Our Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve means a large gathering of family and friends outside in our yard and pavilion. As always, there was tons of delicious food (reputation still intact!), and our nativity scene went really well-- with Luana in charge, working her magic!

For the first time, the live nativity had a real live baby! This is little Issac, Jared's 5 week old son. Issac was a very cooperative baby and slept so peacefully!

Shayli was Mary and that is the little angel Sydni peering into the manger to look at the baby. Talmage was Joseph. A real baby meant older kids to watch over him.
A couple of kids wouldn't participate, (note Staci's absence!) but here we have (L to R) friend Ben, Tanner, Erika, friend Kylie, Shayli, Sydni, Issac, Talmage, friend Jake, AJ, and Taggart.
Then we had our show-stealers. This is little Samuel. I'm not sure if he was a sheep or an angel (the latter is fitting, though), but he was so darling as he would walk through the scene and grin at all the adults watching (wish I had a picture of the media circus recording the event!).
And this shot shows Tanner as the "class clown!" What a ham. We were singing some wonderfully appropriate song and he was being all nutty.

Our Christmas Day was peaceful, with the kids waking at 7:45 (and we still had to wake Tanner at 8:15 -- he had worn himself out at the nativity!). The camera battery announced it was through at 8:20, so we missed the Santa and present shots. On the other hand, I know who more of the presents were from!

Merry Christmas, all! Aloha!

Tanner Fun!

Last night, we were taking a family trip to Costco when Tanner did just a goofy Tannerism. Thought I'd share...

Tanner: Taggart, would you be my servant?

Taggart: No Way!

Tanner: Okay. I'll get Shayli instead.


So he wants to bring back slavery or indentured servitude, I guess. Actually, earlier in the afternoon, Tanner had been serving his little sisters with their tea set, so maybe he thought it should be his turn.

On another note, phase one of the Eagle project was accomplished today! The picnic tables and pavilion at the park have now all be pressure washed, ready for caulking on Monday. Inch ny inch, we're going to have our first Eagle! Hooray!

I promise to post pictures next time! Aloha!

It's Time for Bowling!

This is the little BYU fairy! This is on the day of the TCU game, and Staci is in the spirit!


Okay, so the Cougars have their bowl game this Saturday. Since we love our Cougs, we have a game day tradition. When the kids wake up, I remind them that it's game day and to put on their BYU shirts. This year, the older kids were also expected to comply with Bronco's request that we "Wear Blue to the Game." We may be 3000 miles from Lavell Edwards Stadium (or any opponent, for that matter, but we Wear Blue! I was especially impressed this season that Teagan never had to be reminded (apparently I have a child who can read the things on the fridge, like the Season Football Schedule!) -- even on the Thursday game, Teag had his "Fully Invested" shirt on for seminary and the school day. I am proud to be raising more Cougar faithful of the future!

So Saturday, at 3:00 our time, 5:00 Mountain, on ESPN, it's the Cougars and UCLA Bruins (for the second time this season - we played them in Sept -- oh, and we get to play them again next Sept!). BYU plays against Ben Olson, current QB for the Bruins, a guy that transferred there from BYU as the Crowton era ended. Should be fun to watch -- you know what we'll be doing.

GO COUGARS!! Beat UCLA!!

Tanner the Pirate

When I told Shan that I had actually added to the blog again, he was bummed that I hadn't put on pictures from Tanner's birthday. I love to make Shan happy ;).


For Tanner's 5th birthday, we got creative - not something too normal for us! We hosted a pirate water fight. A pirate's treasure chest for the cake!
Tanner finally got to get close to the cake! Note the eye patch and his inflatable snake-sword! It's what all the pirates are wearing and carrying these days!
Our band of pirates posed, ready for pillaging.
Then we divided the kids up by gender -- the boys...
and girls. Each team was armed with a huge tote of water balloons .
Then we turned on a slip-n-slide and let them battle up the hill. It reminded me a little of the pirate attack near the end of Swiss Family Robinson!
They had such a blast! At the beginning, they got to make a treasure chest magnet and I made fabric goody bags out of some Pirates of the Caribbean fabric I managed to find. One of the moms told me that her son still talks about the pirate party six months later. I was grateful Tanner could be persuaded out of the Spiderman party he had originally wanted. This was so fun!

Perhaps I Should Re-Introduce Us?!

