The end of the school year

 

Rusty loved his first year of Shinning Star preschool!

I usually get sad when things end that my kids love doing,

and when we have to give up wonderful teachers.

But he gets to go back next year so all is good!

 

Almost every time he would hop in the car after school

he would have an Adolf Hitler stash from smelling the ink

from the stamp on his hand!

 

The clever costumes got me every time, too!

And it was nice having a child excited to pose for a picture instead

of them ripping it off in the car before even getting home:)

 



They got to go to Rock'n R Ranch on a field trip back in April.

Rusty kills me with his social skills.

He is the biggest social bug and loved his preschool buddies.

He did not know one person on the first day of school.

All of his church friends went to a different preschool.

Which was kind of nice for him to branch out and make new friends.

It didn't take long at all for that to happen.

I am really trying to figure out which parent he got that from!!

It was fun to see him interact with all his friends I heard so much about but didn't

have a clue who they were!



His favorite was panning for gold.

He thought he hit the jackpot with those big gold nuggets he found!

He kept them for weeks!

This picture makes me want to stop my typing and go wake him up at 11pm

 and just snuggle him to death!

Such a handsome little devil he is!

 I got to be in charge and plan Lanes last day of school party!

Ms. Gonzales called the week before saying nobody signed up to be the chair

person and wondered if I wouldn't mind doing it.

Not going to lie, it overwhelmed me but now I think I might volunteer every year

to be the chair person.

It was a lot of fun!

We had a Hawaiian theme.

It must have been fresh on my mind.

And that was what the dollar store was full of decoration wise:)

 

We started with talking about things you do in Hawaii at a luau.

So instead of dancing the hula we had a hula hoop contest!

I had 2 hula hoops so Lane and Ms. Gonzales had a throw down.

That classroom got so loud at one point with them all chatting and yelling!

Wowza! It turned out to be the perfect way for them to split off into groups for

the rest of the party.

 



There were 4 rotations.

They got to do the limbo.

 



Eat snacks at the snack table.

I even brought fresh cut up pineapple.

Which I am sure was breaking the rules since all food had to be pre packaged:/



They got to decorate "beach bags" which they put their treats in.

I loved the little black coconuts Lane drew on his bag.

 And the last rotation I never got a picture of but they played a game

of play dough Pictionary.

 

Here they are lining up for the last time as first graders ready to go home.



 I cannot say enough wonderful things about Ms. Gonzales.

She was a perfect teacher for Lane.

I have felt so fortunate that we have gotten such amazing teachers so far.

Makes me nervous for next year.

Like I said before, it is so hard to give up good teachers.

You can see it on her face how much she enjoys teaching and that

she really did love Lane.

I promise Lane loved her too. He just gets embarrassed easily.

 



After tearing down decorations and loaded up the car we of course had to get

a special last day of school treat at the new QT kitchen.

This might be trouble for me...best pretzel and cheese I've ever had!

 And then we got home and I opened up Lanes report card and this picture

fell out of it.

Ms. Gonzales took this on meet the teacher day.

I had completely forgotten.

I am floored at how much looks can change in a year!

Lindi was so tiny!

My face was freaking FAT!

And that was when I felt like I was starting to look descent again.

Such a fun idea.

I love treasures like this.

 



Goodman grandkid photo shoot

 

Before I start this post, I must comment on my sweet husband and his amazing love letter

he PUBLICLY wrote on my blog. When I first saw it I thought there was a mistake! That post

didn't look familiar to me and I couldn't figure out how it got on there!

Then when the shock wore off I finally realized he had snuck on there and had written it!

Just like he said, social media is not his cup of tea so I never expected that in a million years.

Maybe that's why I haven't posted in a while. I love looking at it and reading it every time I

open my blog:) What a keeper I have!!

 

But on to the rest of life.

And life was cray cray for a few weeks I tell ya!

Only this happened a while back and I have yet to document it.

For my mother- in -laws birthday we updated her grandchildren photo in her living room.

There were six, SIX  babies born last year!

Lindi was the first in March and Hank was the last of the group born in February.

 

I had Stephanie try to snap a few of just my kids before the group shot.

Lindi was too busy wanting to explore and play!

The whole gang!

And this was cute.

Twiners with their babers.

