Mele Kalikimaka

We had the UH-MAZ-ING opportunity to cruise the islands of Hawaii with my parents and my sister Janette and her husband Brian from Dec 12-19. Here are a few highlights!! I have to say that cruising is the absolute BEST way to see all the islands..basically a floating hotel with food and entertainment. Each day we spent on one of the beautiful islands seeing the sights.

Steve had a slight cold.....actually this picture is taken on the Big Island at Akaka Falls:)

Here we are on Kauai..we had just kayaked 2 miles up the Wailua river and then hiked a mile through the jungle to get to these beautiful falls, named Ulu Vea, meaning life giving. We swam in this pool and renewed our "bowl of light" before hiking/kayaking back.

On Maui we saw this ship on our way to church and had to stop and take a pic for Mamo and Poppa who so graciously watched our kids while we were away. We love you guys!! Thank you!

Here we are at Iao state park on the island of Maui. You can see some of the beautiful scenery we were able to enjoy behind us. We learned lots of Hawaiian history to.

We spent a day on Maui snorkeling at the Molokini crater. We were lucky enough to see 1/2 a dozen whales including a mom and her baby while cruising to our destination. We also ended the trip with a visit to turtle bay....lots of beautiful sea turtles..this was quite a memorable time. Mom even won the raffle on the Four Winds excursion that day!!

On the Big Island we spent a day touring the Kilahuea Volcano national park. We walked through the lava tubes, saw the steam vents and craters and drove down to the ocean to see where the most recent lava flow closed the road.

This picture is on Kauai where we rented a paddle board and did some body surfing. You can see our ship in the background...The Pride of America.

Too many pictures to share all of our happenings...suffice it to say that it was a trip we will remember FOREVER! It was like an early Christmas present/anniversary present combined. Thanks to both our parents for making this trip possible.

Mele Kalikimaka!!

Memories...

Shay found this at Walmart today and I couldn't resist buying it. This candy reminds me of my Great Grandma Amy (yes, she's my namesake) Everytime we visited her home we could have a piece of this kind of candy. I've eaten like 10 pieces already...

Some of my favorite Peeps!!

What a crew we've become! Just a few days previous we were all out running/biking our own home-made turkey trot....4.5 miles! We didn't look or smell as nice then....

This is Halloween...this is Halloween

Marie: this post is for you!!!:) Here is #1 nerd-bomber in her AWESOME dress she and Marie made...isn't she cute???

#2 nerd-bomber as Hermione Granger...she even let me put some curls in her hair...

#3 nerd-bomber I'm bumbed that I didn't get a better picture than this. It's hard to see, but we shaved the top of #3's head so that he matched his Dad. It looked pretty funny.

#4 nerd-bomber is a Sith Lord with his double bladed saber...

BOO!

It's cool when...

One of the dentists I work for happens to be an 11 yr old scout leader AND is planning an activity that my boy needs to pass off. Why? Because we only have 2 more months before he turns 12!(I know, I can't believe it myself) Anyhow, sounds like it was a killer hike up the Superstitions...thanks Doc!!

Why We LOVE Quincy!!!

Quincy is a quaint little town in Northern California where Steve grew up. His parents, Mamo and Poppa, still live there. We love visiting for many reasons!! Here are just a few.
We get to bring Sinbad along and he and their little Dachsund (Tootsie) play like long lost friends.

Sometimes we get to make a fun stop along the way. This time we surprised the kids with the trip to Universal Studios. They didn't even know what it was when we first pulled up. They quickly learned-and we had a blast going to shows and riding the rides.

Poppa and the kids made lots of yummy blackberry jam from the handpicked fruit Poppa picked and stored. MMMMMMMM good

We almost always get in a puzzle(which we did-no picture) and a few card games. This year we decided that Derek was old enough to learn the fine art of Pinochle. He didn't even get "beetle-bombed" Unless you count the bowling trip we took:)

Some of our other favorites things are: the traditional Mickey Mouse waffles we eat for breakfast, our trip to the fish hatchery to see Poppa's babies-he's the one that started the hatchery many years ago. Our drive to see the peacocks, the museum and many other fun things.

We had a wonderful visit and are so thankful for Mamo and Poppa-we love you guys!

It's like Easter!!

Well....sort of. Our fine laying hens have become official "egg layers." Yesterday we woke to a fun surprise of an egg in the coop. Later that day Shay found another egg under the ping pong table. Today we found 2 eggs on top of our outdoor table-yes the chickens can jump on top of the table. Kind of gross. So, it's anybodys guess as to where we're going to find the eggs tomorrow. See what I mean? EASTER!

