Aloooooooooooooooooooooha!

So, here's the skinny. Ever since we got engaged, Adam and I had been saving for a trip to Germany (where he served his mission) to pick up his little brother (who was serving a mission there). But his brother ended up getting sick and got reassigned to Florida and with the dollar being as weak as it is against the Euro, the Germany trip wasn't going to happen.

One day, it occurred to us that we're going to have a kid soon and vacationing will not be the easiest thing in the world. We thought, since we took a conservative honeymoon, we'd better hurry up and take one last trip if we were ever going to do it before our whole world changes. Only weeks before we boarded the plane, the plans were made. Adam found a mad crazy package to go to Hawaii and so we told our jobs and took off. Here's some of the highlights:

At the edge of our favorite beach (Kailua) is a street called ALALALALLALALALALALALLA! I decided it's called that because there's NO WAY you can get anywhere but in a circle on that street. So you see, the street is laughing at you!

Here's a view down the beach where we spent most of our time. We chilled in the water...

climbed our way through a rocky, pretty dense jungle in the middle of the island on slippery muddy rocks in flip flops to get to the top of a waterfall...

cruised around the temple, BYU-Hawaii and the North Shore...

Hiked up a volcano (this time in better shoes)...

Hung out with some penguins at Hawaii's version of Sea World which is right on the beach (you can see sand and waves the whole time you walk around the park) ...

Visited Pearl Harbor...

Met a submarine at Pearl Harbor and cruised out to the USS Arizona memorial where we saw officer Lisenby's name on the memorial...

Paid a visit to a pineapple plantation...

Visited the Polynesian Cultural Center where Adam stole the show. Here he is playing the drums with his new found friend. You wouldn't believe this but Cornfed was working the crowd and had everyone in stitches by the time he got off the stage.

See? He's modeling the crown he got in exchange for his amazing drum solo

I got to make friends with some Easter Island locals (which was a part of my mission) like this fine friend and I even got to chat with a kid who worked there at the PCC who was actually from Easter Island!

We went to a botanical garden and tested the local fare. Adam thouroughly enjoyed himself as you can see...

And we still managed to relax and enjoy. It was such a beautiful place to be. There was so much to do...and see! For example, we ended up sitting behind Mahele (Kristin's BYU freshman year roommate) at church on Sunday!)

We also took a tour of historic Honolulu, including the royal palace, government seat, supreme court building, governor's home and the oldest China Town in the US. We visited Hanauma Bay, ate WAY TOO MUCH macadamia nut ice cream and explored the entire island, including inland jungles and rain forests and the entire coast line, all in our super RAD mustang convertible. It was such a great trip. We feel really lucky we got to go before the baby came, and before I got too large to enjoy all there was to do outside. And it brought back fond memories of my trip there years ago with all of you.

Thought of the Day

So Lisa's Dad works in an office where he gets some hilarious forwards. I have been tempted many times to post some of them on the blog because I have laughed so hard I have cried. So in light of nobody posting, I thought I should share this thought with all of you.

"SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES - NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT
THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN THE STAIRS."

How true is that. Anyways, I just thought that was worth sharing.

Why isn't anybody posting?

I know your lives are exciting...now why don't you post about them? Here's my excitement for the day. Today for after school snack, while the kids were getting their stuff out to do homework and looking for something to eat, I stood in the kitchen eating jicima dipped in cottage cheese that I had mixed ranch dip mix into. Carter, my pickiest eater came over and wanted to try some. He did and he liked it. Then malia, my next pickiest did the same. Before I knew it, it was standing room only around the vegetables and cottage cheese. I love it when my tricks work...i.e., eating something in front of them rather than offering them some.

My second bit of excitement...my bell peppers are growing. I have like two or three that are about the size of a pea right now. Love it!
!

PMS...O...

I took my last final Tuesday night (HORRAY!) and the new semester doesn't start till this coming Tuesday, so naturally I'm spending 5 of my 6 days off in sunny California. After arriving, we headed strait to Tito's Tacos and then over to La Brea Tar Pits to meet up with Krally, Steven, and Lu Lu. I think the best part of the adventure was either the sign reading "Birds are nesting. They may act aggressively" or Steven getting busted for picking up the turtle. After the museum we headed back home and then to strait over to Monk Shabunk's open house. I know this may come as a shock but picture #3 is actually a drawing, not a photograph. Mackenzie had to pick her favorite family member and write about them. I made to stand by the drawing in her classroom and inform all those who passed by that I was the inspiration behind her assignment. By far the greatest assignment Kenz showed us is displayed in picture #5. Mackenzie and her friends created a clothing line which they named "PMS(O)" It is the first initials of all the creators. I was the only one who could keep a strait face when she was describing it to us. And then, I asked her to stand by it for a picture and totally unprovoked she came up with the pose you see in the picture. Now if that isn't a a PMS pose, I don't know what is...

Neato Frito Pedo!

Recognize this dude? Yes, I thought who better to wish Justin an HBD than his old pal (and VERY close friend, I might add) Monchichi. That's right. I went ahead and went there!

So, happy b-day to the man who quickly outgrew the nickname "General Fats" and moved on to any number of other supremely stellar nicknames like the one mentioned in the title. You know, we owe a lot to Justin. It's not every man who can don an easter bonnet and make it look cool. Nor is it every big brother in the nursery who will pop some other kid in the beak to get his little sister her glow worm back (I would have been traumatized without it. The kid was totally asking for it). Or jump on the hood of a moving vehicle only to find that the occupants of the car may or may not have been other than the people he was expecting.

Perhaps the crowning moment of Justin's hilarity was the tackling of the trashcan at Disneyland when he came up swinging afterwards. I was fairly certain that I'd caused internal damage from how hard I laughed. Just more evidence that wherever Justin goes, there is fun. HBD, Justino!

Sleeping Beauty...

I think Malia must be growing because most afternoons, this is how I find her...sacked out on the couch sucking away on her thumb. It makes for very peaceful afternoons...until the little bear wakes up and then it's all about whining and being held. I wonder where she gets that grumpiness from?

Gardening tools...

What? Not everybody uses drills to plan tomatoes? Yes folks, these are what I use to garden. I have always wanted to plant vegetables. So, this year, our circumstances permit it...we have enough space, and spots where the plants will get plenty of sun. So, I bought some plants and then went out to plant them...I could not get down more than two inches in that DIRT. The locals call it "hard pan." I call it cement. Our dirt is so hard, you literally have to get a hammer drill with a mack daddy drill bit to drill a hole. Mind you, even with that, the hole only goes down like three inches or something. Then, you get the biggest regular drill bit you have and drill holes in the side of the hole for the roots to grow into. I gave up after like 8 or 9 plants and bought some pots and planted some of the tomatoes/cucumbers/basil in the pots. That way I didn't have to break out the drill bit. When we have some tasty tomatoes this summer, I'm going to be glad I did this. But for today, I'm exhausted!!!!!!