Look a like...

Here is a picture of Cole from the 4th of July. He has been growing his hair out for quite some time. In the beginning he wanted to do it to look different from Noah which I thought was a perfectly good reason. I actually like him with long hair. He has been learing to play the guitar so it's a good rocker look too. Recently he was asked a few too many times if he was a boy or a girl (I don't think he ever looked like a girl, but long hair usually = a girl, or so the stereotype goes), so he kept thinking about cutting it. Last week Mike was giving himself and Noah haircuts and he told Cole he would pay him if he let him shave his head. Cole debated in his mind and finally gave in. Well, in the middle of the hair cut he changed his mind. So Mike left some of it a little long, kind of a skater hair cut. It's kind of funny since Cole wants nothing to do with skateboarding and Noah is the one totally into skateboarding right now. Anyway,, when I saw him I instantly thought of a picture of Mike from about the same age with a similar skater do. I can not seem to locate the exact picture I am thinking of but found one that was close. I have always said Cole looks more like Mike and now I see it even more. What do you think?!?!

The Torch has been passed...

Mike taught Cole to mow the lawn the other day. Since we have such an insane amount of grass(ha, ha) he figured it would be a good idea to get some help.




Of course, Jenna had to get her turn as well.

Coming home

Well, getting home was a lot easier than getting there. Rylee and I got to go first class which was nice since it was an overnight flight. I think Rylee was so spoiled the whole trip that I am a little worried about getting her grounded again. No, she was awesome! It was so fun to go with her and have these memories that we will have forever! Here are few more pictures.

Pearl Harbor

On Friday we went to Pearl Harbor and it was an amazing experience. We went to the aviation museum first and then to the USS Arizona Memorial. We saw 2 different films about Pearl Harbor that were very informative, I learned a lot. Then we took a boat over to the memorial. They ask you to be very quiet and as we walked to the back wall with all the names of the soldiers who died that day it was peaceful. Knowing that these selfless soldiers are still buried there with their ship and seeing all those names written was very humbling. I am so glad we went and that Rylee was able to experience that.

On to O'ahu

On Thursday we left Maui and flew to O'ahu. We got checked in to our hotel in downtown Honolulu right near Waikiki beach. After only a few minutes of being there I was wishing I was back in Maui. Honolulu is a big crazy city. Traffic, people, scummmy neighborhoods, just not what I picture when I think of Hawaii. We went for a drive around the island and it was beautiful once we got out of Honolulu. We went by BYU Hawaii, the temple, and the Dole plantation.



Here is a picture of BYU Hawaii, I was surprised how small it was. I told Ry she should go there, that way we can come visit.
Ry and Shannon outside the temple. The temple is closed for construction right now. The outside is all rough and the whole inside has been gutted.
Ry and I at the temple.
Ry & Shannon at the maze at the Dole plantation. We got there an hour before they closed. They give you a card punched with the time you got there and then you have to find 8 different stations in the maze. Then you are suppose to come back to see if you found them all fast enough to get a prize. The girls finished in an hour but by the time they came out the girl at the booth had gone home, oh well they had fun doing it. We had Dole whip, yummy!!!!! I wish I could get that here.

Snorkeling

On Wednesday we went on a snorkeling trip. Our ship (the Alii Nui, a beautiful catamaran) sailed out at 8 am and we headed to Molikini Crater. They fed us breakfast and a yummy lunch. Everything was included down to the sunscreen and towels. It was amazing!!! I can't wait to get the pictures from our underwater camera developed and see how they turned out.

This is a view of the crater as we were leaving that afternoon.

The waters was so clear. Here is a pic of a fish from above the water.
Rylee diving off the front of the boat. After we were done snorkeling and had all eaten lunch everyone was having fun jumping off the boat.
Me and Rylee
Our captain, Chris, steering the boat with his feet, he was HOT, I mean a great captain.

The Road "home"

The drive from Hana back to where we were staying was just as beautiful as the road there. We passed some old churches, lots of little cemeteries, cows (a lot of the land on the way to and from Hana is used for cattle), and more beautiful scenery.

The Seven Sacred Pools

A few miles past Hana is Haleakala National Park and the main "attraction" at this part of the park is the seven sacred pools. It is like a half mile hike to the pools and then you hike through some of the pools to the upper ones and you can swim. It was amazing! So beautiful and the water was cool and refreshing.

