ALOHA!!!

We are back from our magical trip to Hawaii! Thanks to my Aunt Sharron, we stayed at her timeshare Marriott resort and also traveled with Karin Gonda and my sister Laura. We went to the island of Kauai, which is a small island with breathtaking beauty. I will never return to another island... my heart belongs to Kauai. Here is a travel log of our adventures. I know it is long, so read at your own pace or skip it all and catch a few pictures. WE HEART HAWAII!!

DAY 1: After a long day of flying, we arrived at the resort. Already the beauty of the island was captivating. We had a "slight" problem with the room and the first night was spent with 5 adults and 1 baby crammed into a small hotel room with one king bed. I will spare you the details, but it was interesting. We figured things out the next day and now just have a lot to laugh about. Greg surprised us at the airport with beautiful leis that was a great way to kick off our vacation.

DAY 2: We spent the morning figuring out a solution to our "room problem" and enjoyed a day at the resort, which boasts the largest swimming pool on the island of Kauai and was spectacular! We enjoyed "Puka Dogs" for lunch and an evening at the resort restaurant for dinner, where Emma danced the night away in her high chair to the island music.

DAY 3: This was Sunday, so we ventured to the closest LDS church. At the end of sacrament meeting the congregation stood at the front of the room, sang to all the visitors and gave us leis. Pretty cool. We kept it low key the rest of the day. Played Phase 10 (which I won!) and walked to a lighthouse that is on the resort property. On the way home we got stuck in a little tropical down pour. Hey, even when you are drenched, Hawaii still makes you happy! The view in these pictures is from our hotel room!! Right on the beach!! Our own little paradise.

DAY 4: We packed a lot of sight seeing into this day. We started out by driving to Opaeka'a Falls because it was raining, across the street from the water falls, was the beautiful Wailua River. Someday, we would love to kayak down the river... but we ran out of time this trip. We followed this with some wonderful snorkeling at Lydgate Park Beach. We stopped for lunch at a highly recommended "Ono Burger" (Thanks Thomas Family!) and individually gained 4-6 pounds (respectively) in one sitting. Kilauea Lighthouse was our next stop and a postcard view of the crashing waves against a rocky shore. Pete's Dragon anyone? I'll be your candle on the water...

DAY 5: Half of Kauai's coast is uninhabited. All of the original beauty and wonder is still in natural form. It is called the Na'pali Coast and we had the privilege and honor of hiking along 2 miles of it's shore. It was the most amazing beauty I have ever beheld with my little eyes. To the right was crystal blue ocean and to the left was lush green mountain. These photos do not do it justice. But they are REAL photos and the colors have not been "photo shopped". Along the way, we saw a group of about 30 dolphins flipping, jumping and spinning around. At the end of the hike you reach a secluded beach, which was equally magnificent in beauty.

DAY 6: This was our beach day. We began with a fantastic island breakfast at Kountry Kitchen (because everything is better/cuter with a double "K") and yes folks, they had coconut syrup which made my coconut french toast AMAZING. We began our beach day snorkeling at Ke'e Beach, which is said to be the best snorkeling on the island. Basically everywhere you went there were MANY bright, colorful fish all around. I was a human caught in an aquarium and I loved it!! We then went to a second beach to gawk (err, uuuuh,) I mean, objectively observe the professional surfers of the island. We left shortly thereafter because little miss prissy Emma was "scared" of the sand and screamed louder than the waves if any brushed her hands or feet. Lovely child, huh? Good thing we don't live by the ocean.

DAY 7: We took a very windy road (read: made 3 out of 5 passengers VERY car sick) to explore the beauty of Waimea Canyon. Said to be the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. That it was. Very beautiful and very grand indeed. To celebrate the nausea we took a second trip to our favorite shave ice location: Jo-Jo's. It was dirty and nasty and hot inside, but those shave ice flavors come straight from the Hawaiian gods.

CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU MADE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE END. KUDOS FROM THE BLOGGING WORLD. ALOHA!!

To all eligible young suitors...

There are so many young men out there vying for Emma's hand in marriage... I thought I better take matters into my own hands. She is a good catch, but she has her flaws. To all young suitors: Emma is a Capricorn, who enjoys long stroller walks on the beach, but is a tad too emotional and always cries for what she wants.

