MAYLIN2007

This is my favorite picture

2012-02-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite shot of Austin. I like it because it shows how hard he is working. He is so cute. I didn't post it with my last bunch. I don't know why..... If you haven't seen the other pics below, check them out.

Pictures from AUSTIN!!!!!!!!

2012-02-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

We got pictures from Austin today!!!! Woot Woot.

I cried when I saw them. Dang I miss him so much, but it was good to see his room, his study area, his classroom and the people he is with.

This is his district. He is now a Zone Leader so he is over about 20 plus missionaries.

Study time.

This is a picture of his dresser/desk area.

He can write in Spanish!!!

Partying with their roommates and district.

A cheer with cheese and crackers.

At the temple.

Closet

Fun times.

Worn out

2012-02-16T13:53:00.002-07:00

We got a letter from Austin. It is posted on his blog. He is doing well, but says he is worn out. He took a 10 minute nap this morning during personal time and then plans on taking a nap later today. He said on P-day's (like today) he takes a nap everytime because he is so worn out. That is a red flag to me because of his health and it makes me worry. BUT, I am glad he is thinking and taking a nap rather than something else. I also know, the Lord will bless him for his hard work. Everything will be fine.

He is sending his camera memory chip!!!! We will have pictures!!! Happy dance......

An act of love brought to you by Maylin

2012-02-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Last Monday when we sent our regular package to Austin, Maylin wanted to do her own letter. She wouldn't let me look. She brought me the finished product all sealed in an envelope (it was thick!) that had drawings and stickers and stamps (real ones!) all over it. It was so sweet, so I popped it in the package. I just figured she had drawn him some pictures.

Yesterday we got a letter from Austin. Actually it was to Maylin. It was 8 pages of scrap paper that we have at home all taped together like a book. On the front cover in Maylin's handwriting it said, "Austin" and on the other side said "Maylin Nini." Below that in Austin's handwriting, was a picture of her and him together with the words I love you. See the below picture.

Inside on the paper were tons of lines written across the page. Austin had written on those lines. In the first sentence he thanked Maylin for making the premade letter for him. I asked her if that was what she put together and she said it was so he would have an easier time writing back! I started to cry. Those two kids really have a special bond. I know it has been hard on her to have him gone and I think from this letter I can tell he misses her too. Here are pictures so you can see what she did for him.

This is what part of the letter said: "Hey family! Thanks Maylin for the pre-made letter! I love you so much! It's okay and I'll be back quicker than you know. :) (I had told him she had been asking for him and woke up crying for him a couple of times.) Thanks for the package! I had to share with my district because there is so much. Thanks for it all. I love everyone! I am learning so much about receiving revelation through prayer. I'm learning a lot and its hard here, but I can handle it. Tell McKenzie hi! Tell Alex to kick butt in his self-defense class! Also really study the scriptures and be perfectly obedient to mom and dad. Obedience will bless you!! I can't wait for you to serve your Savior. It has been the best experience ever!"

The other parts are pretty much repeat of what he said in the email we got on Thursday. I was so touched by his advice and love to his brother and sisters. I really loved how they had a connection in the mail all made possible by a sweet little almost 6 year old who loves her big brother more than words can say. What great kids!

My Valentine's Gift to you.

2012-02-14T07:40:00.004-07:00

Here is a Valentine's gift. Hope you don't think I am cheap. I didn't spend a dime, but this is way cool and should brighten your day!

I just love my kids' school. I know I have shared a lot about what they do and learn, but their school did something I want to share with you on this special day!!! My kids aren't involved, but many of their friends are!!! Please take a look at the following classical musicvideo, featuring Steven Sharp Nelson from the Piano Guys and the American Heritage LyceumPhilharmonic (this is my kids' schools' orchestra). They are amazing! I know it will make your Valentine's Day complete!!!!

This song is currently in thenumber one position on the iTunes charts in the United States and Canada, andis in the top 10 in eight other countries around the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ_fkw5j-t0

CBS News posted a review on their blog, calling the piece"pure amazing." On its currenttrajectory, the video will likely reach two or three million views before itplateaus. It was filmed partly at the kids' school, American Heritage School, partly at a recording studio, and all with a groupof 13-18-year-old musicians inspired by the school's teacher Kayson Brown and great professionalartists like Steven Sharp Nelson. To put thisin context, Andrea Bocelli, Yo-Yo Ma, Celine Dion, and Sarah Brightman, aretemporarily eclipsed on the billboard charts!

COOL!!!!

Keep 'em coming! - Out of the mouth of babes.

2012-02-13T22:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who has emailed or commented about book suggestions! I have already purchased some of them on line and the others are on my wish list (my honey won't let me get to many at once). Keep them coming if you can.

Also - tonight Maylin just killed us. We were sitting at the table eating dinner and she says, "Mom and dad love me more than you guys." She just smiles at Alex and Kenzie with this sheepish "I am so cool" grin. I said, "What did you say?" And Kenzie said, "Don't worry mom. She tells us that all the time." We had no idea she knew our true feelings!!!! (just kidding...we love them the same) What a cute little bug!

Help! I have nothing to read.

2012-02-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

I have become a reader. I know I have posted that before so none of you are surprised to hear that...being a reader, I am in a dilemma tonight for I have nothing to read!

I finished my last book Friday night. I don't have a single book left that has not been read by me. I am literally impatiently waiting for the book store to open.

Recently, I read: The Descendants. That was pretty good. I enjoyed it. I read it while we were in Hawaii. Perfect fit! I can see why it was rated R at the movie, so if you aren't up for some language don't read it.

The Lady Bug Farm books: A year on Lady Bug Farm, At Home on Lady Bug Farm and Love Letters From Lady Bug Farm. Really fun and good. I liked them a lot!

The Elegance of the Hedgehog - A very good story, but I will admit hard to read for me. I had to sit with a dictionary or I wouldn't have known what the words meant! Seriously. It was really good though and I cried at the end. I loved the characters, the writing (except for the big words), the symbolism etc. I just wish the words had been easier. It was set in France and told the story of a 12 year old girl and a 50 ish woman who were brilliant. It was their story of how being so smart made them feel so different.

The PoisonWood Bible - Wow. That was a great one. Really moving. It is about a baptist preachers family who goes to Africa for their church. Very heart wrenching and it makes you take a look at the world and how we view others.

I also read Tuesdays at the Castle - This is a pre-teen book. It was good, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would because I read it right after the Poisonwood Bible and the substance was just so different. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to read such a light book after such a powerful one.

I have spent the evening on line looking at what I want to read next. I have quite the list. I will visit the book store tomorrow to get my fix.

Here are some pictures from the Dino museum trip we took awhile ago. I think I posted them, but they were so cute I had to again.

Oh, yes! Tonight we made sugar cookies...heart shaped of course and all decorated! We are sending them to Austin tomorrow. It was so much fun! The kids did a great job decorating.

Getting used to this

2012-02-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

Trying to get used to this new blogger I have to use. I hate it. I guess it is hard to teach old dogs new tricks. First- we got a letter from Austin. You can see it on his blog. He is happy. That makes me happy too. I sent him a package this week with homemade chocolate chip cookies, cough drops just in case, watercolor pictures by Maylin and cherry gummy hearts. Second- I started a trainer to help me with my flabby thighs, butt and hips. Can I say that I am not going to be able to move tomorrow. I am putting myself through this because my kids told me after seeing me in a swimsuit in Hawaii, that I gagged them. Dang those honest kids!

Nervous

2012-02-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor for my normal female exam. While there I showed him how I am loosing my hair and I told him how I can't remember a thing. He tested my thyroid to see if it was the culprit. The next week they called and said my thyroid was at 3.9 and 4 was high and my doctor liked it around 2.5. The doctor started me on a medicine, just once a week and a tiny dose. However, that tiny dose has made me so nervous....really, my skin feels like it is crawling. I am restless, nervous, anxious, irritated......the list could go on. I talked to my pharmasict and he said that med would do it, but I am on such a low dose that I shouldn't be having the issue I am having. He said on the dose, he can't believe my body even knows it is there. They are having me not take it this Wednesday and see if the nervousness goes away. If it isn't gone by Friday, I am suppossed to go into my doctor. Great.

Here are some funny things Maylin said this week:

When we were blowing bubbles - "Where do bubbles come from?" Me, "The Bubble Maker." Maylin, "I think they come from a bubble factory."

Still blowing bubbles - "Look how the bubbles get lighted up. They lighted up and lighted up until you can see the rainbow."

We were in the tub and I was washing my hair with this stuff to help with my hair loss.... (man, I am old) and I told Maylin to stay out of the water because the shampoo will hurt her eyes: Maylin said, "What if it gets on my legs?" I said, "You will be fine, it is just your eyes." Maylin said, "Maybe I will grow hair on my legs and my body?" I said teasing, "Maybe. Then you will look like Curious George and I will be the mama in the yellow hat." Maylin, SCREAMING and CRYING, "No! I don't want to be George!" I said, "Maylin, I am just teasing." Maylin, "When people tease, I can't tell. It scares me anyway. No Curious George!" She literally screamed and cried for 15 minutes that she was going to grow hair like George. I kept telling her over and over I was teasing....guess I won't tease her again.

We had a family night on Noah. I asked how old Noah was when he finished the ark. Maylin said, "He was old. I think he was 45." Jay, "That is not old. That is how old I will be. Noah was 600." Maylin, "600? That is really old?"

To Jay, everytime she wants something: "Pretty please dad. With a 1,000 cherries on top!" Little lip is stuck out soooo far. Seriously, where did she get the 1,000 cherries on top.

Maylin had all of my high heels out: Me, "What cha doing?" Maylin, "I am playing high school. The school is called High Heel School."

Here are a few pictures of our anniversary activities. This was before my skin started to crawl. Thank heavens!

This is at lunch.

A view from our room.

Our room.

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-02-04T12:09:00.002-07:00

We went to a Chinese New Year's party this year on January 28. I am so glad we got invited! I got invited to one at Circe's, but it was two days before Austin was leaving and I just couldn't go. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that I needed to do something for Chinese New Year, but those thoughts just stayed in the back. I was so glad this invite came up because I really didn't want the holiday to go by without Maylin celebrating it.

There were two families there that we knew; the Browns and the Johnsons. It was fun to visit with them. Maylin had a good time doing crafts, but literally left with more glue and glitter on herself than on the paper.

Last time we went to this party (2 years ago), Maylin cried during the fireworks and we ended up inside. She did great this year and loved every minute of it.

At that same party, two years ago, Maylin wanted to participate in the parade, but by the end she was a nervous wreck. She wouldn't look at anyone, cried and acted so funny. This year she was just beside herself about being a dragon head. They let her and she was as proud as punch. She marched around with no issues at all! It is amazing what a little time will do to help with fears!

This is Kai and Maylin. They are so cute!!!!

Kai's sister Pearl, helped Maylin so much that night. What a sweet girl.

Kim Brown made this darling cake with the help from her kids! She got the idea from M3. I had always wanted to make one, but of course, haven't got around to it. I am so glad Kim made it so I could try it. It was delicious.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening.

We got a letter!

2012-02-02T14:08:00.001-07:00

I don't need to say anything else. I am as pleased as punch. You can go to his blog to read it if you would like. I do realize that his letter may be confusing to those who do not belong to our church. He does talk about things we believe. It is the same way I would be feeling if I was reading my friend's son's letter when he is of a different faith. I think it is great though that we can all love each other even when we are different, are in different places and have different circumstances in our lives. I think it is about understanding and loving each other no matter what! I do love all of my family and friends (some I have never met in person).

To just show what I mean....I have a bloggy friend out there, M3, she lives in California near where Austin will be serving. Even though we have only met once in real life and our lives are different (kids, jobs, hubby, background, she's super talented, I am older) that doesn't matter. We have the a common bond of adoption and the common bond of being loving to those we meet. We have emailed each other back and forth since Austin got his call. She has answered my questions, given advice, directions to his new doctor and offered her number in case he gets into trouble or needs food! What a FRIEND! It's great how the world works.

My boy is so awesome! He is my kid! I love him so much!!!

Music to my ears, b-ball, bowled over and a paralyzed cat.

2012-01-31T18:29:00.004-07:00

Here are some pictures that I never got to post due to our trip, Austin, and the day to day craziness we live in. The night before we went to Hawaii, Kenzie's school choir had a HUGE concert. I didn't go, I was doing last minute packing, but Jay went. They sang in a downtown hotel, in an assembly hall and in the LDS visitor center. They are an amazing choir.

Jay got tickets to a professional basketball game. He took Alex and Alex's friend and dad. They had a great time. Our team lost in double over-time!

Just a few days before Austin left we went bowling. Maylin had wanted to bowl in Hawaii, but the alley on the base we were staying on was closed. She never forgot the idea of going. Everyday she would ask to go bowling, so we finally did. We had a great time. I have tendinitis in my elbow so I ended up having to granny throw it. It didn't hurt as bad that way. Maylin used the little rack they have for little kids and did really well. Kenzie was so funny to watch. It came down the wire between Alex and Austin, but Austin pulled it out.

Oh yes, we must do an update on our paralyzed cat. He is still paralyzed, but we did notice movement in his right leg today. It is so sad to see him pull himself around with his front legs. We have him in the garage. No cars allowed! We put his food and water close to his bed. Our other kitty lays by him and licks him. Tonight we brought them in for milk and a snuggle with Maylin. Hopefully by Thursday or Friday we will see some increased movement. I never thought I would be reporting on a paralyzed cat!

You are probably wondering if we totally spaced off Chinese New Year this year. It almost happened, but I pulled it out. I will post about that next!

We got mail!!! The cat used one of its lives and ice fishing.

2012-01-30T20:41:00.003-07:00

We finally got our letter today! The kids were thrilled. Kenzie was especially happy as she stayed home today with a TERRIBLE cold. The letter made her happy.

We also had a sad thing happen today. Our new little kitty, Junior that we got to replace our old kitty Whiskers who died last year, got caught under our garage door. We took him to the vet expecting them to put him down. He couldn't move his back legs at all. However, the vet said no bones are broken he just has swelling on the spinal cord. They said with solitude and rest, he should be back to normal in awhile. The vet said we should notice some movement in him in the next 4 days. It is so sad. Alex and Maylin just lost it when we found him. It was terrible.

When they called me from the vet (Jay took them, I wouldn't go. I have done one to many vet trips on my own) Alex said, "Mom! He is going to be okay! But he has used one of his lives."

As you can see, the letters were a very good thing, on a very bad day. I will post a bit of the letters here and the full versions on his blog.

Dear Alex,

Hey man, how are you doing? That is pretty awesome about your compout and your fish. I have been to that same lake and it was pretty fun. Ice fishing is sweet, but cold. Is school going well?

The MTC has been really awesome. I have been learning a ton about Spanish and I can pretty much teach a missionary lesson in Spanish. I dream in Espan'ol now. Sometimes it is hard to write in English because I will keep going into Spanish. Its really been tough being in a 3-some. I can speak Spanish the best, but they often leave me out of the lesson.

The food here isn't too bad, but man it givs me gas. I haven't got sick from it though.

How is the new projector? Are you enjoying it?

My district is awesome. We have fun in class together, but it is really hard work.

I hope you are doing well buddy. I love you! Be nice to McKenzie and mom for me. You are the big brother now!

I'll write to you soon. Thanks for writing the letter to me.

Your big brother,

Elder Austin Hill

Here are some pictures from the campout! I forgot to post about it, so I am glad Austin reminded me. I will never understand how boys like camping in the snow and ice fishing.

I had to laugh at his letter! Austin sure knows who he is writing too. He knew he could get Alex to laugh about the food giving him gas. That is a big important thing to Alex at his age, unfortunately! I am glad Austin left out that detail for me.

In Kenzie's letter he said a lot of the same things (no gas comments though)...but he did add:

"I love Spanish. I am learning a ton and I can speak it pretty well for my first week. I taught a lesson yesterday to Santiago about praying and repentance.

Gym is really fun. I work our and run laps and paly basketball, four-square, and volleyball. I am getting stronger with working out so much. We did a service project yesterday where we cleaned all of the windows in the gym.

