The Riquino Family

Merry Christmas - 2011

2011-12-14T10:36:00.000-08:00

This year I wrote our blog address on our Christmas cards in hopes that it would motivate me to find the time to post more often to the blog. I am so busy these days with work and the kids going in all different directions that it is hard to find 20 minutes to myself.

Here is a quick little glimpse into how our last year has been.

Gabi finished up Kindergarten at Nathan's school in May. She had a fabulous teacher that challenged her and was always finding ways to make her excited to learn. She finished Kindergarten testing at a 4.5 grade reading level, and finished the 2nd grade math book. We realized we needed something more consistently challenging for Gabi. Gabi is now in 1st grade. She is in a gifted Spanish immersion program. She will stay with the same students from 1st - 6th grade. It is not at our home school, but it is worth the drive. She has really enjoyed learning Spanish so far. It is a huge help that Nathan speaks Spanish and can help her with homework! Gabi is also still taking dance and is always moving and dancing around. Recently she has started to enjoy drawing and creating bracelets out of beads for all her friends at school.

Kai finished his first year of preschool in May. He enjoyed being with kids each day and learning songs and stories along with his alphabet. Kai continues to love superheroes and if you come into our home there is a good chance that you will run into either Batman or Spiderman while you are here! This fall Kai is back in preschool, this time with our favorite teacher, Mrs. Sweet! She is fabulous for Kai and she is getting him ready for Kindergarten. He still loves to learn and he is really good at rhyming words, his numbers, etc. Starting in June Kai started doing speech therapy at the hospital rehab center because he talked in only vowels. He has grown so much in just the last 6 months. We are very proud of him!!

Koa is turning out to be the little ring leader of the kids. :) At this time he only weighs about 3 pounds less than Kai and is a few inches shorter, and he can get his way if he wants to. He has an infectious smile and laugh. Koa, like the other kids at this age, has really started to like The Backyardigans and Dora. He is pretty good at all his colors and numbers, and now we just need to focus on the letters. The biggest accomplishment for Koa this year was that he was potty trained in the last 2 months!! We are SO excited to have no diapers in the house! Way to go Koa!!

Nathan is in his third year as an Assistant Principal at Hawthorn Academy, which is a K-9 charter school. Unfortunately after work he does not get to come home and relax. He also evaluates 2-3 hours each night for WGU. An exciting addition to our home this year was Nathan's new toy - a fully restored '67 Dodge Charger. When the weather is nice he enjoys driving it to school occasionally and then going for rides on the weekend. In what little extra time he has available he enjoys making wood carvings (usually Hawaiian turtles), playing video games, and watching movies.

Kristen - I'm in my 5th year with WGU (Western Governors University), but my second year as the training facilitator. It has been a great position with wonderful colleagues, and I'm blessed to be able to work full time from home while still taking care of my children. My days are hectic and usually begin at 5 am and end at midnight, but it is worth it to be home. In what little spare time I have I enjoy stamping cards and scrapbook pages as well as crocheting blankets, hats and bows for friends and family.

From our family to yours, we hope you have a wonderful Christmas season. We love you all!

The Riquino Family

Beach Bums in Florida

2011-12-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

While we were in Florida in October we had the privilege of having Amy Lopez take our pictures. She was amazing!! The kids were pretty well behaved, and we are in love with the pictures. Now is the hard part...trying to figure out which ones to print out!

We will definitely have Amy take our pictures every year!

You can see the rest of the pictures from our ablum on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150388632656475.348618.735571474&type=1&l=3152914338

Stationery Card

2011-08-24T06:15:00.001-07:00

Special Number Blue Birthday Invitation

Shutterfly photo cards for Birthdays, graduation, and Mother's Day.

View the entire collection of cards.

Easy Bake is not so easy!

2011-01-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Gabi's favorite thing she got for Christmas this year she says is her Easy Bake oven that she got from her Auntie Jen. Things have been so hectic that we haven't had a minute to pull it out and let her try it. Last night we tried and then realized that we didn't have the light bulb needed. So, today we went and got the light bulb we needed and tonight we were set to make sugar cookies. The directions said to let the oven preheat for 15 minutes, bake them for 10 minutes, and then cool for 10 minutes. This is what we ended up with. It looks like she bakes like her momma! :)

She still has a proud smile even though they turned out not so great!

These were supposed to be three separate cookies. They all cooked into one. I guess a light bulb really can cook food!

Mom, I can't even bite into it! Gabi ended up throwing the cookies away. We will try the cake tomorrow. Wish us luck!!

** If anyone has experience with an Easy Bake oven and how to get these cookies to turn out, please let us know!! We have three more packets of cookies for Gabi to make. **

Hanging around the house

2011-01-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

Not too much has been happening this week. Just getting back into the routine of school starting again and getting back to our normal routine.

I didn't pull my camera out too much this week. Here are just a few pictures around the house. Yes, all the kids are in their PJs. We have had some pretty lazy mornings around here. :)

Gabi wanted me to take a picture of her with the necklace that she made. She loves the beads that Grandmom gave her for Christmas.

Koa loves his baby dolls. For Christmas he got two new boy babies. He still goes after Gabi's dolls.

So cute! :)

Kai loves coloring with the dry erase boards. He is starting to draw people, rainbows, etc.

Grandmom and Granddad visiting - New Year's Weekend

2011-01-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

Grandmom and Granddad play lots of games with the kids when they come.

Kai found a new wrestling buddy. Kai loves playing around!

Good buddies!

Another game!

Granddad, Kai and Koa.

Grandmom and Gabi

You can't see me!

Peek-a-boo!!

Jason and his family came over as well. Here is Auntie Rachel with baby Julianna asleep. She is already 6 months old!!

Jason helping Brayden play Curious George.

Kai loves to be tickled.

Grandmom and Julianna

Brayden was excited to see the bike in the basement. He liked playing the games.

Kai's turn. He wanted to play Batman.

Gabi wanted to show her dance moves.

Spin, Brayden, Spin!!

The kids playing with their new saucer game.

Koa and Brayden playing with the kitchen. It was funny to watch them dump things only to look for one very specific toy they wanted. Kids will be kids!!

Our large beanbag is a big hit with the kids. The boys decided to take a break to read some books.

Kai's joining in too!

Upstairs Gabi is showing how her new journal works. It has a password that makes the door open only when you say it correctly. Unfortunately, it is very picky and you have to say it JUST RIGHT!! We have reset it many times! :)

Julianna's awake!

Look at that, she already has a purse!

