Hawaii 2011

Keith and I just spent an AWESOME week in Oahu with our good friends Jason and Emily! The trip was planned to celebrate Jason and Keith's 40th birthdays. They were mission companions and have been great friends ever since. We love to vacation with them as families, but this time, it was just the adults! Everything was perfect - the company, the resort, the food, the relaxation, the entertainment, the beach, the weather... I could go on and on. Here are a few of our memories in photo...
First, Jacuzzi time...nice!!! There were several jacuzzi's and they were never crowded. We could be frequently found in them:-)

We saw a couple of seals beaching it... that was kindof cool!

One of the highlights was swimming with sea turtles. We were told this particular cove was a great place to snorkle, and the fishes were great, but the sea turtles were awesome! Loved that!

(I meant to put this picture at the end :) This is our kids after we returned, wearing their new Hawaii t-shirts and necklaces... We took surfing lessons on Waikiki... it was so fun!!!

The landscaping was so pretty!

"Pirates of the Caribbean" ship - the movie was filmed on Oahu and we had a view of the ship from our room balcony. It's really cool looking!

The four of us at the end of sunset.

During our trip we celebrated our 15 year wedding Anniversary! Perfect!!

Another sunset photo on the beach...

The Polynesian Cultural Center! The night show "Ha - Breath of Life" was phenomenal! Look at that beautiful temple! There's nothing like being on temple grounds.

Pearl Harbor- It was sobering to be there and I was really glad we went.

We tried Fresh Pineapple Icecream at the Dole Plantation! Yum!!!

So much of our time was spent just relaxing on the beach. It was so so nice! Our trip was definitely a memory we will always cherish. Thanks Jason and Emily!

Weekend at Lake Roosevelt

Our time at the Lake was so much fun. Tyler enjoyed fishing with daddy and his cousin Carter several times...

We also enjoyed a little hiking...

...and A Lot of boating and tubing! It was so much fun! The kids and adults alike had a great time on the new tube Russ and Katie just got!

See Conner trying to do his "thumbs up" :) He is still perfecting it!

Spencer did a great job skiing!

I decided to try wake boarding again. It's fun...I'm definitely a beginner!

Tanner is doing great on the board too! Guaranteed his skills will surpass mine quickly!

Keith and Tanner enjoyed fishing a little too, and "observing" nature around the lake.

Hunter stayed up FOREVER! We finally dropped the rope, thinking he must be tired. When we came up to him, he said"Why did you drop the rope?" Apparently he wasn't wiped out!

Conner loved all of it!

The Pageant and Vegas

First of all I want to thank all of you who showed interest and watched the pageant "stuff" that was aired on TV. As you know if you did watch, Whitney did not make it into the final 14. The pageant lasts 4 nights total. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are when the girls all perform their talents, model their swimsuits, evening gowns, and have their interviews. So the only thing aired, besides the one-hour preliminary show, is the final night, Saturday night, where they immediately eliminate all but the top 14. Whitney was not one of the top 14. So, that was a bummer!!! We were all totally shocked because of course we think she's the greatest! She's phenomenal on the piano - (if you saw the preliminary show when you could vote then you saw her play twice) She's also so great in her interviews! She was one of 4 girls wearing a one-piece bathing suit, (out of 53) so considering how much they focused on the bikinis in the preliminary show, and you never once saw a girl in a one-piece, maybe that was her drawback. Anyway around it, she said (after the pageant when we were back at the condo) she has no regrets! She didn't mess up on anything she did - she was awesome and performed at her best! I must say I am so amazed and impressed at her accomplishments and all she's had to do to get where she is! We all are! You're awesome Whitney!

All that being said, the weekend in Vegas was so fun! I haven't been there in years!!! I loved seeing everything, including the Belagio - here are my parents at the gardens
eating and SHOPPING at Miracle Mile. My new favorite store - White House Black Market! Can't wait to go there again - hopefully they have sales!
This is Jenn and baby Lucy, me, Becky and Jessica and baby Isabel.

Another one from inside the Belagio.

Strolling around outside. The Eiffel Tower was cool! But the coolest thing was the outside Dancing Water Fountain at the Belagio. Loved it! Very worth watching!

And of course the whole reason for the trip...Jess and I at the Pageant!

