BUSY BUSY BUSY....

We have been so busy that I haven't been able to put up our last days in Hawaii or any other pictures of what we have been doing....need to make it a habit to update more often.

Our last days in Hawaii were so fun! We drove back up the island to try out all the local food. We stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation but didn't see much because of the rain. We then stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and tried the shrimp. It was good. We then went up to Ted's Bakery and had a HUGE eclair and bought a pie that is the popular flavor there-Chocolate Haupia Cream! OH it was SO SO GOOD!!! We also went to Laie Point where you can see all of Laie. It is just so beautiful there! We also did some more shopping at the swap meet. We then enjoyed a dinner cruise around the harbor of Honolulu. We enjoyed virgin Mai Tai's, crab and steak! It was a fun night but maybe not on our list for next time. Sunday we just bummed around. We stopped at Pearl Harbor again to read some more of the signs, we ate at a fun mexican restaurant called Bandito's and then went to the beach to see what was going to be our last sunset but as had happened the whole time we were there, we never saw a sunset while in Hawaii. We took a red eye home which we are not doing again. We really enjoyed our time in Hawaii. Here are a few pictures.

We have been so busy since we got back. It's a good thing we take pictures so I can remember all the events. We had concerts like crazy for Elaura and Chris, Les Miserables, Memorial Day, funny photo shoot with Elyssa, Elaura's senior awards night, clean up at Eastmont in honor of Mom, Elaura's graduation, made a skirt with Elyssa from no pattern and of course our anniversary! For our 2 year 1st time together anniversary we had a nice breakfast, saw "Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides", ate at Little America and stayed at Anniversary Inn. We had so much fun together celebrating our anniversary. We had our friends The Butlers over and the next day they welcomed their daughter into this world. We played Michael Jackson on the Wii and chatted. The next week we went to Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove and took Elyssa and Chris. We rode three rides at the carnival where we pretty much made ourselves sick and then went home and had strawberries and cream.

This last week has been crazy! We went to Yellowstone with my family. It was Ryan's first time there and it was so much fun to take him around the park. We visited all the sites, floated the Snake River, watched a play at Mack's Inn called "Home School Musical", and Ryan got his Junior Ranger. I love the Junior Ranger Program. It teaches so much about the park and some of the history of how the park became what it is now. We saw 2 bears-one black and one grizzly, tons of bison, elk, an eagle, and LOTS and LOTS of Mosquitos. We were eaten to death. You couldn't sit outside because there were too many!

We came home a couple of days early so that we could enjoy the 4th of July weekend. We started with my 5 year high school reunion. Saw and chatted with some friends and met spouses and babies. Sad there weren't very many there. Saturday morning Ryan participated in the Centerville Parade. It was so fun to see him shaking hands and handing out flags. He had a blast! That night we went to the Stadium of Fire! Brad Paisley and David Archuleta were awesome but the best part was the fireworks! It took us 2 hours to get home that night-that included our walk to the car. We were exhausted but we still got up early Sunday to go see the choir. We took Izzy and had fun listening to the music our mom loves so much on her birthday! Sunday night we went down to Ryan's families house to stay because we were getting up early again to watch the Provo Freedom Parade and running in the Freedom Run! Ryan ran the 10K and I ran the mile! We were so exhausted after all that that we crashed after fireworks with Elaura, Izzy and Elyssa.

We have had an eventful 2 months. If you read this far, thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!

Laie Temple and PCC

Day 5
We got up early and went to the temple. Oh my gosh is it GORGEOUS!!! We attended a session and I am so glad we did! We really enjoyed the beauty of the temple. After we came out, I was able to see my roommate Becca Haws and catch up with her quickly. She moved there to go to school. We just really enjoyed the beauty of the temple. We then had lunch at McDonald's and then walked into the Polynesian Cultural Center. Oh my it is the Disneyland of Hawaii. We barely got to see most of everything we wanted to see. We just had so much fun enjoying all the culture. We had tons and tons of pictures by the time we were done. We went to the luau and enjoyed the food and then went to the show. Loved it all! But next time, we are not doing Pearl Harbor and the PCC back to back because we were past exhausted.

Pearl Harbor

Day 4
We went to Pearl Harbor on about our only sunny day! It was such a neat experience to be there with Ryan. We met 4 survivors who were just the sweetest men there. This day wasn't about fun, it was remembering our military family and honoring them. It was a very good experience that really got to me and especially to Ryan. The video we saw really got to me but I am so glad that I was able to honor those and see history for myself. We also saw the USS Utah. We then went over to the USS Missouri where the peace treaty for World War II was signed. It is the last battleship the US has that is now retired. We took an Ipod tour that was so incredible. By the time we saw all of Pearl Harbor, we were worn out. What a neat day though. We really enjoyed it.

