Well I am still on Hawaii time so please excuse me for taking so long to blog...

In Hawaii we had to move locations from the North Shore to Waikiki.(That is why I didn't update my blog, I couldn't get wireless internet in Waikiki) it was so hot and MISERABLE we HAD to move. We got really lucky and found a condo for a few days and what a diference air conditioning makes!!!! I have to say Hawaii wasn't what we thought it was going to be like.......if we go back again (just Rich and I) I think we might try Maui, if we go back.....


Here are a few shots for my brother and his wife from the Dole factory this is an inside joke, so sorry for the "cheeseyness".....

You two new it was coming so here are our pictures of the Dole factory!!! The Dole Whip was fantastic!!! I think it may even be better in Hawaii than Disneyland!!! (wink)

I can't get over the way pineapples grow. I never really thought of it ...but boy were they good there!!!

Here is a couple of shots of the blah blah (can't remember name) blow hole (want to know how immature i am....I snicker every time I say that, blow hole He He)

It is on the windward side of the island way windy but pretty



A few shots of the family checking out the (he he) blow hole......(sorry, I can't help it)

Rich could not get over the way the tree roots/branches grew. So I had to get a picture of him checking it out....

twice............

This is a place close by where we stayed in Waikiki

So we are in HAWAII and what do my kids want to do.................swim on top of the condo in the pool ........

This was really fun, it was a free Hula Show by the beach. I loved the whole story behind the show and their culture

We also celebrated Rich's birthday there too. We had the best food for his birthday Cheesecake Factory!!!

Lane enjoying a soda,he got so sick at the end of this trip,can you see it in his eyes. Alan was sick at the beginning and then Lane got it ...

Lisa told our waiter it was Rich's birthday and look what they brought out to him and we sang "Happy Birthday" he wasn't thrilled but we were (wink)

I LOVE the look on Ellie's face she wasn't too happy about sharing a piece of cheesecake with Lisa or that it took almost 20 minutes for the two of them to decide on what kind to have but she was pretty upset Lisa was taking more than her fair share......

This is Hanauma Bay where it is supposed to be awesome snorkling but see all the black dots.....yup that is all the people there. So it was very busy and pretty windy that day and Rich and Alan had a hard time snorling....

The view from our condo in Waikiki

Ahhh my two sleepy heads. We had from 12 o'clock noon till 8 at night to waste time till we had to be at the airport so we drove around the island a bit

This is our last day

Ahhh, my Punkin. Lisa took this picture,not bad huh?

This is the final picture in Hawaii

Aloha

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures....

much love, Sherrie

Hawaii and Ellie's Birthday!!!

Here are the first pictures of our trip.

See what a little Dramamine will do to a boy who won't take naps (wink)..........

the older kids sure liked the plane ride....

this is the first day,because of the HUGE time difference(Hawaii is 4 hours earlier) we were all up way early even though we came in late (the plane was late because a little girl got sick on the plane so after flying for at least an hour over the ocean we had turn around so she could go to a LA hospital) we went and played in the ocean.....

THEN a little later that day we went for a drive and stumbled across the LDS Temple!!!!

What an awesome surprise!!!

Can you see Lane in this picture??? Yup,thats him throwing flower petals he was collecting in the air!!! The VERY nice lady taking the picture was like did you want him in the picture doing that or do you want another picture? I have to say he had PERFECT timing...see the petals....

We chose for another picture......

What an emotional visit for Rich and I.....the spirit was so strong there and I NEVER thought I would ever see THIS temple. We went into the visitor center and they gave us a little tour and we saw a few videos we all got to see a testimony from an Apostal and a story about being a family forever and all I have to say is our family sure needed this. This experience is something I will NEVER forget!!

Check out Miss Ellie on Her 7th Birthday!!! Who wouldn't want to spend their birthday in paradise??

We bought this cake at Ted's Bakery right around the corner here(a very well know place around here). It was pretty good...Chocolate cake with coconut pudding and chocolate shavimgs on the outside...Ellie picked it out, nice choice huh??

