Farewell!

Well we've cleared out our house and are getting ready to officially move out! We check in to the hotel tomorrow and fly out on Thursday. I have loved living in Hawaii and will truly miss all the friends we have made here-you know who you are! At the same time I am excited for this new adventure in our lives and all that comes with it. I just hope that we will enjoy living in Las Vegas as much as we did Hawaii! We hope you all have a fabulous New Year and I'll post again once we are settled in Vegas!

Christmas Eve 2008 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

On Christmas Eve my parents, Paul, Brian and I went to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl! It was Notre Dame vs University of Hawaii. We had excellent seats-row five on the 20 yard line. We had a great time and couldn't have asked for better weather...how many people can wear shorts to a football game on Christmas Eve and still be warm?

Here is a picture of one of the touchdowns right in front of our seats.

Another shot of our fabulous view...

Me and Brian

The rest of the gang....

Our Christmas was unconventional this year since we are down to the wire with our move...we have to be out of our house on Tuesday....but we were still able to have fun in our own way!

The Big Island

We decided to make one last trip to another island before we move away from Paradise! Brian, Paul, my parents and I went to The Big Island for a few days. Here are some highlights of our trip.

This is the first hike we went on. We hiked across the lava and up to a nice lookout. It was called Pu'u Huluhulu.

Help! Paul is being sucked in by the lava! Someone rescue him!You can't see me very well, but I am behind my dad inside a lava tube. We decided to turn all our flashlights off and see who would turn their light on first. Paul decided this would be a good time to try and scare me. I could hear him moving around and figured he was doing something sneaky, so I started waving my flashlight around in the air, and I struck gold! I hit him right in the head. Serves him right! Lucky for him my flashlight was plastic!This is another hike. This one is called Kilauea Ike. We started out in this gorgeous lush jungle...

and hiked down into this "lava pool". Apparently a lava flow from 1959 created a lake of lava that eventually sunk back down into the earth, creating a bathtub ring as it slowly cooled. We walked across this "lava pool" and climbed out the other side of the forest, which was spared from the lava because of the pooling effect. There is still steam coming out of some of the vents. It was pretty cool.

Finally, this is a picture of the active part of the volcano. It was really cool to see at night, because the red lava really spewed out like fireworks. Unfortunately, getting a good picture was a huge challenge. Once it got dark, I guess our camera couldn't find anything to focus on so all our pictures came out blurry.

Brian's Graduation!

Yay! Brian graduated from BYU-Hawaii on Saturday! He has worked very hard these past few years and it has finally paid off! We are so proud of him! Here is a copy of the insert part of his announcement. I thought it turned out pretty nice.

Here he is on graduation day! Check out that huge grin on his face!

The ceremony was very nice. We were a little worried as the weather put a huge wrench in our plans...long story, but the power went out during BYU-H's celebratory dinner that was supposed to be Thursday, but due to the weather got changed to Friday. Since we were at the dinner, Paul picked my parents up from the airport and tried to take them to Turtle Bay. Unfortuntely, they got caught behind the power line that fell in the road. I believe they were stuck for about 5 hours or so. But, thankfully it all worked out and my parents got a nice tour of what Oahu looks like in the dark!
Unfortunately I do not have a good picture of everyone (Bud & Marge, Brian's parents, my parents, and Paul-although I'm not sure he counts because he conveniently showed up all sleepy eyed right as the ceremony ended)! ;)
I speak for everyone when I say that we are all grateful for Brian and his accomplishments! Congrats!

Something to be grateful for...

Well, guess what?? We are pregnant! We just went to the doctor today! I am hesitant to post this on my blog, because we've been trying for what seems like forever and it's still really early (part of me feels like I might jinx it), but I just can't keep it in anymore!

The baby is due July 26th! We are so excited. Here is the picture from the ultrasound-the head is the circle shape on the left of where she drew and the body is to the right. Above the baby is what turns into part of the placenta. The coolest part was that we got to see the baby's heartbeat. A little blinking or flashing spot is the only way I can describe it. It was amazing though-I loved it. And I was especially grateful that Brian was able and willing to go with me. He's going to be an awesome daddy.The parents to be....

