It just another day in Paradise...

This post has been done for such a long time, I just couldn't get my video to upload- so, here it finally is... bear with me- it's a long one...

Wednesday, we woke up early for our snorkel cruise to the island of Lanai. We were very excited because we did this same cruise the last time we came to Maui and loved it. We saw lots of dolphins on our last trip and that was what I was excited about the most.

Being out in the water in a boat is unreal.

You stop out in the middle of the ocean and look down- this is what you see...

We stopped at the first snorkel sight and were able to swim with about 6 sea turtles.

It was awesome! I couldn't believe how close they came to us. I was using my underwater camera (the pictures didn't turn out very well) and just floating around. I was watching this one turtle, (through the tiny little lense of the disposable camera) waiting for him to turn in my direction, to get a great picture for the kids- of course. Well, remember how it says that "Objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they appear" , well the same applies for sea turtles through a disposable camera lense. He finally turned in my direction and I got a picture of him, but as I took the camera away from my face, he was seriously no more than 6 inches from my face. It freaked me out a little and I just might have sucked in quite a bit of sea water.

Note to self: Don't gasp under water. But it was really cool that they were ok with us swimming around them. Oh, and we saw lots of cool fish too.

I remembered from our last trip that usually you see dolphins early in the morning, so I was starting to stress out that we had not seen any yet. The boat left for the next snorkel sight, it was really pretty. Here's a picture of Todd waiting for me to get in. I guess I won't post the picture of him with all the gear on since you look pretty ridiculous.

We ate lunch there in the boat in the middle of paradise. By now I was REALLY stressing because STILL NO DOLPHINS!! I was really sad and (I know this is silly but) I even said a little prayer that we would PLEASE see dolphins. That is such a neat thing for me, I just love them. The captain said he had radioed to other boats, and no one had seen any. And that by this time of day, they were in their "sleeping mode." He decided to "drive around" and show us some of the scenery of this private island called Lanai. It is beautiful!

As the captain was telling a story about the island, someone on our boat thought they saw something WAY off in the distance...

Yep, my dolphins came to see me...
Not only did we see tons of them all over the place swimming, we also got to see them do this...

The dolphins just swim along the boat and jump out of the water- It was AWESOME!! I was so happy!! I could now return to land, a happy girl!

This is the banyon tree in Lahina. You cannot see how huge it is, but it is a whole block big. It keeps going and going...

We went back to our condo and took a nap. Then later that afternoon, we went to Kannapali.

We ate dinner at the Hula Grill, it is a restaurant right on the sand. We had fish and chips and it was yummy! We even brought home some of the Hula Grill Chili Sauce! We ate with the sand on our feet and a fantastic view of the ocean!

We took a romantic sunset walk on the beach...

And watched the ceremony that they do every night at "Black Rock". A guy walks all the way up the rock, lighting torches all along the way. He throws the torch in the ocean, then takes off his lei and throws it in the ocean, and jumps in the water. It's cool and I think the picture turned out really neat...

It was a fabulous day!

Thursday, was our last full day in Maui so we went to our favorite breakfast

restaurant, the Gazebo.

This is a picture from the Gazebo, of Napili Beach.

And then went over to Napili for Todd to boogie board and for me to swim.

Then we went back to Honaloa Bay to snorkel.

This is the path to Honola Bay, it looks like you are in the rain forest!

We went out even farther and saw more fish, an eel and beautiful coral. It really was amazing.

We went home and cleaned up and went out for the last time. We ate at Leilani's downstairs

and had Hula Pie.

Another wonderful sunset...

and a little more shopping in Lahina.

Here are some pictures of our condo...

And the car we rented, an HHR...

On Friday morning, we got up and drove back to Honoloa Bay to take a couple of pictures before we left.

And then stopped at another beach to take a picture of our feet in the sand.

"Maui is a special place for us as a couple. We really connect with the pace and activities and beauty of the island. It is also one endless, magnificant date that allows us to reconnect as a couple. We love our kids, but being alone is very special. We connect with nature and stand in awe of our Heavenly Father's creations. We will miss it, but we'll be back someday...."

