Maui Part II

I really don't like reliving our summer in the middle of November.............makes me wish we were back on Maui! I want to get caught up once and for all and actually post things when they happen. Novel idea.

Here are Cass, James and Truman at the lava tube.

Did I mention how cute this kids is? I love his cute little smile.

I mean, seriously? He was such a joy. Even when he was tired and cranky, he was pretty darn good.

Cute little family on our last day on Maui. We tried to go to one last beach before leaving, but it was way too windy. We flew from Maui to Oahu to spend some time at Cass and James' place.

One of the first things we did was to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. We didn't get in to see it when we were there last December, so we made sure to send James down early for tickets. Thanks James! We had seen it years ago when we came to Hawaii in 1985, but wanted to see it again and take our time. We were rather rushed the first time around.

I felt like I was on sacred ground, and indeed I was. If not for some very noisy tourists in our group, the visit would have been very spiritual.

Jeff got to see everything for as long as he wanted. No rushing.

Isn't this a beautiful beach? Luckily Cass and James have learned where the best (and least touristy) beaches are.

I did not want to go kayaking! James and Jeff talked me into it. I thought it would be so scary, but it wasn't! I actually really enjoyed it. There was a little island we went out to and got out to see, but it was volcanic and hurt our bare feet. We kayaked back to shore and let Cass and James go out. They came back and said we needed to take our flip flops and go back out and walk around the island, so we did. There was a little pool on the side of the island that we swam in. We walked all the way around the island and saw lots of birds, since it was a bird preserve, then we decided we better get the kayak back. It was so fun!

On our last day there, we took a walk around Ala Moana before heading to the airport. That's Diamond Head in the background.

We have loved Hawaii since we were there in 1985, and Jeff always said he wanted to go back. Now he is getting his wish. We have fallen in love with the place, and hate to leave.

Of course maybe our not wanting to leave has something to do with this little guy and his parents. Boy do we miss them! But it sure is fun to go visit them. Thanks guys for helping to make this such a memorable trip!

Maui

After our trip to Phoenix we got on a plane and headed to Maui to meet Cass, James and Truman at a friend's condo. They flew over there from Oahu. We had so much fun. The condo was in a great location near restaurants and shopping, and best of all, right on the beach. Cass and James had brought their book with all the best places to see, and we spent very little money and saw some really awesome things. It was a trip to remember, for sure. I have tons of pictures, so I will try to condense it down a little.

First of all, in all my excitement I forgot to use the bathroom at the airport, and anyone who knows me knows I would have to be totally desperate to use a porta potty. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so here I am at the dreaded porta potties.

Our first stop was at the Iao Needle and gardens, a very short but beautiful hike.

Truman warmed up to us a little quicker this trip. And of course he loved Bampa!

On our way to dinner, walking along the beach we saw this gorgeous sunset, and for once Dad can't claim to have taken a wondrful picture. I did this one! We ate at Leilani's, where we were introduced to Hula Pie. After that we became addicted to it, and wanted it all the time. We're talking amazingly delicious. We held ourselves back and only had it a couple more times though.

The view from our balcony:

Swimming at one of the great pools at the condo.

We hiked to some semi-secret tide pools that were really cool and saw sea cucumbers, a gobi fish, crabs and sea urchins. It was great fun.

This was taken on the road to Hana where we saw lots of beautiful waterfalls and went on some little hikes that were fun.

This little boy was so cute and so good.

This is called Chings Pond where some local show-offs dive off a cement platform by the bridge for the entertainment of the tourists.

Jeff, Cass and James did a less scary jump off a ledge lower down. Still scary though. I wouldn't do it!

Everything was so lovely.

We went to this really cool black sand beach. It was weird, you couldn't actually call it sand, it was more like gravel, but I thought it was the prettiest beach we went to.

At the entrance to a lava tube at the beach.

The last thing we did that day was hike this bambo trail before heading back to the condo. It was a really cool hike, but there were lots of mesquitos. They didn't bother me too much, but Truman had to be wrapped in a towel.

Well, this post is getting too long, so I think I'll call it part I and do a sequel in a few days. Obviously I didn't do so good with only putting a few pictures. It's so hard when you have so many, and on a trip like this you take lots. Especially when there is a cute boy around!

Another Catch-Up Post

Okay, if you recall I only got as far as July in my last post (not counting the TGIF one I just did), so I need to hurry and get caught up. During July we did lots of traveling so I will try to compress it all into a few pictures because it just takes too long to download them! The second week in July Jeff had football camp in Utah, so I went as far as Mom and Dad's and spent the week with them. Shell came down also and we had so much fun sewing and cooking together, and even got a little shopping in.

We helped Mom make some baby blankets for the new great grands she will be getting soon.

