green! I was spooked and kicked my fins as fast as I could until we went around a corner of a big rock. I did not tell Brenna who was already freaked after Dallas and Nathan saw a bunch of puffer fish. But we stayed for over five hours and had a great day!! Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day too!!

Meet the Fire Girls!

2010-08-23T13:19:00.001-07:00

Dallas had her first 2 practices last week and then a game on Sat. We are new to being soccer parents. But it has been so fun. Brenna gets on her gear too and kicks with the other siblings there. Her coach and his wife (asst. coach) are from Norway and have a son playing college soccer. They are so great. Only 4 kids on a team and their goals are cones. Nathan says he wants to coach her next year. They got to pick their own team name and it is "Fire Girls". They are really cute and really go after the ball. D even scored a goal, even though they don't keep score:).

A few new 1st's!!

2010-08-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

Well--lots of new things have happened lately!!

First off~ our family went on our first camping trip! With the church and it was really fun and gorgeous campsite. We have such a great ward. Everyone is so nice, friendly & helpful. Check out the photo's on Nathan's photo site to the right to see the roasted pig! And to see his amazing Mauna Kea star pictures he took last night!

*But it was the 1st time I have ever stepped on a Sea Urchin! Everyone said that to make it better, you need somebody to "shee shee" (hawaiian for urinate) on it!! Nathan was in the water spear diving with some friends and so I just kept telling everyone that I would wait for Nathan. It was pretty ouchy though! All the spines were still stuck in my foot--not coming out! So...one of my friend's husband DONATED his urine for me in a water bottle so I could dump it on my foot:) Ahh! It was really nice of him and it actually felt better afterward:)!! But that is something I never would have thought would happen! Anything goes when you are camping I guess!

Next~ Dallas started 1st Grade!! She has Mrs. Fox as a teacher. She is liking it but says it is a lot of boring work:)

Good news~ Somehow we talked the owners of the house we are renting to drop their rent 400$ a month! We are so happy because we were going to move to save a bit more, but not anymore! Yay. And our prayers were answered today because our house in LA got new renters in it!!

Exciting news ~ Well, our little family of 5 is going to grow to 6 as of possibly February 11th!! And according to the new test IntelliGender, It says we might be having our 1st BOY!! We will test it out with our ultrasound in a month though! I am definitely feeling different with this one, so I would have to say, I think it is too. Even though we would love another girl too:)! Thanks to Sarah for the info about that test!

Favorite fruit right now

2010-08-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

Mango & Lilikoi! So yummy. My neighbors gave me both and now I need to go find some more.

7 Years

2010-08-03T11:34:00.001-07:00

August 1st was our anniversary so we went out of Friday night to a place that reminded me of "Punto Morro" in Mexico--but Hawaiian called Jameson by the Sea! It was so fun to get out and leave the kids with our fav babysitter. Then Saturday we drove up to a kid beach (the one where Brenna is buried) called Spencer's beach. I learned that Rash Guards do NOT protect from the sun. Poor Dallas was burned everywhere underneath it. On Thursday we went to the beach with friends & our babysitter/friend caught the kids like 25 starfish and a pencil urchin. They were so neat.

More picts from AL

2010-08-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Favorite things about trip:

Green, beautiful Dothan

Swimming every day!!

Brenna learned to swim & Sadie can get around now with a life jacket

Watching the cousins play together, Listening to CJ say mealtime prayers

Grandpa had off work for a week

Watching Sadie chase the dogs, around and point out things and say them over and over,

Kids slept in until 10 the first week due to jet lag,

Yummy yummy food: particularly hot fudge sundays, makata, Mama Rosa's salad & bread sticks with cheese, Things & wings.

Lots of movies. Loved Night & Day.

Hanging out with my family there!!!

Going flying with Bob at Headland Airport and seeing Miss Sheila

Brandon surprising us at 8 am with breakfast sandwiches

The Haynie family

Driving in Nana's new car

Going to church there and seeing friends

Shopping--Late night Old Navy bargains, TJ Max, going to the mall for the carousel and stores I haven't seen in a year!

Thanks Dad and Mom for a great trip!

Fun in Bama

2010-07-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

2010-06-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

This sunset is right out the back window of our house. It has been raining every night here and we love it. We went to the beach up north with our friends this week when Nathan had off work.