(An excerpt from Todd's journal entry)

Maui Adventures

Monday morning, we got up, ate breakfast on our Lanai and got ready for our Zipline. We hung out at the beach and read our books until it was time to go. (Todd read a baseball book called "Playing With The Enemy" and I read "Breaking Dawn" of course. See it down there in the left corner? )

We were a little nervous but excited to do something new. We arrived at the Zipline place and were ready to go. We all climbed into this 4 wheel drive, 15 passenger van and headed off for the ride of our lives, up in the mountains above the ocean. The drive up was unreal- just to give you an idea, we had to wear our helmets IN THE VAN!

It is the craziest drive I have ever been on! We were bumping and bouncing all over the place. We got our harnesses on and got a little instruction and off we went! We were a little nervous the very first zip, but it was Awesome!


Todd

Penny

We had a view of the ocean the entire time we were up there.

Our guides were super funny...See him there in the backround?

We hiked in between each of the 8 ziplines, and then ate lunch on a 1,000 foot cliff. It was really cool!

We got back to our condo and decided we would go snorkeling at Kapalua Bay. We came home and watched the beautiful sunset off of our Lanai.....

We finished our evening eating at Maui Tacos after I blew a fuse blow drying my hair, and took out the power of half of our unit and the one next to us...

Tuesday was a great day as we went snorkeling at our favorite place, Honaloa Bay.

This is a protected Bay, and there are so many fish, that there are chartered cruises that take people there to snorkel. We can drive there, as it is just a few minutes down the road. You walk through this beautiful jungle,

and then it opens up to this huge bay. The color of the water is just unreal. We saw tons of fish: schools of literally thousands of fish, eels, huge puffer fish, every variety you could imagine. It is really neat to just swim around together and look at all the beautiful things that are under water. It is so relaxing too, as it is so quiet and beautiful. We went back to our condo and rested for a little while and then went back to Napili Beach for a little boogie boarding for Todd, and floating around in the ocean for me. We went home and got ready- no power outages this time- for a beautiful sunset, dinner at Bubba Gumps, and a little shopping, all in Lahina.

Paradise!

Check out our Dolphin Adventure next...

Aloha!!

I guess I should start off by saying, "Aloha!" as Todd and I just returned from a fabulous

trip to Maui.

Thanks a TON to "Grammy" who flew up from Oregon to watch the kids for the week. I could do a whole separate post on the "Rowell Olympics", games they played, croquet tournaments, each kid getting to pick meals for the day, etc. etc. The kids had a blast and

so did we! Thanks Grammy, you Rock!!

Picture of Grammy with Nathan & Tyler at Christmas

The night before we left, Nathan kept waking up during the middle of the night crying that he didn't want us to leave. We tried to comfort him and put him back to bed, but a little while later, he would be back up crying. He even told us that he was going to say a prayer that we wouldn't go to "Who-why". (That is how he says Hawaii) Since our plane was leaving at 6am, we had to get up at 3:30 am. We could NOT go to sleep, we were just too excited. We kept saying, "I can't believe that we are going to be in Hawaii tomorrow! " We FINALLY fell asleep at 1:30am, and that is when Nathan's visits began. So after getting about 2 hours of sleep, I put on my

"Beach or Bust" shirt and off we went to the airport...

Re-enactment photo

We flew into Seattle and then on to Maui. Because of the 3 hour time difference, we arrived in Maui at 11:15 am. We drove straight to our condo right on the ocean in Kahana, marveling that we were really in Maui. We opened the door to our condo and were thrilled as the Hawaiian music was playing as the ocean waves were crashing below us. It was awesome. We looked around a bit and decided that we would go straight to the beach. We went to one of our favorite beaches to swim at... Napili Beach. We played in the water and enjoyed being together ALONE. We stopped for sandwiches on the way home and took them back to eat on our lanai (that is what the Hawaiians call a balcony). We decided to lay down for "just a few minutes" and then were going to clean up and watch the sunset. We woke up 2 hours later and it had already set. We were exhausted from no sleep, and the time difference...

