ALOHA MAUI!

We had the amazing opportunity to enjoy a week long family vacation in Maui this month! Why would I take my first ever trip to Hawaii while 32 weeks pregnant? Kenny and Erin, our very close, fun and fabulous friends invited us to join them, so of course we said, YES! A week in Maui, at the Westin on Ka'anapali Beach with these guys- it was a little piece of Heaven! (Not to mention we made our plans over a year ago, we were going, pregnant or not!) Here's a little look at our trip...

(Oh and just a warning, if you haven't seen me in awhile, I'm huge. But don't worry, I didn't post any swim suit pics.)

Every morning we woke up and ate breakfast on our balcony and enjoyed this view...

 

Then we usually strolled down to the beach...

We spent lots of time playing in the ocean...

Kenny & Ryan playing in the water with all the kids

Addie, Pierce & Madi

A chance to try out boogie boarding!

Pierce & Ellie, always having fun together!

Erin took her turn getting in with the kids...

...and I enjoyed taking pics of them in the huge waves. I was too scared I'd fall down and not be able to get back up! Next time.

We loved playing in the sand...

We enjoyed lots and lots of swimming...

The pools were fabulous! The kids all loved this fun Pirate Ship Pool, it was such a hit! We made sure to hit the "Pirate" pool and then the "Big" pool everyday.

We went Whale watching...

Very cool! We got to see a pod of 5 Humpback Whales and 2 Dolphins! It was amazing to be so close to them. And I also thought the info from the tour guide was really interesting... I didn't know the Humpbacks swim all the way down from Alaska to have their babies and then swim back each year. Pretty amazing what they do, and they eat and eat and eat to prepare for the journey as there is no food for them in the safe ocean where they give birth. She was talking about how much blubber the mothers gain to prepare for this and I thought- hmmm, ya, I can relate to that. I really am kind of like a whale.

We Luaued...

The luau was definitely a favorite for all of us! It was great! I think we were all bug eyed watching these dudes dig up the pig! Crazy!

Checking out some hand carved souvenirs, we had to take home a couple of turtles.

Pierce & Madi were pretty fascinated! This guy is pretty talented! And kind of huge too.

Have I mentioned I love this man? We had a great time at the Luau enjoying the beautiful scene, the crazy dancing and especially the delicious food!

Pierce & Madi "hanging loose" with Ellie and Addie, and our cool server.

We Snorkeled...

Well, the boys snorkeled while Madi and I hung out. I was really happy Pierce got this opportunity, and I was really proud of him too. He did so great, he loved it and it was his favorite activity of the trip. Ryan really enjoyed taking him out and it was awesome snorkeling- they saw lots of cool stuff including several turtles, a puffer fish, a school of fish and a fish "that looked like Gil"! (Finding Nemo fans, you know what I'm talking about.)

Here they are heading out

I thought this was so cute- they had been out for about an hour and Madi was so anxious for them to make it back, here she was waiting for them to swim in (and some little boy she was being friendly to).

After the snorkeling we drove up the road to this great little lookout over the bay, it was so pretty and especially cool for Ryan to show us how far they swam out. If you ever make it to Maui, Honolua Bay is the place to snorkel.

We enjoyed gorgeous sunsets...

And apparently Ryan and I were not the only ones who enjoyed it. :) These two have so much fun together, they are the greatest little friends and we love watching them.

And we didn't want to leave...

Our last night there we went out on the town, we had dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe (ok not very Hawaiinish, but hey, it's the Maui Hard Rock!) I love this picture, it was the one and only shot with got with the whole gang, (and everyone looked at the camera, bonus!) Have I mentioned we love these guys?!

After dinner we strolled over to Cold Stone for some yummy ice cream. I know, real authentic again, but it's Cold Stone in Maui! What's a better treat than that?!

And here's Erin and Me, standing in front of some Giant Fisherman, in Maui!

