Christmas

Christmas has really changed for me as a parent.  I love the season and the magic it brings, but we decided a couple years ago we were going to simplify our holiday season and it has been the best thing.  

I LOVE this decoration at my grandma's house.  These are real ice skates her and my grandpa used on the lake behind their ranch when it would freeze.  

Emilee is getting so close to being a mom.  

She is going to be a great mom. 

We can't wait to meet baby Harris.  

Cannon made this "mistletoe" out of perler beads and he would randomly hold it over his head and ask me for a kiss.  He is the dang sweetest kid I've even known.  

He makes my heart happy.  

It was a fantastic Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve Ice Skating

I love Ice Skating!

I love my family!

I love my friends who are family!

Cannon and Kylee both loved this activity.  I wish we took them more often.  

I love this little girl.  She is sweet and kind hearted and she is just my little buddy.  I'm so glad she is in my life.  

It was fun to spend time with the Keller's and I hope that we have many more ice skating dates in the future.  

We spent the rest of the night at my Grandma's house enjoying our usual family traditions of Bingo and Carols.  It was a great night.  

Kauai

Kauai was another favorite.  I LOVED golfing in Kauai.  It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful coarse I have ever seen.  It was also the hardest.  It was such a cool experience.  I have golfed more this year than ever and I really love that it is something Curtis and I enjoy doing together.  I hope we do it even more next year and for the rest of our lives.  

Curtis told me this was just the beginning of a new tradition.  We golf everywhere we go now.  ;)  

It will be hard to find another coarse as beautiful as this one though.  

These two make everything fun!

Sank it!

I love this picture!!!  

The airport is right by the coarse so it was cool to watch planes land through out the day.  

Coolest hole EVER!!!

Such an awesome coarse!

It was seriously so beautiful.  The pictures don't do it justice.  

It was a fantastic day full of fun!

Kona

I didn't know what to expect in Kona.  I honestly hadn't even heard of Kona before.  It ended up being my FAVORITE place for sure!!!  It was the best day full of amazing things and tons of fun.  

We didn't see many signs of Christmas while we were in Hawaii.  There would be the occasional decoration (like the tree behind us) and a few places played Christmas music but it didn't feel festive at all.  It was really strange to come home and only have a few days until Christmas.  

Curtis loves to fish.  He was admiring this big fish.  I think an Alaskan cruise may be in our near future.  

It was another gorgeous day on the Big Island.  

Kona's beauty surprised me and finally I felt like I was getting the vacation I expected.  We took a Captain Zodiac boat adventure and it was FANTASTIC.  The speed of the boat was thrilling and the wild life we saw on the way to the snorkel spot was UNREAL.  We saw a TON of dolphins...so close, swimming right under our boat and beside it.  They would come jump out of the water and it was like Sea World, but ten times better.  The first group we saw were small spinner dolphins.  They were awesome and playful and I was in heaven.  Then a little further down we saw a bunch of bottlenose dolphins.  Much bigger and a little less playful but still incredible.  Then my friend Scott spotted a humpback whale and just as we got close to it the amazing animal BREACHED right out of the water.  He came out, did a little flip, and then his gigantic tail splashed the water.  It was INCREDIBLE!!!  Like something you see in the movies...not in real life.  Truly awesome. 

When we got to the snorkel spot it was the coolest snorkeling I have ever done.  So many gorgeous fish everywhere.  It was awesome.  It was most definitely my favorite day.  That night we hung out on the ship and played Name that Tune with a very amazing piano player in the Pink Bar.  It was funny and I was awesome at the game and it turned out to be a day I will remember for always.  

It was PERFECTION!!!

Hilo

We woke up in Hilo and it was again raining which meant more rainbows.  Our excursion for that day was kayaking to waterfalls and I was very excited about it.  

I didn't get a single picture of us kayaking but man was it an adventure.  We went at high tide and the waves were incredibly big.  There was an 80 year-old couple with us and they ended up tipping over and needing help.  It was a little scary.  We ended up never making it to the waterfall but it was still a great adventure.  Riding the waves in the kayak was a lot of fun.  

That night I started getting horrible pains in my back and I knew right away what that meant.  I had a kidney stone.  :(  I hate my freaking kidneys.  Curtis was SO good to me.  He helped me through the pain and made me laugh even when I felt horrible.  I love him so much and am so glad he is mine.  

It seemed like everything was against us and all our plans were being ruined, but we laughed and enjoyed every minute anyway.  

The sunset that night was amazing (they all were).  I didn't miss a single sunrise or sunset the whole trip.  It was incredible.  

I really enjoyed Hilo, even with a kidney stone.  

Maui

I was really excited for Maui.  In fact, before the trip happened, I was sure Maui was going to be my favorite island.  We woke up and it had been raining all night and was still sprinkling a little but that just meant there were rainbows to look at.  It was very pretty.  

We got our swim suits on and headed out to take the Road to Hana.  

We rented a jeep and I had visions of riding down the coastline with the top off enjoying the views and stopping along the way to do some of the neat hikes and so forth.  I had read the road was windy and slow but beautiful and worth the drive.  

The rain ruined my "topless" vision.  It was just too rainy to take the top off.  The road was extremely narrow and twisty.  It was actually not pleasant at all.  

We were very excited to see the first stop and even though it was still sprinkling a little we got out and explored. 

We got to the first waterfall and there were some kids jumping in the water.  Scott and I decided we might as well jump with them.  

The water was cold but not too bad.  

It was a fun experience. 

Then we waded through some more water to get to another waterfall.  

It was a very fun stop and definitely the highlight of the day.  We got back in the jeep but it wasn't too long before everyone in the car was very car sick.  We didn't even make it half way to Hana before we turned around and went back to the boat.  It was not at all how I thought it would be.  

The next day in Maui started with a GORGEOUS sunrise and I was hoping that meant it was going to be a better day.  

We had planned a trip out to Molokini Crater and Turtle town to do some snorkling. 

The sun was out but it was extremely windy.  

The captain of the boat informed us that the high winds were keeping us from making it out to the crater, but that he would take us to another spot to snorkel instead.  Bummer.  :(  We did see a few humpback whales while we were out on the ocean and the crew of the Catamaran were super nice and had a great bbq of hamburgers they cooked up for us.  All in all it was a fun little trip, but still not at all what I was expecting and a little disappointing.  

However, the scenery was still beautiful and Curtis and the Keller's make anything fun.  

We still had a blast. 

I seriously love J!!!

It was a fun day.

Scott is like my big brother.  I'm going to get sentimental for a second...he came into my life just when I needed him most.  He has helped me a lot with my family and at work.  He is a great example, friend, and person.  I am thankful everyday that I get to work with him and that he introduced me to his wife Janina.  She has also filled a hole in my heart.  She is one of the most unselfish people I know and I love her dearly.  She makes me want to be a better mom and wife and always inspires me to be better and do more.   I was really glad to have them in Hawaii with us.