Emma's still going to Preschool Storytime at the library most weeks
(while I chase Jack around the library since he won't go to his Toddler Storytime class.
After-dinner snuggles. Weekdays are tiring.
After our long busy days, we all look forward to relaxing together.
Okay guys.... sooooo.... Brandon and I got to go to Hawaii without the kids!
Brandon had to go for work (BYU was playing U of Hawaii in football the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and Brandon's parents generously offered to not only watch the kids for us at our house, they also paid for my plane ticket to join Brandon on his trip! What an amazing gift. We were there for about 6 days and had a great time.
We left bright and early Tuesday morning. Josh woke up to say goodbye. It was so sweet. It was hard for me to say goodbye to the kids. I cried pretty hard saying goodnight to them the night before.
The view outside our hotel window. Waikiki is like the Vegas of Hawaii. There's sooo many people and buildings and it's loud and smelly. But there's a beach and good food.
With the time change, we woke up the next morning at 5am so we thought it would be a perfect time to hike Diamond Head which is just a few minutes away from where we were staying. By the time we got there it was just getting light enough to see in front of you so we started the hike. The weather at that time of day is perfect for a hike and it wasn't too busy until we got to the very top :-). It's a beautiful view. It was a great little hike.
It was almost always sunny so if a little rain cloud came through it would rain and be sunny at the same time so there are rainbows all the time. It amazed me that the temperature ranged from 65-75 the whole time. It was just always perfect. 
We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It was really windy so the water moved us around a lot but we saw a lot of fish and snorkeled for quite awhile. We tried laying out on the beach but it was so windy the sand just slapped us and felt like torture so we left.
We visited the Dole Plantation.
We went to Aloha Kitchen in Waikiki. I got the banana Nutella souffle pancake with coconut sauce on the side (the texture is like angel food cake). It was so yummy. Brandon got the Eggs Benedict with their Kalua pork on top. Also delicious.
After the football game was over, we wanted to spend our last couple days in Laie. We ate more yummy food (Seven Brothers Burgers!), explored BYU Hawaii, explored the Polynesian Cultural Center (and saw the PCC show "Ha: Breath of Life"), and enjoyed the much more peaceful, quiet beautiful scenery of the North Shore. We drove along a lot of the North Shore, went snorkeling at Shark's Cove, went to Ted's Bakery, watched some surfing, saw Chinaman's Hat, tried Mango O'tai- yummmm, and relaxed on the Hukilau beach.
On our last day we made it to Pearl Harbor and then had a red eye flight home. We got home just in time to see Josh before he left for school. Jack hugged me so tight around my neck and wouldn't let go for like 10 minutes- it was so sweet. It was great being back home. Our trip was wonderful but it made me appreciate everything about my life-- the day-to-day, the little things, the taking care of my kids who I just love so much, the taking care of our home, and doing all of it with an amazing supportive loving husband and partner who I love more than anything. I love my life.
Here's Emma with her presents we got her :-)
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