Aloha!

Two weeks ago we left for Hawaii, we decided to visit a new island this time. We went to Molokai, which is considered the most Hawaiian of all the islands. There are only 7000 people who live on the island. We left Thursday morning from Pheonix, it takes about 6 hours to fly and we had a nice flight. We landed in Honolulu around 12:00 and then got on this small plane that took us to Molokai. Now I get nervous on big planes, and when I saw this I got really nervous. But it was a nice smooth 30minute flight. We met a young couple on the plane, kind of hard not to talk to new people when you're almost touching. Becky and Eric from upstate New York, they were there for a brother's wedding.

From the plane, flying over Molokai. There is alot of farming on the island, and it gives people jobs, most of it is genetically modified corn that a company is doing research on, so it can't be eaten. The locals don't like having it there and not being able to eat it, but it brought much needed jobs to the locals. Almost everything has to be brought in to the island. When you hear that milk it like $6.00 a gallon, it really is, we bought a half gallon for over $3.00. So food is super expensive. They teach the young kids and talk alot about sustainablity, like grow a garden, and go fishing, and hunting. There are deer, wild pigs, wild goats, and wild turkeys, that they can shoot for food,.

So we landed, got our totally awesome rental car, sorry next picture. a 4 door jeep. By far the best rental car we've ever had. We were kind of sad to give it back.
Then we went to find our place. I loved it, again by far the best place we have ever stayed. It was so cute and had a washer and dryer. I brought home no dirt laundry. We enjoyed our quite mornings listening to Hawaiian music, eating our cheerios and toast on the balcony where you could see the ocean in the distance. It was very relaxing.

Then we went exploring. We drove to the east side of the island, we were staying on the west side. The island is about 60 miles long and 20 miles wide. We got going up this one way, windy road, we didn't make it the end, it started to get late and we decided we better go back. I am sad we didn't ever have the time to go back. There was a waterfall you could hike to with a guide and some white sand and black sand beaches on the other side of the mountain. So we heard. Maybe next time.

We stopped at this beach called 20 mile beach. It was a little beach, but it was supposed to be good for snorkeling. That is Maui in the distance. Pretty cool, we could see Lanai from the west side of the island.

Friday morning we decided to ride some mules down to a peninsula called Kalaupapa. The only way down there is by this trail, boat or plane. We went down 1700ft, there were 26 switch backes. It was only about 3 miles but we went straight down. It was tough on the knees, I finally just had to bend my legs so there wasn't so much impact on my them. I had a sore bum and sore knees for a few days, but it was well worth it.

Marty on his mule.

This is what we went down.

This was the top of the trail and that is where we were headed.

This town was a leper colony. Anyone who contracted lepercy was banished here. There were anywhere between 7000 and 8000 people who lived down there. Right now there are only 18 people who had the disease or are decendents of others who had it. It is now a National Park, so they take care of the up keep of the town and restoring the buildings. The Department of Health go in once a week to take care of the former patients because most of them can't see and can't walk and are in poor health. We stopped at a little market for a potty break, everyone was friendly, they even had picked some fresh mangos for us before we got there. We went to another smaller town called Kalawao and saw another colony and some beautiful scenary. There was a Father from Denmark, named Father Damien who went there in his twenties and took care of the sick people and built the colony and churches, then contracted the disease and died in his 60s. Pretty interesting place, kind of sad, yet beautiful.

This was the view from Kalawao. Absolutely beautiful. See that little island, that is where ships would bring people with lepercy and dump them over board and then they would have to swim to the island. And those seacliffs are the tallest seacliffs in the world.

After we arrived back up to the top, we went to a macadamia nut farm, and learned about macadamia nuts, and ate them.

Saturday we went to Dixie Beach and Marty taught me how to snorkel. For those of you who know me very well, know that I don't swim very well and deep water freaks me out. So I was freaked out, but thanks to a wonderful, supporting hubby who pushes me to grow and learn new things. I learned how to snorkel. The rest of the day went beach hopping and I have to say that I am now in love with snorkeling.

We also got to spend some time looking around the little shops in town, and there was a farmers market going on, I bought more mangos, a papaya, and a large avocado, like the ones I used to love to eat in Brazil.