Hi, all.

Okay. Six kids with two different sports schedules plus scouts and church = no time to blog!

Since I just finished printing our Christmas letter and refer to the blog and invite people to check it out, I thought I should perhaps put something newer on! Are you over the shock yet?

I'll keep this short. Here are some of the pictures for the Christmas cards that DIDN'T make it! You might see why! I'll save the real one for you to get in the mail soon!

Have a great day!

Three Bad Dudes!

This spring, Teagan started judo. Then, at the end of the school year, Taggart and Talmage decided to join in too. They LOVE it! They practice outside on the lawn a couple of times a week and so far, the only casualty has been that Taggart has a talent for stepping on bees. They have a great sensei and they are learning the whole respect and honor thing.

At first, I wasn't sure how our latest sport would be received by others -- no one else was doing anything like this. But then I learned that my father-in-law had learned judo as a boy too. Shan said it probably saved his life while he was serving in the Korean War. Well, that's all Teagan needed to hear to embrace it fully. He loves to make the comparisons to spiritual warfare and putting on the armor of God -- all things war and weaponry fascinate him. Not to mention that he LOVES all things Japanese these days too. He will try anything food-wise if it originates in Japan.

And now cousin AJ has joined in too. It's fun to watch AJ and Tag spar on the mats-- Taggart just giggles and giggles -- I think that's the only thing that gets him reprimanded from Sensei. After all, he should be serious about fighting! I think Shayli would like to join too (soccer keeps her too busy), especially if it would scare off the couple of boys who bug her to death (She's too cute for them to ignore, if you ask me!).

So, we love judo at our house. After Tanner gets a little more settled with school, he may get to join in too. Don't they just look great! They all look forward for the testing that will earn them their colored belts.

PS -- the best thing about our judo: $5 per month. Seriously! And that is for 2 two-hour sessions a week! Can't beat that one!

Pictures with Bryan!

Okay! I warn you that these are all out of order and thus, a bit random!Everytime males gather at our house, guns are involved. Teagan introduce Bryan and Ryan to airsoft guns. I think Bry said he might have to make an investment -- cheaper than paintball guns!
Bryan worked his magic INSTANTLY on Tanner -- they are WAY too kindred-spirit to not enjoy each other!
The gang -- sorry for the magic wand in front of Sydni's face -- we love Cinderella these days!
Ryan and Bryan ready to go through security at our airport.
Bryan got quite an armful!

"Big" sis and "Little" bro!
Bryan got Staci and Sydni all warmed up to him in RECORD time! I tell you-- he is MAGIC! (Of course, having all his little gadgets helps, too!)
We are so glad that Bryan took the time to come and visit us! He is just so FUN to be around!

A Fun Start to September!

Hey, it's been a couple of weeks -- we had our computer a little off for a while as we reloaded the software. I still have to put pictures back on and our sound software hasn't been reinstalled yet. It's been nice to have the noisy games silent, but we realized the mistake as Shan tried to listen to KSL on the internet after the BYU/Arizona game Saturday. I have to get that one fixed before Saturday, again!

Okay! The month of September started off in such a fun way: Bryan came to visit for a couple of hours while he and his friend Ryan were on their way home from Maui. We stopped and got Kona Mix Plate on the way to our house from the airport and had about 5 hours to play. Bryan was so fun to watch with the kids -- he even had Sydni and Staci sitting on his lap within an hour and playing with his iPhone and camera! I'll get pictures up soon.

So September brings FOOTBALL! You know what we'll be doing nearly every Saturday for the next three months! Oh, and that one Thursday, too. Go COUGARS!! (Marci is so lucky!)

Thanks for the visit, Bry! Love you!

The Day Finally Came!

Okay. We have been waiting all summer for this! Last night, High School Musical 2 finally premiered and we had the 8 of us and two friends over to watch. Even Shan made sure he was in to watch (and at 2pm our time!). We wanted to know more about the lives of Troy and Gabriella!

Each of us seemed to have different favorite songs -- the boys love "Bet On It" while I really liked "I Don't Dance" and "You Are the Music in Me." Shan was certain earlier this summer that he wouldn't like it, just based on the video he had seen about "What Time Is It" -- 'a whole song about summer vacation?!?!?! Yuck!' -- was the gist of his thoughts. But he liked it too. We'll be watching it on our DVR for a while. I liked it that Ryan was made to be the hero, in a sense, along with Kelsi. He is a really likable guy by the end. Poor thing, to be a twin to Sharpay! Taggart and I have had a philosophical discussion about indulgence and how important it is to be told "no" sometimes. He was really cute about it.