Lately

2010-06-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot going on lately but lots of walks with kids after dinner. After ear infections in all 3 girls, we are healthy now! Yay. Dallas had a semi-emergency where she was playing around and her lip hit the desk and sliced it right open. We used some superglue to patch it right up:) (only a little part at the bottom would not close). Dallas also saved Sadie in the pool when she ran in while I was putting sunscreen on Brenna. We were so happy Dallas was right next to her to pull her right up. We took a little drive up the coast a few weekends ago and took a mini hike when the kids were sick. It was so nice to get out of the house and see some sun! Nathan went to a "Star Party" last weekend and is now an official member of the astronomy club here. The picture of me by the airport is an airport at the very northern tip of Hawaii. The wind blows so much up there that I don't think it is every really used. But so pretty right on the water. Nathan took all three girls out to a restaurant while I was getting my hair done. I was so impressed! The only thing was their hair was a bit crazy:). And it was nice to have Nathan and Dallas home after their little trip to CA to see Abby baptized and for Grandpa Pfister's 80th birthday. They had a blast. Dallas had a bit of an adjustment coming back because she couldn't understand why we live in Hawaii, so far away from family. That was pretty sad, so I just told her that we wouldn't be here forever.

2010-06-03T01:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some sick kiddos on the way home from Costco. Actually this was before D got sick.

This was another piece they did called "Mozart Serenade"

Violin Recital

2010-06-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a clip of Dallas playing with the group of violin students that take lessons from their teacher Miss Ursela. This was their "Surprise Serenade" warmup before the recital started. She did play "Twinkle Twinkle" by herself. I played with her on the piano but it is too embarrassing to post! My music fell off the piano while I was playing:( but Dallas did fabulous!

2010-06-03T00:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from a birthday party of our friends kids. Shaylie--who is holding Sadie is our babysitter. She is such a neat girl. We love her!

Morning Pictures

2010-05-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

I love these cute girls who are growing so fast.

DALLAS KINDERGARTEN HULA

2010-05-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

Holualoa Elementary Spring Festival

2010-05-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Do you see Dallas on the very front row on the right?? She was very excited to perform with her Kindergarten class!

A Big Girl!!

2010-05-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Sadie surprised me today that she learned to bounce on Brenna's horse. She has only been on this twice! But apparently she has been watching closely. She is blowing me away with what she is learning. Today she said "PIANO" and "Go Brenna Go!" Big sisters help out a lot. I might be the only one who could understand her but its fun that she is even trying.

Who knew in Hawaii the girls would be taking horse lessons!!

2010-05-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

I bought this shop vac for myself and it was a long needed purchase! We were all having so much fun cleaning out the cars! No more kid crumbs.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I was spoiled by the girls and Nathan. He would not let me lift a finger today! He did everything and was so sweet!! I wished I would have got a family picture today. Dallas made me so many pictures that say that she loves me and tonight she told me she wished everyday were Mother's Day. Brenna, who knows I miss my own Mom gave me a dollar to buy a plane ticket to AL! Such sweet girls.

These other pictures are of the girls learning all about this pony "Treasure" at their horse lesson. Miss Liz was giving them all the tips. Sadie and I had fun walking around the farm checking out all the animals. She is so funny!

2010-05-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

We are back:). It is so overwhelming to me to post pictures from the 800 we took in CA. So I will eventually. But here are a few cute ones since we have been back. We had the best time with family there. Hard to leave them! Plus I gained a solid 5 pounds while there:). We ate lots of yummy food.

We have a lot coming up this month... I can't believe it is May. Dallas will finish her 1st year of kindergarden. They want her to go up to 1st grade, even though it was really a junior kindergarden--we are still debating about that.

Dallas has a violin recital. We have a lots of church activities and birthdays this month. And sad to say our good friends are moving at the end of the month too.

I found a lady that teaching horseback riding and Brenna might start taking lessons since she is obsessed. We will see.

Getting ready

2010-03-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some picts from the girls from Sunday. Brenna and Sadie stayed home from church with colds. We are praying that they get better before our trip...tomorrow night!

Spring Break

2010-03-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

My camera is fixed! Yay! Here are the girls at Kukio--a great beach to take the kids when Nate is working b/c there are no waves! We found the biggest "sea cucumber" ever this day. All the kids there were soo excited! There are lots of little fish in this beach too. Dallas is on Spring Break and I love it. I really wished she would have gone to a preschool instead of kindergarten his year. Oh well.

