Christmas Joy

MERRY CHRISTMAS FAMILY!!!
I hope you are all well and enjoying the sounds and sights and excitement and especially the spirit of the season. I miss you all so much. After a grueling 5 weeks, I can now breathe and I am so excited. I'm loving the music and lights and smells and movies and I am hoping to make some goodies soon. Our craft fair was phenomenal..with everything we made over 8.000. Dad and I are so excited for our Christmas presents...joking...we are having colonoscopies on the 20th..our date that week. We are anxious to see Blake for a couple of days. He's going to be making baby back ribs-I'm sure we can share if you want to come. I get my new glasses this week-progressive lenses so I will be wearing them full time-not thrilled. I have a party with my siblings Saturday after work. Dad has been moving along in the basement along with our magical elves aka the Law's. We start pulling up carpet upstairs next week for wood floors...hurray!!! We are busy that's for sure. Please hug all the kids for me, I wish I could magically come and spend Christmas with all of you.

Love and hugs, mom

Hello!!

Hey Everyone,

I have a few minutes to kill before getting ready for work, so I thought I'd post a quick hello! Have you all recuperated from your trips this summer? (Ahem ... Amanda ... where oh where are the photos?)

Well, we have rested up and we're ready to see you all again! We had so much fun with Jen & Jess and their families and we are so happy that we got to see them!!

Since they left, I have been working hard to for back to school prep (stupid math) and working some extra hours because my co-worker is getting ready to have a baby! I signed up for a water aerobics class this Semester and I'm really looking forward to it! I checked out a kickboxing class, but I'm not sure if I'm in shape enough to enjoy it, so perhaps next semester!! We've been biking and playing a little tennis, which we are really enjoying!!

Nate is doing pretty darn good! He is getting a new job title at work, which he is really excited about! He'll be the inventory associate, which will put him in charge of, well, the inventory! He is happy about the move because he won't have to worry about sales any more, and I'm happy to see him get a change of pace! I think he'll miss working directly on the computers, but he seems really excited about it, so it's a good thing!

I had some fun photo shoots over the weekend (I'm sure you all heard about the muddy brides if you talked to mom or dad this weekend) and on Monday I got to shoot another set of twin baby boys! Watch the photo blog for some posts on those! I've really enjoyed our camera and I'm really loving getting to use it so much this summer!

What else? Nate's mom is getting into town today, just for the weekend, and then she is taking Carlynne and the girls back to Seattle with them for a month or so while Lance is at his training!! Carlynne is flying out to see Lance and I think that they're going to find out what the baby is while they're together, so we'll get to find out if we're getting a new niece or a new nephew!! This baby will make 16 nephews and nieces for us!! That's a pretty awesome number of kiddos for us to love!! :)

Anyway, I should head towards the shower! I just wanted to say hey and to tell you all that we love you and we miss you!! I hope you're all having a great week! I'll be home tomorrow morning and we should be around on Sunday if ya'll want to skype some time!!

Love,
Us ...

And the beast ...

Videos from Jen's Visit

Hey Everyone! My goal today is to get caught up on photos from ya'lls trips!! So, check out FB and my blog, and here are the videos from Jen's visit!!















We had a great time with them! The rest of the summer is going to be so boring without all the visitors!! :)

Love you all!

An artist hard at work ...

I shot these pics of Ty working hard so hard and diligently on this picture and I thought that I'd post them for you all to see! Nate & I have been impressed with his skills since he was just a little guy, and this time is no different!!

... the last of the Tran videos ...

As you can see, we had a blast with Jess & fam!!

Happy Bday July Babies!

Just wanted to wish a very Happy Bday to Mr. Scouty, Mrs. Jacie! And of course Jess and Uncle Natey! Hope you all had and are having a great birthday! Love you guys! Aunt Manda

Summer Update!

