Quick trip to the Big Apple...

Last weekend Nate and I (along with my parents) took off on a quick vacation to New York. My sister's sister-in-law was getting married and we didn't want to miss it! The Sampson family live in upstate New York so the fastest way to get to their place is fly into Montreal, Canada.This definitely was a first for Nate and I. I have never driven across the US border so I thought this sign was pretty cool, but kind of intimidating as well. We flew in on a Thursday night and went straight to my brother-in-laws parents place for dinner and then checked into our hotel later. Friday was the rehearsal and dinner, so with my sister's family being involved in that all day, we did our own thing until later that night when we meet over at the soon-to-be couples house for dinner with all their friends and family. Saturday, September 24th, was the big day. They got married on Harmony Golf Course surrounded by beautiful scenery.

I have known Christine (the bride) ever since her brother met my sister back when I was probably 14 years old and we have been friends ever since. We would be each others traveling companions when we were both single and on family vacations. She definitely was a good "partner in crime". So of course after all those years, we all were excited to spend this moment with her.

 After a beautiful ceremony, we spent the rest of the night eating dinner and dancing. It was a fun night surrounded by family celebrating this marriage. What a happy and cute couple they are. My favorite part of the whole day was when Christine shared her wedding vows not only to Shawn but to his cute daughter Taylor followed by giving her a necklace symbolizing the union of their new family. It was so thoughtful and sweet!

 The next day, before the love birds headed off to Mexico for their honeymoon and we had to leave to the airport, we got to celebrate Katelyn's 10th birthday. I haven't spent a birthday with her in years, so it was fun to share a little bit of her excitement. Man did she make a hauling in clothes from Justice!

 

What a short but sweet few days it was. Definitely not your typical New York experience, but nothing is prettier than upstate New York. Every where you go you see these amazing fields of apple orchards.

 And it was the perfect time to visit because all the trees were changing colors. Just within days we saw trees change from green to red. It was beautiful!

 Congratulations Christine and Shawn! We are so excited for what the future holds for the two of you and we are glad we didn't miss this special day.

Favorite Sunday of the year

Today was Jackson's first Primary Program. I look forward to this Sunday every year even if I don't have a child participating, so today was an added bonus with getting to watch Jackson. I don't think he really knew what to expect, but he was still super excited this morning to say his part. He was so proud to memorize his part. His part was "I know to read (the scriptures) everyday, and when I do I learn about Jesus". When it was Jackson's turn to speak he did awesome and remembered it all. He sang almost every word to every song and I couldn't have been more proud. One of the highlights was listening to Jackson's buddy Landon right next to him sing "I love to see the Temple". You could definitely tell that was a song Landon knew and loved to sing. It is so fun watching Jackson and his buddies grow up together and become such good friends. A sad part to the day though was Jackson losing his scriptures. They needed them for the program and he had them on the stand but somewhere in between the program and class he lost them. Hopefully someone just picked them up confusing them for theirs and they will show up soon. Good job Jacks... you made us so proud today!

The End {Summary}

What a fun week we had in Hawaii! With everything we got to do as a family the boys were so tired everyday. They usually didn't want to miss a thing or any of the action so once we made it back to the house it was inevitable to find the boys sleeping somewhere.

If we weren't out exploring Hawaii or sleeping we were hanging around the house. One day I caught Andersen in our room trying on Jackson's underwear. He knew he looked so cute! Another source of entertainment for the kiddos was the ipads. These things were lifesavers. Presley had hers, Jackson had Nate's and Grandma Kay let us take hers so each kid had their own if needed to avoid conflicts.

Hawaii is such a beautiful place! One of my favorite parts were the sunrises and sunsets. The part of the island we were staying on only had sunrises, but a few nights we were over on the north shore and got to enjoy a couple beautiful sunsets. You really could go to any beach and see something beautiful. I could only imagine what the locals think of having that be a regular thing.

Being home for a week now has made us all miss this beautiful place. It was a great family vacation! A lot of first for us all, especially the boys. I know they are young, but hopefully they remember at least a few of the fun memories we made.  Andersen is too young to share, but Jackson always says "going to the beaches and flying on the planes" was his favorite part of  Hawaii when asked.

Muhalo Hawaii! You were good to us!

Last Day {Day 8 and 9}

This morning was our last morning at the beach house and our red eye flight was later that night so we still had all day to play before it was officially time to say good bye. Once we were all packed up we drove to the Diamond Head Trail to do a hike. I think this hike was about 1 1/2 miles up and we were told it would take about 2 hours up and 1 hour down.

Jackson and Andersen were troopers. Jackson did complain at the first but after Nana's encouragement he was on his way, no questions asked! Andersen on the other hand the only time we heard complaints out of him was when he wanted to walk rather than us carry him.

As long as he had Dad's hand and some sunflower seeds he was a happy camper. It was just a slower walk than the rest of the group.

Once we got to the top, this was our view! When we were driving to the hike it was kind of cloudy and overcast. Luckily it was clear when we made it to the top because it was beautiful to see the island from that angle.

After a few minutes of enjoying the view it was time to make the trek back. Going down all these stairs (200+) was a lot easier than going up that's for sure!

After the hike we drove to Waikiki area to get everyone else, besides us, checked into a hotel room since their flights weren't until the next day. It was a long wait to get situated and checked in but eventually we made it out of the car, to lunch and then later more water time.