Mom mentioned that her new Temple dress was too long so I hemmed that up for her. I can't believe we had my 80 year old Mom standing on a chair. Probably not very smart......

Here we are with all the cute blankets we made.

Mom had a gift certificate for a manicure so we took her to Richfield to get her nails done. She had never had one before! She really liked it, and was so proud of her pretty nails. I always love spending time with my Mom and Dad, and wish I could do it more often!

The next week after getting home from Utah we headed to Phoenix to help Hill and Keith get moved into their new home and paint, but mostly we were there to tend the kids while they did all the hard work.

Some of the pictures are a little blurry. We need a new camera. But aren't these yahoos cute? We went on a little hike up to this thing that is at the start of their nice new subdivision. It was quite a pretty hike.

Little Finney with her Bampa.

We took the kids swimming a couple of times, and Hill came with us one of the times, since they had no power, so we couldn't paint or clean the carpets like we had planned. Oh darn!

We took the kids to see "Toy Story 3" which we have been needing an excuse to go see. We helped as much as we could, but could see that they were in a mess that would take a few weeks to finish up and felt bad to leave them. The new house is very nice, and so much bigger than their old one. They are going to love it, if they ever get it all painted!

TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fall)

Finally it has cooled off a little. Yay for Fall, my favorite time of year! We don't really get much of a Fall around here, so we have to have "fake" ones like this:

And this:

We kind of have to create our own little Fall-ness. Sad huh?



Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

In lieu of Christmas presents this year for all of you, we got a new air conditioner/heat pump when ours went out in the middle of the hottest summer ever. Here are some pictures so you can enjoy your gift. You will also appreciate it when you come to visit.

We had to hire a crane to place it on the house. I kept thinking how much the grandkids would love watching this. Especially Isaac and Josh.

Seriously, this was a very expensive little purchase. Am I kidding about it instead of presents? You'll just have to wait and see!!!!

JUNE........ the rest of the story

In mid-June we went with the Young Women in our Ward to Manti to do baptisms for the dead, and to see the pageant. We had such a great time. The previous October we had challenged the girls to read the book of Mormon by June right before we were to go to the pageant. Jeff and I both were abe to do it, and it made the pageant so much more meaningful and special because we had just read about all those things. Here we all are in front of the Temple. (the one Jeff and I were married in, by the way.) Patty and Bob were gracious enough to let all the crew stay at their cute little "farm". I wish I would have taken some pictures of their cute place, but I didn't. They took all of us to lunch and bought pizza for everyone. Someday I hope to be as generous and kind as they are!

Jeff and I went back to the Temple the next day after the Young Women left to go home, and did a session, since we were staying up there with Mom and Dad and then heading to the Q. Reunion. We always love to do a session there in the summer and remember our wedding day........

Next came the annual Don and Phyllis Quarnberg Family Reunion Extravaganza! These are the two people who started it all: my parents, who I love dearly.

One of the highlights of the weekend together was the "Dutch Oven Cook Off." Some of us aren't that into dutch oven cooking, so it was stretch for us. Jeff and I were assigned to cook some kind of bread. Rod and Kim's kitchen began to resemble an episode of "Iron Chef" as we all started scurrying around yelling for stuff, or calling for the time.

These peeps were assigned to do a main course. They came up with the winner, actually. It was pulled pork sandwiches on scones, with a really yummy sauce Matt mysteriously called "gold sauce."

Me and my baby brother, Rod.

Jeff and the guys monitoring the dutch ovens. I'm thinking maybe we should dutch oven more often. Anything that gets the guys to do the cooking!

Here is mine and Jeff's finished product. Yummy rolls filled with garlic and cheese we dubbed "Pirate Rolls." Is anybody surprised at that name? They were a big hit and we won the bread division! Of course there were only two entries, but still.

The panel of judges tasting all the entries and rating them.

Everybody had plenty to eat, and then we sat around and talked and enjoyed each other's company.

Dal and Dad each read an original cowboy poem, and then Dad played his harmonica, which is always a treat. I think we all realize he won't always be around to play for us, and that makes it even more precious. I took some pictures of that, but they are on another camera and I can't get the pictures.

Lexi was the only one of our kids who could make it this year, which was a bummer, but we still had fun. We always enjoy being with her, and she still loves to be with us, which makes us happy. Here she is spending some special time with her Grandma.

Another highlight is always the day spent at the new K-Town pool. It really is one of the funnest pools I've seen.

Most of the adults didn't swim, so here they all are, huddled around a big umbrella trying to stay cool.

We found some shade with a back rest!

Well, all too soon the weekend came to a close. We always have so much fun together. Rod and Kim have been so good to host the thing every year for the last 10 years or so. It has always been a ton of work for them, so this is the last year we will hold it at their house. Hopefully we can find someplace as fun for next year! Thanks Rod and Kim for everything you  have done for us all!