Busy as Santa's Elves

We/I have been pretty busy this holiday season.  To look in chronological order start from the bottom.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Thank you Aunty Melissa for the awesome beanies!  My kids were obviously happy to get them.

Finally Christmas!

They were SO excited to see him.  I totally thought they would be the kids to scream and cry but they didn't.

After the spiritual message Santa came to visit.

Drew was one of three angles.

Every other year the Reynolds' get together for Christmas Eve and put on a family nativity program.  Brody was the shepherd boy this year in his do rag.

Mack and Breana are seriously such a cute couple and were meant for each other.  My sister's and I had SO much fun staying up late and talking to one another.  We didn't want Bre to go on her honeymoon to Kauai so we could hang out more.  I didn't post pictures but Mack's family came from Utah, minus his brother on a mission, for the wedding and it was so fun getting to know his family.  A REALLY good and fun family!  I flew back to Cedar on the 23rd and was so happy to be home for Christmas.

At the reception Cherie caught the bouquet and her boyfriend Keenan caught the garter.  That was exactly what Kurt and I did at Nikki's wedding.

Wednesday December 17th I flew from Cedar City to Salt Lake City to San Francisco and finally got to Hawaii!  I flew in at 4:30 pm, ate and went to bed at 8:30 pm.  The next morning I woke up at 6:30 am.  I was SO tired.  Everybody arrived later that day and as soon as they got there, meaning my sisters, we started preparing for the wedding.  We folded boxes, and tied pink ribbons, finished sewing table runners, finalized the seating chart... did I miss anything?  Well you get the picture.  Friday the 19th Breana went through the temple for the first time which was amazing, while Hillary watched my nephew Collin... THANK YOU AGAIN HILLARY!  After the temple we went to eat at Zippy's which now brings me to the wedding day.  Breana wanted to get up at 4:30 am because she needed to be up at the temple at 7:00 am.  Somehow she was woken up an hour late.  While she was getting ready we had one too many electrical things going on and the breaker went out.  Then we got a phone call from her fiance-soon to be husband, saying that we was sick!  REALLY sick!  He had been throwing up all morning.  We later found out that as Mack was diving himself out to the temple he was swerving from his nausea and a cop pulled him over.  Mack opened the door as the cop got up to the car, and threw up all over the place.  The cop totally though Mack was drunk but he explained that he had food poisoning and was supposed to get married in a couple of hours.  "Oh, at the Temple?" The cop asked.  Then the cop let him go and only told him to talk as much time as he needs to get up there and hoped his day went better than this morning.  Must've been a fellow member!  So that leaves us to where we are now with the pictures.  The ceremony was wonderful and everything we had expected it to be.

and such a cute profile!

Good foot shot

After Thanksgiving I finally had my ultrasound.  It's a .... baby!  We were good and didn't even look in that general direction.  As you can tell from this picture we could've 100% found out what we were having if that's what we wanted to do.  I'm not sure how good your ultrasound eyes are but this picture above is the baby bent in half.  All of it's arms and legs were over it's head and face.  Can you imagine how uncomfortable that has to be?

Nikki and Collin

Davis

It all started with Thanksgiving.  We had Thanksgiving up at my sisters house in Draper.  It was the first time the Abiang family has been together for Thanksgiving in a long time.  My sister Nikki had a fun idea for us to wear pilgrim and indian attire.  We had so much fun being together as a family!  The Saturday after Thanksgiving we also had a bridal shower for my sister Breana.  Unfortunately Kurt had stolen my camera for the day so I don't have any picture from that event but let me tell you we had a TON of fun!

Quarter of a Century Old

I thought I was bad at being late in Hawaii, I find myself being extra slow at things here in Cedar City.  It was my 25th birthday Monday December 8th and I didn't post anything quickly because I didn't take any pictures that day and I still haven't taken any pictures since.  So anywho for my birthday I made myself pancakes the way I like them made from Bisquick, a little raw and gooey in the middle with lots of butter and powdered sugar.  The kids and I played until I took them over to my friends house so I could go to the dentist.  YAY!!  For my birthday they gave me, a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, chap stick and another appointment for today to get my cavities filled!!  Later that night we picked up some take and bake pizza at Papa Murphy's and took it to our friends house.  Kurt showed me the pizza after it had been baked and he had had the pizza people write HAPPY B-DAY! in in with sausages.  It's funny how excited you get, over a little thing like that.  Then my friend Cheryl surprised me with a cake and after we watched Kung Fu Panda. 