The Spirit is really strong here and the teachers are amazing. I spend most of my time in class elarning Spanish! I can understand a lot of Spanish. It is really cool!

I love you! Hope you are doing well.

Love, Elder Austin Hill

Expressions of Love

2012-01-29T21:03:00.002-07:00

This weekend Jay and I celebrated 22 years of marriage. Has it been easy? NO! Enjoyable? YES! Okay, sometimes. ;) I would rather struggle through life with him by my side than anyone else. I love him because of what we have been through together. I am grateful that we believe that we won't ever give up. I am grateful we believe that we will make it work. I am grateful we are both committed to loving each other.

I truly believe our gratitude comes from our belief that our marriage in the temple will last eternity; beyond "until death do you part." I found this cute video and thought it was perfect! I love you honey.

**Also, I beefed up the security on Austin's blog just because what he is doing on his mission is so special I don't want people to come across his blog and make fun of what he is doing just because they don't understand what we believe. This beefed up security means his blog won't come up on a search. You have to enter the complete address: www.austinmission.blogspot.com

We were supposed to get a letter Saturday, but it didn't come. I am wondering if he forgot a stamp or didn't do our right address. I guess we will see.

I need to learn patience

2012-01-26T16:38:00.011-07:00

Today, is Thursday. It is Austin's first official P-Day. It is the day we get an email from him. I have been checking me email ALL day. By noon, when I hadn't got anything, I emailed him because I figured he could check his email today so he would get this and maybe help the cause. My email simply said, "You better email me today or I will kill you. I love you. Mom." Nice and sweet.

One hour later I got a nice long email! Of course, he was going to write. Duh. What was I thinking?!? I wasn't, obviously. I have no patience. At. All. I obviously need to get some or this is going to be the LONGEST 2 years of my life. It has already felt like the longest week of my life. I know it will get faster as I get used to it, at least it better. (If you are interested in the whole letter it is posted on the austinmission.blogspot.com blog)

Most of his letter made me happy, but parts made me feel bad. He has caught on to the language very well in the past couple of days. He loves what he is doing. On the sad side, apparently, there is another missionary in his district who doesn't like him very well and gives him a hard time. I realize with that many missionaries all between the ages of 19-21 in close quarters, not everyone is going to like you. But, still. Its my kid we are talking about. What's NOT to like. There are 2,100 total missionaries in the MTC right now. New groups come every Wednesday and the ones who are ready to leave go out every Tuesday.

Here is another thing I need to learn patience in: CHORES and KEEPING my house clean.

Maylin, so sweet, wanted to make chore charts since I guess I am always complaining that no one helps me. It warmed my heart that she cared. See the chore chart with the month, our names and slots for each chore! Isn't that cute? I think so.

The part that I am not having patience with is where she put them.
Yes, it is visible so we all know what to do, but annoying when you try to open the dishwasher. The pad always slaps the ground and the pen keeps falling off....actually she had 3 pens on there and only one remains. I really think this is cute, but it does wear on me because hanging stuff around the house with DUCT tape is her new past time.

Remember the days of bags and more bags stuffed with stuff. Well, that still goes on. We have been missing our remote for a week. She put it in one of her bags and she can't remember which one. We can't find it. The bad thing about it, our TV does NOT turn on at all with out it. Good thing, we don't watch much TV anymore.

So to add to the bag habit, we have the duct tape/paper habit. I am not kidding her whole bedroom door is COVERED with paper and pens/pencils/markers that have been placed with duct tape. I am afraid if it keeps growing what the house will look like! Hee he hee he.

Home Theater

2012-01-25T17:05:00.001-07:00

I finally dragged my sorry tushy down stairs and took pictures of the home theater. In only went down because I had laundry to put away in Austin's room. I wouldn't have made the trip for just one thing. And yes, Austin has been gone a week and I just finished the last pieces of his laundry. (So, I am a bit unmotivated.) I do seem to have lots of energy to check the mailbox though. Hate to report NOTHING from Austin. Apparently, he is the kind of kid that will only email once a week, rather than email and do a regular letter. Dang that kid; and to think I taught him how to address an envelope before he left! Apparently, that was a waste of time.;)

Here is the theater. You can see the stadium seating. They are our old couches. Jay just built a raised box for the back one to sit on. We had it carpeted too. Jay bought the curtains so it would be dark. I found the movie decorations. I had to or Jay was going to put up tons of posters of Rambo and the Terminator he found. I bought the popcorn machine YEARS ago to try to appease Jay into thinking his home theater was complete. (He did have a 65inch TV down there.) It worked for a few years...then he wanted more!

Here is is!

We are BACK to normal. If you can call us "normal."

2012-01-23T21:49:00.010-07:00

Here is a post about regular life at our house. It is about time! I think it has been months. (Just in case you get bored and don't finish this post, jump to the bottom to the **** there is important info there.)It has been nice getting back to our "new" normal.

Today Maylin said, "It's sad that Austin isn't in our family anymore." Whoa! Put. the. Breaks on.....obviously she doesn't understand everything that has been going on. I thought we had explained it well enough. Anyway, we talked about what was going on again and she says she now knows he is in our family still, he is just gone for awhile. I am sure as time goes on more questions will come up.

First, I know I mentioned that Austin did a bill before our city council before he left. They have not yet decided if they are going to pass it, but it was well received. At least, that is what I am hearing through the city grapevine. Yea, we live in a VERY small town so there is a grapevine like that. Here is a picture of him after his presentation. I didn't take one during it, he made me promise or I would have!

Second: Jay finally got his way! After 12 years of begging, pleading and throwing a fit I finally gave in and let him build a home theatre with a REAL projector and a 104 inch screen. He even built himself stadium seating. I gave him the go ahead a week before Austin left. I think that is all they did together. It was complete 3 days before Austin left. I do have to admit it is nice. Here is a picture of it in the works. I will take a picture of the finished project later. I am too tired and lazy to walk down stairs and take a picture! That is the truth.

Friday, the kids didn't have school so we went on a field trip. Maylin has been wanting to go to the dinosaur museum forever. She asks if we can take a home school field trip. I gave in, being the good mom I am...cough, cough...and took them. She had been before when she was 18 months, but didn't remember. The older two weren't excited about it because we had been there a zillion times, but there were a few new things and they liked Maylin's reaction. One of the older two said they even had a great time and are glad they went!!! I couldn't believe it. I had to put it in print. We will always remember it now. They had a cool physics in motion display before the dino part. It was awesome. We had so much fun on the hands on items. It was all up Austin's alley. We missed him.

Maylin, for all of her wanting, was actually afraid of most of the dinosaurs and closed her eyes through most of the displays. What a funny girl!

We haven't been very good at home school since we got back from Hawaii. We have done it maybe twice. However, and that is a HUGE, however, we started back today! We did review and then learned two new phonograms. We learned the sounds and rules for the letters ew, eu, oi and oy. Good thing I have a lesson manual because they are hard...but I do see how amazing these phonograms are. There are 76 to learn. We have learned 40 so far. They really have helped Maylin to read and spell. She can sound out words very well, at least the words that have the phonograms we have learned in them.

Tonight Maylin has been preparing to get her ears pierced. She has been practicing holding my hand, shutting her eyes etc. She has even been poking her ear with an earring so she is ready for the poke. Funny....since she isn't getting her ears pierced until she is 8. Talk about being prepared.

******ALSO!!!! ATTENTION!!!!! We have decided to create a new blog that just focuses on Austin's mission. We did it because I would like to make the blog into a book for him when he gets home, so he has something complete and personal. Also, I know there are some out there that look at the blog because of our adoption and probably don't want to hear about the mission stuff. We obviously, would welcome anyone to check in on his blog. the address is austinmission.blogspot.com. We hope you will take a peek.

Disclaimer: I will say, that just because we have that blog, doesn't mean I won't post some of his mission stuff on this blog too....dang I am a mom!

Our first letter!!!

2012-01-21T16:48:00.003-07:00

We got a letter today from Austin! His Preparation Day or P-Day will be on Thursdays, so that is when we can expect an email. I hope, though, he will be able to squeeze in a hand written letter between then. P-Day's are the days the missionaries get some time off to clean, do laundry, write letters, shop etc.

So here is his letter:

"Hola! How is everyone doing? Thanks for your letter Alex, and I will write you soon. This has been so amazing here. My companion's name is Elder M. from Florida. He is such a great missionary and I have rally enjoyed our companionship. My roommates are Elder F. from New Zealand and Elder O'F. from Ireland. I love their accents! Our whole district except one companionship is going to California Oakland Spanish speaking. So it is really nice and I am enjoying them a lot. They are so funny! Mom, my health is great. I am eating well and drinking. I drink Gatorade for lunch so I feel great. Had gym yesterday and today. My companion and I did some running and worked out, and today we played basketball! My district is so fun. I feel good and am listening to my body. I am not tired and I feel great so don't worry.

Spanish has been fun to learn but very hard. My companion is going to be transferred to the advanced Spanish class on Monday so I will be in a 3-some with Elder F. and Elder O'F. I will see what happens. My companion's mom is from Panama so he is fluent in Spanish. It is a little hard to be his companion sometimes because of that, but I am fine. We have talked about it and I ironed his shirts this morning! HAha. Yesterday we met with our first investigator, Santiago. He is a great guy. He is here alone from Mexico and doesn't know if there is a God. I could understand about 70% of what he was saying, but I couldn't speak. It was very hard. My companion could talk with him perfectly so that was good. I felt so bad that I didn't open my mouth. I talked to my district teacher and he explained that we must not fear, and the Lord will help me. I have been learning that I can't worry about the language. I just need to worry about the doctrine. I just need to have faith and open my mouth and I will be blessed with the gift of tongues. I don't know why it was so hard for me, I was so scared to talk to him. I bore my testimony, but it wasn't very good. It was very, very hard and so I have been praying for faith and for strength that I can trust the Lord and open my mouth, We get to teach Santiago again today at 6 p.m. and we are redirecting our lesson to help him have faith that there is a God. We are going to start with singing I am a Child of God, in Spanish and then a prayer. We are then going to teach him in testimony that God lives and that we are His children and that He loves us. God wants to talk to us, but we have to pray. We then will challenge him to pray and then we will testify that if he does he will feel that God loves him and that God lives. I will let you know how it goes.

I saw Isaac and Ryan C. (they were Austin's friends from home) a couple of times. I have talked to them and said hi a few times.

I really love it here. I love to be able to constantly study the gospel and increase my faith. It is hard and I am learning where I am weak. I love all of you and I hope you are doing well. Don't worry about me, I am doing fine.

My roommates have been pretty funny, but I have been trying to teach them to be obedient on going to bed on time. It is a joke now because we kind of locked ourselves out of our room when we were showering and we barely got to bed on time. It is great here. The Spirit is very strong and I am learning a lot. I have been praying for strength and good health and I have not been tired. I started to get a migraine, but popped some of my pills and it went away. I wasn't worried because if it didn't get better I could ask my companion for a blessing. I haven't lost anything.....yet!!! I feel great. I am humbled though because I am very weak. I am learning that I am not as great as a missionary as I thought I would be, but I think it is also because of my companion being fluent int he language and I am not. We will see. I am being humbled and learning and trusting in the Lord.

I notice that my dreams are in Spanish. I guess that is good. All I ever hear is Spanish, constantly. It is good though that will help me learn better.

Hope everything is okay. My P-day is Thursday. I also leave for Oakland with everyone else on March 21. I will let you know. The MTC is have its 50th anniversary, so the First Presidency is coming to speak to us. I am very excited for that!!! I love you guys again!

Time is up! Write to you soon.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

Elder Austin J. Hill

Last day in Hawaii. - Aloha 'oe

2012-01-20T17:45:00.019-07:00

On our last day in Hawaii we tried to still see as much as we could before we flew out at 10 p.m. After a nice breakfast, we began our drive from the volcano side to Kona. On the way we stopped at this great beach that had black sand and LOTS of turtles. This was called the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. It was so pretty and we saw 8 turtles. Some were on the beach, swimming around in the water and some were going to the water from the beach and vice versa. They were so amazing to look at. The kids just enjoyed watching them. The beach itself was gorgeous. The sand was soft too.

The only thing that wasn't good was the wind. Man, the wind really was blowing and left a lot of sand in our eyes....ALL DAY LONG. Oh well, you can't have perfect weather all the time. It was sunny though!

Our next stop was to the southern most point of the Island.....in fact, the sourthern most tip of the United States. Before we got there, we had to stop for a Malasada at the Southern most Bakery. YUM! I also had to get some macadamia nut ice cream....those nuts became my friend on this trip! There were also pretty gardens around the bakery.

If we thought the wind was bad, man, we hadn't experienced anything yet! When we got to the most Souther Point of Hawaii and the U.S. the wind was WILD! Holy cow. We could hardly open our eyes becuase we would get sand in them. The wind usually does blow here, just NOT has hard as it was the day we were there. There is so much wind here there is a wind farm. In fact, there are two, but one is out of operation. There are pictures of both in the below collage. You can also see from how the TRADEWINDS blow through here the poor trees are all permantely blown into the same direction - WEST!

The fishing is really good here....incredibly good. The ancient Hawaiians quickly discovered this, but had a problem harvesting the fish. The wind and current together from such a strong offshore force tht it would require all their attention just to stay put in a canoe. Those who went out to far, were lost. The bottom drops to great depths quickly so anchors aren't the answer. Their clever solution was to carve holes into the rock and feed ropes through them so their canoes could be tied to shore while fishing. They are still visable. Today, there were long lines strung from the cliffs just to the northwest of the actual South Point. There were bleach bottles and trash bags attached to the lines. Fisherman use toy sailboats to drag the rope out to sea, when they get a strike they pull the whole line in.

You can see in the pictures, the fishing poles that are planted firmly (they weren't going anywhere) in the rocks. I don't think you can see the trash bags and bottles out over the sea, but you can see the wooden boat hoists from long-ago.

Our next stop was to a beach I was dying to visit. It was the Green Sand Beach. It was really hard to get to.....really. You had to 4-wheel drive in. It was pretty adventuresome, but with kids in the car, the ride got a little intense...

It took us over 30 minutes to 4-wheel in almost 3 miles. Once there, the beach was definately GREEN! The beach was way down a cliff so we had to climb down this cliff. On an ordinary day this would have been right up my ally, but due to the uncontrolable wind....it was miserable. I had so much sand in my contacts I couldn't see and climed down the cliff with my eyes closed. Man, my eyes hurt. Once down on the beach we found an area that was protected a bit by rocks, so the wind wasn't as bad. The beach was BEAUTIFUL! The sand is made from Olivine, a semi-precious stone. It was incredible! We didn't stay long because of the wind and the drive back, but it was amazing. I wish the wind had been better so we could have enjoyed this more. With the wind, I am not sure if I would do it again unless I could know there was nothing more than a tiny breeze. I was pretty frazzled by the time we left here.

It made me sad, because it was beautiful and without the wind and intense drive it would have been perfect. Maybe next time? If I dare.

The sand here was the kids' favorite.

Our last two stops before the airport was to eat in Kona at Bubba Gumps. We had tried to get there our whole trip and we finally made it. We had our pictures in front of the Bubba Gumps in Maui, but due to time we weren't able to eat there, so this was a treat. It was so fun. The food was good, company great and the sunset was beautiful. After that, we hit Costco for 6 bags of chocolate covered macadamia nuts.....can't leave with out them. Hate to admit it, but the 6 Costco size bags were gone 2 weeks after we got home!

Here we are at about 5 a.m. at the LA airport waiting for our next flight. We were a tired bunch! Worn out by an incredibly, once in a life time TRIP!!!!!! So wonderful!

MTC

2012-01-19T14:42:00.013-07:00

I know many have been waiting for this post. I needed a little time. Yesterday, I did really well. I held it together. Last night I struggled a bit when Maylin asked "Where's Austin? When will he be home?" And when I saw that Alex was having such a hard time. He came home from school and put on one of Austin's shirts because he wanted to smell him.

Today I was doing great until I pulled down our road and saw his car in the driveway. I got excited for a second thinking he was home. I guess I forgot for a minute. Then I got all teary. I am doing better than I thought. I think it is because he was so excited and so ready.