 



The Best 10 Years (the other side of the story)

First things first, this is Casey (the lucky man that is so often mentioned in this blog). Don't ask me how I figured out how to do a post, but I'm not sure that this will even post or not because I have no idea what to do. Please work!! I found a couple errors on Shelley's last post so I had her show me how to edit the post so that I could have somewhat of an idea on how to do a new post (sneaky:)). This will be a dull and lame post so you can stop reading now (no pictures, no funny comments, etc). I have actually thought about doing this a few times in the past but always chickened out. Since 10 years is a big milestone, I figured this would be a good time. Even though it was technically a few weeks ago. My main reason for this is to show Shelley how much she really does mean to me and our kids because this is so far out of my comfort zone that she won't believe that this is even me. I feel like I am bearing my testimony in church and am about to say, "I want to publicly thank my Heavenly Father...."  But this time I want to publicly thank 'My Cute Honey Bunny' (that is her name in my phone).  Since you have heard how good and awesome of a husband and father that I am, I figured I better return the favor. 

Ever since I spent my life savings at the State Fair for our first date and threw out my arm to win her that precious teddy bear (that she left under the back seat of my truck), she has never left my mind.  We have had our ups and downs, but I really feel like we have about as good a relationship as anyone can ask for.  She is always doing things that she knows will make me happy.  She knows exactly what to get me for special occasions (birthdays, etc.)- cookies or something close to it, and something else that won't be discussed here. She always puts me before herself. If any ladies are still reading this, I'm sorry to say this but I have got the best there is and there is no doubt about it. She can cook/bake, decorate a house like nobody's business, very creative (the things she comes up with blows my mind), great driver (to never have had a ticket is quite an accomplishment--knock on wood), doesn't have to have full blown gifts on special occasions (we hardly ever do gifts on birthdays, Christmas, etc. and I think that that has played a big part of having such a good relationship for us), is a great writer (anyone that can make me look as good as she does on this blog should be paid good money), plans the best vacations (I hate planning vacations- she planned Hawaii all on her own and it made it that much better for me, and she even packed my bags. Dang I'm spoiled), and of course is the greatest mom our kids could have ever hoped for. They definitely chose her in the preexistence to be their mom even though that meant that I had to be their dad cause there was no way that she was leaving my side.  It is a huge relief/blessing to not have to ever worry that my kids aren't where they are supposed to be when it comes to schooling, recreational activities, and everything else because Shelley is on top of what is best for each of them.  It is amazing to me how loving and how willing she is to help other kids as well. When she is watching other kids she shows them the same love and respect that she shows our kids and that is amazing to me. I wish that I could offer her the same that she offers me, but I don't know how that is even possible. Since Shelley uses this as a way of journal writing, I hope that whatever may come our way in the distant future (hopefully at least 50 years) as we are all destined to leave this mortal existence, I want our children and grandchildren to know that their mother/grandmother (that's weird to say) was such a woman that they will look to her as an example of everything good and a true disciple of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Shelley- Thank you for the best 10+ years that I could ever dream of and ever hope for.  I love you more than you will ever know and can't wait for what the next 10 will bring. I hope you are already planning our 20th:)

6th and 7th day...wrapping the trip up!

 

 Friday we reserved to go beach hopping.

We were told to go check out a part of the island called Kailua.

Kailua is supposedly where all the celebrity's live and where President Obama stays

when he vacations in Hawaii. It also has the beach that is rated on the top 5 list of best

beaches in the world!

We were told to eat at a restaurant called Boots and Kimo because it had the best breakfast

on the island. We left our hotel around 9 and got to Kailua close to 10. When we found Boots and

Kimo we walked up and tried to open the door but it was locked!

There was a note on the door saying they were closed for the day.

We were so bummed!

Luckily we had spotted a crepe place just down the road so we

walked and peeked into the window and it looked legit!  

 

It was more than legit, it was DELICIOUS!

We each ordered a breakfast crepe with eggs, ham and such then

we shared a dessert crepe.

Can you tell we didn't hold back on food on this trip?

 



This coconut syrup, macadamia nut crepe alamode hit the spot.

This restaurant ended up being a yummy find!

We drove just another 10 minutes to find the heavenly beach called Lanikai.

Lanikai beach is sort of hidden. There isn't a public parking lot, its behind a bunch of

really nice beach houses. You park on the neighborhood street then

find a public entrance between all the beach houses.

The little  path from the street to the beach was beautiful and green.



I hopped on top of a rock to get this picture.

It really was so serene. 

 

Casey was a trooper the whole week with hauling that girlie beach bag around!

It was the best $6 HomeGoods find yet!

 

We found a good spot to sit and relax.

This beach is famous for its white, soft sand.

They call it sugar sand.

And also, there are no waves on this beach.

 

It was overcast on this day and it made me mad to be honest.

It sprinkled pretty much off and on the whole day.

I had high hopes the sky would clear up like it did on Wednesday

but it never did. In fact it started to rain pretty hard so we hurried up and

grabbed our things and ran to the car for cover.

