Sweet Tatiana!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, who wouldn't in Hawaii! When we arrived back at the beach house, Tatiana gave me a Mother's Day gift that she purchased in Hawaii with her own money. A little blue glass dolphin that says Hawaii on it. She is so thoughtful and sweet. I am so blessed to have such and amazing daughter...and wonderful sons...and terrific husband!

Mother's Day at the Hawaii Temple - Day 3

On Sunday morning (our third day in Hawaii) we went to church service at the local Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. It was a wonderful service and a lot of fun to see all the Hawaiian dresses and leis. The coolest part was this is MOTHER'S DAY! What a way for Connie and I to spend our Mother's Day!

After Church we went over to the temple grounds and walked around. We also went inside the visitor's center and talked with the missionaries and looked around. It is such a sweet spirit!

Ben giving a very goofy pose...silly boy.

Three more of my handsome young men.

My handsome hubby and me standing in front of the temple.

The whole family.

Standing in front of the Christus Statue. The last time I was near one of these was when my brother left on his mission and it was the one on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Very cool!

Nick standing by the statue, "Lehi Blessing Nephi". It has a plaque with it that had 2 Nephi 3:21 out of the Book Of Mormon.

A precious picture.

Our BEAUTIFUL daughter with the fountain and the temple behind her.

OUR ETERNAL FAMILY!

Ben picked up some literature...because he liked the pictures. The missionaries were very kind and said he could have them.

What a beautiful morning!

Easter Testimony and Traditions

I love Easter. It is a special time of year for so many reasons. Spring is in the air, or soon coming. Bulbs and trees are blooming, adding touches of color to the earth. But most importantly it is a time to reflect on the life and mission of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. To remember why He was born, what He taught us through His example and teachings, His ultimate atonement and sacrifice, and His glorious resurrection. I am so grateful to our Father in Heaven for His wonderful Plan Of Salvation. I am so grateful to Him for giving His Only Begotten Son to die for us. I am so grateful to my Savior for His sacrifice and love. I KNOW Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I KNOW He is the only begotten Son of our Heavenly Father. I KNOW they both love each of us. I KNOW He suffered and died for ME, that I may also live again and be saved. I KNOW that HE LIVES and that He is aware of us, concerned for us, watches over us, and loves each of us. Yes, I love Easter, and I love sharing it with my family!

We still have many of the traditional activities. Dying Easter eggs is always fun!


The early morning Easter Egg hunt. We also have 12 eggs that are marked and have a different symbol of the Easter Story in them. They are called the "Resurrection Eggs" and can be found here. http://www.annieshomepage.com/eastereggs.html




We all get dressed in our new Easter clothes and go to church. Here are the kids as we just arrived at church. The door we walk into has this beautiful picture of the Resurrected Christ. I quickly grabbed my camera out of my purse, which I just happened to have with me, and took this photo of the children in front of the painting. Awesome.


Easter baskets! One of the fun things about Easter. This year they got a chocolate bunny, a kite (Nick has two kites already so he got an extra game), games, books, and Andrew got a cartoon movie from Deseret Book. They had fun playing games together all day.


Happy Easter to a happy family... happy, thanks to Heavenly Father's plan!

Valentine's Fun

The annual school Valentine's Day parties were a big hit again this year. Andrew came along for Ben's preschool one. The boys had a lot of fun and love was in the air!

Yummy treats...

Loving smiles...

Playtime for little brother...

handmade valentines box...

Ben had a great time! Happy Valentine's Day!


Tatiana's class party was also a big hit. One of the best things about it is that we were able to sneak around and make her teacher, Mrs. Peters, a bouquet of flowers! Each kid in class made one of these coffee filter flowers, Mrs. Peters just assumed it was a craft they were going to take home. I was discretely bringing children into the back corner to have them sign this vase I had decorated and then we put the flowers in and presented her with a bouquet of love that will never die. She was very touched and the kids were thrilled that we pulled it off!

Tatiana and her valentine box. She is my little sweetie! Happy Valentine's Day!


On Valentine's Day, I gave everyone a little something. It was fun and I love any holiday! The kids were not expecting anything so this was a nice treat!They all got a little LEGO kit (the $5 ones). Even Andrew got a little DUPLO Thomas! He loves it! Nathan got a backpacking book and some chocolate. The whole family got an ice cream kit. Recipes for homemade frozen treats and a bunch of toppings and new ice cream bowls! Yummy!

Love, sweet love!

Pheasant Hunting!

On New Years' Eve Nathan and Nick had the opportunity to go Pheasant hunting. They had a great time together and the weather was really nice.



