Hawaii Continued

Creed loving crawling around on the beach chasing after the birds. He also loved eating the sand. YUM
Mike and Steven snorkeled for over an hour and couldn't find a sea turtle. Jolisa and I went out for about 10 minutes and found one right away. It was huge and super cool to see. We came back and explained where it was to the guys and they were able to find it. thanks to us :)
Our little fish! Savannah loved snorkeling and spent an hour just swimming around looking at the fish.



Cole dealing with a sunscreen debacle
Haunama bay
The family - plus a stowaway :)
There was a little plaque that had some of the survivors from the Arizona on it that had chosen to be buried here as well after they passed. It was pretty neat.
So wierd, you can see from this picture that oil is STILL leaking out from the Arizona 60 years later.

Part of the AZ memorial sticking up from the water
We went to the AZ memorial so the kids could learn about Pearl Harbor. Savannah had dozens of questions, all about good vs bad, soldiers, and why it happened. Cole was just happy to watch a movie about guns and planes.

So we were able to spend the last 8 days in Oahu, Hawaii with the whole family and the Grimmers. The Grimmers are some of our best friends, we actually met them when Mike first got hired on with the the police department, 6 1/2 years ago. We were at the orientation meeting and realized that we had both met our spouses in Rexburg, Idaho. We were also both married in 2001 and have birthdays that are only about a month apart. So we immediately bonded and have been friends ever since. Even though we live about an hour apart now we still get together about once a month. And even though we BOTH have been having major issues with the US govenment this year, and recently bought new houses, we found a great deal on a trip and decided that we just couldn't miss the opportunity. And I am so glad we did!
We ended up having a blast. We stayed at the Aston in Waikiki. We went last year at the same time, and it is definitly a tradition that I wouldn't mind keeping.
The DAY before we left I found out the my hours had been cut at work by 50%. Everyone at my work was basically fighting for call so we had to split it evenly between 5 people for the whole month. I don't have any actual scheduled day time shifts and only take call, so this is going to totally affect us. I was panicky and even tried calling to cancel our vacation. Of course I couldn't and I was pretty worried that I would spend the whole time stressing. I prayed really hard the night before and I really felt a calm after. I am a huge worrier when it comes to finances, but I was grateful to have that peace and be able to enjoy the trip (especially since it was already paid for :) I know we will have to really cut back and stick to the basics while we figure stuff out, but I am hoping that neither Mike or I will have to get another job. I really love being able to stay home with the kids and am definitly willing to sacrifice the extras in order to keep doing that. SO anyway, the day before the trip was stressful with a lot of feeling sorry for myself, job searching and number crunching, but by the next day I felt like everything was going to be okay. Hopefully that feeling was right :)
The kids were great for the plane ride there. Even though we only bought 4 tickets, the plane was pretty empty, so we ended up with 2 rows and the grimmers right behind us. The kids kept each other entertained and ALL took naps! It was a miracle. We had 2 hotel rooms there so Mike and I got some privacy. We put all 3 kids in one room to sleep while we took the other. We were doing so much stuff everyday, the kids slept like rocks at night. If you need any advice on eating in Oahu on a budget, call us! Our hotel ended up giving us free breakfast by mistake, so we ate breakfast there every morning and packed up extra food for snacks during the day. Lunch consisted of Costco pizza or hot dogs or taco bell, and dinner was usually a mid range place. We tried to go to dinner at places we couldn't eat at here, my personal favorite being a shrimp truck on the north shore. It was amazing but we only got to go once since Mike is not a fish person. :( I wish they had shrimp trucks here! We had so much fun and did so many things I am having SUCH a hard time narrowing down the pictures! We came home with over 1000 pics on our card! So there will be more to come after this post :)

Hawaii Part 1

These pictures are not in order. Sorry. This is Cole enjoying his Dole Pineapple ice cream cone. They were really really good! We visited the Dole Pineapple Farm and were able to go on the train, see lots of pineapples and went in the worlds largest maze, shaped like a pineapple of course.
Another shot of Cole enjoying his ice cream.
Savvy loving hers too.
Here is Cole and Samantha peeking through the pineapple board.
This is mom, Cole and Creed sitting on the Dole train at the beginning of the little track.
It was a nice little ride, lasts about 20 minutes and tells the story of John Dole and how he started the Pineapple empire.
Savannah, Samantha and Cole playing together. The kids did so well the whole week. Such good little travelers. We'll see how they do the rest of the month.

Nikki and Jo Lisa standing in front of a couple different types of pineapple gardens.
It was interesting to learn how pineapples grow. I always thought they grew under ground. Last year I learned that they take the top, or crown of a pineapple and place it face down in the ground by hand, one at a time. Then they let it grow for 18 months before they harvest it. Then the second harvest takes another 15 months. Makes you appreciate a pineapple just a bit more.
Here is our little boy all wrapped up like a crazy person. He still loves to be wrapped up super tight and sleeps really well when wrapped like this.
Look at the little BFF's hanging out at Ko Olina. It is a set of four man made lagoons on the West Shore. It was a really nice place to take the kids, no big waves due to rock jetties, and nice soft sand to play in.
Here is another view of Ko Olina with Steven and I cleaning up our mess.
Cole and Audree playing at Ko Olina.
Nicole liked this picture because of Audrees beautiful blue eyes.
This is Savvy and I playing at Waikiki beach on our first day in Hawaii.
Cole doesn't know how to swim, he doesn't even really like to play in the water too much yet, but he was wearing his goggles even before we left for Hawaii. He is a funny little kid.

Getting ready for Hawaii!

Cole decided to wear these goggles the whole day before we left for hawaii. Can you tell he was excited?
Savvy a few days before we left, all bundled up for the chilly weather here!
The night before we left for Hawaii I was on call. I came home from a call to a trash can full of blonde hair. Mike buzzed Creed! So here are the last of the mohawk pics for ahwhile

Thanksgiving in AZ

After seeing santa for the first time. Creed was unfazed :)

The guys, shooting!

The last 3 nights we stayed at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, it was SUPER nice! They even upgraded us to a casita for free, I would highly recommend if you are ever in the scottsdale area. They had a FREE kids club, zero entry swimming pool, 2 water slides, fireplaces in the rooms, everything was super fancy. the kids loved the pool.

Creed like splashing in the water. Poor naked guy, I forgot his swimsuit

Ty with his never ending smile

We had a picnic lunch afterwards, it was super fun.

The grandkids- minus Cole who was off pouting because he was weary of being up so high.

Becky, Ty, Geoff, and Creed. Creed and Ty are one month apart.

Drew is quite the lady's man. Becky had to keep telling him Drew that is your cousin!:)

This is a spot we hiked up to in phx, it is right by the zoo. Hole in the rock I think it is called, and appropriately so

There was this HUGE racing car track, the kids stayed there for like 30 minutes playing! It was super neat.

Grandpa Steve and Savvy, target shooting. The 2nd day in az we decided to take a trip to bass pro. we don't have one close to us and mike was dying to go. They had an awesome set up, lots of toys for the kids to play with, and santa was there. It was really neat. We ended up going a second time.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Arizona with my Dad and his family. It was really nice, we haven't all been together in quite awhile. Geoff and Rebecca came down from Utah, so we were just missing Dave & alli, and Jenna. (and soon to be kellan). We spent the first 4 nights with my dad and then thanksgiving at jan's with grandma and the last 3 nights at a hotel. It was a fun little getaway.