Here is Shannon & I swimming

Rylee and I swam across one pool and climbed to this waterfall.
Rylee near the bottom of the pools where they meet the ocean
Some of the lower pools
Here is a picture of the upper pools. We didn't climb to the top one but the one below that and that is where we swam.

Black Sand Beach

Another stop on the Road to Hana was this black sand beach. The water was so blue and clear.

The Road to Hana

On Monday my sister in law took my niece and her friend over to BYU Hawaii for EFY so the rest of us rented a Jeep and went on the Road to Hana. We took the top off and headed out and it started raining. We kept driving and after a short time it cleared up and it was beautiful!!!! I think this was my favorite day of the vacation. The road is narrow and winding, the speed limit is only 15 mph and its over 50 miles long. There are 54 bridges and over 500 curves on the road with lots of waterfalls. It was like driving through a rain forest, amazing!!!
One fun thing that happened was when we stopped at one of the little roadside vendors to eat we saw Jim Nabors. (gomer pyle from the adny griffith show) He leaves near there and was sitting enjoying his food and some company. I wish I would have taken a picture.

They have the coolest pine trees in Hawaii.

One of the many waterfalls we say that day, coming below on of the bridges.
Another bridge
There are lots of stops along the way to see things. One stop was an arboretum and we saw these amazing trees. They are called painted gum trees and come from Indonesia. They almost look fake and they were so cool!
Isn't it beautiful!?!?

Beautiful Scenery

On Sunday morning we went to church then headed up to Iao Valley State Park to do a little hiking and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Then we drove around and saw the incredible wind surfers.


Here is one of Rylee

The amazing wind surfers!
Me and Ry at Iao Park
Isn't this amazing?!?! I kept thinking of LOST while I was there.
Here is one of the whole gang.

Finally made it to Hawaii/Heaven

The first day there we hung out at the beach and the pool. The next day we went to a mall and watched some hula dancers and enjoyed some island music then headed to Lihaina to do some sight seeing and shopping.

A sunset from the beach near our condo in Kihei.

There are so many beautiful flowers in Hawaii. My favorite are these white plumerias.

Here is a picture of the hula show. Who does this guy remind you of?!?!
Here is Ry being silly at the beach.

Getting To Hawaii

I am so sorry now that I did not take pictures of this part of my trip. So Rylee left on Monday with all the other girls/ladies. They all made it there with no problems. (keep in mind we were all flying standby) On Wednesday my brother-in-law and I left early afternoon. We flew from here to LAX. There were 3 flights we tried to get on that afternoon with no luck. So we ended up getting a hotel for the night. The best part is that we got the last available room at the courtyard. When we got to our room we realized it was just a king bed, so we had to have a roll away sent up. I crashed at 7 since I had been up for over 36 hours by then. We got up early the next morning, headed back to LAX and went from gate to gate to gate hoping to get on any flight going anywhere in Hawaii. NO LUCK!!! All the flights were overbooked and had too many standbys listed (a few of the flights had over 40 standbys, one even had 57 and we were at pretty much the bottom of the list). So we ran from one terminal to the next a few times (for those of you familiar with LAX you know the tunnell?). Finally we decided to "get the hell out" of LAX. We got a flight to San Francisco and ended up sitting on the plane for an hour due to a mechanical problem. (While sitting on this plane we learned of the passing of Michael Jackson, hmmm) We finally made it to SF having missed the flight we were hoping to get on to HI. Luckily there was one more flight to Honolulu that night. It didn't look too hopefull, but luckily we were patient and made it on the flight. So we got to Honolulu and ran to another terminal hoping to catch the last flight of the day to Maui (where everyone else was and we were trying to be). Yeah, we missed it by less than 10 minutes. So we got another hotel and got up early the next day and finally made it to Maui! What a nightmare, but sooooo worth it!

Too Busy Relaxing to Post

So I realize it has been a few weeks since I posted. I finished up some of my crazy school stuff and was able to get away. Thanks to my sister-in-law and Mike I was able to go to Hawaii with Rylee, my sister-in-law, 2 of my nieces, one of their friends, my mother-in-law, and my brother-in-law. It was amazing and so nice to relax and not worry about school or work or mom duties or anything but enjoying myself and time with Ry. The next few posts will be a short synopsis of our vacation, try not to be too jealous. ;-)

The Semester from Hell...

