year Santa brought us all shirts to support our beloved
collegiate teams. The kids were on the same wave length
as Santa and got Matt a BYU tie, a foam claw, and a
cougar head cap. Go Cougars!!
December 28, 2007
A BYU Christmas
If you don't know already, we are BIG BYU fans. This
year Santa brought us all shirts to support our beloved
collegiate teams. The kids were on the same wave length
as Santa and got Matt a BYU tie, a foam claw, and a
cougar head cap. Go Cougars!!
year Santa brought us all shirts to support our beloved
collegiate teams. The kids were on the same wave length
as Santa and got Matt a BYU tie, a foam claw, and a
cougar head cap. Go Cougars!!
December 21, 2007
Christmas Letter 2007
December 2007
Our family could win a beauty pageant. How do I know? I’ve got credentials. Check my resume. Just below my credits as World’s Tallest Man Sitting Up and a Kermit the Frog Impressionist, you’ll now find “beauty pageant judge”.
Having been identified as a discerning assessor of character with a keen eye for potential in today’s youth, I was asked to judge South Kitsap County’s Junior Miss Program.
In truth, I originally agreed to participate because I misread the invite. I thought I was going to be judging South Kitsap’s Junior Mints program. Certainly if anyone has the ability to tell a good Junior Mint from a bad one, it’s me.
As judge, our most important job was to grill each 16-year old girl for ten minutes with ridiculously tough questions that nobody besides Mitt Romney would ever expect to have to answer in real life. My fellow judges took these questions very seriously, asking things like “Recent polls have shown that most Americans can’t locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?”
Seeing the level of importance this was to have, I created my own thought-provoking questions to assess the contestants’ intellect and ability to think on their feet:
“Who would you want to win in a fight, and why: Superman or Spiderman?”
“What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?
“Who is the best looking judge on this panel?”
As I walked away from the event, I concluded that if put up against the contestants in this pageant, the Molen family would collectively thump the rest of the field. In fact, it would be so one-sided that I would fear for the self-esteem of the girls who competed. Here’s how the Molens would fare in each area of competition.
SCHOLASTIC
Those high school senior girls would shiver with dread when realized they’d be facing off against intellectual prowess of Cameron’s ilk. This third-grader is so smart that he has memorized the strength of every Pokemon and can tell you who would win between a Squirtle and a Bulbasaur (the answer is Bulbasaur). He’s such a golden academic that he reads the Harry Potter books before watching the movies! Who does that??
FITNESS
Those 16-year old dance team cheerleaders would pass out like Marie Osmond when they discovered they’d be up against Cassidy. Ten years younger than the rest of the field, this 1st grader is fit as a proverbial fiddle.
A master contortionist (okay, so she can do a backbend), a trained gymnast (she just mastered the round-off), a master of balance (no more training wheels) and a striker with more moves than Mia Hamm (she scored her first goal), we attribute her primo physical condition to her dietary discipline (just this morning she downed an entire box of Hostess “donettes” all by herself)!
VERBAL EXPRESSION
Kennedy will make her way to that microphone with confidence. This precocious three year old would have no stage fright. After all, this is the child who during the quietest moment at church breaks out in 200-decibels with this song:
Jingle Bells! Batman smells!! Robin laid an egg!!!Batmobile lost its wheel and Joker got away!!!!
And if given a tough question she doesn’t know the answer to, she’ll simply make up a song with nonsense words that all rhyme and leave the rest of us to ask ourselves if we’ve ever heard anything more profound.
POISE AND GRACE
This final category was tailor-made for my wife. Being the essence of elegance, style, and charm, Alisha would dominate in the nightgown portion of the competition. Huh? Evening gown? Right. That’s what I said, isn’t it?
Merry Christmas from the Molens!
Matt, Alisha, Cameron, Cassidy, Kennedy
Our family could win a beauty pageant. How do I know? I’ve got credentials. Check my resume. Just below my credits as World’s Tallest Man Sitting Up and a Kermit the Frog Impressionist, you’ll now find “beauty pageant judge”.
Having been identified as a discerning assessor of character with a keen eye for potential in today’s youth, I was asked to judge South Kitsap County’s Junior Miss Program.
In truth, I originally agreed to participate because I misread the invite. I thought I was going to be judging South Kitsap’s Junior Mints program. Certainly if anyone has the ability to tell a good Junior Mint from a bad one, it’s me.
