More about Hawaii....

• Wednesday - Cory's parents got to our house the night before so they'd be there to watch the boys. So on Wednesday morning (early) we flew from Cedar City - SLC - LA - Lihue, Hawaii. A LONG day of flying, but it was nice to get to fly out of Cedar City and not have to drive to the airport. After getting to Hawaii we checked into our hotel (which was AMAZING!) - The Grand Hyatt. We got settled, unpacked, and went out to dinner with our friends Crae and Jenny (they own the Logan franchise of The Blind Guy) at a tasty restaurant called The Beach House. It was right on the beach and the restaurant opened right up to the beautiful view. Unfortunately it was too late to see much....but the food was still yummy! I had a VERY good Watermelon salad!
• Thursday - We got up early and drove to our fun outing - Kauai Backcountry Adventures to go tubing down irrigation ditches that had been used for an old sugar cane plantation. It was SO cool! The ditches went through underground tunnels and over 70% of the ride actually went undergound! We had on helmets and head lamps and it was so fun! On the drive up to the drop-off spot we saw some awesome views and got to learn a lot about the history of the area. After our tubing ride they fed us lunch and we drove back to our cars. Oh - we drove in these cool old Swiss army trucks. They were all open and the mud flicked right up....right up on me. I don't know how - but I was the dirtiest of the bunch and Cory kept teasing me and saying I looked like I had just grown "whiskers". Gave us all a good chuckle. After the tubing adventure we headed up to see a few pretty views. We drove up to a beautiful waterfall (I think it was called Wailua falls...?) and then I think we went back to our hotel....we hung out at the pool and rested in some hammocks. It was SO beautiful and relaxing. Then all of a sudden we remembered that we were supposed to be at a group dinner at 5:00. So we rushed up to our room and got ready. We ate dinner with the group (which had the BEST Kuala Pork and AMAZING Pina Colada drinks!!!) We were supposed to stay for a motivational speaker, but Cory and our friends decided to skip out - so we went out to have dessert after at a restaurant at the hotel. I had a chocolate BOMB (YUMMO!) and Cory had a very disappointing tapioca/fruit dessert. It was horrible....but afterwards we sat on the beach watching the waves and then went back to our hammock to listen to the sounds of the ocean. Heavenly....

• Friday - We started this morning EARLY - way too early.....we had to be at our excursion at 6:30 and it was 45 minutes away...We went on a boating trip up the Na Pali coast with the Na Pali Explorer company. We were supposed to be on a small 16-person boat, but it wasn't working - so we took the larger 40+ people boat. It took us up the Na Pali coast - which is out of this world! My very favorite part of the whole thing was that we saw hundreds and hundreds of Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins - swimming right next to our boat! They jumped, swam, and made me smile. It took all I had in me not to just jump out of the boat and grab onto one of the dolphins. My favorite part were the baby dolphins - they were tiny and adorable! After boating up the coast we stopped to try to snorkel. There was a surge coming in, and so the snorkeling wasn't great....in fact - it was the worst we've had....that was a bummer, but you can't control the weather. But the tour was cool, we got to see some awesome caves, places where many movies were filmed - and just beautiful scenery! On the way back the weather got a little crummy and the waves were much bigger. It was quite an adventurous trip back. After the Na Pali Explorer trip we headed up to see Waimea Canyon - which is considered Hawaiian's Grand Canyon. WOW! It was beautiful too! We toured around there, and then headed back and had some fun food at Barefoot Burgers. I just ate a tasty shaved ice - which was YUMMY! We headed back to the pool and relaxed some more afterwards. Friday night was the night we stuffed our faces - we had a group dinner "dine-around" - which was like a progressive dinner. We had 4 different stations or different restaurants that we had to go to. There was a seafood station, Italian, Chinese and dessert. We ate so much and it was SO yummy. It was fun to spend time that night with a lot of the other Blind Guy franchises and chat with friends we've made over the years with the company. We love our Blind Guy friends - good folks!