On another note...my cute 13 year old has started a little hair accessory business-she has even put a few things on a blog called http://littlebowspeep.blogspot.com -She's actually done a pretty cute job. So, I thought I would give her a shout out on my blog-if you have daughters, nieces, sisters, etc., these would make cute gifts. Here are a couple pics of how we've used a few of her creations. She also has bows and yoyo barrettes.

A Second Witness

Take the time to watch this video of the depiction of Christ in the Americas. I know He Lives!

http://Deseretbook.com/video/embed/343

our stab at self-sufficient

Here are a couple of things we've done recently to attempt to be more self-reliant. I'm still waiting for our 1st egg out of these hens. Should happen as things start to cool down. They are almost 6 months old now.


We are also using these guys as "natural exterminators" They can eat some bugs!!

This was an expensive little project. It'll take a HECK of a lot of produce to make this worthwhile. Nevertheless...it's an attempt to teach kids, be obedient and learn a little in the process...

School Days, School Days, dear golden rule days...

After the fastest and BEST summer ever the much anticipated day came. Here are my cuties on their first day of school.

8th grader, 5feet 9 1/2 inches-she made the necklace she's
wearing and is quite proud of it

6th grader starting a new school this year-finally passed me up in height! 5 feet 6 1/2 inches

typical pose for this fun kid-3rd grader

and last but not least my cutie patootie girl-3rd grade

and here they all are-even Sinbad (that's for you Poppa)

Nauvoo the Beautiful

I asked hubby where he would like to go for his 50th birthday present. He chose Nauvoo, IL. SO, here are a few highlights of our trip. What a wonderful experience it was to visit these historical/religous sites.


This was the cute little hotel we stayed in....The Woodruff hotel. It was right next to Zion's Mercantile where we ate most of our meals. Yummy soup and sandwhiches.

Right across the street from the hotel and mercantile was this beauty. We got to attend a session where we enjoyed moving from room to room. The murals on the walls are beautiful, the woodwork and stonework are spectacular. We also got to take a little tour, where we saw and learned more about the baptistry, saw Joseph Smith's saber hanging in one of the offices, also saw the apron and slipper of Mary Fielding Smith. A beautiful building with an amazing history.

Another highlight of the trip was this narrated carriage ride. We learned about many of the church members that had land in the surrounding areas and more backround about the happenings in Nauvoo during this time period.

This is Steve in front of the Mississippi river. Quite a feat to cross it, let alone with wagons and animals!

This is the Carthage jail. It is the original building. For me, this was one of the most spiritual places we went. Quite a touching story. The hundreds of senior missionaries, and the many young performing missionaries were wonderful. We enjoyed every minute of being there. Our testimonies were strengthened and we left wanting to do/be better.

reunion continued...

These are our shots of "work before play" unfortunately we didn't get the pics of the "play" part...we were too busy playing!! Walking on stilts and playing roll the hoop with the stick...Sure am glad I have a washing machine!! Steve enjoyed telling the kids about how he had to wash his clothes like this on his mission in Mexico. He said he lost a few buttons before he figured out that you need to rub from the inside of the shirt.

stay tuned for...trip to Nauvoo!

Wright Reunion at This is the Place Heritage Park

Just returned from a fun trip to Utah for the Wright Reunion. Here are a few of our favorite memories:



We saw this picture of a pioneer family that made it across the plains and thought they were such a handsome group that we took a picture of them....:) teehee

The boys with their cousin Caden. They were resting after a fun game of baseball.

Kinsey joined the family volleyball game. She looks like she may have some natural talent huh?

This was a game of "how many balloons can we keep off the floor at one time.

Shay got put in the dunce seat when we visited the little school house. Hope she gets it out of her system as school starts in just over a week.

Too much to post in 1 session....to be continued.....

No Toil Nor Labor Fear

This was the theme of St. David's Annual Pioneer day celebration. We headed down for the festivities this last weekend. This included having a float in the parade, chasing greased pigs, the water balloon toss, water balloon capture the flag, the donut eating contest, community bar-b-que, etc.


In line before the parade started. Andersen is getting an old fashioned bath while wearing his not-so-old-fashioned diaper.

Kinsey led this little goat in the parade. She is a hard working farmer (if you couldn't tell)

The boy cousins LOVING hangin out together. We enjoyed a beautiful monsoon rain that made things nice.