This week

This week was busy with school, homework, scouts, friends, etc.. It was brutal getting back into our schedule, when all we wanted to do was go back to the beach!  We are really missing Kauai this week!

The weather has been horrible, and the air quaity is awful.  SLC has been in an inversion all week, making the air unbreathable.  The kids have had indoor recess all week.

Isaac has been throwing lots of fits this week, and really testing his boundaries.  It's exhuasting and hard to deal with him when he acts like this. We thought he had grown out of his fits, but I guess not!

Although he is challenging in a lot of ways, he is adorable and hilarious at the same time. His comments always make me laugh. Here's a few I heard from him this week:

"Mom, I know I'm a big boy because I do really loud burps now!"
or
"I think I'm growing a cold, because my nose is really runny"

He was spotlighted in Primary today.  The teacher asks all the kids questions about themselves and then they share it with the primary. Some of his answers were hilarious, here's a few of our favorites.
-His nickname "Stinker" we all call him "Zeeker" because we call him "Zeke" a lot. I guess he hears Stinker!

-What he wants to be when he grows up " a Pirate"
(the picture above is him so happy to be dressed as a pirate)

-His favorite scripture story is "Nephi and the Grass plates"
I guess we really need to review the details of the Book of Mormon stories a little better.
Ha Ha -he is really a funny kid. Now if only he would be more obedient!

Because the weather has been awful this week the kids have been building lots of forts in the basement.  One day they used all the blankets, mattresses, chairs, pillows etc.. and built one that was as big as the Family Room.  Their friends all came over and everyone thought it was grand! I tried to get a picture of all the kids but they wouldn't come out of the fort.
When it was time to clean up, they all complained-oh well, we couldn't even walk in the room, it had to come down.

We had a few friends over for playdates this week, which was fun.  Isaac and his friend Ollie are so cute together!
Even Lizzie has been having friends over, its fun to see her interact with kids her own age.

Aunt Natalie had a big meet in WA this weekend. She took first place overall! Way to go Natalie!!

Taylor has been busy teaching himself all sorts of songs on the piano; simplified hymns, Coldplay songs from the internet, and more.  He's great at music, and seems to learn so easily!

Lizzie loves her meals, she ate pizza, fruit and arugula salad for dinner.  Then demanded a full brownie sundae with chocolate sauce on top for dessert.  It's funny to see her so independent. She is growing up too fast!

This afternoon Taylor got in trouble bothering the other kids during "quiet time" after church.  He was sent down to his room, to cool off- next thing I know he's huffing and puffing.  I go down a while later and he's totally rearranged his bedroom. He wanted the two twin beds together to make a huge bed.  His room looks weird but he loves it!

It's snowing again tonight, it's expected to snow 12 inches.

We are really looking forward to Spring!

Kauai

We just returned from a wonderful week in Kauai!

We went from a snow, freezing SLC, to paradise in the Hawaiian islands.  The difference in weather is dramatic, but we'll take warm weather over cold anytime.

We were so lucky to grateful to leave the kids at G & G Shields house.  All the kids love staying there, they have their regular routines, friends, and school nearby.

Plus they get spoiled by their grandparents!



We left Friday morning, and headed straight to Kauai.  It took all day to get there, we checked into a hotel near the airport and got some dinner nearby. We were exhausted because of the time change and so we went to bed. 
The next day we woke to the sound of roosters ( they are everywhere around Kauai) and looked out to see the gorgeous beach.  The best part about Hawaii is the warm weather and the humidity! It feels so good on your skin after a cold, harsh winter. 





Saturday we bummed around the beach, went swimming/hot tubbing and then headed north to the townhouse we rented for the week.  We stopped and got Danny a surfboard and bought groceries for the week on the way.
We stayed in Princeville in this new, nice townhome.  It was perfect;comfortable with a full kitchen and access to a pool/hot tub. Plus the bed was comfortable. 

We went straight to Hanalei beach that afternoon/evening and ended the night with delicious Mahi Mahi for dinner. 
The next day Sunday we went to church at the Hanalei branch. It was a great sacrament meeting, and then we did some hiking and exploring.  We stayed home that night and made burritos at our place.


Once we got settled in the rest of the week we were at the beach. 





There are so many beaches that we love but some of our favorite were; Hanalei Bay, Ke'e beach, Tunnels, Brenakee's, Luma Hai, and more.  I can't remember all their names. 
But it was so great to wake up, decide which beach to go to and then go.  We had a cooler at the town house so we'd eat breakfast at home, pack a lumch/drinks for the day and be at the beach all day!  It was the fantastic!