So, was it as good as the first? I'll have to watch it a few more times to say for sure, but I do like it. Should there be another sequel? Yes! They DO have one more year of high school, after all! What did you like best? I liked watching my girls sing and dance along!

My only complaint is that the costumes this time were a bit more revealing for the girls, but it is summer in New Mexico after all! I had really appreciated the modesty of the first movie.

Hooray for another fun Disney show!

The Mother Nature Near Misses

What a week it has been here: we have had a 5.2 earthquake, a brush from a Hurricane, and a tsunami alert -- and it's only Thursday!

The earthquake on Monday evening was centered on the other side of the island, but I did feel it as we were having dinner at a friend's house. The familiar rattle made me jump a little, but since I was in new place, I thought it was just maybe someone jumping off a couch upstairs or something -- I easily wrote it off.

As for Hurricane Flossie, well, the most damage we sustained was to my sanity and to the school calendar. No school for Tuesday or Wednesday since just where Flossie intended to go was too uncertain. After Katerina, no one wants to be responsible for not taking hurricanes seriously enough. But Tuesday night, as the projections changed, this was our sunset:
Great hurricane, huh?! Just my style! The worst was supposed to come after dark on Tuesday, but thankfully it didn't come at all. In fact, we only got ANY rain at all after the warnings and watches were all cancelled. We have more rain when they say "windward and mauka showers" than we did these two days.

But then, Wednesday afternoon, a major earthquake hit Peru. That started a tsunami alert. It was cancelled about 5pm, which we were very grateful for, since a tsunami could wipe out Shan's job pretty fast! So today, the kids are back to school for a VERY short week (tomorrow is our State Admissions holiday!).

By the way, Teagan is predicting a meteor attack on his high school followed by a declaration of war on the Big Island by some alien force. Maybe the volcano will erupt more dramatically, too. What week would be complete without those?!?!?!?!

We really are very grateful that our island escaped the worst that any of these adventures could have brought. Since I have lived here, this was the biggest Hurricane alert, but we have had other tsunami alerts and bigger earthquakes. Watching the problems in Texas today, I guess everywhere has its hazards -- just not usually so many different, unrelated ones in one week!

On a much lighter note, the other day we were all in our van (named Umi) headed for town. Tanner was singing and singing (kind of making up his own song, I think, since no one knew WHAT he was singing). After several minutes, he was bugging just about everyone. Taggart told him, "Tanner, stop. You're bugging everybody!!" To which Tanner said (with a much more mature tone to his voice than I would have liked), "What?! I'm not bugging ME!!!" Gotta love it!

Little Girl Antics

After all the years of our home being a testosterone zone, I have really enjoyed our little girls and all the little girlie things they bring! I thought you might enjoy some evidence:

Staci in particular, loves to go and get washcloths and hand towels to tuck in the babies! I have had to retrieve as many as 10 cloths when the closet is running empty!

This is Sydni's bag. She could probably fit into this one, if we tried! There are at least 6 pairs of little girl shoes represented here -- YIKES! She looked so funny trying to haul this around with her -- it is a HUGE bag!
These are the girls' Easter dresses. Shan tried and tried to get them to pose nicely, but it was this or a bunch of tears.
And we can get so GOOFY, too! Staci wouldn't take the sippy cup away, but Sydni was being such a little ham. Then you have to add in that she had brought me at least 4 different colors of hair clippies that morning for her hair -- and when she sits still long enough to put them in, you leave them. It was comforting to see that Taryn has sported unusual "do"s before!
I do also have to point out the bracelets, the cell phone purse, the cell phones, and the My Little Pony brush --girl, girl, GIRL!
And my boys never did this either, surprisingly. I think this is Staci -- but they both do this occasionally. And. . .they also put them all away at the end!
Yes, we love the pink in our home!

On another note, we have things tied down and stored for our hurricane this afternoon. After 14 1/2 years of living on the Big Island, I get to experience this. We'll see how it compares to the earthquake last October. They cancelled school for the day and Shan is home. Anything he could do a work today would most likely be undone. Probably extra work after the fact. But until the clouds come, we will enjoy the sun! (And as a friend just suggested, maybe we should go repent!)

