christmas eve spectacular

For Christmas Eve this year we had the Nadigs and Standage families over. We had a fabulous dinner and the kids just went wild. For some strange reason the Standage family has a tradition of breaking a pinata on Christmas Eve- and we were happy to keep that tradition going! What kid doesn't love a pinata- hmm well Braden I guess since he refused to hit it. But all the other kids took many hits to no avail and Troy finally broke it with his pick axe. Way to get things done Koch! :) We followed up the sugar in the pinata with some sugar cookies for Santa thanks to the Nadigs. With the kids wild, heavily sugared, and Santa on the way we chalked it up to another fabulous Christmas eve.

a day on the train

For Playgroup we decided to ride the Christmas Train and meet up for lunch at the mall. Braden was up for riding the train... we bought our tickets, were ready to head in and then he decided that no, he would not be riding. i convinced him to sit on it maybe test out his seat see if he wanted to ride. But nope. Still no. So Camiron rode alone while Braden hung out on the DAD sign. What a goof! Camers had a great time.

a few moments in time

Our first family encounter with Santa. Braden wanted to see him, but was totally unwilling to utter a word. So we were able to convey on his behalf his absolute need for a "side loader garbage truck". And Camiron was totally terrified of Santa. Maybe next year :)


The family catching a sunset. Sometimes I just love living here.

While helping me put away the groceries, the kids actually came up with a new game. Ugh! the completely emptied my lazy susan cupboard. By the time I noticed what they were doing, it was of no use and i just let them have their fun and used it as an opportunity to clean out the cupboard. They thought it was the best idea ever!

A few friends and faithful "twilight" readers headed to the opening weekend of Twilight. We had a great time. Not my favorite show ever, but enjoyed it!

exhausted

Our friend from DC. Donna Clark was here this past week for a visit. She has long dreamed of coming to Hawaii and had a list of things she wanted to do while she was here. She has a sight impairment, so we had to take her all around and phew we are exhausted. But I do think Donna was able to do a lot of what she wanted...

Here she is at Turtle beach, there is a seal and a turtle on the beach behind her.


On the train at the Dole Pineapple plantation


Ko Olina beach- we hit this a few times!


We caught some great surfing at Pipeline. they were about to start a competition when we had to head out.


We caught a session at the temple

A day at the Polynesian Cultural Center

Donna and the boys!


We also went to the Pali Lookout, the Swap meet, hanauma bay, blowhole, caught a great sunset and i'd say relaxed, but we didn't really do any of that. :)

The Holy Trinity

Braden: "mom I love you" while giving me a hug.
Me: "Thanks Braden, I Love you too"
Braden: "I think Heavenly Father, Jesus and Santa would be so proud of me".
Me: What could I do but laugh.


The day after Christmas... let the decorations begin. I love Christmas decorations!




This is just a random picture for my mom and dad of the new picture we have over our couch.

giving thanks

A little behind on this post I know. But I couldn't miss the holiday all together. We had a great Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with many good friends and our little family. We had so much to be grateful for, starting off with Troy not getting killed playing in the Turkey Bowl with all the Hawaiians, Samoans, and Tongans in our ward. He made it out alive the little Haole the that is! :) And then we headed to our friends Jennifer and Jason to share dinner with them and many others. Followed by a night of dessert and games with the Ohki Family, whose home has become a tradition for us. We love them for opening their home to us every year. The kids just ran wild and had such a great time. Thanks to all of those who made our holiday special.

camers

Camiron has become obsessed with the "potty". She has only actually used it a few times, but spends a good amount of time hanging out on it. Anything that leads in the direction of no diapers is fine with me! Read and Sing all you want!


Camiron had her first haircut at a little kids haircut place. It really was time to get rid of the not so flattering mullet she had been sporting. So here are a few of the fun time she had, and a few of her soft curly hair. My mom did not believe me that her hair was anything but a rats nest after being in Utah. (It looked horrid when we were there!) but in Hawaii she has some natural curl and it doesn't get lots of static. So here she is :)

mmm mmm candy

Our ward had our "trunk or treat" on halloween this year. It turned out great with the kids. Camiron started out hysterical that she was going to be forced into a terrible costume... until she found out that she would get candy for it and then she was all over it. She had to carry her own candy bucket and when she would trick or treat to the next trunk, after she would get her candy, she would just stand there and look at them and look and look until I had to drag her to the next trunk. Everyone thought she was pretty funny. Braden picked out his Bob the Builder costume and loved it. My little fix it tool man that he is. Good times Good times.

bringing us together

The Koch Family hasn't all been together in years. McKensie was able to bring all of us together to celebrate her little life. Troy and I feel so blessed that we were able to go home for her funeral. Tiffany and Brandon both spoke and did an amazing job. McKensie was laid to rest at a beautiful plot in the Salt Lake City Cemetary, overlooking the city, and just up the hill from President Hinkley!

We loved being able to spend time with the family...
here are a few shots of Braden and Coleman playing together, Grandpa Steve and Camers, and The whole family (well except McKensie).




A day up Millcreek Canyon with Nana and Papa. The weather was just amazing while we were there. Living somewhere that doesn't have fall..... Well we loved every second of the fall weather. We could just smell it in the air! It was beautiful!





A day at doughnut falls with Brandon, Tiffany and Grandma Pam. I have always realized that Braden has a lot of energy, but it was pretty funny to see Carson and Coleman catch a ride on their parents shoulders for the trip down, while Braden ran, ran, ran and lapped us a few times over. I love to see the cousins play together, they play like brothers, fight like brothers, and always have fun.








Braden and i met up with Shannon, Emily and Kids to check out the witches at Garner Village. Braden loved the candy store, the witches, and the hay. He hated the shopping, so we didn't last long. But it was great to see friends :)





I love to hit the utah zoo when we are in town, it is one of our favorite zoo's. the one in hawaii is pretty junk, so our kids love to go wild there. Both Grandma's joined us at the zoo and we had a great time.






The last time we were in town we wanted to get cousin pictures taken. It never happened and now we kick ourselves because we don't have one with McKensie. So this time we made it happen! After cousin pictures, we headed out to dinner and then to the bounce house. Everyone just went crazy at the bounce house and had a great time.









It has been years since I have been on the snowbird tram. We caught the tram with nana and papa. The kids were freezing at the top and spent most of the time in the warming hut, but the view was amazing. Braden wanted to ride the tram up and down all day. he was bummed we only got one ride. The kids never get hot chocolate here and so it was a special treat that we all loved.









Nana and Braden picked out some pumkins at farmers market. The kids had a great time carving them with nana and papa, especially since we never got around to carving ours!


and what is a trip to utah without a trip to wheeler farm. The weather was just gorgeous and we had a great time. It we lived there, i think we would go every week. The kids love it, and it is free! love that place















Enjoying the fall leaves... and some time in the hot tub!



** Somehow I managed to take pictures at every family function, but never with our friends. So I wanted to thank ally and wes for meeting up with us, shopping with Megs, Emily and Eric hosting a get together, Jennyanne and Adam hosting a get together, all the bros for many lunches and late night game playing, duck hunting... and so many others. Thanks for playing with us on such short notice. We love all of you ***