Hawaii!

We had a nice flight to Oahu (the airline fed us a meal-we were shocked!)and arrived in the early afternoon. We picked up our rental car(which was BRAND new and nice), and then drove up to Laie, where Chris, Katie, and Jared live.

We spent time catching up (as it has been since August that we've seen each other) and then Chris and Jared showed us a neat place right by their house. We spent the rest of the evening talking and enjoying each other's company.

Tuesday Ian woke up and went for a nice LONG run, and I enjoyed the time relaxing. Then we decided to get out and go see some places. Here is where we went.

Waimea Bay

The North Shore/Haleiwa for some Matsumoto's Shave Ice

The "Lost" beaches (where most of Lost is filmed) where Ian decided to do some 4 wheeling when the road ended.
And drove by a few familiar places...

Wednesday we went to breakfast at a little local place called the Hukilau Cafe. Jared was a little confused as to why he was in his PJ's eating breakfast other somewhere other then home, but loved eating the food-we all did! Then Ian and I went into town to do a few things. We stopped at a few places/beaches on our way down to Honolulu. Ian REALLY wanted to hike up Koko Head Crater like he did last time (I gave up 2/3 the way up!) and since I PROMISED him I would make it to the top this time, we went and hiked this...... I almost died. We made it!After hiking my not so favorite thing, we went to the swap meet @ Aloha Stadium, then did some shopping at the Ala Moana Mall and hung out in Honolulu.

Thursday we spent some time at the Hukilau Beach where Ian found him some treasures, then spent the afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center-which was so fun! On our way home (we walked there because it is so close) Ian found another treasure...two coconuts had fallen from the tree. He brought them home and cracked them open like the Samoans do.

That night I went with my sister to her Relief Society Enrichment Birthday Night, which was fun! She had a speaking part and talked about one of our ancestors, Catherine Hagel.

Friday, we went to Kaliua, then met up with Chris, Katie, and Jared to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. There were lots of fish! Ian and Chris also saw a turtle! We spent the rest of the night relaxing and packing up....

Saturday morning we left really early to get to town so that Ian could compete in the Biathlon (run and swim) he signed up for! We made it just in time and had fun watching him. He placed first in his division! Good work! We then left to go up to a place called Valley of the Temples and to the Dole Plantation---places we hadn't been that EVERYONE goes to! Despite the pouring rain, we enjoyed our time looking at the Temple. And the pineapple ice cream, other then the cost, was very tasty!


And then after eating some Hawaiian food, we were dropped off at the airport and headed home! The End! Thanks Chris, Katie, and Jared for all you did for us! We really enjoyed seeing and being with you, despite the not so ideal Hawaii weather!

California!

On Saturday, February 28, Ian and I flew out of SLC to San Jose, California! We arrived shortly after, got our rental car, and started driving towards Boulder Creek to visit my sister Laura, her husband Gavin, and their daughter Sydney.


After driving on THE MOST CURVY AND WINDY ROADS I have ever been on (Bear Creek) we arrived to their place! It is in a beautiful place right in the middle of basically a big redwood forest.

(This picture doesn't even show how windy the road was!)


Once Sydney woke up from her nap, we headed to the Big Basin Redwood and the Henry Cowell Redwood state parks. We had a great time looking at lots of BIG trees, reading about Redwoods (they are very interesting), and enjoying our time together. Here are some pictures.

Sydney was so happy to get out of her stroller and walk, but she wasn't so happy when she fell down and got muddy.
We went back to their house and ate a very tasty turkey dinner that Laura had made! It was SO good! We also got to see Gavin for a few minutes that night, which was fun!

The next morning, we woke up and went to church with Laura and Sydney. They had a very welcoming ward, with very nice people, which we appreciated because it can sometimes be a little awkward being the "visitors." It was interesting and nice going to church at another ward.

That day was pretty rainy, so we just hung out, ate good food, and enjoyed the time we had together. Oh yeah, and we ate dinner with Gavin there.

It was really nice to catch up with my sister, and to see where they live. We are grateful for them and letting us stay there, even though the timing was kind of bad with their move!

The next morning, we woke up and headed back on my FAVORITE road...ha ha...to the airport, caught our flight, and were on our way to Hawaii.

Work, School, Homework, and some fun!

My life has been consumed, and I mean CONSUMED by work, school, and homework. Ian's life has been the same way. When we spend time with each other lately, it is usually him on one computer, me on the other, concentrating on homework! Not how we totally ENJOY our time together, but I am grateful that we are both able to go to school right now...especially since the more we go the closer we get to being DONE!

Anyway,even though most of our spare time is spent doing that stuff, we have been able to squeeze in a few FUN things the past couple of what...months!!! (oh gosh, I REALLY need to get better at posting!)

Draper Temple Open House

At the beginning of January, my family got to go through the temple early as kind of a "trial" run type of thing, because my dad is on a committee for the Open House/Dedication. We also got tickets and went through again with Ian's family. Then, with our stake a couple of weeks ago we were able to go up and do some volunteer work. Ian did parking and ushering, and I just did ushering. It was a great oppurtunity and we are both very grateful for that experience we were able to have. The temple is a very special and beautiful place. We are so excited for the dedication next month!