Danny surfed almost everyday, some beaches had nice big waves, and he really had fun! Plus we also got to snorkel, boogie board, swim, body surf, go for long walks in the sand and lay on the beach. It was fun to watch him surf and see him doing something he loves so much! I am not good at surfing but had fun trying.



We loved Ke'e beach with the gorgeous scenery of the Na Pali coastline.  The surf was really high this day, and there were no swimming or snorkeling allowed, because of the huge waves.  It was fun to watch them crash into shore. 



On Thursday we headed to the south side of the island and spent the day at the beach. This beach, Brennakee's had a lot of wildlife, we saw dolphins, sea turtles, and a couple of whales.  Plus the surfing was really good. 
We went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant that night and had great Ahi tuna tacos.  I could eat those every night, they were delicious! We walked back to the beach after dinner to watch the sun set, because it was so beautiful. 



As much as we missed our kids it was SO great to spend time together.  It was a relaxing, mellow, fun week- doing what we want to do!
But we would love to save up and bring the kids someday! They would have a blast!

More pictures of the beach, and one of the townhouse. 
My favorite thing to do is just to be outside in the warm sunshine!  It felt amazing to be warm-without wearing layers of clothing.



We found a nearby store that made great smoothies, but our favorite snack was a cold papaya with lime juice on top! It's the perfect dessert or snack. 
 I think we bought 7 or 8 papayas on this trip.





There is no much natual beauty on the island, everywhere you look it's amazingly beautiful!
We left Friday night and caught the red eye flight to LA.  The flight was good, but we were tired by the time we got to SLC on Saturday morning. 
It was brutal getting off the plane into 12 degree weather. 
But we were excited to see our kids, and hear about their week at grandma's. 





We had the best week soaking up the sun. 
I really wish it was Spring! 

Until next time Kauai!



We had a rough time getting settled back into our regular schedule after the holidays.  The kids didn't want to get out of bed in time for school and I didn't want to the regular routines. 
Isaac said goodbye to his best girl, Jesse.  She went back to Ireland until June.  He made her a card, and bought her a little treat.  So sweet, he loves her!!

We had a regular week, but it was a good week.

 Now on to Hawaii!!!

Happy new year!

With the kids out of school all week we stayed busy doing all sorts of fun things.  Danny had to work all week, but he took the afternoon off on Monday.

So On New Years Eve we headed up the Alta to go skiing.  It was a beautiful, sunny day - perfect day to spend in the mountains.  Taylor and Aunt Natalie took off and did some big runs. While Danny and I stayed with Emily and Isaac on the bunny hill. 

The kids did great, they were happy to work on their skiing.  They both really improved and seemed to have fun too!
 By about 4pm it was getting freezing cold and everyone got chilled. So we headed to the Lodge to get some cocoa and warm up. We met up with Brett and his kids too.
It was a successful day of skiing.

After skiing we headed home to celebrate New Years Eve!
We had a picnic dinner in the basement while watching a movie.  The kids thought it was fun.  By 9:30 everyone was tired and wanted to go to bed, so it was an early New Years night.
Happy New Years!!
On New Years day we hung out at home all day, and then went to a movie in the afternoon.  We saw "Chasing Mavericks"- it was  good movie, that everyone liked.

One day while running errands we stopped to get donuts at Banbury Cross Donuts.  Lizzie loved her donut, she devoured it!

On Wednesday we headed to Jump Around Utah with some friends.  The kids had a blast jumping, running, and climbing.  They played hard and it wore them out! 
The weather has been ridiculously cold lately.  The temperature is about 25 degrees for the high! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. 
 I am so tired of being cold!





Another day we went to the Gateway Childrens Museum downtown.  We got a membership there and the kids had tons of fun! Lizzie especially had a blast, she loved shopping at the grocery store and playing in the house.
We love that museum.

This little girl is such a diva! She insists on wearing sunglasses in the car and then she demands to listen to "Paradise" by Coldplay.  It's funny and really annoying at the same time!  She is such a stinker! But we all adore her so much.

We got a piano this week too!
It was given to us by Goofy Grandma and Grandpa!  We were so excited to get a piano- now to start looking for a piano teacher.
Thank you so much!!

We ended our fun week by going swimming on Friday. 
The kids love to swim, and Isaac even enjoys it now.
We had a fun time swimming and then headed home for Lizzie to nap.  The worst part was going outside, in the 14 degree weather with wet hair.
When will it be spring?

Emily mastered the water slide this time. She has always been nervous about going down by herself, but now she has no fear at all!  Way to go Emily!  Lizzie was a little fearless too-she likes to jump in off the side into my arms, repeatedly!

The kids went back to school today, which was a little sad.  It's good to be back on a schedule,  but we had a great couple of weeks during Christmas Break! 
I think 2013 will be a fabulous year!