Fencing Lessons

Trenton started fencing lessons this month after asking us for the past year to do so. It is quite the workout each week! After 1 1/2 hours of fencing, he is soaked from head to toe, but he doesn't complain one bit. We are excited that he has found something that he is so passionate about.

Preschool Excitement

Owen and Nathan celebrated "Dad's Day" at preschool last Saturday and had a great time together. It was actually a "pow wow" so they painted each other's faces and made Indian hats. Owen was so happy to have his Dad go to his school with him.

I did not realize what a big deal it was to bring "Spot" home from school, but Owen has never been more proud than the day it was his turn to do so. Spot came home with us for the weekend to be Owen's friend and we recorded what the two of them did together in a little journal that was then read to the class on the following Monday. Owen and Spot went everywhere together that weekend!

Dallin, 17 months

His half birthday is just around the corner, so I thought we were due for a few pictures of him this past month while he is still 17 months old! Doesn't he look like Smokey the Bear?

This is actually his third haircut, but we'll pretend it's his first since I didn't get any pictures of his first haircut! He just loves haircuts; can't you tell? This was the only one I took of him not crying.

Hawaii Highlights

Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii!We were blessed to spend 7 days on Maui without our children. It was bittersweet...it was beautiful and relaxing, but we missed our four little ones dearly! Everyday we found ourselves picking out things the kids could be doing with us and things they couldn't. We wouldn't trade the time alone for the world, but next time we'll bring them along :)

Honestly, the best part about our trip was the unbelieveable resort we stayed at. It is beyond words and was more than we could have ever dreamed of. The staff waited on us non-stop and there were so many amenities provided, that we really didn't need to leave for things to do. The pools were pure paradise! There were so many different pools that even on our last day we discovered one we had not visited the whole week!The pool area included a tarzan rope, lazy river, sandy beach pool, multiple hottubs, a bar grotto, waterfalls, water elevator, and a dozen waterslides. We had a great time to say the least, even when we were just watching the fun from the luxury of a pool chair!Our beach! We spent almost every morning here. It never dropped below 70 F while we were there and reached a high of 85 F each day.The amazing view from our room's balcony. The little horseshoe island in the distance is where we snorkeled one day.

Next to our resort, our next favorite spot on the island was Lahaina. It was right on the ocean and had so many great restaurants, shopping, shave ice (Cathy's Hawaiian addiction) and parks. This is a famous park because the entire park is filled with the limbs of this huge Banyan tree.

Black Sand Beach on the other side of the island.

On the Road to Hana. It is much more tropical on this side of the island (which is opposite of our resort). We were glad we made the six hour round-trip to check out the tropical plants, waterfalls, and amazing beaches. It is quite a trip though because the road to Hana has 200 turns over the course of just 35 miles!! Going just 35 miles took us 2 hours as a result!

A waterfall along the Road to Hana. It was the "dry" season, so we didn't see as many waterfalls as normal.

A fuzzy picture of the waterfall in front of our resort.

Since this trip was thanks to a work conference, not all of our time was spent laying on the beach. Nathan did have to attend a few meetings the first couple of days while I laid at the pool :) There is a baby lizard on the top of the sign in this picture if you look closely.

Waiting for our food at a great restaurant on the ocean in Lahaina.

We went to a luau our fifth night there. It was a lot of fun to be on the beach at night. This guy with the fire was impressive!

Sunset at the pool. Amazing!

Sunset at the beach just beyond the pools at our hotel. We miss the sun already!

So, I took 300 pictures on our trip. I took pictures of everything! You never know what you might want to remember ten years from now, so I took pictures of everything I saw, including this lovely lady. She's picture worthy, don't ya think?


And what about this sign? It's not everyday that the bathroom sign has a hula skirt on it!