Christmas bells are ringing!

It's really starting to feel like Christmas. Last night we picked out our tree at a lot run by the boy scouts. It's not the picture above, but the one below. After getting our tree we were driving around looking at Christmas lights and found a little Christmas fair going on. Spencer was so thrilled to see reindeer there. He knew what they were right away thanks to our collection of Christmas books that we've been reading lately. They had several ice sculptures and even someone making them in front of everyone. How exactly do you get into the profession of ice sculpting?
The houses here are gorgeous. The following is a picture of the fire station. Seriously, how many towns have a fire station that looks like this?
Spencer was so excited to go to the library to see Santa today. He kept saying, "Let's go see Santa!" I think he prefers Santa from a distance, though. This is a picture from the 2 seconds he was on Santa's lap. I hope he's not scarred for life.
Speaking of scarring children, maybe that's what we did when we woke Spence up at 4:45 AM last Friday so we could get some good deals. We just went to Target (well, and Old Navy since we were already up) because Brant's Christmas present was there at a great deal (a GPS). Even though it may have looked like child abuse, Spencer actually had a really fun time. Here are my boys putting shoes on so they're ready to shop!
Here's Spencer playing at Old Navy. He looks pretty happy, doesn't he?

Fall in Columbus

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I think it's Spencer's new favorite holiday. He was so excited to be "punkin boy" for Halloween. He really caught on to trick-or-treating and now whenever he wants a treat he'll come up to me and say, "trick-or-treat!" Sometimes it works because it's so cute.

He was so excited for real trick-or-treating (after having a practice run at the church's trunk-or-treat).
We picked our pumpkins at a pumpkin patch this year. The tractor ride was pretty cool. There was also a corn maze. We just followed Spencer and he made it through the first try, without getting lost.
Our three pumpkins.We also did a little hiking in Hocking Hills (about 2 hours south of Columbus). It was beautiful. Actually, fall in general is gorgeous in Ohio. I've never seen so many colors and the weather has been perfect almost every day.

Spencer's 2!

Spencer turned 2 last Tuesday! He is such a fun and adorable little toddler. He loves to laugh and is almost always happy. He's especially happy when cake and ice cream are involved.

I made this cupcake cake from a kit that my sister, Amie, got for me. It's got different cupcake forms that go together like a puzzle. I could have made a fish or a turtle, but thought the bear with balloons fit Spencer the best.

Spencer got cars (thanks Emily and Brian!), a book and cd (thanks Pam and Rich!), and a train set (thanks Mom and Dad!) for his birthday. He loves cars, books, music, and trains so he was a happy camper. He could have stayed up all night playing.

On Spencer's birthday I took him to see "Up!" at the dollar movies while Brant was at work. He loved sitting in his booster chair, eating popcorn, and watching the movie. Happy birthday, Spencer!

In other news, we are now the proud owners of... a minivan! We were looking for a little sedan for Brant to drive to work and came across this baby. It was a great price and why wait until you have 5 kids to buy one? Brant drives our Camry to work and I get to drive this around. I love all the space. Now I can fit a stroller AND groceries in the trunk!

My favorite part about Hawaii...

...is that I have an AWESOME tan. Seriously. All I had to do was sit on the beach on a tropical island every day. Brant and Spencer are a lot darker than I am, but at least I changed color. This is Kawela Bay also known as "Secret Beach". You have to walk past a sign on the side of the highway that says, "Keep Out. No Trespassing". That's right, we live a life of excitement and danger. Well, actually all beaches here have to have public access so we're always trespassing. I think most people don't know about this beach because most of the time we were there we were the only ones. We saw about 5 sea turtles! One was sunning himself on the beach (we thought he was dead at first because he wasn't moving but then discovered he was only taking a nap) and the others were all in the water. It's incredible how huge and beautiful they are.
Okay, okay, we won't go in the water...Twenty minutes from our house is Kualoa Ranch where they film a lot of movies (including Jurassic Park, Godzilla, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, and the TV show Lost). We took a bus tour of the different sites which was pretty cool.
Brant loved the "raw beauty of the mountains". This is the backdrop for the part of Pearl Harbor where the boy scouts see all the Japanese planes fly by. They were standing on the hill on the right.
This is the only macadamia nut farm on Oahu. We got to try several different flavors of macadamia nuts (delicious!) and see some neat plants. (I love this picture of Spencer.)

