20 Year Tag with Nic and Hailey

This is a long one, and I was tagged by both Kenni and yin, so both Nic and I are going to fill this one out.


20 Years ago I: (Nic)

1. Was 11 years crazy and lived in Hillsboro, Oregon.
2. Showed my first hefer cow, Erica, my first crush, at the county fair.
3. Learned to drive the hay truck.
4. Wanted to be a fighter pilot (side note: Nic has his pilots license-which helped him win the love of the fair Hailey.)

20 Years ago I: (Hailey)

1. Was nine (yes, this is the dreaded 3oth year, but I'm going to have a huge dance party to make up for it. You are all invited.)
2. Was in a competive dance group, loving dance, and hating the group. My aunt was the teacher, and she had it out for me, which, having nieces and nephews now, I totally don't understand her.
3. Rocked huge feathered bangs 4 inches high and a sweet perm.
4. Dreamed of having Charles in Charge of me, and owning a hyper-color t-shirt and Girbaut jeans like Eric Dahl.

10 Years ago I:(Nic)

1. Was 21, sitting on the floor teaching religious lessons, eating fermented soybeans.
2. I just returned home from my mission in Japan. I spent 5 days at home before shipping off to BYUH again, where I met the fair maiden Hailey.
3. Was skinny dipping in the Hawaiian waters, loving being an rm.
4. Realized that surfing was not a good career for me and transferred to Oregon State University (GO BEAVS!).
5. Between BYUH and OSU, met and married my awesome wife Hailey.


10 Years ago I:(Hailey)

1. Was a skinny, hot 18/19 year old and had no clue. I totally should have worked it, but had no self awareness.
2. Finished first and only year at USU, lost scholarship, and met amazing people.
3. Was living with my awesome Grandma Ginna, working for a computer programming firm making a lot of money, but didn't want to be stuck in a job already, so went to BYUH.
4. Dated two guys at the same time and left them to go to BYUH. (Probably the only scandalous thing about me.)
5. Left everyone I knew and went to Hawaii and hated it for the first month. Good thing I stayed, huh.

5 Years ago I:(Nic)

1. Just graduated OSU in Construction Engineering Management.
2. Purchased Hillcrest Apartments, naively thinking "Managing apts. is easy, right?"
3. First year of Hawaiian Shave Ice at the county fair.


5 Years ago I:(Hailey)

1. Had a beautiful 2 yr old daughter, Kennedy, lived in a basement apt in Corvallis, managing the Riviera Apartments.
2. Went back to Hawaii with Nic and friends for graduation.
3. Toured around West Coast interviewing for jobs for Nic, fell in love with everywhere we went, and then ended up back at home.

3 Years ago I:(Nic)

1. Was 28, started construction business with brother and dad, VIAL PHAM LLC.
2. Took Hailey to Maui in August, and whole family in October for BYUH Jubilee.
3. Got called into bishopbric on a Wednesday, and next day found out that Hailey was pregnant with twins.

3 Years ago I:(Hailey)

1. Was pregnant with twins, and had a 1 year old and a 4 year old, and was seriously thinking of running away.
2. Loved all the dumb comments strangers made when they found out she was pregnant with twins and pushing her baby in a stroller, like, "Was this planned?" are you serious? Like you just push a different button and get twins?
3. Was sporting the shortest haircut of her life and won't forget it.
4. Got to be pregnant for a second time with Chelle.

So far this year I:(Nic)

1. Built my first park, complete with playground, pond and pavilion. Now have ulcer.
2. Was released from the bishopbric. The bishop says it's to spend more time with my family, but I think it was the four letter words I let slip about the young men in our ward.
3. Am now in the young mens presidency in our ward. Just spent a week with said four letter word young men.