Yummy!

Thanks for coming out and visiting mom and dad. It is always good to see you!

Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum - December 2010

2011-01-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

While mom and dad were visiting we braved the cold and went out to the Museum of Ancient Life down at Thanksgiving Point. I had been there years ago with students, but never with my own kids. The kids had a lot of fun, but definitely have attention spans of little kids. They had fun looking at the displays though. Here are some pictures from our trip.

The kids in front of the dinosaurs in the lobby.

The kids could see someone actually working on uncovering one of the fossils. Pretty neat!

Gabi checking out an exhibit.

Granddad, Gabi and Koa

This was a big fossil of a whole bunch of little fish. Pretty cool!

I think Koa was more thrilled with his reflection than what was actually in the case.

Grandmom looking at an exhibit with the kids.

Gabi and Kai with a big dinosaur.

Koa doing the sorting game.

We go all the way to a museum and the kids find the computers. :)

The sand table was a big hit with the kids.

T-Rex.

This was my favorite. A large sea turtle. How cool is that!?

Wouldn't want to meet this in the ocean!

Kai "reading" the sign to us. He would run his finger across and was making up what the sign said. Very cute!

The large mammoth with Kai and Koa.

Church Dress - December 2010

2011-01-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

This outfit came from Grandma and Papa for Christmas. So cute!!

The boys are wearing their outfits from their great-grandma. Gabi is wearing the dress from Grandma and Papa. So cute!!

Playing in the snow - December 2010

2011-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

Even in the winter you can play tetherball!

That is Koa all bundled up.

Gabi throwing a snowball.

This was Koa's first time out in the snow. He first wanted to make sure the chairs were cleared off of snow.

All bundled up.

Kai is covering Gabi in snow.

She tricked him...here she is getting him with snow.

Koa was playing with the water running down the drain. His hands must have been cold!

Koa and Kai covering Gabi.

Koa was being silly and rolling over and over in the snow.

Koa also found out you can't ride bikes in the snow.

The kids wanted to make snowmen. They forgot the arms, but they did a pretty good job!

Gabi telling Koa not to sit on it. :)

The end product.

Gabi's dance recital - December 2010

2011-01-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

Gabi is still quite the little dancer. Any possible moment she gets, she is dancing. Enjoy the pictures from her winter concert.

** Warning: This was the first time I was using my new camera. I should have done some tests to figure out some of the features. The video is not very good.**

We are very proud of our little dancer.

For the winter concert Gabi sat with us until it was her turn to go back. She loved watching the dancers before her.

Kai running up and down the aisle before the concert began.

Gabi's group before the song began. She is the second from the right. She is in a 6-8 class, although she is only 5. The girl to the right of her is 9. There is quite the age range.

This was taken after Gabi's performance.

Gabi with Auntie Em and Uncle Michael

Papa and Gabi. Grandma was really sick, so she wasn't able to come.

Pictures taken at home.

Gabi showing some of her dance moves.

Hopefully Gabi will continue to love dancing. She is pretty good at it. :)

This is the video of her performance. The beginning is quite blurry until I start to figure out how to use the camera.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

I don't have too many pictures to post. We had a nice Thanksgiving with Nathan's family.

Kai is FULL of energy. He was having Papa drag him around the house on his leg. Crazy kid! :)

Trying to get all the grandkids together for a picture. I didn't get a good shot of all of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

End of November 2010

2011-01-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Kai with his turkey hat he made for Thanksgiving.

Koa saw Kai with the pumpkins and wanted to take a picture too.

One of the first major storms of this year. We got quite a bit of snow!

I love this picture! So beautiful!

Kai loves to say over and over "Snow." He sat on this table in the front window for some time just watching the snow.

Then all three kids came over to watch dad snow blow.

Later in the afternoon Kai wanted to go out and play in the first real snow storm. He quickly found out that he can't ride a bike in the snow.

He also found out you can't bounce a ball.

So Gabi and Kai went for a hike. They grabbed the pole to the sand table umbrella and used it as a walking stick.

Not long after that first snow storm we got hit again. This one was a major storm! We had about 18 inches.

There was so much snow that it was half way up this car in my court.

This cracks me up. For some time we were hearing and seeing tons of birds around our house and on our roof. Now I know why!
The birds are stealing the dog's food that lives behind us, and then they come and sit in our front tree to rest. They are quite the spoiled birds.

Fat little birdies!

The view out the boys' window of some of the birds.

The birds sitting on the ledge. They take turns swooping down and taking a piece of food. I wonder if the owners think the dog is eating all this food?

Just a random picture of Koa. If you look closely this is the stage where Koa wanted to wear 2-3 pacis on his clothes. Luckily we have been able to take away his pacis during the day and he only has them at night.

Leaves!!

2011-01-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

I love the look of the changing seasons and when all the leaves fall off the trees. How fun would it be to be a kid again jumping in the leaves?!

Disney on Ice - November 2010

2011-01-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Like the circus, I take the kids to Disney on Ice each year. This year we had GREAT seats. We were facing the stage, and were only a few rows up. Gabi, Kai and I went. I'm proud to say that this time I did not buy the kids a toy there. We brought snacks and drinks, and the kids had a good time.

Before the show begins.

A view of the stage before the show begins.

Ariel losing her voice.

Ariel and Prince Eric at the end.

Lilo and her hula dancers.

The Inter-galactic alliance

Stitch made a mess in Lilo's room.

Stitch saved them all! YEA!!!!

The Mickey gang introducing Peter Pan.

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

We can fly, we can fly, we can fly!

Oh no, the crocodile is coming!

Kai was afraid of the Mickey and Minnie, so just Gabi got into the picture.

The kids had a great time! We can't wait until next year!

Early November 2010

2011-01-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

This winter whenever Koa has gotten a cold it has turned into croup. He has been really good about keeping his mask on.

"I'm going to get you!"

Kai is still in the stage where he loves to dress up as Batman at least once a day. This day he was fighting crime in the backyard.

Koa still had a cold at this point, so he got to be Batman inside.

Looks like dad wanted a chance to be Batman also. Playing around with his boys.

And cuddling with his girl.

Gabi one day before school. Even though she wears uniforms to school, we still try to fix her hair cute to make her outfits fun.

Top view of Gabi's headband of braids.

Hess Trucks

2010-12-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

Growing up my brothers received a Hess truck from my Pop Pop. Then when my older brother had boys of his own my parents started giving them a Hess truck, at first as a joke. It turned into into a tradition from that. I expressed that I wanted them for my boys as well, even though I wasn't a part of the original tradition. These trucks are great! The Hess gas station sells one version a year. These trucks are well made, and just fun! My boys go for them most of the time more than other toys.

