Hawaii: Day 3 (04 June 2009)

I just can't get over the beautiful sunrises from the beach right outside our beach house.

I took this on a short stroll down the beach.

So, day 3 in Hawaii started with a lazy morning and some yummy breakfast.

We then waited for Amy and Juan so they could take us (Laura, Jordan, & Dave) on a little hike called Crouching Lion. Apparently the mountain is supposed to look like a lion... crouching.... I couldn't see it.

The mountain was quite beautiful though.


The trail was awesome, we had a good time seeing all the wonders of nature... then...
disaster strikes... well not really. The "trail" went one way yet the "Lion" seemed to be in the other direction. We all looked to Amy and Juan but... they hadn't ever been on the trail before either so we started exploring and looking for the right trail.

We noticed a rope going up the side of the ravine so I climb it and found that it went nowhere... Dang it!

Amy continued up the ravine a bit further and found... can you guess? That's right, another rope and do you know where it went? Right again, no where... I don't know who hung up all the frigging ropes but I would like to hang them by there own ropes... jerks! Although, Amy does look pretty good up on that rope wouldn't you say?

So, we gave up on finding the right trail and headed back for the car. We stopped for a few Kodak moments and enjoyed the scenery.It was a beautiful day and Laura was too.
Group Shot
After we got back from the hike we soon found ourselves at the beach!! Can you say BOOGIE BOARD?!?!

Ain't that girl just as cute as a button!

We even got dad out there catching waves

After a few hours of fun in the sun I left the "kids" playing at the beach to go pickup Anne, Sera Dulce, and Evan from the airport, yeah! We we're all excited to see them, especially in this beautiful place... am I saying beautiful a lot? Can't help it!

Evan couldn't wait to get to bed so he could wake up to his first full day in paradise... he even gives you a preview of our plans for Day 4!

Hawaii: Day 2 (03 June 2009)

We woke up Wednesday morning before the sun came up... thanks to the time difference and jet lag... and took a few beautiful pics of the morning sky. This one was taken through the window from our bed. Can you say "Paradise"?

Our first destination of the day was Hanauma Bay. It is a huge moon shaped bay that has some great snorkeling thus it also gets way over crowded. So Amy told us that if we got there before 7 a.m. we could get in for free and as we were up by 5 anyway we decided to give it a try. We made it to the bay by 6:55 and who would have thunked it... Amy was right! We got in for free and we were there before most other people so it wasn't too crowded yet... "another bonus" as Dad would put it.

The water was warm.

The fish were beautiful.

The newly-weds were making out.

We were happy, life was good! All the snorkeling helped work up an appetite. We were all ready for some good food; we all piled into the cars and headed for China Town in Honolulu. Amy and Jordan took us to the Golden China... or was it Golden Palace... I'm sure it was "Golden" something. Anyway, the food was great, Dim Sung, Dim Sung, and more Dim Sung. We had several different types and all were Delicious!

At this point Amy, Juan, and Dad started out for home so Juan could get back to work... poor boy. Dad and Amy went hiking. Mom, Jordan, Laura, & I made our way to the swap meat to find some souvenirs for the fam back at home.

After an hour or so of shopping we went hiking to Manoa Falls. It was a beautiful hike. It was very humid and it sprinkled on us just a bit but we still had a great time. Manoa Falls was more like Manoa Trickle, it looked more as if someone was peeing off the top than a waterfall. So, even though the falls weren't quite "spectacular" the beauty of nature made the hike worth it.

At the end of the day we had a nice dinner and played games. Laura had an Oreo and promptly fell to sleep. Ah, life in Hawaii...

Hawaii: Day 1 (02 June 2009)

Laura and I were blessed to be able to have a wonderful Hawaiian vacation in June. We spent 15 glorious days on the islands and even better... for the most part ;) ... we were not alone. Mom and Dad Colton, Jordan, Anne, Sera Dulce and Even came too.
As most people know the real reason we went was to be at Amy's graduation from BYU-Hawaii. We got to spend lots of time with Amy too, just ask Juan... he would probably say we took her away from him way to much... sorry Juan!
Anyway, this is the first of several posts to share some of our experiences in Hawaii. We did so much there is no way I can post it all but here are some of the highlights.

Our first day started before the sun rose Tuesday morning, of course you all know who was up long before the sun...

Dad was up before 5:00 as usual watching the sunrise and writing in his journal.


The plane was scheduled to leave about noon and to our ultimate pleasure and gratitude my parents agreed to take the kids for the duration of our trip so we could have a real vacation. We had to get the kids ready and drop them off at their house in Grantsville.