So, here is how everything went....we got up, got ready and took our time. We took some family shots and I had to get my annual "first day of school" shot of Austin. Even though this isn't technically school, he is going to learn tons! He will learn a new language and how to teach and talk to people. He will also learn how to live with out mom helping him along.

This is Austin in front of the MTC (Missionary Training Center). He will live here for 8 weeks learning before going to California.

These pictures are of home and at IHOP where we had a late breakfast. It was around 10:30. The IHOP was close to the MTC, so there were quite a few other missionaries and their families doing the same thing. We briefly talked to them all. We still had time before his drop off at 12:55, so we got a car wash and drove around the town. Jay and I had lived in this town when we were single and when we were married so we showed the kids where we lived. I think this time was good because when we got to the drop off we were all ready.

Across from the MTC there is a park. You can park there for a bit and take pictures. We stopped there for about 20 minutes. We took pictures and asked other families if they could take ones of us as a whole family and we did the same for them. There were about 50 other families in the parking lot doing the same thing when we were. That really was a good thing to see. It really helped all of us watch others doing the same thing. When it was his drop off time, we got in the car, drove across the street and they gave us a sticker on our window and directed us around the parking lot. Next to the curb along side the buildings were numbers that had been placed periodically. They directed each car to a different number. Once parked, 4 missionaries were waiting. The kids stayed in the car as they had said their goodbyes at the park. Two missionaries talked to Jay and I and the other two took out Austin's suitcases. We quickly hugged him good-bye. At this point, Jay broke down for the first time.

He waved bye to the kids in the car. Gave me another quick hug and two Elders (missionaries) escorted him up the hill and into the building. After a few steps away from us, he did turn around with a big smile and a big wave. Then he disappeared in the sea of missionaries. There were hundreds waiting to great the new missionaries and their were hundreds of new missionaries. His smile to us as he walked away was priceless. He was happy (a bit nervous too), but mainly happy. This whole moment from parking at our number to his final good-bye was about 3 minutes.

There is a great on-line letter service I used the morning before we left. They deliver it to the MTC later that afternoon if you submit it before noon. I did this so he had a letter waiting at the MTC from me. I thought maybe he would be nervous getting settled in and meeting so many new people, so I sent this funny letter to make him smile. It said "one last time as mom: Don't forget to brush your teeth, wear deodorant, take your pills and write me when you can." I sent him another one this morning that he will get tonight. We can only email him once a week, and he back. We can write hand delivered letters (through mail or courier) like I did those letters I mentioned as often as we would like. He may not have time to read them though. He is busy, busy, busy. Once he gets to California, that will change as that service isn't available so we will do email once a week and the regular mail.

We can't wait to hear from him and find out who his companion is, what his schedule is, what he is learning, what the food is like etc.....

Don't you think he is handsome?!!! I do!

Arches, and boo-boos

2012-01-18T22:50:00.001-07:00

I will post about Austin going into the MTC tomorrow. I just have one and a half days left of Hawaii and I wanted a little more time letting the experience of today sink in.

After our hike we had lunch and then went and looked around in the Thurston Lava Tube. It was really neat. I was a bit nervous about it, being claustrophobic, but Kathy assured me it would be fine, and it was. It was awesome. Things like that are pretty amazing.

After the Lava tube, we drove through the park stopping at most of the sites. We wanted to check everything out. It was so amazing to see the new and old lava flows. You really could tell the difference by the color. We also went on a hike to the petrogyphs. They were really cool. On the way back, Kenzie was a little excited and was jumping from rock to rock....just like the movie in the museum said NOT to do! Anyway, she fell. she tore a hole in her pants and both her knees, she tore up her hands badly and left scratches on her hip, shoulder and forehead. We are pretty lucky it wasn't worse. I had a first aid kit in the car so we got her all bandaged up. She was a pretty good sport about it all.

As the sum was setting, me made one last stop at the arch that is formed from lava int he middle of the ocean. We wondered if that is how it formed or if the rock in between the cliff and the arch eroded away. It was so beautiful.

As you can see, it was another day full of adventure. We took two hikes for a total of 6 miles, saw lots of fabulous things, and enjoyed awesome company!

So this is it.

2012-01-17T21:57:00.004-07:00

Its here. There are only hours left, not days. Austin will be in the MTC at 12:55 p.m. tomorrow. He was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints tonight. He begins his official duties tomorrow.

I am so proud of him. He is so ready. His farewell talk proved that to me. He knows the Bible, and the Book of Mormon. He knows of their truthfulness. He loves his Savior. He is obedient. He is mature. He is kind. He is honest. There really isn't anything that he isn't.

He said good-bye to grandparents and cousins tonight. Kenzie has been weepy today. Alex has been fine until about 10 minutes ago when we were putting them to bed. He broke down so Austin sat by him and hugged him for awhile.

Maylin doesn't seem to understand. The next few weeks as she realizes he is gone should be interesting.

I talked to his Mission President tonight. He wanted to go over his health issues with me. He wanted to make sure Austin takes care of himself and talks to them when he doesn't feel right. It made me feel better.

This is Jay, Austin, Pres. Howell and Bishop Pitchford.

The pictures that didn't work!

2012-01-17T11:32:00.001-07:00

For some reason these pictures won't show up! So here they are in a different post.

Jay's favorite thing (wanted to get this in since it is my journal) to do on the hike was call people he knew so he could tell them he was calling from the bottom of a crater. He thought that was super cool. What a nerd!

Kilauea Iki

2012-01-16T10:06:00.022-07:00

Our first stop on the 28th was to the volcano museum. Here, we learned about the Goddess Pele. Kenzie is pictured near a painting of her. She is the one they believed controls the volcanoes. Occasionally at the various volcanoes we would go to their would be offerings left for her. Sometimes we would see fruit, flowers, a wrapped gift, or candy. Pretty interesting. We also looked at the volcano that is currently active. We saw it the night before int he dark with its red glow and then this morning you could see the smoke and crater.

I really wanted to do a hike in the volcanoes park. I found when in the Hawaii Blue Book....a must have if you are going there. It is the best at recommendations, directions, things to avoid etc.

I found a hike called the Kilauea Iki hike which is a hike around the volcano of he same name. It erupted in 1959. You hike in jungle and ferns around the rim of the volcano and then you drop 450 feet down into the volcano. You walk across the carter floor seeing hot spots. There is one really big one you can see the steam coming out of from the pictures below and small ones you can stick your hands down in and it is hot and wet (**I couldn't get the pictures by the right caption. So when you see the picture down below with a rock and steam coming out of it, that is the one I was refering too....)Then you climb back up the side of the crater another 450 feet and along side the rim to get out. It is about 4 miles. This is a picture of the kids at the look out point where you begin the hike.

This is a great view from the top, where we started, to the bottom of the crater we walked through.

This is the hot spot that is still going in the crater we were in. Jay has his hand in one spot that was really hot and wet. We all took a turn. There were various spots. Some were hotter than others. Really neat.

It was a great hike. It was amazing to see the transition in landscape and very cool to be in a volcano....literally! It was awesome.

You can see the trail across the floor of the crater. Pretty daunting when you are at the top looking down at what you have yet to do.

We all got along on the hike. The kids had so much fun being together. We had a good laugh over the fern faces we made! It wasn't until we looked at the pictures we realized what finger we used to hold up our fern faces....nothing intended there folks, pure innocent. Really. Its funny though. You have to admit it!

It was amazing to go from tropical to so dry and hot. Through the jungle part of the hike it was cool, but as we started to get closer to the crater, you could feel the heat increase. The breeze got hotter and we had to take off our jackets. The closer we got to the crater floor, the hotter it got. Do I dare say this again? It was a highlight of the trip!

Mission Farewell

2012-01-15T20:53:00.004-07:00

Today was Austin's big day. He talked in church and gave his farewell talk. He did an amazing job. He taught about the Book of Mormon. It was amazing. He did such a great job! I about burst into tears when he started his talk saying he was so grateful to the Lord for letting him live and helping him with his heart defect so he could go on his mission. He said there were times he didn't think he would make it. He teared up, and so did I. Once we were through that, I did fine the rest of his talk.I was worried I would cry the whole way through.

After church we had about 50 people over for breakfast and then later about 35 for desserts. Austin enjoyed seeing his family, friends and school teachers. It was so great for him to get to say good-bye.

I am anxiously awaiting Wednesday..... I love him.

The bottom picture of the 3 young men are of Austin, his friend Justin who is going to Hondurus on his mission March 28 and his friend Ryan who is going to Panama on March 28 too. His friend Isaac went in last week and is going to Atlanta, GA. I am glad they will be together in the MTC. That makes me feel better.

I also gave my sister and brother-in-law their Christmas gifts! I gave my brother these great shower caps. I love this picture. What silly people we are!

Thanks to my dear friends Anita and Shauna for helping me in the kitchen. I will never, ever eat a waffle again without thinking of you and your kindness. Love you both!!!!

The volcano side

2012-01-13T22:47:00.026-07:00

After our lunch, we made it to the volcano side of the island. Our first stop was the neighborhood that was covered by lava, or at least parts of it. There were a few houses that the lava just went right around. It was amazing. I remember seeing this neighborhood on the news. People couldn't get their insurance to pay, so many of them have no choice but to still live in these houses. Unfortunately, there is no water or electricity since the lava hit.

The kids thought it was a surreal experience.

Later we stopped at what they call, "The NEW Black Sand Beach." There was a black sand beach there, but the volcano covered it up. It is still under there, but under 75 feet of hardened lava. Since then the ocean has created a new black sand beach on the new land that was formed from the lava dumping into the sea. The waves here were dangerous, but we saw some old beach bum out surfing in them anyway. I talked to him when he was done, and we were all at a near-by ice cream shop and he said those waves are wicked, but he doesn't fear them....much.

Where the old beach was all the greenery was destroyed so a local lady decided to ask her neighbors to plant coconuts to try to bring the greenery back. She was later diagnosed with cancer. Her neighbors tried even harder to help her have hope. You can see hundreds of newly sprouted coconut trees all over the lava and new sand. This all happened in the 2000s....I think 2003 Not sure.

The sand here was VERY black. Yes, there are shades to black and this was the blackest.

Our next stop: The new boulder.....

This boulder is famous becuase one day it wasn't thereand the next day it was. It goes to show the power of the ocean. It was so amazing to see that the waves were strong enough to lift that huge boulder up onto the rocks! The kids loved watching the beautiful ocean, but were timid enough to stay away. Kenzie and Alex loved to see all the little crabs on the rocks. Kenzie picked up two and she and Tom named them.

Jay cracked us up....always the comedian. He liked to pretend he could control the waves. Maybe he always wanted to be like Moses.

About a mile or two down the road from here is an awesome inlet. It is so pretty to see this inlet and the ocean waves along the end of it. It is such a great place to swim because the lava rocks that line it are HOT and they heat the water. It was so fun to go around to different places and feel the differences in temperature. Some rocks would really put out some heat, others not so much. It was cool. It was so beautiful to watch the waves try to crash in over the levy that was built. It is such a popular spot, steps and railings and benches have been added. It was cool. I only stayed in for a bit because I hated feeling all the fish nibble on my legs! The picture of the little crabs are the ones Kenzie caught. She carried them to this swimming spot and then let them go. They seemed as happy as clams. Hee hee hee.

Finally, before heading to our cabin in the Volcanoes National Park, we stopped at a Lava Tree Mold park. This is an area in which the lava flowed onto the trunks of trees and then hardened. The trees died and rotted away, leaving a mold of the tree trunk made of hardened lava. It was cool. They large trees and ferns that were spared were amazing. With the foliage, the birds and the sun setting and the Fossils, it was a bit eeery.

Leave it to my kids to be where the signs say they shouldn't be! Of course, this child is the one that usually NEVER breaks a rule. Maybe the Hawaii air got to her.

Aren't these lacey trees wonderful? And, I want some of the above ferns in my yard! They make me look skinny!

This is a Noni fruit. Maybe some of you have heard of Noni juice or Tahitian Noni. Our neighbor owns a Noni farm in Tonga and Jay use to buy the drink. It smells and tastes like rotten crap. I am not kidding, but apparently it keeps you healthy. Alex was always fascinated when we came by one. So here he is posing with the stinky, yet highly healthy and cool Noni fruit.

Once we had checked into our cabin we went up to view the volcano at night. It was so neat and a little scary to see the glow. We thought it was a little scary to be sleeping so near an active volcano.

On the move

2012-01-13T10:45:00.009-07:00

On the 27th, we moved from the Kona side of the Island to the Hilo/Volcano National Park side. On the way there we stopped at some great waterfalls. I think we need more waterfalls where I live! Maylin was so tired that she didn't get out of the car much. You can see her a few of the pictures though.

When we stopped at the above waterfall, Alex saw a clump of coconut trees. One minute he is standing by me and the next he is heading inside the little grove to look for coconuts! I really thought we had it out of his system

This is the Rainbow Falls. It is so pretty. There is this HUGE Banyan tree by it, that my kids LOVED! Alex thought it was so cool to climb inside. You all aren't surprised by that at all, are you? It was pretty rainy here, but warm, so it wasn't bad at all.

The large rock, above is believed to have been the rock Kamehameha picked up which fulfilled the prophecy that some day he would be come great. Alex said he thought he could lift it, but he wouldn't try! Funny, boy. We also saw this statue of the king. He gets left some pretty cool things.There were bags of Reese's peanut butter cups and mini candy bars!

We stopped for lunch in a Japanese Park that used to be Japantown. It was wiped out twice by a tsunami so a park was built instead of the town. A clock still stands at the time the tsunami hit. The park is done in all Japanese architecture. It was very pretty. We ate on an island called Coconut Island. The kids had fun exploring.

This picture was on Coconut Island which is in what used to be the Japantown. The tree behind Alex has little markers on it with the year and feet.
Click to enlarge it....this records the Tsunami waves that have hit here. It shows the year and height. Pretty cool. Scary though. There were a lot of them.

We took a drive down Banyan Tree Drive where famous people planted a Banyan Tree and had their names in front of it. We saw ones planted by Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, Cecille B.DeMille, Pat and Richard Nixon and our favorite was the one planted by Heber J. Grant. He was one of the prophets for our church.

Serious Adventures

2012-01-12T13:51:00.031-07:00

On Dec. 26, everyone had different adventures going on. The boys had to be at the harbor by 7 a.m. for a deep sea fishing trip. They didn't catch a thing, but they had fun learning how, dragging the lines and talking to the captain and his son. They also saw some dolphins.

McKenzie and I had to be at Waipio Valley by 9 a.m. for our horse back ride! It was amazing. Seriously. The pictures below of the valley between those two mountains is where we took our ride. It is a 1,000 foot decent. You drive down it in 3/4 of a mile.....so it is steep. Of course, it is a one lane road. When we got in the van with the other riders (it was a 15 seater) the driver told us not to wear seat belts and we would be driving down the mountain with the van doors open. He said if the breaks failed it was better for us if we jumped or were ejected rather than being trapped in the van if we went off a cliff! I am not kidding you at all. It was seriously scary. The driver was very careful and slow. He was also funny and kept us all happy during the ride.

Once at the bottom, we all got a horse.

This little valley we rode through had about 50 residents. There was no power, phone or indoor plumbing. This valley was heavily populated with Taro farmers until a tsunami hit is in 1946. Now it is just starting to really get going again. Our guide was from there and still had a grandma and aunt who lived in the valley and grew Taro.

We saw wild horses every where! They were so beautiful.

Our ride was so amazing. We went through such beautiful foliage. We walked through and across many streams. One was so deep we had to put our feet up high by the horses ears. Fruit would fall on the ground and our guide gave us an avocado that we used with dinner. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We saw close to a dozen waterfalls. The little houses were so quaint. The farms were beautiful, but you could tell they were a lot of work.

The water was so deep here. Sometimes Kenzie and I would get a little nervous.
It was her first time on a horse and my first time since the early '90.

Here is the avocado our guide picked for us. Huge huh? I think is was to big, it didn't taste as sweet as normal.

Maylin went with Kathy on a wagon ride through the same valley. You had to be 8 to do a horse, so they did the wagon ride. They had a great time too and had to take the same ride down to the valley to catch their wagon. They left at 9:30. We finished about the same time and say at a little Art store and shared Tropical Dreams ice cream! That stuff is so good!
We drove back after our rides and met the boys at our condo for lunch then we drove to a beach and body surfed.