Later that evening we had our annual New Year's Eve party. It was a lot of fun and we played "Minute To Win It" again. We had a few families over and ringed in the new year watching the ball drop in New York City in real time using the internet. Then we were done at 9:00PM (our time) and the kids could all go to bed at a decent hour but still enjoy the excitement of ringing in the new year and blowing noise makers. I know I took pictures at the party, but do not know where they are! Oh well, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

More Christmas...

In my last post I told you about stroopwafels from Holland. Here is a picture of Tatiana and me making some. Yummy!


Our BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, WONDERFUL children!


We have another very special Christmas tradition. We all draw names and MAKE each other a gift. We open these gifts on Christmas Eve to set them apart from the others. Except for the new pajamas we also open Christmas Eve.

Here is what Andrew made for Daddy, he colored a picture frame. So colorful!

Tatiana made me an origami Nativity. I collect Nativities so this is very special. She is so talented!

Nick didn't have my name for gift making this year, but I have to include the LEGO nativity that he made too! Pretty good!


Nathan made Nick a display case for all his Tae Kwon Do trophies and medals. Now he can proudly display them!

Ben made Tatiana a insulated lunch bag for school. (Okay, mom helped him a little, but he did sit on my lap at the sewing machine and he helped cut out the fabric. He was there every step of the project and he was very proud of it.)

Nick painted these wooden car pegs for Ben. Each wheel has a peg on it to hang something from. They have been very useful in Ben's room.

Mommy made Andrew a little Thomas bag and a Thomas crayon roll to use at church or wherever. He puts his little notebook and crayon roll along with a couple toys in his bag and he is very proud of it.


Everyone did a great job thinking of what the other person would like for a gift and putting their heart into it. I love this tradition! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I think Christmas morning comes too soon for daddy! ...hmmm...and maybe Nick too? Just kidding.

Present time!

All the kids got nutcrackers this year. They all wanted one so that was a nice treat.

Check out what Santa left in our stockings! Along with the traditional breakfast, everyone received a sleigh bell and a root beer from the North Pole!

Ben LOVES his Toy Story Ukulele and his Thomas Train station!

Our youngest was wiped out with all the excitement!

Normally our tradition is to stay in our pajamas all day. But Nick and I broke away from tradition and attended a baptism at our church. What a nice think to do on Christmas Day! Nick really had bonded with these two Missionaries and they even had spent the morning with us. They came over at 7:30AM in their pj's to open presents with us! That was fun.

One of Tatiana's favorite things was this cooking set I made for her. An apron, chef's hat and oven mits!

Other Christmas Day traditions that I didn't get pictures of were the gooey caramel rolls, the afternoon movie (We watched "Despicable Me"), the daddy nap, more puzzle work, ham dinner left overs, and LOTS of playtime with the new fun and exciting toys.

This year Santa brought everyone just what they wanted;
Nick - remote control helicopter (with a camera!)
Tatiana - a nice wooden magic kit (she has gotten pretty good!)
Ben - A Thomas the Tank Engine train set
Andrew - a toy kitchen (manly colors of course)

He also brought Nathan an in-car hand-free cell phone thing for his vehicle (can you tell how pathetically non-techno I am!) And he brought me a stroopwafel iron with ingredients and two recipes to try out! I was so excited about that! Stroopwafels are these delicious super thin little caramel filled waffle cookies they sell in Holland and now I can make them at home! Yeah!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve with the Tolmans

Christmas Traditions...things that happen every year without even thinking much about them. But when you do think about them, you think of Christmas! What does Christmas Eve look like at your house? Here is a look at our day...

Watching the good ol' classic Christmas cartoons; Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Clause is coming to Town, etc. They never get old and every new generation loves them just as much. This year Ben and Andrew's favorite was Frosty. They loved to quote him by saying, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Every time Frosty came alive and said that the boys would get the belly laughs. They love it.

Snickerdoodles and eggnog, a classic!

A tradition that Nathan brought from his side is putting Sprite into the eggnog. It thins it out a bit and makes it bubbly, yummy!

We have to do at least one puzzle every year. We start it on Christmas Eve and then it is something that Nathan can work on through out the next few days as the kids are playing with their new toys. It is fun now as the kids are getting older they really enjoy helping him with the puzzles. (Personally, puzzles give me a headache, shhh... don't tell Nathan. ;-) He loves them.)
The kids love making gingerbread houses. We usually cheat and use graham crackers instead.

There is always a little time for a good book...and usually a nap.

Some last minute present wrapping.

Our traditional ham dinner. Mmmmm...I can almost smell it!

After dinner we usually watch a Christmas movie as a family. A couple of our favorites are "Mr Krugar's Christmas" or "The Nativity Story".

Then it is off to bed early so that Santa won't skip our house! Ahhh...sugarplums!