Hey Fam,

A quick note before I sign off for the night! Lovin the posts and videos-thanks! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! It's been a great week-busy busy. It was super hot so we got a few swim days in and Leiah learned to swim without her vest-yeehaw! She's doing awesome and can stay underwater for 10 seconds. I know. Because I counted at least 20 times! Indy is so excited because she can now swim in the deep end with her friends! Although she is not happy that she can't yet do front and back flips in the water and Leiah can! We've been playing outside on the swingset, practicing our rollerblading, watching the Robin Hood series on Netflix, working in the garden(I have 3 zucchinis and numerous tomatoes and snap peas yum), lots of Ritas trips(for italian ices), we spent a night in NJ shopping and eating at our favorite PF Changs! We found some great picture frames for the house. I started painting the kitchen this morning-looks like it will be somewhat of a major undertaking and I hope I can finish before I start work again. The color is caramel honey-I'll post some pics when I'm done. The girls have had Bible camp all week in the morning-I caught a free morning to go to Barnes and Noble ON MY OWN for a few hours...unheard of out here! Kaobe and I have a morning of rollerblading and breakfasting tomorrow-will be great to have one on one with him! He's been babysitting more for Obeta and I-we are thrilled that we finally can go out without finding a babysitter!

I am thoroughly(did i spell that right??) enjoying my time off with the kids! Doesn't it feel great to sleep in? I'd forgotten how! It's 12:04 and I've got a crazy day tomorrow-love you all and can't wait to see you Jess and fam!!
Love, me

4th of July Videos

Hey all! Still playing catch up! I posted the 4th of July photos on my blog, but here are a few videos of the fireworks and the exciting sounds of Jacie & Devin!!

Summer vacation

Alright girls, I'll finally take the hint!

We are having a great time visiting with all you guys. We arrived in SLC after traveling for 25 hours and were excited to eat our first meal at Costa Vida with mom, Clar, and Mary. We crashed and had a little jet lag, but still managed to have a lot of fun imbetween. Phuc headed out the next day to Wendover for the night so the kids and I got to sneak in a quick visit with mom and dad. We started off with lots of cards, unfortunately the boys seem to take over my spot more often than not. The kids were so excited to see family and be entertained with constant adult playmates. Hallie and Jacie had their nails painted immediately and the boys plotted a treasure hunt for the cousins. Mom, Clar and I had a relaxing evening getting french tip pedicures and dining at Cafe Sabor. It was fabulous! We also had fun going for a picnic in the canyon and enjoyed some KFC which is always a hit for me. Ty and Devin enjoyed making fun of the ranger who was hounding us to pay and the girls were crazy dancing and singing as you have seen. It was funny to see Dad fed up with the ranger, because he is always so patient. We played more cards, UNO, and had a giant water fight. I was able to sneak out of the cold water early when Jacie got cold and wanted to go in, everyone else was completely soaked. We ate sweet chicken tacos that Clarissa made and had chips and dill pickle dip and pumpkin bread. I also enjoyed hanging out with Blake for a few days, we were able to talk and relax for the first time in so many years. I've never had bread pudding, and was a little skeptical, but it was delicious! I could use a personal chef in Virginia when you need a break Blake!

The 4th of July weekend was very festive with a family reunion BBQ. It was shocking for me to see a lot of my cousins and I really enjoyed visiting with them. The Hyrum parade was a hit with Devin and Jacie who were all over the salt water taffy, and the rest of us enjoyed the cold water bottles and chocolate creamy handouts. We played a few games while waiting for the fireworks and the kids made creations with their light sticks to keep us entertained. They actually concocted a bouncing ball made of light sticks that was pretty cool.

After a good night's sleep we loaded up for the long drive to Colorado, we stopped for the obligatory raspberry shake in Bear Lake and stopped at the mall in Rock Springs for a little break. We all enjoyed our visit with Jen and Cody, the girls had Jenny busy coloring with them immediately and then we monopolized her morning while she gave us all hair updates. I got some fun summer highlights and Hallie was excited for her blue feathers and silver tinsel, surprisingly Phuc even likes it! Surf and Scout kept Tyson and Devin busy in the new secret room and we ate at the Rib House.