The waves here at this beach were really hard. Jay said he bruised his ribs. All I know is when I tried, my board slammed into the sand and then my head did. My legs went straight in the air and then I flipped over. Maylin really got the hang of body surfing. She was more brave than I was.

I think this looks like a self sculpture.

After dinner, everyone soaked in the hot tub, but me and Alex. Our condo was right by the King's Trail. This trail was built for one of the Hawaiian Kings. It was built by those who didn't pay their taxes or who were behind in payment. It was also built by criminals. Their was a little ledge or wall on each side of the trail. This was to keep the horses or donkeys on the path when their riders were falling asleep.

There were also a lot of petroglyphs.

Christmas Day

2012-01-11T16:34:00.004-07:00

We got to the Big Island at about 8:30. It was so warm! Wow. Hotter than it had been our whole trip. We went from the airport and explored Kona. It was a fun little town. Around 11:30 we went to a restaurant called Splashers and had a Christmas Day lunch. We sat on the balcony and it was pretty fun and festive.

After that we got in the car and drove to the Painted Church. It was really neat. This church was painted many, many years ago by a Father at the church. It is painted from ceiling to floor and tells various stories from the scripture or from dreams.

We then went to A Place of Refuge. This is the place were people who had done wrong, would try to get to for protection. For example, if you stole, you would be killed. If you could make it past those pursuing you to this place you would be protected. The kings/princes/ etc also came here. They were the only ones allowed to use the bay and they had a cushy life there, were the other people's lives were tough....but hey, they were alive.

This pond (Maylin is pictured by its banks.)was made from a freshwater spring. It is where the king/prince/etc would have their fish for their food.

The statues were guards. They protected against evil. The ones that are behind the fencing were there to keep the bones of 23 kings/princes/etc safe. The walls were built without mortar and were 17 feet thick! Isn't that amazing. All were made of lava rock.

The kids loved watching the turtles that were in the bay. There were also stone games the ancients would play. The kids had fun playing those too!

We also went and saw the place where Captain Cook performed the first Christian service in Hawaii. It was on the structure behind Austin. Across the bay were the girls are looking is were Captain Cook was killed.

After this, we went to our condo which was pretty cool! The kids loved it. We had dinner and looked at the few Christmas presents Santa gave since the trip was the bulk of it. Austin got an umbrella. Kenzie got perfume. Alex got a book. Maylin got 3 Barbies, a purse, lip gloss.

Christmas Morning

2012-01-10T22:44:00.004-07:00

What were you doing at 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning? We were at the airport waiting for our flight. We had breakfast at Starbucks and listened to Austin play his Ukulele. Like our matching shirts? We loved them. So did everyone else we saw. We got quite the response from everyone! Kathy had them made for all of us. Isn't that awesome?!!!! They say, Merry Christmas in Hawaiian in case you were wondering!

**Post got out late tonight and was short....such a busy day. Last minute mission stuff, like altering pants, banking etc. Austin fit in time to write an ordinance for our city council and presented it tonight. It was on the city protecting people so they can put up religious displays at Christmas with out people complaining and one that would allow citizens to put up a display on city property for any religion during the Christmas season. It would protect ALL religions. Obviously, the private citizens would have to buy, put up and care for the display, rather than receiving help from the city.

As Austin said, "We give in and take down our displays because someone says they are offended, but taking away Religious freedom is a great offense." Pretty proud of him. He did a great job!

Last stop on the Road to Hana

2012-01-10T22:31:00.001-07:00

We were almost at the end of our journey on the Road to Hana. We were trying to get to the Seven Sacred Pools where we had planned on spending a lot of time swimming. We cut a lot of our time short at other places for this spot.

Before we got there, we passed this amazing waterfall which is one of the most photographed and publicized waterfalls in Hawaii. We could definitely see why! Notice in the top collage that Austin is on Alex's back while Alex shakes down a tree. They were trying to get the fruit from the tree. They got it, but Austin also got some of its juice in his eye. It burned it like crazy so we had to take out his contact and carry it in a water bottle lid...that was scary, I was afraid I would lose it...and flush his eye with water multiple times. I am happy to report that by morning his eye was fine. Boys! They always are getting in trouble.

When we got to the Seven Sacred Pools it was getting late and we found due to the hard rain we had had most of the day, the water was too high and dangerous to swim. So we just had to walk the loop and check them out from afar. The kids were a bit disappointed, but they got over it quickly. The walk was beautiful.

The drive back was quite the ride!!!! As I mentioned, this road is NARROW. Many spots being 1 lane. There are also 600 plus hairpin turns. By the time we headed back, it was dark. AND raining. It was pretty scary going back down. It takes over a couple of hours to do the journey even though it is approximately only 50 miles. Jay's back was killing him by the time we got to the bottom and his hands hurt from holding onto the steering wheel so tight. He did pull over for a car coming in the other direction (narrow part of the road) and he got over too far and was on some one's lawn. Because it was so wet when he started up again, chunks of lawn went flying everywhere! We were so worried that the person's lawn would have big tire marks in it. It was too dark and wet to really see anything.We hope the lawn was fine and the noise was louder than the damage.

Even though it was a scary drive back,because it was Christmas Eve it turned our special. We took turns in the car sharing our feelings of the Savior and we talked of the blessings He has given us. It was very emotional! It was a really great, quiet, spiritual time.

When we got back to our hotel (a new one that was by the airport because we were flying to the Big Island REALLY early) we stopped and had Christmas Eve dinner at Denny's.

I have to say, eating at Denny's on Christmas Eve is a new one for us. It was fun, probably won't do it again, but then who knows? If I am coming from the Road to Hana again, I probably will!

The coolest legend ever!

2012-01-09T18:04:00.017-07:00

At this favorite stop, (we are still at the Waianapanapa State Park on the Road to Hana) there was also a trail that began with a posted story of a Hawaiian princess who left her husband because he was so violent with her. Her maid came with her and they ran to this rock cave in this state park. Of course, it wasn't a state park then. Anyway, while hiding in the cave her maid was fanning her and her husband came by looking for them. He could see the shadow of the fan on the wall of the cave and came in and discovered both of the women. He killed his wife and her blood was spilt. The legend says that periodically red shrimp will appear in the water in the cave in remembrance of the blood she shed.

The cave is filled with fresh water. It is so beautiful. The water is crystal clear and the kids, who jumped right in for a swim (all of them but Austin) reported that it was COLD. After reflection, they said it was colder than the lakes by our house. The cave goes quite a ways back with only small holes lighting it. Alex and Kenzie followed another gentleman who was also swimming back into the lower, closed in parts of the cave. They said it was cool, but creepy.

Some parts of the cave were knee deep, the majority everyone (except Maylin) could touch, but there were parts that were very deep.

After a while, Jay couldn't resist and he jumped in too, making a huge splash. He said it was so cold, it shocked him for a minute. Maylin was the only who didn't complain it was cold and once daddy got in she went in farther clinging to his back.

This splash belongs to Jay!

This is Jay going back to check out the rest of the cave. The ceiling got a lot lower there.

This picture shows the kids coaxing Austin to come in. This lasted at least 5 minutes.

I have pictures of him standing with his nose plugged in a jumping position....this he held for several minutes too, before going in.

Finally! He goes in.

Austin really wanted to go in, he was just afraid of the cold water. When he got in he really liked it and he went with the kids back into the cave to explore. He said the water was really clean and refreshing.

It was so awesome. After awhile, the swimmers came out. It definitely was a HIGHLIGHT of the trip!!!!! We missed the blow hole due to time.

Black Sand Beach

2012-01-09T10:12:00.001-07:00

Here is the beach that was created in 1 to 7 days. It was so beautiful. You can probably see from the pictures how the beach starts out pebbly and then gets finer as it moves to the water. It was such a great beach. Even though it was rainy it was warm and we had such a good time. We brought a little sand back from each beach and I have created the greatest bottle that displays all the different sands we were on.

The water was very warm here too.It simply was my favorite spot on the Road to Hana. I wish I had been able to see it all and for a long time.....there is always next time!

Reflections on my missionary

2012-01-08T21:36:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow morning, I will have 9 days left with Austin at home. One of those days is really a half a day. We have to have him dropped off at the MTC by 12:55 p.m. on the 18th.

I am doing better than I was a few weeks ago. I think it is because I see how excited he is. Today, he watched some videos the MTC asked him to watch. They showed missionaries in real life situations. Austin was so excited and kept saying, "That is going to be me!" He is nervous too. Mainly about learning a new language, but mostly his emotions focus on excitement.

He is very prepared spiritually. He just finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 4th time cover to cover. He knows the gospel and has a testimony of Christ. He loves his Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.

I am not nervous about his ability to learn a language. He will be fine. I am not worried about him not having a good experience. I know he will love it. I am worried that he will loose his stuff, forget his meds, get lost, forget to wear deodorant, that he will forget to drink Gatorade (it helps his irregular beats), and he will not eat enough or rest enough....all the little things a mom worries about. Okay, in his situation some of these things are big. Sometimes Austin gets so focused on what he is doing he forgets these kind of things, so that is why I worry.

I worry about me too. I worry about not having him here for two years. I worry about only talking to him four times. I worry about missing him. I worry that these two years are going to go by so slow. Selfish things, huh?

I don't want them to go fast for him, I want him to enjoy every minute. But, for me, time could go by a little quicker.

I am not worried about his health. I know our Heavenly Father will watch over him and what happens will be His will.

Wow. I really can't believe I am here at this point in his life. I have dreamed of this time. At birth, with his illness we weren't sure if he would make it. It was our dream he would live so he could serve a mission and marry someday. We are here at one of our goals, one of our milestones! How we have been blessed!! I am trying to enjoy it and show my gratitude. And I am. It is just occasionally that I break down and realize that I will miss him. Would I want him to stay home? No! I have waited for this moment and I will enjoy it.

The lava tube

2012-01-07T18:59:00.002-07:00

Our first stop in the park, after enjoying the views, was to explore the lava tube. It wasn't very long, but it was cool. This beach and lava tube was formed in a day to 7 days. It happened when a volcano went off and the hot lava hit the cold water and the lava smashed into tiny pebbles and sand. The lava tube was located on the right side of the black sand beach. The beach wasn't very large, just a nice cove. The beach was very fine black sand near the water and as it went to the cliffs, the sand became courser and finally turned into shiny black pebbles.

The lava tube was fun to walk into and the end over hung into the waves. You couldn't get to close to the end or a wave would get you. At one point a big wave hit and went INSIDE the tube and got all of us wet. It especially shocked Alex and Kenzie. They had their backs to it and were hit the hardest. It was a good laugh.

Our favorite spot

2012-01-07T18:45:00.003-07:00

This is our favorite spot on the road to Hana. It is the Waianapanapa State Park with Black Sand Beach, Lava tube and blow hole. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to see the blow hole.....on the schedule for next trip! We loved this place! It was so stunningly beautiful. Every thing about it was fabulous. If we could do it again and I am planning on it), we would spend a lot more time here.

This post will just feature the beauty. It literally took our breath away. There were fabulous trails, things to explore, and beaches to love and caves to swim in, legends to be learned, but that will be another post. For this one, just enjoy the amazing beauty!

Waterfalls everywhere

2012-01-06T22:26:00.001-07:00

When you hear there are lots of waterfalls in Hawaii, they aren't kidding. It had rained a lot the day we did the Road to Hana, so all of the waterfalls we saw were really going! They were BIG. The Seven Sacred Pools which we had planned to be our big swimming stop, was closed due to high, rushing waters. We were disappointed not to get to swim there, but it was pretty amazing just to look at. We plan to do the Road to Hana next time we go to Hawaii, so that will be on our list along with the other amazing things on this road we just couldn't see.

Even though we couldn't swim there, we did swim in a few other pools under waterfalls along the way. These water falls were just minutes apart. It was so amazing to see the beauty that was everywhere. The little valley pictured in one of the collages, was hit by a tsunami years and years ago. It sure is pretty now.

We stopped at a picnic spot along the road and had lunch. It was so beautiful. The sign below was there along the trail. I thought that was so great!

It was so awesome to see how free the kids felt to explore and discover their surroundings. I think that is why this trip was so meaningful, we really saw and touched and experienced Hawaii.

At one of these waterfalls we parked next to a little pick-up truck that had two parents in the cab and the bed was full of stuff covered with a tarp. Two teenagers were also packed in there. Instead of looking at the falls, the teens sat in the back and smoked pot. My kids couldn't believe it. It was quite the experience for them. They all said they were glad I wasn't the kind of parent that would let them do that in front of them or at all.

Change in Austin's farewell

2012-01-06T09:44:00.003-07:00

For those who didn't hear (I have been trying to post it everywhere, but know you can't follow every move I make.)...Ausitn's farewell has been changed to January 15 at 9 a.m. Brunch afterward at our house!

Let me know if you have questions.

Road to Hana - Christmas Eve and update on Austin

2012-01-05T21:31:00.006-07:00

I AM SURE, you are all wondering if all I do is blog. Well, no. What I do is pretty much spend every moment I can with Austin. In two hours it will be 12 days until he is gone. I try to be with him, talk to him, look at him....you get the idea as much as I can. I blog when he is with Jay, like now, they are at the late show, or when he with Kenze or Alex or Maylin. I encourage and the kids demand, one-on -one time with him. It is crazy how time is slipping away. Tonight we watched old home movies. I cried when I saw my babies and I can't believe they are growing and leaving me! We had a lot of good laughs tonight watching those. I know I raised my son for this moment, but it is still hard. (On a side note: met with Austin's cardiologist Tuesday. She gave us the name and all the info on his doctor in San Fran. He is really good and works at the San Fran Children's hospital. I feel really good about him.) Anyway, on to Hawaii....

On the 24th we drove the road to Hana and stopped at LOTS of sites. I think this day may have to be posted in numerous posts as we DID A LOT!

Our first stop was at a place to buy a "Road to Hana CD." This CD told about most everything on the drive. It was a great reference tool. Our first stop was at a famous surfer's beach. It was cool to watch the surfers. I hope you can see the surfers.

Our next stop was "Twin Falls." So, Jay and I only saw one falls. The kids saw more than that, but we (with Maylin) traveled slowly through the water and mud. It rained really hard on this short hike so the trail was seriously muddy. It was quite the adventure as we passed through bamboo groves, deep jungle and we even had to walk through a stream. Austin and the other two left us after the lower falls and hiked higher and saw many falls with pools that people were diving into. We decided against it as they reported is was MUDDY and by that point, Maylin was in tears because of the mud.

This is us at the falls.

This was a very fun stop.....but the mud stayed on us the WHOLE day. Even though we washed off in numerous pools and ocean spots the mud did not want to come off. It was hard to even get off in the shower that night. Maylin loved the little coconut parking lot girls by the fruit stand.

I think that was her favorite part. As you can see from her face, the mud was not enjoyable. The grown ups and kids didn't mind it. The thick trees shielded us from most of the rain and the beauty of our surroundings over took the mud.

There was a great, and I mean great, fruit stand at the parking pull off. Mind you this is a little one lane road in many spots so imagine a little pull off with may to many cars for the spot. They sold really good homemade banana bread and these amazing little bananas called apple bananas that rocked all of our taste buds! Alex tried a passion fruit. It is pretty much seeds as you see from the pictures. You eat the seeds and he said it was delicious.

Paddle boarding

2012-01-05T15:53:00.006-07:00

On the 23rd we got up and set out for paddle boarding lessons at 7:15 a.m. The kids loved it! Their teachers were Chyna and Tyler. When we got there they suited the kids up, got their boards and we walked to the Five on Five Beach. They gave some instructions on how to stand, paddle, and turn. They told the kids if they knew how to ski they would do well. That was true! Austin, just caught on slick! He was a natural.

While they were out, they saw a seal. Only Jay, Alex and Kenzie fell off or had a little trouble. After their lesson, they were out for about an hour on their own. They really worked up a sweat. I followed along the beach taking pictures and texting people the pictures I took. It was a fun day.

