A late conclusion to Paradise

Here are a few more pictures from our excursion to Kauai, Hawaii. They are all kind of random, but just a few last pictures and experiences to share.

I finally have a picture to post as proof that I jumped from that high cliff. If you look closely, you can see me waving my arms up high from mid-air. What a rush!!!!!

Here I am getting ready to do some snorkeling at Tunnels. It's the hot spot of Kauai for snorkeling. Did I mention that I snorkeled with an octopus my last day in Kauai? Awesome! My favorite fish was the Hawaii's state fish called the "humuhumunukunuku apu a'a" . Too bad I'm not having any more children because that would have been a great name. Just Kidding!!

Here is a way cool picture I took of my husband snorkeling. Okay, I admit it was a bit posed, but it still makes for a great photo! Snorkeling was by far Chris' favorite hobbie on the island.

Here is my sweet Lucy taking a snooze on the beach. Actually, she was quite opposite of sweet the last few days. She was ready to go home and she did not hesitate a bit in expressing her anger. Lucy has by far the fairest skin of our whole family. I actually had a lady approach me the first day on the island telling me that I needed to keep her in a shirt and pants the whole trip because the sun would be too intense for her skin. Well, I wish I could see her now to prove her wrong! My daughter was able to lounge in her swimsuits the entire trip. Yes, the sun was intense, but I greased her up quite a bit everyday with SPF 70 and kept her big brimmed hats on and she was fine. No sunburns!!!!

AloooooooooHA!!!!!

Are you sick of all my FAB posts yet?! Sorry, but I can't get over bragging that I am in paradise and have so many awesome things to share. Hope you enjoy a few more pictures of my time in Kauai. Oh, and a future warning...these probably STILL won't be the last that I am going to share. Aloha!!

Chris and I went on a romantic date last night while my gracious brother-in-law and sister-in-law watched Lucy for us. We did a bit of shopping and then went to an amazing restaurant called "Keokis". My husband bought me this pretty Lei to wear for our date. I love how tan we look here! Why can't I have a beach in my backyard? Anyone have a spare $10,000,000 they want to give me? HAHA Anyway, the food was amazing, but more than anything I LOVED the atmosphere. I'm all about the surroundings.

There are chickens and roosters all over the entire island. No exaggeration! I guess there was a Hurricane in the early 90s or something and all the chickens from a big farm escaped and ran wild. Well, the rest is history and now they are everywhere. It's quite funny actually. All over the streets, beaches, golf courses, etc...

This is Charlie, Carrie, and baby Isaac that are enjoying this wonderful vacation with us. It's been fun to hang-out with them and we've all had a great time.

Here we are at a beautiful water fall. Pictures truly do not do it justice. Awesome!!

And the winner is..... No, seriously this was suprisingly my most favorite place on the entire island. I felt like I was on a jungle safari. It was pouring rain while we were walking there and we were literally going through a jungle. So lush it was like being in a rainforrest. All of a sudden we find this fresh water hole with a beautiful waterfall that has great cliffs to jump from. I just loved the whole Oasis feel about it. We jumped from these cliffs a few times. Probably the farthest vertical distance I have ever dared to jump from. If you look closely, you can see Chris and Charlie jumping off together.
Loved, loved, LOVED this place!!!

More Than Just Beaches!

Today we decided to head to the mountains for a late morning drive. Waimea Canyon is also known as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. It was beautiful. Just over the hill is THE wettest spot on earth and so it was overcast and raining. It did clear up for a few minutes and we took a few pictures. It was worth the winding road and tiresome travel.

By early afternoon we were itching to get to a beach. We spent the late afternoon at Poipu Beach which is about 1/2 mile from our condo. It's perfect because it has waves, an area protected from waves for kids, and great snorkeling.

We see turtles everyday. We have not seen any while snorkeling, but it is fun to be washing dishes in the kitchen and see turtles swimming in the waves outside.

See the turtles? Aren't they cute?

A Piece of Heaven

Well, the trip has begun. Actually, today was our 3rd day of the amazing adventure. We've already seen most of the coast all the way around the island. We have been to many beaches to just hang out and swim. We've done lots of snorkeling, a bit of hiking, lots of eating, seen lots of sea turtles, seen dolphins playing, lots of tropical fish, lots of relaxing on the balcony, lots of walks, and just over all had a great trip! I'd recommend this place to ANYONE. Truly a beautiful place and I feel so fortunate to be here. One problem, I miss my Ginny and my Asher!! Thank you to my sweet mother-in-law that is taking care of them for the 8 full days we are gone. I owe you!!!

Here are the Twins!! Chris and Charlie together in the Queen's Bath. I've been suprised by how much attention they still get from random people when the two of them are together.

Chris and Lucy at the "Queen's Bath" on the north shore of the island. I was excited to see this touristy hot spot. It's a spot where a bunch of rocks have made a little blocked off area where water is trapped and peaceful. It was a bit of a hike to get there, but well worth my heavy breathing and OOOOohhhhh the many sea turtles we saw in this area. Way amazing!

Lucy and I at a beach in Lihui, Kawai. It looks so gloomy in the mornings, but as you can see from other pictures it really brightens up during the day and is B-E-A-Utiful!!!

More of my adventure to come......

TAGGED BY HOLLY!!

What is the best thing you cooked last week?

Ummmm... nothing too spectacular. Probably homemade Mac n Chz!


If time, money, and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who?

I'd probably go with my hubbie somewhere on our traveling list like Italy or something. I definitely would not bring the kids, but I'd then reward them by taking them to Disneyland the following week.


When was the last time you cried?

