Temple Square

Over Christmas break we were able to take the kids to Temple Square. We haven't taken them since Ethan was little and it was fun to take them back now that they are a little older. It was cold, but we stayed warm by walking from building to building. We started in the North Visitors Center where we say the Christus statue. I am always amazed by how beautiful it is.

(I thought the Christus satues refelction in the window with Temple in the background was so beautiful)

We then headed to the tabernacle, Ethan was disappointed because he was under the impression that we would actually be seeing the Tablernacle Choir preform (I think we've watched Joy to the World to many times).

Landon had a good time climbing around on the benches and being out of the stroller (where he stayed majority of the time). We then headed over to the South Visitors Center which had some new exhibits I hadn't seen before. Madie and Ethan liked the one that showed Mormon Ad's and looked like a little town. There were beautiful Christmas trees in every building with huge ornaments, the kids thought it was fun that I took pictures of their reflections.

On our way to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSB) Jeff and I showed the kids where he proposed to me. Ethan thought it was pretty funny and even pretended that he was proposing to Madie using a funny voice. At the JSB we saw more beautiful Christmas decoractions and listened to a very talented older woman play the piano. Landon was very interested in her playing and walked right up to the piano. She was very sweet with him and even played him some Christmas songs and sang the words to him. She was so nice and the Landon loved it.

We then took the kids to the top floor of the JSB so they could see the temple below. On our way to the Conference Center we walked by the big reflecting pool in front of the temple. At the Conference Center the kids got to look in the huge atutorium where General Conference is held. They couldn't believe how big it was. I am so glad we took them, it was a neat experience for them to see the Temple where Jeff and I were married and to see where the Prophet speaks to us. I hope we can make it back to Temple Square more often.

Family Fun

We were able to see our families this weekend and it was extra special because my older sister and her family were also in town visiting. My sister lives pretty far so we were all glad to be able to get together. We visited my grandma and let the kids run around. It was great to see all the kids together and to see how much they have grown and changed. It was so nice to be together and enjoy each others company.

All the grandkids together

Little Miss "A" sure has changed and what a little mover and a shaker she has become.

Jess It was great to see you and the boys I wish our visit would have been longer. I hope you guys have a safe drive home. We also had the chance to have dinner with friends we haven't seen for some time. Becky and Tim thanks for the good food and the wonderful evening. It was great to see you and your beautiful home. Next time you are up our way we owe you dinner. It's always good to reunite with both family and friends, but it's at times like these you wish you lived a little closer so you could see everyone a lot more often.

McBryde Botanical Gardens

On Monday Jeff and I headed down to Poipu to visit the McBryde Botanical Gardens. The gardens showed a great variety of Hawaiian plants, flowers, and trees. They were all very interseting and like nothing I have ever seen before. So many of the flowers had a wax like feel, not what you would expect from looking at them. It was neat how many different varities of Palm trees there are and a lot of the trees and plants had berries on them. Here are just some of the beautiful things we saw.

Kauai- Sunday

I truly hope that everyone isn't sick out of their minds at seeing pictures of our trip, but I have to post them. It was such a great experience and for journaling's sake I need to do it.

Sunday morning Jeff and I went to church in Kapaa. It really is amazing that no matter where you go to church the same things are going on in every ward. The building itself had a really open floor plan. The chapel was a building all it's own with three sets of french doors on every side of the chapel and a set at the back. It was nice to visit another ward and the talks were really good.

After church Jeff and I headed down to Port Allen on the southern end of the island to go on a boat tour of the Napali Coast. There were 18 of us and 4 crew memebers on the boat. The boat had two stories and there was plenty of room for all of us to lounge around. Heading out of the harbor was pretty bumpy, but once we got past the breaking waves the view was gorgeous. To see the Napali coast you have to go by boat, plane, or helicopter. The boat ride was five hours long and it was the highlight of our trip. While on the boat we passed sugar cane factories, beautiful remote beaches, saw the beautiful mountains, we snorkeled up againist a tall rock wall, we ate yummy food, we relaxed, and I took lots of pictures.

