Hawaii February 13-21, 2015

Friday- Woke up at 4:45 to leave Amy's house. We drove the kids there to stay for the weekend. Super excited about our trip, anxious to get going, and nervous about missing our flight. Got to LA airport 45 minutes before allegiant ticket counter opened- waited. Burger King for breakfast in airport. Flew out at 9:30. Got to Hawaii at 1:30. 5.5 hour flight. Got our car and picked up tony and Megan. First we stopped at Costco for food for the house. Tony took us to Ross to show us good deals on Nike socks because "they don't sell these socks at the Ross' back home!". Chris and tony bought matching aloha shirts. Then we hung out around house, everyone arrived. Pho for dinner with Jared and Jill around short table.

Saturday- Valentine's Day. Left for Swap meet at the stadium with everyone at 9:30 in the rain. It poured and then stopped while we were there. Electricity was out on a lot of the island but we didn't know because we were out all day. The rest of the day was partly cloudy and windy. Drove to north shore to Ted's bakery, went to beach on north shore. Everyone played in waves except me and Megan- too cold. Pho for dinner again with Jill, Jared, tony, and Megan. Safeway. Ice cream and chocolate strawberries with everyone. Watched movie in our room (the giver).

Sunday-  church from 9-12. Talked to members for advice on things to do. Lunch at home. Went on hike with Melissa, Ryan, tony, Megan in the jungle with waterfall at the end. Dinner at home. Laid on hammock late that night. Got locked out but was able to yell through the crack in the door. I was sooo tired. (My mom and Bryan flew in to San Diego to help Amy with the kids. They stayed at our house for the rest of our trip.

Monday- left our house around 8:00 with everyone to go kayaking to an island. Took an hour of rowing each way. Had subway sandwiches on the island. Hiked around the tide pools. Kayaked to lanakai beach. Went snorkeling a little and saw a turtle. Chris' insulin pump broke. Got back to shore and had Hawaiian snow shaved ice. Everyone got burnt a little. Chris and I swam in pool at home. Raced. Sushi for dinner with Ryan, Melissa, Tony, Megan. Watched a movie in our room (the maze runner). We stayed up way too late. Chris woke up all night to give himself insulin. We were so worn out.

Tuesday- Chris and I slept in til 10:30! Went to sandy beach with Tony and Megan and played in the waves until 5:30. Jill, Jared, Melissa, Ryan met us there around 3:00. We all got a little more burnt. Went to Haleiwa joes for dinner with everyone. Walked around gardens before dinner. Chris had the famous, giant prime rib. We stopped at 2 Ross' afterwards with Tony and Megan to look for more socks.

Wednesday- got to hanauma bay at 8:30 with everyone. Snorkeling was amazing! Nobody wanted to bask in the sun for very long because of our burns. We left to go home around 12:30. Hung out at home for a bit. Chris' replacement insulin pump came in the mail. Went up to Dole plantation for dole whip with tony and Megan. Went to "turtle beach" to see turtles on shore. Jill and Jared met us there. Stayed a couple hours to watch turtles swim out. Never happened. We watched a YouTube to satisfy our curiosity. Very disappointing. Ate burgers at Seven Brothers food truck in the dark. Went to 3 Ross' on the way home with Tony and Megan. Last one was closed. Thank goodness.

Thursday- woke up at 7 to go to the temple for an endowment session with Melissa, Ryan, Tony, Megan. It took 1.5 hours to drive there. We were the witness couple. Took pictures afterwards. Went to BYU  Hawaii for Melissa to buy a shirt. Ate at Giovanni's shrimp truck. I got BBQ corn and fresh fruit. Went to Polynesian cultural center at 4:00. Saw 2 villages, ate at the Luau buffet, saw short movie, watched the evening show. Came out at 9:00. Went to 2 Ross' on the way home with Tony, Megan, Jill, and Jared. Saw a little of Waikiki. 

Friday- Chris' birthday. Rainy and cloudy day. Took Tony and Megan to airport at 7:30. Came home and said goodbye to Melissa and Ryan. Hung out at home. Went to Costco to get chocolates. Picked up Jill and Jared at home and went to Ono's steak and shrimp shack. Went back to Hawaiian Snow for shaved ice. Got pedicures. Jill and I also got manicures. Went home and hung out. The rain finally stopped. Watched the sunset, Chris climbed a tree. We all Walked around the neighborhood/beach looking at houses. Got Thai food to go. Went to Ross while we waited. (it was next door and Tony had convinced us that you always need to check out the socks. We were embarrassed that we had chosen to go in on our own.) Ate around short table at home with Jill and Jared. Had dessert and sang to Chris. Talked. Packed.

Saturday- woke up at 6:45. Said goodbye. Went to swap meet for last minute gifts for our kids. (Much better deals there than anywhere else.) Went to airport. Flew out at 11am. 5 hour flight.