More soon!

Ho'omaluhia Kakou

May day is a really fun tradition here in Hawaii. It is officially May 1st, but our elementary school celebrated it three weeks later so that distractions from school were minimal.
At the May Day celebration, each of the grade levels perform a musical dance number. Taggart was really fun to watch! He had practiced his lyrics at home for several weeks first.
This is the doctor that delivered Tanner, Sydni & Staci -- his son is at the same school. One of the things I love about living in such a small town is that you get to see some of the most wonderful people whenever you go out -- especially to a school/community function like this! The good doc came over to get reacquainted with Syd & Stace -- we are always happy to show them off to him.
Another feature of May Day is the May Day Court. At our school, there is a royalty chosen from the 4th grade: a king, a queen, princesses representing each island, a male attendant for each of the princesses and more young men to be like an honor guard. Shayli was one of the princesses. She got to perform a special hula with the other princesses. What a fun day!
Taggart was one of the two 1st graders to introduce the grades' dance. He did a great job!
We got to come and watch the May Day--Sydni and Staci really loved looking at all the pretty flowers.
Taggart's teacher wrote the song that the first graders performed. It was "Ho'omaluhia Kakou." She also helped to choose Taggart to be one of the readers. She got "chicken skin" when she found out that one of Taggart's middle names is 'Ho'omaluhia'! I loved it that Taggart got a teacher who loves music and would sing so much with the kids. If you want to come and visit in May, let us know so that you can come watch this fun event!

A Talmage Post

When I promised some history, I knew I had to go WAY back. Talmage turned 12 in May.

Grandpa and Uncle Matt came from their ward to be in the circle when Talmage was ordained a deacon by Shan.
Here's the rest of the family that came for the ordination -- we let Syd & Stace stay in nursery for the sake of everyone!
Talmage is our Captain Moroni, so on this special birthday, there was a definite theme: socks, tie, picture and book, all featuring his hero.

Talmage is such a fun and witty kid - when Teagan goes off being random, Talmage is great at keeping up with him and playing off his Teagan-isms. It's kind of like watching a tennis match: Teagan serves and then Talmage lobs one back. They can get quite a volley going. I'd post one, but I usually wind up so confused and lost that they laugh at me. I'll have to enlist their help and share sometime.

We love our Talmage!!!

Tanner's First Day

After Tanner's first day of school, he still has that big grin and bright eyes!
Tanner is LOVING kindergarten! He was blessed to have Mrs. Wong, who was also Teagan's kindergarten teacher ten years ago. She already knows us and knows we are supportive parents who expect a lot from our kids -- yea! When Tanner went for his initial interview with her, she got to see that he could write his first and last name and that he knows his letters and numbers. Her comment to me: "Another smart Nak boy!"

On Wednesday, I insisted on walking Tanner to his class. He wasn't thrilled. He refused to hold my hand. Thankfully, Taggart was willing to hold my hand. As I walked away from Tan, he gave me his big cheesy grin and his big dark-chocolate eyes were just sparkling like crazy. He had such a great day!

Today as we drove up to the school, Tanner turned to Taggart and said, "Taggart, you don't have to walk me to my class. I know where it is. I don't need your help." I told Tanner that Taggart was walking him to class to make me feel better. He gave me the grouchy eyebrows. When I stopped the van, Tanner BOLTED out the door and RAN into the school, waving a Taggart away (once he came even close to catching up, that is).

So much for separation anxiety when a child has not had preschool! Now, if we could only convince Tanner that he doesn't have to sleep with Mom and Dad....

Here We Are Again!

After two months of being AWOL, we are back! School started last week for Teag, Talm & Tag and Wednesday for Tanner. With them gone, I am now allowed to use the computer for a couple of hours each morning again! YIPPEE!!!!



I will have to go back and do a summer history later, but wanted to send you the latest group shot of the kids. We've had lots of birthdays and big-gish things happening, but more later. This picture is from Jared's wedding July 28th. Staci and Sydni have switched again with Staci now being our bag-girl, so Staci is on the left, and Sydni is on the right.

Oooh! Just looking at them makes me want to hug them all!~

More to come!