Fields of Sugar Cane and a Sugar Cane Factory

This is the rock wall that we snorkled up againist. The boat in the lower right corner is a lot like the boat we were on, and in the same location where we snorkeled. We saw some cool fishes while we snorkeled and we saw and swam with our first sea turtle. In the lower left side of the rock there is a round "eye" in the rock. The "eye" was a tube that lava flowed through the rock when the island was being made.

View of the Napali Coast

A remote beach. There are many remote beaches along the coast that you can only get to by boat, this is one of them. You can see a cavern off to the left of the beach, it is actually an arch and the beach countinues under and off the other side of the arch. The early Hawaiians actually lived in the valleys between between these moutains when they first settled the islands. It is hard to imagine that they could live in such a terrain.

Napali Coast

This mountain range is so breathtaking. The ridges look like they were folded or creased. It was literally one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

View of the Mountain Range as we headed back to port.

If you are ever in Kauai I highly recommend going on a boat tour you won't regret it. Jeff and I had a great time and the scenery couldn't have been better. The ride in was pretty choppy, but well worth it.

Kauai- Saturday

So on Saturday Jeff and I decided to head up north again this time to Ke'e Beach for a hike and to do some snorkeling. As we drove to Ke'e beach you pass by beautiful fields of Toro (a Hawaiian Plant used to make Poi and other things) and quaint small towns.

Beautiful fields of Taro


Ke'e beach is literally at the end of the road and where the Napali Coast starts. The hike Jeff and I did leads to a "Secret Beach", a beach that you can only get to by hike, or by boat. The hike is quite long, so Jeff and I did not go the whole way. A lot of people that hike in also camp for the night (it's a twelve mile hike). Even though we didn't go all the way the view from the trail was breathtaking.

Ke'e Beach Below. The brown that you see in the water is actually coral reef and is where Jeff and I snorkeled after lunch.

View of the Napali Coast line from the trail

Another view of the coast from the trail and Jeff

After Jeff and I did the hike we went to Hanalei a cute little town for some lunch. We found a great little sandwich shop for lunch (Hanalei Gourmet) and then headed back up to Ka'a beach for some snorkeling. We snorkeled for a good while and saw some pretty cool fish. This was my real first time snorkeling in the ocean. I was pretty scared at first because I couldn't touch bottom in most places, but I figured it out and Jeff and I had a great time. We were pretty tired afterwards though. People had seen some sea turtles while we were there, but Jeff and I were bummed because we never saw any. After we were done snorkeling we headed back to Kapaa to get freshened up and to have some dinner. We ate at a mexican place that was good, but we eneded up having to wait for 45 minutes for our food. Needless to say we were both starving when our order finally came. Saturday was great because I really got a lot of confidence in snorkeling and we saw some beautiful scenery.

It's Been Awhile

I know it's been awhile, but I'm back. Jeff and I just got back from an amazing get away to Hawaii without the kids. We left last week for Utah to drop the kids off at Jeff's parents house and then we flew out the next day for Hawaii. Jeff and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in August and we have talked about taking a get away trip for our ten year anniversary for some time and we did it. We went to Kauai and we had a great time snorkeling, swimming with sea turtles, taking a boat tour out around the Napali Coast, visiting a botantical garden, seeing Waimea Canyon, Waterfalls, and most of all enjoying being together without children. We had a great time and I took a lot of photos, but I also have a ton of stuff to put away and I am totally tired since we caught a red eye flight coming home and I a trying to get my internal clock back on a normal schedule. I am so grateful to my mother and father in law who did a great job keeping the kids busy and entertained. I also want to say thank you to Jeff who spent so much time planning for this trip, I loved spending time with him and remembering what it was like to only focus on each other. I will try to post some pictures tonight.

Great Weekend

We headed out of town Last Thursday to go see family. Jeff's youngest sister Leslee is expecting her first baby and was having her baby shower on Saturday. Jeff and I decided to leave Thursday so we could take the kids to the Draper Temple open house on Friday.