It was awesome being able to spend time with my family! We were with Jess and Mike and the girls the whole time which was great! I wish we'd had as much time with Denise's family, but the time we did have was still so nice! There's nothing better than family unity and time shared together!

Vote for my niece in the Miss America Pageant

Denise, Whitney and Mitch! My niece Whitney Merrifield (Denise's daughter) is the current Miss Utah! And if you'd seen her perform at the pageant, you'd understand why. She's amazing! She's beautiful, intelligent, thin, and incredibly talented on the piano. It was so AWESOME watching her perform! The audience was in an uproar when she finished! And so now, she's off to Miss America. The pageant is this month, January 25th - 30th. And here's the part where YOU come in...

Save the date and VOTE FOR WHITNEY!

All you need to know is...



Voting Information:
First, watch the 2010 Miss America Pageant One-Hour Special Friday, January 29th on TLC. Check your local listings or visit TLC.com for channel information.

Following the Friday night special, America will be asked to vote for their favorites from a field of 10-12 contestants chosen by the 53 contestants themselves, not a team of outside consultants. The top four with the highest votes will be placed in the top-15 the final night. Vote for Whitney!

Miss America Pageant:
Saturday, January 30th on TLC.
Watch the Top 15 compete in swim wear, Top 12 in Evening wear and Top 10 perform their talent.

And, if you want to help spread the word, that'd be awesome!

Many of us family members will be there! Can't wait!

GO WHITNEY!!!

Remodel Complete!

Before...

The front door view

from the kitchen area
into the master bath area

(I didn't quite get the before picture soon enough for a "before" shot)

After...

The new and improved view from the front door. If it doesn't look like the same house it's because we took out the wall which separated the living room from the family room. We also raised up the sunken living room floor so it could all be level.

from the kitchen table, looking towards the front door.the new master bathI have yet to purchase the mirror for over the vanity.
And last but certainly NOT least because I love it...

our mudroom, coming in from the garage. It's where the washer and dryer used to be, which is now in the master bath area. They have their own closet.

I LOVE...

having the washer and dryer in my room,

a place just inside the door for everybody's stuff,

having a big kitchen table area at which our family can all sit comfortably (before it was tiny!)

having a larger, more spread out family room,

the spacious feel that our new and improved house now provides!

It was a gruelling 6 weeks, much harder than anticipated. And I must say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my 3 sisters-in-law who helped many times to watch my kids while I worked. And to a few of my good friends who also helped me. I could not have made it through without your help. And inspite of the fact that Keith was and is gone OFTEN, the key days he took off to be here and work were so helpful to me. Some days I just didn't think I could go through it anymore. My parents also came over a couple of days and painted and cleaned which was so great! And to Dan, my brother-in-law who is a general contractor and did the majority of the work, Thanks for your diligence and hard work! The end result ... just right!

I LOVE IT!

A Diamondbacks Birthday!

Keith got the firm tickets to the D-backs game for my Birthday! With 4 seats, we took Tanner and Spencer with us. It was so fun to go with the big boys and enjoy a game. We were just a few rows up from behind home plate. It was a great game, and we even made it not only on the jumbotron, but on TV as well. And to top it off, Cold Stone gives out free icecream on your birthday, so I had one awesome wafflecone, with cookiedough icecream (you know me:) and chocolate and caramel sauce. Of course, I shared with Keith, and we got one for the boys. It was a FUN night!

And then for my present, I went to see Wicked the following night at Gammage with the Forsberg crew. It was awesome - LOVE IT! Can't wait to see it again, this time with Keith! (He was unable to go because Tanner had a tournament baseball game.)

Our little baby Flew the Coop

Check out our cute little hummingbird! He's just a baby. His little nest is right outside our front door, under our entryway. We were wondering for a while why a hummingbird kept hovering by our front door. Eventually, we noticed this tiny little nest - about 2 inches in diameter - up on my twigs by the ceiling. Obviously, the bird thought this was a great place to lay eggs. And within a few days, we noticed a little beek peaking out! SOOO Cute! We hardly saw the mommy after that, in fact, we thought the baby was going to starve. But then one morning we came out, and the baby wasn't there. Then Keith looked above the entryway, and...

there it was! It sat there for a minute, then flew a few feet at a time, going back and forth to the raingutter, and then it flew off! It was so cute to see his first flight off into the big world!Good luck little Hummingbird!