We walked up to a point and got this shot looking down towards our condo. That beach is called 3 mile beach, whick is the longest beach in all of the Hawaiian islands. White sand beach for 3 miles and no one around, priceless.

4 year old.

Dylan turned 4 on Monday. He was at Grandma's house in Tempe and had a great day. Last week we had a little prebirthday party for him before we went out of town.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Dylan and Tyson a play kitchen for their birthdays and they love it. They play so well together with it and that helps me get the real dinner cooked. They love to use the ironing board as their table.

Dylan helping me make his birthday cake.
Everyone had a great time smashing the penata.

Blowing out the candles.

We just love Dylan, he is great boy. He loves to make friends, and gets along with everyone. He is such a sweet, happy kid. He is really smart, loves to read books and sing songs. He loves his trains and to be outside, he is such a good big brother and a big helper. We love you tons Bud.

Last weekend our friends the Masons came into town for a baby blessing. We had a lot of fun keeping everyone entertained. They have a little boy, Damien he is almost 5. He and Dylan had a great time together. They played so well and kept each other entertained while the rest of us visited. Friday morning we decided to take the boys to the Cardinals first practice. It was pretty cool. It was kind of warm outside and the boys weren't into that until they saw Reckers or however you spell it start kicking the football, then they thought it was pretty cool.

Damien and Dylan posing. Damien got Dylan into Transformers and Star Wars. One of the many faces of Tyson.

Dylan watching the football, after it was kicked.

After practice we went to Marshall pond and fed the ducks. The ducks full really fast, but the boys stilll had fun throwing bread and rocks into the water.

Saturday morning we went out in the forest and shot balloons.

This is Tyson first time shooting a gun, he knew exactly what to do.

I love this picture. Both Dylan and Tyson really like to wear my high hills. After church on Sundays I always kick them off in the kitchen, then Dylan and Tyson take turns wearing them. Tyson always falls out of them and Dylan is very kind to help his little brother get them back on.

Gotta love it, one day shooting a gun and the next wearing high hills.

Last weekend we went to my parents house in Clay Springs for a family reunion on Saturday. Friday night most of my brothers and sisters and their families gathered at my parents house for dinner. We made 13 dutch oven pizzas. The last time we did this was for my dad's 50th birthday, that was 13 years ago. I don't know why it took us so long to do it again because it was so yummy. If you haven't ever done this, I think you should, this is the best pizza ever.

I am so bummed because I didn't take any pictures of the reunion. It was for my dad's family and the purpose was for my Granddad's 100th birthday, and to show off the cabin that my dad and his brothers rebuilt. And of course I didn't get any pictures of the cabin. Next time I go home I will take some and post them. Reunions are interesting, it was blazing hot, there were like 500 people there, more than half of them I didn't know. There were some activities for the kiddos but Marty and I spent to whole day chasing them around to make sure they didn't fall on the rusty nails or get ran over by a car. We spent so much time doing that, that I didn't get to visit with the handful of people that I did know. They were chasing kids to so we would pass each other every once in a while. I guess that's how it goes when you have little ones. It was still good to go and see everyone.

Yum, homemade ice cream and rootbeer.

Dylan and Tyson riding a little train that was being pulled by a tractor.

This is was Tyson came out wearing on his birthday, he says"Ok lets go"

Ice cream cones for a sweet birthday treat. Tyson doesn't like birthday cake, but he loves ice cream.

Tyson's two year stats

height 361/2" 94%

weight 32lbs 89%

Happy Birthday Tyson!

I can't believe it is finally here. The boys have been talking about birthdays for months, Tyson has been so excited, I think or maybe Dylan is more excited.

Here are few fun facts about Tyson......

he is a very funny kid,

loves his dad more than anyone,

sings the ABC song

talks alot

sings alot

loves to play with his brother

know exactly what he wants

loves Thomas the train and tractors

loves the outdoors

loves his dog Bear

favorite foods are soup and oatmeal

very social

loves a good adventure

has a very short attention span

There is alot to this kid, we love him more than anything, and we are so happy is in our family.

Hope you have a happy birthday buddy, we love you.

