Joyeux Noel !

 December was an amazing month this year! I wasn't working, I wasn't in school, but we did a vacation a little too close to the holidays so I still felt a little rushed. We were so lucky to be able to spend the holidays with all of our children. First we celebrated birthdays at Dave and Vallie's for Dave and Grandpa Dickie with the little girls. They are always so sweet and cuddly.

 We were also able to stay over and attend the Kenai ward Christmas party.

 Madeline and Lydia wore their dresses from Hawaii to brighten up the occasion!

 Grandpa reading with Madeline. She loves books and loves to read!

Madeline loving her baby. What a sweet moment. This may go down in history of my most favorite photo of her. Notice her hand was still moving. She is an active one. But I think her soul was still.  :)

And the best part of baking is ....tasting!

 And sprinkling......Mom was so patient to let us loose in her kitchen. 

 Some of the fruits of our labors! They are destined to be bakers all!

 We came back for Christmas Eve, where we dressed in new jammies from Dave and Valli!

 Dave and Valli had such a pretty tree this year with so many pretty ornaments! 

 Christmas dresses!

Rewind 24 hours please.

Christmas Eve morning found us alone to reflect on the holiday and share some sweet time together. 

I had asked for some kitchen things and wasn't disappointed. And I am having fun playing with all the new toys!

Dick's Christmas present was completed early so to prevent running the risk of him finding out about it I gave it to him for his birthday two weeks earlier. I commissioned a friend of ours in Anchorage to paint the Anchorage Alaska temple for him. He did a beautiful job and we were both so pleased. In the last ten years we have spent many hours there and it's become a second home to us. It will be so hard to leave it and so many friends behind. 

 Christmas Cocoa! It's our favorite tradition. We keep the chocolate industry in business.

This was a wonderful year for us, new experiences, new babies, new adventures and new blessings. We hope 2014 will be as exciting. It's already off to a great start!

Happy New Year to All!

Aloha Kona

Dick finally got his long awaited trip to Hawaii. It's been two years since we had a vacation and we were looking forward to it. 

First stop was Oahu for a few days to decompress and get used to the island life before heading over to Kona. 

The beach at Waikiki is still one of my favorites. 

So nice and big and calm and beautiful white sand. And so convenient to the hotel. 

 The grounds at the Hale Koa are just beautiful and keep a lot of people employed just trying to keep the jungle from invading and taking over. 

 The Kona Temple. It was hard to get a good photo because it sits at the end of a city street and it's so wide. I guess it would've been a good day to bring along the good camera. It's quite beautiful inside and reminded us a little of the Anchorage Temple.

Every morning we would hike up to the top of this hill near our condo.

 I was sure I was going to die the first couple of days! 

 Since Kona still has active volcanoes, the terrain is a little more rugged and many of the beaches are the black lava sand. But they are still beautiful.

The salt and pepper color comes from the combination of coral and lava. 

 The view from our lanai. Most of our meals were cooked on the grill and we had such a good time experimenting with all the new fish options! Just grill it all!

You can't go wrong.

 The little shopping center we walked by each morning. 

The Captain Cook monument. At first he was welcomed as a god, but no so much after that.  

He was killed here by the locals. Too bad cause it's a beautiful little bay that is very popular for kayaking and snorkeling. We took a cruise out here and snorkeled all day and it was a lot of fun and we met a lot of very nice people. 

 Waimea, where are the ranches are. 

And Merriman's, where we had a wonderful dinner. 

We took one day off from beaching and drove to the Volcano National Park.  Interestingly enough, there are no volcanoes here, but there are craters that still have lots of steam vents, which is in the background. It was a fun day. Some to find out, the Air Force has a rec camp here inside the park, which is nice. 

 We had a wonderful lunch at this lovely little inn in the town of Volcano.

 The best strawberry rhubarb bread pudding. 

 On the way home we stopped by the famous Puu'lunu black beach where all the sea turtle like to hang out.

Also lots of tourists would can't read the "keep away from the turtles" sign. So instead they just took lots of pictures and bothered them. Too bad they aren't really fast and bite!

 You will never guess where this is???

Our last night we had a great meal at the fun place called the Fish Hopper right on the water in downtown Kona! A must do for anyone who goes to the island. This was our appetizer. 

One of the few white sand beaches on the Big Island, this one is Kapuna, along the northern part of the Kona side of the island. Most of these beaches are attached to large resorts or state parks. 

One of the nice little local beaches. This is more common on the big island.  

An out of sync photo of our snorkeling boat.  

But a fun reminder that there is so much to see and do on this beautiful earth of ours!

October isn't over yet - with added photo's!

 I think I celebrated my birthday at least three times this year! Fortunately I only aged once! Jenny made me an awesome cake and we had a fun family get together to eat it! I can't imagine life without chocolate!

 Dick was able to spend a couple of days at Jenny's and we took some time to explore their new neighborhood, more precisely, the hill where the horses live. Lots of hills and domestic wildlife to explore. Didn't have to worry about things jumping out and eating us!

 Nice cows.

 Some were nicer than others.

 Hiking with grandpa!

 Saturday night movie time!

 Since we had no baby yet we were able to do some fun things to try and get the Stella show on the road,
 so to speak. Like shopping.....

 The pumpkin patch.....it was a sunny day!

 Moms and muffins at the elementary school and an awesome book fair!

 I loved seeing where the kids study. I was so impressed with Savannah's room.

Her teacher does yoga with the kids!

School is so fun, it made me wish I could hang out there more.

 Jenny's pre-labor lunch! I think it was the combination of this meal and the pumpkin patch that did the trick!

Circumstances brought Uncle Dave into town so we were all especially blessed to enjoy some rare
 fun time with him! Uncle Dave is a party waiting to happen!

 Hurrying to finish baby Stella's quilt that Savannah started in Alaska last summer.

 BYU bowling and games is a family tradition!

 Halloween Trunk or Treating at the church on Halloween night! Such a blast!

Hurrah for Grandpa! He had saved these on a file and I found them! What a great feeling!

So wicked!

Some very talented person painted this beautiful fall backdrop for the ward photos!

 Last minute car seat carrier cover! The underneath is red minke and it's so cute. And warm!

Grandma's shopping date with Savannah at City Creek Center. Caramel apple compliments of Kneaders. I've never seen a kid eat such a big apple!

So many fun things to see and do!

 Hudson and his jack -o-lantern!

 New outfit and boots!

 Date night with Ethan: Fun-finity Toy store, Mac and Cheese at Magleby's, and the worst cone of sherbet on earth at the Drug Store. But it was the funnest date every! Ethan has superior dating skills!
Grandma is totally smitten with him!

 Our last few hours together before I leave for Alaska and Grandpa! Lunch at Bucca's!

 Last chance to hold little Thomas. He has that "where have you been?" look on his face.

The little cousins!

Stella is just over a week and Thomas is just over a month! 

I miss these two little people so much! and they grow so fast!