Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I got to celebrate my countdown from 10 a day early! My hip surgery went as well as could be expected and I'm excited to be recovering. Waking up was hard and the narcs were too rough on my stomach. Despite being very nervous, right before surgery I had a tangible feeling that I was being watched over and protected. It was special and I have to say thanks to everybody that mentioned me in their prayers on my behalf. Thank you! 

Christmas 2014

 Brian asked me a few days before Christmas if I had any wishes left to enjoy the season, and the one thing I really missed doing this year was a sub-for-Santa. We've done it every year and I love the feeling of giving....but we had used our charitable budget throughout the year and by December it was all used up! It was a great year of giving but I really missed participating in something during this season. Brian approved and we scrounged up some extra money, made a call to the United Way, and found a family that hadn't been provided Christmas yet. So on December 23rd, I spent my time shopping at Target at 11 o'clock at night, doing last minute shopping so that this family with 3 children could get a Christmas they otherwise wouldn't have had. We dropped the gifts by on Christmas Eve morning on our way up to my parents house. It was a sweet exchange. My eyes teared up as we left and i knew my Christmas had been made.

We spent the afternoon at grammy and grampy Gray's house. We had fun watching the kids play with new toy room toys and they each enjoyed getting these cute stuffed animals from the grandparents! 

 Eli and Brian were both sick on Christmas Eve. It only got worse by Christmas Day. By the end of the most anticipated day of the year, half our family was sick with the flu with Jackson joining the pack. Fevers, chills, and coughs. Zoey started complaining once again of a sore throat and a look at her tonsils showed them so swollen they were touching in the back! I'm saying many prayers that I don't get sick. I have a surgery scheduled for the 30th that I'm hopeful won't get cancelled from me being sick!! The stuffed animals turned out to be a great present because they've all been cuddled by sick kids these past few days.

 Christmas morning started out peaceful. Kids woke up by 5:45 ready to open presents! I was sleeping int eh basement so I wouldn't get sick from Brian. He was kind enough to let me sleep until 6:30 when the kids could no longer wait to open their presents. It was an exciting morning! Santa was very generous to the kids. Jackson got a Nerf crossbow, Zoey got a doll, Eli got tools, Calvin got a monster truck and Isaac got a puppy to snuggle in his crib. Brian and I got an indoor bike trainer! It was exciting to see them so excited to open their stockings and presents. Even when not feeling the best, they sure made the day the best it possibly could be! They were so lovey-dovey. Isaac was just a cuddle bug. The room was a mix of pure chaos and excitement, love and hugs. Pure joy!

We had bacon and eggs and waffles fro breakfast. It's not our traditional bread pudding, but none felt good enough to cook the traditional Christmas Eve roast or dessert, so we had no left overs :) I don't mind, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to catch this moment of Calvin sitting on our bacon! ha ha!

That afternoon, we had Christmas dinner at my parents house and played in the snow. The sickies all stayed home to sleep. It was hard to leave them. Jackson (who was feeling fine at this point) and Zoey had the time of their lives in the snow and sledding with grumpy on their hill. I'm glad we finally got snow. Just for Christmas! It's been unusually warm and dry this year, so this was a real treat!

Although we've endured some sickness, it's been a great season. The past couple of days have been looked forward to all year and it's been the best! Now that it's over, there's nothing to do but get prepared for my surgery. I'm starting to get scared for the 30th :(

Isaac's first Birthday

I came down with the flu last night and have been feeling awful all day. I feel terrible for not having done much for Isaac's birthday. I didn't even wrap a present! Eli was my helper while the kids were at school in keeping him entertained so that I could lay down on the couch.  I did manage to whip up a cupcake for him. It was a snowman carrot cake and he loved it. He's starting to walk a few steps on his own. When he's really motivated to get something he wants, he'll stand in the middle of the room and start taking a few steps. I can't believe a year has gone by! It went so fast!  And as I recall, we were dealing with sickness this same time last year. It's winter in Utah! 

Maui, helicopter ride and last bits of fun

 Our helicopter ride was a total highlight. We saw parts of the Island that can only be seen by air. We covered the west Maui cliffs and crossed the ocean to the other Island of Molokai to check out the tallest sea cliffs in the world. It was stunning! SO COOL! I can't give enough rave reviews about this part of our trip. Just amazing. The mountains are lush and gorgeous and pristine. Just amazing!

 A tug boat!

On the last day we jumped from black rock on our beach, about 30 ft high, into the ocean. it was our way of saying goodbye! Soon after, a sea turtle swam right beneath us! He was saying goodbye too! We scavenged for some shells and sea glass, packed up and ate our last local Hawaiian food and waited for our departure. We went back to the beach at turtle town and watched the sunset. It had passed way too quickly.

Maui, Road to Hana

 The road to Hana is a famous drive, but extremely long. After catching a local ward, we headed out for the drive. It takes four hours up and four hours back, without sight seeing stops. It's extremely narrow with winding turns and one way bridges. I think there's over 200 turns or something like that. We drove all the way in to Hana with only one stop at a red sand beach where we collected coral. It ended up being a nudie beach so we didn't stay long :)

45 minutes past Hana is a hike we had heard great reviews on called the bamboo hike and the 7 sacred ponds. The hike was amazing!! 2 miles in to a 400 ft waterfall. Every step was gorgeous!! He climbed a really fun tree. We were running out of daylight at this time so we ran it down, did a quick dip in the 7 sacred ponds to wash up, and took the road less traveled home. It was a curvy dirt road the locals use, but had cliff edges on one side, so we had to be careful. The night was coming fast, and we didn't have time to dive the 4 hours home back the way we came, so it was our only choice :)