She has her Daddy's beautiful blue eyes and has recently weighed in at 28 inches long and 22 pounds. We anticipate a few more inches and pounds by the time she is ripe for marriage.
She enjoys reading books, but is currently illiterate and mostly pretends she knows what she is reading. We will quickly enroll her in a PRE-PRE-PRE school where she can rectify this weakness.
She is always up on the latest fashion trends and loves to wear older women's sunglasses. She can get a little testy, if people do not allow her to wear "said sunglasses" and will often throw a horrible fit to get her way. This solution is EASILY solved by giving her anything and everything she wants.
She LOVES animals and shows that love by yanking on their tails, pulling on the ears and trying to scratch their eyes out. So endearing. We may recommend a goldfish for your future home.
She enjoys spending time with family. Here she is pictured with her Great Grandma Bernie, her Grammie Lou and her Aunt Tamie. Bernie and Tamie were visiting Phoenix for the weekend and Emma was so thrilled to spend time with them.
Here is a video of Emma's love for her Aunt Laura...
Young suitors, Emma does not have much of a dowry, but we can promise that she has two fantastic parents that you will have the honor of taking care of when they get old, crazy and senile. What greater gift could you receive?

Cultivation Station

"Find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would like to learn or do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others, even to your children." - M. Russell Ballard For full article link here.

So I was thinking about this fantastic talk the other day, and thought, what do I do to enrich MYSELF? What if I do a gazillion things? I think I may take his advice a LITTLE over the top. I don't remember my mom doing all of these things for herself? And she was the best mom ever. Of course, I only have one baby, so I have more time? In any case, here are the things that I do to enrich my life. What do you do to enrich your life?

I work part-time. Once a week I leave Emma with my fantastic mother-in-law to visit with veterans. I travel to their homes to assess their living conditions and quality of life. I then write a 10-12 page report on my findings making recommendations for improvement to the VA. I write all my reports from home. It could quite possibly be the best part-time job EVER. I love my boss. I love my company. I love social work. I really really love working with veterans. No, we really don't need the money to pay the bills, but I do it for personal enrichment. The money goes into savings or to pay off student/car/home loans.
I play my violin in the Tempe Symphony. I've played the violin since I was three. It is just part of who I am. I fought with my mother every day she MADE me practice... but I am so grateful now that she persevered. I rehearse every Monday night and have four performances a year. I am so happy when I pull out my violin and play with the orchestra. It is so fulfilling and I hope I can do this for many, many years to come.
I love to read and belong to a FABULOUS book club that meets once a month. Reading is something I have loved since I was young. I started on Babysitters Club, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew and the "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" trilogy. Nothing says "relaxation" better than curling up to a great book on a comfortable couch. I'm not a big television fan and would MUCH rather entertain myself with characters from a novel. Do I sometimes neglect Emma so that I can finish my latest read? ummmm.... perhaps.
Sure, I'd love to get liposuction, a tummy tuck and a butt lift - but it's never gonna happen. Instead, I get up early on Mon, Wed, Fri to meet my aunt at the gym and on Tues and Thurs evenings I have joined a "stroller strides" class through the City of Tempe. Greg and I try to do some exercising together on Saturday mornings (although the summer heat has prevented this for the last 4 months). I have not always loved to exercise. In fact, I bought my first sports bra in college (if that tells you anything). Since my BYU step aerobic days, I have continued to exercise and really do enjoy it. Sure, I still have cellulite and fat rolls, but I'm out there exercising, so it's gotta be doing SOMETHING good for me.
You name the Relief Society activity, I do it. We are so blessed to have this organization. For more information click here.

Printing Blog HELP!

I need help/advice/recommendations from my fellow bloggers on how to print out my blog in a nice format. Part of the way I justify spending too much time blogging, is by telling myself that it is a great journal... but that ain't gonna do much good if I don't print it out for "posterity". I have checked my ever trusty google resources, but can not seem to find one that makes it easy and professional. Any suggestions out there? Have you printed out your blog yet?

BYU Mint Brownie Recipe

I thought this recipe was given to Moroni with the gold plates... but evidently he brought it back and posted it in a BYU Alumni Newsletter. Remember that 10 pounds I just lost? I think I may find it again with this recipe HAUNTING my cupboards. ENJOY!!

http://alumni.byu.edu/about/traditions/brownies.cfm