PARADISE...Week 2!

We arrived in Maui feeling relaxed from our week on Oahu. We were looking forward to some good family time enjoying the things we love to do in Maui!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants "Leilani's".





We went to one of our favorite places, the "Olivine Pools"! It is different every time! It is really amazing that there are tide pools deep enough to swim in with the ocean raging just on the other side of the rocks! Beautiful! It is a short hike down to the pools.


















When we were done with the Olivine Pools, we headed to Napili Bay. This was a new place for us to go. We loved the beach here and the water was clear and blue. We had a wonderful relaxing time.






John and I ate at "Mama's Fish House" that night. One of our favorite restaurants. Great view, great food and even better company. The girls hung out at the condo that night.



The next day we headed out to Wailea Beach. Hurricane Felicia was headed our way, so we were determined to get to as many beaches as possible before the storm hit.






Went to dinner at 'Roy's" that night with the family!





We spent the next day at our resort and then headed to Lahaina for dinner. We went for a walk that night along the path by our resort. There are hammocks all along the beach so we decided to have a "family hammock moment". We are so blessed because we have such a great time together!!










We headed out to Napili Bay again. One of our new favorite beaches!







With the threat of Hurricane Felicia coming in we got in a few last rays for the day. By the time she hit Maui she had been downgraded to a tropical storm. The best thing about rain is the beautiful rainbows. There were even double rainbows...so cool!!







The day after the storm passed, Alyssa, Abby and I hung out at the resort while John and Katelyn went diving. We all had a nice day. John and Kate saw some cool things!













On our last day in Maui we headed out on our favorite excursion...Lanai. We took a catamaran over the the island of Lanai and spent the day snorkeling and hanging out at the beach! It is so beautiful and relaxing!












We could not have asked for a better week! We feel so blessed to be a close family and to have so much fun together!

PARADISE!

In August we packed our bags and went to our "happiest place on earth"...Hawaii!! We spent the first week in Oahu with our friends the Mills. It was also great to spend time with Jared, Gina and Kai.

On the first morning in Oahu "we got in our car, drove up to the North Shore, got in the water...in a cage and swam with sharks!" For those of you who don't know, sharks are the girls biggest fear (that and bees and clowns...go figure!). John and I had already gone in the shark cage on an earlier trip. We both knew immediately that we HAD to bring the girls to do it! We have awesome friends that wanted to do it with us. It was great as we had the boat to ourselves. It was so scary for the girls and Kate was literally screaming through her snorkel. She and Alyssa fought about who got to be on the side with the plexiglass and Abby was clinging to either me or John the whole time. After it was all said and done it was one of the best things we have done as a family. However, none of the girls would do it again...


Alyssa with her best friend Amber.

Kate and Abby...starting to get nervous!

This is when the screaming started...

...and the fighting continued.

Just one of several sharks around our boat and cage!!



After the big shark experience, we went to Waimea Bay. It is so beautiful. Especially that day as there were hundreds of dolphins swimming in the bay. Kate, John and Brennen all swam out to be closer to them. It was really cool. Everyone also jumped off the cliff...after a short nap, of course!


Sleepy head!

"You aren't supposed to wake up early on vacation!"

Kate and Alyssa...sisters and best friends!

Kate

Alyssa

John

Abby

Abby buried in sand...the first time she stopped moving all day!

The whole crew!



One of the days we decided to be a little adventurous. Our friend, Kelly Mills(who went to BYU-Hawaii and is very familiar with the island), took us out to Goat Island. This is an island off the north shore. You wade/swim out to it. It doesn't look like much when you are standing on the beach but as soon as you get in the water it is a little rougher than you expect. We made it across without incident. When we got to the island we went swimming, took a hike around the island and just hung out. After a couple of hours it was time to go back. We could tell that the tide was getting higher and the waves were bigger and rougher than on the way over. I was a little nervous from that when I heard Kate start to scream and cry! She said something hurt her arm really bad. As I looked around, I saw a blue jelly fish. Yikes! We just started to swim as fast as we could to get back to shore! When we got to the beach you could see that Kate had a few big welts on her wrist! Poor thing...it hurt for a whole day. Later on that day as everyone was playing at Pounders Beach, Alyssa got stung on her ankle! They were both real troopers!