Today we slept in a little later well 6:30 and headed back to the beach for a few hours and then off again to get shaved ice, this place is VERY well know....

Let me tell you I had some very happy children,well, very happy parents also. The shaved ice's here are so different than Utah ,this is a true shaved ice!!!

Here are a few pictures from the beach once again, Ellie is a nut playing in the ocean,lets just say this girl can get sand in places sand should not be.....

Lane trying to catch a wave.....

Did you ever see The Night at the Museum? well, Lane wanted Rich to make the "Hey dumb dumb,give me gum gum" guy.........And last but not least those are my feet with sand on them just relaxing on the beach thinking of each and everyone of my friends and family wishing they were here with me!! Are you jealous??? It sure is nice here and VERY humid we don't have air conditioning here in the home we are renting and man it is HOT!!!! But I am surviving.Aloha,Sherrie

We are off!!!

Off to Hawaii that is!!! Look for many updates on our trip, I am going to blog while I am there!!!

Aloha,Sherrie

Look at what we did!!!

This desk went from this................

To this.......

Do you like???? I love this desk!!! We put this in Lisa's room.

I like to go to the DI or check Craigslist and check out second hand furniture to refinish. Well, this day Rich and I went to Habitat for Humanity and I found this beauty for.............

$12.00!!! What a deal huh? and a couple of weeks later I found the chair for 6 dollars at the DI.

Lisa wasn't too sure about the desk at first because she wasn't sure what it was going to actually look like but I assured her she was going to LOVE it!! And she did...... I have a few more items I am working on and I will post the pictures later. I just wish it wasn't so hot outside so I could work on them a little more.....

much love, Sherrie

Alright,Alright,I'm back!!!!

OOps!! I know it's been a while but..........................the kids are out of school,Ellie had to get 12 stiches in her knee,the kids and I went to Vegas,we went camping for a week and well Rich has been working over time and well I just didn't have it in me to blog.........so sorry!!!!

So since I didn't have it in me take pictures of Ellie's knee (thank goodness Rich was here) here are some pictures of our camping trip.

Once again you know me here is a stream..................

Here is Ellie and Lane warming up their hands by the dutch oven,it was pretty cold and we were there for 6 daysAlan widdling..............

Ahhh, Lane with a funny and dirty face. He looks so big in this picture!!!

And thank goodness for this!!!! We got this a couple of months ago and it made the trip so much better!! We had so much room for us and Rich's toys......(big boy toys) ;)Rich relaxing...............

Oh and meet the newest member of our family...............Spike!!! He is pretty cute and Lisa loves him. She wouldn't put him down the whole trip. The funniest part is that as soon as we got home Rich went and got Spike a tank and light and the lady at the pet store said that Horny Toads have a defense mechanism that when they are scared or trying to defend themselves they shoot blood out of their eyes!!! YUK!!!! Soooo, Lisa isn't so attached to it now and can't sleep with it in her room. Hmmm, see why we don't have any pets!!!! Our family doesn't do so good with pets,but......he is still alive!!!

Here is Miss Ellie in time out.................... I can't remember what she did, but look at her feet.I am almost sure it had something to do with her feet being wet and muddy,but with Ellie you just never know what she is into. She is so much like her dad.....Here is Alan taking his own time out.......................(you know what I mean....) wink!!

The kids showed Lane to blow on dandelions and make a wish so after a few days he didn't pull them out of the ground he just bent over made a wish (motorcycles and mini skateboards)it was so funny. He usually had a few seeds on his face too!!!Rich made a swing for the kids between two trees,wow was that a hit. They had one more thing to fight over besides the hammock...............(eye roll)This is what happened every afternoon,dark clouds and rain. I loved it but Rich wasn't too happy,you now it interferred with fishing, riding, hiking looking for deer you know man stuff.

Just random shots.................

