Hawaii

I have almost forgotten how to blog it has been so long. My pictures are backwards so if you want to start from the beginning of our trip start at the bottom.
We all had Spring break for a week so we decided to try and go to HAWAII. It was a lot of work but also A LOT of fun! One of my favorite sayings is "It's not the Destination but the Journey." But with this trip it was the Destination and the Journey that made it so great!


This is Demmy and Grandpa waiting for the Canoe Ride at the Polynesian Culture Center. The PCC was one place everyone loved and had a great time! We didn't get too many pictures there because this was almost our last day and we had run out of space on our camera.
We had just gotten to the PCC and couldn't wait to get going. We just had to get covered in SunScreen first!
This is at the Pineapple Factory. Maycie and Dylan loved the fish almost as much as the Pineapple Icecream.
Danny and Dylan feeding the fish. It was just starting to RAIN.
This is a picture of Demmy pretending to try the ice cream. We made all of the kids try it if they wanted to eat french fries.
Daniel said this is his favorite place in Hawaii because he LOVES the ice cream. (and no he wasn't eating it with ketchup, that was just for the fries)
Here we all are at Pearl Harbor. We didn't go out on the boat because it was a 2 hour wait, but it sure was beautiful there.
This is Danny just chilling at the beach. The kids loved hanging out at the beach so every night we would just go down ti Waikiki beach and relax.
Dylan loves his Grandpa.
We were coming home from Haunama Bay we stopped at a place called Pali (sp?) lookout. It was so beautiful but I don't think that I have ever seen is so windy in all my life. I really thought it was going to blow me over. But I did love our cute hair!!
This is Maycie at Haunama Bay. She loved the water as long as her Daddy was there to take her out in it.
This is Derrik at Haunama Bay. He was such a good snorkeler. Daniel and him lived in the water and loved to see all the fish.
Marlee loved the birds. She kept trying to catch a bird. They were pretty fast. At one time I think she had about 20 birds surrounding us.
Grandpa and Dylan
This is us at Haunama Bay before the big hike down.
Demmy at the beach wanting to surf.
Maycie and Dylan at the beach. They both were so good on the trip! We were very lucky!
Danny burying himself in the sand.
Can't believe how big our boys are getting. They were so much help on this trip. We couldn't of done it without them!
Here are the beautiful girls.
Dylan and Grandma playing in the sand. It is always so much more fun when Grandma is there!
Derrik climbing the Banyon tree outside our hotel
We didn't take our car seat so we bought one at Walmart when we got there. It just didn't have a way to rest his head so Derrik was his head rest!

This is Danny looking out from Diamond Head. That was an amazing hike with amazing views. Luckily it rained lightly some of time to cool us off.

All of us on Diamond Head
Daniel out on the balcony of our hotel.
Waiting at the Maui airport for our flight to Oahu.
This is on our flight to Maui, just beginning our trip and very excited to get to Hawaii.

We had an amazing time on our family trip to Hawaii. It was great to just spend time together as a family. The Journey and the Destination were unforgettable.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

