Mother ~ Daughter Vacation Time !

Kylee and I have planned our second Mother ~ Daughter trip!  Last year we went together to see Wicked in Oregon. We had so much fun!  This year we are going to fly to Orlando and do Disneyworld and Universal !  We leave in two weeks!  Whoot! Whoot! 

I am so excited to try real Butter Beer at the Harry Potter exhibit!

Kylee told me we are going to dress up and hit the town each night...I might need a supply of energy drinks to keep up with her :)

Jeff is so sweet, he is going to work from home and watch Faith so Kylee and I can go play.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband!

This is the Place ~ Utah

This is the Place Monument where Brigham Young first saw the Salt Lake Valley.

Beautiful view

Faith loved the pony ride

panning for gold like the early pioneers

Cute pioneer children

Making molassas taffy

what a pig

First ZCMI

Found Gold!!

Hawaii Day 7 Valley of the Temples

This beautiful Buddhist temple is a replica of the 900-year-old Byodo-In located in Uji, Japan. It is located in one of the most peaceful locations in O'ahu - the Valley of the Temples. The valley is situated against a back-drop of tall cliffs and is landscaped with traditional lush Japanese gardens and koi ponds. Inside the Byodo-In Temple is a nine-foot Lotus Buddha. Outside is a three-ton, brass Peace Bell.

 

Hawaii Day 6 Waimea Falls - Jurassic Park and Chinaman's Hat

This 1,800 acre historical nature park is located in the lush green Waimea Valley on O'ahu's famous North Shore. The park perpetuates the kahiko (ancient) Hawaiian lifestye with cliff diving, hula performances, music demonstrations and archeological sites. Visitors can experience first-hand the culture and tradition of this tropical paradise. The 45-foot high Waimea Falls is the focal point of the park. Here, divers re-enact Hawaiian warrior games of skill and courage by climbing the slippery waterfall and diving from various ledges into the rocky pool below. There are also self-guided walking tours through 35 tropical botanical gardens, recreated ancient Hawaiian living sites and exotic flower collections. Educational brochures and plaques provide information along these easy paved hikes

This was one of the most beautiful days we experienced in Hawaii. Waimea Falls is what I imagine the Garden of Eden to look like. We had a beautiful hike up to a waterfall and small lake. There were acres of flowers and foilage. After the falls we drove around looking for where they filmed some of the movie Jurassic Park. Before we drove home for the night we stopped to take a few pictures of the island called "The Chinaman's Hat"

 

Hawaii Day 5 ~ Snorkeling at Hanama Bay

Hanauma Bay is an incredible natural pool that has formed in a volcanic crater. The crater is evidence of a volcanic burst of activity on the island tens of thousands of years ago. These volcanic eruptions formed the crater on the sea floor, and waves from the ocean eventually filled the circular bay.

Hanauma Bay and the Native Hawaiians
Hanauma Bay has long been one of the island of Oahu’s jewels. Native Hawaiians have been enjoying life on the bay for thousands of years. The beach and surrounding natural park get their name from two Hawaiian words: “hana” which means bay and “uma” which means curved. To the Hawaiians, Hanauma Bay has long been part of their history. In fact, there are many legends about how the curved bay got its name. The bay was historically an excellent area for fishing. Records show that the Hawaiian royalty in the 1800s often stayed at the bay for entertainment and fishing.

Hawaii ~ Day 4 Dole Pineapple Fields...Matsumoto's Shaved Ice, Weimea Beach and the North Shore Sunset

 

Hawaii Day 3 Eva Beach and Pearl Harbor

Our beach house was on Eva Beach and just a few blocks away there is a public park.  We had the entire beach to ourselves, it was wonderful.  The kids had a great time boogie boarding and trying to jump the waves.  Pearl Harbor was amazing.  It's the burial ground for so many military;  you can just feel a reverence when you step onto the memorial.  We are grateful for all our service men! 