We were all excited to be going, the kids to grandma's, Laura and I to Hawaii! We left bright and early by 7:00 am. After we got the kids settled in at their grandparents house we left for the airport. We were both a bit worried about how well the kids would behave, especially at first when we left without them. To our surprise they didn't even bat an eye, we just asked they if they wanted to go outside and off they went totally forgetting about us. That was just fine by me as I totally forgot that we even had kids after a few days in Hawaii. Anyway, we met mom, dad and Jordan at the airport and got checked in, which is where our first story begins... Poor Jordan, and on his birthday to boot... So as we checked in and got out boarding passes we found that Jordan's seat was on the other end of the plane. Well, we were there pretty early so we went to the desk and asked if there were any seats closer together, and there were.
We all boarded the plane and got seated, Jordan soon found that the entertainment TV thingy on the seat back in front of him was not working. As I said, poor Jordan, We were watching movies and playing games and watching tennis all the while Jordan got to watch a blank screen, he couldn't even see the moving map... Oh well, at least is was only a six hour flight ;)
The flight went by pretty quick, well, not for Jordan but does he really count anyway? Just kidding Jordan, we really do love you!
The next "fun" thing was the rental car. We even upgraded to a Full size car but 5 adults with 2 check bags and a carry-on bag each is a rather large amount of luggage. I got about half of it into the trunk but the rest had to go on "their" laps... I helpfully volunteered to drive! We keep saying "It is only a 45 minute drive, we can make it" Of course we didn't take into account the rush hour traffic, it turned into about an hour and half drive. In the end we did make it and we were even rewarded with a spectacular view from the front room of our beach house! As Dad says it was a "fall down and sob" view. I have to agree, it was beautiful and we got to wake up to the sunrise over the ocean every morning.
It was an eventful, long day and we were all tired but the prospect of being here in this beautiful house on this amazing island made it all worth it, even Jordan agreed!

We finished the day off with a little birthday party for Jordan. Amy and Juan made us dinner (It was really nice to have some real food after a long day of just snacks) and dessert.

Jordan was so excited he tried to kiss the cake, but with some gentle persuasion he just blew out the candles.

And then Amy and Juan Lei'd us all, it was a lovely ending to a lovely evening!

An Afternoon Drive in Moab, Utah

In March this year we took a trip down to Moab to visit Marylu and do a little "sight seeing" as well. One of our sight seeing tours included a lazy drive through scenic Canyon Lands National Park. If you know me at all you'll know that I was grinning from ear to ear during this whole little excursion... as for the others (Laura, Jordan and Dad), when they weren't walking behind the truck (everyone) or swearing (Dad) then they had their eyes closed in fear, knuckles white from holding on for dear life. It was a wonderful drive!

The leisurely drive begins with a little bump in the road called Elephant Hill. I know it doesn't look like much and almost anyone would say "what's the big deal?" . Well, if you look to the left of the sign across the well maintained road... see that red gate... that is about the point that my passengers decided that it might not be such a good idea to keep going on this trail. Wow... I told them that we hadn't even started the trail and then told them if they couldn't handle it maybe it would be better for them to get out and follow me up. "Besides, you could get some better pictures if you are on foot" I teased.

As we got to the top of the hill (without too much trouble I might add!) we found that the worst wasn't over, we still had to go down the other side. This also meant that if we ever wanted to go home again we would have to come back up and out the same way. Even I was a little nervous about some of the terrain I was seeing though the grin never left my face! Once again my reluctant passengers preferred to walk down rather than ride. That was fine with me... I have never really liked rear seat drivers anyway ;)
As I started the decent into the unknown things seemed to be going rather well and my fears were put to rest.
Of course we all know that as soon as things seem to be going well that is when they are just about to go not so well and we find ourselves facing down into...
THIS...
Well, it really wasn't as crazy as it looks... if you are me. To everyone else it is pretty nuts! So, me being... me (the rational and sensible person I am) took one quick look and leaped! (once again and to no ones surprise... I was alone in the truck)

As we (yes, I finally did get everyone back in the truck after I got down the "SCARY" spots) got to the bottom of the trail we came into some beautiful though tight spots in the trail.

As you can see there wasn't much wiggle room. If you look close you can see Dad in the front seat holding on for dear life, I'm pretty sure he has his eyes closed as well!

When we arrived at the end of the trail... or at least it was as far as we had time for this trip... we got out and went for a short hike to see some of the country we worked so hard to get to (after I got a picture with my truck in which my confidence had just greatly increased).

The landscape was beautiful and so is Laura! They call these the Needles.I think Jordan was still a little dazed and confused from the ride down.

The drive back out wasn't too bad... unless you ask Laura, Jordan or Dad that is, as for me, the grin couldn't have been wiped off my face with sandpaper.

As you can see, I was loving every minute of it!!

We did make it out alive and in one piece. And in the end everyone had to agree that the trip was well worth the shortened life spans from the terror of losing life or limb. As for Dave...

I'm still grinning!

Nathan the Organizer

Nathan is our organizer. Most of his play involves lining things up.

His trucks have to be just so...

Coloring time is not so much coloring as it is making an occasional

mark on the paper and mostly just lining up the markers.

And finally after a long day of organizational genius... he colapses.

(of course this is a rare occurance, unfortunately)

If only our lives could be so easily organized.

Join me with "This Old House"

FHE Cookie Pizza Night!

We need to do some major catching up on our blog! Dave has been so busy remodeling our kitchen, Mom Colton's kitchen, and now our basement (we will blog about all that soon), that we haven't been able to post any good stuff. He is a lot better than me at blogging and doing the pictures and stuff. I'm going to try to do a few myself until he has more time.

On January 19th Jamie was in charge of the dessert for FHE. She looked in her little cook book and chose the cookie pizza. We had so much fun making it together. Jamie's was the most artistic. We all felt a little sick by the time we were done eating. It was so rich!