So, even though it's December I wanted to say that we really had something to celebrate this Thanksgiving. We found out the day we went on the cruise, and so it made the cruise even more enjoyable and gave us another reason to celebrate. Our prayers have been answered and we couldn't be happier. I am so grateful for the wonderful parents we both have and the examples they have been to us. I am grateful for Brian and how wonderful and supportive he is. I couldn't have asked for a better husband and father to be. Congrats Brian! I can't wait to start this new adventure with you!

Goodbye Dining Room Table

Well we sold our first piece of furniture today-our dining room table! I miss it already. It was one of my favorite items, and I was sad to see it go, but what can you do?

Oh, in case you were wondering, eating dinner on a nightstand really is as awkward as it looks.

Cruise vol. 4 "Summary"

The cruise was jam packed with things to do! We played a variety of board/card games in the game room, played hide and go seek, lounged around the pool, played some arcade games, and tons of other stuff I can't think of right now.
Destiny, Paul, Kevin, Missi, and Aunt Dorinda played Family Feud and won! Brian and Paul entered a rock climbing race too. There was at least one show every night after dinner. The love & marriage show is always a hit, and the comedian one night had us laughing so hard Marge had to use her inhaler! There is an ice skating rink on board as well and one night the ice skaters put on a show as well. It was really cool.

Oh! How could I forget?? The Quest! The Quest is a game where they divide the audience into different sections and one man/woman represent your section and have to do or get all kinds of random things. Kevin and I were the representatives from our section and we were pretty bad. We had to dance certain dances (like the Macarena, electric slide-apparently there is a new Superman song and dance that I was not aware of)......we had to get random objects-Kevin had to get two women from the audience to give him their bras and he had to wear them on his head (this was an adult show).......Uncle Wes and some other guy had to hold hands and skip.... Brian, Paul and some others had to do the Moulin Rouge can-can topless. Anyway.....

Here Paul, Kevin, and I are hanging out at the sports court side of the top deck of the ship. I think this was after a lively dodgeball tournament! Kevin has the pictures of that, so if I don't ever post any, it's his fault! It was a tournament and "Team Awesome" consisted of Brian, Kevin, Paul, Destiny, and two strays that joined. It was pretty fun to watch.

This is the sports court area of the ship. There's mini-golf, in-line skating, ping pong, a basketball/volleyball court, and a rock climbing wall.

Here Brian and I are at the front on the ship!

I'll post more later...I've spent way too much time already! In summary, it was a blast and I recommend going on a cruise to anyone who wants to know. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!

Cruise vol. 3 "St. Thomas"

One of our four stops was St. Thomas. The beaches were gorgeous, and the ocean seemed less salty than here in Hawaii.

Here I am enjoying a Banana Daiquiri!

Here Brian and Kevin are playing with the camera. It has this feature where it will take the left side of a picture and then save it so you can move and re-pose and take the right half.
The view

In St. Thomas we all rented this taxi for the day and our driver took us all over the island. In this picture (left to right) you can see half of Uncle Wes, Steve, Bud, Carrie, Marge in the yellow visor, cousin Missi in the sunglasses, Destiny, and then Kevin.

Let the goofballs loose for 5 minutes and this is what happens!!!??????!!! Their poor wives....

Cruise vol. 2 "The towel creatures"

So every night the stateroom attendant comes to turn down your bed and put chocolates on your pillow. They also fold the towels in different ways to create little creatures on your bed! Here are some that we found in our room.

A lobster
A sting ray

I couldn't figure this one out; maybe because I'm too ordinary!!! A bunny? Not really something you'd find in the ocean??

This was my favorite-a monkey! It cracked me up when I walked in the room to see this hanging above my bed!
P.S. Don't expect this kind of service when you all come visit me!!!!

Cruise vol.1 "The Stateroom"

Well, as I'm sure you all know, we went with Brian's family on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean over the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a fantastic time, and it went by way too quickly! Here are some pictures of our stateroom.

This is our room looking from the bed.This is the view from our balcony!

This is the vanity! I got really used to this! It sure beats sitting on the floor to blow dry my hair and do my makeup!

This is the view of our room as you enter the door.

What part of Thanksgiving are you?

Dang, I didn't realize I was so boring!!!! ;)

You Are Mashed Potatoes

Ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable You're the glue that holds everyone together.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?