Aloha!

I apologize in advance for the number of pictures I have in this post.  I know "more isn't always better-- sometimes it's just more," but it took me so long just to narrow it down this far, and to be honest, I just want to cross this post off my to-do list.  :)  So here you go--35 pictures of our Hawaiian adventure.  (I made some of them small, so maybe those only count as half a picture?)

  

We recently returned from a Stone Family Reunion in Kona, Hawaii, on the Big Island.  My Grandparents provided the housing and we were all in charge of getting ourselves out there.  Our whole family (37 of us, I think) stayed at the Kona Plantation, which has two 8 bedroom homes, (each with their own bathroom and lanai) a pool, a tennis and basketball court, and all the fresh tropical fruit we could pick.  Above is a view of the pool and one of the houses.  It was perfect! 

We took Dallin & Daphne because they would be old enough to remember it, while Sean and Hayden stayed with our good friends, to whom we will forever be indebted!!!  

Thank you Steve and Erin--you guys are the best!  I don't really think Sean and Hayden even missed us, they had so much fun at your house.

Snorkeling in the tide pools.

Arthur teaching Dallin to snorkel.  It's kind of unnerving having your nose covered and having to breathe through that tube.  Dallin did a good job figuring it out, and Arthur was a great teacher.  Daphne didn't like the tube at all, so Arthur found a spot where she could just put her face in the water and look at some fish through the goggles.  She thought it was pretty amazing!

Our hike to Akaka Falls:

 

A little casual vine swinging.

 Beautiful Akaka Falls

The Kathy Wood Memorial 5K walk/run

Here we all are in our wackiness, getting ready to go.

I love Grammy & Grandpa sharing a kiss right there in the middle of all their crazy posterity.

Our big family Luau.

The plantation cooked a pig in the ground for us, and below, the kids are looking at the pig and balking at the tusks and teeth that are still plainly visible.  I think my Aunt Leslie actually found a tooth in her meat that night!

 

Dallin was among those chosen to learn the Tahitian hip-shakin' dance with the Polynesian dancers. This part of the evening had us all in stitches!  

We went to several beaches during our stay.  Since we don't have any beaches in New Mexico, we were just in heaven.  

 

Daphne, Dallin and Colton.

Colton is my cousin, but is the same age as Dallin, and these three had a great time playing together.

This is the village they built and they told me that it had an LDS church and a temple in it.

 

Besides day trips, we had a great time just relaxing at the plantation playing games, reading, swimming, playing tennis, riding bikes, eating delicious fruits, (starfruit, mango, pineapple, bananas, papaya, etc), and catching geckos.

 

And what family gathering would be complete without a sister "photo shoot"? (thanks Kris!)

Some of my favorite moments:

Waking up in the morning and feeling the ocean breeze through the open windows, 

Listening to the rustling of the palm trees and the sounds of the birds outside. 

Going down to the shore at the end of the day to watch the sun set.  

Sharing all of this fun with family.
You can't get much better than that.

Pinewood Derby

This was Dallin's 1st Pinewood Derby and he thought it was so fun. Dallin chose to make his car a tank. Arthur is the Cubmaster in our ward right now, so he made one too. It was a silly one with a Han Solo bobble head on top. Not very aerodynamic.

Here's Dallin painting his amazing tank.

The tank, and the bobble-head.

Dallin watching his tank race. He did pretty good!

The boys gathered around Arthur's hi-tech spread sheet that organized the races and who got first, second, third, etc.

Sean was the most excited for the Pinewood Derby of anybody, though. He asked me all day long if we were going to "the race" that evening, and even helped get shoes on Hayden when it was time to go in order to expedite the process. Now that's saying something.

The little brothers watching the races right up close.

Arthur and Dallin.

I love these boys.

Daphne's Little Gym Performance

Last semester, Daphne took a class at the Little Gym where they did half gymnastics and half dance. The dance was both tap and ballet. We loved watching Daphne perform her little dances and gymnastics skills, and she especially loved her dance costume.

Daph is a pro at the uneven bars. The cool thing about this combo class is that she could try them all out and decide what she likes best, and she said her favorite was gymnastics. So we'll probably try to find just a gymnastics class for her. But the dancing sure was cute!

gotta love their shiny tap shoes.

Daphne was having trouble getting her little tap shoes tied, so Dallin hopped down and helped her get them tied for her tap number. I love that picture.

This is the "creative movement" section. She got to do whatever she wanted all the way across the room, all by herself. Isn't she glorious? Oh, I love this girl.

At the end, they each got called up to the podium and received a participation medal which she proudly took for show and tell at school the following Friday.