Jordan World Circus (Maybe that is the name of it?!?!)

A couple of months ago, our friends mentioned a circus that was coming to town. Ian has never been to a circus, I have been to a couple and wanted to go to another one that was NOT Barnum and Bailey, so we decided (or I guess I decided for us) that we were going to go.

Side Note: A few years ago I brought my little brother Jacob to the Barnum and Bailey circus in Salt Lake, but left very disappointed with it. I had gone to what I call, a "REAL CIRCUS" in Russia, and Barnum and Bailey's circus was basically stupid and cheesy compared to the Russian one.

Anyway, I was hoping that this one that our friends had talked about was more like the Russian one. We went with our friends and their daughters and had a really good time! It was ALMOST as good as the Russian one, but MUCH better than the Barnum and Bailey one (cheaper too!). We enjoyed watching the elephants, tigers, lions, acrobats, bears, and dancing poodles. Oh yes, and I LOVED eating my cotton candy---thanks Ken! I forgot to bring my camera---as I always do, but I found some pictures from somebody else....thank you whoever you are!

Fun with Friends and Family
Even though we don't have much spare time, we've tried to maintain somewhat of a social life. One Saturday afternoon, I heard a little knock on our door. My first thought was...oh no, not the Jehovah Witnesses again...(they come every Saturday!) I decided to open the door, and to my surprise it was our old neighbors! They had gone to dinner near our house, and decided to stop bye to say hi. We decided that it has been too long since we've done anything with them, so a few weeks ago, we went over to their new, beautiful, SPACIOUS house and played games. It was lots of fun! Then last weekend Ian and I went to Chili's to meet up with some of my old ward and middle/high school friends (and their spouses) We had an excellent time, laughing and talking, and catching up from the past few years! Everybody got along great, and it was nice to see what people are doing right now in their lives! Thank you Caryn for putting it together! We really appreciate it! Maybe I will post some picts. later.

I haven't seen my family much lately, but I was able to see them this month for the February Birthday dinner that my mom had. I also have seen my sister Bethann some---at our scrapbook quarterly day. I always really enjoy spending time with them!

Valentine's Day

I decided to spoil Ian this year for Valentines day. I really wanted to go out to eat (only because my cooking is ALWAYS a disaster) but I decided I would make Ian his favorite meal....it's a chicken, bacon, swiss alfredo that my sister Laura makes. Well, I am happy to say that ALMOST everything worked out, and Ian came home (he had gone up to Park City with the Young Men in our ward for their annual ski trip getaway) to my dinner. Luckily he had already bought himself a present, so I didn't have to rack by brain, trying to think of something to get him...although I did buy him a few little treats.

Ian didn't cut his hair (dang it!) like he did last year as my gift, but he decided that I could buy myself whatever I wanted (since that is what he did). I got myself and him a tanning pass....I know, it is lame. I HATE tanning, and it is so UNHEALTHY! I am NEVER going again! Anyway, I did this because I did research and it is best to get a base tan before going on vacation to places where the sun always shines....and yes....we are off to CALIFORNIA and HAWAII this Saturday!!!

Dimple Dell Pass

Even though I don't really consider this FUN all the time, but because I am posting about the things that I do other then work and school, this fits into that category. Ian, my cousin Janae, and I decided to get a membership to our local county fitness rec. center. It has been nice to try to get back in shape again. I was feeling quite disgusting (my life unfortunately revolves around food) and decided it was time to do something active! Janae and I are training to do a few half marathons this spring/summer, and Ian...he is training for EVERYTHING!!! He is an amazing athlete!

Well, thats what we have been up to the past while. Hope all of you are doing well!

WOW...

So, lately I have been feeling VERY dumb. I am not quite sure what my problem is. I am sure some of if it is due to a massive amount of things on my brain, and being somewhat overwhelmed at the moment! I have come up with a theory (or an excuse) for it, but I won't go there. Anyway, this email made me laugh....at least my stupidity isn't published! (as far as I know!)

Happy New Year!!!

For New Year's Eve we went out to eat with Ian's parents and then watched a few movies (okay---I slept during most of them) until midnight. Then at 12:00, Ian and Colin lit some fireworks...BIG ones! The cat was inside and started going CRAZY from the noise and took off running. I went to find him and saw this under our bed. When I lifted up the covers by his face he looked at me like,
"Oh my gosh...I think I am going to die?!?!?"

Then on New Year's day, I had the privilege of hanging out with some of my very dear friends, Brittany and Meredith. We enjoyed visiting for awhile and then went and ate some good food at IHOP. Meredith had to go home, but Brittany, Ian, Colin and I used our(mine and Ian's)new chocolate fountain that we got from some friends for Christmas! It was REALLY good...as you can probably tell.....If any of you ever want to come over and try it out...you are more than WELCOME!!! I would just do it by myself...but you have to melt at least 2 pounds of chocolate to have a constant flow... and I KNOW I would be the one to eat most of the chocolate by myself,which is the LAST thing I should do!