Memorial Day Weekend

I spent memorial day weekend in Richfield with my family. It had been too long since I had been to see everyone and it made for a nice little getaway. On Sunday, I took Morgan and Parker to the park to play. I love being with these kiddos. They had so much fun playing on the slides and the teeter totter. I had my camera and as soon as I brought it out they went crazy, running from me and trying to hide from the camera. Chasing them around was tiring but I got some great shots. I love Parker's expressions in these pictures.

We went to the cemetery and I had forgotten what a sight it can be over memorial day weekend.
A million bright colored flowers covering the grounds, and such a loving, peaceful feeling.
This is one of Grandpa Havolyn's favorite things to do each year.

I Love that guy. I am so grateful for the man that he is.
For the Grandpa that he has become over the years. I love it when I get ready to leave
and he gives me a big hug, then looks me right in the eye and says in a soft, loving voice,
"I love you, now don't let it be so long before you get back here."
I am blessed to have such great grandparents.

Happy Birthday.....

SLEEZA D!

Hope you can look past that eye patch and (other events) to find many things to smile about today! I love you and I am so grateful to have you in my life!
SDLY

I think I can, I think I can... I DID, I DID!

For so long you have had this goal to climb this mountain, this really beautiful, majestic mountain that everyone who has experienced raves about. They say the view from the top is like nothing you could ever imagine. You know its going to be hard, and you know you won’t be able to do it alone, but you want it bad enough and you have a really special friend to help you along the way. You decide it’s time, You start the climb and its harder than you ever imagined it would be, but so much more rewarding. With every step you feel success, and it gives you just enough boost to take the next step. Along the way you meet some unexpected visitors, but they don’t harm you. Somewhere along the way you missed the sign cautioning falling rocks, but they land right behind you, never hurting you. You get tired, and your friend pulls through and helps you keep going. You see all these beautiful things that you never knew existed. You are nearing the top and you are full of energy and are determined not to stop until you get there. Just a little ways to go and you’re there. Finally, you arrive at the top of this mountain and you are speechless, the feeling that you have is something you have never felt before. Any fear or doubt that you once had is long gone. You feel like you can climb any mountain that gets in your way.

Climbing this mountain has changed my life.

5 Days in Paradise

DAY 1

After 2 hour flight delay, due to aircraft malfunction, we FINALLY arrive in Maui.

It was a "bit" windy but beautiful nonetheless.

We arrived at the Royal Lahaina Resort, where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. It was awesome. We were staying right on the beach, and had a beautiful view from our balcony.

First thing, we headed down to the beach for a sunset swim.

And then piled into the hot tub, with little room to spare.

DAY 2

We woke up bright and early to board the ship to go snorkeling at Molokini Island.

Still a bit windy, but still BEAUTIFUL!


Apparently this is the largest tree on the island.
It was pretty cool to look at, but apparently at night, local tweakers and other really cool people hang out there to harass the tourists and steal their purses.

Krista, Heidi, Bonnie, Micah, Katie, me

Jarom, Micah, Lindsey, me

Molokini Island

We saw lots of cool creatures, including an actual octopus, it was really cool,

although I don't look the least bit amused.

DAY 3

Krista, Tanya, Lindsey, and Bonnie woke up at 2:15 AM to head to the top of a volcano, freeze as they watch the sun rise and the ride bikes down. The rest of us slept in til 7-ish and then headed on a little adventure.




First stop the Blow-hole!




Altough this picture does not depict the strength of the water shooting from the hole in this mountain, it had great strength, as Katie and I found out seconds after this picture was taken. It nearly knocked us over.


It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

That night we went and enjoyed Lava Flo's.
Heather ordered "the one in the pineapple"


They were TASTY!

DAY 4

The Road to Hana

The boys headed over bright and early to pick up the jeeps that we had rented for the day as we travel the road to Hana (the windy road that takes you around the whole island). Along the way there are little stops that you can make at different waterfalls, black sand beaches, red sand beaches, cliffs overlooking the ocean, etc.



The Drive was BEAUTIFUL!!!

Liz and I

A little off-roading down this crazy dirt road full of trash and a bunch of abandoned cars-

random I know!

We realized once we maneuvered past all the cars that the road led nowhere but to over look the ocean. It sure made for a fun adventure!

The Gang

Next stop was the black sand beach.

It was so cool to see the vibrant blue waves crashing on the jet black beach.

I have never seen anything like it.

After we had made all of our stops and the sun had began to go down,

we started on what would be a LONG drive home.

By this point we had made it almost back to where we had started in Lahaina.

We were aware that part of the road may be blocked off, but were informed that we would be able to jump out move the sign and keep going.

However, when we reached that part of the road, we found not just a sign saying the road was closed but 2 big, beautiful boulders blocking the entire road.

Our only option was to turn around and make our way back the way we came.

Thanks to the boys who stuck it out after driving ALL DAY,

we made it safely back to our hotel around midnight.

We saw a beautiful rainbow stretching over the sky everyday we were there.

Pretty amazing!

Day 5

Our last day in Maui. We woke up went to the beach for a couple hours, packed our bags and headed back to the airport. We were not ready to leave, but we all had a great time.

I can't wait to go back.

Thanks Markus for all your hard work in planning such a great trip.
Can't wait for the next one!

And thanks to everyone who was able to come.

You are all great and it wouldn't have been the same without you!