After paddle boarding we went back to the condo and had a late breakfast. Then we changed and headed out to see the oldest Banyan Tree in Hawaii. We had seen it in the dark with its Christmas lights the night we hung out in Lahaina, but we wanted to see it in the light. It shades 2/3 of an acre. It was brought over from India in the 1800's when it was only 8 feet tall. It now stands at over 50 feet tall. It was pretty cool.

The is what is left of an old fort. It is made of coral.
Later, we went to Hilo Hattie's and shopped. The girls got Hawaiian dresses and the boys opened up an oyster that had twin black pearls in it, so they got Kenzie and I each a necklace. The boys had fun checking themselves out in the HUGE Hawaiian shirt on display. It is the second largest shirt of its kind.

When we finished shopping we headed back to the condo for more beach time and snorkeling. I think this is one of my most favorite memories because it was truly family bonding time. When the sun was going down, we all got in the hot tub and talked. Jay ordered us all virgin daiquiris or pina coladas. We sat in the hot tub and just enjoyed each others' company. It was a great mom moment.

Christmas traditions

2012-01-05T12:28:00.001-07:00

After our busy day hiking and snorkeling, I decided I wanted to do cookies. Every Christmas Eve we make sugar cookies for Santa. I wanted to keep this up. Even though we did it before Christmas Eve and they were just the squares of cookie dough you break apart, I felt like it kept the tradition alive. After we made the cookies, we all got ice cream with cookies on the side and snuggled in our bed and couch to watch a movie. Good times.

Acid war zone, one lane road, and mangos are falling.

2012-01-04T23:06:00.026-07:00

We took a great hike to the acid war zone. This is a place where the lava rock looks like it has been eaten by acid. It is really cool. It looks like lace.

Once through this area we came to a small blow hole and around another large pile of lava rocks, we found a huge blow hole. The views were amazing.

We had such a good time talking to each other and exploring. It was one of my favorite things of the trip. I really like exploring the world by foot so you can see first hand. The kids really were intrigued by the land scape.

The smaller blow hole. Alex got a great picture of the large one, but I don't know how to get it from his phone to my computer and hubby is out of town.

After the hike we continued to drive up the road where we saw amazing views! As we continued the road narrowed to a little one-lane road that was so curvy! It was scary. Alex about had a panic attack. It was terrible when another car came and you had to pull over to let them pass. There wasn't much room for that at all. We found the beautiful look out pictured. The triangular mountain and bay with cute little houses and church nestled in the valley were amazing. We stopped there and there happened to be a smoothie stand. We got a couple to share. They were good. We turned around here as Alex's nerves couldn't take more driving.

Smoothie time!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped at an area that was lush and jungle-like. We parked (along with other cars) and took a fabulous walk through the jungle next to a stream. It was so beautiful. There were vines everywhere and the kids had fun swinging on them. The best was when Alex grabbed a vine and tried to swing and he landed right on his behind.

The picture turned out really blurry. A mango just fell out of a tree and Alex picked it up and ate it! Mangos are his favorite. The sign should have included more fruits!

Once we got to the end of the path we came to a bay.
We had a picnic lunch, but the chickens (see picture in the collage, one of the bottom two) and two cats would not leave us alone. The kids enjoyed finding coconuts and they cracked them like they showed them at the Cultural Center. Austin split one right in two and drank the milk. It just ran down his face. Then he wore the coconuts like a bra. It was pretty funny. Finally, the coconut crave was satisfied.

Maylin liked the lizard she found until it crawled up her arm, onto her shoulder and around the back of her neck. Boy can that girl scream!

We got back tot he condo around 3 and the rest of the day was spent in the ocean or hot tub (Maylin).

Maui

2012-01-04T07:32:00.006-07:00

We left Oahu early in the morning and flew to Maui! Jay has been to Maui, but it was 24 years ago. I have never been there. It is very nice. We stayed in a beautiful condo. The kids loved it. The pools were awesome and it was close to the beach too....not as close however as the last place since we were right on top of it there. It was about a 2 minute walk to the beach! We all enjoyed sitting on the balcony. The view was great. Austin bought a ukulele and had been playing it a lot and by this point new a couple fo songs. He loved sitting on the balcony playing his ukulele.

The kids and Jay spent so much time snorkeling here. The snorkeling was perfect. They would go out as a little family group to 30-40 foot deep water and I would stand/sit on the beach and worry. I did get better and I actually read and got some sun. Maylin would play in the waves and we built an awesome sand person. She also loved the hot tub and we spent many hours in there.

While snorkeling the kids saw lots of turtles. They found a really great shell too.

We spent the evening walking down the streets of Lahaina. It was a fun town. It was all decked out in Christmas lights. Even the oldest Banyan Tree in Hawaii (it shades 2/3 of an acre) was covered in Christmas lights. We had a fun time shopping. I got a cool hoodie jacket. I bought all the kids and Jay a "My mama thinks I'm special" shirt from Bubba Gumps. I just wish they had a shirt that said, "I'm mama."

Pineapple and crazy waves.

2012-01-03T21:51:00.006-07:00

I know I did two posts in the same day, but I want to get my trip out before I forget the details and before Austin leaves. We have 14 days.

On Tuesday, we decided to go to the famous North Shore to check out the waves. On the way, having a child that is so enamored with agriculture we made a pit stop to the Dole Pineapple Farm and Gardens. It was fun. The pineapple ice cream was delicious and the kids got bright yellow Dole shirts! Austin loved every minute of it. He watched with great interest (and took notes) on how to grow a pineapple. Did you know it takes 2 years to get one pineapple from a plant? Well it does. That is a LOOOOONG time. (REMEMBER you can click on any picture to make it larger!)

We watched a pineapple cutting/pealing demo. Man, did you know there is any easy way to cut those things? And they have special curved knives that make it even easier. I am the proud owner of a pineapple knife now!

The kids enjoyed seeing the little pineapples growing on the plants. (See pictures, they are tiny, but they are there) They loved the train ride that showed us the sugar cane farms, the pineapples, the banana trees and every thing tropical in between. Austin literally video taped the whole thing so he could do it right when he got home. What? Yep. That is what I asked myself. You can't grow pineapples in the state in which we live, but apparently he is going to try.

We also learned that a pregnant woman shouldn't wear a lei because that means her baby will have its umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. We learned lots of other "lei rules" but I can't remember them all. We saw a tree that was nicknamed "The juicy Fruit" tree because it tastes like that gum. One fruit weighs 80pounds!It was cool. We also took a garden tour and learned lots of cool things. There is a tree that produces a nut like thing (I can't spell it, so I won't try) that produces this nuttish thing that has LOTS of oil in it. Twelve of those little nut things lit on fire will produce fire/light for an hour. Guess who liked that and collected a bunch of them so he could light them on fire when he got home? If you guessed Alex you were right.

**You can see Austin taping our train ride/tour with his phone. Funny boy!

We stopped at several famous beaches on the North Shore and watched the surfers. One beach had waves that were so high and strong only adults were allowed in. The life guards were patrolling on ATVs. They said when they waves got bigger (they were expecting in 20 min. they would be worse) those only with fins could go in. Needless to say, we just watched. Maylin of course built a sand castle.

One beach we went to had a turtle that had come to shore for a nap. There was a group there that had it corded off so no one could hurt it. They said this turtle (they have them marked) and one other would come to the beach every day for an hour or two nap. This turtle had been in a confrontation with a shark and was missing part of his arm. The kids thought it was cool.

We stopped at a cool little restaurant called "Ted's Bakery" and had the chicken they are famous for in those parts. It was good. We also had their world famous Haupia Chocolate pie and their chocolate macadamia nut pie. DELICIOUS!!!!! The portions were huge! Wish we had known and we would have shared. It was a fun little hang out with local, laid back atmosphere.

Just as a side note, Alex had been begging every day to let him climb a random palm tree to pick a coconut. Seriously. I made every excuse in the book and told him frankly that I was not going to let him try because he would break his neck. Luckily for me, we found a little fruit stand on the side of the road on the way home that had a very impressive coconut display. I asked this little boy working there if they had a coconut tree Alex could look at and if the boy thought Alex could climb it. He looked at Alex like he was crazy and said in broken English...."That is crazy." Instead the sweet boy went and found a coconut that had sprouted in the ground and pulled it up for Alex. That was thrilling for him and for Austin, Mr Farmer Boy. I also bought him a cold coconut to drink, a bag of fresh sliced coconut and bags of freshly cut papaya, mango sugar cane, and pomegranate seeds to eat on the way home. They were all heavenly. The sugar cane was so cool. You would chew on the hard sticks and suck out the sweetness and then throw the cane away. It was awesome! It also seemed to get the whole climbing a coconut tree out of his mind......for a while.

When we got home for the day, Austin cut the pineapple like the lady taught and then took the top and planted it in the ground outside our cabin. I am sure everyone will love that at the hotel, since he planted it the driveway/parking area for the cabin.

*****NOTE: Since we have been home he has bought two pineapples, cut the top off like you are supposed to and he has them in water and under a garden light to grow roots so that he can plant them before he leaves and I CAN take care of them for him while he is gone. He says by the time he gets home he will have two pineapples. We will see. I could kill them and we do live in the cold.

Kaneohe Bay - Mon. Dec. 19

2012-01-03T13:18:00.005-07:00

Isn't this beautiful????!!!!

We rented a pontoon boat to take out on Kaneohe Bay. This bay has a large sand bar in it. When I mean large, I mean HUGE! There are also a lot of reefs. We took the boat out into the bay (the views were incredible)and found a spot on the sand bar where we could anchor. After that, the kids got out and were able to walk on the sand bar until they hit some reefs. They snorkeled for forever! The water was only a couple of feet deep on the sand bar so Maylin was able to go out and play too. I even walked out to a reef and the water was so clear I could see fish without even putting my head in the water! You can see easily in the pictures where the sand bar is and isn't. Aren't the colors incredible?

The kids found lots of neat coral. They only picked up pieces that were broken off. They saw eels, flounders, a Nemo fish and lots of other stuff. We had lunch on the boat and then we drove around some more to check out the bay. Later, we returned to the sand bar for more snorkeling. Austin got out our floaty and enjoyed just laying in the sun enjoying the amazing beauty. Austin and Maylin also went out snorkeling together. Maylin was so cute!

The kids thought I was pretty funny because I wore my swimsuit, shorts,swimsuit cover, life jacket and coat. I was a little nervous about all the water, so I guess that made me feel better. After the kids came in from their first snorkeling trip, I felt better and shed most of my clothing (kept the shorts, swimsuit and cover) and went out in the incredibly blue and warm water.

Toward the end of the day Jay and the kids would run across the sand bar like it was a spring board and jump into the deep ocean. They wanted to see who could jump in first and make the biggest splash. You can see from some of the pictures that Alex and Jay tried to hold each other back so they could have the advantage. They loved that! That could have been their favorite part.

We had lunch on the boat too.

Later that afternoon we made a stop at the Japanese Temple. It is the largest Buddha outside of Japan. When we entered the temple and lit incense and saw the Buddha, it reminded me of our time in China when we had Maylin blessed in her local Buddhist temple. Very Cool. Maylin loved that the birds would come and eat the food right out of her hand. Another great day!

Beach Day!!!!

2012-01-02T12:49:00.002-07:00

We loved our days on the beach. Our day began before 7 as we all woke up to watch the sun rise. There were some clouds, but it was still beutiful! This beach was especially beautiful. Everything about it was perfect. The kids had so much fun building the huge sand fort/castle. What began as a little hole turned into a huge one. The detail they put into it was amazing. Most of the work was done by Austin, but Maylin and Alex did help too.

There was a jetty just down the beach that the kids and I walked to. We found SO many crabs in the rocks and on the jetty itself. I even saw a man-of-war. They were so cool to watch. The kids found little sand crabs while they were building their fort. They were cute.

The boogy boarding was so fun. Even though I am afraid of the water, I actually boogie boarded too. The conditions at this beach were ideal so even I felt safe. Maylin enjoyed her self so much! She loved to try to keep with the big kids and liked it when Jay would put her on his back and they would boogie board together.

I loved reading on my lounge chair! I read "A year on Lady Bug Farm" and "At Home on Lady Bug Farm." It was an awesome relaxing day.

That night we all took a walk down the beach and looked at the stars and listened to the waves. What a great way to get ready for bed.

The kids were pretty excited when lots of people on the beach (okay, being a prviate beach like it was, there weren't that many people anyway)came over to look at their creation. Many people even took pictures with it.

A day of remembrance - Sat Dec. 17th

2012-01-01T17:19:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we spent the day touring the Missouri, the Arizona and the surrounding museums. It was so great to learn about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into the World War. We knew many of the facts, but we learned so much that we had no idea of before. It was quite emotional and very thought provoking to see actual film of the bombing and destruction.

When we toured the Missouri we stood right next to the place on the deck where the treaty to end the war was signed. It is the one with the large gold seal. I also learned I couldn't be on a ship like that....kind of claustrophobic. Our hearts and hats are off to those who served and continue to serve! We have a couple of great-grandpas and grandpas who served. We are grateful to them!

We also left the busy side of the island and moved to a quieter side (Lanikai/Kailua and stayed on a private beach that is the best in the state. It was amazing. The sand was incredible. The views breath-taking and the water was perfect. We stayed in little cabins. You can see from the picture how close we were to the beach.....we were on it! It took us about 25 steps to hit the water. It was great!!!!

A day in Laie, Hawaii

2011-12-31T16:28:00.001-07:00

On day two we drove to Laie. It was a beautiful drive. The highways that go through the mountain tunnels are magnificent. We first made a stop at the temple. It was a wonderful experience. One, I hope my children will remember.

Then we went to an arch that is just down the road. It was so beautiful. We were all amazed at the sea and the mountains. There was such a calming beauty.

After this, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The kids LOVED this!!! If you asked them what their favorite day was on our trip they all say, "The Cultural Center, but then everything was awesome." Alex got called up to participate in a coconut milk drinking contest with a Samoa guy. When Alex got on the stage the guy said, "Whoa, you are bigger than you look from far away." He had Alex guzzle a coconut with him to see who could finish first. Alex came pretty close. We loved it when this boy climbed a coconut tree, however, it sparked something in Alex.....and the rest of our trip was spent trying to keep him from scaling a coconut tree.

Austin also got called up to be in a drum contest in the Tonga area. They called him "Utah". He went up against a guy they called "China"....he did not speak a word of English. It was hilarious. They guy was so funny. He also went up against a man from Florida. They had to follow the Tongan dude in drums, yells and song. Austin did great and the audience voted him as the winner. He got a hat with a fish on it made from palm leaves.

We also went to the luau and watched the show "Ha- The Breathe of Life." It was amazing.

If you ask Maylin what her favorite part of the trip was she will gleefully say, "The TATTOOS!" We all (except Jay) got washable tattoos at the cultural center! It was fun.

Our trip begins on Oahu.

2011-12-31T00:15:00.004-07:00

We arrived in Oahu on the 14th around 4. We spent that night swimming in the hotel pool, going to the store to get food as we were doing a lot of our own cooking and walking around where we were staying. The next day: AUSTIN's 19th b-day, we started out with a drive to Round Top to check out a view of Honolulu, a visit to the Punch Bowl Cemetery, the Utah memorial at Pearl Harbor, time at Waikiki Beach, a show and sunset on the beach and a quick visit to the International Market. We also had cake for Austin's b-day the waiters at the restaurant sang to him too.

The kids loved snorkeling at the beach! They found some great sea urchins and they saw a turtle too! I enjoyed my time floating on the big round inner tube, I even fell asleep on it! By afternoon, we walked down the main road to the International Market. Wow, did we see some interesting characters trying to earn money on the sidewalk. We bought Malasadas at the market along with some papaya. After that we headed back to the beach for a torch lighting and hula show. It was a perfect day!

Later after dinner, we had cake and ice cream for Austin. The kids decided it was an absolutely perfect day.

The top corner picture is of what is left of the Utah after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Most people don't get to see this as it is on a Naval Base....we are just super lucky and have great connections! The tree Austin is standing by, has lei's in it. People hang them in the trees as a remembrance at the cemetery.The white wreaths are in celebration of Pearl Harbor Day.

