I want to go back ....

Those have been the words out of my mouth pretty much every day

I feel like Hawaii is the only thing I post about but it just makes me happy so I do it anyways. I might need to take a break and catch up on our family life in the next couple off posts and when I won;t have anything to post about I will have to post more pics.

I don't think I will be chronological at this point, we pretty much lost track of days in the middle of the week and that is why I am having a hard time remembering what we did on which day.

The hike to Twin waterfalls was our first hike in the rain forest that looked like jungle. It was so beautiful.

We past many tall banana trees and green shrubs on our way. The destination was this waterfall that we almost had to swim to get to. it was FUN!

 Little banana tree

Quinn and I one day explored the Pineapple Plantation. 

In our words a Pineapple Farm. Jim did tell me that to grow a pineapple you cut the top of and plant it, another pineapple somehow grows out of that. I think that info went into one ear and out of another. After I visited pineapple plantation I was 100% sure that I saw pineapples on a tree and even told couple of my friends on facebook how they grow, you know 'cause I got all educated on the "Plantation". Well, the same day I realized that what I saw on a tree looked like a pineapple but it was not.

Nature Hike

Those trees were Humangus

The roots paved the way

Another Waterfall

Another adventure that we got to experience in Maui was a Road to Hana. They call the most beautiful scenic rout in the world. It takes a whole day to do it and we did not have a whole day in our trip where we could leave in the morning and come back at night so we went there twice. First time we had a hard time finding all the waterfalls and hikes because we were too cheap to buy a CD guide. Next day i found out that our hotel land it for free so we took it. I guess if they say you need some kind of a guide for the road you need to listen and not be cheap, huh?

Maui day 2and 3

Tired of my Maui posts yet, bear with me as I continue. Since the main reason going to Maui was Jim's MFR seminars I guess I should not complain that he had to leave and attend them, I wish he would spent all that amazing time with us, but first things first.

On the Second day I decided to drive Jim in our( for the week) new Shevy Malibu to his seminar. Let me tell you, we are not new car people and probably never will be, so driving this spanking new car was something to get used to. Ones we got over the fear of driving, scratching or breathing at it it was fun to accelerate fast and just feel cool:)

Another reason why I loved Maui is because I got more hours in my day there. Hawaii being 4 hours behind from us was amazing. My first day I woke up at 5-30 and couldn't sleep any more, I was rested and ready to go for the day. So before Jim had to be at the class at 8-30 we had time to kill. We watched the sunrise from our back glass door, we went to the farmer's market and I ate my first fresh coconut and drank it's juice.

So after i dropped Jim off to his class I went to explore the rich area of the hotels and beaches. Some people pay 300 to 500 dollars per night to stay there and I thought 125 was expensive, but not for Maui.

Quinn and I went to the beach and then we spent 3 hours at the Wialea Mall. They had a lot of cool art exhibits and expensive shopping.

On the day three I decided to stay close and enjoy the sun and the beach not too far from the hotel. Poor Quinn was my primary target of photography, well if you do not count all the flowers.


This is me with my farmer's tan. It took a lot to get rid of it. Quinn and I walked up and down this beach every day.

Maui day 1

The day has finally come for us to take a vacation and head over to Maui. We spent a night at Jim's parents house where we left Tasia and AJ. Thank goodness for great parents who were willing to spent a week with our kids. As is always happens to us, both of our kids had colds and pink eye when we left them, all we could do is to give them a blessing and hope for the best from grandma. She survived I don't know how, but they made it after all the inhabitants of grandparent's house shares our kid's colds.

The morning of our arrival he had to leave the house at 4-30 am, well I was up at 3 , too excited i guess. We kissed our sick kids good bye and got greeted by the 3 inches of snow outside. But who cares we are leaving to a much warmer place.

12 hours later and still awake

On the way there Quinn did exceptionally well. Out all of the screaming kids he was the most quiet. I think he was enjoying the time in our hands and I bet it was nice to feel like the only child for a while.

Here we are getting ready to land in Honolulu. I was freaking out on the plane and kinda reliving this again while doing this post!!!

First walk to the beach from our hotel!!!

It was a beautiful sunset.

We were so excited to get into the ocean that we totally did not take time to get Quinn used to the idea of the big waves. Poor kid did not like it at all and was afraid of water for the first couple of days. That is why we did not stay at the beach very long and decided to check out the pool. I like the pool and all but not after the fun went down, there was no way I was getting into it, but Jim surprised me. Here he is being a goof ball.

 Jim is going to kill me but I love his massive pectoral muscles in this pic, I just want to squish them.

Coming from Utah, I was amazed at all the greenery they have in Maui. Flowers blooming on every bush. I took time to get some pictures of those beautiful flowers that grow like weeds. It bring me back to thinking when God said : " I will send forth briers and noxious weeds to afflict and torment man"  somehow skipped Hawaii islands. It is truly like a Garden of Eden to me.

See what I am talking about, Paradise!!! More to come in later posts!!!

Hike to Ensign Peak

Last week-end we wanted to  do something outdoor so we decided to show my friend Natasha the Ensign Peak. I have never been there so it was the first time for me as well. We hiked up to the top of the mountain, the view was amazing!!! You could see pretty much everything, Capital, Downtown and even The Great Salt Lake!!! it was fun to have Natasha with us she took some pictures of our family!!!

On Monday we attended our first Bishop rick Family home evening with our new Bishop Marshall. Kids had a ton of fun doing a scavenger hunt and they got to find a treasure chest with cool stuff. Then we kicked it off with some Rock Band! It was awesome to see Brother Genteel and Brother Marshal as a Band!!! Lots of fun. AJ also got a chance to play the guitar. He has been very much into a guitar recently. We might need to get his a new one for his birthday without strings, otherwise they get cut off.

Leah took this one of me playing Rock Band

 AJ playing Rock Band with an eye patch

This week we also had a Beautiful RS birthday party. I was asked to give a talk on Celebrating our Life and the Life of Christ!!! I thought oh, easy, I can do that with my eyes closed. I even got my thoughts written down 2 weeks before, I thought I was set. WELL, not so fast, the day before I am looking over my talk and feeling that I need to add some scriptures and direct my scattered thoughts into one place. WELL, I had no idea that would be little harder then I thought. But I loved the time I got with the scriptures and my thoughts alone. I also thought that it would be cool to sing "Words I would Say" by Sidewalk prophets. It would be cool, and intimidating and nerve racking, BUT I DID IT!!! I am proud of myself that I was able to overcome my fear... yeay...

It is funny, you know when you are asked to speak at Church about something and you know that you will have to live through some experiences to prove yourself that what you are talking about you are living. So, I talked about The steps of Being happy and Celebrating every day. Now I think I am being tried if I stay happy when financial problems come along. This week Jim hurt his back and had to skip a day at work, then on Friday he had no patients and on Monday he has Jury Duty, does it really have to happen within one week? Seriously. When I ask Jim if we are going to be OK, he Says : " we are doing what we are suppose to be doing, Lord will take care of us". A lot of times I find that he has more Faith then I do, I am grateful for my hubby.

This is Tasia Ice Scating

Quinn's 7 months old pictures at the park.