I'm a fan of the Hess toy trucks on Facebook and they asked if my kids would be the Fans of the week. So, we did a few pictures around the house to send to them. Here there are:

They are racing across the carpet.

Another race. Koa is behind. It looks like the race car is beating the snow truck.

Now time for the race cars to race.

This is what was posted on the Facebook page.

Orlando Vacation - October 2010

2010-12-31T22:18:00.000-08:00

In the middle of October the kids and I were able to go back to Orlando to visit with Grandmom, Heather's family and Erin's family. Unfortunately, on the way there I realized I had forgotten my camera on the kitchen counter. So, mom and Heather took pictures while I was there. But, until I get copies of the pictures I won't be able to post anything.

Hint: If you are reading this mom and Heather send me a CD with the pictures on it. :)

Sunday dress - End of October 2010

2010-12-31T22:06:00.000-08:00

Every few months I like to get pictures of the kids in their church clothes. Here are a few recent pictures.

This is so much a Koa picture. Most of his pictures have his mouth open. Love it!!

Halloween 2010

2010-12-31T21:29:00.000-08:00

Kai is in the stage right now where everyday he has to be something Batman. So, for Halloween we thought we would run with that idea and have all the kids be something Batman. Gabi was Batgirl, Kai was Batman, and Koa was Robin. We let Gabi choose what she wanted to be for her school party. She wanted to be a princess. So that is why she has two different costumes.

One of Kai's homework assignments was to take a pumpkin and disguise it as something. Of couse he chose Batman. He colored the pumpkin by himself and then I traced his mask and we made a mask for Batman. He carried this thing around for quite a while. He loved his Batman pumpkin!!

Koa wanted to take a picture with Kai too.

Then since Kai was getting his picture taken doing school work, Gabi wanted me to take her picture showing that she was doing her homework. Funny girl!

Time to go to the pumpkin patch again. I couldn't get all the kids to look at me at the same time.

Mommy and kids.

This was taken at Gabi's school party. Kai missed his school party when we were in Florida.

I helped out at the party and ran the game. I did a relay race. Here are a few of the kids doing the activities. They were cute kids.

Gabi as a royal princess.

The princess with her protector, Batman.

Kai posing with the pumpkins that we picked out at the patch. We didn't get around to carving or decorating them this year.

This was on Halloween night before the ward Trunk-or-Treat. All the kids in their super hero costumes.

Show me your muscles!

More super hero moves!

Koa was just squaking at mom.

It was not the best night for Trick-or-Treating. It was raining. But the kids enjoyed being able to walk around with their umbrellas.

The cuties at their first door. I only had them go to about 5 doors. They had plenty of candy from the Trunk-or-Treat and it was cold!

I have a few other pictures from the Trunk-or-Treat that night, but they are on my other laptop. I had forgotten my camera, so my father in law was nice and took pictures for me. I'll add those soon!

Here are a few pictures from the yearly gingerbread house. I was less than thrilled with the quality of this house. Next year I'm putting it together with a hot glue gun. We couldn't get it to set, and then the roof broke in several places, etc. It was quite the ordeal just to get it to the stage where the kids could decorate it.

You can see Koa in the background doing his favorite thing: Unpacking all the wet wipes. Silly kid!

Have to taste test to make sure it is good.

Gabi testing out the candy....their favorite part!

Playing around - end of September 2010

2010-12-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

So, funny story.

One day while driving home from picking Gabi up from school the kids noticed that a leaf bug was attached to their window. It stayed on their window the entire way home. When we got home I left them in the car and quickly ran inside and got a tupperware container and some saran wrap. I caught the bug for them, and they got a pet! :)

Gabi did name him, although I can't remember now what it's name was. The next morning when we came out he had made the air holes bigger and had escaped. Oh well. :)

They were so excited to have a pet.

These next pictures were taken on a different day. The kids were eating snacks on the back steps. I thought the series of pictures I caught were funny. Enjoy.

Not sure why Koa was staring down Kai.

Everyone giving nice smiles.

I thought this was sweet. Koa kept leaning over and giving Kai hugs. See, they can be nice to each other.

Zoo - September 2010

2010-12-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

It is nice when Nathan and I are able to take a break from work and take the kids out to play. This particular weekend we had taken the kids out to the zoo. Enjoy a few pics!

Kai's favorite thing at the zoo? The Train!! He was so excited to ride it with daddy!

Koa was excited to ride the carousel.

Gabi also liked the carousel. You can see Nathan in the background as well.

Gabi got a whole row of the train to herself. She liked that.

Kai did not want to ride an animal that went up and down. He wanted to ride on the peacock with dad. He was content just looking around and watching everyone else.

Mom and Koa on the train. Koa looks excited for the ride!

Circus - September 2010

2010-12-31T20:14:00.000-08:00

Every year I take the kids to the circus. This year we met up with Jason, Rachel and Brayden. We didn't manage to get any pictures of them there. They sat across the arena from us. Nathan had parent-teacher conferences that night, so I took all three kids. That was an adventure!!

This was the sign hanging above the performers.

I always give in and get the kids a toy at the circus. Gabi picked out a spinning toy. (She actually folded 6 loads of laundry that day to earn this toy.)

Kai picked out a motorcycle guy. He was SO excited to see the guys ride around on motorcycles in the dome. That was neat!

Koa didn't get to pick out a toy this time. Maybe next year. :)

We had seats in the very last row, where half of it was empty. This worked out great with an 18 month old who doesn't like to sit still! He was all over the place, plus there was an empty seat for him to sit in. Perfect!!

The kids really liked these performers. Those are trampolines. It was cool what they were doing.

The closing song. The kids had a great time. It was a long circus this year. It didn't start until 7:00. The kids were very tired by the end. We can't wait until next year!

Gabi lost her first tooth - September 2010

2010-12-31T20:02:00.000-08:00

Every kid's rite of passage...losing their first tooth.

Gabi has been asking since preschool when she would be losing her first tooth. I told her sometime in kindergarten she would lose her first tooth. Luckily, it happened towards the beginning of kindergarten. She was SO excited. About a month later she lost her second tooth.

Late August 2010

2010-12-31T19:44:00.000-08:00

In August Koa turned 18 months old. He is a fun little guy. He likes to copy what Gabi and Kai are doing, and is always exploring.