Just as we were arriving at goat island. That is Oahu in the background.

Our family out swimming. It is a protected beach.

The group as we hiked around the island.

John and Kate. The waves on this side of the island were pretty big!

Alyssa, Amber and Rachel. They didn't feel like going on the hike...such princesses!!


Alyssa and Abby at Pounders Beach...right before Alyssa got stung!

Kate's yucky sting!

Kate hoped it would leave a scar...that would be "legit!"



We spent a day at Waikiki Beach. We met Gina and Kai there. The girls went surfing (with Daddy's assistance) and I hung out on the beach with our stuff. Kate and I went on an outrigger boat ride. It was a lot of fun!


Paddling out to the waves.

The fun ride in.

On our way out to catch another wave!



John and Kate went scuba diving. They really enjoyed their time together. They saw some cool stuff including an octopus! The dove at a place called Sharks Cove. It was great because I got to snorkel along with them for a lot of the dive!


Getting their instructions.

John and Kate all geared up!

After a fun day together!



On our last day we went to a waterfall that Jared introduced us to. It was a lot of fun. It included a natural slide and a rope swing. The falls were beautiful!


Abby

Katelyn

John

Samantha



While in Oahu we stayed at the Ko Olina Marriott. We love it there. This is John and Abby playing in the beautiful pools!




This is the end of our first week in paradise. We had a wonderful time! Thank goodness we still had a week in Maui to look forward to!!

Back in the Blog...Take 2!

Let's try this again. I can't believe it has been 5 months since I last posted. Well, here is what has been happening in our family for the past few months...


In June the girls finished school and Kate headed off to EFY in Santa Barbara with her cousin Madison. They had a great time! It is the most fun Kate has had at EFY. Maybe the fact that she met a certain young man may have had something to do with it...
Kate and Madison in their dorm room!

Her group at EFY! A great group of kids!

Two GORGEOUS girls...Kate and Madison!

Kate and Jackson...back when they were "just friends"...



We spent a day with Grant and Tanya to go boating. We all had a fabulous time and the girls loved tubing. Unfortunately, we wore the boat out that day and it needed major repairs...boo hoo!
Kate, Alyssa and Logan on the tube!

Abby, Alyssa and Kate on the tube..Abby wasn't too sure if she liked it or not!

Grant tried to make the best of a broken boat!




In July, Abby and I headed off to Disneyland for Abby's national dance competition. She had an amazing competition. Her large group placed 2nd overall and her small groups placed 2nd, 4th and 6th overall. The best news was that her duet, with her best friend, Kayla, placed 1st overall. This means that their duet got the highest score of every duet and trio 8 and under. This is an amazing accomplishment for a national competition. We spent a few days at Disneyland with our friends, the McClendon's. We had a wonderful time!

Abby and Kayla with their HUGE 1st place trophies!

The girls with their awesome teacher, Miss Lori!

Abby's small tap group, 'Somedays." They place 2nd overall.

Abby in her "Bugle Boy" costume. They placed 4th overall.

Abby's large hip hop group, "Lose Control." They placed 2nd overall.

Me and Abby waiting in line for the "Buzz Lightyear" ride. It was so cute!

Waiting in line for the "Matterhorn." Abby wasn't too sure about this ride.

Waiting for my favorite ride,"Soarin'." I love that ride!!




In July, the girls cousin, Sarah, came out to visit. We went to the city and the beach. It is so wonderful to have such a close family. I am so grateful that my girls are close to their cousins!!

The girls at the top of Macy's in downtown San Francisco!

I will sign off for now, but look for a new post with our trip to Hawaii and our family's activities this fall!