Aloha

I know. Those of you who know me well and have seen that I only blog about once every 2 months or so are going to be blown away by the fact that I'm blogging again a mere week after the last one. I have a minute at my sister-in-laws fancy computer, so I thought I'd throw up some pictures of our amazing trip thus far. Just so ya know, they are completely out of order- something that really BUGS, but I'm too lazy to cut and paste them around and I'm not sure of how to do it any easier. Bear with me.

Our niece and nephew, Cole and Havyn both had birthdays the past couple of days and look at the fancy cakes Amber made. It was so much fun to be here to celebrate.


Our "easy" hike (according to Amber) on Friday to Lanikai military pill boxes overlooking the beautiful ocean. Cydnee whined and complained the whole way up, but then was so happy with herself on the way down cuz she had done it "all by myself!"
Our hike today to Likeke Falls. It was through the rain forest and so green and dense with vegetation. (You'll notice Cydnee is my main model since the other kids are always way ahead of their slow old mom).

Our location for an attempt at whale watching this afternoon. Didn't see any, but it was beautiful and well worth it anyway. Havyn and Cydnee are having a ball together. They are only 3 weeks apart and are like two peas in a pod.

It's rare for the family to ever cooperate for a family picture, but I insisted since we have this beautiful backdrop and we had just come from church. This is outside Amber and Steve's house.
Amber made this adorable dress for Havyn. Isn't she so talented? And it sure helps when the recipient is as cute as this!
Cole picked Tiki Island for his birthday party last night where we rode bumper boats and played a round of mini golf then went to Bob's Pizza for dinner.
This is what happens when you stick your brother in his own bumper boat and let him loose with a squirt gun.

A tour of the USS Bowfin while we waited for our turn to ride to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor yesterday.
Is this amazing or what? We've had a little bit of rain here and there, but mostly just beautiful weather. That's the USS Arizona Memorial (white building) in the background.
Cydnee loving the beach and the sand Friday afternoon. She was the first one in the water and we could hardly get her out.
Spencer, Madi, Taylor and Kennady at Kailua beach.

First day at the beach on Thursday. That smile says it all.
Thursday afternoon again. Check out the color of that water! More pictures to come.

We've lived here how long???

So, kids that grow up in Utah are expected to know how to ski, right? We finally broke down after 7 YEARS and enrolled them (Kennady and Spencer, anyway who were off track- Austin had to stay in school) in some ski lessons. Park City has a great deal for locals for only $25, which includes a 3 hour lesson, equipment and a ski pass. Kennady wasn't too sure about the whole thing and kinda had to get talked into it, but afterwards said, "That was soooo much fun! Can we go again tomorrow?" Oh no, we've created a very expensive little monster!

There were only 2 kids in Kennady's class, so they got some great one on one instruction.

Spencer opted for snowboarding rather than skiing and did really well.

By the end of the lesson, Kennady was totally skiing. Pretty amazing how quickly kids pick things up.

Cydnee and I had a great afternoon in the sun watching all the skiiers. We found a bench in front of the National Ability Center and met several blind skiiers and 2 or 3 paraplegics. One guy had barely missed the cutoffs for the Paralympics and was so fascinating to talk to. Cydnee kept busy with her portable DVD player, lots of snacks and her snow angels in the snow.

The Best Christmas Ever

We booked tickets last May and I had been struggling to keep the exciting trip a secret. The kids opened their gifts all at the same time and found the plane ticket in the bottom of the box under the swimsuits, flipflops and leis. It took a few moments for them to "get it." One of them (I can't remember which) yelled, "We're going to HAWAII?!!!" Then another piped in with, "This is the best Christmas ever!" Poor Cydnee was the only one that couldn't grasp the concept that we had to wait until March to go. She was ready to pack her bags and hop on an airplane that day to go see Havyn. We are counting down the days now!

Kennady's day in the spotlight

Kennady is having a ball performing with her choir and getting us all in the Christmas spirit with her singing and fun performances we've been able to attend. Here's the link to Fox 13 News last week that she was on.

http://www.fox13now.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=5295685f-3b87-464e-b884-bb7cc44a73c1&src=front


Kennady performing at Gateway lights on festival.

