Friday, September 18, 2009

Hawaii Part II

Hawaii Part 2

Alicia is forcing me to blog, so here is my input. The Dole plantation was fun, seeing all the different kinds of pineapples were cool. There were big ones, small ones, and some as big as your head. Overall the place was really cool, but the train ride was a scam. In the words of Cameron Cunningham, "It was a teenage waste land of pineapple pollution." The plus of the whole trip was the fresh Pineapple Dole Whips which we ate with haste and were sad to see disappear so fast.



Alicia like the cute baby Pink pineapple. She loves everything that's small and pink.
Helena and my sister Rachel making faces in the cut out.
The next adventure we embarked on was a Catamaran and snorkeling extravaganza. The boat was totally awesome and to much of my surprise Alicia had so much fun and I was so proud of how brave she was fro snorkeling for so long and by her self even. We're slowly getting over that fear of the unknown. She's so rad!

This is Courtney and Cameron (aka; Brigham) on the Catamaran.
At one point the crew members passed around a Conch Shell and had us blow in it and try to make a horn sound. It was through this shell that most modern ship's now have that unique loud horn sound that they use to let other boats aware of where they are.




This was the main lagoon at the resort. It was really nice to sit in and lounge the day away, but for me I was sad that there were no waves to body surf on.
One night thanks to Alicia's Island obsession with virgin Lava Flows, we decided to make our own. Thanks Rachel for making these delicious drinks.This is us or me at Lani Kai Beach. In the background you can see two little twin Islands I forgot the name. I so wanted to swim all the way out there, but we ran out of time. The water was so nice and warm.
This is the back yard of the Cloward's House. The Cloward's are family friends that we connected with by way of the singles ward. I met Kelly and Kim when I got back from my mission and our families have connected and are so grateful to count them as our family friends. While we were there Kerry (their Dad) and Kelly took us out on the local break to surf some waves in their ocean kayak's. I also paddled out with Kerry but soon found myself far out and caught in a strong current so I paddled back in a grabbed a kayak to join Kelly out there. It was so much fun just being in the ocean. Truly this place is paradise.


The next day we went for a drive up the coast to see Sunset and Waimea Bay. Along the way we stopped and saw the turtles laying on the beach. It was so funny to see them army crawl up to the shore and then flop down and pass out almost instantly. It reminded me of watching my dad sit down to read his scriptures on Sunday afternoon.
At Sunset Helena got a face full of sand and it didn't even phase her. Rachel on the other hand did not find it as funny as Helena.
Ahhh...the sand was as soft as a cloud.


The Laie Temple was so rad, the missionaries were awesome and I think Alicia and I know where we want to serve one of our missions when we get older.
There's a special Spirit at that Temple. It always brought a smile to our faces.
On the way back from the temple my mom and dad where talking about when my Mom use to live there and how they ate at this one place 30 years ago. So thanks to James (Our GPS) we were able to find the same restaurant that they were talking about and had a late dinner there.
Upon our arrival home Alicia and I were in morning to have to leave that beautiful place and return to bitter reality.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hawaii Part I

Oahu, I wish I could start and end this post with just that one word but that wouldn't be enough for those that read this blog. (If there are any) Our trip to Oahu was so much fun. We stayed at The Marriott Resort at Ko' Olina beach Resort. Here is an aerial picture of the resort:
Aerial View
The first morning we went to breakfast at the hotel beach shack. Helena loves to eat dishes. What makes it especially hilarious is that the cup is clear and you can see her chowing down. She looks so cute in her sunglasses.

The first day we went to Costco to load on food for the week. Loading up is an understatement. It's way to easy to go overboard (which we did)
This is the view from the lanai. We had two beds and two pull out couches. Helena had her own little bedroom nook. Rachel slept in the pull out couch closet to Helena. Courtney, Cameron, Drew and I would take turns swapping between the pull out bed and the nice comfy bed. Rachel, Lynn, Helena and I all went and got or nails done.=)
Later in the day we hung out in the pool and that night we went to a little Luau sneak peak on the grass of the hotel.
Day two Drew and I spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I could not wait to take Drew there because he most days thinks he is Polynesian. This is what Drew thought about it "The PCC was amazing, I felt like my skin turned brown by the end of the day. I love my Poly's" When we visited the Island of Tonga they asked for a couple of Volunteers. Guess who was chosen to go up and preform? Yes that's right Drew was the best one up there.
He also learned to throw spears. Instead of arguing this specific island I can't remember which one would have a spear throwing contest.

So Drew and I are watching the canoe pageant and who should appear but my friend Esther! It was such a fun surprise we met up later that night. Her daughter is so adorable. It was nice to catch up with her.



My extremely happy husband at the end of a very fun day!!!

Monday, July 13, 2009

All aboard!

