March 16th, 2014

• We bought the girls a queen bed last month so now the kids are way more comfortable when they sleep together. This picture makes me laugh because Bodee is wearing an eye mask. What a weirdo!

• Birthday Selfie! 32 years old! Wow, where has the time gone?

• For my Birthday Todd took me out to lunch at Zupas and then the girls and I sold Girl Scout Cookies for a couple of hours. Later that night, after Brynn's soccer game Todd took our family out to The Pizza Factory. His parents were kind enough to join us and celebrate my Birthday with us. I only got this one picture while we were out, but the kids got me the nicest gifts. Brynn picked out a new purse, Addy picked out earrings, Bodee picked out a watch. Todd gave me a coupon for a massage. I received gifts and cards from my parents, in-laws, and grandma. And lots of phone calls and texts. Such thoughtful, sweet gifts. Seriously, a special day for me, I felt so loved!

• Elizabeth brought me this cute fish balloon bouquet. Love!

• Merri gave me this one piece pj set stuffed with balloons and a bling mug. Perfect for the gym. I can check myself out in the bling mirror on the cup to make sure my hair looks good while I work out. So thoughtful:)

• On Saturday while Addy went to a birthday party Todd took Brynn out for a special to play a few holes of golf. Adorable!

• I needed more than one day of birthday celebration so I threw myself a groovy party. 32 is an important year ya know! I chose to go to Classic Skating in Orem for Disco Night. It's for only 16 years old and older so no kiddos allowed. It was a ladies only party.  I called and scheduled a party and reserved the karaoke room for the party. The party was a blast! It was suppose to end at 11pm but we closed the place down at midnight. So, so, so fun! I am so grateful for the group of ladies I have become friends with in my ward. They truly are the best! We laughed non-stop all night.
• Here are those of us that dressed up 70s style!

• I laugh with this awesome lady, Merri ALL. THE. TIME.

• We got game tokens as part of the birthday package so all the ladies pooled the tickets they won from the games for me. That bought me some fuzzy dice to hang on the car mirror, and a blow up spaceship. Sweet party favors.
• Merri has some sweet skills and made me these great colleges of party pictures. LOVE!

• Just lovin' this cute three year old boy.

March 9th, 2014

• We got back from on Hawaii on a Wednesday so this post is just for half a week.
• Brynn made the USA swim team! She tried out for pre-competitive team while we were gone and upon our return received the email that she made it! Congratulations to my very hard working Brynner. There were only two spots available on the team and apparently there were lots of kids that tried out. So so proud of her! After we accepted her spot I talked to the coaches and they told me they were so impressed with her skills and they rarely see a five year old with her level of skills. Brynn is amazing!
• Girl Scout cookies were delivered while we were gone. Luckily my co-leader pick the cookies up and handed them out to the girls in our troop but we're going to be busy for the next couple of weeks.

• On Friday Addy had to get six more teeth extracted per the instructions of her orthodontist. Once again we had to go twice because she freaked out the first time and the second time she had to be put to sleep. So high maintenance...and expensive she is! She was still loopy on the way home and totally cracking us up. The only baby teeth she has left are her molars and she doesn't have a lot of teeth in front right now. She hopes they grow in soon:) 

• Friday night Dane came to visit us! We hadn't seen him since Christmas so the kids were so happy he came down from Idaho. 
• Saturday morning the girls started a month of indoor soccer at the Legacy Center. I volunteer to coach Addy's team and we won our first game! Brynn scored in her game and played very well.
• We planned to go tubing on Saturday since we had such a blast doing it in January but we got to the hill and it was total slush. We went down once but we kept stopping and slowing down on the way down so went back in and got our Groupon back to use next year. Such a bummer!
• Since tubing didn't go as planned we headed over to Heber Valley Cheese and grabbed an ice cream cone.  

• All the kids want to sit next to Dane at church. When he's around it's like Todd and I have a disease. Maybe we just smell bad...hmmm 

March 5th, 2014

• This week Todd and I went to Maui!! The company Todd works for took and paid for all the employees and their wives to go for a total of 18 in the group. You really can't pass up a free trip to Maui Since my Dad was back in the hospital the kids stayed at Uncle Dustin's and Aunt Kate's house for the first couple days, then Grandma and Grandpa Bassett  took them for the weekend and the Tongi's finished up the week for us. We were so sad that my parents couldn't come and stay with us.
• On Monday some of the wives met up to get our nails painted. Although I know all the wives from our previous company trip to Disneyland it was nice to meet up and talk

• Our flight left early Thursday morning. We almost missed our flight because who would have thought the United counter at SLC Airport would have a massive line. Luckily they let a few of us though and we made it. Since we got such little sleep we were a little tired on the plane. Whatever it takes to get some sleep:)

• We landed in Maui at about 1pm but by the time we got our rental car, made a stop at Costco for some water and snacks for the week and checked into the hotel we only had about ten minutes to get ready to meet at the Old Lahaina Luau so pardon me not having my hair done:) (The company planned a few activities but besides that there was no pressure to hang out with anybody else) The luau was one of the planned activities and we have a great time there. It was gorgeous and it was a great start to a Hawaiian vacation. 