As judge, our most important job was to grill each 16-year old girl for ten minutes with ridiculously tough questions that nobody besides Mitt Romney would ever expect to have to answer in real life. My fellow judges took these questions very seriously, asking things like “Recent polls have shown that most Americans can’t locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?”
Seeing the level of importance this was to have, I created my own thought-provoking questions to assess the contestants’ intellect and ability to think on their feet:
“Who would you want to win in a fight, and why: Superman or Spiderman?”
“What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?
“Who is the best looking judge on this panel?”
As I walked away from the event, I concluded that if put up against the contestants in this pageant, the Molen family would collectively thump the rest of the field. In fact, it would be so one-sided that I would fear for the self-esteem of the girls who competed. Here’s how the Molens would fare in each area of competition.
SCHOLASTIC
Those high school senior girls would shiver with dread when realized they’d be facing off against intellectual prowess of Cameron’s ilk. This third-grader is so smart that he has memorized the strength of every Pokemon and can tell you who would win between a Squirtle and a Bulbasaur (the answer is Bulbasaur). He’s such a golden academic that he reads the Harry Potter books before watching the movies! Who does that??
FITNESS
Those 16-year old dance team cheerleaders would pass out like Marie Osmond when they discovered they’d be up against Cassidy. Ten years younger than the rest of the field, this 1st grader is fit as a proverbial fiddle.
A master contortionist (okay, so she can do a backbend), a trained gymnast (she just mastered the round-off), a master of balance (no more training wheels) and a striker with more moves than Mia Hamm (she scored her first goal), we attribute her primo physical condition to her dietary discipline (just this morning she downed an entire box of Hostess “donettes” all by herself)!
VERBAL EXPRESSION
Kennedy will make her way to that microphone with confidence. This precocious three year old would have no stage fright. After all, this is the child who during the quietest moment at church breaks out in 200-decibels with this song:
Jingle Bells! Batman smells!! Robin laid an egg!!!Batmobile lost its wheel and Joker got away!!!!
And if given a tough question she doesn’t know the answer to, she’ll simply make up a song with nonsense words that all rhyme and leave the rest of us to ask ourselves if we’ve ever heard anything more profound.
POISE AND GRACE
This final category was tailor-made for my wife. Being the essence of elegance, style, and charm, Alisha would dominate in the nightgown portion of the competition. Huh? Evening gown? Right. That’s what I said, isn’t it?
Merry Christmas from the Molens!
Matt, Alisha, Cameron, Cassidy, Kennedy
December 12, 2007
Family Portraits
If you're anything like us, taking family pictures are
a huge chore that takes a LOT of patience. It's almost
impossible to get everyone smiling and looking good
to their liking in one single photo. We tried this year
but to our dismay they didn't turn out as hoped. Here
is an "okay" one along with some shots of the kids.
a huge chore that takes a LOT of patience. It's almost
impossible to get everyone smiling and looking good
to their liking in one single photo. We tried this year
but to our dismay they didn't turn out as hoped. Here
is an "okay" one along with some shots of the kids.
Santa Baby!
Santa came to our ward Christmas breakfast and we
actually got all three kids to sit on his lap without crying!
actually got all three kids to sit on his lap without crying!
December 11, 2007
Christmas in Seattle
Christmas is magical! On Saturday, our family
spent the day in Seattle and I couldn't help but be
overwhelmed by the Spirit of Christmas. The
glittering lights hanging from every tree, the musicians
playing and singing Christmas carols on the street,
the hustle and bussel of fellow shoppers, the bell
ringers who smile and wish you Merry Christmas,
and the cold air "nipping at your nose". I love this
time of year. Here are some shots of our December
day in Seattle.
We started the day off by wrapping presents for the Forgotten Children's Fund aka Santa's Workshop. If you live in the area I highly recommend this. Check it out at http://www.forgottenchildrensfund.org/EventsSchedule.htm
This is one of the trees from the Parade of Trees
called Sugar N Spice and Everything Nice.
Kennedy was fascinated by the horse and carriage. I think
it was her first time to see a real live horse close up. As you
can tell from the picture she couldn't take her eyes off him!
Of course we had to ride the carousel.
Can you believe this is a gingerbread house
completely made from candy? Amazing!
spent the day in Seattle and I couldn't help but be
overwhelmed by the Spirit of Christmas. The
glittering lights hanging from every tree, the musicians
playing and singing Christmas carols on the street,
the hustle and bussel of fellow shoppers, the bell
ringers who smile and wish you Merry Christmas,
and the cold air "nipping at your nose". I love this
time of year. Here are some shots of our December
day in Seattle.