Koa is a growing boy and will eat anything. Most of his pictures of are him eating.

He was pretty smart this day. He had gotten out of his highchair but still wanted the food. He went into his room and brought out the step stool and set it up to get at his food. Smart boy!

Proud of his accomplishment.

At the very end of August Grandmom and Granddad came to visit for cousin Julianna's baby blessing. It was fun to see them for awhile.

For her birthday in May Gabi got her Razor scooter. When we tried putting it together the handle wouldn't go in because of a piece of metal that needed to be filed down. That was granddad's project for this trip (in addition to putting up a new ceiling fan in Gabi's room.) The kids were excited to get to use their new scooters!

Koa also thought he was big enough to ride the scooter.

This picture is a little blurry, but I think is a great one of Granddad and Koa.

A great one of dad, but Koa moves too fast that he is blurry.

The kids with Grandmom and Granddad.

Gabi Starts Kindergarten - August 2010

2010-12-31T19:07:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our baby girl is already in kindergarten. Time has surely flown by!!

Gabi has been to two different schools. She started at our neighborhood school, but after just a short time we realized that the school was not going to work with her. Although she is in kindergarten she reads at over a 3rd grade reading level. The teacher was sending home papers to circle the letters of the alphabet. When asked for items to challenge Gabi they really didn't have any ideas, and said that they could possibly send home things to work on. That wouldn't work. What would she do all day at school?

So, we moved her to Nathan's school. Luckily Gabi's name came up on the school lottery. I was very sad to let go of Gabi's cute school clothes and actually took back several of her new school clothes in order to buy her new school uniforms. Now that we are several months into the school year, the uniforms have been nice. Gabi loves her teacher, and she is learning lots.

Gabi's first week at her first school:

The traditional "off to school with the backpack" picture.

She wanted to take a picture without her backpack.

Gabi lining up on the first day of school.

This year Gabi got two new pairs of transition glasses. These will be nice for recess. We won't have to bug the teacher to remind her to put on sunglasses when going out.

So excited for school!

Gabi's new school:

Ready to go into her new school. She has been here many times to see daddy, but never as a student herself. She was excited.

A view of the school uniform.

Gabi's seat at her new table. She is ready to get started on her work.

Gabi's School Christmas Concert

2010-12-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

This year Gabi is in Kindergarten at Nathan's school. They put on a cute Christmas concert. Here are a few pictures from that night, and a few videos. I had a person a few rows in front that kept putting their camera right in front of Gabi's face. Some of the videos for this reason aren't the best.

Gabi did a great job!

Gabi with her cute Santa hat. (The bottom of the picture shows the person's hand and their camera.) :)

Singing away!

Kai's Christmas School Program

2010-12-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

Kai's preschool put on a cute program for the parents. Here a few pictures and videos. The kids weren't very excited to sing along with the songs. They liked more just to play their instruments and hold up their signs. Still cute! Enjoy!

The day before the program the teacher came to the car to tell me that Kai was upset when she was handing out the instruments. It was then that Kai told her that he wanted the BLUE bell. So, at least she gave him the blue bell for the performance. Haha!

The kids all chose another student's name and were asked to buy a $1 gift. So, off we went to the dollar store and Kai picked out a present for his classmate. He ended up deciding on a package of marbles. Here is Kai opening his gift: a Cars coloring board. He has enjoyed coloring it during Christmas break.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2010-12-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures of the kids decorating the Christmas tree. They love looking through the ornaments every year. The bottom of the tree are ornaments they are allowed to touch. The top of the tree are my special ornaments I don't want little fingers touching.

Cheese!!

They are all showing their favorite ornaments.

Koa wanted a picture by himself.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T14:30:00.000-08:00

We gad a great holiday season this year. I can't believe that it is already the end of 2010. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing Koa home from the hospital, and in about 7 week he will turn 2 years old. I will attempt to be better at updating the blog than I have been the last 6 months. I got a full time job with WGU in July of this year, and don't have much "me time" these days. :)

Happy Holidays!!

The kids opening their ornaments on Christmas Eve. Kai got Batman, Gabi a ballerina barbie, Koa a See N' Say. We love this tradition. They also opened new pjs.

Kai and his super hero pjs.

Koa with his ornament and grinch pjs.

Gabi with her ornament and her new pj robe. For some reason she keeps calling it her 'wardrobe.' When corrected, she can't say "robe" correctly and keeps calling it a 'rob.' :)

Nathan and I were up until about 1:00 am wrapping presents and getting the house ready for the kids. This was the end product.

Before we went to bed we put a gate up the hallway so the kids wouldn't get to the tree while we were still sleeping. We actually ended up waking up an hour before them and were showered before they even woke up. Here they are ready to see what Santa left for them.

This just made me laugh. As soon as we came out, Koa ran up and grabbed presents and was trying to keep them away from the other two kids. He did this while laughing the whole time. He is such a stinker!

What's Christmas without getting the Hess truck? I think Dad loves this tradition as much as the boys. They sure do love these toys!!

Kai showing off his Batman laptop from Grandmom. These days everything has to be Batman. Most days include Batman undies, a shirt, and playing Batman. He has held on to this interest longer than any other.

Here you can see Koa SO excited to see his new airplane toy.

Gabi got a pair of skates. She is so excited! Her and Kai were rolling around the family room later in the afternoon.

Kai showing off some of his new Batman toys.

Koa zooming his Hess fighter jet through the air.

Gabi's number one wish to Santa this year was the Princess Aurora doll.

The kids with their stockings.

Koa opening up a book from his stocking. He is making a funny face because just before this he found a big piece of chocolate in his stocking and put the whole thing in his mouth. Funny kid!

Kai checking out his Pez dispenser this year. Of course, it is Batman! :)

Each of the kids got a harmonica in their stocking. They are each a different color so we know them apart. Koa wasn't quite sure how to use it. Maybe he thought it was another chocolate bar!?

We got Gabi a jewelry box for Christmas. In it we put a necklace and a couple sets of earrings. She is turning into quite the girly girl! She got her ears pierced for her birthday in May, and didn't change them for the first time until yesterday. She was very excited! She also got a cute pair of Minnie Mouse earrings from Grandmom and Granddad.

After we opened presents at our house, we headed up to Nathan's parents house. We loved spending time with them. Here is Gabi showing off her Easy Bake oven that Auntie Jen got her. What little girl doesn't want an Easy Bake? So fun!!