On Friday we got a lot accomplished we were able to see my sisters new place (they just moved), unfortunately it was only for a few minutes and I was sad I didn't have time to stay and help her unpack. We then headed for the open house. We waited in the stake center for about and hour and after seeing a short film we took a bus up to the temple. The inside of the temple is gorgeous. The furniture they pick is always so beautiful and high end. The stained glass windows had a prarie style to them, and reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright. There were beautiful murals painted on the wall. The chandelier in the Celestial Room was amazing. Madie said her favorite room was the Baptismal font. It was neat to take the kids into one of the sealing rooms and let them look into the mirrors and see their refelctions go on and on. I really think the kids felt the spirit and they loved going inside a temple. I am so glad we took them, it is a memory I will always cherish.

( It always feels impossible to get a picture of all of us. Some lady was nice enough to take a picture of all of us together, but none of them turned out. So here is a picture of Jeff and the kids with the temple in the background.)

After the temple we were able to go and visit my mom and we were also able to take the kids over to see my Grandma, who now lives really close to my mom, so we will be able to see her more often than we used to. Jeff and I then left the kids with my mom and went out to dinner with Jeff's sisters, their husbands, and Jeff's parents. It was nice to visit and the food was yummy. On Saturday Madie and I headed down to Leslee's shower with Jeff's mom. Amy; Jeff's middle sister was hosting the shower at her house and she worked hard to get some projects done before the shower and the place looked great. Jeff's aunt and cousin did a great job with the food and decorations. Leslee made off with a great stash of stuff for the baby. It was nice to see all of the cousins and aunts. After the shower we were able to stop by Leslee and Collins soon to be house and it was gorgeous. We are excited for them. After we got back to Jeff's parents house and had dinner Jeff and I went and saw the movie "Taken". I thought it was a good show that was full of suspense.

We Left after church to come home. It was such a nice visit and I feel like we got so much accomplished while we were there. We saw tons of family and Jeff and I were able to go on two dates. The kids had fun with Grandmas and Grandpa and taking the kids to the temple was such an awesome experience. It was a great weekend.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We traveled to be with our families. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my Mom. It was nice to be together, the food was yummy, the kids had fun with Grandma Fox and Grandma had fun with the kids.

Friday- was spent shopping with my mom and the kids and seeing my Grandma while Jeff stayed at his parents house and helped his Dad with some of the planning for the basement they are getting ready to finish. We topped off the night doubling with Leslee and Collin (Jeff's sister and her husband) to see the new Bond movie.

Saturday -I did some more shopping while Grandma Hodson took Madie and Ethan to see a movie (Madagascar 2). Later that day we met up with a Photographer friend Holly to have her take our pictures. Landon was a pill the whole time, I am so sorry Holly I know we must not have been the easiest of clients. I met Holly through a friend and it has been so fun getting to know her and to share a love of photography. We dropped by Jeff's grandparents for a quick hello after our pictures and later that evening my little sister, her husband and their sweet baby Alexis stopped by to see us.

Sunday- we took a little drive out to Antelope Island with Jeff's Parents. We saw three buffalos and two Coyotes. We also stopped at the Garr Ranch they have on the island, it was a photographers paradise. There was old farm houses, farm equipment, an old truck, corrals, and bull roping (wooden bulls). Madie kept practicing ropping and actually ended up roping one of the bulls. She was very proud of herself. The ranch is where I took the photos below. It was a nice little outing and then we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Hodson's house to get packed up and we headed for home.

It was a nice break despite the fact that Landon didn't sleep well. We had a fun time seeing Grandma's and Grandpa. We were able to see two of Jeff's sister and one of mine. We missed seeing our other sisters, and the kids missed their cousins, but it was a nice break and we had a great time. By the end of the weekend though we were all ready to come home, get back to our normal routine and sleep in our own beds. Thank You to our parents for their wonderful hospitality it was great to see you.

Madie came up with this pose all on her own

Landon was absolutely in love with that old truck. As we were walking away he stopped and turned to look at it two times. I just love this photo because it truly captured a moment in time.

Alexis

While on our trip we were able to spend a day with my little sister Tracey and her baby girl Alexis isn't she a cutie? It was so fun to be able to see how much Alexis has grown and to see Tracey since we don't get to see them very often. I just love Alexis's beautiful blue eyes and those plump little lips. She is a good little baby and Madie, Ethan, and Landon (more curious than anything else) loved being seeing her. Thanks for coming down Tray it was great to see you.