We started the day off by wrapping presents for the Forgotten Children's Fund aka Santa's Workshop. If you live in the area I highly recommend this. Check it out at http://www.forgottenchildrensfund.org/EventsSchedule.htm
This is one of the trees from the Parade of Trees
called Sugar N Spice and Everything Nice.
Kennedy was fascinated by the horse and carriage. I think
it was her first time to see a real live horse close up. As you
can tell from the picture she couldn't take her eyes off him!
Of course we had to ride the carousel.
Can you believe this is a gingerbread house
completely made from candy? Amazing!
December 6, 2007
I've Been Tagged
Thanks to a friend and fellow blogger - Merideth - I have been "tagged". So here it goes...
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
In 1997...
1. I graduated from UVSC with an associate degree in Hotel Management.
2. Matt and I went to Hawaii for the first time. Ahhh! Hawaii!!
3. Matt and I had just moved from Provo to Bellevue. No kids yet but thinking about getting pregnant.
4. I worked at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Bellevue (now the Hilton) as a catering assistant.
5. I was working in the Young Womens program in my ward just as I am now. My favorite place to be!
5 things on my to-do list today:
1. The never-ending, dreaded laundry.
2. Go to Denise's Holiday dress sale. I so look forward to this every year!! Beautiful dresses at great prices.
3. Watch a friends kids while her and her husband go on a lunch date.
4. Update my blog. As you can tell I'm not very good at this.
5. Do some online Christmas shopping.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Quakes Rice Snacks of the Caramel Corn variety. Tastes great and doesn't make me feel too guity snacking on.
2. No Bake Cookies. I love any mix of chocolate and peanut butter but when you throw oatmeal in there too! Yum!! I can eat the whole batch by myself and usually do. The kids come home from school and get mad at me for eating them all. I just can't resist!
3. Biscoff Cookies. You know those crisp European cookies you get on airplanes? Love those! They are hard to find but the Walgreens down the road has them.
4. Chips. Funyuns, Sour Cream & Onion Lays, Pringles. Just about any chip hits the spot but are even better when there's dip involved.
5. I don't know if this is a snack but I love cheese fondue. I tell ya, I'm a dip girl!
5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Travel, travel, and travel some more. Fiji, Italy, Grease, Austraila, New York. I could go on and on.
2. I'll have to go with build my dream house. Ya know, one with air conditioning and a yard. : )
3. Take my whole family (all 44 of us) on a dream vacation. They deserve it!
4. Do some good in the community. Most likely a charity that helps children.
5. Did I mention travel?
3 of my bad habits:
1. Eating unhealthy. Most people think that since I'm a vegetarian I must eat healthy. Wrong! My favorite bad things are french fries smoothered in cheese and then dipped in a spicy ranch sauce, candy bars, cookies, cheese, anything smoothered in cheese, anything fried, and cheesecake. I can't go a day without some form of chocolate.
2. TV watching. I tend to watch a couple hours of TV a night. I love reality TV like Survivor, Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, and my absolute favorite - So You Think You Can Dance. Matt and I just went to the SYTYCD tour a week ago. AWESOME! That will definitely be an annual tradition. I also thoroughly enjoy Lost, Heros and 24.
3. Shopping. I love to shop a little too much. But I could never buy something at full price. My kids know this and often ask, "Is it on sale?" before asking if they can get it. My favorite stores are Target, Ross, and Nordstrom Rack. I live for Black Friday and after Christmas sales.
5 places I have lived:
1. Bartlesville, Oklahoma - I was born there and lived there until I left for college. Oklahoma is OK! (seriously, it's not as bad as you think)
2. Provo, Utah - Went to school at BYU and UVSC so from 18 to 22 years old
3. Bellevue, Washington - for 3 years and then North Bend, Washington for a year and a half
4. Atlanta and Villa Rica, Georgia - from 2001 to 2003
5. Issaquah, Washington - Moved back and lovin' it!
5 jobs I have had:
1. Sales associate at Afterthoughts, an accessory store in the mall
2. Doing dishes in the Cannon Center at BYU. Oh so smelly.
3. Body Heat. I worked at a tanning salon in Orem when I met Matt.
4. Executive Assistant to the hotel manager at the Provo Courtyard by Marriott. I loved this job! I got great perks like $30 hotel rates at any Marriott. I also worked as a front desk clerk at several hotels and as I mentioned earlier as a catering assistant at the DoubleTree.
5. Billing Manager. I worked at the same company as Matt, he being the Operations Manager. It was fun working so closely with my husband - we got to use the carpool lane and go out to lunch together every day. Highly recommend it.