Me and Kenzie relaxing on the big tube!

The observatory behind Alex and Austin is on the Naval Base in Pearl Harbor. The satellite in this thing can see a softball being thrown into the air on the East Coast!

We are back...from our Christmas get-away!

2011-12-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Can you guess where we have spent the past 16 days? Hawaii!!!!! We left on Dec. 14 and just returned hours ago. We had 16 fabulous days in the tropics. We island hopped from Oahu to Maui to the Big Island. It was great.

Just wanted you to know we are safe and sound and that we had a great time! We are tired, but pretty dang happy! We will post more details about our trip after we have a brief nap and finish the HUGE amounts of laundry.

Mele kalikimaka

2011-12-27T16:10:00.002-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! We did! Will post more soon. Happy New Year!!!! Be safe.

So you've had a bad day.

2011-12-12T22:26:00.001-07:00

Pictures of our one and only ice skating trip this year. Funny thing, it happened after her skates were off.

Also, bad day.....got my hair cut. I only got it cut because I had a few split ends. Told the girl to take off 1/4 of an inch. Told her I didn't want to be able to even tell I had my hair cut. She said okay. Guess what? She took 2 1/2 inches off. That will take me a year to get back. Not happy. That girl is goin' down. ;)

AND, went to get my camera charger from my camera bag. Not there. Instead a big rock! CHILDREN!!!!!!

Speeding

2011-12-09T00:04:00.002-07:00

Direction is more important than speed. We are so busy looking at our speedometers that we forget the milestones. Unknown-

I seriously feel like I am speeding down the autobahn. I know I have just a few precious weeks left with my son and I want to spend every moment with him, but unfortunately, both of us are on the fast track to get "necessities" done. Austin is in the middle of finals. Every waking moment is spent studying, test taking or doing a paper. He did get a 97% on the math test he did over the weekend!!! Woot Woot!!! But since then, he has written a 7 page paper, written 4 papers for Philosophy, taken a guitar and fitness final and he still has two more finals.

I am also not helping things. My life is on cruise control and it is set to over the speed limit! I am busy packing for our trip. I am shopping for mission stuff and taking care of last minute church responsibilities that need to be done before I go. I am also hosting (cooking some too) for our company Christmas party that is tomorrow night and I have been getting Alex and Kenzie to and from a choir practice for a BIG performance with a local celebrity.....the list goes on and on.

I am looking forward to our trip. I need the time away from the door, phone, errands, responsibilities and LIFE! I just want to sit on the beach in the sun and talk to my children. I want to watch them interact one last time as a family. Once Austin leaves our family unit, it will never be the same. He will come home a man. He will be off to a far-away college and I am sure marriage will be in his near future. Kenzie will be graduating and leaving for college upon his return. Alex will be in high school. My baby will be 8 and will be baptized. The dimension is changing. I am having a hard time realizing that the family I know is going to be different. I am having a hard time excepting the changes. I think it is the fear of the unknown. I like how we are. I hope I like who we become.

Okay. Enough of the tears. I cried today in Panda Express when 4 missionaries walked in for lunch. I can't handle that I will only be able to talk to him 4 times in two years. Sheesh..... And can I tell you, Chinese food is much better when you aren't crying. Here is a picture of Maylin adding to the drawing fest that went on at our house.

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

2011-12-05T16:02:00.003-07:00

The other morning while getting ready, Jay said, "Here we go. Another Ground Hog Day." I laughed. It you have ever seen the movie "Ground Hog Day" you know what he meant. Some times life is the same thing over and over, just like in the movie.

Everyday we get up at 6:20 a.m. and get the kids off by 7:20. Then EVERY morning I unload the dishwasher and load it again. I do my best to straighten up the kitchen from breakfast. I get ready, make my bed, get Maylin ready for school and then I go exercise. I pick her up at noon and we eat lunch and then home school. Of course the day is filled with various errands etc and then carpool begins along with homework, dinner, clean-up and unloading and loading that dishwasher again so it is ready for me in the morning.

Of course, there are those life moments that sneak in and catch us off guard. For example, losing your wallet or phone, running out of gas, a car breaking down, Christmas lights not working, etc, etc....you get my drift. As Mr. Einstein inferred, life is like being insane. Really.

This weekend we did have a few differences. I mean it was the same: activity, after activity, piled on top of each other each and every day.....why does that happen? There are other days in the year. Why does everything fall on the same day? Anyway, the activities were different (not the amount of them). The kids had a Christmas Choir concert. It was just great. Aren't they cute? Kenzie had a Winter Formal Dance at her school too. She looked so beautiful and she had a blast. We supplied the marshmallows for the chocolate fountain.

Austin came home from school and is heading down the stretch to finals. He was studying like a mad man for a math test. Something possessed him to use dry erase markers to do math on my china hutch glass windows. Of course, this caught on and every single child in my house was using those dang dry erase markers to write on my coffee tables, mirrors, windows and the best was drawing on each others photos that were hanging on the walls. Alex drew horns on Kenzie's picture, Austin drew a full beard on himself and Jay and Maylin drew hair on my face. I think Kenzie was the only one who didn't deface a picture. They wiped them off, but today as I passed those glass items I caughta glimpse of their faded art work. There has been lots of extra cleaning today. Sometimes all this makes me feel insane and I wish as Albert declared that I would get different results next time. A change would be nice.

What do you do in the wintertime?

2011-11-29T22:22:00.004-07:00

It has gotten cold here. I will say that the past few days have been in the low 50's which is VERY nice, but the mornings are cold and the days before that were SOOOOOOO chilly. For fun, the kids have turned to crocheting. One of their cousins turned them on to it, so they have been making hats, hats and more hats. Austin made a hat and scarf for his friend that is a girl. He spent hours and he had me crochet a flower for the hat and scarf. They turned out amazing!

Alex has made about 5 hats so far. He says he is giving them to his friends for Christmas. Fine by me.

Maylin and I have been wrapping presents and making cupcakes. We made strawberry flavored cake with vanilla icing. We added pink sprinkles and then I found a bag of malted milk balls from Halloween so we put one in the center of each cupcake. They were darling and they tasted great! We took a few around to some neighbors.

We are taking a vacation soon! Everyday Maylin asks if it is time to pack yet. I tell her everyday she needs to wait a bit longer. Last night she packed herself. Oh. My. Gosh. She packed about 20 pencils and pens. A tea cup. 10 shirts, pants and skirts. None of them matched. A broken camera. Lotion. A huge pink eraser. Crackers. Barbies. Some of MY kitchen utensils. When I told her we weren't taking any of those things she got very upset. We compromised and told her we would take some of the clothes if we could bring something that matched. I also told her 1 Barbie could come along. Obviously, this girl is excited! So am I!!!! I will fill you in later with the where and when.

Turkey week!

2011-11-23T20:04:00.004-07:00

Here is a brief recap of what we have been doing to celebrate. First pictures are of us at our annual trip to "Eat Like a Pilgrim." We once again enjoyed the food and the entertainment which included games, goat milk, hard tack tasting, dancing and a tug-a-war. We had Jay's brother's son with us this year. The mics weren't working so it was hard to hear the program, but overall it was great.

Here are pictures of the Thanksgiving Feast I did for Alex's class. It turned out so well. I love my boy.

Alex is so cute!

Finally, here are pictures of some of the BIG family dinners we have been having this week. Man, I have never had this many people in my house for more than a day. It has been fun.....and interesting. Lots of stories!We had 21 people for two days. Now we are down to 18. The kids are in heaven to see their cousins. Sometimes, I feel like I am in dish heaven (maybe hell). That many people makes for LOTS of clean up.

The greatest event of the week was when Austin went through the temple (we are LDS. To see a temple please visit LDSchurchtemples.com if you are not familiar.This is not an official church site, but has great info and pictures. The official site is lds.org.) It was great. My parents came, but my dad was ill and couldn't go to the temple with us, but my mom was there. It was a very special day. Here are my parents afterward with Austin. My poor dad was so sad he missed the special event.

Its the middle of November.

2011-11-20T16:19:00.006-07:00

I just realized it is the middle of November. Where in the heck did time go? I have 58 days left with Austin at home. It will be here before you know it.

We have been busy. Friday I did Alex's 7th grade Thanksgiving Feast. It was a full dinner for 35. The tables were set so beautifully. It turned out great. I was a bit stressed over it and didn't enjoy it as I wished, as I knew that just moments after I finished with that and got home, I would have 12 house guests waiting at my door. Obviously,we love to have visitors, but I felt like I was going from one big project to another.

The next day, Saturday, Austin went to the temple for the first time. It was amazing. Afterward we had a big family dinner. It was so great to see Austin in a place we have wished he would someday choose to be in.

Today we had a baby blessing for Jay's nephew's baby. Good to be with family again.

This week will be filled with family and visitors. Holidays are great for that. I will admit that it was hard for me to have so much company. Some days I thought I was going to have a stroke. I felt like I was either making a meal or cleaning it up. I didn't get much help from the visitors. I usually don't, so I wasn't expecting much. That part for me is frustrating. I could use a bit of help now and then.

Below are more family photos. The top photo is Austin's mission photo.

Fact or Fiction

2011-11-14T16:10:00.004-07:00

You know how they say "don't go grocery shopping when you are hungry?" That is definitely a FACT! I learned that by my very own self. Enough said. You can imagine what happened there.

"Food combinations can keep you from gaining weight." To me this is FICTION! I tried eating fruit with mini Butterfingers and I still gained a pound.

"Five year olds go through pretty annoying and frustrating phases." DUH, FACT!! Like this one needed proving, but apparently the universe thought I needed first hand experience to really believe. I wish it would end soon. The phase is killing me. I really want to know how come this phase also has to go along with going boneless? They are heavy to drag out of a store that way.

Just sayin'!

Family photos

2011-11-10T17:52:00.002-07:00

I made my selections and I chose 26 of the very best photos to be printed. Here are a few! I can't believe how much my family has changed over the years. I need to update the blog header and sidebar with their up-to-date pictures!

Aren't they the cutest family you have ever seen?

Toothache

2011-11-07T21:58:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Maylin said she didn't feel well. She had a very runny/stuffy nose, a tummy ache and she said her cheek hurt. About 8 p.m. she started a fever. It went all night long at about 103 degrees. She coughed and would moan over her tummy.

In the morning, her left side of her face was swollen HUGE!!!

I freaked. We went to the doctor first. He said she has a virus. Then we went to the dentist and she has a tooth abscess. It is terrible.

Poor little thing hasn't eaten all day. She says it hurts. She has only had juice boxes. She is on an antibiotic. They are hoping it will clear it up. If not, the tooth will have to come out.

Tonight it is still swollen, red and hot. The dentist said she should be feeling better by tomorrow. I hope so. Poor baby.

@#&$ alarm clock and Two months and two weeks

2011-11-04T07:49:00.005-06:00

This day is already a terrible one. It is only 7:49 a.m. but we are already off to a bad start.

First, I woke up and asked Jay what time it was. The light in our room seemed funny. He said it was 5 a.m. So I went back to sleep. Then, I woke up again and asked the time he said we had 4 minutes before the alarm went off. Seconds later the doorbell rang. Scared us both to death. The clock said 6:24. I got to the door to see carpool standing there wondering where my kids were.

Holy crap. Checked the other clocks and they said 7:25 a.m. We know when we went to bed the clock had the right time. Jay looked that clock over and found there was a new little display showing that said, "DST." That dang clock flipped the time back for daylight savings!!!!!!! Two days early!!!!! So we are frantically running around trying to get ready......the kids are doing things I can't help with at the moment, thus the time to post.

This weekend we are doing lots of shopping for Austin. He goes to the temple in 2 weeks and he leaves on his mission in two months and 2 weeks. Based on how fast time is going, that is going to whip by! I have been nervously watching the riot in Oakland. That really doesn't make me feel very good. Don't the people there doing these wild things, know I am sending my son there and they need to be on their best behavior?

Anyway, got to go! Off to drive to school. Man....this day better get better.

P.S. Jay got the kid's to school, 40 minutes late. Alex called him just as he was leaving to tell him he left his lunch at home! So, Jay went to the nearby WalMart and got him a lunch. I am holding my breath that nothing else goes wrong.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T21:58:00.001-06:00

After partying for days for Alex's b-day, Halloween kind of snuck up on us...okay, me. It snuck up on me. I had Maylin's costume, Rapunzel, for at least a month, but Alex's costume, I didn't even think about until Sunday when he brought in instructions from the Internet on how to make a Lego man. Luckily, Austin and his cousin Casin were around on Sunday and made the card board creation, leaving me to paint it on Halloween afternoon. I think it turned out great. The yellow paint wasn't quite dry and it left marks over the shoulders on his jacket! Ooops! I guess that is a small consequence for my last minute costume effort.

Kens and her friend did their costumes. Without my help. Good thing she did it on her own or she probably wouldn't have a costume. Kens was a beautiful princess in a great gown she rented. She wouldn't let me take a picture, so you will have to use your imagination.

Usually, we do a soup party and invite the neighbors by. Like I said Halloween slipped through my fingers, so that didn't happen. I also didn't take my kids to any sort of pumpkin patch or maze. This has always been a family tradition. Good thing Austin came home and took Kens and Alex to one the night of Alex's b-day. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had the experience. I am not quite sure what is going on with me!

Happy Birthday Alex....13!!!!

2011-10-30T12:33:00.000-06:00

My little boy has now joined the ranks of the older two; as a teenager! My dad came to celebrate too, as he and Alex share a b-day. My dad turned 83. Their b-days are Oct. 29!

We started celebrating on the 28th with grandpa arriving. We went to football, had a b-day dinner and cake and presents. The next day, the day of, we went to Alex's last football game, to IHOP for b-day breakfast and then grandpa had to leave, but we kept partying with dinner later at Joe's Crab Shack and a pumpkin/haunted forest thing.

It was a fun day. On the 28th, Alex didn't have school so we went shopping together, got pretzel bites and he picked out a white-white chocolate cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. I think that was my favorite part. We don't get to spend much alone time together so it was awesome! We had a good time.

Alex loves Boise State so I bought him a lot of Boise stuff. For Grandpa, we bought him all his favorite treats he usually won't buy himself.

It was great!

Life moves on

2011-10-26T11:13:00.002-06:00

Since Austin's mission call things in our world have moved on. We have begun to shop for all the things he needs for his two year journey. I have tried to break up the list so I can spread it out over the next few months rather than spending a huge chunk this month.

We have purchased his white shirts and ties and small supplies like a hymn book. In November we plan to buy the 5 pair of pants he needs, his preparation day clothing (exercise), and his rain/dress coat and other small items that are on the list. In December we will buy his 2 suits and his umbrella and in January buy any other last minute supplies that are on his list. I am hoping this plan will keep us from feeling overwhelmed both emotionally and financially.

Austin is super excited. He hasn't been feeling well lately and the doctors think they need to change his heart meds. He has a stress test today.

Football ends this week. I am sad, for Alex has loved it and has had a great year, but relieved too! It is soooooo time consuming. Everyday Maylin asks if we "still have to go to football?"

The term is ending tomorrow. Kens and Alex are doing last minute work and taking end of term tests. They are hoping in the classes where they are sitting at a B+ or A-, they will be able to kick it up to an A.

Last night, the reality of everything kinda hit me. My son leaves in about 80 days. I won't see him for 2 years. Written that seems like it is not a big deal, but in my heart, dang it is big and real. I keep hearing the time up to it is the worse and the day of is terrible, but after that you do fine, knowing he is out doing the Lord's work and that he is happy. I hope that is true for me too.

Alex, number 11 in last weeks game.....tipping the ball!

Party with the Passeys

2011-10-23T18:09:00.002-06:00

Last weekend we went to see the Passeys (we traveled to China together) to meet their latest addition, Kai! They adopted him from Taiwan. He is a year and is so darling. It was great to see them function together as a family!

It was fun for us to see that the Passey's who were going to China to get their first child with us, now have as many as we did back then....3!! It tickles me to see Bret with his boys. Alex about pushed Bret over the edge when we were in China and I am thinking they have an "Alex" of their own now. At least one of their boys seems to enjoy mischief too! It is so sweet to see Bret play with them. He is the best daddy.

