Soccer, Soccer

Spring not only brings birthdays, it also brings soccer season.  Savannah and Matthew joined the soccer leagues this Spring.  It was a great season with the best weather I can remember.  Usually we freeze until the last two games but this year we got to sit outside and enjoy the sport. 

Matthew was fun to watch.  However, he is a little too smart for his own good.  He figured out it wasn't worth his energy to run and chase the ball when there was ten other kids doing it.  He told me he was better off out on the sides, that way when they kicked the ball out of the huddle he would be ready to get it.  It was a good plan but it also meant Matthew was standing around on the sides waiting for the ball.  I would encourage him to be more agressive and get in the middle but he would tell me no, he needed to be out of the huddle and ready for the ball.  He had fun being a part of his team and we would cheer him on when he would occassionally get the ball.

Savannah was in the co-ed league this year.  It was intimidating for her to play with the boys because they are quite aggressive.  At this age, they play positions and really try to learn the strategies of the game.  Savannah liked playing defense best because she didn't have to fight for the ball as much.  She loves to run but not get run into.  Her team won about half their games. 

Happy 14th Birthday Lindsey!

Spring brings a lot of things but in our home it brings two birthdays-- Heather and Lindsey.  I finally was able to pull off a surprise party for Lindsey's birthday.  She has wanted one for a while, but when they ask for one it is difficult to pull it off.  Now that she is older, she wasn't expecting a party and that was the perfect time to do it.  With the help of her friends, and the beauty of texting, we were able to make it happen.  The plan worked better than expected because Lindsey brought some of her friends home after school and asked if they could go to a movie for her birthday.  That worked great because it gave us time to set things up and put the party together while they were gone.  The original plan was to have James take her somewhere.  We had one glitch, however.  When we got back from the movie, Lindsey went in the back door with her friends and went straight downstairs to her room, bypassing the kitchen where everyone was hiding and decorations were set up.  I had to go downstairs and make and give her a reason to go to the kitchen.  When she went up, they all yelled surprise and scared her but I missed the reaction on her face because I was behind her.  Oh well, the surprise was a success.

I took her and her friends out to dinner at their favorite place, Costa Vida, then they came back and hung out and watched a movie.  Of course, there was some flirting that went on at Costa Vida because one of the employees there was "cute".  Teenage girls are loud but fun to hang out with.

I am amazed as I watch Lindsey grow up.  She is very self motivated with a lot of goals and dreams.  She is beautiful and a great example to her friends and family.  We love her and we're grateful she's a part of our family.

 

 

Heather's 12th Birthday

As I mentioned earlier, Heather's birthday began while we were in Hawaii.  She actually had a week long celebration because of the timing of her birthday.  When we got back home she had her traditional breakfast in bed with presents and hugs.  Later that week she had a party with her friends.  There is a popular show on BYUTV called Studio C that the kids love.  It is a comedy show with short skits (a clean version of Saturday Night Live).  Heather had a Studio C birthday party.  The party goers watched different episodes of Studio C then they actually created their own versions and filmed them. They were cute.  It was fun to just listen to the girls laughing so hard all night long.

Now that Heather is 12 she gets to go to Young Women's.  I can hardly believe she is that old.  If I had to describe Heather in one word it would be "peacebuilder."  She is always concerned about others and making them happy.  She is the calming force in our family.  Whenever someone isn't feeling good or fighting, Heather is there to help them.  I am so grateful for her example and I'm excited for her to be in Young Women's where the other girls will get to know how beautiful she is.

Hawaii

The kids had been begging to go to Hawaii so we took a trip over Spring Break.  (The kids don't have to beg too much because James and I love it there too.)  We decided to try a different island this time so we flew to the Big Island or Hawaii island.  It turned out to be a great choice for our family.  I'm going to break it down into the various days that we were there so I don't leave out any of the excitement.
Day 1:  We spent the entire day in the airport and then went to a motel in Salt Lake.  That's right!! Our vacation didn't start out the best.  We woke up at 4:00 am and rushed to the airport to get there in time but were instantly met with a delayed flight.  The flight continued to be delayed all day until late afternoon they finally cancelled it.  We were able to get tickets for the next day and the airline put us up in a motel so we would be close to the airport.  As awful as it sounds, it actually wasn't bad.  Matthew lost his first tooth while we were in the airport and the kids spent time playing and laughing.  We had a good dinner that night and swam in the hotel pool.  It actually was a good start to the vacation.