Nathan turned 30!!

2010-03-09T13:09:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, Nathan had his birthday!! We went with him snorkeling in the morning--really only he and Dallas actually snorkeled that day. Then we came home, ate some lunch and pie, and he took off with some friends to the summit of Mauna Kea for sunset, then down to the visitor's center there to see a stargazing tour. The summit is at over 14,000 feet so no one under 16 is supposed to go there due to the lack of oxygen. What is neat is that you can drive all the way to the top! No hiking needed:). They have hot chocolate for you at the top because it was freezing. And he didn't have gloves or a hat! But had a great time. He got lots of pictures--and was so busy taking them that he missed seeing the nudest colony up there! I guess they were on vacation from a nudest colony but wanted to bear all at the top of Mauna Kea!

Anyways, I love these picts of him.

DALLAS'S ARTWORK

2010-03-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

So I thought these pictures were great--being her mom and all:). Everyday Dallas brings about 3 pictures she drew home from school. But this one cracked me up the most. If you can't read it, it is supposed to say"Mom, I love you and I wish I was here at my house." She is starting to sound words out to spell them. I miss that girl while she is at school. But it is also fun to play with Brenna and Sadie too. Sadie now can climb up the slide in the playroom and go down by herself! My girls are getting big!

Also, I wanted to post the recipe that saved my rocker stool this morning. Courtney my sister gave it to me and it got out all the marker on the yellow fabric! I stepped out for 2 seconds and Sadie started coloring on the stool and Brenna joined in on the fun I guess. But I was really relieved. And I need to find all the markers in the house and hide them.

The recipe is: 1 cup Ammonia, 1 cup Dawn dishwashing soap, 1 cup water. Mix and miracle wash:)!

2010-02-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

This was the girls this morning. We haven't taken pictures in about a month so it was about time:). Sadie is now 15 months. Brenna has stickers on her face Nana gave her. And Dallas is showing her new stretching she learned from her Dad. These hair pom poms I made while watching the Olympics, which I have been loving.

Lots of videos

2010-02-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

I finally sent my camera in to be fixed. But in the mean time I am having so much fun doing video with my ipod. These are just random videos from lately of the girls. Sadie has had the worst runny nose ever and so we have been staying in a lot. All four molars are coming in at the same time. Other than that, things are good here and we are counting down till March to visit family in CA! Can't wait to see everyone, esp. 2 new babies!!

2010-01-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is Sadie chasing me. If she is upset, this always snaps her out of it.

Brenna turned 3!!

2010-01-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

For Brenna's birthday, she has been asking for months if she could ride a horse. Begging is more like it. So, she and I went up to Kamuela to Dahana Ranch and rode for 2 hours the day before her birthday! Her horse's name was Dusty. Mine was Skippy. Brenna did great on Dusty but was quite tired by the end. So on her actual birthday, we just hung out at the house and the girls played all day. That was Dallas's last day home before school started. The horse thing was kind of spur of the moment because we couldn't find any where for her to ride a horse until an hour before we actually went. So we have her a little puppy themed beach party on Sat. Brenna's favorite things right now are dogs, horses, her hair in braids (she wants them everyday), flip flops, her hands to be clean, and she loves to sing songs and tell her own made up stories. She is very happy to be 3!

Big Smiles on Christmas

2009-12-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas day started off with present opening, then AMAZING french toast with homemade syrup, eggs, hash browns, made by Nathan! Then it took hours to get the little barbies and toys out of their packaging! We put up the tents and tunnel that they got too! Then we went to see The Princess and the Frog which was pretty cute. When we got out, the waves were huge so we took the scenic drive home on the coast and stopped to sit on the beach for a while. After that, it was past dinner time, so we quickly fed the kids and sent them upstairs to bed. The kids loved opening all the presents from family. Thanks guys for all the packages! They were amazing. They loved them all!

Merry Christmas!! We miss you!!!

2009-12-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

Favorite Christmas Picture

2009-12-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

Ever since I saw this picture in the San Diego temple, it is one of my favorites! And it is perfect for Christmas. Its called Journey to Bethlehem by Joseph Brickey.