Hawii: Day 3

Day three, the students went to the University of Hawaii and sang for the Choral director. She gave them some tips and worked on their songs with them. I wanted to take notes. The kids are so talented, I was surprised she could make them better, but she did. It was fun to listen to them throughout the week and hear the changes she made.
Kylie and I had some time after the workshop to find some t-shirts for our hike up Diamond head. If you look closely at the top of the mountain you can see the structure that we hiked to. They are experiencing a drought right now so everything on this side of the island isn't as green as it usually is.
Kylie, of course, was the first girl up to the top. I went slow due to the twisted ankle, but it wasn't too bad.

We climbed over a mile and over 100 steps if I remember right. We walked through a tunnel and climbed a circular staircase I thought was cool.


The view was fantastic. I loved it. However, I did get a funny tan line from my ankle brace:(
When we got back, we went to the beach for a while to cool off. It was my first swim in the ocean since we got there. Not Kylie's though. She just had to go swimming late Saturday night in the dark while I only watched (it wasn't that warm.)
After our swim, we got ready for dinner!!!!
Benihana's!!!!!
We took limousines to the restaurant. We had a blast. I loved it. The food and chef were amazing. Everyone was cheering and laughing. I kept trying to take notes, but I'll stay away from the knife throwing:) It was a terrific day, full of activities and fun!

Hawaii: Day Two

Day two, Mar. 28, in Hawaii started out with Church on the Beach. This is a nondenominational church held by the Hilton Hotel. It was a beautiful day. The students sang after the prayer and the crowd went wild. They were clapping and swaying with the music. It was fun. We giggled a bit seeing all the half naked people laying on the beach during church. The ministers wife did the hula to some Christian music and the minister also sang. I really enjoyed the message and felt the spirit.
After the beach, the LDS kids got dressed and we took two taxis to a beautiful tabernacle. It was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We only attended sacrament meeting, but it was worth it. I love how everyone begins with "Aloha." One in our group thought it would be funny to go up and say "Howdy." Anyway, one of their young men had just passed away Friday from his two year battle with cancer. Needless to say, it was a tear jerker and the spirit really was strong and testified the truth of families being together forever.


The trees in Hawaii are huge and interesting. I couldn't stop taking pictures of them. Finally, we ended the evening by attending the Paradise Cove Luau. Our tour guide for this Luau was Cousin Pomi. He was a hoot. He warned us the girls were wearing coconut shells, but I was still shocked. It was a blast. We got to watch demonstrations in fishing and the hula. We got to make different things. Lisa and I braided our headdresses. Kylie and all the students got fake tattoos.
And then the show began with the ceremonial entrance of the court and the prayer.
The food was great, but the dinner show was better. We ended the Luau with many students getting on stage and participating in the hula.
However, the fun didn't end. On the bus ride home, Pomi explained bus games and we spent the trip passing other buses and flashing cameras, cell phones, dancing in the isle and laughing so hard I cried. Pomi did the Hakka for us to conclude the night and we went to bed. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries and I didn't get pictures.

Hawaii: Day One

Kylie and I left Pasco for Hawaii at 2:30a.m. Sat. Mar. 27. We took the coldest bus ride to Seattle. I tried to sleep, but only did a bit. I'm not much of a flier, so I was nervous. We boarded the plane at 8:35a.m. I sat with a girl from the group and her mom. The girl had never flown and her mom just once. The girl cried during take off and I about joined her. I kept grabbing the seat in front of me and saying silly things like, "Oh dear," "I don't like this" and other things. By the time we leveled out, I was feeling better. The three of us played Yahtzee and laughed every time we panicked over the turbulence and there was lots of it. At the end of the flight, the pilot apologized for the bumpy ride. It would have helped if he could have warned us earlier, because our landing scared the !$$##%&&$$@##@ out of me:) We survived and received our lays which smelled like heaven.

Our tour guide Cousin Eddy met us at the airport. He's led this group a few times in Hawaii and everyone loves him. He even visited Pasco last year to see the 10th Ave. show. A picture of him will come later as he was the best tour guide ever!


We checked into the Aston Hotel and then went on a walk of Waikiki Beach. After the walk, we had a while to change and walk around before dinner. Kylie and I went to the beach and couldn't resist getting in the water a bit. We then walked to the Hard Rock Cafe and had dinner. On the way, I visited with a local man and learned more about the area. By the time we walked back to our hotel, everyone was exhausted and went to bed by nine, midnight our time. It was a very long day.

All Packed!