Hawaii Day 2 The Hawaii Temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center

This was a great day for our family. We started off visiting the temple. This was very special for our family. It was at this temple 9 years ago that we prayed about more children for our family. Our answer was yes.  Another confirmation of our decision was discovered when walking the temple grounds after our visit.   We came upon this beautiful waterfall that said "Maternity." That sealed the deal for us.  It was wonderful to take all the kids there and have little Faith visit this sacred place. This is where she was spiritually born for our family and we are so grateful for temples and personal revelation.

 

At the Polynesian Cultural Center were were able to visit several villages that represent all the islands of Polynesia. We enjoyed a luau and Faith got to go up on stage and learn a dance.

Hawaii Day 1 Checking out our diggs...

We arrived at the home late Wednesday evening. We had a quick peek at the view then went to bed. The next morning we got to explore. The boys found coconuts, husked and opened them, while Faith and Kylee went sea shell hunting. I also got a cute video of Faith... she knows where she is..."right here" too funny.

Silverwood 2011

entire group

Jensen on the top row far right

Kylee second row second from the left

As soon as we got home from Hawaii I had to wash and repack Kylee and Jensen for their high school choir trip to Silverwood Theme Park.  Here are a few pictures of them getting ready to perform. 

Mahalo Hawaii!



North Shore Sunset

I know him!

Here is a sneak peak of our trip to Hawaii!  It was beautiful and I really enjoyed watching our kids experience it for the first time.  Faith just loved the beach.  When we got home  I asked if she was happy to be home?  Her reply, " Not this house...I want our beach house."  So do we Faith, so do we :)  We flew all night and are really tired, it will take some time to go through pictures, but I am looking forward to re-living the week through them.   

More Victoria BC

The queen

Our Hotel

another quality self portrait...

our final attempt at a couple picture

Anniversary and our trip to Victoria B.C.

We attempted to get a few different pictures of us together without asking someone to take them...still perfecting the mirror shot...obviously:)

For our anniversary Jeff surprised me with a weekend in Victoria B.C. via the Victoria Clipper! I have always wanted to travel there, and it seems after living just across the pond for some 15 years we finally made it. Thanks Jeff for being so thoughtful by continuing to surprise me year after year with wonderful personalized gifts. April 9th marked our 19th anniversary. One part of me feels like we have been married forever, which is a cozy and comfortable place to be in a relationship. However my heart still flutters every day when I hear his car drive up, or his keys clatter at the front door when he gets home from work. I am still so in love with my man.  Not that everything is perfect, we are complete opposites in so many things, but when it comes to the things that matter most, religion, family, children, politics, health , finances, future plans...we are in sync.

 Here is an example of our relationship.  While walking on the streets of Victoria a group of young adult women passed by us.  We overheard PART of a conversation one woman was telling another, " I am really beginning to hit my _____."  but they walked out of earshot before we could hear her ending.  Jeff jumped in and completed the end of her sentence and so did I.  Jeff filled in the blank with " WALL."  I filled in the blank with "STRIDE."   We both had a good laugh and realized that kind of summed up our marriage.  Optimist and a Pessimist.   Our Life is good, and I am grateful for the last 19 years.  Jeff makes me grow and stretch, and I know I am a better person because of him.    I could not get enough pictures of Victoria, it is a beautiful, quaint island.

It will take me a while to get them all together and loaded, so this is just a teaser...

Butchart Gardens

Ok, Mrs. Butchart was an amazing woman.  She lived 100 years ago; was a chemist ( which is an amazing task for a woman that long ago)  but what really inspired me was her garden.  And it is now a national landmark.   You can check out their website here - Butchart Gardens

The garden was originally a rock quarry, and she had such vision!  Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, his enterprising wife, Jennie, conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit.  She was a workhorse.  To transform the quarry into a sunken garden, she had a large metal bucket with a chain, and would climb into the bucket, lower herself along the rock wall and plant all kinds of vegetation in the cracks of the rock wall.  Really, who hangs from a bucket to make a garden? 

By 1908, reflecting their world travels, the Butcharts had created a Japanese Garden on the sea-side of their home. Later an Italian Garden was created on the site of their former tennis court, and a fine Rose Garden replaced a large kitchen vegetable patch in 1929.