I keep forgetting to take a picture of me in my "beautiful" blue scrubs. Actually, I am not sure I want a picture of me in them...Anyway, this semester has been crazy! I only have one class but it's fundamental and we have lecture 5 hours a week, a test about every week, and labs on Fridays. We also have had to watch all these skills videos which we can only watch at the library on campus. So far I have survived, sometimes just barely. I have passed off my assessments, bed baths, injections, and a few other things. Tomorrow I hope to pass off catheters and a few other things as well. It will be nice to have all the labs done and then we have a couple Fridays off before we start Clinicals. I am way excited for the break because I get to spend 10 days in Hawaii with Rylee, my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and 2 of my neices. I have never been and am sooooooooooo looking forward to it. Not only because it's Hawaii and who wouldn't be excited, but I need a break so bad right now. I am looking forward to sitting on the beach and relaxing...oh and snorkeling, and boogie boarding, and surfing, and the whole experience. AHHHHHH! 1 week from today I will be sitting on the beach in Maui, can't wait!

A Beautiful Afternoon

Monday turned out the be the first nice day in a couple weeks. No rain and not too hot! I spent then afternoon on a bike ride with some of my girlfriends, it was so much fun! I even got a little sun on my white arms. Then we headed up Mueller Park Canyon with Mike's family to roast hot dogs and hang out. It was so nice up there and great to hang out with family. Mike's sister, Shellie, and her family were in town for a few days. The kids were playing "ninja" and having a blast! Jenna was in heaven with Lucy, our neices pug. Mike was in heaven playing with the fire. It was a wonderful evening.

A Concert in the Rain

Last week Ry and I went to the Kelly Clarkson concert with my friend Hillery and her daughter Avery. It was at the ballpark at UVU in Orem. It had been raining pretty good all day and we kept wondering if the concert would be canceled or not. We got their about 5:30 and it had just stopped raining. We found a good spot on the grass (luckily we had ponchos to put under our blankets to keep them dry). Then we waited and waited and waited. They had 5 different groups/artists sing one song each for "Utahs Got Talent" contest. Then we waited some more and finally it was time for KELLY!!! She was fun, the only bummer was she only played for an hour. And of course as soon as she started singing it started raining. Luckily it didn't pour and it was still fun! And we were rewarded with a beautiful double rainbow right over the stage, it was awesome!!!

My Crazy Kids....

and I wouldn't have it any other way! So since school has been out (for the kids) it has been rainy and cool. I am loving the weather! We haven't had to turn on the AC or water the garden and everything is so green and beautiful! The big draw back is that we haven't been able to go swimming. I have been so busy with school and we may not have been able to squeeze in much swimming anyway, so it's been ok. The kids have been riding bikes a lot and playing videos games and reading. One day last week I decided we should go do something fun, I needed time to spend with them relaxing. So we went bowling! Who doesn't love to bowl?!?! Anyway, as usual when I tried to take their pictures, this is what I ended up with:






I always thought they got the "sticking their tongue" thing from the Martin side of the family until a week or so ago when my sister-in-law pointed out it was more likely from the Delozier side. My brother is famous for flipping me off whenever I take a picture of him and I usually don't realize it until later when looking back at the pictures. I even have a beautiful picture of him dancing with his wife at their reception and he's flipping me off. Anyway, she pointed out that I should be glad they stick their tongues out and not the alternative. Oh, well, I still love them and think they are cute even when they stick their tongues out! I still love you too Devin, even after the finger thing! Just teach your baby the tongue thing instead of the finger thing, please!!!

A Big Day

Thursday was an exciting day for our girls. Rylee had her 6th grade promotion at 9:30 a.m. and Jenna had her kindergarten graduation at 10:30 a.m. Luckily they were at the same place and Ry's didn't go too long. I remember when Ry was in kindergarten and I was pregnant with Jenna. I had her right at the end of the school year. I cannot believe that now my baby is done with kindergarten. And Ry will be starting Jr High, where has the time gone? I am so proud of both of my girls! I feel blessed to be their mom!

Here is my baby all grown up!

Here is Ry. I thought she looked so cute and spunky!

Here she is with her "diploma", typical Ry expression.

Here are both my graduates! Thanks to my friend, Mele, for making the candy leas for them.