So far this year I:(Hailey)

1. Have moved to a beautiful house, in the same ward, and am loving THE TOY ROOM (That's in caps because that is hollered at my children several times a day when they start migrating into the "Do not touch" front room. I've always wanted one of those.)
2. Started using this blog as a way to find old friends and new friends. Your lives are fascinating to me, and I appreciate all the effort you make to update them. As we move away and get busy, it's nice to have a quick way to see how you all are doing.
3. Wonder if September will ever come! I have the 3 youngest enrolled in the best preschool ever! It's 12/hours a week! I'm in heaven, I have no idea what I will do with all that time to myself. Imagine, shopping at Target and Costco without the ginormous 8 passenger cart, getting stopped by strangers wasting your time saying, "My, oh my, don't you have your hands full? Are they triplets? No, just twins, was that planned? You really should appreciate this time, before they are all gone...blah, blah, blah." Yes, lady I do, and they all have an expiration before they start weeping, wailing and nashing their teeth, peeing their panties, and other great embarrassments. (Sorry, it just will be nice to get in and out of a store without drama for once.)
4. Got hooked on the Twilight series, became a groupie, went to a book signing a couple of months ago, will be up all night friday reading the fourth book, and to top it off, am driving up to Seattle with my book club, "Hoochie Mommas Bookclub", to the 4th book signing in a couple weeks. Soooo excited. (Sidenote: I have an extra ticket, if you are awesomely nerdy and want to go with me and the other "Hoochies" and sleep over in Seattle and party like a teenage girl in love with a vampire. Yah jealous!)

Fair 2008

The Washington County Fair is over, insert a big phew here. This has been our 5th year running Tutu's Hawaiian Shave Ice booth at the fair. If you're around Portland the last week of July, come on by our booth and try a shave ice with ice cream in the bottom, my favorite is Tiger's Blood. It felt weird this year, I wasn't pregnant, nursing, or having a baby strapped to my person. My kids could walk by themselves, and they loved all the animals and sights to see. Here's some memories of years past....

2007, I made matching cowgirl outfits for the girls

Kennedy putting in her order with daddy, 2003

Building the booth

Our tastetesters, Colby and Nate in 2003

Chris and Chris working the booth, 2003

Me and Chelle, our matching baby bjorns containing a 2 week old CC, and a 5 week old Anders, and Kennedy in 2004

Grandpa Rich and baby Sierra 2004

Chris, Kevin, Shelby, and Steve in 2004

Kennedy got hooked up with free pony rides, we traded for shave ice

CC loving the play area in 2005

Alicia looking hot in 2005

We had these in 2006, nothing else happened, and if it did, I don't remember

I only remember because there's a photo

Kennedy in our hula photo poser thingy made by my bro Kirby

2007, with our friends the Newmyers and Deans and Lichtensteins

Natelin, chillin'

This year, Lance and his tongue of many colors - he had to taste every flavor so he could tell the customer what they were like.

Alicia and I looking a little pink (it's the tarp ceiling)

Halsey, Brooke, and their insanely adorable little Cameron

K and CC and Mother Goose

Samuel the Lichtenstein, you rock!

Our new tastetesters

Getting all gooey over Cameron

Hung Tao is the flavor King

Harris's and their flying son Caden

Newmyers on Parade

The Lady monster truck driver and her sweet ride

CC and the boys watching the show

Kennedy and Mom

The END! (ava)

Monster Trucks Rock!

I love Monster Truck shows. I grew up going to them with my Dad and brothers. My blood just starts boiling when I hear the roar of the engines. Oohhh yeah! So, we just finished up with the Washington County Fair, we have a Hawaiian Shave Ice booth (I'll post more of that later), and Nic and I went to the Monster Truck show there. It was AWESOME! Bill Payne drove a beast named Rock Star, and I found this clip on youtube of him driving at another show and rolling. Tonight he drove his truck in reverse, popped a wheeling going backwards and road his nose in the dirt for 100 feet. It was so awesome.

random survey

Got this off Yin's blog.