That day as I was waiting in the dentist chair I was thinking, I'm just barely 25 and what am I doing in life?  Do any of you think that occasionally?  Then I think, Oh my gosh!  I'm barely 25 and I have two kids with another on the way.  What was I thinking?  I could be traveling the world right now, could've finished school and started a career, could've gone on a mission, blah blah blah!  Then something reminded me of breakfast that morning.  Drew said the prayer and she said we were thankful for the Spirit.  That's something she started including in her prayers a couple of weeks ago, something we didn't teach her.  But after we said amen Drew exclaimed, 

"Mom!  I felt the spirit!"

"You did?"

"Yeah, That's Jesus!"

It's amazing how much little children surprise you.  I'm really bad and have never taught her that.  I'm really wondering if it was a lesson she had in nursery and if it was, how thankful I am for their lessons.  For those nursery teachers out there, even if you think the kids aren't listening, I'm sure they hear a lot more than you think.  Then my next thought went to something my sister in law said.  She's in the Primary presidency and they take kids from nursery who are going to be in primary next year, and let them come to singing time to get them used to it.  She said that every time they have a picture of Jesus in primary while Drew is there, she'll yell and the top of her lungs, "That's MY Jesus!  That's my Jesus!"  So Drew got to help by holding the picture during one of the songs.

Then I feel guilty for ever thinking I could've done something better, more productive, than bring these children into the world.  So, YES!  I'm now 25, have two kids with another one on the way.  I've had a problem saying that for while now, feeling the non-mormon public eye on me, thinking the opposite of what I've been wanting to feel.  I've finally realized that it's not what I think people are thinking, it's what I've been thinking of myself.  Does that make sense?  I'm so happy I have my little family, that seems to be getting bigger every 19 months.  I have my ultrasound this Friday and I'm SO excited to see... it.  We're not going to find out what it is so don't get your panties in a twist.  It's just "baby" till it pops out.  Then I fly back home to Hawaii, by myself, Wedneday the 17th, for my sister Breana's wedding on the 20th!  I'm so excited.  Which reminds me my sister, Nikki, and her two month old baby, Collin, are the only ones coming from her family and she needs a baby sitter for Friday the 19th while Bre goes to the Temple for her first time.  We were wondering if there was anyone in the Hau'ula-Laie district that would be willing and able to baby sit for that period of time.  He's a REALLY good baby and takes a bottle easy peasy so let me know if you'd be up to it.  Sorry, had to add that in but you know how it goes!  

It was fun reading all my face book messages, emails and cards I got from everyone, and the voice mails- sorry I haven't called anybody back!  But thanks for your thoughts!  It was a good day and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family!

Small One

I remember the first movie I cried, more like bawled while watching. It was Snoopy Come Home. I know, not a very sappy movie but it's amazing to me that I cried over a movie at such a young age. Last night Kurt thought it would be fun for the kids to watch the cartoon Small One by Disney. This was a movie that both he and I had seen as kids. While we were watching I was SO surprised to see Drew fighting back the tears. After the end of the movie Drew was still having

a hard time. I told her it was okay to cry, and then she let the water works flow. She was bawling over the movie. I just held this sweet little girl and tried to explain to her the birth of Christ. Not sure how much she grasped but I thought this movie was the perfect way to start off that story. So here is the movie. It's only about 25 min. long and it's perfect for this time of year!

Edward Who?

At least there's one hot guy in the movies right now.  Kurt and I saw Quantum of Solace last night and although it wasn't as good as Casino Royale, which I LOVE, I still liked it and it just might be because Daniel Craig is James Bond :)  I was giggling like a little girl in this movie and I didn't even come close to it in Twilight.  They should have casted Daniel Craig as Edward even though he's old enough to be Edwards dad.  Mmmm.....

What is there to do in Cedar?

On Saturday we had nothing to do so we went out shooting.

