Hiking in our backyard . . . The White Tank Mountains

 Today we went on a hike. We didn't have to go too far, which was the awesome part. We headed over to the White Tank Mountains which has a few trails. We had heard about the waterfall trail, which was kid-friendly and not too far.

 

 It was nice to get outside and enjoy the view.
 
 Unfortunately, we were missing Tyler. He wasn't feeling good when we woke up, so he stayed behind.
 
 We bundled up in layers. The weather app said it was about 45 degrees. Burrrrrrrr!
 
 Daddy is all set. He even has his "I'm cool" look. Can't leave home without it.
 
 And we're off. I think Jace walked about 10 seconds before he was begging to be carried.

 

 This way to the waterfall trail . . . in case you were wondering.
 
1 second too late with the picture.

 
 There were rocks with petroglyphs done by Native Americans, hundreds of years ago, they say.

 Scenic break.

 The cacti were about 20 feet high. 

 Jace was mesmerized by the mountains.

 Looking out towards Surprise.

 Our great photographer.

 Our assistant photographer.

 Yay, after 1 mile (which was long enough to carry a heavy baby), we reached the waterfall.
 
 I think someone turned off the water because it was basically just a little pond. Of course, that's to be expected in the desert.

 There were lots of places for the kids to climb. It did make me a little nervous, because there were rocks everywhere and I didn't want the kids slipping and hitting their heads.

 Jace was trying.

 Heading back down and he still wanted to be carried.

 Almost there.

 There were little cacti as well.

 Are we there yet?

 Yay!! We made it. 
Lunch time. 
We enjoyed being outside, and having the picnic at the end was a great ending.

Our first Christmas Back in AZ

This is our first Christmas back in AZ, away from family. Although we missed being around them during this time, we did have an enjoyable Christmas with just our gang.

The kids had been up since "too early" in the morning, waiting for us parents to wake up. I think we finally rolled out of bed around 7:50am. I'm sure it was tortuous for them, but they managed to survive. This year we started with Secret Santa gifts . . . our newest tradition with our family. Everyone drew names and got $20 each to buy for that person. They had so much fun, which as a mother makes me glad to see that they enjoy getting things for others.

From what I could tell by reactions and facial expression and post-gift opening play, I think dad and I did good with getting gifts. Jace was loving his new train set.

Again, I was too tired by nightfall to have a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls prepped the night before ---- go figure. But, I was glad to have at least ingredients to make some kind of breakfast.  French Toast with ham slices. Oh yeeeeeah.

While I made breakfast, Randy was sitting on the cold, tiled floor putting together Jace's gift he got Grandma and Grandpa Niu. I don't what we'd do without daddy.

Kara had asked for polymer clay for Christmas. She has been in her room working on works of art like this one here.

One of the gifts we got Tyler was football cards. I didn't think he would enjoy them as much as he did.

Leigh sporting her new RR4L Football 2012 Championship shirt and running shorts. Oh, and a pen.

I couldn't get enough of how much he loved playing with that train.

I had to take a picture of it because the thing is just freaky looking, yet, my baby loves it! That's all that matters right? 

Merry Christmas to All!!

Family Pictures 2012

It's that time again . . . our annual family pictures. It's always a grand time when our family tries to do pictures. Really I think we've gotten better over the years.

This is a behind the scenes photo.

The backdrop was pretty. We are kind of late this year, taking them in December, but hey, better late than never. I won't lie ----- it was cold!!!!!

We started with the girls. Aren't these girlies beautiful. I'm so proud of my girls and the young women they are becoming.

 Love this picture!!

Up next, my handsome boys.

These boys are growing up to be great young men.

Time for Randy and I. I love this candid shot of us. Leigh took the pictures.

This is one of my favorites. No explanation needed.

Love my family!!!! 

I am proud of all my children and all the good things that they do. I think Randy and I aren't doing too bad a job. Here's to next years pictures.

Nine Years Ago . . .

 

Nine years ago, I gave birth to this handsome guy! Some facts about Micah's birth: 1) He was born at 7000 ft elevation.  2) He is the only one of our children born on the mainland, Flagstaff, AZ to be exact.  3) I had to be induced with him. 4) He was 7 lbs 11 oz and cute as can be!

 Micah wanted to go eat at Gyutaku restaurant, a Japanese restaurant that we've gone to for years now.

Micah knew exactly what he wanted. Micah is a fun and intelligent boy, who is a good helper at home. He earned the rank of Wolf in Cub Scouts. He's also a great big brother.

 Jace did pretty good in the restaurant . . . once we strapped him in his seat. It was a fun night celebrating Micah and the blessing his is to our family.

After the birthday dinne, it's tradition to head over to Zippy's restaurant and pick out a cake. After scanning what cakes there were, Dream cake was the cake of choice tonight. Mmmmmmm. It's one of my favorites as well.

Happy Birthday Micah!!!

Koolina Beach Days

Today and last week, we've spent time with the cousins over at Koolina Beach.

 Koolina is a fun, favorite spot.

 Tanith, Kara, and I just lounging on the sand.

 Aunty Julie and Callie swimming around.

 Raiden was so sweet playing with Jace.

Taizo and Micah enjoying the warm water.

Girl time!


This is a great picture of ALL the cousins on Randy's side. You can see the lagoon in the back. It's like a huge salt water pool.


Me and my sisters-in-law, from left to right, Terri, Me, Julie, and Jan.

So fun hanging out with the cousins. It's something we love to do.

A Summer of Swimming

Every summer we do swimming. The older ones have kind of outgrown it, but the younger ones are still loving it! This year we did swimming with BYUH's swim team. We loved it so much, we did two swim sessions. I was asked to coach the second one, which was a fun and intimidating experience. None the less, we did manage to keep ourselves cool in the summer heat.

At the end of each session, the kids have a swim meet against their teammates. It's a lot of fun to watch. Kara did really awesome in the water, placing in a few of the races: freestyle and dolphin kick (forerunner to butterfly).

Micah proved to be a great swimmer himself. The first session he struggled, participating in only one race. By the time the second session's swim meet rolled around, he participated in every race he could, including the butterfly. He placed in many of the races. Good job Micah!

A little known fact about myself, I love swimming. It was fun to coach and be part of organizing the swim meet. At the end of each swim meet, they have a parent/coach race. I participated both times. Here's a little secret: I live for those races. So fun!!! I gotta get have some fun too. The 2nd swim meet race at the end was a family one. I'll try and post that video up later of that race.

Castles on the The Fourth

It's beena tradition that we spend the Fourth of July at Waimea Bay. Well. This year, we broke tradition. But we didn't mind.

The night before, we were Aunty Jan's for a movie night on the lawn. It was awesome, and we were there till 11pm at night. Needless to say, we totally slept in!

Get up at our leisure and had a lazy morning, followed by chores.

Then we headed to Castles, a nearby beach.  It was packed, a little cloudy, but the waves were good.

My water babies had a ton of fun. Randy and the rest were in the water 90% of the time catching waves, while Jace and I kicked it on the beach, playing in the sand.


 It was great family time.