1. What’s your favorite movie soundtrack?

I LOVE SOUNDTRACKS! (Yes I just did all caps and an exclamation point, that's how seriously in love with soundtracks I am!)
Wicked, Little Miss Sunshine, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Annie, Chocolat, and Once

2. What’s your favorite holiday?

Halloween

3. What’s your favorite planet?

Earth, and Mars (if we ever get there)

4. What is the last book you read for fun?

The Host (same as Yin)

5. What’s the craziest space doctrine you’ve ever learned in a Church context?

(Oh ho ho, this is me rubbing my hands together and loving this question)
I usually stick with the phrase, "Save the mysteries of Heaven, for Heaven," but I do love it when here say and folk lore creep up into a lesson as gospel. I warned our RS Presidency that in asking me to teach, they had full reign to stop me at anytime when my Utah culture comes out, and I start spouting things I'd heard from seminary as fact. So, nothing in particular, it's all good.

6. What’s your dream job?

Dance Teacher

7. What’s your favorite food group?

Sugar, preferably the licorice category

8. What’s your favorite letter of the alphabet?

H

9. What’s your favorite musical instrument?

Guitar

10. Which of the Standard Works do you like best (counting OT and NT separately)?

BOM

11. If you weren’t (or aren’t) Mormon, what religion would you be?

I'd be a witch. So that's wiccan right? I think I would not really be into organized witch religion, but I'd like to be a Harry Potter type witch. All the fun, without too much creepy.

Using your agency to choose His will, and not slackening even when the going gets hard, will not make you God’s puppet; it will make you like Him. God gave you agency and Jesus showed you how to use it so that eventually you could learn what They know, do what They do, and be what They are.

-D. Todd Christofferson was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this
devotional address was given on 31 January 2006

Swimming Fish

My girls have been taking swimming lessons from their Grandma Paula, and here are some of the pictures I remembered to take.  It's easy to forget to take swimming pictures, mostly because every camera I've had in the past has died from drowning.  One met its end while we were hiking the NaPali coast hike in Kauai, and the last one died right in the middle of our NY trip.  So we have several vacations that have only half the pictures. 

Kennedy found a lady bug (on her hand).

Our friend Allie Love, a very cute fish!

Handsome Ethan T.  I couldn't decide if I should put the color or B/W picture on here, because he has beautiful blue eyes and white hair.  Nicolina and Scott sure make a good looking baby!

Princess Cowgirl Maryn!

Skinny Girls Soaking Up The Sun!

Phams are Phish! Cousin Ronny, Vivian, and Dillan.

Twinkies In Togas

TFOT

If you know what TFOT stands for, you might be a mormon.

No, seriously, I just got a new calling and it's the TFOT RS teacher.  I'm new to the lesson that you have to completely write up using a conference talk and I'm wondering if anyone knows any websites that have good help/info on these lessons.?

Happy 4th

We celebrated CC, Ava and Bree's birthdays together on the 4th of July at the farm. It was a fantastic day, thanks to everyone that came and shared the day with us.  I worked hard to make a playlist for the fireworks, and it turned out great. Next year will be even better, so mark your calendars. Here's some of the hundreds of pix I took that day.

Cazier Invasion

Thanks for the visit J & C, Mom, K, and S! It was fantastic to have everyone together again, I'm just  T. O.'d that we didn't get a photo of all four of us Cazier's.  (If you say that like Napolean Dynamite's brother does it's funnier (and yes, that is a word!))

Here's some of the good times.

Deep thoughts with Hailey....

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like lately because of a couple things. 

1. I'm worried that some psycho will use the photos and info about my kids in a bad way.  I don't need any help thinking the worst of people.  My mind creates the worst things, and so I'm reluctant to put all the fun things we've been doing.  Is this valid? I'm not sure, but I wonder what you think.  

2. It's summer, they are all with me, all day long, everyday. 24/7.   I don't have a lot of spare moments, but I will! Come fall the 3 youngest will be in preschool for 12 hours/week and Kennedy will be in 2nd grade (how did that happen?!).

3. I lost my camera for a good week, it was pretty traumatic since it had the girls' dance recital on it. But, salvation came in the form Kennedy this morning. She found it in a basket of toys. Hallelujah! Now if you could only find the prescription eye drops I just paid $50 for! 

So, I'm going to get back into this, slowly. I'm still hung up on #1.