5 things people don't know about me:
1. I am a pretty shy and quiet person. Sometimes I think this comes across as snobbish but I'm totally not. Just reserved. I also HATE being the center of attention and being up in front of people. Of course, my church callings have loosened me up some but I'm still uncomfortable with public speaking.
2. Kind of embarrassing but I won the Sexiest Legs contest when I was a senior in high school.
3. I was on the jump rope team in elementary school called the Cardiac Kids where we would travel around town to other schools and nursing homes etc. and perform jump rope routines (of all things!).
4. I have passed about 10 kidney stones since I was 20 and have more sitting in my kidneys just waiting for the right moment to make their move and cause me excruciating pain.
5. I have been in 10 car accidents throughout my life most of them being in my high school years. FYI - I was driving in two of them and only one of them was my fault (I rear-ended someone when Cassidy was choking on something in the back seat).
I tag Matt, Heidi, Crystal, Holly, and Rachel
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
In 1997...
1. I graduated from UVSC with an associate degree in Hotel Management.
2. Matt and I went to Hawaii for the first time. Ahhh! Hawaii!!
3. Matt and I had just moved from Provo to Bellevue. No kids yet but thinking about getting pregnant.
4. I worked at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Bellevue (now the Hilton) as a catering assistant.
5. I was working in the Young Womens program in my ward just as I am now. My favorite place to be!
5 things on my to-do list today:
1. The never-ending, dreaded laundry.
2. Go to Denise's Holiday dress sale. I so look forward to this every year!! Beautiful dresses at great prices.
3. Watch a friends kids while her and her husband go on a lunch date.
4. Update my blog. As you can tell I'm not very good at this.
5. Do some online Christmas shopping.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Quakes Rice Snacks of the Caramel Corn variety. Tastes great and doesn't make me feel too guity snacking on.
2. No Bake Cookies. I love any mix of chocolate and peanut butter but when you throw oatmeal in there too! Yum!! I can eat the whole batch by myself and usually do. The kids come home from school and get mad at me for eating them all. I just can't resist!
3. Biscoff Cookies. You know those crisp European cookies you get on airplanes? Love those! They are hard to find but the Walgreens down the road has them.
4. Chips. Funyuns, Sour Cream & Onion Lays, Pringles. Just about any chip hits the spot but are even better when there's dip involved.
5. I don't know if this is a snack but I love cheese fondue. I tell ya, I'm a dip girl!
5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Travel, travel, and travel some more. Fiji, Italy, Grease, Austraila, New York. I could go on and on.
2. I'll have to go with build my dream house. Ya know, one with air conditioning and a yard. : )
3. Take my whole family (all 44 of us) on a dream vacation. They deserve it!
4. Do some good in the community. Most likely a charity that helps children.
5. Did I mention travel?
3 of my bad habits:
1. Eating unhealthy. Most people think that since I'm a vegetarian I must eat healthy. Wrong! My favorite bad things are french fries smoothered in cheese and then dipped in a spicy ranch sauce, candy bars, cookies, cheese, anything smoothered in cheese, anything fried, and cheesecake. I can't go a day without some form of chocolate.
2. TV watching. I tend to watch a couple hours of TV a night. I love reality TV like Survivor, Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, and my absolute favorite - So You Think You Can Dance. Matt and I just went to the SYTYCD tour a week ago. AWESOME! That will definitely be an annual tradition. I also thoroughly enjoy Lost, Heros and 24.
3. Shopping. I love to shop a little too much. But I could never buy something at full price. My kids know this and often ask, "Is it on sale?" before asking if they can get it. My favorite stores are Target, Ross, and Nordstrom Rack. I live for Black Friday and after Christmas sales.
5 places I have lived:
1. Bartlesville, Oklahoma - I was born there and lived there until I left for college. Oklahoma is OK! (seriously, it's not as bad as you think)
2. Provo, Utah - Went to school at BYU and UVSC so from 18 to 22 years old
3. Bellevue, Washington - for 3 years and then North Bend, Washington for a year and a half
4. Atlanta and Villa Rica, Georgia - from 2001 to 2003
5. Issaquah, Washington - Moved back and lovin' it!
5 jobs I have had:
1. Sales associate at Afterthoughts, an accessory store in the mall
2. Doing dishes in the Cannon Center at BYU. Oh so smelly.
3. Body Heat. I worked at a tanning salon in Orem when I met Matt.
4. Executive Assistant to the hotel manager at the Provo Courtyard by Marriott. I loved this job! I got great perks like $30 hotel rates at any Marriott. I also worked as a front desk clerk at several hotels and as I mentioned earlier as a catering assistant at the DoubleTree.
