Hawaii!!

Aloha friends!! We are home!! Brian and I went to Maui last week...without the kids! We had a fabulous trip and were so grateful to get to spend some quality time together! We were trying to fly standby...but had some trouble getting to Maui so we ended up buying tickets and it was totally worth it! The real good part about it was that we got to spend the night with Brenda's family after she bailed us out of the Santa Anna airport. It was great to see them all! Some of the highlights of the trip were: 1. gorgeous hikes...we hiked and hiked and it was beautiful everywhere we went. 2. snorkeling..didn't see anything real cool this time...but Brian enjoyed it anyway 3. Cruising the island in our convertible! We loved that thing...it was a great excuse for me to ignore my hair for a whole week! We made it to almost every part of the island throughout the week. 4. Lying on the beach being lazy...I know lazy isn't a word I usually describe myself with...but at times on this trip that was all I could do..just simply be lazy! 5. Brian surfed! He got up and loved it...although he was pretty sore for a few days afterwards! 6. Went to a beautiful red sand beach and ran into a nudist guy. I have a picture for you...but you have to look close! I am sure I have missed a TON of things we did...but I am VERY tired so my brain is on pause mode at the moment. There is so much more to say...but I don't know how to put it into words. We were pretty adventurous on this trip and explored every cave, secret beach and hiked to unknown waterfalls. One hike we went on we tramped through a bamboo forest, crossed a dry river bed, scaled a 12 foot high rock wall...and climbed over a waterfall to get to the next one. It was so fun...although I do not recommend it in flip flops!! We missed the kids terribly, but it sounds like they had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Wade and Aunt Heather. Thanks guys!! We are so glad to be home...but wish we could still be there. We got stuck in LAX airport on the way home so we ended up renting a car and driving 10 hours home after being up for 44 hours straight. Sounds pretty stupid now that I think about it..but we were missing the kids bad and wanted to see them asap!! We had a great trip! Here are a few pictures...although cameras just don't do the beauty of the island any justice!! Hawaii is about my favorite place to go...but there really is no place like home!

We met up with Brian's parents the last day.



This must be what the Garden of Eden looks like!



Brian getting up for the first time surfing. He was so far out my camera didn't work well. He did awesome though!



Sunset



Red sand beach with nude guy. Look close at him hanging on the small tree branch beneath the larger tree branch in the center of the picture. Yikes!!



Right outside our room



Another Pretty waterfall. Maui is FULL of waterfalls!



Brian enjoying the waterfall



This was one of our adventurous hikes to a waterfall


Dinner at Bubba Gumps with Pete and Jess. It was YUMMY!!



This was right outside our resort the first day we were there. Thanks Pete for the nicest place we've ever stayed in!

First swim meet of the Season

Sydney's 100 butterfly



Sydney 100 breast stroke



Tyson, Mrs. Bradley and Abby



Tyson's 50 backstroke

Today was the first swim meet of the season. Swim season goes from October - Feb...but they do have meets in the summer also. Our coaches only wanted our 10 and under kids to participate...so Kylie sat out on this one...but not willingly! She wanted to get out there so bad. She makes an excellent cheerleader though! I had signed Tyson up for the 50 free and 50 backstroke because there was no 50 butterfly, and that is his favorite event. He had to swim his 50 backstroke in a middle lane with 2 14 year old jr.high kids next to him. They don't compete for ribbons against them, just swim next to them. It was so funny, because when I told him, he said "SWEET! Maybe I'll beat one of them!" This kid seriously has the BEST attitude! He did not beat the 14 year olds but did a great job and got 2nd place in his 50 back and first place in his 50 free. (There was only about 5-6 8 and under kids...but hey who needs to know that?) He beat a kid on our team who is 8 and twice his size! Sydney, as you remember gets a little paranoid at meets, so I sign her up for easy events (50's mostly) so she won't panic. Apparently after I signed her up, her coach decided to change it all and put her in a 200 free, 100 butterfly, and 100 breast...which she HATES!! She got a little upset at first...but jumped in the water and kicked butt! She won her heat in the 100 breast, taking 5th overall, and took 2nd place in her 200 free overall. She was very close to first, and would have taken it if she would have done her flip turns. She said she got so nervous she forgot to do them! There were a lot more girls competing in this meet...probably 12-20 in the girls' events. She had a rough time on her butterfly, which is usually her best, and what she went to state in last year, but she ended up 5th overall. Could have been worse. Her breast stroke really impressed us and her endurance in her 200 free was awesome! She might just be an endurance swimmer after all. I am glad her coach changed up her events without her knowing, she needs to try new things in these meets. Tyson's 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Bradley, and her daughter Abby came today just to watch Tyson. It was soooo nice of her and Tyson was so excited! He was bouncing off the walls when he saw her come in! I was impressed she came and endured...swim meets are LONG even when you have kids in them!! Way to go Syd and Tyson, it was a great first meet of the season!

Tagged!

Jenise, my sister in law tagged me today. Here goes nothing!

I am .......... going to Hawaii in 4 days!!

I want .......... to be able to eat chocolate all day and stay thin!

I have ..........too many things that I try to do each day!

I wish .......... for the economy to turn around NOW!

I hate .......... my kids being gone to school all day

I fear .......... heights!! HATE airplane rides…wish me luck on my trip to Hawaii!

I hear ..........my kids watching haunted mansion

I search .........for my i-pod almost daily. 3 little kids like to “share” it with me!

I always .......... start the day saying I am going running. It happens about twice a week!

I usually ..........am too hard on myself

I am not ......... 5 feet tall!! 4’11”

I miss .........my family in WA and CA!

I love ..........family vacations…working from home

I never ........... am late for anything

I rarely ...........remember I have a heart condition

I cry ............in church almost every week. Drives my kids CRAZY!!

I am not always ........... good about going to the OB/GYN. I have only been once since I’ve had Tyson. He’s almost 8!

I lose .........bladder control when jumping on a tramp!

I am confused .......... when I help Kylie with math homework!!

I need .........to teach my kids to work harder!

I should ..........go finish getting ready for the day!

I dream ........... of children that serve missions and get married in the temple!

K'NEX anyone?

Generous gift from Aunt Becky



Finished Project!



My ever thoughtful sister Becky brought a huge plastic tub full of all these little tiny looking sticks and weird things that were called K'NEX last time she was in town. Holy cow what a disaster! No wonder she lovingly took it from Jackson and gave it to Tyson. Pieces and parts everywhere, I have probably vacuumed up a thousand of them so far. Well...Tyson decided he wanted to build a 4 wheeler. It was so overwhelming that I am pretty sure you need an engineering degree to complete these little projects. Well, I got going on it and got addicted. I could not stop until I was finished. I worked on it until 10:30 p.m. and then all day while working today. I finally finished about 10 min before Tyson got home from school this afternoon. Total of about 8-9 hours on this little baby!I felt like I had just finished a marathon, a tremendous sense of accomplishment! Pretty sad, I know! Here is the finished project. Thanks again Becky...