 We decided to drive over to the North Shore, again:)

I wanted to go to Waimea Bay because its another one of my favorites and
we hadn't been there yet!

Luckily the rain had stopped once we got there but it was still pretty cloudy.

We made the best of it and laid down our towels.

Waimea Bay has a big rock cliff and is famous for people jumping off of it into the ocean.

I think they are crazy. There were guys doing back flips!

You can see someone jumping off in the picture.

I miss this stuff.

We stayed until we got rained out, again.

By the time we made it back to Waikiki it was dinner time.

We parked our car at the hotel then walked to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

We had talked about how the whole week had eaten every meal at authentic,

non chain places. So it would be alright if we ate there:)

Since it was our last night we had to end in the hot tub at our hotel!

 

Saturday our flight out was at 3:15.

I double, triple even quadruple checked just to make sure!

I wanted to get as much beach time in as possible.

I headed down to the beach at our hotel at 8am, ha!

I just LOVE the beach. Seriously, it's my therapy.

Casey decided to meet me down a little later.

 

It was so relaxing being down right in the early morning.

The sky was so clear and the air so crisp.

I was pretty much the only one on the beach for awhile.

Besides all the morning surfers out in the water.

Around 9:30 is when the people started coming out.

I loved watching all of the Asians. There were plenty around to watch!

Some of them must have been worried they were going to burn their fair skin.

I would see them in the oddest swim wear.

This girl for sure took first place in sun awareness!

 

Casey came down and joined me for our last hours of basking in the

Hawaiian sun. Yes I know, so unattractive but had to document.



We gave ourselves an hour to go back up to the room, shower and pack

all last minute things. We made sure to give extra time that day for everything
so we weren't cutting it close to when our flight left.
We grabbed a bite to eat, returned our car then took the shuttle to the airport. I

went to a kiosk to print out our boarding passes. When I typed in our info it said we

were too late to check in. I thought that was odd, checked our itinerary to see if I punched

in a wrong number. Tried again, same thing. A worker came over and tried to help us but the same

notice popped up again. He took our info to a front desk then came back and said that our flight

actually left at 12:50!! It was 1:10. What the HECK! That's when my heart attack began.

He asked when I booked our flights. In my email it said Sept 15th, almost 8 months back.

He thought it was because of day light savings our flight times were bumped up.

He said they usually notify people if that happens. I had received NO notification.

He told us to go wait in line (a long line) to see what they could do for us.

My heart had never raced so fast before. When we got up front, we told the man what happened

and his facial expressions didn't help calm my worries. He explained about the time change
and that we should have been notified, blahblahblah. Then pretty much told us they
only have 1 flight to Phoenix per day, and it just left 20 minutes ago.
I asked about a flight to LA then thought we could jump on a Southwest flight home.
Nope, same thing and it left at 1 as well.
He could put us up in a hotel and get us on the flight the next day.
Which meant we wouldn't get home until midnight on Sunday.
Most people would say, sweet another day in Hawaii!
For me I was mentally done and ready to see my kids.
Especially Lindi since she is my baby and was so sick earlier in the week.

With no other options I nodded my head.
While our boarding passes were printing I lost it and starting crying!
Casey was trying to console me and I was trying to be quiet about it
and not make a scene but sometimes tears are hard to hold back!
The man said he was going to get our hotel information and to wait right there.
He took awhile coming back. 
I was starting to wonder what was taking so long.
When he did he asked us if we would like to leave for
Phoenix that night instead. Uh, ya!!!!
He said he was able to get us on a flight on US Airways and that it left
that night at 10:15.
Hallelujah!
We later learned that 6 other people missed our flight
and out of them we were the only ones that didn't get the email about
the time change.

Relieved and excited to go home that night we then sat stumped on
what to do for the next 8 hours!
I wasn't about to sit at the airport for that long then sit on an airplane for
another 6 hours.
Spontaneously we hopped back on the shuttle to Thrifty
car rental and rented our car back for the day!
Only this time we were upgraded to this baby:

We decided to drive back to our hotel and hang out by the pool.

In front of us was a bride and groom that seemed to have just

gotten married!

We laid back and busted out our Mauna Loa's.

For dinner we walked to the back of our hotel and ate

at the Shorebird one last time:)

 

When I looked around I saw the same bride and groom right next to

us eating at their reception!

 

We grilled hamburgers this time and sipped on yummy smoothies.

 

 

By the end of dinner we needed to head back to the airport.

Luckily this time our flight hadn't left early.

We bought neck pillows, miraculously found a spare outlet to charge our

phones then boarded our flight.