We drove on the outskirts of cedar, on dirt roads so Kurt thought it would be fun to let the kids drive.  Remember doing this as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world?

We saw a cow,

and some antelope

and got lost but it was fun since gas is only $1.63.

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Check out this woman's store and her children's 

clothes give away!  Everything is AMAZING!

My Twilight Review

I dragged Kurt to see Twilight with me and here are my thoughts.  If you haven't seen the movie yet you may not want to read this.

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Going to the movie I had no expectations.  I LOVE the book but I knew from feeding of Stephenie Meyer's website that the movie was going to be different.  I was totally okay with that.  It's so rare to find a movie derived from a book, that's kept all the scenes the same.  I was not going to let myself get hyped up over small changes.  However, with Rob Pattinson, whom I loved in Harry Potter and was actually excited for him to be Edward, and Kristen Stewart, whom I love in her movies, as Bella I did not expect the acting to be so horrible!  There was a part at the end of the movie when she was in the hospital, stuttering, not wanting Edward to leaving and her acting job was so bad that the audience was laughing.  We were actually laughing at the times that weren't funny just because the acting was so awful.  Then, then, two thumbs WAY down for the directing.  There were times in the beginning where I thought something was wrong with the directing, but I let it go.  But by the end of the movie it was so well pronounced that again Kurt and I were laughing when we weren't supposed to.  For example, at the Prom, Edward went inside and left Bella on the bench.  The next shot was Jacob Black coming out from behind a tree and practically said her name before seeing her.  Again at the prom Edward and Bella went outside to a Gazebo to dance where there were two other couples and it just so happens that as soon as they walk out there the couples leave.  I know these are things that should be over looked but it's so completely obvious that the director should have caught how poor the scene was.  Apart from the second rate acting and directing I did find a couple parts funny enough to laugh out loud.  Like when Bella came into the classroom and she walked in front of the fan.  Edward made a face like she stunk, that was hilarious.  Charlie and his shotgun was funny, and I liked Emmet thinking she was Italian because her name was Bella.  Overall I don't know what their budget was on this film but I've seen independent films with a guaranteed smaller budget but with blockbuster results.  I really wanted to enjoy this movie but after seeing it I was embarrassed.  The kind of embarrassed where a loved one is on stage singing way off key and all you want to do is hide your face.  This opinion of mine is solely based on the movie itself.  Not of the book made into a movie but the movie as if I've never read the book and from the trailers, actually thought it was going to be good.  And again it's just my opinion.

Stop The War On Germs

My family and I stayed home from church for the second Sunday in a row.  Are we going inactive you ask?  No, but for two weeks now my kids have had a cough and green runny noses.  We could've taken them to church.  Our kids could've been the ones to pass the sweet sickness along but it wouldn't be right because I get furious when our kids get sick from the kid who has the inconsiderate parents who thinks they have to go to church no matter if he's oozing green glop from his nose.  My sister-in-law works in the nursery and she said that people do bring in their kids to nursery and primary who have wet coughs, their noses are streamlining with green snot and are sneezing over every toy that our kids are playing with.  We all know how big the Primary Program is.  Every parent loves seeing their kids get up and say their bit and all the kids love to show off that they've memorized their part but please no matter how big a Sunday it is for you and for your family if your kid is sick, stay home!  We had a boy that threw up the day before at the programs rehearsal.  Do you think the mom knew he was sick.  I bet you she did but she wanted so bad for him to practice and be in the program that she didn't think about all the other kids she was infecting that came within a three foot radius of him.  Again I'm asking you, if your kids are sick, even if you feel great, stay home with them so we can stop this vicious cycle.  If you miss one, even two weeks of church the Lord will not punish you.  He knows your heart and that you want to go to church.  What is that you say?  You have an important calling you can't miss?  Well that's what substitutes and husbands are for.  If your husband has an important calling too take turns.  Switch off every hour if you need to.  There is no excuse for making other kids sick!  If you are a nursery or a primary leader I ask you to nicely reject kids that are sick.  Let the parents see that it doesn't matter how nice they look that day you wont let them stay because they can infect the other children.  Think about it.  It's plain selfishness! So I'm sending this message out via blog because I know how big blogs are in the Mormon community and I want this message spread like wildfire or faster yet, spread like germs.  Please pass this message along or one like it so my kids can stay healthy longer than two weeks.  On another note it's not just church.  School, play dates, even going to your friends' house, your friends and family will love you that much more for thinking of their kids.