Saturday we woke up and went to our favorite breakfast restaurant, The Gazebo. It is right on Napili Bay and worth the wait. And you really do have to wait awhile. One of their specialties is Banana Macadamia Nut pancakes...

After breakfast, we headed over to the Maui Flea Market (Todd's favorite part- ya, right) and stopped at the store on the way home. Then we headed over to a beautiful beach called Kapalua, that is known for it's awesome snorkeling. We saw lots of cool fish, including the biggest puffer fish I had ever seen!! We went home and got cleaned up and went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, Leilani's...

It is right on the ocean in Kaanapali, and we were able to watch the sunset there.
Very romantic!

On Sunday, Todd made us breakfast and we ate on our lanai.

We decided that we would drive part way to Hana. Those of you who have ever driven the whole way to Hana, know just how long it takes. They even sell shirts that say, "I survived the road to Hana!" There are a lot of one lane bridges, beautiful view, twists and turns, and waterfalls, beaches, etc etc. We had driven the whole way about 10 years ago and so we just went part of the way this time...

We stopped along the way and hiked up to Twin Falls, it was a really pretty hike. But I probably should have picked better shoes than flip flops to hike in.

The waterfalls were really neat.....

And those much braver than us, jumped off the top... NO thank you!

This is a peninsula on the way to Hana. It is one of my favorite places. There is all this black lava rock, and the water is the most beautiful color. The waves just crash against the rocks, it is absolutely amazing!

We ate our sandwiches there, in the car, because it was just SO windy. You wanna know just how windy it was? Check this out...

LOVE the hair!! My kids think this picture is pretty funny!

The views were fantastic...

The flowers were beautiful...

But, the company was the best!

See? Windy!!

We drove home and decided that we would watch the sunset on the beach right outside

our condo...

I LOVE this picture!

What a fun day!

"Zip" on by later in the week to see what what we did on the rest of our trip...

The Treasure of Motherhood

My Mother's Day started off with a bang. First, I was able to sleep in, and then got a back rub when I woke up (thanks Todd). The kids made me waffles (toaster waffles) and wrote "We love you" in peanut butter. Trevor serenaded me with "Twinkle, Twinkle little star" and "When the Saints Go Marching In", (the only songs he knows since he has been teaching himself to play the guitar) while Brandon and Tyler made my bed.

Next, I we had a treasure hunt to find my presents (thanks Brandon). The clues were up and down and up and down the stairs...

(For some reason this picture wouldn't turn the right way)

Everyone helped with the clues that lead to the treasure...

The last clue lead us to the basement. And here is what I found...

Tyler had made me some things at school and scouts. One was a coupon book. It included coupons for: a 2 minute back massage, doing dishes, a car wash, and breakfast in bed. He also made me a cute card...

Tyler also made me this cool bag to carry my stuff in

Nathan drew me a picture. It is of me and him. Apparently I have a HUGE Ice cream cone and he is trying to eat it! And he also had a big kiss for me.

(His card said, "Dear Mommy, I lub you. I lub you because it's going to be Mother's Day. I like gibing you presents on Mother's day because I lub you so much. I really lub you so I'll hug you. Happy Mother's Day. It's a special day! Lub, Nathan"

Trevor, Brandon, and Todd also made me really nice cards.

And because my family know me so well, and knows that I am obsessed with taking pictures, they bought me a digital key chain that holds 120 pictures. So that I can carry them around with me where ever I go. Great idea, huh?! And, it's PINK!

After church, Todd and the kids made dinner. They made yummy nachos. Todd wanted to be sure that it would be something that everyone would be able to help out with. Pam and Loyd came for dinner and brought cheesecake for dessert. It was a really nice day.