Couped up

Jocelyn and Dillon stay cooped up some days while I do house projects. When we pick up the kids from school, Jocelyn explodes with energy. It's definitely her favorite part of the day. We pick Caiden up from kindergarten at 2 and have to wait 20 min for Addysin to get out with the rest of the school. During that time, Caiden and his friends play tag. Jocelyn runs around tormenting them and hugging them. She is so outgoing sometimes. The little boy in the picture is obsessed with dillon and Jocelyn. The picture looks like he's being tortures :) he's so tiny.
Dillon just learned to pull himself up and cruise. He was watching "frozen". I thought it was funny how close he was to the TV and looking straight up.

Cute Caiden

I had to sneak this picture. Caiden has turned all boy. He hates pictures unless he is making a rotten face. He was whispering in my ear what he wants for Christmas (I don't know why he was doing that). I wasn't listening because it was too cute. He caught me and started yelling, "delete the picture!!".

Halloween party #1

Halloween party #1- Minnie Mouse, cowboy (minus the hat, plus a cat costume neck bow), ninja turtle with regular clothes on, Elsa, and Mickey :) we had tons of fun digging through the costume box beforehand. They all changed their minds at least a couple times. Jocelyn about 5 times. Caiden ended up wearing rockys new costume. He didn't want to wear it anyway:) Tony, Megan, and rocky are visiting- we LOVE visitors!! I've never had a hot Halloween! This weather is unreal! Paradise.

Last one

Ok, I'm not obsessed with Utah. We had a really good time there at David and Kira's. They just moved to the base of the mountain in springville and it's beautiful! I'm so jealous of their location.

Payson temple that just opened. Picture take. From the highway.

Im a little jealous of their location. Its at the base of the mountain in Springville. A pretty view driving up to their house. (thats not their house)

This is outside their backdoor. I love it. 

They are 5 minutes from Hobblecreek canyon. 

San Diego zoo

We have a year pass. We love it. Free parking and we can just poo over for a couple hours whenever. It's HUGE and beautiful. I hear the whole time "mom, take a picture of me!" It's usually when they find statues and are posing on them. If the zoo only had statues for the kids to climb on I so t think they would even notice there were no animals. Jk- we live the monkeys, gorillas, apes, ect. We went with our "work friends". That's usually how we make our friends. Work and church. Nicky and Brittany with their kids.

Goodbye Utah

Our last day was conference Saturday. After the afternoon session, we went to hobble creek canyon. I just love being with family. Something special about the fact that we're stuck together and we'll always be friends!

French toast

I hate to admit this, but French toast is a staple in our house for breakfast. Addysin and Caiden won't eat healthy food for breakfast.... Or ever. (Addysin is getting better, Caiden is definitely getting worse. How is that possible?) I make extra, refrigerate it, and have it ready for 2-3 more days. We have to leave at 7:30 for school so this is awesome.

Recipe
4 eggs
2/3 c milk
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (or more)
Thick bread (Texas toast, grandma sycamores, anything dense.)
Mix everything in kitchen aid stand mixer, dip both sides, cook on big counter top electric grill 8 at a time. (I got my "proctor silex" for $20) I double the batter recipe. Boom. Breakfast for days.

Swings and sun flares

I can't resist sun flare picture. This is Dillon's first time swinging and he loved it! All our other baby's were afraid their first time. He was laughing.

Goggies

Reminder- we are only watching these dogs. They do not belong to us.

"Mom, I'm going to take my gog (dog) upstairs."

"Mom, don't sell my gog, ok?"

She has been nipped by many dogs and scratched by a cat because she pulls their hair while she's petting them. It's like when adults say, "that baby is so cute I could just eat his cheeks!" Well Jocelyn just can't help it, she has to squeeze and pinch their fur. She is a tad aggressive. She will shed a tear and then go back at it. I have to tell her to leave animals alone. She is IN LOVE with animals though! It's a Lee thing. It didn't come through my genes.

Picnic Reception

Megan is one of my best friends. She is up there with my sisters. She's amazing. She is technically my sister, I guess :) I can count on her for anything. I just love being around her. We have a problem getting a cute picture of us. I'm like 6" taller than her and she is so petite. I made her stand on that stair. And she has high heels on. Hahaha. This picture is a keeper. The stars might not align for us to get a good picture ever again.

Family in Utah

Sara came to the temple to watch our kids. It's was so helpful. I'm so glad I still have a sister in Utah to visit. I will be sad when everyone is gone (on my side). I love visiting Utah but if we didn't have anyone to visit, it would take the fun out if it :) David and Kira will always be there, phew! Tony and Megan's reception was so cute. It was a picnic. Sara came. She put Dillon to sleep in her arms, which rarely happens, so I took some sweet pictures of him.

Tony, Megan, and Rockwell

Tony, Megan, and Rockwell got sealed together as a family for time and all eternity on Friday Oct 3 in the Salt Lake temple. It was beautiful and such a blessing to be able to be there. Melissa's family wasn't able to come because the evil flu bug got them. I'm so happy for Megan and Tony!!! They had a luncheon and small reception afterwards.