Dec: In GR: We went to the Sommerdyke's cottage to ice skate on the lake.  Nicki's first time and I can't remember the last time I ice skated!  After pigging out, we went for a walk across the lake...following other people's footprints for fear of falling into the lake.  After which, we played a round of cards.

Went to GR for Christmas:  Saw Polar Express, made snowmen, snow angels, and gave a puppet show.

Wurzer's came back for Thanksgiving.  We threw a baby shower for Jenn.  Nicki & M.E. got into my makeup....

Ballet & Shawn at 7 days!

Swim Birthday Party at Maki

Dressup/Halloween:

VanHerps came out to visit:

9/18: Great America w/Levins  

7/29: Hugging cousins & playing Hide-n-seek

After coming back from HA, we went to the Levin's so Nicki & Brian could catch up...as bums

July: Our first 5 days were sheer heaven.  Nicki & I went to a different beach everyday.  Waimea, Hanauma Bay, Waikiki, Kailua, and Keiki beach.  Nicki was fearless.  She got several times in waves where she flipped around and her hair came up looking the color of sand...ok, it was full of sand.  But she just cracked up laughing and wanting more.  We snorkeled...or actually floated on a boogie board sideways and used our swimming goggles to look at the fish.  Nicki was amazed on how many fish she could see and loved seeing the "fish wearing stripes".  At Waikiki, she even stood on a surfboard as Sally held the board in place.  Nicki managed to keep her balance despite the waves coming in and out.  I even got on the board for a whole 6-10 seconds.  I didn't catch the wave myself (someone helped push the board) but did stand for a bit.  The second try was not as successful.  Definitely a fun sport!  We tried our hand at kayaking but the wind was too strong (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) so we didn't make it to the nearby island.  In between beaches, we tried to help with the wedding preparations.  We only got sun burnt once...ok, twice but we are nice and tanned now.

Then we checked into the Turtle Bay Condos where we had access to a pool since Mom and Grandma were showing up.  Yup, we were in the pool everyday.  We even managed to make it to Turtle Bay beach with Mom & Grandma where we "snorkeled" again.  We saw more fish but no turtles.  Guess we were there at the wrong time of the day.

The 4th of July celebration was on the 3rd.  Unfortunately, Nicki did not like how close we were to them.  They were a bit too loud for her and she wanted me to "turn off the fireworks".  Even indoors with the muffled sound was too loud for her.

Other things we saw:  The Dole plantation maze, Waimea falls, a luau, the Polynesian Cultural center with it's evening show, and the Bowfin & Missouri Memorials (we were too late for the Arizona).

The last day was a tough one.  We had to leave and it was quite warm.  By the end of the day, Nicki ended up with a slight fever and lack of appetite.  But she's good as new now!

April: After pulling the bushes in the front yard, Nicki found a bunch of rocks in the dirt.  She was laying them out on the driveway and Alex (the neighbor) told her that "rocks need dirt to grow and live".  He was just trying to get her to move the rocks out of the car's way.  She took it to heart and made sure all the rocks were nearby.  Over the course of 3 weeks, Alex would swap out a rock and put a larger rock in its place.  Soon, he told her that she should water the rock as well to ensure it grew.  So there we were watering the rock before watering the few plants it planted nearby.  In the picture below, is "the rock" about 1-2 times before it reached its "adult state".  The "growed" rock reaches her thigh in height and is a nice decorative rock for the bed.  Although Alex has told Nicki, the rock is an adult rock and will not grow anymore, she continues to water it.  She's positive it will grow as "high as the moon".

4/6: Clarence was in town and played nicely with Nicki.  Maybe his son and daughter are rubbing off on him :)  Check out his wings.

6/6: At Elana's birthday party, I was snapped back into reality.  I kept thinking my girl is a big girl but standing next to the 6 year olds, she looks like a tiny thing.  :)  During the party, she got to ride a pony 

3/25: We went to Park City, UT for a nice mini vacation with the Feigin's.  There was hardly any snow when we arrived but the next day took care of that.  Luckily I didn't have the renege on making snow angels!  Nicki even got to ride on a sled for a while...until I got tired.

Nicki & Marly with the snowman

"Hmm, rain gutters are needed here"                                                                                                

In Mom's makeup

4/8: Made Easter eggs...of course, I forgot to take pictures during the making of the eggs but here is one from that day:

2/17:  I had Nickol decorate flower frames for the family and put the picture of her in the frame for Valentines.  Look at the cute butterfly valentine he made her.  One of the candy hearts says "marry me".  

Jan: Ballet & Chinese New Year

3/23: M.E. came down for a visit.  The girls got to play a lot together.  Nickol rarely got jealous...if you'd call it that.  It was more that she didn't understand that she is 10 lbs more than M.E. so it's harder for me to carry her.