I tried uploading video of her performances, but I'm having trouble getting them on. So Mom and Dad, I'll get Arthur to help me and post them later. They were pretty cute.

Field Trip to Dion's

For one of Sean's preschool field-trips we went to Dion's Pizza. I've gotta say this was my favorite field trip, because of the delicious pizza we got to eat! Yummm.

Only the actual preschoolers got to go behind the counter, and it's a good thing because we joined with the older group in our ward and once you add up the preschoolers, plus their siblings, we really had that place packed! So here's little Hayden peeking over.

He didn't much care as long as we kept the root beer coming.

Here is Sean putting on a piece of pepperoni on the pizza they got to eat later.

The fridge with all the dough balls.

They all got a Dion's t-shirt at the end of the excursion. What a fun field trip!

10 seconds too late

I came downstairs this morning to find Hayden scribbling on a brand new piano book with permanent marker. But worse, he was coloring way outside the lines and he got a good chunk of the carpet. Right in the middle of the room where no furniture will ever hide it and a rug would be conspicuous.

Does anyone know of a miracle cleanser that takes permanent marker out of carpet? I've tried Resolve and Bissel Tough Stain Remover. It's lighter, but still there.

In the meantime, I've got to find a new hiding place for the permanent markers. Clearly, Hayden found me out.

As an aside, I do have some posts coming with pictures for those of you who are tired of my wordy blogs lately. I know you're all on pins and needles to see what the fabulous Garietys have been up to. (Besides ruining perfectly good living room carpet.)

Secret Garden and January ramblings

I figured that since I had a lot of blogger friends cheering me on in my Secret Garden experience, I ought to give a final report on the experience. (Warning: It's long. Read only if you care.)

I am so glad that I was able to participate in the Secret Garden. The performances all went really well. (Except one afternoon when I totally forgot one verse to my first song. I just blanked and completely stopped singing. The music director eventually fed me some words, and at least I finished the song. I hope none of my friends were at that performance . . .) I sooo appreciate all the support from all the friends and family that came to see me perform. It meant the world to me. I enjoyed getting to know the other people from the show. I loved performing again--I love making people laugh and I love the applause. (Not gonna lie.) I also loved how many people thought I was 10 years younger that I really am. (That was good for my self-esteem, since I'm coming up on my big 3-0 birthday this year.)

But here are the two things biggest things I got out of being in Secret Garden:

1. It was important for me to know that I could do it. There are a lot of times when I take the path of least resistance and my attitude tends to be, "If it's supposed to work out, it will." When I was disappointed with the part I was called back for, I almost decided to bag the whole thing. But Arthur encouraged me to go back to auditions and tell the director that I know I could do a great job, and ask for another shot. And my persistence paid off. I'm glad that I put myself out there and tried again instead of giving up.

2. But more than anything, being in this show helped clarify my perspective on what's important. As much as I love performing, I'm so glad that I didn't try to pursue that path in my life (because I did think about it sometimes.) I am so thankful to be a wife and mother. I've heard a million times that there's nothing more meaningful than those family relationships, but now what my head knew all along, my heart finally truly understands. I know more deeply than ever that what I do with my husband and children everyday, the small daily acts of service, the meals, the laundry, the conversations, encouragement, support and love that we share in our family is so much more far-reaching and meaningful and eternal than any other alternate path I could have chosen. The world makes it seem so mundane, (and some days it certainly feels like that,) but I am grateful to know in my head and my heart that there is not anything else I could be doing with my life that would be more fulfilling than what I already am.

I am so grateful for Arthur--he was so great to support me in this opportunity. Honestly, the last few months turned out to be really difficult for both of us. It was like the Bermuda Triangle for awhile there, with Secret Garden, and Christmas, and . . . (drumroll please) being in my first trimester of another pregnancy. They are all great things, but not so great as a combination. (I know, I know -- I am certifiably insane.) I was so drained of energy all the time, wasn't very good company, and didn't get anything done around the house. So Arthur was picking up far more slack than he bargained for. We were in full-fledged survival mode.

Well, all three sides of our "Bermuda Triangle" ended about the same time and so you can understand why I have never been so content to be in the month of January. I love that there is nothing big on the calendar this month, that I'm not sick and tired all the time, and that I am back as an active participant in my family. I just have a bunch of ordinary days to do ordinary things like folding laundry, organizing closets, and helping kids with homework. As the end of each day approaches and I don't have anywhere to go, I breathe a sigh of relief. I just get to be home with my family. And I get to tuck my children into bed again. I missed that.