Day 2:  We flew to Hawaii with a layover in San Francisco.  We landed in Hawaii later in the evening so only had time to go to the swimming pool and have dinner.

 

Day 3:  We started out with a breakfast at a local place recommended to us by the hotel.  The boys feasted on rice, pork with fried egg on top.  The rest of us opted for fresh fruit.  We drove into Kona to check things out stopping at various spots.  Luke was excited that we found a shaved ice stand that Alton Brown (a TV chef that he admires) had been to.  We stopped along our drive back to the hotel to hike around the lava beds.  There are miles of black lava beds that look like they're flowing but have hardened.  You can walk along them and find lava tubes and caves.  It was very interesting terrain.  We ended the day at the beach together.

 

Day 4: Sunday we went to church and visited the Kona temple.  It is a smaller temple with the church building right next to the temple grounds.  It was lovely and peaceful.  We were lucky to be there on the day that an area authority was visiting.  For the last hour of church we spoke to everyone and held a question/answer session.  It was interesting and uplifting. 

 

Day 5: We started off driving around the island to see things on the other side.  Hawaii is a fascinating island that has 12 different climates.  We started off in desert area and made our way through grasslands and mountains to very green forests and waterfalls.  It was beautiful.  We stopped at a national park and worked on filming our family movie for Christmas.  We decided to do Johnny Lingo this year and we filmed on location, it should be fun when it is released!  We later saw a botanical garden that was beautiful.  We also stopped at many waterfalls along the way, including a triple waterfull that was amazing.  Our last stop was at the highest point on the island where you can watch stars.  However, when we got there we realized it was freezing and we were not dressed for the ocassion so we enjoyed the visitors center and then headed back down to our hotel.

Day 6: This was our day to go snorkeling.  We met up with our tour boat around noon.  The kids had already spent the morning swimming at the hotel pool but they were ready for more.  The boat takes you out to a lagoon that was so clear and amazing.  James, Luke, Lindsey and Savannah tried their hands at tuba diving.  It's like scuba but you don't have your own air tank, you share a central tank.  They really liked it.  Heather, Matthew and I took Ashlyn out in a tube and went snorkeling.  The others caught up with us later.  Ashlyn wasn't a big fan of being in the ocean but she did OK.  When James was finished we traded off and he took her out.  When our time was up and they were calling us in, we couldn't find James.  He had pushed Ashlyn out on the tube quite a distance from the boat.  She was not real happy when they finally got back.  Overall, we had a blast.  James didn't want to waste any time so we headed up the coast to see some old ruins. The kids were tired and not enthused about this last excursion but the hung in there for their dad.  The ruins turned out to be a little disappointing, mostly sticks and rocks.  When Matthew fell and got a bloody knee we knew we were finished for the day.

 

Day 7:  We went ziplining through the forests of Hawaii on this day.  I think this was a lot of the kids' favorite part.  We had to split up-- boys then girls-- to take care of Ashlyn.  The girls went first and it was a blast.  Savannah had to have a little help at first but she ended on her own.  You zip over waterfalls and gardens, it was breathtaking.  While we waited for the boys and vice versa, we visited another botanical garden in the area.  This one was more beautiful than the first one we saw.  There are so many exotic plants that grow in Hawaii.  After we met up with the boys, we headed to the live volcano on the island.  As you approach the volcano you enter a jungle area that is misty and very tropical.  The volcano is a distance away from the visitors center so you don't get to see much of it.  After the sun sets you see some of the red glow which is interesting.  I know most of us were hoping to see lava flowing etc but we didn't.  Still, it was a great and eventful day.

 

Day 8:  This was our last day on the island and Heather's Birthday.  In honor of our tradition, she woke up to breakfast in bed via room service. She chose to spend the morning snorkeling and I was the lucky one who got to go with her.  We spent an hour in the ocean snorkeling by our hotel.  It was so refreshing and relaxing.  I loved spending that time with Heather.  Our final activity before our flight was a helicopter tour of the island.  There are some parts of the island that you can't really get to because there are no roads.  There are green cliffs and waterfalls, lush valleys, and black sand beaches.  It was definitely a great way to see everything in a short amount of time.  We were supposed to see the lava flowing but they had to cancel that part of the flight due to weather.  We will have to go back and see it another time.  It was a wonderful vacation and great to spend time together as a family.