Andersen was crashed after all our walking around that we just let him sleep in the stroller while the boys enjoyed the water.

A few showers later we were all cleaned up to head to the airport. It was a bittersweet departure. After a week in Hawaii you start getting used to the vacation life that it makes it hard to come back to reality. But nothing feels better than coming back to the comfort of your own home. Our red eye flight wasn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be.

Luckily both boys fell asleep the entire flight! Nate and I on the other hand had a long tired flight with many head bobs trying to get comfortable, but with these little noggins on my lap I didn't dare move just in case it woke them up. A 6 hour flight to Pheonix, then another 1 1/2 hour flight to Salt Lake we were finally home Saturday afternoon.

{Day 7}

With us having an early and busy day yesterday we all took it easy this morning. We slept in, lounged around and then we took turns kayaking in the ocean. Our beach house was literally across the street from the ocean, so we carried the kayaks across the street and launched just feet from our house. 

Nate and I paddled out as far as I dared to go. I got scared once the waves were curling over, but as along as I was safe from those waves I was good to go wherever. Being on the kayaks was so relaxing and peaceful because there wasn't anything around... just me and Nate and the water!

Once we were done with kayaking we packed up again and went the other way on the island to a different beach. Jackson has come to love the ocean and was always willing to go out with Nate... that is as long as he could cling tight to his Daddy's neck.

We did our usual beach routine of lunch and toys but this time we brought the boogie boards which was fun.

 Nate also helped Jackson build a sand castle. He has wanted to build one every time we went to the beach so he finally got what he wanted. It was so cute watching the boys work so hard to pack the sand and make the perfect castle. Andersen was hoping to help as well, but that lasted only a few minutes because he started knocking it over every time Nate would uncover a tower.

 Look how cute these two are! Jackson was so proud of the finished castle and spent the rest of the time making sure the little kids didn't smash it.

With Andersen being fired from the castle project, he found other entertainment with Nana. Nana pulled a chair right up to the waves on the shore and started piling the sand in a hill so Andersen felt like he was building his own sand castle. Before long a wave came up too far and melted his pile of sand. He thought it was so funny and then it became a game for the two of them.

I don't know who was enjoying it more, but I know Nana must have been in heaven. This picture below has to be one of my favorite pictures I took all week!

 After the beach we took munchkins home to get cleaned up and nap before we headed over to the Polynesian Culture Center. We didn't get there early enough to see any of the shows from the different cultures, so we went right to dinner at the buffet.

 After dinner we still had about an hour until the show started so we walked around looking at the different shops. Nana gave Jackson the idea of getting a tattoo just like the other boys so he was set on doing that first. After the jet was painted on his arm, the attention was on their stuffed animals. Originally all the kids had frogs, but in another shop I found really cute turtles with a baby turtle in a pouch on top of the shell that I was able to talk the boys into getting instead. I am so glad they changed their minds because I thought they were super cute, plus Andersen says "baby turtle" in the cutest voice so it is fun to have him say that even though we are home. It will be a little reminder of the fun times in Hawaii every time we hear "baby turtle".

To finish the night we watched the show "Breath of Life". This show was pricey so I am not convinced on doing it again anytime soon, but it was definitely worth seeing it at least once. Jackson was so tired that he didn't make it all the way through, but Andersen was a champ. He sat on the edge of his seat captured by it all for the entire show! I even caught him shaking his body a little bit trying to dance to the music.  By the end of the show it was late again and time to get kids home to bed.

"I am so tired I can't even walk" {Day 6}

 We started the day off at the Aloha Stadium for the weekly swap meet. We made the loop around not finding too much lute other than the boys (or Chase) buying 12 pairs of shorts! Nate and Ryan did find a temporary tattoo stand to snap some matching tattoos to Uncle Chase. Alicia shared her coconut with everyone and Jackson got his toy jet that he was begging for!

After a couple hours we made the short drive to Pearl Harbor Marina do to the free tour to the Arizona. We had a 2 hour wait until our assigned tour so we walked over to Schooners restaurant for lunch to help pass the time.

After lunch we still had an hour until it was our time for the tour. We walked around the grounds checking out all the different memorabilia honoring those effected that day. Eventually it was time to start our tour. It starts out with a short video giving a brief history of what happened and why December 7th was such a tragic day. Funny story: Right as the lights went dim and silence was had over the crowd, Jackson asked so seriously "where's the popcorn?". It was HILARIOUS because not only did our family hear but the whole audience got a good laugh out of it as well. A few minutes later Jackson crashed and before he knew it, it was time to wake up. He wasn't too excited about his short power nap and when it was time to go on the ferry ride Jackson said "I'm so tired I can't even walk". He was full of funnies. The ferry ride took us out to the Arizona where we could see different areas of the ship under water and the wall honoring all those lost on that ship that day. My favorite part was seeing those that have passed away after December 7th, but wanting to be buried with those fellow men that they served with that day.

After Pearl Harbor we went to Sunset Beach to snap a few of our own family pictures.

Here are a few of the favorites.

Today was definitely a long day of hopping around the island and I think we all felt just the way Jackson described early. After pictures we were so tired that we grabbed Pizza for dinner and came back to the house to eat because we were all "so tired that we couldn't even walk!".