Hawaii!!!

Hooray!
We survived Mike's first year of Law School! We thought what a better
way to celebrate than to take a much needed getaway to Hawaii! (thanks
so much to the Grandmas and Grandpas that watched our kids so we could
go without worries!)


We went to Honolulu and stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
It was so beautiful there the weather was absolutely awesome!


Behind me is the hotel where our room was. It was a big resort
with a few towers, right on the beach (as you can see) with four
pools and all the sun and sand we wanted!


This is the view of the ocean that we had. I am now taking the
pic from where I was standing before.


Looking down from our Lanai (balcony) we could see penguins.
Penguins! There was all sorts of ponds with koi fish and penguins
and turtles. So awesome!


Friday night we watched fireworks on the beach!
On the beach...awesome!


We had a great trip, we did tons of relaxing and swimming, but
we also did a bunch of walking and exploring. We went to the
Waikiki aquarium. It was so awesome! Tons of beautiful coral,
fish, jellyfish, an octopus and seals!


This is a view of the ocean from the aquarium. (Our hotel
is back in that cluster of towers you can see right on the beach
in the background.)


We took the bus to Pearl Harbor. It was a huge accordion bus
and it was packed!


Going to Pearl Harbor was a really cool experience. It was so
interesting to re-learn what happened and actually see where
things had taken place. Behind Mike is the USS Missouri.


The anchor from the USS Arizona. (Holy moly it is huge!)


This is the USS Arizona memorial. We came over on a boat
and now we are going to walk inside and look down and see the
ship under the water.


Inside there is an entire wall covered with the names of all
the people who were killed during the attack of Pearl Harbor.
Wow! It was amazing to see all those names and try to imagine
what it must have been like. (I am trying to look solemn)


That rust colored circle thing behind Mike is part of the Arizona.
It was kinda creepy to look into the water and see the ship underneath.
It is still leaking oil and you can see the oil spots on top of the water.
To think there are still bodies trapped in the ship...kinda eerie.


I am so glad we got to experience Pearl Harbor. It was definately
an awesome thing to do. We had a great time.


We rented a car for one day. We left early in the morning and pretty
much drove around the whole island of Oahu. We stopped at
Wiamea Bay. It was absolutely beautiful! The water was so clear!
This pic is the view to the right.


This pic is the view to the left. Gorgeous!


The Laie Temple. Such a pretty landscape and a beautiful
Temple.

So cool how the Palm trees line the street and point the way
right to the Temple.


We stopped and checked out the Polynesian Cultural Center.
We were kinda late so we didn't get to see too much but we
took some pics. It was fun!


We also stopped at the Dole Plantation. The drive there was so
cool because there was pineapple plants as far as we could see.



This was our car we were cruising around in.




So much fun cruisin with the top down!




The last night we were there we went to a Luau. Here we
are in our Hawaiian Luau attire.


Tons of food! So yummy!

The final dance was a fire dance. Yeah, it was awesome!!!

We had to take a picture of the Spam, Eggs and Rice

breakfast platter at McDonalds. I love spam!

We walked down to get it a couple times!

Outside our hotel there was also flamingos!!!

This is Mike posing by a statue that was right outside the

entrance to our hotel.

We had such an awesome trip. It was so relaxing and so fun

to see all that we saw and experienced. We spent tons of time

at the pool swimming and laying out or at the beach swimming

and laying out. It was our first time to Hawaii and hopefully

not our last!

Fun Filled Weekend With Family!

Mike's brother Scott, his wife Jennie and their kids
Kaylee, Kenzie, Connor, Bryson, and Trevyn all came
down this way for a little vacation. It was so great to see
them and we had tons of fun!

We went to a place in downtown Phoenix called
Enchanted Island. It is a small amusement park
for kids. It was so much fun!


This is a little Dragon Roller Coaster. Dillon did not enjoy
the ride at all. When the other kids wanted to go again
he said "well I liked it, but I don't want to go again".


Dillon and Connor on the airplanes.


Taya, Kenzie, Trevyn, and Kaylee on the space ship.
Taya had so much fun she loved riding and turning the
steering wheel.


There was also a little splash pad area for the kids to cool
off and get wet. Taya didn't really enjoy it so much.


Dillon on the other hand loved it! He was immediately
soaked. This kid loves water!


Dillon, Connor, Kaylee and Kenzie sitting on a bench
drying off and enjoying a tasty treat!


Taya loved the rides! I couldn't believe she could go
by herself. She's getting so big!


Even I went on a ride or two. (Kaylee is by me and
Jennie and Kenzie are on the left.)


On Monday we went to the Phoenix Zoo. We went
down to the farm spot where there were some tractors
to play on and a petting zoo for the kids.




Dillon loved sitting on the tractors!

Taya had fun just running around!

One of the best attractions was the spot where they

were building a new something. Bryson and Dillon

loved watching the digger and dump truck.

Dillon's favorite animals at the Zoo are the Rhinos.

Here are some monkeys playing in the trees!

Dillon was so proud he climbed the tree all by himself.

We had a lot of fun with Scott, Jennie and fam. We hope

to see them again soon.

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter!


Dillon had a lot of fun coloring the eggs. It took a long time
because he kept lifting the eggs up to see if they were done.
Taya really wanted to help but that would have been way too
messy!


So Taya got to watch and eat snacks (who doesn't love snacks!)



After the eggs were all dry we put little stickers on them.
Dillon loved that! Taya also got to put some on, she
was pretty good at it.



This is Dillon's favorite egg. You can't tell but there
is magic writing on it that says his name. (What a
cheesy grin)

Saturday we went to our Ward Easter party. There
was an egg hunt and hot dogs and chips for lunch.


Dillon is all ready to go find some eggs!


Taya in action. She was really good at gathering
the eggs and putting them in her bucket.


Dillon in action. He searched high and low for the
best eggs!


Taya immediately sat down to start chowing candy!

Easter morning the kids woke up to their buckets filled
with an outfit, a toy, and some candy. Then they looked
outside and the Easter bunny had left a bunch of eggs
hidden for them to gather!


Dillon was so excited to see all the eggs outside.
He yelled "there are thousands of them!"


Taya had a little baby doll in her easter basket so
she couldn't decide how to gather eggs and still cling
to her baby!


She ended up getting a few eggs.

Dillon got a whole bucket full!
It sure was fun!

Since we weren't going to church because of

Conference, the Easter bunny decided to bring

a play outfit instead of a dressy outfit.

Here's Dillon in his super studly new outfit!

Taya in her super cute outfit!

Happy Easter!!!

Grandpa Randy!

Grandpa Randy (my dad) came to visit! He flew in from Cheyenne Wyoming.
He was able to stay and play for a few days. We had lots of fun!
Mostly we played outside enjoying the weather and chatted.
We also went out to eat a few times and did a little shopping.



We went to the Wildlife World Zoo. It was a lot of fun. We saw tons
of animals and had a great time!

There was a skyride that went over a whole bunch of animals.

It was really cool. Dillon loved it!

We also went on a train ride around and saw a bunch of animals.

Dillon loved that as well!

There was a little petting zoo. Taya enjoyed touching some

of the animals. The goat was trying to eat grandpa's watch.

Dillon sort of liked being in there with the animals but

he wanted Mike to hold him the whole time. (Notice that

I am taking pictures from outside the fence.) :)

We all went in to touch the turtles.

Yes, even I will get in with the turtles. (they are super slow

so I could definately get away fast!) :)

We had a good visit with Grandpa Randy. It was good to

have him come to our house and see our new stomping grounds.

We were sad to see him go but we had lots of fun!

We love you Grandpa!