• Saturday - This was our relaxing day....which felt a little boring. We stayed around the pool (which was the coolest pool I've ever seen at a hotel! It went on and on - it was gorgeous!) I read, Cory got antsy (he has a hard time just sitting and relaxing). We left for lunch at a yummy Hawaiian place, did some shopping and had fun just being together. The shopping was really fun - I found some fun things and had a good time shopping without kids (love the kids - but shopping is much more enjoyable without them....) One of our favorite stores was Honolua Surf - and they had the cutest clothes! I even got an awesome new suitcase - I love it! Saturday night we had a group dinner again - it was like a Hawaiian beach party. Unfortunately as we had finished eating (eating way too much...) the sky opened up and started POURING. We were drenched by the end of it, which was actually kind of fun....

• Sunday - To end our trip we did the most AMAZING thing I've ever done I think. We took a HELICOPTER ride! We had gone back and forth about whether or not we'd do it (it is so expensive and I wondered if it would be worth it) and I'm SOOOO glad we decided to take the plunge. It was worth EVERY PENNY! We opted for the open door helicopter and I am so glad we did! The flight was super smooth and our pilot flew right into these cool crevice areas, right into beautiful canyons - and at times I felt like I could almost reach right out and touch the waterfalls. We saw the entire island, and I can honestly say that it was the most spectacular view of beauty I have ever seen. If you go to Kauai - this is DEFINITELY the way to go!!! Then afterwards we had some dinner with friends and got ready to fly home. We took the red-eye flight from Hawaii to LA/SLC/Cedar City. We didn't make it to Cedar City until Monday afternoon, but once again we were grateful that we got to fly right home and didn't have to also drive home after all that traveling.

An AMAZING trip - one that will not be forgotten. I hope that someday we'll get to return to Kauai - it was one of the most perfect places we've ever been!

layout

Today I was getting ready to get some pictures developed from a water camera we used in Hawaii. There were a few more pictures on the roll and Gabe was thrilled when I let him take a few pictures. We had fun taking pictures together, some of him, and then he took some crazy ones of me. It was fun. It's been a LONG time since I've taken any pictures on a film camera (much less a SUPER cheap camera). They turned out super grainy - but oh well.

WW check-in

I had debated as whether or not I wanted to even post today...I had a gain (a big one). I am blaming it 100% on vacation. While I tried to eat good....it was hard. Cory (who NEVER wants to eat at home) had the biggest appetite I've ever seen! He constantly wanted to eat/snack/eat/snack. So the logical thing would be for me to just sit that out - enjoy the conversation and not dig in myself....however I didn't....I snacked too. Darn it! And the frustrating thing was that I would even say, "I'm not even hungry!" and eat with him anyway....I guess it was a step in the right direction that I at least realized that I didn't NEED to eat. Now if I would have just listened to that little voice and NOT eaten :)

Anyway, I got back on track yesterday morning as soon as we got home. I am grateful that I had been eating well before leaving, so that my gain wasn't on-top of my already too high weight....

So my question this week is - "What do you do when you get discouraged to get you back on track and back to eating healthy?"

It can be hard for me when I've been off track, and had a gain. I KNOW that eating healthy works - but often when I get frustrated I will think - "Who cares? I've already gained anyway - what's a little more." Counter-intuitive thinking, but sometimes I have to admit - food helps me feel better (darn it!). So I'd love any advice or tips on how to jump back up and get a positive attitude.

P.S. Right before we left last week I weighed in. I didn't quite reach my 10 lb goal, but I had lost over 9 lbs total - and I felt good about that. Now if I could just lose this new weight plus some before we leave on our next vacation to Jamacia in a couple of weeks...wish me luck!

We've been away....

....doing a little of this.....

And yes - it was heavenly! Kauai, Hawaii - 2008

(more details to come..... let me just dig myself out of this pile of laundry we created while we were away)

1st day of Preschool (offically)

Today was the OFFICIAL first day of Pre-school. Gabe seemed really nervous about it when we were getting ready. He kept asking if I was going to stay, if Hunter was going to come in and see his school - he was concerned and just kind of looked uptight. I reminded him that Daddy had given him a Father's Blessing last night, and that Heavenly Father would help him.

He wasn't thrilled with taking "first day of school" pictures - and complained that it was too cold (it was chilly this morning - I thought it felt great!)

