Hawaii! Part 1

I got the opportunity to go to Hawaii with my dad, Jaime and Matt, and Trevor and Katie, and some of Trevor's friends.  It was a really fun trip.  The only thing that would have made it better is if Mike had come with me. 

On our first day we drove around, we saw a lot of kite and wind surfers, and a lot of turtles!

 My dad was pretty sure this one was dead...it wasn't, we totally saw it move. :)

We ended the day with some snorkeling.

The next day we did some more snorkeling and a turtle actually ran right into my shin as I was adjusting my mask! Jaime even got a picture of it! Ouch!

 Black rock was my favorite snorkeling.

 The water was so clear and beautiful!

 On our way home we stopped for an icy. I think we stopped almost everyday after also. :) They put pistachio ice cream on the bottom that was delicious.  I like the flavor melona, which my dad absolutely hated! I also liked coconut.  Then they would snow cap it! I loved it! Jaime and my dad did not.

 The next day we went to Molokini to do more snorkeling. The boat ride out was amazing. We saw a lot of whale on the way out and on the way back in. 

 The snorkeling was good, but it was super cold. Every time I went snorkeling I got sick, this particular day I didn't last very long.  I about lost my cookies, I had to get out quick, I didn't want to get attacked by hungry fish after my cookies. :)

 On the way back in we saw several whales breach! It was amazing, a couple of them were pretty close.  We saw a mom with her cafe and the cafe jumped at least 10 times.  It was so cute.

 I took a lot of pictures of flowers, mostly for Jaycee, she loved the flower pictures. The yellow flowers were just outside our condo.

The next day, which was a Saturday we drove the Road to Hana. Last time we were there all the waterfalls were ragging muddy rivers. This time we saw some waterfalls, it was a little on the dry side.

 The water was so amazing!

 Trevor and his friends swam in a couple of the waterfalls.  My dad even jumped from one of the falls!

 There were so many waterfalls, oh the beauty of the Earth!

We stopped at some caves and climbed through them, they were pretty awesome.

We stopped at Black Sand beach for awhile. 

The waves were so big! The water was also very beautiful here.

We made it to the end of the road to the Seven Sacred Pools. Last time it was a raging muddy river, this time it was all dried up with stagnant water.

 There was an awesome bamboo forest.

It was starting to get dark so we kind of had to rush through.  We didn't want to be coming back in complete darkness!

We made it to the fall at the end.

We didn't make it out before it was dark, but we made it most the way down.  We used our phone flashlights to get us back to our cars.

Late January...

We ended the month with new hair cuts for the boys. Bensens first haircut was on January 30th.  

He pretty much hated it! Wesley was such a nice brother he held him so I didn't have to get all hairy.

He was very squirmy I had to stop taking pictures and help Jaime hold him still.

After all was said and done he was much happier. He is such a handsome boy...both of them are, I am a lucky mom!

Jaycee did the Northridge cheer camp.  She loved it.  It was three days of practice, then they performed at the boys basketball game halftime.  It was pretty cute.

Mae and Paige were there also.  These three are trouble!

It will be fun to see what they all decide to like as they grow up. 

Marlee got baptized on January 31st.  It was a really nice day.

Jaycee is getting pretty excited to get baptized.

Birthday Bensen!

I cannot believe my baby turned one today! He has always been such a good natured happy baby. He loves to cuddle and he love loves hair! Most of the time he is pretty gentle and just combs it. Every once in a while he pulls it pretty good. It is amazing that just a year ago he was so small.

 I kind of miss the days when we could just sit and snuggle and take naps all day.

But he is super fun now, and every now and then we get a nice nap in. It is so crazy that in one year they can change so completely!

He has turned into a pretty big flirt! He does this cheesy smile a lot.  I can't get enough of it

 He started walking about a month ago. He gets around very well.  He is getting pretty good at the stairs also. He loves to sing and to dance. He likes to help with the laundry, by help I mean pull everything out of the basket and mess up everything I have already folded! :) He loves to move things from one place to another. His little temper is starting to show itself more often.  Sometimes its hard to tell if he is hurt or mad, they both sound the same. I have to rock him to sleep. If I try to just put him in his crib he screams, I've let him cry for over 45 minutes, but the second I pick him up he settles right down and goes to sleep. 

He gives the best hugs and kisses.

He can say hi, ouch, ah oh, da da, ma ma, ba ba, bye bye, and cookie.  Grandpa max is pretty sure he can say pizza and pa pa.

He tries to whistle, which is pretty cute.

He mimics his toy firetruck. 

We had a Bailey party for him on Sunday, it was combined with Spencer's party. He really liked his chocolate cake. Everyone was there to wish him a happy birthday!

Then on Monday (his actual birthday) we went to Chuck-a-Rama for lunch. Then later that night we had a Borgstrom party. Everyone was there except Andrew, Cheryl, Miriam and Quentin.

 At both parties he had good help opening his presents.  He always has a lot of helping hands.  I don't think he minds it.

Grandma LouLou made him a monkey blanket.

Instead of cake, since he had some the day before, he had peanut butter bars.

 This was the first time he had peanut butter.

 I'm pretty sure he liked it!

We are so blessed to have Bensen in our family! He is so loved by everyone, and he brings us so much happiness!

Happy Anniversary!

I am so lucky to have Mike in my life! Today is our 9 year anniversary. Time flies when your having fun. We have been blessed with three beautiful children, Mike has a great job, and we live in a beautiful place close to our families. I don't think I could have imagined us being so blessed!
Now, don't get me wrong we've had our problems, but the good far out weighs the bad.
Mike works so hard, and takes such good care of us. He is the most selfless person I know. He is such a good example to me and our kids. He is always serving others, and he loves it. He is always looking for someone to help. The whole time we've been married he's slept in one time that I can remember and that was yesterday! He likes to keep busy and almost always has a project going on. Right now he is working on finishing our bonus room, but he has found some time to help his parents with their apartment rental. He is smart, witty, funny, the best dad, hard working and not to mention good looking! Along with so many other things. I am so glad he is mine...I love you Mike! Thanks for putting up with me. :)
For our anniversary this year we went to Roosters for lunch and then to the movies.  We always see a lot of movies around Christmas and New Years, so the only movie left for us to see was the 3rd Hobbit.  It was pretty good. I like most movie though. For dinner we stayed in and had crepes.  It was my first attempt at them, and they were ok.

 The kids loved drinking out of our fancy cups, it was their favorite part! But who doesn't love drinking out of fancy glasses, I know I do.  We even had some fancy sparkling grape juice. It was the perfect ending to a great day! I sure love these people!

A New Year

Happy New Year!

 We spent the evening at Mikes parents house. More food, more games and more fun!

We played a few new games, Forbidden Island and Ticket to Ride. They were both fun.

 We love cousin times.

 I love my family, I'm sure glad they are mine!

 When we got home we read scriptures and said prayers then went for a pony ride! Don't let Mikes face fool you, they all loved it.

I am looking forward to this New Year. I hope to draw closer to my Heavenly Father, become a better mom, study the scriptures more diligently, and to avoid contention. This year I want to learn more about gardening more specifically herbs.

Happy New Year!