4th of July Weekend

We had a great 4th of July weekend. We went to visit my family in Clay Springs. We had a lot of stuff planned, we started Friday night with a family reunion. My parents ward does a flag raising ceremony and breakfast really early the morning of the 4th, they have done this for as long as I can remember. It is great to see everyone come back home for a visit. Marty's sister Lisa came with us and his parents met us at the church to help us celebrate the day and it was also Lisa's birthday. After the breakfast we went back to Clay Springs for the 1st Annual Clay Springs 4th of July Parade. My Dad drove a tractor and pulled a trailer with hay, so a bunch of got to be in the parade. We watched for a while, the boys got tons of candy and then we jumped on as my dad was driving by. The boys loved it. I really hope they keep this up and it gets better and better every year.

After the parade everyone in town met at the park and had a little carnival. There was even a chance for someone to catch a greased pig. We let the boys play and eat popcorn for a while, then we went back to my parents house for a BBQ.

My Dad and Tyson getting ready for the parade
Look at all of my suckers mom.

Cute picture of Tyson.

This is the biggest tire swing I have ever seen.

Dylan playing a game at the carnival.

Sorry this got out of order. This is my brother's milk cow. She is very friendly.

That is alot of popcorn. Tyson said, "I want this."

So have any of you ever seen an old merry-go-round like this? This death trap used to be at the little elementry school that I went to as a little girl. It had been there along time when I was there. I just remember the big kids getting that thing going so fast and a bunch of little kids would try to jump on, and they would drag along side and then fall off. I have great memories of those big kids just laughing their heads off. Anyways, because of liability reasons I am sure, it was moved from the school to the park across the street. Let the town folk be responsible if there is an accident.

I love this picture of my dad and Tyson.

This is Marty, my dad and his dad bucking hay. That was Marty's first time "chucking hay" as he called it. He got to milk a cow for the first time, and go to his first rodeo. He had a busy day.

The rodeo was great by the way.

Then finally on Sunday my brother Darrell blessed his baby Clay, and we had a dinner afterward.

We were all exhausted by the time we got home. I love going to visit but it just wipes me out. Monday morning I had big plans to get right back to work and get the house cleaned and organized. Well someone else was going to make sure I got some rest one way or another. I got super sick and slept about 3 hrs on my bedroom floor and did nothing the rest of the day. Dylan and I were the only ones that got it, could have been food poisoning or just pure exhaustion, I have no idea. But we are all better and we had a great time, can't wait until next year.

Happy Birthday, and Walnut Canyon

Thursday was Marty's 29th Birthday, I think he enjoyed his day, he got to shoot his new gun and his parents brought his new truck. Doesn't it look awesome? We even got to go on a date, Marty's parents watched the boys. We went to Black Bart's the food was very good, the waiters sang Broadway song's, it was very entertaining. We ended up celebrating all weekend, we had a little party Friday night, we went to Walnut Canyon Saturday, and today is Father's Day. I hope he had a great weekend. Marty is the greatest dad, his boys love him more than anything. I love that he helps me so much with them, he can tell when I am at whits end and he gives me a break. I love you Babe, have a great Father's Day.

This weekend was free National Park pass day. I have wanted to go see Walnut Canyon ever since we moved here, but didn't want to pay the fee to get in. Yesterday was perfect. The Larsens and the Morriss came along with us. We looked like we were on a toddler field trip. The kids did great and had so much fun. The cliff dwelling were awesome, seriously amazing to think about how those people survived in those kinds of conditions.

Tyson loved to explore the ruins, he did so good even though he was very tired. Marty kept him on a leash so he wouldn't go over the side. There are over 100 stairs that you have to climb to get out of the canyon, and climbed almost all of them, he looked like a little monkey. He couldn't do the last 20 or so. He did so good, and he had a fun time.

Dylan had a blast, he loves going on hikes. He had slept until about 9:00, it was a good thing. He did this with no problem at all, and he didn't whine one bit on the way out.

Taking a little rest, before the last big climb.

What a fun day, I am so glad we finally got to see some cool stuff around Flagstaff. This was about 15 minutes from our house. It is great that we don't have to drive hours to see some really beautiful stuff.

I have to say congrats to my siblings who have all had babies in the last few weeks. My sister Sharilyn had a girl on the 28th of April, her name is Caitlin. My sister in law Tangela had a boy on the 10th of June, his name is Clay. My sister in law Teresa had a boy on the 18th, Marty's birthday, his name is Hunter. That makes 21 grandkids for my parents.