We had great Chinese food. Thanks for feeding us! It was so great to visit and catch up. Our kids played tag together outside. Austin really had fun with the boys playing trains and dragging Kai around on the top of a rubber maid lid. Kai really liked Austin and would climb up on the couch to sit next to him often. Emily and Maylin are super good friends. I hope they always remember their special kinship.

To us, the Passeys feel like family. We shared such a joyous and hard time together in China, that the bond should last forever!

Its here!!!! Its real!!!! Wow!!!!

2011-10-19T21:58:00.003-06:00

After several trips to the mail box today, the mailman finally delivered at about 1:16 p.m. See the photos of the call in the mailbox. Okay, so none of you really care about those shots, but me as the mom....I care a lot! I was shaking all the way to the box and after I got it.

I called Austin right away and he was so excited. Jay was thrilled too and started to go home to see if he could steam open the call. I knew he would do that so I took the call with me to the kids' school. Jay was quite disappointed. I know him too well.
We all gathered with friends and family at 7 p.m. to open the call. We had grandparents on home and cell phones. It was funny. Austin was so nervous. We all put our guesses on a map of the U.S.

I do have to say that I was right. So was Jay's nephew Jason. We guessed his mission to a tee! Austin is excited.

He is going to the Oakland/San Fransisco Mission Spanish speaking. He goes into the MTC January 18, 2012. He is a little nervous about learning a language. He is also nervous when someone in the group pointed out that Oakland has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation. Yea, that made his mommy nervous too!

Anyway, it is great!

The time has come!!! EXCITEMENT

2011-10-18T16:42:00.002-06:00

Based on information from our church leader (who has access to what is happening in the mission department), Austin's mission call should arrive in the mail tomorrow. Of course, the post office has been known to not be on-time, but if all goes well we should know tomorrow where he will be serving.

We will post when we know.

The body is a beautiful thing....crazy too!

2011-10-13T21:41:00.003-06:00

Kenzie has developed a rash. It is a horrible rash. It itches and burns and is swollen and bleeding. I took her to the doctor. Apparently, she is having an allergic reaction to her own self..... Really? Really. To help clear it up, we are having to change detergents, soaps and she can't use anything with perfumes or dyes. She is supposed to apply shortening to the affected areas since lotions will make it worse...... If this doesn't work, we will have to go to steroids.

Wow. You learn something new everyday. Don't cha now?!

Family photos

2011-10-09T22:18:00.004-06:00

Our family photos are done. We are now going through the 400 shots the photographer took of us. She put a few of them up on her blog if you would like to take a look. There are so many cute ones out of the 400, and obviously I can't get them all, so I have my work cut out for me. Take a look at her blog and let me know what you think of the few pictures that are there. I think they look great! Click on the link below.

PHOTOS

Sisterly love

2011-10-05T20:00:00.003-06:00

Maylin: Kenzie can I use your make up?

Kenzie: No. I am leaving and I won't be able to watch you with it or help you. Maybe later.

Maylin: Fine then! I am not your best sister anymore!!

Kenzie: Maylin don't hate me.

Maylin: I don't hate you. I am just not your best sister. We are just sisters. That's all.

Kenzie: Well, I love you.

Maylin: You can't love me. I set the rules and you can only love me a little since we aren't best sisters anymore.

Kenzie: Well I am going to break your rules and love you a lot.

Maylin: I am telling mom.

Mom: Spends a lot of time trying not to laugh.

Growling tummy

2011-10-02T21:14:00.002-06:00

I don't know what is going on this week, but I am just eating everything. Even when I am not hungry I am sticking something in my mouth! It is terrible. I am committing to be better next week. Holy cow, something has to give.

The night I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. doing fruit leather....it turned out great, Maylin woke up at 3:15 a.m. vomiting. Needless to say, I am still tired from that night. That was the only time she threw up, but she kinda laid around all day. We were scheduled to have our family portraits taken that afternoon. Half way into it, Maylin was so tired she was floppy. Not sure how the pictures will turn out. I couldn't reschedule as the lady was booked until December and with every one's schedule I knew we couldn't find another time.I guess if she looks floppy and sick, it will just show the real working of our lives.

Kenzie is frustrated with school. Lots of work. She is having a hard time keeping up and she hates all the time she spends with a tutor after school. I met with the principle and they are making some more accommodations for her learning disability so hopefully that will ease her nerves. Unfortunately, she takes out her frustration on me. I think that is part of the reason I am eating. I think I may be trying to make myself feel better. Its not working. I should get a clue.

Austin is doing well. The mission department said with his heart defect it could take 4 to 8 weeks to get his mission call. Most missionaries get their call within 2 weeks. So we wait.

Alex is busy with football and is doing well in math. The school tested him and felt they needed to move him up a math level. I was nervous, but he is doing great with a 98%, 94% and a 95% as his test scores.

His team has only won one game. He doesn't seem to care. He only is concerned with how he is playing. He is doing awesome!

He is so cute. I can't believe how my baby boy is growing so much.

Homeschool and fruitalisious

2011-09-28T21:52:00.002-06:00

Today in home school we did math and language arts. We learned about patterns and how designs come from patterns. This is Maylin's pattern in the beginning stages(see below). When she finished her pattern design it was quiet large, but at that point in time, my camera would not work. She said it is a design of a fashion closet filled with lots of accessories. Seriously? She is 5 and already thinking about closets and accessories.

When I would give her an assignment, in between instruction, I made fruit leather. It is pretty easy to do, but very time consuming. I have all 4 of my ovens going plus a dehydrator. Today I made pear, peach and grape. Tomorrow I will do raspberry. Next week apple. I am tired. The drying will finish about 2 a.m. Think about me in your dreams....for I will be cutting up fruit leather.

What a ball.

2011-09-25T11:58:00.004-06:00

Alex had a football game at a place in the mountains that was 75 minutes away from where we live. He had to be at the game by 7:45 a.m. We decided to get a hotel in a city that was only 30 minutes away from the game field, that way we didn't have to get up as early and we could enjoy swimming and a night away.

The older two kids had other commitments so it was just Jay, Alex, Maylin and me. It was a quick, but nice get away. Maylin thought it was pretty great. I don't think she remembers staying in a hotel. We have, but I think it was a few years ago and she doesn't remember. She searched that room over and was so excited to tell us they gave us a closet, a bathroom and two beds!

Two plays into the game and Alex got hurt. A kid stepped on the back of his leg with his cleat. He was down on the field and his four coaches were around him. I got out of the car where I was sitting with Maylin (It was 31 degrees!!)to see what was going on. The car was only a couple of feet from the field. He got up after a bit and walked it off on the sidelines for a few minutes. When I went back to the car, Maylin was standing outside the car next to the end zone. I grabbed her hand and we walked back to the car finding she had locked the keys inside! Thank heavens, once again, for ONSTAR!

Alex had a great game. He was terrific. He had some really great hits and he ran the ball for 3 yards.When we left the hotel, Maylin had on red pants and a cute red shirt. Bythe end of the game she had redressed using items she had pakced in her suitcase. Below is her new outfit. I get so frustrated with the way she dresses. She never matches, she wears the worst combos. I buy her new outfits and we have agreed she wears a nice out fit to school, but then after that she can change into what she wants. I usually feel like she looks homeless!

Alex is number 11.

We scared the man at the ride.

2011-09-23T14:06:00.004-06:00

My parents neighborhood borders the city park. This park is really a great park for a smallish town. They have a zoo (its a pretty good one too), great play areas, ball diamonds, a skate park, a really nice indoor skating rink and a small carnival ride area. Growing up my best friend lived across the street where there was a gate that would take you into the park. During the summer, we spent a lot of time there. My friends and I would go walking in the park, we would play there, hang out, whatever.

There is a big fountain in that park. It is not particularly pretty. It looks like 5 or 6 smoke stacks that have been stuck together to create a fountain. I guess it modern/70's....I don't know if that makes sense. It is cream and made of stucco. One of the best parts of the park would be to see what color the fountain was or if there were bubbles in it. My friends and I would check it out every Saturday morning because we knew some sneaky soul on the previous Friday night would dump soap or food coloring into the fountain. It was pretty cool.

I loved riding the carnival rides. My favorite was the Octopus, but it wasn't always that way. I remember my friends Kathy and Stephanie (who were sisters) would beg me to go on it with them. I was petrified. But, I did give in to the peer pressure. Luckily, it became my favorite ride. I liked cart number 6. I thought it twirled the best and was the fastest. I would always request that cart. They are some very good memories.

While in Idaho for the wedding I took the girls (the boys didn't make the wedding trip due to school and football) to the park to let them have the experience or maybe, in truth, to help me relive these great memories. I let them each pick 3 rides. One thing that was not the same was the price. It used to be $0.75 to ride a ride, now it was $3.00. I was thinking it was a rip off.

The girls chose to ride the Ferris wheel. They loved it. Maylin thought it was the best. They next chose the Octopus. Kenzie had been on it before and loved it and Maylin gleefully followed her on the ride. After a few spins and turns she started to panic. By the end, her face spoke volumes. See the first picture below. When the ride ended the ride operator said, "When I saw her face I was for sure I would be cleaning vomit off the seat." He seemed a bit relieved. After that, Maylin said she would never go on that ride again. It made her tummy hurt. Kens chose to ride it again and Maylin took the lower risk airplane ride. She liked it, but her stomach was still upset from the Octopus. I guess we should have had her do the Octopus last.

I do, I do, I do

2011-09-19T17:22:00.001-06:00

This weekend we made a road trip to Idaho for my nephew Trent's wedding. We love Trent and Katie so much and are so glad they found each other! They are a perfect fit and it helps that my girls LOVE Katie too.

The wedding was wonderful. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was awesome. It was so sheik and the food was fab! My favorite part was seeing my nephews and their children who live all over the country. It was so wonderful! Maylin loved seeing her cousins. As you can tell from the pictures, there was one cousin in particular that she really enjoyed. That is you, Crew!!!

I also loved the music. My nephews sang and played the guitar. It was great and they are so talented. My fav was when my nephew Adam sang two Neil Diamond songs....he really can impersonate him! It was a good time. Hope you enjoy the great photos of the beautiful reception and my beautiful family.

Please click on the photos so you can see them in bigger and better form!

Field Trip to a Farm

2011-09-18T21:19:00.004-06:00

Friday, Maylin's Kindergarten class that she attends between homeschool went on a field trip to a working farm. We have been there before a couple of times as a family and with the Passey's, but Maylin had no recollection of it at all. We had a fun time and even took a hay ride! I love the picture of Maylin looking through the hole in the door. She said there was a bunch of dirty old stuff inside. She wasn't very interested in the pigs at all. I loved them. I liked how they were both squished in the feed bed. It was so cute. We had a good time feeding the ducks. We brought tons of bread and so did her teachers so I am sure those ducks are still full! The farm was so pretty during fall that I made arrangements to have a our family photos taken in a couple of weeks. I am so excited.

On a personal note: I have irritable bowl syndrome. I know that is not what you wanted to hear, but hey....sometimes you just have to share. My syndrome usually means I can't go very often if you get my drift. If I am lucky, I might go once a week. Yeh, I know, TMI. However, there is a point. I am doing a cleanse that is suppose to help the situation. It is supposed to cleanse the bowl, the liver, colon, you get the idea. Can I just say, IT IS THE MOST DISGUSTING THING I HAVE EVER DRANK. Good thing it is working or I would be done with it. I have to just chug it and after word there is some yelping and face pulling involved. It is bad. It is a 30 DAY cleanse. I am on day 12. To help you understand the taste (And texture...that is bad too) here are somethings that are in it: Apple fiber, Flax oil, Aloe Vera, Nettle leaf, Milk Thistle, Rosemary, Prune Fiber, Ginger, Cat's Claw bark, Pimiento Fruit, Black Pepper and a whole lot of other weeds and herbs. It is kinda like drinking a glass of weeds I think. It has been helping so I keep downing it everyday.

The call

2011-09-14T20:05:00.007-06:00

This year I have felt that change is hitting my little family so hard. I feel like my children are being called to move forward, move ahead, move away....from home. Kenzie will be driving soon. You just don't even know what that does to me. Have you ever pretended to be afraid when you see one of your neighbor's kids behind the wheel for the first time? I usually tease them by running away from the car. Of course it is just a joke, but when they drive by I always have a "I can't believe they are that old" moment. However, these feelings of fear with my daughter driving is not pretend or a joke, it is real live fear. I can't figure out how my daughter could drive when she can't make her bed everyday.

Alex is in junior high. He wants a later curfew.He will officially be a teenager in a month. Maylin thinks she needs to play with a friend 24/7. What happened to me being the center of her universe?

Then finally, there is Austin. He not only moved from high school to college, but he moved AWAY. He also turned in his mission papers. We should know where he will be serving for the next two years in about 2 to 3 weeks! I said to Austin today how I can't believe his mission call will be here that soon and that I was so emotional about it. He said to me something about why was I acting so surprised and sad since I had been planning on this for the last 18 1/2 years! Yes, he is right,I have been planning on it, but it is still scary for a mom and amazing to me how fast time went. Here is the picture we used with his mission papers. He is sporting the new haircut he let his roommates give him.

Also, I have been reading A LOT. Seriously, I have been keeping Barn*s and N*ble in business the past two months. I only read one hour at night after I get the kids into bed and one hour in the morning after I get the two older ones off to school and before I wake Maylin. I sometimes read, if I am at the end of a book, while I ride the stationary bike.

Here is the list with brief recommendations. I hope some of you find it useful. I love to check in on Circe's reading list on her blog. After actually looking at my book list, I am almost a little embarrassed. I read all these in June, July, August and 1/2 of September. I saved my favorite book for the last place on the list!

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - One of my favs! This is the second time reading it. So good!!!!

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George - I have read a lot of her books and really liked them. This was good, but my least favorite. The end was weak to me. I wanted more explaination. It is kind of a reworking of a Cinderella story.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Really thought provoking.

The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate - Such a fun read. I enjoyed it a lot. One very brief "romance" part. Nothing explicit by any means.

Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham - This is a biography, the story of Mr. Bowditch's life during the beginning years of our country. My son read it for history last year in 6th grade. Truly amazing. Love it and it made me love my country and be grateful for those who came before me.

The Scent of Rain and Lighting by Nancy Pickard - Good. About a murder. Some bad language and a "lovin'" scene. I like it though.

Garden Spells, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Sugar Queen and the Peach Keeper all by Sarah Addison Allen. Loved them all!!! Sugar Queen was my least fav. Had some language and a "lovin" scene (except in the Peach Keeper) nothing too bad, I let my mom borrow them and read them. They were fun, light and enjoyable!

Chopping Spree by Diane Mott Davidson - A culinary murder mystery. I have read most, in not all of her other books. This was okay, not my fav. Our of all the books above, this was my least favorite.

On Folly Beach by Karen White - Finished this today. At first it started out a little slow and I thought there were a couple of spots where the dialogue was cheesy, but I decided it was because the book I had just finished a couple of days before was my FAV!!! But after I let that one go, I absolutely Loved it! So good. Taught a great lesson. Mystery, romance, family....it had it all.

Finding Salvation at the Dairy Queen - This was my favorite book of all! I actually laughed out loud! It was so good. I highly recommend it. It is great. I could go on and on, but I won't. Check it out!

That is 13 books in 14 weeks. Man. I really do, do other things!

Oktoberfest

2011-09-12T21:30:00.000-06:00

On Labor Day we decided to go up to the canyon and go for a hike. When we got to the ski resort where the hike was, we discovered they were having Oktoberfest. It ended up being super fun! We watched yodelers, cow bell players, a German band and a professional National Champion yo-yo dude. We also took our hike and the kids jumped on the trampoline/bungee cord thing. We also shared a pretzel. It was a pretty fun, unexpected day! We enjoyed being together, but missed Austin. He had a good time with roommates and friends at another canyon.

After our day in the mountains, we went and saw Jay's new great nephew Kye. We took them dinner too. He is such a cute little baby! It is fun to have a new one in the family again.

We remember.

2011-09-11T10:54:00.003-06:00

My heart is full for the events that changed our country and so many people's and families' lives forever. It has been 10 years, but when I have watched the events played over today of the events of 9/11, I still cry and my heart hurts.