Day 2 and 3 Hawaii

I have had a hard time with blogger and decided when I was able to get it working again, I would just hurry and post our trip as fast as I can. So I will just hurry and list our details for day 2 of Hawaii.
Day 2 we went to the ITR at Schofield Barracks to get our great discounts on the activities we chose to do on the island. Then we went back to our room looking for beach time. Well we found this instead.

We hadn't seen rain like that in a long time! We had so much fun playing in the rain and being soaking wet. I tried uploading the video but it wasn't working. But these pictures say it all! We ended up staying in the rest of the night and watch history unfold as we all found out the Osama Bin Laden had been killed.

Day 3 highlights:

• Beach outside our room-got sunburned but am loving the tan!
• Kualoa Ranch-took 2 tours there-Hawaiian Fishpond and Garden Tour and Movie Site and Ranch Tour

Some movies made there are 50 First Dates, Mighty Joe Young, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Pearl Harbor, George of the Jungle, Lost, and Tears of the Sun are the ones we knew of. You will see some of the signs in the pictures below of some of the famous spots we stood in.
After the tours, there was a luau that ended up being so intimate because there were only 6 people there including us! It was so much fun! I made a plumeria flower clip for both of us (they told me to make one for Ryan!) and then we made a fish out of the green leaves. Did you know that if you are going to wear the flower that it says something depending on the side you wear it? The right means you are still looking and the left means you are taken or married. The food was delicious and we had so much fun! Ryan went up during the show and did the martial art they were teaching. Here's the video:

We got back to our room a little late but it was well worth it!

Paradise!

May 1, 2011
We had talked to a friend-Jeanette Knight-who had a friend in Honolulu who does photography there. So we got up early and went and took pictures on the beach with Conrad Prusse. We had so much fun! He complimented us the whole time on how easy it was to photograph us. We just really enjoyed taking pictures on Waimanalo Beach where the water is blue and the sand is white. We are so happy with the way they turned out. The hardest part is picking some for all of you to see but how can I get just a few from 159! They are all so beautiful!

We went to the Aloha Stadium for the Swap Meet! Oh we loved the swap meet! We found so many fun things that we wanted. We did limit ourselves but we did go back 2 other times to find what we found the first day and decided we wanted them. After the Aloha Swap Meet, we went to Schofield Barracks to get us some groceries for breakfast. We bought them at the base because they were cheaper. We then went back to our room because we were so dang tired and rested. We had KFC for dinner and listened to the light rain outside our room. We were out cold by about 9:00 PM local time.

At the Swap Meet!

The view from our door....see the ocean is right outside our room!!!

Ryan standing in the rain with his souvenirs!

Me out in the rain!

HAWAII

April 30, 2011

We had a crazy day! We had had graduation the day before and packed until late that night. The morning we were leaving Elyssa and Christopher were singing in the Community Messiah Sing In and we weren't going to see the real thing so we went for a listen. They both had solos and WOW!!!! they are AMAZING!!! Christopher did a great job on his tenor part and then Elyssa sounded like an angel. At that point, I was even more disappointed that I wasn't going to be here for them the next day to hear and support them. I did hear though that they did just as amazing of a job the next night. Anyways, after we left for the airport for our HAWAIIAN VACATION! We were getting on a jet plane and leaving all 7 inches of snow behind and heading towards SUNSHINE and WARMTH!!! We were so excited! This was our first vacation since Ryan got home and what was even more special is that this time when we got home.....HE DIDN'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE AFTER!!!! Just so everyone knows, Ryan has left for training or gone back to his deployment when we have had our own vacation before so this was a real treat! We flew out that afternoon and got to Hawaii around midnight Utah time. By the time we got to our cabin at the Army Recreation Center, it was around 2 AM Utah time. We were so tired. We literally crashed when we got in the room.

The morning we left.
See...7 INCHES!!!
On our first of 2 flights to Hawaii.
We got there and just loved the feeling of vacation!

GRADUATION!!!

I graduated on April 29, 2011 from Utah Valley University with my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. I am so glad that it is over and now it's time for decisions of what to do next. I am trying to decide what is best for my family and I at this time. We will see what the future brings!