the fam

the fam

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Hawaii!!

On July 11th, Robert & I, Brian, Kimber & Ryan flew over to Hawaii for two weeks.
We spent a week on the Island of Oahu on the north shore near Shark's Cove in a house right on the beach. It was awesome and we had great views of the beautiful sunsets every night. Probably one of the funnest things we did there was to snorkel around the volcanic rock into Shark's Cove from our beachfront. Its a good thing we didn't know that sharks like that area!


the view from our porch


Sunday morning Robert and Ryan helped to save a sea turtle who got snagged on a fishing line.
Kimber and Ryan walking back to the house, after "the rescue" of the turtle


Brian (top) and Ryan (bottom) jumping off the rocks at Waimeia

one of our favorite things to do is eat at Bubba Gumps


One of the highlights (for me, at least) of this trip was when we helped a little bird recover after hitting our window. He stayed on my finger for fifteen minutes or more till he flew away.


On Kauai, Lindsay joined us and we stayed at the Marriott Waiohai Beach Resort
We experienced a very relaxing week of lounging in the sun by the pool,


...horseback riding along the beach


...visiting the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and having dessert at Lapperts,


...watching Ryan surf every morning right off the hotel and great BBQ dinners (courtesy of Ryan & Brian). Our room was on the first floor right off the pool, which was very convenient...


This year we again went on the Napali Coast tour and the weather was perfect,
the views stunning and the food was yummy!

Quite often, Monk seals will come up to the sand to warm themselves and rest


We saw some great sunsets from the beach in front of the hotel

It was a lot of fun to be there, but the best part was just enjoying the time together...
We will enjoy the memories for a long time...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Lindsay loves Soccer

We really enjoy watching Lindsay play soccer. The games are always very exciting! She plays on a team with Amy and a few of her brothers and sisters. We always have a fun time watching the game and visiting with the Miles.




Monday, July 6, 2009

Lacrosse Camp Here I Come!

After visiting with my mom, we took Brian to Provo where he attended Lacrosse Camp for four days. He had a great time and learned some new skills that will help him this next season.



It took a little longer to register this year because each of the participants had to be tested for the swine flu. Here is Brian getting tested for swine flu...


picking up his t-shirt, water bottle and ID card

Brian and his roommate, Sean

Sunday, July 5, 2009

to G'ma's for the 4th of July!

As usual, we traveled up to Aurora, Utah, to visit my mother and my sister, Cindy, for the 4th of July. This was our first July 4th since my dad passed away in October, so it was a new experience even though we've been coming up for the past 20+ years...





Ben & Brian, Mom & Dad made the trip this year and Richard & Nickie and their kids were able to come down for the day to join in the festivities. None of our own children ran in the races this year, but we did have fun watching Sadie and Mason run. I guess the tradition continues!




Ben and Brian sumo wrestling... and the bruises from having fun in the "bungee run"




One of the favorite traditions the boys had with Grandpa was to go shooting at the nearby shooting range. Even though Grandpa is gone, they still love to go whenever they can. They love collecting things to shoot and have a lot of fun together. Notice Ben's interesting form as he throws a target for Brian...



We always go to the parade in Salina where a lot of people in the parade throw candy to the onlookers. Nickie did her best to make sure that Sadie & Mason got their share of the candy, but we had to remind her not to knock the kids down when she went after the candy!




Another highlight of our trip is the roasting of the marshmallows in the firepit for s'mores.
Great Grandma always manages the marshmallows, crackers and chocolate



We dig a pit in the backyard, roast our marshmallows, then after the fire is out we fill in the pit and leave it till next year. This year we got a little too close to the internet lines that are buried in the ground and we burned the cables! G'ma and Cindy were without internet for a few days, but luckily they quickly figured out where the problem was.






You can see that Mason is quickly catching on to how a s'more is eaten. I loved watching the transformation of his face from "very clean" to "what chocolate?"
He had that s'more everywhere but in his mouth for several minutes...



We took the opportunity to go visit my dad´s grave on Sunday after church