• They unearthed the pig that had been cooking all day. Fun part of the traditional luau.

\

• The next morning we got up, went running, and took our sweet time enjoying the beautiful beaches by our hotel. We finally walked down the beach path to have brunch at the Hyatt. Their brunch overlooked a little lake and waterfall.

• Todd had a muffin on the table and the birds had no problem coming up and eating it themselves. It was pretty funny.

• After brunch we hung out, laid on the hammocks, and tanned in the sun.

• Friday night we had reservations at Mama's Fish House. This turned out to be our best meal of the whole vacation. It had rave reviews and now we know why. They make their menu daily and list the name of the fisherman and where they caught their catch that day. Since Todd loves seafood he was in heaven. I order steak but after trying Todd's mahimahi stuffed with crab and lobster I should have ordered that dish too!

• Saturday morning Todd met up with three of the other guys to play the famous Kapalua course. This was definitely a highlight of his trip to Maui. Later Todd drove me over to the course and it really is that beautiful. Perfectly manicured and looking out over the ocean. What more can you want?

• While the guys were golfing I went with the other golfing widows to breakfast. We later found ourselves tanning on the beach until the guys got back...hours later. Gosh, golf takes forever:) But at least they were great ladies to hang out with .
• Once Todd returned from Kapalua we headed into Lahaina. It turned out to be a great little surf town that is perfect for the tourists. We ate at Cheeseburger In Paradise. The restaurant sits right on the ocean with sea lions in the water and all. It was so pretty.

• The famous banyan tree in Lahaina. It covers 2/3 of an acre and have over 10 trunks. The picture does not do it justice, it is pretty amazing.

• That evening we met up with three other couples and had a Japanese dinner. Good company and good conversation.
• Sunday morning we met up really early for a snorkeling tour out to Molikini Crater. (Another company sponsor activity) It was not nice weather. Todd decided he was going to snuba dive and learned all about it on the hour long boat ride out to the crater. We saw lots of whales on the way which was totally amazing! My pictures aren't great because by the time the picture took the whales were already going back into the water but so very cool in person. The weather got worse and worse on the way out to the crater. Lots of wind and rain. The waves were so big at the crater that the crew said it wasn't safe to anchor and turned around and took us back! We were so sad, especially Todd since he was going to snuba dive.

• Once we got back to the dock we had lunch at Zippys and headed back to the hotel since Todd was knocked out from taking Dramamine. While Todd took a nap that afternoon I went and got a massage. One of my favorite things ever!
• Monday morning we got up early and headed to the Gazebo for breakfast. Seriously, it's a Gazebo complete with picnic chairs and right on the ocean. So Hawaii! We had to wait in a line for it to open (it opened later than we thought it did) but good thing we got there early because a huge line had formed by the time we got seated. 

• I ordered pancakes stuffed with macadamia nuts, pineapple, bananas, and white chocolate chips. Pretty much dessert but it was so yummy! Todd ordered an omelet complete with rice and toast. Great way to start our day.

• Todd and I went zip lining at Piiholo Ranch next. It was on a completely different side of the island and in the rain forest. That side of the island rains more but it was still beautiful. We did five zip lines with the last line being the longest zip. It was over half a mile long and we were 600 feet high. We got to zip side by side and had the best time. Such a great memory together. 

• After zip lining we drove the famous Road to Hana. It is crazy curvy and is famous for dozens of one lane bridges. We actually only drove half of it (17 miles) but it took us a few hours. We stopped for a hike to a waterfall and had to walk through the bamboo trees. We also stopped for fresh coconut and to see the killer waves. The whole day was awesome and Hawaii is so gorgeous.

• Tuesday was our last day in Hawaii since our flight left late that night. We spent all day at the beach getting our tan on. Almost all the other couples had the same game plan that day so we all laid out together talking and laughing. Todd was like a little boy in the waves. The perfect last day in Hawaii.

• Todd even went snorkeling near the hotel and saw these huge turtles and fish. Very cool!

• On the way back to the airport we stopped for dinner at the Hawaiian restaurant. We were the only tourists there. Todd got the Sumo Loco Moco. Complete with Spam. (He ate a lot of Spam on this trip...ever heard of Spam Musubis? 

• View from our hotel room.

• Kaanapali Beach, where our hotel was located. Voted best beach in the US a couple of times. 

• Our trip was amazing! All we did was eat and play!  We had such a wonderful time together. (Although we're not use to spending SO much time together..only got a little annoyed with each other here and there:) We missed our kids tons and were eager to get back to them but we definitely miss the island life.