We had so much FUN! It was so great to have a relaxing vacation- for Ryan to actually take a real break from work, and for me not to be thinking about how much my bathrooms need to be cleaned or how much laundry I need to get done- it was a real vacation! I didn't have to cook once, we mostly ate in and the guys did the cooking! Nice! And even though I spent most of my time in a lounge chair, I loved every minute of watching my kids having the time of their lives, playing with Daddy. (And I loved taking hundreds of pictures of them doing it.) And of course Ryan and I loved spending time with Kenny and Erin, talking, catching up and laughing, while Pierce and Madi had a grand time playing with Ellie and Addie. We couldn't believe how fast the week went by, Pierce kept asking if we could "just stay for 3 more days?!" We all wished. We were all sad to leave, the entire drive to the airport Madi looked out the window and softly repeated over and over and over, "bye-bye Hawaii, aloha Hawaii, bye-bye- Hawaii." She was my little "Aloha" girl and loved saying it. Aloha for now Maui, we hope we get to say Aloha again someday.

Miserable

Just in case you were wondering how I am doing...let me tell you...
I am miserable. I am so there. That place in pregnancy that all I can think is- are you kidding me, how am I supposed to live like this for FIVE more weeks??!! Just look at my feet and ankles!!!



Yes, this lovely picture is of my painfully, ridiculous swollen ankle and the nice little dent that occurs when I push on it with my finger. Disgusting, I know. So there you have it, I am uncomfortable all the time now, and usually thinking- just get. it. out! When Ryan so sweetly asks me, "any more thoughts on a name?" or "what are we going to name him?" all I say is, "I DON'T CARE, I JUST WANT HIM OUT!" We'll decide on a name later. Right now I'll be focusing on trying not to loose my sanity, and trying not to bite any heads off.

Oh, and if you were hoping for pictures of our trip and were dissapointed to see my gross feet instead- the trip post it coming...hundreds of pictures to go through, picking which ones to post and writing a little about it, I am half way done, so it's coming soon!

Swinging Into The Season!

Baseball Season is here again! Pierce was excited to play baseball again this year, and I was happy to try a new league, which brought a new experience for him, machine pitch. He had his first game last week and I was a little nervous for him, he'd only had one practice with the machine and I was worried he wouldn't be able to hit the ball. My worries were not needed, he did great! He got up to bat twice and had a great hit both times....
A Proud Mom moment for me!


Not to mention how stinking cute he looks in his uniform!

We are really happy to be on the same team with his buddies, Joey and Boyce, and to have their great Dads coaching. Walter was Pierce's soccer coach his first two years, and Bishop Brooks coached him last year. We love these guys.

Good buddies - Pierce, Joey & Boyce
We are excited for a fun season, Go Rangers!!!

Spring Break

We had a great Spring Break this year, no one got sick! We didn't do anything big, and I didn't take many pictures, but the kids really loved having a simple week to be home and play.

Things were really blooming around here and the weather was beautiful!


We enjoyed lots of sleeping in (ok that was just me)
We had a lot of fun playing at the park, we made it to 3 different parks and had fun park days with our Hall cousins, and friends Brooks, Schofields, Stapleys, Woodburys and Wadsworths.
My sweet friend, Heather, made these darling St. Patrick's Day cupcakes for the kids. Obviously Pierce really enjoyed his!

Here's Madi with cute friends Annie and Addilyn, having fun at the park!

Thanks to all that playing at the park, I got a major sunburn and my arms were in serious pain for the next few days. Luckily the kids don't seem to have my awful skin. The pregnancy is definitely making it worse and this was one of the worst burns I've ever had! And speaking of pregnancy, Spring Break also brought on the swelling of my feet and ankles, lots and lots of contracting, (lots more I should say, Braxton Hicks and I have been good friends for awhile now) and lots of pain. Gotta love the tiny person growing inside you, and the ripping apart of your muscles and ligaments.
Other things we enjoyed were- a 3 night Monopoly game, we have the Disney version and it's really fun for the kids. Pierce got really into it, but after the 3rd night we declared Daddy winner. (We've since started a new game)
We also enjoyed a movie day, we were thrilled to see "Tangled" again and took Brooke and Matthew and joined friends for a fun time at the movies!
Our last day of Spring Break, we got to celebrate Grandpa. We went to Grandma's house to celebrate Grandpa's birthday, which was the following day, (March 22). We sang Happy Birthday to Grandpa and the kids blew out the candles, and we celebrated in true Grandpa taste with Angel Food cake with orange frosting and homemade vanilla ice cream.


