Hawaii #2

Looking at these pictures and I can hardly remember being warm even though it was only a week ago. It is so cold and snowy in Utah that it is hard to imagine being hot. I love Hawaii. I could go on a vacation there every year and never get sick of it. If I didn't say this before it was one of the best vacations I have ever been on. I was so relaxed and stress free that it was almost unnerving.

 We went on an outrigger canoe ride. This is not the type of outrigger experience I have done before where you ride the waves in. This was a paddle along the shore line and look at marine life and the coast while the natives tell us about their life. The guys were a crack up. They were telling us how the coral reef is coming back to life and they know that because there are more big predators come back (sharks!) They acted like it was a good thing! The way you know if it is safe to get in the water is if you see a turtle. Then you know there aren't any big predators around. We saw 6+ turtles so I felt better. We actually saw 2 turtles matting. The guys paddled us right over to them and accidentally hit them with our canoe. I felt bad we disturbed them. They said it is very rare to see turtles matting.

 Our road to Hana adventure was just me and my mom. It is my favorite thing to do in Maui. I love hiking to waterfalls and exploring. Even though the road has 620 curves each way, it makes even the tough stomached get nauseated! We have done a lot of the hikes before on our last trip here so we wanted to do the ones we hadn't done. The biggest one we wanted to do was at the seven sacred pools which is the very end of the road. A lot of times the hike it closed due to flash flood risk. We wanted to go there first. We drove the whole road only stopping once so we didn't barf to get there. We made it by 10 am. We left at 630 am! (A lot of driving for a hike but it was worth it). We hiked through a bamboo forest to a 200 foot waterfall. The hike was about 2 miles each way and pretty flat so it wasn't hard. It was beautiful though.

Seven scared pools looking out on the ocean.

 Last time we did the road to Hana the seven sacred pools were closed due to flash flood risk. This time they were open. We swam around in them and enjoyed to view and the peacefulness. It was fabulous.

 We also went on a snorkel cruise. My mom and I decided to try snuba. It is a good intro to scuba diving. My mom and I were the only people that went to the bottom of the ocean floor. We could look at the deeper coral a lot closer. It was a lot of fun. I like not getting water in my snorkel.

Can't wait to go back to Hawaii =)

Hawaii #1

I am incredibly lucky! My mom had a CPE conference in Maui, Hawaii and invited me to come with her. Russ said No problem, Go! .I felt guilty going but once I was there I got over that. It was fabulous. I was compltely stress free. I was ale to do what I wanted when I wanted. My mom had classes the first 3 days. I exercised as long as I wanted to and then went to the pool or beach to relax. I enjoyed reading and drinking a mango smoothie. We did a lot of fun things too. I was post about those on a separate post, right now I only have the pictures from my real camera. Most of my pictures were taken with my iPhone because hiking with my heavy camera hurts my back. By the end of the trip I was ready to come home and see my family and celebrate Christmas!
In the pictures.
We did a small hike to a blow hole. We hiked through lava rocks to get there. Then we did another small hike to some tide pools. That was really fun.
We also went to a Luau in Lahania. Our served turned out the be LDS too and was really funny. He noticed we weren't drinking and that we were from Utah and said, "are you not drinking so you won't disappoint president monsoon." He also played football at BYU. The Luau was a traditional Hawaii Luau so the entertainment was all Hula. they put on a great performance and the food was good. They also had some games and things to look at when we came in before the dinner.

Pig about the be uncovered at the Luau

Blowhole

Me and mom at the blowhole

hiking to tide pools

Tidepools with surf in the background

Luau

at the luau

Blowhole

Snow

We got our first big snow storm of the season. Alyssa was so excited to build a snowman. Unfortunately the snow was not the good snowman making kind of snow. We tried anyway. She wanted to practice her gymnastics in the snow too. Kate was napping but when she woke up I took her out. She was a little timid. She wouldn't try eating it. She took her gloves off and then touched the snow and cried.

Handstand

snow angel

Me trying to get her to try the snow,

forward roll

tiny finished product

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving at my moms house. Russ was in charge of the turkey. He makes the best turkeys. I was working at the hospital so I left early so I could get back before the feast. Russ brined the turkey at our house and then was going to take it to my moms to cook it in the morning while I was at the hospital. While I was at the hospital Russ kept texting me saying he couldn't find the keys to the car. I was so annoyed and thought why can't men every find anything. He was freaking out because the turkey was going to be late. Finally I said I will go check my car but I know they aren't there. When I went to my car the keys were in my coat pocket. Oops. I felt bad I had been so annoyed. My brother drove my spare keys to my house so Russ could bring the turkey. Well the turkey got in the over 45 min late due to that. It was a big turkey. Everyone came over at 330. We ate at 4. The turkey still wasn't done. We took the top layers off that were cooked and kept the turkey in the oven for the rest of dinner. I have lots of turkey left over for sandwiches now. Dinner was nice we had my aunt and some of her kids over as well as my grandma. We were missing my grandpa. He loves my mash potatoes (they have lots of butter and cream cheese in the) but he would only take a few bites because he was watching his cholesterol.
We played games after dinner. Then my family went to see FROZEN at the theatre. The only show time that had tickets sitting together was 8:45 pm. It was WAY to late for my girls. Kate was asking to go home and go nigh night. Alyssa was laying on my lap. We loved it though. We can't wait for it to come on DVD!
It was fun to have Adam in town. Alyssa and Kate both loved him.
*All photos are iPhone*

Wish bone wishing

Christmas tree shopping

at Frozen

Playing dictionary

At church

Temple Square

Last night me, my mom and my girls went to Temple square to see the lights. Russ is in Mexico City on business. Alyssa fell asleep in the car and was grumpy the whole time. Kate liked the lights. Then we did a little christmas shopping at City Creek.

Girls Update

I can't post with out pictures. I will just do an update on the girls. Kate is now 20 months almost 21 months. I can't believe that she will be 2 soon. She is definitely wanting to be older. She wants to do everything that Alyssa is doing. She is talking more. Mostly still words that only I can understand except Hi, Bye Bye, Go, Woof Woof are clear. One of the cutest is peak a boo and it comes out like po poo.  She loves to dance. She loves it when I play music on my phone and asks for it. She walks on her tippy toes a lot(not sure why). When she sees Alyssa practicing gymnastics she tries to do a forward roll. She always hears dogs barking before I even notice them and will say woof woof. She loves to read books with me and points out everything on the page. She gets most of the things right (when I ask her wear is the cow, etc). She loves my mom and calls her Ga.

Alyssa is 4 1/2 going on 16. I can foresee a lot of drama in her teenage years so I am trying to cherish this age as much as I can. =) She LOVES to play with friends. She is VERY social and makes friends very easy. She is kind and giving. She gets her feelings hurt easy when her friends aren't nice to her. She is happy that Kate is now old enough to actually "play" with. She is very controlling ( which I think most 1st children are). Now that her adenoids are out she sleeps through the night every night. It is really a miracle and I can't believe I suffered for 4 1/2 years! She is in preschool and doing very well. She now can sound out short words with my help like him, it, in. I am very proud of her. In her preschool they have a cooking class on Wed and she loves it. Today a note was sent home with her and says "Alyssa is very sweet. She loves cooking class and is doing very well." Alyssa loves attention and praise =) She sounds a little like her Dad. (a lot of sarcasm since she is pretty much exactly like him!)
I am so lucky to be their MOM!