5. Billing Manager. I worked at the same company as Matt, he being the Operations Manager. It was fun working so closely with my husband - we got to use the carpool lane and go out to lunch together every day. Highly recommend it.
5 things people don't know about me:
1. I am a pretty shy and quiet person. Sometimes I think this comes across as snobbish but I'm totally not. Just reserved. I also HATE being the center of attention and being up in front of people. Of course, my church callings have loosened me up some but I'm still uncomfortable with public speaking.
2. Kind of embarrassing but I won the Sexiest Legs contest when I was a senior in high school.
3. I was on the jump rope team in elementary school called the Cardiac Kids where we would travel around town to other schools and nursing homes etc. and perform jump rope routines (of all things!).
4. I have passed about 10 kidney stones since I was 20 and have more sitting in my kidneys just waiting for the right moment to make their move and cause me excruciating pain.
5. I have been in 10 car accidents throughout my life most of them being in my high school years. FYI - I was driving in two of them and only one of them was my fault (I rear-ended someone when Cassidy was choking on something in the back seat).
I tag Matt, Heidi, Crystal, Holly, and Rachel
October 9, 2007
Ghosts of Halloween Costumes Past
Halloween is such a fun time of year! The kids love deciding
what they're going to dress up as and carefully planning it
out months in advance. Thankfully mine aren't too picky
and don't mind wearing reruns occasionally. And of course
there's the candy factor. They always get WAY more candy
than they ever need and seem to still have some around
until after Christmas, even after gorging themselves the first
couple of days after. My personal favorite is the little ditty
the kids sing around the house the whole month of October.
It goes something like this:
Trick or Treat
Smell my feet
Give me something good to eat
If you don't, I don't care
I'll pull down your underwear
A friend of mine posted past Halloween pics of her kids
and I thought I'd steal her idea and do the same.
(Thanks Merideth!)
Here we go...
2000Cameron as Dr. McDreamy
2001Cameron as a Bear
Cassidy as a Pumpkin Head
(for some reason we were lazy and didn't
get her a real costume.)
2002Cameron as a Bear (again)
Cassidy as a Glamour Girl
2003Cameron as a Knight in Shining Armour
Cassidy as a Renaissance Queen
2004Cameron as a Knight (again)
Cassidy as a Princess
Kennedy as a Chocolate Kiss
2005Matt as John Travolta
Cameron as a Jedi
Cassidy as a Rocker Chick (Loved that costume!)
Kennedy as a Cowgirl
2006
Cameron as a Jedi (again)
Cassidy as a Cowgirl
Kennedy as a Bear
2006Cameron as a Jedi (again)
Cassidy as a Cowgirl
Kennedy as a Bear
(Boy, we sure did our moneys worth
of the Bear costume!)
September 18, 2007
School is Back in Session
September 14, 2007
Seabrook
We took one last summer trip to the Washington coast over Labor Day weekend. We stayed at this new little beach town called Seabrook. We were lucky enough to have our friends - the Rules - come with us.
At the beach. Can you believe it was
actually warm enough for us to take our jackets off?
My friend Amy and I. Do we look alike? We had someone ask us if we were sisters.
My Kennedy.
Sisters.
Kennedy just recently realized that it's fun to smile and pose for the camera. Finally! Before I couldn't get her to slow down enough to get a good shot.
The kids. Peyton, Kiersten, Cassidy, Kennedy, and Cameron. Posing in the rain.
At Seabrook they have flex bikes around town that anyone can use. Because of our gracious friends, Matt and I were able to take a bike ride - just the two of us. I don't think we'd ever done that before.
Cameron on "his" bike.
The girls. Kiersten, Cassidy, and Kennedy. I think their favorite was the hot tub, the park, and the nightly smore fest.
Matt and Troy playing football in the park. If it wasn't a football, it was a frisbee and if it wasn't a frisbee it was a bocce ball and if it wasn't a bocce ball it was a volleyball.
Listen up boys! Amy and I will beat you next time!!
Matt and Cameron at the indoor water park in Ocean Shores.
Cassidy enjoying the slides ...over....and over...and over again.
Sunsets on the beach. My favorite!
A cool thing about the WA coast is the fact that you can drive on the beach just steps away from the waters edge. Too bad we had our mini van instead of this cute convertible.
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