Hawaii

Well, the peeling has stopped and the tan is fading so I better post some pictures on Hawaii.

We first arrived to Kauai, checked into our room and drove around looking for a good snorkeling spot. On Thursday we went up to the North Shore and enjoyed a full day at Tunnels Beach snorkeling, laying out, snorkeling, relaxing, sleeping and snorkeling. Yes, this is the day we got burned. You forget how exposed your back and arms are to the sun when you snorkel. We swam with turtles and tons of fish. Afterwards we enjoyed a coconut. Actually I realized later the coconut wasn't ripe and it was gross. I was suppose to drink the juice but yeah right! We fell into a tourist trap.

On Friday we kayaked a river and hiked to Secret Falls. Then we went to Poipoi Beach for more snorkeling, relaxing and enjoying the sunset.

I have to put this in because Lynette and Justin worked so hard to get the lighting just right. Notice the umbrella that we borrowed for the shot.

On Saturday we went on a fun bike ride. I keep telling David that I want to get a tandem bike when the kids are older and I don't need a baby seat on the back of mine. So of course we had to try them out. I think I'll leave the front seat to David though. Afterwards we head to Honolulu. We immediatly went to Hanuma Bay and, yes, snorkeled, relaxed, and slept.

On Sunday we went to Church and took a tour of Pearl Harbor

Monday was our crazy day. Justin and David started the day off in a cage 3 miles off the coast of the North Shore surrounded by sharks! They took an incredible Hawaii shark encounters tour and loved it. If we had another day they would've done that again. Lynette and I found a nice beach, layed out, played cards, and enjoyed the scenery!

Afterwards we went snorkeling at Shark's Cove and then to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Anyone who has been there will probably remember this guy. Notice he's on his tiptoes.

We did miss our kids during the week and here's proof.

We had a wonderful time. We didn't do everything that we wanted to do so I guess we will just have to go back someday.

Thanks Lynette and Justin for a great time and the great photos. Thanks Dondra and Cheri for watching the little ones for us. So we are looking for travel mates for a cruise in 3 years. Anyone?? We are thinking the Eastern Carribean??

Summer Happenings

Now that summer is officially over (although it's still 106 degrees but school started so for me summer is over) I wanted to post our summer happenings.
We went to the Hall of Fire Museum in Phoenix. There were tons of old firetrucks that were really cool. We saw Curious George and had a great family outing.

Yes, they are officially pierced. I didn't see even one tear just a surprised look. Last year, when I got my ears pierced for the first time at age 34, she was going to get them pierced also. But while we were waiting a girl around 8 was getting hers pierced. She was screaming bloody murder so Jordan changed her mind.

L

4th of July weekend we went to Cottonwood. Abbco has a house that they are renting for a few months for the guys to live in for a job. So we took advantage of the Abbco perks and stayed for the weekend. It was a nice 3 bedroom house. On the 4th, we drove to Sedona (dropped of a sign), to a fish hatchery, then went to LoLoMai Springs. This is very similiar to Sunbeam or what Sunbeam could have been. We spent the afternoon swimming there and got caught in a hail storm. Later we went to the Cottonwoods celebration and watched fireworks. By far the best firework show we have ever seen. On the 5th, we met Mom and Dad at the Prescott parade and had fun watching with them. Next year, I hope to have a Abbco float in the parade with the boom truck and all the grandkids following behind.

Last photo and then I promise to stop. Notice Karah's hair here. My 10 year old daughter tried her hand at cutting hair. Not very good. David wanted me to take her somewhere to get it fixed but there was no fixing it. The front bangs were literally shaved and the new hair on the side was also cut. Before this she had no bangs, all one length. Yeah!! We were not pleased and Jordan would be very embarrassed if she knew I was posting this. Okay, she is probably alot like me but I did this to a Barbie and not my little sister. She has promised to leave all cutting of the hair to Camille, at least until Oct. 5th.

First Day of School

The kids were excited for the first day. They all have great teachers which I'm excited about.

Jordan is too cool for a picture. Actually, her grade just goes straight to the playground. With her in 5th grade she now moves upstairs in the middle school area. Yikes!!
David was home doing computer work? so he was able to go with each of the kids. They just love it when he can come to their school.
Karah is going to the same preschool as last year only it's in the afternoon for the 4 years old. A much better time for all of us. She will also be doing a preschool with some friends from church on Tues & Thurs mornings. Similiar to Joy School. She will be a busy girl. Hopefully not to busy. And Landon and I are just hanging out at home. He takes a nap now that it's quiet so I'm forced to stay home. Don't worry. I have lots of projects planned.

This is a photo from 2006 & 2007 first day of school. Wow! How they have grown.

Landon's Haircut

Not the best photo but I wanted to have a before shot with it all combed out and crazy.
Please don't mind me in the background. After the haircut we hosed off and went swimming.
Look at those beautiful curls. No wonder people called him a girl!!
Afterwards, I almost cried because I felt like I cut too much off. We see pictures of him before and wondered why I waited so long to cut it.
Now that's a cute little boy. We saved one perfect little curl in a baggie. A few days after this we went to the public library. I was talking with a friend for a few minutes and then couldn't find Landon. I searched and started to panic. The funny part was that he was standing right next to me while I was talking. I cut his hair about a month ago now and sadly he has no curls. So they were definitely baby curls. We aren't going to have another Karah.

Havasupai Hike

This past weekend we hiked Havasupai which is part of the Grand Canyon. It is 20 miles round trip. Jared twisted both ankles going down and seemed to limp the whole time we were there. We witnessed a flash flood about 5 hours after we arrived. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as the ranger said it would be. The kids almost got a helicopter ride out (we were all disappointed). It was quite the adventure and Jordan said she would do it again.

Jordan's so graceful as she falls from the rope swing. She kept up with all the boys just fine.
David was very adventerous. I had to remind him that he has 5 children.
After the flood came through, the swimming was over. We were just thankful we got a chance to swim and see the falls with the beautiful turquoise water.
In order to get to Mooney Falls there's a couple of caves you have to go through. Notice the chains on the side of the photo. You hang onto these for dear life as you hike down.
Our group of hikers at Mooney Falls. I hope this will be an annual tradition.

We started hiking at 8:30pm in the dark with headlamps. By about 1:00am we stopped for the night. Sometime in the early morning, Colton ( David's nephew) started screaming and we were too tired to go see what the commotion was. But from the moonlight it looked as if something bit him. We saw lots of scorpions on the way down so needless to say I didn't sleep much after that. In the morning we found out that a beetle crawled into Colton's ear and took it's sweet time crawling out. I think next time I'll insist we put up the tent.

Jared had fun on the rope swing. Wow!! We need to get some meat on those bones!
We had a lot of fun at Navajo Falls. Swimming in the ice cold water and jumping off the falls. I heard this is like Hawaii. I am anxious to compare in about 5 weeks.