We were spent.

 It was 1am AZ time when we took off and landed at 7am.

 

We were SO excited to collect our kiddos at my moms.

They had all just woken up and were about to eat breakfast when we walked in.

Lindi didn't really give us a good reaction to seeing us for the first time in a week.

Which is a good, that meant she was happy and didn't miss us too much:)

I am so grateful for everybody who took care of them while we were gone.

My mom said Lindi was sooo sick and just slept for pretty much 3 days.

She loves taking care of babies so I am glad they had that time together!

The boys were spoiled by their aunts and grandmas as well!

And just like that vacation time was over and real life presumed.

 

Mahalo Hawaii for an amazing time!

Hopefully someday we will see each other again!!

 

 

 

5th day called for some snorkeling!

 

 

When we booked our PCC tickets with the activities guy at our

hotel he asked us what our plans were for the rest of the week.

We both kind of stood there and said uhhhhh, good question, we don't know!

We did want to snorkel but didn't know exactly where.

I have been to Hanauma Bay before but didn't think it was anything spectacular.

The guy agreed then HIGHLY suggested we do this 4 hour snorkeling excursion.

He said it was the best snorkeling spot on the island.

So we booked our tickets.

The only downfall was that we needed to get up at 6:30 and we went to bed

really late the night before. But once we peeled our eyes open and threw on a swimsuit

we were good to go!

This excursion would bus everybody from our hotel to the boat harbor in Ko'Olina.

Ko'Olina is where the new Marriott hotel, condo and Disney resorts are.

I had looked into staying there but once again, it was big $$$.

 

It was an absolutely perfect day weather wise.

At first a little windy but still enjoyable.

We all walked down to our boat the Kai'oli'oli.

 

 

There was a girl who was the boat photographer.

She looked to be in her early twenties and was absolutely hysterical.

She was definitely a free spirit and had us laughing all day!

I wish I had a picture of her!

We bought a cd at the end so most of these pictures came from her camera,

 including the under water ones.

 

Once everybody was on the boat they did  brief safety instructions then we were off!

When we first set sail the crew said there were muffins from a local bakery for all of us

as well as an ice chest full of soda and aloha juice.

The views were incredible.

A picture of the crew and captain.

They were all so nice and it was fun getting to know them.

A fun job they have I might say!

Manny the photographer let us go up to the captain's chair for a bit.

There were 45 people on our voyage.

At first we didn't know how they were going to fit everybody on.

But once we got going and everybody spread out it was perfect.

It was fun standing at the front of the boat and getting splashed as we cruised.



After about 45 minutes of sailing we came upon the dolphin cove.

There were TONS of dolphins! I want to say at least 40 of them.

They were swimming right in front of us and all around and under the boat.

It was the coolest thing watch.

You would see them flipping out of the water all around you.

 We watched them for about 30 minutes then starting cruising to our snorkeling spot.

In the meantime they had everybody start putting on our gear.

Right when we jumped in we saw a turtle.

They warned us not to touch the turtles because they are extinct and there a huge fines

if you do. I had no worries because deep sea life freaks me out a little and I wasn't about to go touching anything! Surprisingly the fish didn't really bother me. Getting used to breathing out of a tiny tube and trying not to inhale water was  the tough part.

 

 

But we got the hang of it and started getting brave.

Getting a little deeper.

Casey got the farthest down out of the two of us.

We were shocked how bad our ears would hurt not even going down that far.

 

 

We snorkeled for an hour then got back on the boat.

On the drive back in to shore they served us a fabulous lunch!

I wish I had a picture but it was the traditional kalua pork and grilled chicken,

rice, macaroni salad and fresh pineapple!

 

It was such a FUN adventure!

We got back around 2 so we decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach at our hotel.

There are rental booths lined all up and down the beaches.

All week we had been watching people do the stand up paddle boards so we decided to try it out.

We thought it would be fun to rent one and go out together.

Haha, it's not as easy as it looks!

They suggested the lighter person sits in front and the back person is on their knees with the paddle

until you feel comfortable standing up.

I was able to get up without tipping us over, probably because I am lighter.

We did take turns swimming behind the board in the water while the other was standing up by

themselves. It was really fun. And a workout!

 

We stayed on the beach till the sun went down then walked along

the Waikiki beach line. Casey spotted a Mexican restaurant so we ate dinner there.

It was pretty good. We had a hard time finding an ice cream shop so we went into an ABC store

and got some pints of Ben and Jerry's then headed back to our room for a movie and ice cream in bed! We were bushed so it was a nice ending to another perfect day!