When we got to the school he was nervous still - but I could tell he was trying to be tough. He kept looking around and when the teacher asked one of the other little boys if he would like to go see the fish they added to the classroom Gabe was thrilled to join right in. He ran over, helped feed the fish, and I snuck out the door.

The only break-down was from Hunter when we left. He was so sad to leave Gabe, until he realized that we got to spend time together and he didn't have to share mommy with Gabe. I loved spending some quality time with just Hunter. He thrives on personal attention, and we had some good times playing, and running a couple of errands. I am looking forward to getting a few things done in the mornings when Gabe is gone. Love the boy - but he would much rather be right by my side (or me right by his) than to play on his own or with Hunter. I should be flattered....but sometimes I just need a little space.

Then Gabe had promised me I could take a couple of pictures of him after school with his teacher. He wasn't thrilled about it - but Ms. Mia bribed him with a treat and he was good to go.

Gabe has had some interesting comments today. Here are a few of them:

• Mom - what is a woman? (A woman is what Mommy is. When a girl grows up she's a woman. And when boys grow up they become men like Daddy.)
  
• What's a sister? (A sister is like a brother - but she is a girl. You know - Aunt Julia is Mommy's sister, and Aunt Ashley is Daddy's sister?)
  
• Where's my sister? (...uh....well, she still lives in heaven with Heavenly Father)
  
• When do I get a sister? (....um, maybe someday?)
  
• What does arack obama mean? (Do you mean Barrack Obama?)
  
• Yeah - what's Barrack Obama? (Well, Barrack Obama is a man who wants to be the next president of the United States. Then he continued to say he was going to "arack obama" me - using it as a verb)
  

THREE

So a while back I was lamenting how hard it was having a child knee deep in the "TERRIBLE TWOS" - I thought it was was about to kill me. I had several people give me the really reassuring news that, "With my children - the threes were much more terrible than the twos."

So far - they were right!

I think that we call them the "Terrible Twos" because if we said "Terrible Threes" we'd loose all hope when they acted up at two - if we knew we might be faced with this for even longer.

So wish us luck - we need it.

(When I took these pictures Gabe shrieked, "Why are you taking my picture - I hate it!" I told him it was so I could show his kids someday that their dad threw lots of fits. He didn't think that was a good idea.)

Our Little Stinker!

Hunter is such a stinker. He is into EVERYTHING. His favorite thing to do this week has been to climb - on EVERYTHING. But his very favorite climbing spot is on this big stool we have in our bathroom so Gabe can wash his hands. He climbs up on it every chance he gets and then tries to reach the water to play in. Such a stinker.

Hunter has been enjoying pushing things around so he can cruise around the house. He has 2 different push toys - but they go too fast unless Gabe is on them. He's found that he likes to push around chairs and stools in the kitchen, laundry baskets and diaper boxes (the same boxes we used to put him in to help him sit up - these things are multi-taskers!) I just wish he could learn to walk....I have a feeling he'll learn while we're on our vacation and Cory's parents will get to see his first steps. That would be great for them...but I think I'll cry if I miss it!

His other favorite thing to mess with this week is the vents - you know like heating/cooling vents? He takes them out and messes with them, tries to grab things that have fallen into the vents (you know - like nasty stuff, hair, dead bugs?) It's making me crazy. I'm ready to duck-tape them to the floor. Every room he's been in have the vents taken off and stashed around the room (by him). I can't just take them off - that's not safe - but I do not know what to do with them. Any suggestions?

Layout

I haven't scrapbooked in what feels like months (I think realistically it's about 1 month). I've just been a little drained with all the extra work Cory's been doing to move into his new shop, start their new business (I don't know if I've mentioned it - in addition to the new shop they had built he also purchased a shutter manufacturing company. So now they're making shutters too. I'll have to get some pictures of some of the awesome distressed shutters they just did - they were awesome!) When I did scrapbook last night I felt like a fish out of water - It was like I forgot how to do it. Anyway - here's what I came up with after I finally just quit messing with it.

The template: Sya's freebie #5 (you can download it here: http://www.4shared.com/file/60134491/35c796d3/sbp_tempfree005.html)
Kit: Joy Mini Kit made by Dúnia (it was a freebie: http://oyurieagalera.blogspot.com/)