Koa opening his Buzz Lightyear doll and pillow-book. We are slowly trying to get rid of all the dolls in his crib and replace them with 'boy' toys. Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Kai checking out his new Batman truck from Grandma and Papa. This has turned out to be his favorite toy of the day!

So excited!!

Koa once again shoving chocolate in his mouth! In their stockings the kids got these chocolate eggs filled with prizes. Papa used to get them as a kid in Brazil, so they thought it would be neat to get them for the kids. Koa will eat anything!

Koa trying to carry around the 72 hour kit that Grandma and Papa received for Christmas.

Gabi playing Kai's new Leapster Explorer. Hey, it kept her busy and quiet!

Oh, and Gabi's DSi kept the adults pretty entertained too! They were all taking turns playing the Brain Age game. I'm not sure if Michael ever got a turn, so I think that Emily won. She had the youngest brain age. Go Auntie Em! (I won't tell you what my brain age is!)

I love this picture. Not sure what they are discussing, but it seems pretty important!

Auntie Jen is known for introducing new foods to my kids. She got Gabi to love pickles and olives as a little kid. Now it is Koa's turn. What is she giving him? Pop Rocks! Haha!!

By this time Kai just wanted to go home. He was telling us every minute that we needed to go home to play with his Batman castle. He was worried that because it was getting dark that meant bedtime, which meant he wouldn't have time to play. So, here is grumpy Kai. Michael is his favorite, so he is trying to cheer him up!

After Kai moved on, Koa wanted a turn with Michael. The kids love their Aunties and Uncles!

Family Christmas Picture 2010

Daddy and Koa

This is what I found when I came in to check on the kids before going to bed...

Gabi had made a nice little bed for her new Aurora doll, and even tucked her in. So cute! (Rachel, that's the blanket that you made for Gabi as a baby.)

Kai sleeps like me, with his hands above his head. He was content with his Batman PJs and his new Batman blanket that Grandmom made for him. Thank you Grandmom! He loves it!

Koa was just content in his crib. He inherited Kai's old cars blanket since Grandmom made the Batman one for Kai. That means no more pink blanket for Koa!! :)

Grandmom and Granddad will be here in a few days to celebrate New Years with us. We are looking forward to seeing them and spending time with them!!

Gabi's Dance Lessons

2010-05-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

Gabi LOVES to dance! There is not a day that she isn't dancing around the house, coming up with new dance moves. Since she was tiny, she has always had great rhythm. We have tried three different dance studios. The first was just the community classes at the high school, which was a little bit too low-key. The next was a high end studio, which was too pushy and wanted the girls dancing 2-3 nights a week. Now we are at the community rec center and this is a great fit. Right in the middle! She loves it!

One of Gabi's good friends, Maddy.

Last Christmas Gabi's Grandma made her this awesome tutu. She loves wearing it!

I know this isn't a dance picture. I just wanted to show what a great job Gabi did on her Easter project for school. They were given the cut out of the egg and told to decorate it. Gabi had a friend over and they painted their eggs. I brought up all the supplies, and she went for it. She even made a pattern with the flowers. Gabi did this all by herself except for her name on the bottom. She even put the glue on and then dumped the glitter. I think she did a great job!

Koa and Hannah

2010-05-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, what fun it is to have cousins right about the same age. Koa is just four months older than Hannah. I'm sure they will be great friends growing up!

Oh, what Auntie Jen does to my boys when I'm not looking! :)

Actually, she put in the pony tail, I put in the bow to match Hannah's. I do have a picture of Kai a little bit younger with a big bow in his hair. Funny!

I love Hannah's smile in this picture. :)

Oh, Koa!!

This cracked me up! Back in March, when she was 9 months old, Hannah was over playing and she was just hanging out and put her leg up on the closet door. I quickly grabbed my camera and took this picture.

This is why it was so funny. This is Koa back in December when he was 10 months old. Same door, same leg up on the door. He is drawing on his doodle board upside down. So funny! There must be something about that door!!

Sunday Best - Mid March

2010-05-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken after church about two months ago. We weren't able to get the kids all together in the same picture. We'll keep trying!

Gabi is growing up so fast!

Koa is still a very happy baby. This is around the time that he started walking.

Gabi likes to play with Koa.

When in the mood, Kai likes to help Koa.

I like this picture. It isn't very often that Kai will let Koa sit in the same seat as him. Too cute!

Disney on Ice - March 10, 2010

2010-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to Disney on Ice together. This has become a tradition. Here are the highlights of the night.

I was getting ready in my room and came out and found Kai wiped out on the couch. At least he got a little nap before we went.

The kids got to pick what they wanted for dinner.

Gabi's choice: soft pretzel

Kai's choice: Popcorn

The curtain before the show started.

You can't fake this excitement. Kai was standing up and clapping. This is why it is fun to take your kids to events like this. :)

This is what Kai saw that made him so excited!

It's Lightning!

Gabi liked seeing Ariel.

Kai was pretty intrigued with The Lion King characters.

Yes, I'm a softie. I let my kids choose a toy when we go.

Gabi picked out a Tinkerbell Journal.

I have to say this is one of the neatest toys we have gotten from these shows. Kai still plays with it everyday. When you pull it back it winds up and goes forward by itself. Pretty fun, and he LOVED it!

Gabi of course loved the Tinkerbell characters.

Both kids loved all the confetti that fell at the end. It was a great show. I'm sure we will go to the next Disney on Ice that comes to town.

Kai and Koa's Birthday Balloons

2010-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Around here, you cannot have a birthday without tons of balloons. The kids get 2-3 mylar balloons and 4-6 regular balloons. Lots of fun!

The tradition started with Gabi's first birthday, and it hasn't stopped. So, for about a month after the kids' birthdays, we have balloons around. With the boys birthdays only a week apart, we had LOTS of balloons around.

Koa loved bopping his balloons around.

Kai showing that his dino balloon was almost as tall as he was!

Kai's other dinosaur balloon. This was taken about a month after the boys' birthday, so the balloons are starting to deflate.

Kai's dino balloon walking on the ceiling. Kai got a kick out of this.

Koa's Cookie Monster that was bigger than him. A little after this picture was taken Kai was using Cookie Monster as a punching bag and popped him. :)

Koa's 1st Birthday - Valentine's Day 2010

2010-05-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

Because Koa's birthday is on Valentine's Day, we have V-day pictures and birthday pictures.

Grandma and Papa brought over a delicious cake for Koa's birthday.

Gabi got a Tinkerbell box of chocolates.

