24th of July Weekend

After Matt got off work on Thursday, we packed up and headed down to the property again. Matt's parents, Ashley, and Tyler arrived shortly after us and the weekend began. It was very hot that first night in our cabin and I listened to my boys roll around bugging each other and complaining that they we hot and thirsty until midnight. But they next morning they were ready to have some fun.

It is so nice to have the big lodge down there to get out of the heat. We did a lot of relaxing, riding four-wheelers, and the kids played games and read books. My parents and my grandpa came down Friday morning and played with us. My dad took the twins on a really long canoe ride up the river and when they got back we all grabbed some tubes and floated the river. Aubriella didn't seem to mind the life jacket but hated the cold water. I held her on my lap and she feel asleep within minutes. It was such a peaceful float. Daxton is the only one of the boys who would float away from his tube with just his life-jacket. We need to get them in the water more so they are not so scared of it. Dakota held on to Matt for dear life when he tried to get him to float on his own. We had a wonderful dutch oven dinner and then set up a movie in the lodge with the projector, Matt's iPod, and a big white wall. We spread the mats out, watched "Bedtime Stories" and had a big slumber party in the lodge. It was sure a lot cooler that night. Thank goodness!

On Saturday Aaron, Bonnie, and their kids joined us. After floating the river again, we took turns riding the wave runners up and down the river. What a blast. The kids loved it! We will definitely have to do that again!

Here are just a few pictures I took over the weekend:

Open House for the Newly Weds

On July 10th we had an open house for Barrett and Brooke. It was a Hawaiian style party (luau) and we had a wonderful time. Lots of family and close friends came to visit and eat some really good food. Here are just a few snapshots of the fun!

4th of July Fun

The four boys continued tradition by sleeping over at Grandpa and Grandma's house the night before the 4th of July. They sleep outside in a tent and had a great time. Matt, I, and Aubriella joined them around noon on the 4th for the annual BBQ. Randy and Carol were there with all their kids. It was so fun to see them all. After the BBQ there were water balloon, water volleyball, homemade ice cream, and lots of other fun and activity. I love these get togethers!

Austin, Dakota, Daxton, Porter, and Bradin ready for a water fight!

Proud Daddies! Matt and Aubriella - Chris and Peyton

Aubriella and Peyton -

Aren't they so cute! Abriella is about a month older.

That night we lit fireworks in front of our house. Uncle Brandon joined us while Sabina attended the Stadium of Fire with her family. The boys always love the fire!

It's Growing!!!

Our garden is growing great! We are so excited and have been enjoying the leaf lettuce, spinach, broccoli, basil, chives, and cilantro. Everything else is still growing and we can't wait to try it all. I am mostly excited that most of the raspberry starts have taken and maybe next year we will get some berries!

While Parents are Away, the Children will Play!

While we were in Hawaii, Jess and Hayden stayed at our house to watch our boys. They sure had fun so I wanted to share some pictures Jess gave me of some of the fun they had while we were away. Thanks so much Jess and Hayden! We couldn't have gone without you!

The Big Island of Hawaii

I can't believe it has already come and gone. We had such a great time on the Big Island of Hawaii and Barrett and Brooke's wedding was wonderful.  It was really nice and relaxing with just our little crowd.  Brooke's parents, two brother's and her sister in-law were there along with Matt and I, my parents, Dallin, and my Grandparents (It was so special to have Grandpa there to seal them in the Kona Hawaii Temple.) The small temple was so beautiful and it is always an amazing experience to witness a sealing in the House of the Lord. Barrett and Brooke looked so happy. They were sealed around 11:00 AM and after taking pictures outside of the temple, we headed over to a nearby beach to take some more. The setting was beautiful. We then headed down to the pier in Kona to grab a bite to eat and brows through a few shops. They had just a few hours before hopping on a plane to Maui for their honeymoon.  We had arrived in Hawaii on Wednesday the 24th, the wedding was on Saturday, and we stayed until the next Wednesday to do a little more exploring of the Big Island.  

Here are some of the pictures from their wedding day...

Hawaii Adventures

There were so many things to see and do on the Big Island.  We stayed in the Fairway Villas at the Waikoloa Beach Resort.  We started our vacation by sleeping in our clothes and chewing gum in the morning because our luggage did not arrive when we did around 11:00 PM.  It finally arrived in the Kona airport around 2:30 in the afternoon the next day.  After doing some grocery shopping and we stopped by a beach near our condo to relax and do a little snorkeling. That night we had a big BBQ down by the pool with Brooke's family. On Thursday we set off toward Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  On the way we stopped by the black sand beach that was so amazing!  It took about 3 hours to get to the volcano were we hiked through lava tubes, watched the smoke at the crater and hiked through a lava field to view the lava flowing into the ocean.  We hiked this as the sun set so we could see the steam glow and had to use flashlights to make our way back to the car.  We could also see some lava flow off in the distance up on the mountain.  (Matt was a little disappointed that we were not close enough to throw a stick in the lava.)  We continued a complete circle around the island by heading back through Hilo.  It was a late night but we sure experienced a lot.

- The Black  Sand Beach and Turtles- 

- Lava Tubes and the Crater -

- Lava field hike to the ocean's edge and the glowing steam -

The next day was the wedding. What a great day. Then, on Sunday we found a ward in Waimea to attend and then took a drive across the north side of the island to see some sights. It was beautiful. We stopped off at the Botanical Gardens which was one of my favorite adventures and I got some amazing pictures. For the next three days we visited more beaches, snorkeled, found lots a sea turtles, ate lots of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, shopped, tried a few recommended eating joints, attended a Luau, did some more BBQs, and tried some new foods (shark, swordfish, spam and eggs, dragon fruit and lychee). Aubriella was so fun to have with us.  She was the subject of most of our photos and she sure got a lot of attention. (Boy is she spoiled!)    

- Aubriella playing at the beach with Daddy -