This too was so funny Lane was kind of a whimp about crossing the stream. But he does stuff on his own terms so when he was ready he went to town and I just happened to get this shot!!! Check out the tongue sticking out of his mouth!! You know, it really makes you jump farther and way better (wink)So I am saving the best for almost last!!! So like I said it rained every aftrenoon and Rich REALLY wanted to go for a ride..................well of course it looked like rain and I said it really wasn't a good idea but mister weather man said it's OK........well look what we got to do far about 20 minutes..............Yup, stand under a tree. It not only was raining but hailing. So after standing there for 20 minutes (at least) Rich said lets go back!!!! Huhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! So off we went back to camp AND back through the storm we just stood under a tree for 20 minutes for it to pass. And yes we were soaked and so,so cold!!!! AND what do you think I got to say........................I told you so!! Hmmmm he hates that!!! LOL

This was the last day we went camping. We took the same trail from when it was raining and it was dry.

This was the BEST camping trip we have been on I can't wait to go again!!! Yup, I said it and it is in writing!!!

Here are a few pictures of Lane at his T-ball game

I have to say the last one is my favorite!!! That is the coaches son in the swim shorts (Alan's friend) so Lane was posing like him, too cute!!!

AND I am saving the best news for last................................................ guess where we are going at the end of the month???? Any guesses?????

Still guessing................................

HAWAII!!!!!!!

Whooo Hooo!!! I am so excited. I have never been there and we are going for 10 days!!! We are going to rent a condo by the beach and just chill out!!!

I hope everyone is well and Aloha!!!

Sherrie

A night out with my Punkin'

I don't have any pictures, I wasn't sure if I would be allowed so there are no picutes posted.

So, Rich and I have not been without our children for 4 long years and my brother offered to watch them for a night so we could go out and we DID!!!
We bought tickets to Jason Mraz and The Dave Mathews Band for last Friday and what a GREAT concert. Dave Mathews was on stage for 2 and a half hours. And what a deverse (sp) group of people that were there.......I like to people watch and that was sure the place. The concert was in Vegas so that is all I have to say....... it is so funny how acustomed (sp) I have gotten to Utah and the "way" of life in such a short time. People here don't wear tank tops or short shorts, if the wear a tank top there is ALWAYS a shirt underneath. Funny, I know, my friend and I laugh but that is just the way it is here. And short shorts no way!!! Only if you are 16 and under!!!

I have to say being in Vegas (home) to me is bitter sweet. I love going home but the city has changed a bit and it is way faster pace there. You can always tell a person from Vegas here because they drive way fast and weaving in and out of traffic. Rich and I both know because we were both pulled over a couple of times when we first moved here....

So, back to our night off, a friend of my brothers got us a great deal at the Palazo Hotel and what a nice hotel!!! Thanks Mike!!! And Rich surprised me and upgraded to a suite!!! Way nice!!!

Then off to a Sushi place in the hotel, Rich loved it, I though it was OK. But.....it wasn't Utah food!!!LOL

Then the concert, it was fantastic, when he comes to Vegas again I will totally go.

We didn't get spend much time at the hotel but it was nice to sleep in a bit and it was quiet!!!

It was hard going back to pick up the kids because I wanted a little bit more time with Rich so my brother said since the kids were so easy to watch we could take a couple of days again and they would watch the kids again.

Don't think I am not going to take him up on that!!!

Thanks Andy and Bridget you two are the best!!!

Rich and I were talking and I thinking of where we are going to go but I think we will stay in Vegas again. It was fun to play tourists and take a taxi (which I have never done in Vegas) so we have a few touristy things we would like to do there next time.

Then last night we took the kids to a monster truck rally......oh my gosh talk about redneck!!! It was so funny!!! There were four trucks and they were pretty old and all but one broke!!! And then anyone who wanted to race their own car and jump it could.............so just imagine a guy in a Suzuki SideKick with a plaid shirt on jumping his car!!!! Rich was curious if this guys wife knew his husband had the car there!!! LOL LOL And Rich thought we probably lost a few IQ points by being there!!! It really was fun!!! Lane liked it but not the noise. We did see a guy on a motorcycle do a back flip!!! That was awesome.

I hope everyone has a Great Mothers Day. With lots of rest and pampering!!

much love, Sherrie