Ducks, Football, and Fun. . .

Last weekend some of Kurt's family visited. It was really nice to see them and we had a great time. While they were here we went to First Dam to feed the ducks. There were tons of them that would swarm around you and eat out of your hand. It freaked Draven out a little bit but it must not have been too bad because he has been begging to go back ever since.

Kolton, Dylan and Draven

Ducks, Ducks and more Ducks

Drave and I

Grandpa Richard, Grandma Carol, Draven and Audrik

Grandma Carol with the grandkids (L-R: Draven, Audrik, Melinee, Kolton and Dylan)

Kurt's family left Saturday morning and that afternoon Kurt had his first football game at Wood's Cross. My sister, Barb, was awesome and came and watched with me. It was great, the weather was warm and Kurt looked hot!

Kurt is number 63. The second white guy from the right or the one making that awesome tackle :).

Maui. . .

I decided to surprise Kurt with a trip to Maui for his Birthday. We had so much fun! We left on Sunday, March 8th and got back on Saturday the 13th. My family kept the kids which was so awesome of them. The weather was pretty nice. It was a little overcast with a slight breeze but I thought it was perfect. The breeze kept it from being overly muggy or humid. Kurt and I have been to Oahu a few times but this was our first time to Maui and we loved it. So, here are the details.

Sunday we arrived, got our rental car (a super cute green jeep), checked into our hotel (The Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resorts), went to the grocery store, ate dinner and then checked out the grounds at our hotel. It was great. The beach was right behind our condo and they had a great pool that even had a slide.

Monday we ate at the Gazebo which has the world's best breakfast (next to the Maltby Cafe in Washington). Then drove around part of the island stopping to check out a blow hole, Dragon's Teeth (which is a place on the ocean where the lava has been thrust up to look like teeth), and Honolua Bay which had a ton of surfers and a good place to snorkel. We also found a roadside stand with the best banana bread and coconut candy.

Tuesday we got up at 2:00 in the morning to ride up to the top of the Haleakala volcano so we could watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, there was no sunrise because there were too many clouds. So, we drove down about 8 miles and geared up to mountain bike down the volcano. It was about 31 miles and was a blast. After our bike ride we went to eat at the Haliimaile General Store, which I had read about. It was very yummy and had killer crab pizza.

Wednesday we drove the Hana highway. I got a little sick because the road was so
curvy, but it was a beautiful drive. There were a lot of waterfalls and a really cool black sand beach that we stopped and checked out. There were a lot of hikes but we didn't have time to do any because we were so late getting up. My favorite thing about the drive was when we saw a wild boar piglet. He was so stinking cute, unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out in time to get a picture.

Thursday we went snorkeling, laid on the beach, bought yummy food to bring home and just had a relaxing day.

Friday we packed up and checked out of the hotel. Then we just went and hung out on the beach for most of the day. We had to catch our flight at 8:00 that night so we just had a nice relaxing day.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

8 Months Old

San Diego Trip

The week before Christmas we were able to stay in San Diego for five days. We had a blast. We went to Disneyland, Legoland and the San Diego Zoo. Draven loved it but I think he enjoyed flying on a jet just as much as anything else.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our Elf Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My sister-in-law, Britanie, showed me this. I think it is absolutely hilarious!

Recent Happenings

Recently, I have been finding myself wondering how RRD convinced me to go back to work for them. In the four short months I had off I managed to suppress the memory of how horribly busy and stressful this time of year is. I know I shouldn't complain, especially with the economy, the fact that I get to work from home, flexible schedule, limited hours (although my work ethic becomes an issue and I still work mega-hours to get my deliverables out) and the pay is really good. Hmmm. . . now I remember how they convinced me. I must admit the hardest part is not working, it is the 11 to 12 hour days that are already starting and the fact that during the most important time of the year my family gets less of me. It is sad to say but at one point in my life I loved Christmas time and now I have to try very hard to not let it become just another thing I have to find time for. My goal this year has been to remember my priorities and to try my hardest to be better about having the Christmas spirit. To be honest, overall it is going well and we have been doing a lot of fun things but I am just too busy to post. So, below are a few snapshots of our recent happenings.

Decorating the Christmas Tree. This is such a fun year because Draven is loving every minute of it!Draven loves the snow and wants to play outside any time we get some. Kurt is such a good daddy and usually takes him outside. Kurt also took Drave to the movie, Bolt, the other day. They are buds!

Draven with the live reindeer.

Kurt trying to keep Audrik warm!

Santa! Draven cracks me up. The line was really long and so Drave just kept hollering, "Santa" over and over again trying to get his attention. Draven also loves to go around saying, "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!" and of course every once in a while "Trick or Treat" still comes out. . .

6 Months Old

Audrik is 6 months old. I can't believe it. He is a bundle of fun and brings so much joy into our lifes! It is so great to watch him light up when Draven enters the room or to hear his little giggle. I tried to catch him on video but it is just a tiny one - I will try and get a better video of him later. We also found this wonderful jumper for a great deal at Walmart and he loves it. Draven never really cared for the jumper but Audrik loves his and he will jump and jump and jump. He has also recently found his tongue and has started reaching for people . . . so cute!