There was a crazy rainstorm on Sunday so we all went outside to play in it. Spencer thought it was hilarious to run and jump in the puddles. I definitely have the coolest husband ever. We were at the mall when he saw "The Claw." He suggested getting a ball for Spencer and I thought, no way, those things never work. But, get a ball he did! I was very impressed.

Two Visitors Equals Two Weeks of Fun in Hawaii

Well, this entry's from Brant. It's been quite the last couple of weeks! We've had two great guests (Danille--my sister, and Suzanne--one of Marcie's mission companions) and as a result we've done a lot of fun things. So, bear with the multitude of pictures found below, but hopefully it'll give you a taste for what we've been up to.

One day while I was studying for the tax section of the CPA Exam (took it on the 24th!), Marcie and Danille went to Waimea Valley. It's an area right by the beach that has a huge botanical garden and, as you can see below, a beautiful waterfall. Danille and Marcie got out and waded a bit and they had a great time.

On Thursday, the day before Danille flew back to the mainland, we went to the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) for the day. The PCC has six villages for six of the largest islands in the south pacific region (Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Aotearoa a.k.a. New Zealand). Each village puts on different presentations, dances, etc. to teach a little about the island's culture and history. The palm tree climber below was from Samoa.
At 2:30 each day, each island has a float in the river at the complex and performs some of its dances. Here below is Samoa and in the next picture is Spencer doing his best to impersonate the Samoan men!

Here's a little picture of the family in front of an area that talks about Easter Island.

When we were walking out at the end of the evening, we saw this statue and I simply couldn't resist the picture. All in all, the trip to the PCC was a great experience and we had lots of fun!

We had to go to the beach at least one more time before Danille left, so we quickly walked over to Hukilau beach the morning of her flight. We got some great pictures and had a great time. We were very glad she was able to come and spend so much time with us!

Our next visitor was Suzanne, one of Marcie's mission companions. Marcie was just chatting with Suzanne on the phone on Monday and told her Suzanne should come visit us because we have an extra room. An hour later, Suzanne calls back and said she had bought tickets to fly out the next morning and her bags were already packed! This last Wednesday, the four of us piled in our truck and we drove down to Pearl Harbor. It was a very somber experience but one that we just couldn't pass up.

Marcie, Spencer and me in front of the U.S.S. Bowfin, a submarine. The sub was commissioned exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was called "The Revenge of Pearl Harbor." Miraculously, it went on nine patrols, had tremendous success and did not lose a single submariner in combat!

The most memorable part of the trip was visiting the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attacked, a high-level bomber dropped an armor-piercing bomb straight through the heart of the Arizona, a massive battleship. The bomb went through several decks before exploding in the Arizona's weapon storage. The combined power of the Japanese bomb along with the explosion of all the Arizona's bombs was so powerful that the Arizona sunk incredibly fast and to this day, over 1,100 sailors are still entombed in the Arizona. It was a very humbling experience that helped us be more grateful for those who are brave enough to defend out country in the armed forces.

Below are pictures of the memorial itself; a part of the Arizona still visible through the water; the plaque dedicated to its sailors; another picture of the memorial; and a picture of the flag visible through the open ceiling of the memorial.

On a lighter note, this was a bench just outside the museum at Pearl Habor. Just in case it's too small for you to see, the sign reads "This bench is for authorized personnel only." Apparently they take everything seriously in the military, even the benches :)

Another fun part of the trip to Pearl Harbor was visiting the Battleship Missouri. It was the last Battleship built (1944), took part in the end of the war in the Pacific as well as the Korean war and then was recommissioned to help with the first Gulf War in the early 90's. The battleship was HUGE! It's the type of thing that makes every grown man turn back into a 10 year old boy :)

To put the size in perspective, the barrels to these "guns" handle shells that are 16 inches in diameter and can fire them 23 miles!

The Missouri is where the Japanese signed their official surrender in Tokyo bay. Below is the signature of the Japanese leaders, along with all major Allied countries and General MacArthur.

Suzanne left early yesterday morning and after a brief nap, we went snorkeling with another faculty member and his family. We went to Shark's Cove, but thankfully the Cove was void of any unfriendly creatures. The water was perfect and Marcie said it was one of the coolest thing she had ever done, and I agree--it was a lot of fun. We saw lots of schools of fish and some beautiful coral. Thanks, Nemrow family!