How lucky am I?

When I was growing up, I can only remember one time my father raised his voice at me. The one time he did yell, we were hunting and he told me to get down because somebody was shooting towards me. Hard to believe, but completely true. Ask any of my siblings. That's just the kind of man he is. How lucky am I to have been raised that way?

I recently learned a little something about my wonderful husband. When we went to Destin for Jarin's military training, he asked me to put his flight suits in my bag, since it was bigger and he had run out of room in his smaller bag. Things got busy and we left town hours later than we had intended and I left those flight suits right where he had left them in our room. I discovered my mistake at 10:00 pm on Sunday as I was unpacking the bag. Training began at 7:30 am the next day. You can't just buy a new flight suit either. They're military issue. Plus he had no name tag or military patches. I didn't expect him to yell at me. He never has. But the more I think about it, the more thankful I am for such a loving and patient husband. He paused for a moment, then laughed and gave me a big hug. We called a friend and borrowed a flight suit and flight cap from him. (Its a small world in the church and military.) It was ill-fitting as Jarin is 6' 4" and Aaron is 6', the patches and nametag were all wrong and the hat was a little snug on Jarin's giant noggin, but he never complained or even took a little jab about it. How lucky am I to be married to such a great guy? I could go on and on about Jarin. He's the best husband and father I could ever ask for and the longer I know him, the more impressive I find him to be.

Destin, FL, part 2

I wanted to get a nice picture of the kids on the pier. This was the best I could do. This picture is seriously the best representation of what my life is like right now. I have these wonderfully happy and spirited children who make my world so exciting! We do such fun things together, but nothing ever turns out how I plan it out in my mind. I think I'll frame this one and hang it somewhere that I'll see it daily. It just makes me laugh!

A local church near Destin was having a live nativity with a petting zoo. We took the kids and had a great time. They loved being around the animals and feeding them. The nativity itself was pretty sweet. They did a beautiful job of re-enacting it.

Destin, FL

We took a little trip to Destin, FL a couple of weeks ago. Jarin had some military training at Hurlburt Field, so we tagged along and had some great family time together while we were there.

We met up with Andrea Blum and her little boy Austin and they took us out to the jetty to climb the rocks and see some fish. In spite of the foggy, cool day, we had a great time. Nate loves the camera and says "cheethe" every time he sees it come out.

Jesse was so scared! I don't know if it was the dreary weather conditions or the size of the rocks with the water below or its likeness to the Goonies movie, but he was not excited at all about being there. He actually only went about half way out to the end, and turned back. Poor guy!

We saw some fishermen who were catching Grouper. This guy stopped and let the kids check out his catch. Elle was trying to keep the fish alive by pouring water on them!

Jesse "fell asleep" on Jarin. When I started talking about what a great boy he is, he gave me this giant sleepy grin!!

We brought the Wii along in case of inclement weather. Glad we did!

We checked out the local science museum. That's always a big hit with our kids. The bubble room was their favorite part!

Somehow, the kids ended up in our bed every morning. It was fun to have such a leisurely start to our day.

The fourth morning, the sun finally graced us with its presence. We played on the beach for a good portion of the day, then swam in the pool. Ahhhh! We did that every day anyway, but just for shorter periods of time.

Jarin's dad made us a really great set of chimes for Christmas one year. He was a master at coming up with very meaningful creative gifts. We have really enjoyed these. Our kids are getting old enough to join in the fun now!

Its Christmastime

I love this time of year!  I love having an excuse to bake yummy things.  I love all the Christmas cards in the mail from our friends all over the world.  I love the anticipation of Christmas morning.  I love the lights on the houses.  I love that so many people honor our Savior by remembering His birth.  What a great time of year!

Our church did a live nativity this year.  Jarin and the 3 older kids got to be angels.  It was a sweet experience for all of us and a lovely couple of evenings.

Jarin's dad made us a set of chimes for Christmas one year.  He was amazing at making gifts that were very meaningful.  Jarin comes from a very musical family and has blessed our home with his upbringing and natural talent.  The kids love the chimes.  They are so fun to play with.  This was the first year they were really able to participate with some success.  I'm excited to have this tradition for our family to learn and grow with.

I feel so blessed to have these four happy kids!  They are so fun and such a joy to me!  Sometimes its crazy, but that's what keeps interesting, right?  My grandpa always wore bowties, so I try to put them on my boys whenever possible.  These are in honor of him and it makes me smile whenever I think about it. 

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving was weeks ago!!  I'm sure you all thought I gave up on the blog.  But that is not true.  I still love my blog.  I just had to put it on hold while I caught my breath.  My busy little family keeps me.... well, busy!!  And a girl has to have her priorities!!

Our Thanksgiving was as wonderful as it was delicious!!  We spent it with our neighbors and dear friends, Chris and Pat.   I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of the food.  I love pictures of food!!!!  We had all the delicious favorites at Thanksgiving.  I was so impressed with Pat's turkey though.  It was SO MOIST!!  I made turkey noodle soup with some of the leftovers and it pained me to put such perfect turkey into soup.  But then it made great soup too!!  Anyway, we had a fantastic time.  It was so relaxed and fun!!  Thanks for having us Chris and Pat!!  We love having such fantastic neighbors!

Elle had the turkey leg.  She normally has a chicken drumstick, so why not a turkey one.  She actually did a pretty good job at eating it!

After nearly 10 years of being around planes, the novelty still hasn't worn off.  I love that our kids get to play around in the cockpit of these fancy jets!!  They love it too!!  How many kids get to engage in this kind of monkey business in a multi-million dollar military jet?  This picture was taken at the squadron Thanksgiving meal.  They usually have a plane open so the families can see what its like and show off for parents who may be in town.  The G-5 is an AMAZING plane!

A kid with character

Elle won the "kid with Character" award in her class at school.  What did she receive for this honor?  A gift certificate to Mimi's Cafe!  Thanks Mimi's!!  We'll enjoy a special mother-daughter lunch on you to celebrate!!

Speaking of character,  I don't think Jarin realized I was in the driveway with the camera when he took off on Elle's bike last week.  I thought it really showed "character"!  Isn't he hunky on the princess bike?

Great fun!!

Tonight we went to the Ruskin Family Drive In Theater. It was so much fun!!! We all piled in the back of the van and watched Madagascar 2 and Kung Fu Panda. It totally reminded me of the fun things we did growing up in the Hasler family. Nate fell asleep and ended up in his car seat and the other kids just snuggled in with us with tons of pillows and blankets. It was cool by Florida standards and a little breezy, but oh so much fun with our kiddos. I can't wait to go again!!!