Trevor's in Junior High

Crazy, but true... and I promise to give a heads' up to those junior high teachers, cause they're gonna have their hands full with this awesome guy! Today Trevor graduated from elementary, and to celebrate this coming-of-age, the school had a fun little ceremony with skits and an un-talent show. It was fun to watch. Trevor, I'm proud of you, bud - you've done GREAT and your going to love Jr. High, I just know it!

(We thought it was hilarious that you got voted 'most likely to wear v-necks their whole life'!)

Brace Face

Trevor got braces on today. Although he really wants straight teeth, I just can't imagine that he could get any cuter!

Trevor is Growing Up - TMI

It's true... and no one knows it more than our family. I've noticed him maturing in so many ways, including the way he responds to me when I ask him to do something. More times than not it's "yes, ma'am!" and away he goes to do as I've asked. His attitude, for the most part, is really shaping up.

Mike and I have had a lot of discussions lately about how all of the kids are growing up. And yet both of us had to pick our jaws up off the floor the other day. We were innocently out in the garage working when Trevor came bounding out of the house and announced very excitedly, "Hey mom and dad, I'm really growing up! I don't mean to gross you out, but I'm growing hair on my .....!"

I pushed my palms as tight as I could onto my ears to keep from hearing anything else he might have to say on the subject, and for some reason I closed my eyes - I don't know if I thought he was actually going to show me, but I wasn't taking any chances. I also think I was screaming something to the effect of, "I DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW THAT!" at the same time as Mike was yelling, "Trevor, that's totally inappropriate in front of your mother!" (Really? Would it be appropriate to tell his dad? Apparently.)

Once we all calmed down he told us, "I just want you to know that I'm becoming a MAN."
Thanks for the info, son. I think I'll just continue to be the casual observer, and let you have those conversations with your dad. It's just too traumatizing for me.

Hawaii Highlights...Oahu

WARNING: Long Post with LOTS of pictures!

Honestly, I don't even know where to start... this post will be long enough in a condensed version. If I told you every wonderful thing about Hawaii, it would be way too long! I guess I'll just start at the beginning....
We left on Christmas morning after all the festivities... in white-out conditions (which was perfect for Christmas, by the way... I'm a huge fan of white Christmases). We were worried that our flight might not even leave... but it did - and right on time. 

Sidenote:

Although we think it's funny now... it was not so funny at the time... when we were going through airport security, the officer asked each of the kids their names, ages, etc to verify who they were. When she asked Trevor his name, he tilted his head and cooly said in his best french accent, rolled R's and all, "E-trev-air". It came out more like "Rafael".

The security guard looked at me, quickly thumbed back through the tickets in her hand, and looked back up at me. I was in such shock that I just gave her a blank stare... I had nothin. When reality set in, I turned to Mike, who looked just as shocked as I did. Silence. And then out of sheer reaction, I thumped Trevor on the back of his head. Yep, thumped him... and said, "Tell her your name... that's not funny!"  Luckily, she had a sense of humor and let us through, with a little lecture for Trev... and Trevor used his real name for the rest of the flights. Oh, my silly little clown boy!

We took lots of snacks for the plane ride (thanks Miles Fam, for that tip... it saved us a grundle!) and the kids had all kinds of activity books and their ipods. It was fun to watch Trevor and Tessa when we took off, since it was the first plane ride they can remember. They actually held hands and I didn't get a picture!

When we landed just a few hours later on Oahu... ahhhh, sunshine and warmth! It was especially nice for me to feel the warmth, since I got a major head cold the day before. We only spent less than two days on Oahu... here are our highlights:

*Walking barefoot down Waikiki beach Christmas night

*Pearl Harbor

*Some of the most amazing trees we've ever seen (which I didn't get pics of - sorry!)

*Going to the National Cemetary

*Looking out over the city and breath-taking views

*Tessa's baptism into our church

*Being part of a historical island-wide blackout: the power went out right as we parked in the LDS Temple parking lot and we were without power for 12 hours! Not a highlight because it was much fun, but because we can say we were there when it happened. Mike waited in line for an hour and a half at a little convenience store only letting two people in at a time to control the crowds... and we ate junk food for dinner. Ick. Then we packed our hotel room in the dark the next morning... only to have the power turn on right when we walked out of our room, all packed up. That would be our luck. Here are some pictures:

Next up: our Big Island adventures!

Caution: This Post Contains Spoilers

Santa Clause spoilers, that is...

We have been discussing with our kids that their Christmas presents will be smaller this year, and not as many of them. The reason is because the biggest gift, for all of us, is our trip this winter to HERE. We've been planning it for months, and finally surprised the kids with the news a few weeks ago. It was such a fun surprise, because as Tessa was running around the room hugging and kissing everyone, I realized that Trevor hadn't said anything yet. When I looked over at him, he was still just sitting there... frozen... with his big brown eyes as big as quarters and his mouth forming a perfect 'O'... it was prime!

Anyway, on to the spoiler part. Mike and I had already decided that we would tell Trevor 'the truth' this year. He started asking questions last year, but we just couldn't bear to tell. So we figured that if it came up this year, we'd be totally honest. It just so happened that we were in the car a couple of weeks ago - just Mike, Trevor and me. When out of the blue Trevor says, "some of my friends say that santa is your parents."
One quick glance between Mike and I, and we both knew this was the moment. My reply, "and what do you think about that, Trev?"
"Oh, I told them that they were wrong." At this point he stared intently at my face, obviously trying to read my thoughts.
And out it came, "Well, it's true". I just watched him as he processed this information.... that same frozen, eyes wide and round mouth look.
"It is?"
"Yes."
Silence. 