Stop the war on germs!

20 Weeks!

I am 20 weeks today!!  That means I'm half way there and only another 20 more weeks to go.  Which mean only 20 more weeks to get my house where I want it to, to buy the things that we need, and to get myself mentally prepared.  I've been doing and feeling good lately, with the exception of last night.  It was the first time I threw up in this pregnancy and only the second time to have thrown up within all my pregnancies.  I'm sure you wanted to know.  The other day I went shedding with Kurt and I had to have walked around two miles, something I don't even do not pregnant, and last night we went swimming at the pool.  I haven't been to the doctor since we moved so I have no stats to share but the baby moves and kicks a ton!  That's one thing I know I'll miss when we're done having babies.  The only maternity clothes I'm wearing are church skirts because the regular skirts that fit are too breezy for winter.  My sister Nikki and I have been pregnant every other year so we've combined maternity clothes and hand them back to each other after each pregnancy.  With only one or two more years of that Breana and Cherie will have a nice collection by the time they're ready to have kids.  That's all for now.  Hopefully by the next update I'd have visited the doctor and will have more to share!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Just some pictures of fog, a moonrise, and my boys getting wood to start a fire.

Catching up BIG time!

I was looking like crazy for my camera cord and although I didn't find it I found another cord that would work.  YAY!!  So here a pictures from the flight over till now.

Our layover in Portland.  The kids did so good!!  Can you see that Brody doesn't have any shoes on?

The weekend after we got to Cedar City we went to Cedar High's homecoming.  They sadly lost but they had a fun firework show.

The day after the game we went up into the mountains with Kurt's family and chopped down trees for firewood.  It was gorgeous up there!

The infamous puke green trailer.

Our backyard

Our front yard.  At leas this is what it looked like when we got here.  Now that it's freezing all the trees are bare and everything is dull.

This is the kid's room.  Can you find Brody?

When Kurt's sister had lived in our trailer they bought chickens and built a chicken coop.  The coop was still in really good condition when we moved in.  Kurt thought it would be fun for the kids if we got chickens.  Some kids have fish, other's have dogs or cats, we get our kids chickens.

They're called Silkies.  Kinda funny looking huh?

And... the chickens came with pigeon's.  It's disgusting to me that people actually eat these birds.  These are the same nasty diseased scavenger birds we have in Hawaii.  We kinds don't know what to do with them because we defiantly won't eat them!   

The inside of the coop.

Brody was Master Chief from Halo for Halloween this year.  He LOVED having his helmet on.

Drew was a scary witch.  She specifically did not want to be a nice witch but a scary one.  She told us, "When I put on my costume and my makeup I'm not going to be Drew B Drew any more."

After Halloween we drove up to Draper to visit my sister Nikki and meet her new baby boy Collin.  

When we got there the grass was nice and green and this is what it looked like when we left.  Before it had snowed it was the first time I'd seen my sister's grass.

I went up to Draper with the kids and we left Kurt at home.  I wasn't sure how much help I would be for Nikki bringing my kids with me but the kids played really well together!  Davis standing in the back is four, Drew is three, Tess is two and Brody is one, then Collin a couple weeks old and the next one due April 1st!!

So while I was gone this is what Kurtis was doing with his brother Jon.  They were Elk hunting.  Disclaimer: Jon shot this Elk on the last day of the hunt in practically the last hour and it may have even been the only one that they saw hence it being only a spike.  I think for ego purposes I may have to take a picture of the elk that Jon has mounted in his house from last year.  Better yet I'll make Kurt post it on his blog later.

A little after we got back Kurt and Brody had a father son outing.  They went hunting for deer sheds.  Every year deer and elk shed their horns and grow a whole new set with another point on it.  So they went treasure hunting for horns that deer had shed.  Some guy comes every once in a while and will buy deer sheds for $15 a pound.  This was Kurt's first time going and he's already addicted.  So now that we've fully caught up and now that I have a camera cord and battery I tend to stay caught up!