I hope we also remember the unity, love, faith and patriotism we also felt that day and for several years after. I will never forget the flags that went up on every house on my street and the neighborly conversation and compassion we all felt. It was awesome. Unfortunately, some times I think that feeling of unity/love/patriotism/faith has been lost since that day. It is important we as a country once again stand together, love each other,work together and have faith. We need to get those feelings back. The events of that day can't be forgotten.

We have experienced it all.

2011-09-10T22:19:00.002-06:00

Tonight Jay and I went and sat on the patio to look at the beautiful full moon. We went out at ten. Maylin opened the back door and said "Dad are you out here? Mom, are you?" We said yes. She yelled something and closed the door and we heard the dead bolt.

Great.

We were both in our PJ's.

Alex was asleep and Kenzie wasn't answering her cellphone and she was in the basement. We knocked and Maylin would come to the french doors and peek through the blinds and laugh. We went to the front door and the garage side door only to hear her be one step ahead of us. She locked every single door!

Finally, I called Alex enough times on his cell that it woke him up and he got Kenzie to let us in.

Maylin said she locked us out because we were on the porch together without her and we were kissing. She said it made her mad.

Great.

Football and flat balloons

2011-09-09T18:11:00.003-06:00

Guess what time of year it is? FOOTBALL. It actually started a month ago, but games started this week. Alex is not X this year. That means he is not over weight. He can touch the ball, he doesn't have to play on the line and he doesn't have to have that big ol' X on his helmet. He is pretty excited.

His coach is excited too. In our first game Alex played the WHOLE entire game. No breaks. at. all. He is the kicker this year. See below photos. He did great. He is also on the punt/kick off return teams and he plays on defense...tackle, linebacker and defensive end. On offense he plays tackle and this game coming up they are going to let him be a running back and run the ball a few times. He is excited about that. We will see though if that really happens. The coach is worried to have him off the line, but really wants to give him an opportunity.

Homeschooling has been going well, but today I was SOOOOO tired, we took a day off. We will do our lesson tomorrow even though it is Saturday so we can stay on schedule. Instead of school we went to lunch and had a nap! It was glorious. The people at lunch gave Maylin a balloon. She was over the moon about it. By dinner time, it had deflated.

She brought it to me and said, "Mom, my balloon melted." Dang. That is so cute!

The winners are......

2011-09-08T07:15:00.003-06:00

Thanks everyone for participating. It was so fun! I loved it. The decision making process for the winner was really hard. Since I am not good at making decisions I appreciate the votes and comments and emails I got about who should be the winner. One thing that EVERYONE mentioned in their comments on a winner is they LOVED every story! It is so great to read something funny once in a while and enjoy a funny moment. So, thanks to all who shared.

So. drum roll please!!!!

The 1st place winner is : DUMPSTER DIVA with Val!!!!

The 2nd place was a tie: with "What is your hand doing in my pocket?" by Emma Nelson and "Born Free" with Circe!!!!

Let me know if you are a reader or a non-reader!

It was really tough! I loved every single story.

Time is up.

2011-09-06T06:50:00.002-06:00

The give-a-way is over. Winner or winners will be announced soon. If you haven't read every one's entry please do so and let me know which one you liked.

We had stories of rotten turkeys, dumpsters, two bras, no bra, hands in pockets, gas pumps, wrong names....to just name a few. Check them out. You will get a good laugh. Leave a not on which one you liked. Man! This is going to be tough. There are a lot of good stories out there.

I am having a give-a-way!!! Its my first.

2011-08-31T18:07:00.004-06:00

The other day I had a couple of things happen to me that made me wonder if anything "dumb" happens to anyone else I know. So, I thought I would share what happened to me (of course) and turn it into a give-a-way! I love it when other people have give-a-ways, so I thought it was be extra fun if I actually had one.

Here is the deal: This give-a-way works when you, my devoted readers....I have always wanted to say that, share something that you have done that was "Dumb" or when something ridiculous has happened to you! We will have fun reading them, and voting on them and then the winner or winners (if there are two great ones) will have fun getting their prize! Even if you don't win, won't it be fun to read all these great stories? I can't wait.

Rules: Post your "dumb" event in the comments. Please leave us your story by September 5 at midnight mountain standard time. Winners will be notified via their blogs and then I can privately get your email addresses. If you don't have a blog and you win, I will post on the blog that you won and get you my email so you can email me your email. Wow....did that make sense? If you are a winner, let me know if you are a reader or non-reader. Bet you can guess one of the prizes would be "reading related" and the other one would not. I have two prizes in case there is a tie and I would hate to send someone a reading related prize and have them be a non-reader.

Here is my story. My hubby can't believe I am posting it. He says it is embarrassing.Saturday, I took Alex to the doctor. I got dressed up. He had a football game right after and I wanted to look good. When we got to the doctor's office and I got him checked in I tried to put my cell phone in my back pocket. I couldn't find my dang pocket. I couldn't figure it out. I looked down at my pants and the pockets that I thought were there weren't. Instead I saw this awful raw seam down the leg of my pants. I had this total pit hit my stomach. I quickly looked down and examined my pants better....sure enough, the stamp of the brand, size, washing instructions was plastered on the middle of my butt and the inside of my pockets were just hanging there along with the inseams! I HAD MY PANTS ON INSIDE OUT AND ACTUALLY WALKED AROUND IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. I excused myself discretely and ran to the bathroom where I put my pants on right side out! You would have thought I would have noticed the color difference when I rode in the car or that they were hard to button when I put them on....alas, I didn't.

Second "dumb" thing. Last night I put my IPhone in the pocket of my camera case. When I pulled it out it was covered in SLIMY rotten banana. Apparently, Maylin who is SO INTO packing lunches in EVERYTHING, put a banana in my camera bag pocket. It had to have been there awhile! I tried to clean off my phone, but the area where you plug in your charger was really gooped up. I really tried to get that stuff out. All night, and I mean all night, my phone flashed a message that said, "The charging accessory you are using is not supported by IPhone." Really? Do you think? Duh, of course a banana would not work as a charger! I was at a meeting and the lady next to me saw the message and said, "What are you trying to charge your phone with that it doesn't like?" I said, totally seriously because it was the truth, "A banana." She just looked at me. I am happy to report that after it dried I was able to get the banana out with a toothbrush. How dumb?!

So what's a dumb thing you have done lately or a dumb thing that has happened to you! Please share! Can't wait to get this give-a-way underway!!!

First day of firsts.

2011-08-30T16:54:00.003-06:00

The kids started school yesterday. It was kind of a crazy day for me emotionally because it was a day of firsts for all my kids. Austin had his first day of college. Kenzie was in her first day of high school and Alex had his first day of junior high and Maylin started her first day of homeschool. She started the kindergarten I have her go to a couple of days a week the previous week. Below is a picture of that teacher. I didn't put a picture of me and her together on our first day because I figured you know what I look like. But may I add, I had a great hair day yesterday.

I felt overwhelmed even though Alex and Kenzie are at the same school, it just seemed hard to realize Kenzie will be leaving home in 3 years and Alex in 6. With Austin gone. Leaving us. Alone. It has been hard. I think I called him after every class yesterday just to see how it was. He had a hard time too hearing about the kids' day at a school he loves so much.

As for homeschool, wow. It will be a first for me and Maylin. I purchased a home school program through my kids' school that provides all the materials, class outlines and videos done with their kindergarten teacher, so I don't know why I am worried that I can't do it, but I am. Maybe it is because I am afraid I won't be patient enough or dedicated enough. Who knows.

Alex and his teacher, Mrs. Updike. She was Austin's 9th and 10th grade teacher. She is AMAZING!

Picture of the traditional cannon firing. It still scared me even though I have seen it for 7 years and knew it was coming.

Austin had an interesting day at school. His teacher told him at his first class that he wasn't in the class, but on the waiting list. He went out and got on his computer and it said he was in the class. He went back in and showed the teacher. She got online and this time he wasn't on her list anywhere! So she added him and said obviously there must be a problem. Austin really liked the class after the big worry. He then had math which he was really worried about. The teacher walked in wrote problems on the board and said, "This should be a review of math 1010. I am going home." She left. Austin was freaking out. He didn't have math 1010 as his ACT score placed him in 1050. He spent hours with the book and finally finished the assignment. He is hoping the teacher stays in today's class. He loved guitar and Fitness for Life. Today he has philosophy and institute. He is having fun at college. I am glad. I remember how much fun I had, however, being on the end that is left behind is harder than being on the end that gets to go. Does that make sense?

The versatility of moss.

2011-08-28T11:44:00.001-06:00

On our last trip to the cabin, via Yellowstone, they are only 30 minutes apart, Alex started a "what can you do with moss contest." It was pretty funny. Each kid took a turn using the moss in a different way on their faces. Who knew moss could be so versatile?

Mom's view of Yellowstone

2011-08-26T20:22:00.001-06:00

When we decided to go to Yellowstone, I wasn't very excited. I had been there what seemed a million times. I was thinking..."You've seen one hot pot, you've seen them all." But, I was WRONG. Yep. I am admitting it.

We went to some places on the map and actually off the map, but marked by signs on the side of the road, that I had never been to before. It was so cool. I think it was cool because this year my kids were actually old enough that we had some great discussions about the hot pots and geysers. They were really interested and that made it fun. I also think it helped their interaction because they knew the day we were getting back Austin was moving to college.

The picture with Alex and Maylin in the sunroof, is when they saw some elk and a bison and wanted a better view, yet a safe view. They were so cute. Grandpa and dad were on either side of them and I don't know if they thought it was too cute. Apparently, they had stinky feet.

Yellowstone by Maylin

2011-08-24T08:54:00.000-06:00

We went to Yellowstone last week. Maylin wanted to be the photographer. I let her sometimes. I figured it would be fun to see Yellowstone from her perspective. We got one pretty good shot. The one in the top collage in the left corner. The others, I guess, show our personalities. Hee hee hee

Motorcycle mayhem

2011-08-21T22:06:00.002-06:00

My kids had the opportunity to participate in a motorcycle rally to raise money for a foundation that helps kids with brain tumors. It was an awesome opportunity as they got to meet and hear from many kids who have been helped by the foundation. It was also fun that the kids got to ride a motorcycle. Alex did the actual ride, but Kenzie and Austin also got a turn on the bike. It was a fun day that included donuts and lunch. The kids loved seeing all the cool bikes and I think my boys now have a desire to own a motorcycle. Maylin loved the little side cars and thought the boys needed to buy bikes with a side car just for her! Thanks Tomkat for driving my kids on your bike! They had a great time.

Alex

Austin

Wildness continued.

2011-08-20T14:00:00.008-06:00

Okay, I am back to catch up or I guess finish telling about our wild week. As I mentioned, Austin moved out. On his first night out he took a girl on a date that he has been friends with for years. She has been living out of state for a bit and just moved back. They are such cute kids. They went for ice cream and talked for hours. They also went and saw a favorite teacher from high school. Later, at 10:30 p.m. they found themselves at a park near the girl's home. They live in a different county than us.

Austin took his guitar and they were sitting on a bench and he was teaching her a song. Suddenly a cop pulled up and hit them with a spotlight. Austin said it scared both of them to death. He jumped up and had his guitar in one hand, but dropped his pic on the ground. He bent down to pick it up when the police man yelled for him to put his hands up. Austin looked at the cop and he had his gun drawn. It scared the tar out of him and the girl. The cop asked him what he was getting from the ground. Austin said his guitar pic. The policeman asked them what their curfew was. They both said midnight. He asked for their ID and when he saw they were both 18 he relaxed on the curfew thing. He then told them (he put his gun away at this point) that the park would close at 11 and they needed to be sure to be out of there. Austin was so scared he took the girl home right then. When he called us to tell us all this he said he wasn't sure about this "whole living on his own thing."

I am not sure of it either. I would like him to be home. With me. Not at a park with a gun pointed at him. Makes me sick to think about all the things he will be facing now that he is on his own. Hopefully they aren't as traumatic. I am a bit peeved at the police. If it was after the park was closed I could understand his actions, but 30 minutes before....and a gun.....a little extreme.

Now....more extreme stuff.

Remember the kid that Alex hit and broke his leg? Obviously, an accident. Well, yesterday the boys dad called the football league president and asked for the name of the kid who hit his son. The president told them. She didn't think anything of it because the guy was being so nice. BUT as soon as he got Alex's name the guy went wild. He strated getting angry and asked for a refund. The president said they can't give a refund because it pays for insurance and he had used the league insurance. He then said he should get the refund from the Hill family and what kind of people were we anyway that we didn't have a gift basket sent to their home.

I didn't even know the people and when I asked the coaches they said it was just part of the game not to worry about it. Anyway, when the guy was talking to the president he said they were "such and such" (he named a minority race) and because of that deserved a gift basket because our kid wasn't of their race. The president said the guy was very threatening and angry.

After the phone call the president called me and gave me the guy's numbers so if he called I wouldn't answer it. She also called all the coaches and told them what had happened in case the guy tried anything. Jay and I were pretty nervous he would show up at practice so we both went.

Guess what? The guy showed. He was very angry and came to pick a fight. Luckily the coaches had talked to all the parents there and told them not to identify the Hill family. Unfortunately, the guy walked around the field looking at the names on the players jerseys, so he knew who Alex was. One lady went and got a coach who was an off duty police officer and he called to check on back up to see if they could get their quickly just in case. Fortunately, nothing happened. Everyone was quiet and the guy just walked a circle around the field looking at Alex. At water breaks the coaches kept Alex with them. I was shaking the whole practice. He only stayed for about 30 minutes, but we were all on the look out for him to come back.

The coach called the guy and left a message and told him he better not come back or cause problems. We will see. Today at their scrimmage he didn't show. We were relieved. However, Alex hit two kids so hard it knocked them flat. One kid had to sit out the rest of the game. I was beside myself and realized I better keep a supply of gift baskets in my car and hand them out every time Alex hits a kid too hard. Other parents were joking about it too.....we had to laugh. It was so tense at practice. Obviously, I can't hand out baskets. It is part of the game and I would be broke by the end of the season.

Seriously, I am really worried. Especially since the guy is playing the race card. Alex didn't even know he hit a kid of a different race until yesterday when he saw the dad and we told him what was going on. This is crazy. I hope it blows over.

What a wild ride.

2011-08-19T23:00:00.002-06:00

I haven't been on the computer for a week. I have missed looking at every one's blogs. That is a definite must do for tomorrow! I have missed catching up with you all.

The past week has been wild. First, last Sunday, Austin received the Melchizedek priesthood in our church. This is a very special thing to him and to us. This gives him the power, we believe, to act in God's name by being able to baptize and bless the sick. He spoke in a church meeting we attended and he did such a great job. He spoke about being prepared to do what the Lord had in mind for us to do, without the preparation we may miss out on what needs to be done. We were so proud of him.

After the meeting, his friends and our family came over to the house to visit. It was a great time. My parents came for the special day and we were so grateful.

Also this week, I decided to take the kids on a last field trip. Field trips have been a tradition at our house. At least once a week during the summer, I try to take the kids somewhere to do something fun or different. It has been a great part of our time together. With Austin moving out this week,I felt like I needed to do one last hurrah! So, I took the kids up the canyon to fish and hike. Fishing didn't last long due to malfunctioning poles, but we hiked to "The Twin Lakes" and had a fabulous time. The hike was only 1.25 miles up and another 1.25 down, but it was steep. We gained over 700 feet in the 1.25 miles. Austin and I ended up carrying Maylin most of the way. It was tough, but the views and the beautiful lake made it all worth it. Afterward, we drove to a ski resort and had pizza. It was a great day. I love the picture of all my kids together. Especially the one of Austin holding Kens' hand. We will all miss him, but I am finally coming to terms with his need to be out in the world.

I guess that leads to Austin moving out. He got himself all settled at school and in his apartment. School starts in a week so he will have time to get moved in and settled. He is rooming with his friend and cousin and several other boys/men. Two of his roommates are 26 and 31. That seems a bit weird to me, but it should be a good experience.

I have so much more to tell.....really wild stuff, but I am tired. Will post more soon.