Quick 'what did we just do?' look at Mike.
More silence.
I don't know what I was expecting, but not the next question.
"What about the Easter bunny?"
"Us."
"The tooth fairy?"
"Us."
"You owe me money."
Mike and I couldn't stop laughing, because apparently Trevor still has a long, lost tooth somewhere in his room. See, this is another reason we just had to get the secret out... I stink at being the tooth fairy. Seriously, I've thought many a time that my kids will grow up warped because the tooth fairy either never paid up or was always so busy that it took her a week or two to get around to them. Then I'd justify it by telling myself that I was just teaching them patience. Sure.

Anyway, back to the story. After all of Trevor's questions, we laid down the law - the same law that had been laid down to Christopher and Katy years ago. There's only one rule. NO TELLING. No telling Tessa, no telling the neighbors, no telling your cousins, no telling your friends at school. If they bring it up, and they already know, you can talk to them about it. But you don't bring it up. You can talk to dad, me, Chris or Katy anytime you want, as long as Tessa isn't around. And the reward for not telling? Elf status. You get to be a helper. My kids have always LOVED being helpers. It takes away a little sting of 'the truth'. And call me corny, but Tessa is my baby, and she's been able to do 'baby' things for longer than the other kids... got her bottle longer, stayed in diapers longer, and she didn't even walk until she was almost two (which although she was in physical therapy for this, I still think it was in great deal because everyone else brought everything to her - she had no need to get up and walk). So I figured we could play along together and stretch her belief in Santa for at least a couple more years.

Fast forward one week. Tessa comes into the living room and announces to Mike and I that she wants a hot tub (of all things!) for Christmas. Mike says, "That's not happening."
"Why?"
"Because a hot tub is too expensive."
"Well, you're not buying it anyway. Santa's making it."
"Still not happening."
"WHY?!?"
"Because it's too expensive."
At this point she puts her hands on her hips, and screams, "WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME?"
Mike and I exchange looks, his says 'what did I say?' and mine says, 'SHUT UP!', if you can say that with your eyes. Then we both just look back at her, at a complete loss for words, staring blankly at her angry and questioning face.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU ARE SANTA CLAUSE?"
Mike looks at me, as if the question wasn't directed at him. So I say, as calmly as I can muster, "Have you been talking to Trevor?"
"No."
"Have you been talking to your friends?"
"No." 

I think it was at this point that her anger turned to confusion, and her voice rose again, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"
I honestly didn't know what to say. My mind was reeling. This was not happening. Not yet. And I am the worst liar in the entire world. So I did it.
"It's true."
At this point, she threw herself onto the couch, and just sobbed. My own tears were stinging my eyes as I leaned over and cradled her. No words were said for several minutes, as her precious little mind wrapped itself around this information. Then she slowly lifted her head and looked up at us, "So you bought my ipod last year?" (I know what you're thinking, but it was the only thing she asked for - and I got the one Mike won at his work Christmas party, so we just gave her my old one.)
"Yes."

"But that was expensive."

"Yes."

And softly, "thank you." That melted my heart, that she would think to thank us after having her heart broken.

The rest of the evening was filled with questions, each spaced 5-10 minutes apart, her heart and mind still taking all of it in. Mostly the same ones Trevor had asked, with a few of her own. And about an hour afterwards, one of them came that made me laugh. 

"What about last year when Katy and me were sprinkling the reindeer dust in the yard, and we heard santa say, 'ho, ho, ho' and there were jingle bells?" (This was one we didn't plan, but the timing worked out great and got them in bed super fast.)

So I answered her, "That was just some neighbor outside tricking their own kids, and you just happened to hear it."

By the end of the night, she was smiling at the whole thing and was excited to be in on 'the truth'. And then we laid down the law. Except this was the only time I was able to say, "you can talk to ANYONE in our family, whenever you want".

A few days later, while in the car, she says to me, "mom, really santa does exist.... because we can all be santa, even me.... he's the spirit of giving."

Ahhhh, she had been listening. My heart almost couldn't fit into my chest.

But my moment was short-lived as she laughed and said, "oh yeah, he exists alright... he's at home putting the Christmas lights up on our house!" Then we both gave in to a fit of giggles.

Learning to Teach...

It has come front and center to my mind lately that I need to do more in teaching my children some of the basic truths of the gospel. It's been humbling, but I promise to do better. A couple of my reality checks:

1. I intercepted a tithing envelope from Tessa a couple of weeks ago.... and quickly scribbled over the note she had written on the back of it: "Dear bishop, heres som mony for you. I hope you can bye sumthing you want."

We had our Family Home Evening lesson tonight on tithing.

2. I overheard Trevor explaining to Tessa what missionaries are: "They're these guys that just go to RANDOM COUNTRIES and teach about the gospel."

Our lesson next week is missionary work.  

My Heart Melted...

My heart completely melted yesterday during sacrament meeting in church, when we were singing. Mike nudged me and pointed to Trevor, my 9-year-old. I couldn't hold back the tears when I watched him, with the hymn book just inches from him face and singing loud and strong, with full purpose of heart, 'I Believe in Christ', as though the words he was singing were piercing his little heart and melting into his whole being!
When the song was over, I looked over at Tessa, my 7-year-old, and she was drawing, and again I teared up at what she had just written... 'I am a child of God.'
How wonderful it is to know that my children are growing in the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that they are children of God... and that they do believe in Jesus Christ... we are so blessed!