Winter Fun

A couple weeks ago we hit 40 degrees, so we made the most of it and played outside for several hours. S and P built their first snowman. S thought it was really fun... P was kinda scared of it. He didn't really want to be next to it; maybe he thought it was real?

Today we had quite a bit of new snow. Not near as much as you folks down in Oklahoma, but enough to make some snow ice cream. I cooked up the custard, and then S stirred in the snow. He just had pizza for lunch, so that is what is all over his face :)

Yum! Not my best idea to serve it in a big bowl on the floor... they both got it all over them and had to change clothes. But it was fun. P thought it was little too cold for him, so S ate most of it.

Hope you're enjoying your family time indoors as much as we are! If you look in the second picture you can see the boys finger painting projects from this morning back on the little table. It is now rest time, and after entertaining these guys most of the morning, this mom is ready for a rest!

Grown-UPs only Vacation!

On New Years Day we set out for our first ever vacation without kids(since having kids). We utilized our bajillion miles we racked up flying back and forth to Guam, and flew to warm Hawaii in the middle of the cold Nebraska winter. Turns out Volcano National Park isn't exactly warm. If you ever go, pack more than shorts and t-shirts. We ended up reusing the warm clothes we wore on the plain while exploring and hiking in the park. The lower elevations on the Big Island are warmer though, so I'm glad we had planned to spend half of our time down near the beach.

We stayed at the Military Camp right inside Volcano National Park. We had a cute little cabin, and it was all decorated with Christmas lights. Fun!
Observing the volcano crater.
Hiking on hardened lava up to the top of Pu'HuluHulu (spelling? I don't have my references here with me)

It was really beautiful when we reached the top. Not something you see everyday. Volcanoes and hardened lava. It was also chilly and rainy. The sign said be prepared for driving rain... good thing we brought the umbrella; we had driving rain on the way back down.

Another picture of the cabins at the Military Camp. It was great driving up to these at night; made us feel right at home.

Akaka falls. Didn't quite get the drinking the waterfall thing right. There was a group of people behind D while we were taking the picture cheering me on, so of course I got embarrassed and wanted to stop before we got the picture right.
Huge Hawaiian tree. I never saw what kind of tree it is.
The one place you can still see moving lava on the island. The day before we were there that sign right befind Davy was in front of the lava flow. Overnight, the lava engulfed the sign! What amazed us was that people had homes built out on top of this stuff. They lived right there with the molten lava! CRAZY! Right behind Davy there was a sign that said Private Drive, No Trespassing... The lava didn't obey the sign... it trespassed, and there is no longer a Private Drive there.
While we were watching some lava oozed up and out, so cool! All over you could hear these little popping sounds like Rice Krispies where the hardened lava was expanding and breaking apart.
Black Sand Beach.
Our feet in the ocean at the Southern most point in the United States.
And the regular beach at the resort we lived it up in for a few days. Thank you grandparents for watching our boys so we could take an awesome vacation!

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too!

It takes a lot of layers to go check the mail... literally, it was blizzarding outside.
S was really excited about Santa this year. P didn't want to get within 5 feet of him, but that will probably change in the next year or two. This picture was taken at a lunch with Santa; he came and sat down with us and talked for a little bit.
S and P ready to dive into the Christmas presents.
The most exciting present of the year. A Jeep for S and P! P's feet can't reach the peddle yet, so he is content being the passenger. It took S a little while to warm up to driving the Jeep. He was a little unsure about pushing the peddle and steering all at the same time. I was under the weight limit, so I got in and showed him how it's done... after that... instead of him wanting to drive it all over the place... he wanted me to drive it around some more. I don't think anyone took a picture of me in it :)
The cousins. S is really making sure the boys stay right next to him.
After about a hundred pictures, we tried to get one with grandma and grandpa... S smiled for all of them, but the little ones were ready to be done with the pictures. Thanks for the coordinating fireman outfits grandma!

Trains, Poinsettia's, and Lumpia

This is at the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha. They've set up a dream room for my boys: Christmas Trees and Trains!
I liked the poinsettia tree with the train going through it. We watched this train go all around the upper track, through the tree, and out the other side.
I showed them the webpage of the exhibit at home before we went. P said choo choo the whole drive to the garden and the entire time we walked around the exhibit. He likes trains! S raced the trains; he was faster!
Some different varieties of poinsettia's. I really liked the crinkly ones below with the white and pink leaves.

These 2 pictures are mainly for my cousin L. Since we can't just drive down the street to our favorite Guam restaurant; we decided to whip up some lumpia(similar to eggrolls) at home. It really turned out tasty. Truong's served it with noodles and wrapped in lettuce, so we got the lettuce and made some noodles. D even made a little dipping sauce similar to the one they served there. It wasn't exactly the same, but they were yummy!