Kai got a Toy Story box of candy. Kai is not a huge chocolate fan, so his are sweet tarts.

Kai showing off his paint brushes he got for Valentine's Day.

Gabi holding her Boyd's bear she got.

Happy Birthday Koa! I can't believe our baby is already a year old! This year has flown by!

Daddy and his boys.

Daddy and Gabi.

Koa has such a serious look on his face when opening his presents.

Koa opening his bucket of cars, trains, etc.

Random Pictures - Mid February

2010-05-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures from around the middle of February. :)

Koa was getting too tall and could reach almost everything on the kids' computer table.

For about a year Kai went through a stage where he didn't like his picture taken. Now we just have to show him the picture on the camera after and he is all game for pictures! :)

Koa loves Kai. It isn't very often that Kai lets Koa lay on him or even touch him. So, when he does, I definitely pull out the camera!

One day at Gabi's school a nurse came to visit and brought the kids some gloves, a mask, etc. So, what did we do? We made the gloves into balloons for the kids. They had fun with them.

For a kid that does not like to get messy, Kai loves to paint.

Gabi testing out her new paints.

One LAZY baby! :)

This was crazy socks and shoes day at Gabi's school. No, I normally would not put her in crazy tights and non-matching shoes. This was a fun week at school.

Next, crazy hair day. I put pipe cleaners in her hair and braided around them, so that I could bend her braids around where I wanted them. Look how long her hair was!!

A front shot of the crazy hair.

This was St. Patrick's Day for Gabi's class. Kai celebrated St. Patrick's Day the day before, that is why he isn't wearing his outfit.

Celebrating Kai's Birthday

2010-05-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Kai had a very fun and full birthday. He got a present in the morning, then we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then to the Aquarium.

The kids finally got a Sit & Spin. I conventiently put it together without batteries, which means no annoying music!!

Kai testing out the new toy. Notice the one glove...I guess Michael Jackson is his idol. Actually, this was taken while he was acting out a Backyardigans episode. :)

This is Gabi coming down the slide at Chick-Fil-A. This is one playground that they don't get lost in! :)

Kai's turn to come down the slide.

Next, we headed to the aquarium. I love this picture. You can see their reflections in the glass.

Testing out the new frog.

The aquarium has a cute boat replica.

Gabi's turn to talk!

This globe makes me so dizzy! The kids love it. It lets them see into a big tank with jellyfish in it.

Yes, I ticked off the octopus! It wasn't until I was done taking pictures that Nathan pointed to a sign that said no flash photography on the octopus...come to find out he DOES NOT LIKE IT! He stretched out so far and just kept going up and down the tank pretty quick. Usually he is curled up pretty small. Oops! At least everyone got to see him pretty active. :)

Kai hugging the fish tank. This made me laugh. I guess he wanted to thank them for celebrating his birthday with him.

I still can't believe my little boy is so grown up already. He is a fun and silly little boy, and boy does he love being tickled! We love him! Happy birthday Kai!

Just a few cute pictures - Early February

2010-05-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures from the camera that didn't have a real theme, just cute.

Gabi is showing her independent stage. This is how she came out after asking if she find her own clothes for school. Yeah, I had her go change. :) If we were staying home she could have stayed like this.

As I'm getting ready in the morning I have the kids come in my room so I can see what they are doing. The kids LOVE watching TV on our bed.

We love our time when grandmom is out here visiting. Grandmom, we can't wait to see you again in August!

Gabi playing the wii on the couch.

Kai watching Gabi play the Wii. He never sits on the chair the right way. This is how he uses the chairs. :)

Kai's birthday crown from school.

After Gabi's last EUA I told her we could go to the hospital's cafeteria and she could get anything she wanted. This is what she ordered: Grilled cheese sandwich, bag of cheetos, fries, an ice cream cone, chocolate pink and this HUGE pickle. After a surgery, I think her eyes were bigger than her stomach. She ate one bite when we brought it home and said she was done. It ended up being a pretty sweet pickle and she likes dill pickles.

Kai Starts Preschool - Early February

2010-05-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Kai turned 3 at the beginning of February. Our local school has a cool preschool program called "Early 3's" The kids can start the month that they turn three. At first I wasn't sure how he would do, but he LOVES IT! He qualifies for their speech program so they will work with him every week as well. Here he is the first day of school. My little boy is getting so grown up!

He wanted to show his pirate backpack.

Kai's 3rd and Koa's 1st Birthday Party - January 30, 2010

2010-05-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

We are fortunate to have quite a few family members live closeby so we can get together for family birthday parties. This year Grandmom was in from Florida, so we decided to do both boys' parties the came day. It worked out pretty good. We had Grandmom, Grandma, Papa, Jeb, Jen, Hannah, Michael, Emily, Jason, Rachel and Brayden with us.

Uncle Jason, Auntie Rachel and Brayden enjoying some dinner. We had pizza.

Grandmom with Gabi, Kai and Hannah.

For a game we played 'Pin the head on the Dino Skeleton.'

This cracks me up. I didn't notice at the time, but Kai is lifting up his blindfold to sneak a peak. I guess you are allowed to when you are the birthday boy!!

Uncle Jason and Brayden's turn.

Daddy's turn!

Uncle Michael analyzing the situation before he takes his turn.

Auntie Emily.

Auntie Rachel and Brayden having a turn.

Granmom's turn. Who needs a blindfold!? Are you peaking under there?

Auntie Jen

Oops, the camera was too high. Uncle Jeb taking his turn.

And last but not least, Grandma had a turn. Gabi was tricky and instructed her to put it in the wrong place...right in a dinosaur's mouth. Funny!

Kai's dinosaur birthday cake, with Koa's name on it too!

Koa had a cookie monster cake. There is a story behind this: Nathan's first birthday cake was a cookie monster cake. We had talked about recreating it for Gabi and kai but couldn't find a cookie monster cake. Then we got smart and just asked the grocery store to make one. :)

Kai checking out his cake before we sing to him.

Dad, there is a big blue guy looking at me!

Dad starting Koa out with his first taste.

Hey, I like cake!

Koa going right for the eyes. :)

This is what we were counting on. Koa is our only kid who loves to eat and will eat anything. Gabi and Kai just cried when we tried to get them to eat their birthday cake. This was fun to see Koa just dig in!

Kai getting off all the dinosaurs off his cake.

Uh, I had too much frosting! This is the end product. He did pretty good for his first time!

Kai reading his birthday card.

Kai got some new leapfrog books and his own pen. Now Gabi and Kai don't need to share anymore.