We love you Grandpa!

Basketball

Pierce has been loving "shooting hoops" with his buddy Joey the last few months and he decided he wanted to play basketball this year. We gave it a shot and he loved it. The season was short, but we saw him improve a lot over a few weeks. He had a great time.

Here he is with buddies Joey and Boyce

The last week of the season they had "playoffs". His team won their first game by 10 points and they were so excited to get to play again. Then they won their second game and were so, SO excited to get to play for the "championship"! They did a great job playing three games in a row, they didn't win the championship game, but it was pretty awesome for them to win 2nd place! Way to go Bulls!
Here are the happy 2nd place winners with their great coach!

A very excited little boy! Way to go Pierce, you did a great job!

Our Lovely Love Day

At the end of the day my kitchen looked like this...

And Madi's sweet little lip looked like this....


Even so, it was a good day.

Pierce and Madi were both so excited for Valentine's Day this year. They loved getting their Valentines ready to give out to their friends and could not wait for their class parties. Madi was thrilled when I picked her up from pre-school and loved coming home to show me all of her Valentines and treats- her first class party, so fun! Just before lunch she had a bad fall on the wood floor and cut and majorly bruised her lip. After some snuggling and lots of ice, she was ready for more fun and enjoyed spending the afternoon with friends at Chandler's house. She had fun decorating and eating FOUR sugar cookies (no doubt who's daughter she is!) and jumping on the tramp with Chandler, Jona and Annie, her neighborhood buddies. Thanks to Stace for keeping her while I could run to Pierson's school and do his class party. It felt like blasphemy, having the kids decorate store bought-too thin-and-too hard-sugar cookies, with frosting from a can! The kids loved it but, ick! I was looking forward to coming home to my sugar cookie dough waiting for me to roll out. The afternoon flew by and managed to get my sugar cookies baked. Then Ryan was home and we made a quick trip to the cemetery with Valentine balloons for Grandpa and Todd.



We come home and had a delicious Chicken Alfredo dinner (thank you Costco), then quickly frosted a few sugar cookies to run to a few friends. After giving the kids a Valentine gift (new books, which they loved!) and getting them in bed, I was completely exhausted, my feet were killing me and my kitchen was absolutely atrocious! Being pregnant really made sugar cookie making much harder than it should be. And I realized I hadn't taken a single picture of the kids decorating cookies! So, not me. This pregnancy is really throwing me off. I guess I was too busy frosting them, or maybe I was too busy eating them. Dang!

I did manage to get a pic of Madi's cute Valentine hair do, which she absolutely loves!



We frosted more cookies the next night and I managed to get this cute shot of Madi, actually looking at me and smiling (WOW!) wounded lip and all!
I love sugar cookies. Love my kids. Love Ryan. Lots to love!

Brooke & Todd's Birthday

It was hard to believe this day was really here, January 29th, Brooke and Todd's 9th Birthday. Crystal, once again, amazed me with her strength! We started the morning with a family gathering at the cemetery.

Birthday girl Brooke, with 9 red balloons for Todd.

It's hard to feel sad with her bright smile!

We sang Happy Birthday to Brooke with delicious muffins that Crystal made...

Then we sang Happy Birthday to Todd, Crystal had candles for all the kids to blow out for Todd


Pierce and Madi decorated hearts for Todd that morning - here is Pierson's, a picture he drew of Todd and Grandpa together, with a red balloon :)

Happy Birthday Toddy, we love and miss you buddy!

That afternoon it was time to party for Brooke! She had a swimming party at the Rec Center and Pierce and Madi were so excited for that! Ryan was great to take them swimming, I said- January, pregnant and swimsuit are three things that should not be in the same sentence for me. After a fun time swimming we met back at Jeff & Crystal's for Brooke's present and cake time....

Crystal's fabulous cake decorating skills!

Brooke was all smiles and absolutely darling, she loved her birthday! I think her sweetness and bright smile made it an easier day for everyone. No one could have dreamed we would be celebrating the twins 9th birthday with out Todd. How thankful I am to know we have eternal families. May we all hold our little ones a little closer and love them a little more each day!