Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hawaii



I am so behind with my blogging that I failed to tell about my exciting trip to Hawaii!!! Just before Thanksgiving, Brent and I, my parents, my sister and her husband went to Hawaii. What can I say, it was fun, WARM, and just what I needed to get away from all of the cold and stress of life.


We had some amazing experiences. One day the plan was to take the road to Hana and swim in the Seven Sacred Pools. We spent a good part of the day driving to Hana (stopping along the way to see some beautiful things). When we arrived at the pools, the water was very murky and we were told the pools were closed. Apparently there had been a great deal of rain and the pools were dangerous. So instead, we chose to hike the Pipiwai trail. We were about half way up the trail and a torential downpour began. I was completely unprepared for this as I was wearing leather sandals and didn't have a case for my camera. Anyway, it was so beautiful. We went through a bamboo forest, ate wild passion fruit, and walked through streams (used to be the trail). At the end of it all was the most beautiful waterfall.
We spent the rest of the trip swimming, snorkeling, seeing lovely sites, eating lots of hula pie, and body surfing. Brent and I could not seem to spot a turtle when we snorkeled. The last day of the trip I was really hoping and praying I would see one. I did. The turtle was HUGE! I found myself close enough to touch it. I was trying NOT to touch it but also had to contend with the coral being so close to me that all I could do was lay flat. What a fun experience.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmas


Okay, so I'm a little slow with updating my blog. Life at home is pretty hectic, especially when the kids are all home.
Christmas break has been a lot of fun. We thought there might not be any snow for Christmas, but it turned out that it snowed a ton. The kids have been playing outside as much as they can stand. Somedays have been pretty cold, but that doesn't stop them. The boys each got two new sleds for Christmas and have been nice to share with the girls.
Christmas day was SO nice. Most of the extended family stuff happened before Christmas, so we really had a nice relaxing day. The kids woke up just before 7:00 (okay, they came up to wake us up at that time) and we opened presents. Mckenna had some dolly stuff and that's all she wanted to do was play with that. We relaxed all morning until 11:00 when we went to my moms to eat lunch and open presents. Some of the adults played a game, Heaven and Hell, that my brother had made for us. Most of the cousins went sledding across the street from my mom's house. It was such a nice day.