No, Kai is not sitting on Koa's head. Just a good camera angle I guess!

This activity block is what Koa got from Grandmom and Granddad.

All smiles from the birthday boy!

The boys' birthday loot. Thanks everyone!

Grandmom with Gabi and Koa

I didn't get a picture of these on the night of the birthday party. This is what Kai got from Grandma and Papa. They are a set of 7 dinosaurs in a plush rock case. The boys love them! Kai lines them up like this either on the foor or on his headboard and then pretends with them. Great toy, no noise and all creativity!

Crocheted Flower Hair Bow

2010-02-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

In the last year I have learned how to crochet. My sister Heather taught me a couple stitches and how to make one kind of blanket. Since then I have made 4-5 baby blankets. (All the same.) Last night after I was done grading I got online to try to learn something new. This is what I found. Really quick, really pretty simple if you know a few stitches. This morning I put them together to make a hair bow for Gabi. Too fun! I can't wait to make more in different colors, sizes, etc. I also learned how to make a small heart. I just have to find a cute use for that one....

Not bad for my first try!

Gabi's Many Hairstyles

2010-02-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

Looking at the camera recently I noticed how many different ways I fix Gabi's hair. Sometimes it is something really quick as we run out the door to school. Other days we have more time and the hairdoos are more elaborate. So, here is a quick glance into Gabi's hair. There are more that I don't have pictures of. Guess I will have to take more pictures. :)

We have been doing a lot of braids recently. I was trying to give her hair a break from all the pony tail holders.

Auntie Heather fixed Gabi's hair while we were in Florida. Heather used to fix my hair a lot growing up.

French braid across her head like a headband.

Just another view of the same thing.

I braided the big section into three small braids and then braided them all together to make one fat braid.

A lot of the time the two sides are pulled up with bows.

I love this picture!

The curly look. Gabi's hair curls really easy and can stay like that for days. This was before a dance recital.

I was excited when her hair got long enough for a ponytail.

Pigtails for another dance recital.

French braid hooked together at bottom.

Simple day of hair down with a headband.

More with the sides up.

Just one side up.

Little mouse ears.

A back view of the 'ears'.

Zig-zag part french braid.

After she slept with her hair in a french braid.

To the side with a single braid coming out.

This was taken today. More 'kinky' hair. Growing up when I was a witch for Halloween this is how my mom would fix my hair. Cute!

Hair in the french braid across the head, but then hooked in a side ponytail.

Ta-da! Our tour of Gabi's hairstyles is complete. :)

Most of the time that I ask Gabi to hold still for a picture she does some dance move. She loves to dance!!

Valentine's / Birthday Pictures

2010-02-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

February is a busy month for our family. Kai's birthday is on the 6th, and Koa's is on Valentine's Day. I took the kids to Sears to get some pictures taken. We have been going to Kiddie Kandids every couple months since Gabi was a baby. After they went out of business so quickly, we had to find another place to go. So, this time I tried Sears. They turned out pretty good. I'm posting all of them, because some of them just cracked me up! You know how it is....taking three kids under the age of 5 to get pictures right before lunch. :) Enjoy!

Koa is always doing something with his tongue. He makes us smile!

See Kai's "smile"? This is his snitty, I'm not going to smile good because you want me to. I still bought the picture. :)

We couldn't resist doing a Valentine's Candy picture since Koa is a Valentine's baby.

Koa WOULD NOT sit on the "1" like they wanted him to. This was the best that we could get.

This series cracks me up. One of the kids looks good in each one. This one Gabi and Koa don't look bad, but Kai was not having it!

Kai looks good, but Gabi was leaning against the backdrop and Koa looks surprised.

Gabi looks worried, Koa's tongue is crazy, and Kai looks decent. Can't win!

If there is a specific picture that you want a copy of, please let me know the number next to the picture and what size you want. These pictures should be easier to see than the thumbnail ones sent out earlier. It can be anything from a wallet size on up. Since we got the CD from Sears, we can get prints done anywhere.

New Pictures Coming Soon!

2010-02-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

This week my goal is to get the last few months posted. We have both the boy's birthdays, their new rooms, etc. Keep posted for more!

Kai's View Around the House

2010-02-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures I found on Kai's camera since January. Kai gets in moods where he loves to take pictures. Just today he filled up the memory card three times and brought it to me to download on the computer. He gets some really good shots....for a now three year old!

Kai takes a lot of pictures of us around the house. Most the time it doesn't have our whole face in it. :)

Koa trying to get kai's camera from him.

Nathan and I joke that the first memories the kids are going to have of their parents is us with our laptops on our lap doing work. What we do for our kids!

Gabi dancing for Kai. Wow, her hair is getting long!

Kai's favorite toy...the pirate ship (one of them.)

Proof of how the Wii remote got bite marks. :)

Gabi and Kai love to talk to Koa after he wakes up. I guess Kai got proof of Gabi talking with Koa.

The sun kindof hides it, but these are the birthday balloons in the kitchen. They have already lasted 3 weeks.

I think this picture is great. This is taken from Kai's bed. Not sure when he took this.

Gabi and Kai taking pictures of each other in the basement.

Kai capturing Gabi's strange outfits. Here she is wearing brown shorts with funky striped tights. She loves it!

Gabi's View around the House

2010-02-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures that I found on Gabi's camera since January. It is kindof funny what they take pictures of.

Gabi LOVES her baby brother. A lot of the pictures on her camera are of him.

This is Gabi's string from her balloon.

Gabi's favorite toy, her doll house.

Gabi talked me into getting her this trash can at Lowe's last weekend. It does match her Hawaiian room. :)

The bear that Daddy gave her for Valentine's Day.

Her Sleeping Beauty horse.

Koa in his highchair.

Kai and Gabi have camera shots of each other. They love their cameras!

Family & Christmas Pictures

2009-11-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

We braved family pictures again. Kai is still in the phase that he does not like pictures. He was ok for the family picture, but all the others were a stretch to get. That is why Kai does not have a Christmas picture with Gabi and Koa. Oh well. At least we got some pictures. Enjoy!

Daytona Beach

2009-11-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

We had a great start to our Florida vacation. Heather and Dan invited us for the night to their timeshare in Daytona Beach. They had been there for a few nights, we just joined them for the last night. It was beautiful. The kids were able to play on the beach, swim in the indoor pool, and hang out with their cousins. It was great!

This was the view from our hotel room. The room was really nice. It had two bedrooms, and a family room and kitchen. There was plenty of room.

