Hawaii -- Waikiki

We just got back from a fabulous family reunion/vacation in Hawaii. Matt's parents have lived in Hawaii now for about 13 years and although we have gone over there as seperate family units several times this is the first time the entire family has been there together, all 27 of us.

We were there for a total of two weeks and it was absolutely wonderful. We had a great time. We did a ton of fun stuff. I will post pictures of the trip in sections so as not to bore you with the 500 pictures that I took.

Let's start with Waikiki. This is a picture of Matt and the boys in downtown Waikiki just outside the International Market.


Matt's brother Danny and Taylor waiting for the surfers to pass by.


Mati testing out the water.

This is Matt and my sister-in-law Lindsay listening to their surf instructor. I wanted to take pictures of them actually on their surf boards, but the instructor took them so far out into the ocean that we could not see them. However, they both said how good the other one did and that it was a blast.

Benji took surf lessons as well. His instructor was awesome. He stayed on the board with him the entire time. I will post pictures later of Benji standing on the surfboard.

Brendan trying to catch a wave on the Boogie board.

More adventures from our trip to come.

Bear Lake

Our Family just spent four days at bear lake with my family. My parents rented a cabin so that we could all stay together. We had a great time. We played games, golfed, played in the lake, had a birthday party, relaxed, laughed, and got caught up on what was going on in everyone's lives.

Taylor decided he wanted my nephew Korben to bury him in the sand so with my help we were successful.


What a hottie!!!!

Benjamin cooling off in the water.

Mati and my neice Taryn taking a break from the water.

Taylor and Brendan racing for the frisbee.

Deep in a frisbee game.

A race to shore.

We ate amazing meals at the cabin. Taylor made some amazing breakfast rolls. My mom fixed a great picnic for the beach and my brother is king of the grill. He made an amazing pork loin that was to die for. Thanks Mike.

We rented this cute little bike for an hour and rode around the lake. It was a great time.

Roasting marshmellows is always a big hit with everybody.

We had a great time. I can't wait to go back.

You just can't win them all!!!

Brendan's soccer team hosted a soccer tournament last weekend. They played really great and in the five games that they played Brendan had 4 goals. However after a very hard fought championship game they lost 3-2. I think the pictures speak for themselves. We love you Brendan and think you have a great talent. You will get them next time. GO RAMPAGE!!!!!

Year End Recital

Last week was Benji and Mati's dance and tumbling recital. That did a great job. It was so much fun to see how much they had progressed since the beginning of the year.

Benji and Mati after the show.



Benji tumbled to the theme of Star Wars



Mati tumbled to Everybody wants to be a Cat.

Mati did two dances. This costume was to Oompa Loompa and the other to Back to the Future.

Here are a few video clips of Mati. The clip of Benji tumbling won't upload so I will have to figure out what is wrong with it and post it later. I have been trying to get it on here for four days. They would not let me film the actual performance so I had to film the dress rehearsal so please don't mind the teachers talking and walking around.

Adam's Canyon

We discovered a great hike on Memorial Day. We went to Adam's Canyon which believe it or not is only about 15 minutes from our house. The hike was beautiful and we had a great time. Brendan was trying to pass some things off for his bear badge in cub scouts and so he had us all prepared with sufficient water and snacks. He also included sunscreen, bug spray and a first aid kit in our pack. He made sure we all had adequate clothing, including dressing in layers and wearing hats. We were ready to begin our adventure.




The trail started with a switchback trail. Here are a few pictures from that part of the trail.

The boys wanted to navigate so they went on ahead.

Stopping to smell the flowers and taking a water break.

Pausing to look over the edge to see how high we had climbed.

After climbing the swithback trail you cross over a bridge into the part of the trail that starts up the canyon and follows the river. A great temptation for all children, especially when you tell them to be careful and not get wet.

We had to navigate around and through the river at times, but we were always successful.

Taking a break to rest.

This is a snack break and a very cool tree that we encountered on the trail.

This is the first of three waterfalls. This one is the smallest. From this point on the trail is very rocky and well I would say not much of a trail at all. We just followed the crowd of people that also decided to make this journey on their day off.

The 2nd waterfall.

At last we reach the destination that everyone comes to see. If you cross over this river back around the corner is a waterfall that is so beautiful. I can only say that I did not make the jouney across this portion of the river beacause Mati and Brendan did not want to cross so I stayed behind with them, but the picture of it is amazing.

This is Taylor and Matt crossing the river to see the waterfall.

Benji made it!!!!!

We had a great time. If there is anyone who would like to join us when we go again we would love to have you.

Boys will be boys

Brendan's soccer game was cancelled on Saturday because the other team forteited so a few of the kids from his team came over to our house. I walked outside and this is what I found. Five boys from the soccer team, Benji and Mati digging through our bush to find snails. Those little black specks on the steps are the snails. They must have found about 50 of them. I guess that means that Matt and I need to lay down some snail bait. Oh well, they had a great time. We gave each boy a box to put their snails in so they could take them home. I hope they made it there alive.

Catching Up

Easter!!!!!

It has been a while since my last post. A few fun things have happened. We had a little different Easter this year because it was very cold, rainy, and snowy. We usually go to the desert and have a picnic and roll our Easter eggs down a path that we so very carefully navigate with a shovel to make sure that the eggs will roll just right. Because of the weather we ended up staying at my parents house and rolling Easter eggs down a make shift trail. (a raingutter leaning against the side of the deck). The kids didn't care they still had a blast.

These are pictures of my cute kids and all the their cousins minus my sisters kids. These were taken right before an easter egg hunt that for some reason I did not get any pictures of.

Dance Competition!!!!!
So, Matilyn had here first dance competition. Her group competed at Roy High School and they won 1st place. She was so excited. She looked so cute and their dance was awesome. Here are a few pics of her at the competion.

Not at the competition. I don't know what happened to the pictures of her with her 1st place medal so I just took a random one of her showing it off.