I now Know what they mean when they say "I Left my Heart in San Francisco". Danny and I just got back from an amazing vacation to San Francisco. We left all the kids home, packed our carry-ons and were on our way. We arrived on Thursday morning and didn't come home until Sunday.
This is one of my favorites. We are at the Golden Gate Park inside the Conservatorium of Flowers. We had walked lots and lots this day and it was nice to sit down for a minute.
This is us on the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a little windy on the walk back.
Here we are at the bottom of Lombard Street. We walked there from our hotel which was about 1/2 a mile away all UP HILL! It was worth it though.
This is my favorite picture of Danny and Chris. They look like they are having lots of fun!
This picture is of me and Danny on the wharf. It was a gorgeous day and we had just gotten done eating at Bubba Gumps Fish house. Yummy Yummy fish and Shrimp! The Wharf had tons of shops and good places to eat.
We went with a friend of Danny's from UPS and his wife, Chris and Linda. This is a picture of all 4 of us at the Golden Gate Park at the Conservatorium of Flowers. When we first arrived they told us to get a bus pass and it was good for all of the cable cars, buses and trolleys.
We had to get our picture taken in front of the sea lion statue. There were real Sea Lions all over down by the wharf. We loved the noises they made. The Sea Lions made us think of Dylan for some reason.
This is at the top of Lombard Street. This street is in the Guiness Book of World Records. It also had an awesome view at the top. It was fun to see the line of cars just waiting to drive down it. We also got to meet the man who takes care of the street. It is not owned by the city and is totally funded by private donations. It was beautiful.
Here are all four of us at the Golden Gate Bridge. This was one of my favorite parts. We walked all the way across the bridge and then all the way back. It was so amazing. We saw huge ships go underneath and of course the bridge is very busy with cars. It was 2 miles one way. They also have phones all across the bridge telling people to call if they need crisis counceling. I don't know how people could even think of jumping cause I could barely look down over the bridge without being scared out of my mind. It was so much fun to just walk and talk and be able to hold Danny's hand for almost 2 hours straight! Maybe that was why I liked the bridge so much.

The last day we were there we went to Alcatraz. This was also tons of fun. We took the audio tour and learned so many interesting facts. It was really amazing.

Danny loves Chinese food so he kept telling us that we had to go to Chinatown and eat "REAL CHINESE FOOD". So we take the bus and just get off somewhere and start walking around. Everything is in Chinese and is kinda dirty so we just kept wandering hoping something would look good to Danny. Then we saw two American's and decided to ask if they were locals. They said yes so Danny asked them "Where is the best place to get good Chinese food?" There answer was "NOT IN CHINA TOWN" So needless to say we were all ready there and decided to tough it out and eat somewhere since we were starving. We saw a sign that said "all you can eat Chinese buffet for $5.99" so we were sold. The funny thing was once you got in there, there was also a sign that said "There is a charge of $5.99 for Wastage of food." The food was terrible so we were all trying to sneak our food into the garbage so we didn't have to pay. It was funny. But at least Danny can say he ate in Chinatown.
One of Danny's favorite parts was riding on the Trolley cars and hanging off the side. The conductors called this riding in "First Class".
I guess it wouldn't be San Francisco without all of the street peddlers wanting money. San Francisco has the largest homeless population in America. There were all kinds of people from all walks of life. This one was one of Danny's favorites. He was senile and was playing a violin that did not even work.

The trip was amazing and we had so much fun. We were so glad that Chris and Linda went with us. I think the best part was just spending time with my amazing husband. He really is the best and I just realized more and more how much I love him!

Handprints

We just got a brand new Stake Center so we have had many activities going on to celebrate the dedication. Daniel sang in a youth choir on Friday night and then on Saturday morning all of the Primary Kids got to go and put there Hand prints in cement at the new Stake Center. It was a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Grandpa & Mexican Night

Wednesday Feb. 11 was Grandpa Hawks' 59th Birthday. He came over for an icecream Cake and so we could sing Happy Birthday. I know my dad never looks at blogs, but I just want to tell him that he was the best dad ever for me. I love him so much and I am so thankful for the wonderful example he is to me and my family. Thanks Dad so much for all you do!
These next pictures are all from our amazing MEXICAN NIGHT. Brice planned an amazing night of all mexican food and then Grandma April had us playing Valentine games all night long. It was too much fun and too much food.

This was the blindfold game where we would blind fold one person and then go up and say "I love you" Then they would have to guess who was saying it.


Brice made the BEST turkey and chicken enchiladas. I did not know that he could cook, but these enchiladas were like professionals! I could not get over how good they were!


This was our licorice eating contest. I think Ryan won! He was quite fast with his mouth!

Here is Terry and Diana just chilling on the couch doing the licorice game. They are always so supportive of us and such good sports. I think there favorite game though is the quarter game.

This is Danny and Daniel playing the quarter game. If you haven't played, please come down and visit and I promise you will never forget it!

This was just a perfect ending to a perfect day. We had so much fun and we are looking forward to our SCOTTISH Night next!!