Heather's family had not met Koa yet. This is their first meeting. Looks like Koa likes Auntie Heather!

It didn't take long for the cousins to go off and play. Here is Gabi, Zack and Ashley.

Grandmom came along with us too! The kids love their grandmom, it was nice to have her along. (She helped out a ton with my kids!)

This was a blow up haunted house in the lobby of the hotel. the kids had fun playing in it whenever we went down.

We went down and ate lunch at Johnny Rockets. The food was good, I can't say the same for my kids behavior. :) That is why we don't take them to restaurants.

Isn't this cute? Gabi and Zack are holding hands, and Kai and Ashley are holding hands. It is nice to have cousins their same age. The older ones are exactly three months apart, and the younger ones are 6 weeks apart.

Zack loves trains, and he brought some along to the hotel. Kai immediately noticed this train, and played with it most of the time that we were in the hotel.

Kai checking out the ocean. He was not a fan of actually going in the water, but he did enjoy the sand.

This activity kept him busy for a while. He would pick up sand in one place....

and go dump it near the water. He is a funny kid.

Gabi was not shy to get right into the water. Here she is jumping over the little waves.

Uncle Dan was great to play with the kids in the water. Gabi got on the boogie board and he would do circles pulling her around. She loved it!

Kai's other favorite activity was chasing the birds. He probably would have gone all the way down the beach if Grandmom didn't go get him. :)

This was Koa's first time at the beach. He was very happy. Right after this he grabbed a big handful of sand.

Gabi going to the water to rinse off the sand.

Kai was drawing pictures in the sand.

Ashley and Gabi playing in the water.

While Grandmom was holding Koa, one minute he was up and playing and the next minute he fell asleep. He slept in the stroller for a good 45 minutes. Those waves crashing were good background noise.

The cousins playing together.

This was hilarious. These boys were right next to us and were chasing each other. Kai started following whichever boy was chasing the other. He was just squealing with delight. The boys thought that it was funny also...they were very good sports. Then the boys started chasing Kai and going "Boo!" Kai enjoyed it for about a minute, then stopped and pointed at the kid and said "NO!" and pointed to the other boy. He was trying to tell the boy to start chasing the other boy and not him.

Later when we went to the indoor pool the same boys walked down the hallway. They saw Kai an went and got their Grandma and then joined us in the pool. Kai enjoyed watching them splash each other.

Mommy and kiddos on the beach.

Koa enjoyed getting in the water in the indoor pool.

Kai isn't a big fan of the pool either. He clings to whoever he is with in the pool. But, we did get him in the water.

Zack is a great swimmer. He can swim across the pool by himself. With Gabi seeing him, it gave her some confidence. She was even jumping off the side of the pool into the water.

Mommy with all three kids in the pool.

The morning that we were leaving Kai noticed some birds out on the balcony. They were not leaving, so we decided to feed them.

First we tried Cherrios. The birds ate them up really quick! We ran out, so we tried...

Fruit loops! The birds weren't as excited for them. Within a minute there were 6-7 birds on the balcony. They must have called them to tell them we had the food.

Mommy with all three kids before leaving. It was a great mini-vacation. We were glad we could go.

Once the website lets me upload some videos, I will post them.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. We were able to go pumpkin picking with Grandma and Papa and Uncle Jeb and Auntie Jen. It has become a tradition, which we love. Then the kids and I went to Florida and were able to go to Sea World with Auntie Heather, Zack and Ashley. They had a Halloween celebration. The kids wore their costumes (well, Kai refused to wear his), and went around the park getting candy. It was lots of fun. Then on Halloween I took the kids to Walmart to do a little trick-or-treating, then we had our wards trunk-or-treat, then around the neighborhood to a few houses. The kids had a fun holiday! Here are some pictures.

A quick family picture by the tractor. Kai is in the stage that he doesn't like to take pictures.

This was supposed to be just the grandparents with the grandkids, but again Kai didn't want to be in it, so Nathan had to sit in.

That is Nathan's new school in the background.

Gabi found her pumpkin!

Grandma helped Gabi around the find a good pumpkin.

Kai got a fun ride back to the front of the pumpkin patch.

Koa enjoying his first pumpkin patch.

Cute Auntie Jen and our adorable neice, Hannah.

Kai just ran and ran around the pumpkin field. Grandma was nice to follow him around.

Kai slowing down to check out the pumpkins.

Gabi showing off our pumpkin stash once we got home. There is one for each of us.

Next, is our Sea World adventure.

Since Kai would not take any pictures with the characters, I had to do more candid pictures of him.

The three of us with some of the characters.

Gabi with the witches.

Gabi, Ashley and Zack with one of the princesses.

It is hard to see, but the kids were chasing bubbles.

More bubbles. This was a cute maze to help find Abby's wand.

Gabi with Abby

Kai was checking out the candy he got.

Trick-or-treat! The kids got candy, markers, pretzels, peanut butter. They did pretty good!

Kai surfing on Shamu's back.

All four cousins together: Gabi, Zack, Kai and Ashley.

These characters on stilts were fun. Here is Gabi and Ashley.

Another candid shot of Kai. He really liked these pumpkins.

These star fish were cute. They were dancing around.

Now, on to trunk-or-treating with our ward.

Trying to pick out the best candy.

We were happy to have Uncle Michael with us. The kids all love him!

All three kids. We even put a basket with Koa and people were putting candy in it. We later used it at our car when we ran out of candy. :)

Auntie Jen and Hannah were there with us also. So cute!

Can you guess what Hannah was? Casper the Friendly Ghost! :)

Our happy puppy dog, Koa.

Another happy picture with Michael.

While trunk-or-treating, one of the cars gave Koa this package of dried fruit! Score!

Kai was really good to stay in the stroller, but really liked saying Trick-or-Treat and getting his candy.

Koa and Hannah together. Koa is just four months older than Hannah. She is so nice and petite! Koa will always be the bigger and protective cousin!

Daddy and Kai.

After Gabi and Kai went around they had fun handing out candy.

Koa giving Hannah a horse ride. :)

Gabi and Kai out door to door trick-or-treating. At this house they just had a bowl out for the kids to take a candy. I think Kai took 2-3. :)

Gabi's Halloween School Performance.

Gabi's class had a cute 10 minute performance for the parents.

Gabi was not at school for about a week and a half leading up to this performance because of our trip to Florida. She did very good remembering most of the songs. Even the song she had never heard, she did pretty good!

This was the end part of Gabi's favorite song.