Hiking Diamond Head

On "Black Friday" instead of shopping we decided to burn off some of that Thanksgiving dinner by hiking up to Diamond Head, an inactive volcano on the southern end of Oahu. I thought it was a strenuous hike, but then again, I'm nearly 6 months pregnant.The stairs at the end were a killer (literally, Chris had to push me up the last flight), but the views at the top were worth it.

After the hike we indulged in some shaved ice. It was great after accomplishing such a feat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so grateful to my mother-in law for grabbing the camera and taking a few candid shots of our Thanksgiving day. It was a very traditional day, with lots of good food and family. The things I am most thankful for are not things, but the loved ones in my life; my beautiful family that Chris and I have, the family I was born into, and the family I married into. Let's not forget all you wonderful friends too. We are truly blessed and I thank God every day for all the blessings in my life. After 12 years of marriage, Chris will still come and dance with me in the kitchen :)

Here is Chris and the kids helping to set the table

DIG IN!!!

Island Hop to Maui

Last week-end we decided to "hop" over to Maui. We loaded up the car, drove it onto the SuperFerry, and took a 3 1/2 hr. boat ride through the beautiful waters of the Hawaiian Islands. The waters were a little rough during the first hour (thank goodness for the little white barf bags), but after we reached the channel between the islands of Lanai and Molokai it was smooth sailing. The SuperFerry was an adventure itself!Parking the car before heading up to the lounge area.

Grandma and Dallin overlooking the island of Molokai. Too bad we didn't spot any whales.

Corynn slept most of the way there. I guess that's what a 4a.m wake-up call will do to you.

Once we got to Maui, we headed straight for our resort. It was so beautiful, it was tempting to just stay there and not explore the rest of the island.

Our resort had about 4-5 different pools, but the one the kids loved the most was the water park area. It had 2 water slides, a big play structure, and a sandy area for a pretend beach.

Later that night we took a moonlight stroll along the beach. It was so beautiful! The kids decided instead of sand castles, they wanted to make sand volcanos. Do you like Dallin's PJs?

Saturday was kind of a bummer because it rained all day. We tried to explore the island, but because of the flash flood warnings they closed many of the areas we wanted to see (like the "Eye of the Needle" inactive volcano). So what do you do on a rainy Saturday in Maui? Go out for Mexican food of course :)

We also visited the Sugar Museum and factory.

Finally we decided the rain wasn't going to keep us from the beach...I mean, you're wet anyway right? So Grandpa and Daddy took the kids to the beach for snorkeling and boogie boarding, while Grandma and I went shopping. There's nothing like a little retail therapy!

Sunday we squoze in a few activities around the resort, then headed home via the SuperFerry. All in all it was a great week-end! When do we go again?

Aloha! To Grandma and Grandpa Lambert

We are so excited to finally have some visitors come see us in Hawaii! Grandma and Grandpa Lambert are here to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us. While here, we hope to show them a good time so they will want to come back. We have some fun stuff planned for the upcoming two weeks.
Corynn and Grandma at the airport. Dallin and Grandpa at the airport
We took Mom and Dad to the Pali Overlook, which had breathtaking views of the Winward side of Oahu. Aren't they such a cute couple?
Like I said...breathtaking!
We stopped at Bellows Beach (our favorite on the island so far) on our drive today. While there, we made reservations to camp next week. I am used to camping in the mountains with a tent and fire, but camping in an ocean side cabin should be a fun experience.

Thoughts From a Sunday Afternoon

This Sunday we had a speaker in Sacrament meeting who spoke on prayer. Chris and I have very opposing views on prayer; I believe in praying always over everything, while Chris believes that God gave us a good mind and we should use our best judgement, and not "bother" (for lack of a better word) God over every little thing. This talk just reminded me of last week on Halloween afternoon when Dallin lost his hat for his costume. His Link costume is his favorite dress up outfit and he wears it everywhere, so the hat could have been anywhere. I wasn't really that worried about it because I knew he would have a great evening with or without his hat. He was upset about it though. I told him and Corynn to look for it while I was finishing up dinner, then after that we had to leave. After a few minutes Corynn ran in from the garage yelling, "I found it. I found the hat. I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me find it, and he answered my prayer." Upon hearing this, Dallin ran down the stairs yelling that he too had said a prayer and he KNEW Heavenly Father would help them find the hat. As a mother, I was so proud to hear this exchange between my children. I was so proud that they would invoke the powers of heaven with no prodding from me. It also showed me that Heavenly Father cares about what we care about, even something so mundane as a lost hat. It is so powerful to see the faith of a child in action. I am truly grateful for my children, and for a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers.

I am also grateful for my husband. I just had to post this picture of him; he just looks so cute snoozing in a chair on Sunday afternoon.

Boo! From Our Crew

We had a great Halloween evening. The kids only had a half day of school (thanks to parent/teacher conferences), and even Chris only had a half day of work (if you call golfing work). At our house Halloween begins early, so kids were in their costumes and ready to start by about 3:00 in the afternoon.

Halloween night started out with mummy hot dogs, and witches finger (fries).

Dallin originally wanted to be Darth Maul for Halloween, but the costume we ordered on-line was about 2 sizes too big. I guess that's the risk you take when you buy things on-line. So...we used one of his favorite dress up costumes, Link (from Legends of Zelda). Corynn LOVES anything to do with HSM3, so she was a cheer leader from East High. Go Wildcats!

Our Stake held a Trunk-Or-Treat at the chuch, which we love. The kids get to walk around with their friends without so much parental supervision. We loved seeing all the fun costumes!

Here's some shots of the kids with all their loot. I think they wanted to swim in it!