Onto Colorado Springs the next day we caught up with our family friends, the Smiths, at the church. Phuc was excited to play basketball with his buddies, he hasn't played since we left Colorado while Carri and I visited and the kids played. We ate at our favorite Thai restaurant, walked through our house, and had lunch the next day with the Narayan's. The kids each picked a special friend to visit and we were sad to leave again. We got in a little shopping at Castle Rock and dined at the Cheesecake Factory. Hallie spotted the American Girl store and she and Jacie were insistent to go. It was a fun stop and Jacie got to pick out her birthday present with Hallie snagging a few things herself.

We then headed back to Jen's house where she made us another great breakfast and we headed on our way back to Utah.

Now I'm totally vegging at the Little America with Phuc while mom, dad, Clar and Nate are playing with the kids. We are having so much fun and will be sad to leave Utah, but can't wait to move out of these suitcases. We are excited to continue our visit with family when we get to hang out with the Osolu's! Love you all, Jess

Some More Videos ...

Hope you all enjoy your weekends!! Love ya!!

July

I agree...I was the last one to post in January and nobody followed suit so I stopped! Thanks for the videos Clar!! So I just finished my last official day at work. I'm still staying on per diem so I can keep the skills but not too often! I feel so relieved, I've had a lot of anxiety the past few weeks dealing with all this job stuff. I hate to put people out and when I quit I feel like I did. Life goes on right!

The kids are all at the neighbors swimming except Leiah, she's sitting next to me watching the Pink Panther! She's a crazy! We are going to her new school tomorrow morning to help mulch the playground-she's excited to go! We got her a backpack and she has it all packed for our vacation in 3 weeks-she informed me when I got home that she even has her flosser, toothbrush and green toothpaste! Obeta has been home the past few weeks finally, we have been mulching the back yard and looking at stones for the front-it never ends. I got some gold paint to start the hallway and entryway. Do we ever get to sit and enjoy ourselves? I feel we are constantly doing some sort of something. But then we would be bored right??!!

I'm blabbing! Making rice for dinner and should probably turn it off before it scorches! Love you guys! Me

Some Videos

Hey Everyone! I was just looking at this blog and the fact that no one has posted anything since January is a little depressing!! Let's get with it, ya'll!! :)

So I decided to post the videos that I've taken during Jess's visit because they're fun and I thought you'd all get a kick out of them!!

Oh, and don't worry, the You Tube channel that they are on is unlisted, so it's safe!!

Hallie on the Monkey Bars



Hallie and Devin on the Crazy Slide



That's it for now, but I've still got a lot to sort through, so I'll post more as I get to them!!

Love you all!
Clar

Hey family, I know you're all anxious to see Ty in his singlet, here are some pics of his wrestling meet yesterday. He won 2 and lost his 1st match at the end of the meet to a friend from Germany that he used to play with in 2nd grade! Fun times! Love ya, Jess

pics

Hey all! How are you? Just wanted to say Love ya and I hope you have a great week. Love, me

Missing you

Hey family,
Just wanted to say my heart is missing all of you. I think it's harder in the winter because we don't go outside much and I think too much-yes I actually do think at times. I hope this year is one of joy, good health, peace, visits and more skype time. I love seeing everyone as we talk-yeah for computer technology. Give the kids hugs, give the guys a bad time, give Blake a call and remember I LOVE YOU ALL. mom

Happy New Years

Hey Family! I just wanted to wish you all a Happy, Happy New Years! We hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year! We spent the evening with Nate's family and enjoyed some El Sol, some "How to Train Your Dragon," and watching Sam play charades!

I am looking forward to the New Year! I've decided this year that my resolution is to become better balanced. It seems like my life has been dedicated to school and work for last several years with a little relaxation mixed in, but I need to balance my time between the things that I have to do, the things that I should do, and the things that I want to do! I'm going to be better about working out and taking care of my body, I'm going to spend more time in the kitchen and less time on the internet, and I'm going to work on having a more positive outlook on life! I'm hoping that these and other things will help me to feel more balance and to be a better person and wife!

Anyway, just wanted to tell you all that we love you and that we hope that the New Year brings amazing things your way! Give those kiddos hugs and tickles from us!

Love Ya!
Clar