Highlights of Summer

Since I can't seem to get my act together to blog on a regular basis, I know there is no way to really catch up on the details of this summer that has passed way too quickly. So, I've decided to just post a few pictures of our highlights. I keep thinking I'll get better at this whole blogging thing, but it just doesn't seem to happen.

Our summer started out with Kennady turning 7. We had a fun friends swimming party at Grandma Margot's house. Isn't this a bunch of cute girls?One highlight was watching the beautiful Oquirrh Mountain temple being built right down the street. We were able to tour it with the kids and Dave and I served there a couple of different evenings during the open house. The dedication, of course, was the highlight and what an emotional and spiritual event that was for us to be inside the temple with our two boys and listen to our prophet speak just a few rooms away from us. It is something I will always remember.

Lake Powell is always one of our favorite weeks of the summer. This year Amber and Nate were unable to come and we really missed them. We found an amazing spot to camp- my all time favorite spot. You can see the houseboat in the background with Spencer tearin' it up on the knee board.

There always has to be at least one kids vs. dads water fight. Isn't this a great action shot of Dave?
Austin is getting pretty good on the wake board- way better than his mom!
Here's a serious water fighter!
You can't tell these boys are having any fun at all, can ya?


Spencer always loves the fishing aspect of Lake Powell the most and jumps at any chance to throw out a fishing line- even if it's attached to his cousin Ally's Barbie fishing pole.

Our new favorite activity- surfing.


The fam- after a week at the lake- Lookin' good!

This year was our turn to plan the annual Kimball Family Vacation and we chose Island Park near Yellowstone. Dave had never been there (and that means the kids hadn't either, of course). It was beautiful and the kids loved the week with their cousins. The hot tub on the back deck was a favorite hang out for all of them.

Once again, Spencer took every opportunity to fish and thanks to a nice uncle Andrew, got to do it quite a bit. He even bought his own pole before the trip. No more Barbie fishing poles for him!
Grandpa Steve's friend let us use his cabin on Bill's Island and we spent a fabulous day there in the lake.
The trampoline was especially popular and we all got a kick watching the kids (and a few crazy moms and dads) bounce each other into the water.
We went to the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone where we were AMAZED by the enormous bears we got to see up close and personal.
One day we floated the Snake river in big rafts. The water remains a very nippy 52 degrees year round. Of course that doesn't deter kids (or dads) from trying out the rope swing we found en route. Cydnee didn't want to be left out of the fun and nice Uncle Andrew let her hang onto him like a monkey and try it out. BRRRRR!
Austin's awesome swing.
What a fun raft we had!!!!
Yellowstone was beautiful. This is Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The Dragon's Lair.

Of course there's always lots of swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Uncle Phil practiced some cheerleading moves with the girls.

And of course the cabin is always a great place to escape the heat. We love going up there to relax, play games, go on walks and just get away from busy life.

Several water snakes decided to make their home under the deck, so the boys entertained themselves by trying to catch them.

Memorial Day Get Away

4 days off work+ a new Rhino (my dad's) to test out= a fun weekend in Blanding with both sets of parents. It was great to get away and the kids loved having both grandparents all to themselves for the weekend. The kids would move to Blanding if given the chance. They love to ride four wheelers, hunt prarie dogs (the boys, that is) and go to the movie theather without mom and dad. For them Blanding is a huge playground with lots of stuff to do that we can't do at home. We spent Saturday at Dave's uncle's ranch where the men helped mend fences and the moms and kids fixed food and played around.







Dad was so proud of his Rhino and was impressed it would make it through all the streams and over all the rocks on the trails Craig took us on.

There are some neat ruins just outside of Blanding (hard to see over my shoulder, but they're there if you look close)

What a nice big brother! I hope he stays sweet with his little sisters as we enter the world of pre-teens!

Cydnee loved hanging out with her cousin Ally.
The whole gang on a nice peaceful (ha, ha) Sunday walk to the ruins.
On Monday Craig took us to Arch Canyon where we took an 18 mile 4 wheeler trip. It was absolutely beautiful!
Dave doing some exploring in the ruins in Arch Canyon.