I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with. I have an awesome husband who loves me and our children more than anything. I love all my boys and know the Lord knew what he was doing giving them to me. I used to be sad that I never had a girl, but now I truly appreciate my boys and what they teach me, and know that my family is just how it was intended. As crazy and hectic as our life sometimes is (especially during Baseball season) I wouldn't change it for the world. Being a Mother is a challenge, no matter how many kids you have. Sometimes you feel like you are doing a great job and sometimes you fell like you are failing miserably. But then you hear your 4 year old say a prayer, or tell a scripture story in detail, or you see your older kids cheering for their younger brother for hitting a grand slam, giving him high fives, and telling him how awesome it was, seeing them help each other out, and having fun together, and you realize that maybe, just maybe, you are doing a better job than you sometimes give yourself credit for. I am so lucky to be able to stay home with my kids. It may not always be easy, but it is always worth it. The real treasure is being a mother to my 4 precious boys. Seeing the great young men they are turning into makes me proud beyond words. Thanks for making my Mother's Day and my life wonderful! I love you!

The Most Important Job In The World

The most important job in the world doesn't offer an hourly wage or days off

or paid vacations.

But it does offer real feelings,

shining faces,

bedtime stories,

small victories,

priceless memories,

and many wonderful moments of joy....

I am so very blessed to have such a wonderful Mother. I am so thankful for all she does for me, for all she has taught me, for all the good advice she's given, for being my cheerleader when I really needed one, for loving and accepting me for who I am, for always being there when I have had every baby, and for helping me after, for loving my husband and kids the way the she does, for being fun to be around, for sharing my addiction to Ross, for always remembering us in her prayers, for actually wanting to live across the street from us, for always coming to visit us just to spend time with us, for working so hard, for being so faithful in the gospel, and for having a strong testimony and raising us with the gospel, so that we could have the kind of family that we were raised in.

"Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels."

-The First Presidency, 1935

I am so grateful for my angel mother...

I love you Mom, Happy Mother's Day!

Nathan recants

This is Nathan. Nathan is 4 years old and has many funny idiosyncrasies. (You can read about Nathan's other OCD tendencies in an earlier post) One is that he does NOT like Santa. When asked why, he says, "Because I don't like his beard and boots." So, not only does Nathan not like Santa, he really doesn't like anyone with a beard. So, last year when our friends The Pate's came to visit, he cried and wouldn't come out of his room. He wanted NOTHING to do with Everette, who has quite a long beard. He pleaded with us to just let him stay in his bed. This was at 3:00 in the afternoon. It was so very embarrassing- Finally after the whole day of them being here, he was ok being in the same room with Everette. And even ended up liking him as they left. The funny thing was that after being so scared of him, he talked about him and asked his wife how he was doing. Well, fast forward about 8 months... The Pate's came and stayed the night with us on their way to Montana. Nathan was excited to see them, and especially "Ebrett" (Everette). When they arrived, he told "Ebrett", "You're the only bearded guy I like." It was priceless!!

We tried to tell Nathan that is was just hair and to touch it- and, of course I had the camera ready!

The kids played pool and watched a movie while the adults went out to dinner

(I forgot to take a picture- dang it!)...

Thanks again guys!!

(My) Brandon and (Her) Todd are very much alike. They both enjoy helping with cars, building things, fixing things, and any kind of work.

We finished off their short visit with a trip to Cabella's. I know, it looks like the zoo. But it is the biggest sports store ever.

We are so grateful for their friendship!!

Trip to Mount Spokane

In February we decided to take a drive up to Mt. Spokane for the first time since we have lived here. The drive was really pretty. The sky was clear and vibrant blue. It was a beautiful day....

The trees were packed with snow, and so was the roof of the bathroom...

Here are two of my little "angels". The other two were off on a hike with their dad...

Look at the size of this tree in comparison to my kids. I was worried the whole time that a huge hunk of snow was going to fall out of that tree and knock my family unconscience. The entire time we were up there, you continuously heard snow falling out of the trees. I guess because the sun was up and melting all the snow. It really sounded neat.

Todd pretending to throw Nathan head first into the snow...

Here's all my handsome boys

And here's my sexy husband.

See how blue the sky was and how cute the smiles were?

How could you not have a good time?!

Isn't this unreal? We saw this on the way home. And the windows were even open. Yep, there was quite a bit of snow up there!

We had a really fun time together! The kids had a blast just playing in the snow...

And needless to say, we were all exhausted on the way home...