So not to long ago Alicia and I had the opportunity to join Chris and Kendra Beery (Scott) for her mother's surprise Birthday party. Shout out to Heather for putting us on the guest list. I have been on one of these previously when I celebrated my best friends father's 60Th Birthday, I guess its an older person thing to do. Well if I had it my way I think its the best idea because here are all your friends stuck on the boat for however long you rented the boat for. Thus it forces your one group of friends to talk and mingle with the other group. Chris and I were having fun watching the two groups collide in an awkward but smooth transition. Needless to say we had a blast dancing the night away and pretending to be "Yachters". I hope you enjoy these pictures and who knows maybe one day you'll have the opportunity to be the one in other group trying to cross that line of silence.
We had a super fun night with Chris & Kendra.


Alicia looks beautiful and fits right in but as for me and my fro, well let's just say I stuck out like a sore thumb. I'm surprised I wasn't mistaken for the bust boy.
It was really hard to get a descent shot of the girls because they were rocking out so hard. So this is as good as it gets. These girls love to dance. I blame cheer.
Chris and I did have some moves of our own but were to fast almost as fast as a wild love tigress!
After the party we went and saw Angels & Demons, this was when it got funny at one point in the movie I leaned over to see the reactions of everyone and Alicia was in the fetal position, Kendra had her hands covering her eyes with one seem that she was peeking through , and Chris was a firm as an Ox not even flinching. As for me it was intense but worth it . As we walked away from the movie Alicia couldn't help but wonder if Rome was really like that with all the dead bodies buried under everything. This makes me think that when we go to Rome that Alicia will have no desire to visit the Vatican or St. Paul's Basilica. We'll have to see.

Cutie Pies

In May I spent a week at my Mom's house. While I was there I went to the Zoo with my parents, Amanda & the kids. It was a little warm but really fun. My mom and I also did a lot of shopping=) I was able to see Kimmi she is fun I wish we could hang out more. I used to share a room with her (She used to make me sing her to sleep haha ) I love my sissy. I also was able to spend a lot of time with Amanda! She is such a good example for me I love her and her kiddies!

Emma had ballet it was so fun watching her dance she is a cute little peanut. It was kind of a bummer because now that Kael is old enough to be in school he wasn't around to much=(Aiden was being very silly while Emma was at her dance class.I don't have any pictures besides this but for memorial day we went to Santa Barbara for the weekend. We went to the beach, swimming & the Zoo. I love my family I wish I could see them more often.

Friday, July 10, 2009

The Seminary Kids

This year I taught seminary. It was so much fun I had the best class! Through out the year Alicia & I were so impressed with this group of kids. Not only were they fun but they were very kind to one another. I have always wanted to work the youth of the church since I was a youth. I found great strength in my early years being able to turn my friends and leaders as an anchor to me as I traveled that hard road that we all must face at one point in our lives. My class always amazed me with the amount of knowledge they had gained at such an earlier age than I did. I would constantly be reminding them how fortunate they were to be this far in the game when it came to becoming a true disciple of Christ. Throughout the year we would play games and the following pictures are of our favorite game called "Chariot Races" (thanks again for the idea Sister B.)

The object of the game is to have your team guess the chapter and verse and then its up to two players to win the race. One player sits in the charriot and the other pulls to a table where they have to find the scripture mastery chapter and verse and then blitz back to their team to finish the race. We always had fun laughing with the kids who had fallen and the player pulling hadn't notice that he/she had been dragging them all the way to the half court mark. Love the games, love the kids!

Needless to say Alicia and I loved these kids with all our heart and hope that one day we can continue this great calling yet again. Thank you seminary kids for making our first year of marraige amazing, we love you and appreciate you.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Easter??? I know that's how bad I have been!

This is more for me than anyone else since I have 4 months behind! It was nice to have the most of the family together but we missed Courtney & Cameron! See this is why you don't wait four months to blog about something because the details are a little fuzzy!=)

My husband is the BEST! Lynn bought matching dresses for the grandnieces. The most humorous part was the Zoe kept leaning over and trying to "love" Helena more like smacking her. Zoe would get so excited she would move her hands up and down and Helena just happened to be in the way. Grandma and Grandpa are so sweet to each other. Grandma Forester with the adorable little babies. We miss you grandma and we hope we can see you soon!

Friday, April 24, 2009

My First Ticket! booo

I am by no means the best driver in the world. Some might say it's pretty scary in the passenger seat of my car. I have definitely improved over the years, but for the most part I am pretty good with following the laws of the roads...UNTIL the inevitable happened. Drew and I switched our scripture study from night time to mornings which turns out to be great. So I am on my way to work thinking about what a great way to start off my morning and singing out loud to myself. Totally oblivious to my speed, the road and obviously the police officer. Randomly while waiting for the light to turn green I glance in my rear view mirror and noticed flashing lights and it took me a couple of minutes to realize it was for me. Lame!!! I wonder how long he was following me. I always thought that the first time I got pulled over that I would ball my eyes, unfortunately I could not make the tears come. This did not help me at all, the officer came to my window asked for my license and registration and told my he would be right back. When he returns to my window he said "I clocked you going 50 in a 35 here you go (hands me the ticket) have a great day". I didn't even get a chance to plead my case. I am not sure what that case is other than I had a blond moment while driving to work but still no chance for anything. I still am not sure how much the ticket is for I am to scared to look. I hope that is the first and last of the driving infractions but I some how doubt that. =)