Kylie and I leave in a few hours for Hawaii!!! She is super excited. Me? Well, I always struggle being separated from my children. I worry about them and wonder if they will be happy, healthy, fed and safe. Jory offered to take my place, but I also struggle with the idea of my daughter going on her first big trip without me. My children are the best and I love them dearly. I asked the boys if they thought Kylie was my favorite. They both said no. I explained that I would gladly go with any of them to Hawaii:)

They, however, are content to go with their dad to Wyoming. They took dirt bikes and a four wheeler. Who needs the ocean when you have toys? I think I will miss them more than they will miss me. But it's only a week right. And they have the best dad in the world. I'm truly blessed to have so much love in my life. All ready to go!

In other news, Dallin received his Arrow of Light. He has great den leaders. They made it so easy and worked so hard for him. He was pretty excited. We are proud of him.

One great thing about going to Hawaii is it motivated me to lose 18 lbs! I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but all my pants are too big. We'll see if I can keep it off, especially since I haven't worked out since my ankle incident.
Life is good. See you all in a week:)

March

I can't believe March is already almost over. What have we been doing? Well, going to more doctors appointments than anyone wants to. Dallin and Cody both got sick. Cody had an ear infection and was wheezing. Dallin's asthma has been extremely bad with the weather turning so quickly. After church one day we almost had to take him to the emergency room. But with the help of a Priesthood blessing, he made the turn around and started clearing up. Camri hurt her hip some how and couldn't walk for a few days. She doesn't know what happened. It just started hurting at school and by night time she could hardly walk. Xrays showed no signs of a fracture and she is walking again. She missed her last basketball game and a week of school though.
And me? Well, I won't go into details, but I took a trip to Portland to see my old doctor. I was a nervous wreck and was going to have Kylie drive down with me. I finally admitted to a friend my problems, and she volunteered to drive. It turned out to be the best thing for me. Not only did I get some help, but we stayed in a hotel and shopped after the appointments, window shopped that is. FUN! It was a little strange not dragging five kids with me. I kept thinking we needed to get home and then would realize we had all night:) We did come home the next day and everyone survived without us.
Tuesday, however, I finally made it to volleyball only to play for five minutes before I jumped up for a block and came down twisting my ankle. I could barely walk, but made it home, iced it and took some meds. Yesterday I hobbled around and when Kylie came home she yelled at me, "What did you do? We are supposed to go to Hawaii next Saturday!" The swelling has gone down and I can limp without pain now, so I should be good to go play in the sun next week. At least now I have an excuse before we go for laying out in the sun to work on my tan and not doing anything else, right?
Through all this, I'm thankful for a husband who puts up with my ailments and has a job with good insurance. He's the best!!! I'm also thankful for good friends! Some are willing to take a few days out of their life for me. Some just listen and have the same kind of issues so I don't feel alone. Some call to make sure I'm doing better. Some help with my children when they are struggling. I can truly say I have been greatly blessed.

Finally some pictures!

More of Kylie's show

Me, attempting a jump (not even my big one)

The result! Snowmobiling is hard work:)

Jory showing me how it's done. Now that's air!

Like father like son. We went out to my sister's shop after our trip and let the kids play on the snowmobiles. Jory really got the hang of it.
Dallin helped tell me if I lost any kids off the sled.
Camri and her cousin Ashton loved riding behind on the sled.

They got pretty cold so they found a solution.
Cody loved riding as well. You can tell from Camri's hair we had a lot of fun! Why's everyone so ready for spring? All it means is yard work. Snow is much more fun!

February

Has it really been over a month? I've been waiting to post pictures and video from Kylie's Tenth Ave. Show. But, I haven't figured out my new video camera yet and my husband hasn't downloaded his pictures as well. I finally snatched his phone and have a few pictures of what's been happening. Sorry they aren't very clear.

Kylie did an amazing job at her show on the 4th, 5th and 6th. Of course I'm her mother, but she really was terrific. I think that was a definite BEST in my life, watching her perform. Even better than my "back in the day" moments. Being the mom was awesome! She gets to play Patty in the musical Grease. She's nervous about it, but excited.

Jory T. had a guitar performance and they are always terrific.

My husband and I went on our third annual snowmobile trip with our great friends! It was three days of fun. I was a little reluctant to go because we left Kylie at home, but I had a blast. It's great to have friends you can just pick up where you left off. I also am getting a little better at riding and even did a jump. If I can, I'll post the video later:)

Thanks to my mom, Rob and Denelle for helping with my kids. The boys had a great time snowboarding and Camri can't quit talking about skating in Denelle's basement.