Jenna with her "diploma" and her "graduation cap"

Cousins

Jenna and Mara were born just 7 weeks apart and have always had a connection. They usually get along, but do have their moments when they have been together a little too much. I was going to post the pictures I took today and then remembered this picture of my brother, Devin, holding the girls when they were babies. I thought how fun to have this picture:

And this picture from today:

Aren't they the cutest pair of trouble you have ever seen?!?!

Rylee

A couple weeks ago Rylee was lucky enough to be the model for a photography class. It was rainy and a little cold but she had a blast! Here are a couple of the awesome pictures from her modeling day. I know I am a little bias but I think they are beautiful pictures!




Rylee has had a pretty exciting weekend. Friday she got to go to Lagoon for the day with just her friends, no adults for the first time. Yesterday her and her friends helped me throw Jenna her bday party. I would not have been able to do it without them. They decorated, made sandwiches, put make up on the girls, helped them make their wands and hair things, and jsut were great! I think the younger girls felt special having so much attention from the older girls.
Today Rylee gave her first talk in Sacrament Meeting. She wrote the talk herself and did an incredible job. She talked about family and was lucky enough to have a lot of family there to hear her. My parents, Mike's mom, and my sisters and their families (thanks Leah and Sara for you support). She was also made a counselor in her Young Women Beehive class. She has grown into such an neat young lady!

The Princess Tea Party

Jenna has been talking about her birthday party for months. She kept saying she wanted this, no this or no that. She finally decided on a princess tea party. All the princesses came in their princess attire. They decorated wands, had make up applied (thanks Ry, Emily, and Daisy), then we had a little tea lunch, made hair clips and scrunchies, opened presents, and ended with fondue. Jenna said it was her best birthday ever!




I found out that morning that my sister, Sara, and her family were on there way from Vegas. They arrived shortly before the party ended. Her daughter, Mara, is just 7 weeks younger than Jenna and they are best cousins! I didn't tell Jenna they were coming so she opened the door to find her best birthday present: her cousin Mara!

My Baby is 6!

Yesterday Jenna turned 6! Where has the time gone. It seems just yesterday that she joined our family and she has been a joy since she arrived. She is so full of life!

Here she is at about 4 months old:



Here she is on her first birthday:



Here she is on her 3rd birthday. Her, Rylee, and I flew to NC for my brothers wedding openhouse. My mom made her a cake and Jenna helped by licking the bowl and putting the sprinkles on.



This year we didn't do a cake. Jenna LOVES chocolate! So we decided to do chocolate fondue instead and she loved it!

A Shout Out to my Brother

A couple weeks ago the kids and I were able to attend my brother, Devin's, graduation from UVU. It was long and boring, but I am so proud of him and all his hard work so it was worth it. (I really understand all the hard work now and cannot wait until I am graduating) He worked extra hard and had a lot of full semesters and worked throughout his program as well. Tomorrow he and his cute wife, Karissa, will celebrate their 3rd anniversary. CONGRATS!!! And in a few months they will become parents. Wow! Lots of changes in their life. I want both of them to know how proud we are of them and how much we love them!

Our New Fun...

We decided to get bikes for everyone so that we can enjoy a fun family activity and get some exercise at the same time. I found a good used bike for myself and both boys got new bikes. The girls bikes are good for another year so they get to wait. We didn't think Jenna would be able to keep up with the rest of us so we got a trailer bicycle for her. It attaches just under my seat and she has her own pedals and handle bars. She loves it! It has been years since I have ridden a bike so Mike made sure I went a few times on my own before trying to tow Jenna along with me. Last week I decided I was ready to pull her along with me. So the kids and I headed out for a bike ride close to home. All was great until my bike stopped suddenly. I thought maybe my chain had come off but it was actually a problem with Jenna's wheel (it was a little tight and wouldn't' move). Luckily we were right across the street from the pawn shop. I ran over and borrowed a couple tools and was able to fix the problem all by myself. We were able to finish our ride and it was great!
Last night the boys were working with Mike so the girls and I headed out for a ride. We decided to try the legacy parkway trail. Not sure how far we went but followed the trail to 500 S. and then headed home. It was awesome! I am sore, but it feels good. My goal is to be able to ride the whole legacy trail and back by the end of the summer.

The 5 of us on our "first" ride.

Jenna & I, doesn't it look fun!

These 3 just wanted to go fast and far.