Now that think about it, it's probably been a few weeks since I last cried. I think the last time was when I was talking to my friend Holly on the phone and we were talking about my son Asher and the reassurance of knowing that Asher won't have his disability in the spirit world.


List 5 things you were doing 10 years ago. (1998)

My senior year of highschool and just living up being ruler of the school.

Having fun girly times with my friends like Melanie, Holly, Becca, and Natalie.

Totally crushing on Ryan Jappe and totally swooning over him on Prom night.

Having my heart crushed one too many times by Matt Harris (over and over and over)!

Thinking my life was so hard when in fact I look back and can't believe how easy and selfish my life really was.


List 5 things you were doing 5 years ago. (2003)

Loving the life in the most beautiful country in the world in Bozeman, MT while my husband was getting his Masters.

Enjoying my time with my 2 year old daughter Ginny.

Giving birth to my second baby Asher and having a very rough early pregnancy with him.

Taking tap lessons with my friend Kiersten and performing in our tuxedos with a cane.

Working as a Community Assistant for Family and Graduate Housing at Montana State and staying somewhat busy with that.


List 5 things you were doing 1 year ago.

This is hard because nothing that extreme has happened to me in the past year. First, I was loving, but feeing overwhelmed about having all 3 of my children at home and at very young ages.

Getting excited about having a trip to Beaver to see my grandparents the same time as my sister and getting to spend a few days there.

We got our puppy Belle on Cinco de Mayo and we were so excited to finally have a puppy. Who woulda thought a year later we would give her away?

I was looking forward to a trip to Las Vegas with my friend Michelle from Canada where we just had a few childless days together to just have fun and shop and see my parents.

Being a nursery leader.


List 7 of your favorite hobbies.

Disneyland! Most of you have always known that about me, but that is my number one favorite hobby. I loved it when I went as a kid and now that I have kids, I love it even more. They are so happy when we are there. If my kids are happy, mom is definitely happy!

Spending time with Chris. We have so much fun together when it's just us.

Eating out. Maybe it's because I live in a small town, but going to restaurants is such a big treat for me. Even more so than food, I love atmosphere and people watching.

Provo days. That's when me, Chris, and the kids just make a day trip into Provo and go to my favorite stores like Costco and Target. We don't even have to buy anything. It's just fun to get out and walk around.

Talking on the phone. It's always a big treat to me to get on the phone with my parents, my brothers or sister, or friends. I love catching up with people since I don't live near many of them anymore.

Watching my shows. Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway, American Idol, Survivor, Desperate Housewives, and old Friends re-runs. Some of them are seasonal and not always on, but as long as some of them are on sometime to give me that "fix".

Planning trips. Even though we can't go everywhere on my list, I love having trips and vacations to look forward to. I always look forward to a new adventure and hopefully that will include some camping trips with my family this summer.


Name 5 of your favorite foods.

Green River Watermelons!! That's my number one favorite, but I can only get that for a few months out of the year. Bummer!

Coca Cola. Does that count as food? I could drink a lot more of that than I do. I have to limit myself, but that's a treat for me.

Chicken Fajitas. I made some recently and I forgot how good they are.

Sandwhiches. Mostly chicken ones, but I love a good layer of things between two pieces of bread.

BBQ or over fire hot dogs. Something about that partially burned hot dog on a bun with some ketchup that just tastes so wonderful to me.


Name 5 place you have been.

Disneyland on many numerous occassions

New York City

Philadelphia, PA ( 3 times in the past 6 years actually).

St. Louis, MO

Kauai, Hawaii ( I haven't actually been there, but I will in 3 days. I'm counting it so GET OVER IT!)


List 5 of your favorite memories

Noticing Chris for the first time at a Singles Ward and just knowing.

After Chris and I got married and we went outside the temple to celebrate and take pictures with family and friends. I was off in one spot talking to friends and he was off at a different spot talking to friends and then all of a sudden I looked over at the hottest and most wonderful thing I ever saw and the realization that I was looking at my husband. A great moment!

Holding each of my babies for the first time. A wonderful memory that I will truly miss.

Suprising Ginny with a trip to Disneyland when she was barely 4. She had no clue that we were going there until we pulled right up to it. Then, the first person she saw was the "real Snow White". We have a picture of her face and it definitely says it all. Too much excitement in such a short time.

Last October when Asher was almost 4 we all went to Disneyland again and he just laughed and got excited over everything. Seeing him that happy was priceless. If only Lucy hadn't been so grumpy that trip....

I could write a ton more great memories, but those are definitely my top 5!

I did all this because my friend Holly tagged me! I am now tagging KC and Lynnette AND Charlie and Carrie! Have fun!

Lobster....OUCH!!!

Chris and I are getting ready for a big trip to Kauai, Hawaii on May 17th. Am I excited? HECK YEAH!!!! I've never stepped off of this land before and traveled over waters. So, even though I will technically still be in the United States....it's still off in a world all it's own. One problem.. Chris gave me a gift certificate a while ago for 5 tans at a local salon. The first time I went for 8 minutes and left a little bit tanner. Nice right? Well, I just went in for my second session yesterday and went for 10. Yowwwwww baby! Talk about pain. Needless to say, I've passed over my other tans to my sweet husband Chris. I decided that I'd rather be pail and able to move than to walk around stiff as a board with a little color. I know they say that "beauty is pain", but you gotta draw the line somewhere! I guess I'd better drop out of the Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant. HAHA! We are going to Kauai with Chris' twin brother Charlie and his wife Carrie. We are bringing our youngest Lucy with us and Charlie and Carrie are bringing their baby boy Isaac. 10 days to go so the count down is so ON!!! A little sneak peak of the view from our condo.