November 2018

I just love this time of the year - I think November and December are full of excitement and anticipation of all the fun times ahead. I am sad November is already over but can't wait to see what December has in store. Here is what we got up to this month...

Ryan took the kids out to get green Grinch pancakes and they loved it! 

 We had a good amount of snow one weekend so the kids begged to go out and play in it before Jaxson's piano lesson on Monday. They only had 25 minutes but they went out and had a blast.

 Griffin's favorite by far is eating the snow.

 I was at the park with the kids one afternoon near sunset (at like 5pm!) and caught this pretty scene. What an amazingly beautiful world we get to live in!

 Griffin was pretty excited to get a zombie gumball at walmart.

Griffin has learned to spell  his name this month - he practiced on my letterboard and I thought it was so cute. I love watching my kids discover new things!

 Super Griff

 Ryan and I cashed in one of our Christmas gift at the Clue Room - We saved Denver from a nuclear bomb with just 46 seconds left.

 Jaxson was a good sport to make princess puzzles with Avery.

 Griffin's first time writting his name all by himself.

 Movie night - we watched the new Grinch movie and thought it was cute!

 Train ride in the mountains with Santa - a highlight for the kids for sure. Such a neat night with the kids!

 On Thanksgiving morning while I was prepping food, Jaxson and Avery were outside making this cute snowman. It was tiny! Look at the next photo to see how little it really was - this first picture doesn't do it justice.

 Thanksgiving dinner - I sure love these people!

 Avery loved the drumsticks!

 Black Friday shopping at the outlets in Castle Rock.

 Griffin celebrated his 4th birthday on Nov.24. He is such a fun kid who loves to smile. We are grateful you are in our family Griffin!!  We went to Chuck E Cheese & Chic Fil A, opened presents, and ate birthday cake. I hope his "dirthday" lived up his dreams - he has been excited about it all year.

 Our genuine Griffin smile!

 Playing at the park while Jaxson is at piano lessons. I love that at Griffin's doctor visit, when asked who his best friend was he said, "Avery!"

 Snuggles with Daddy.

 Churro just for himself after his 4 year vaccinations.

 Yesterday we enjoyed our neighborhood Christmas Party. Sleigh ride, Santa, and hot chocolate for the win.

 Santa asked the kids to not fight and to clean their rooms - good call Santa!

 This morning's fun before church. I was pretty impressed Jaxson & Avery did this all by themselves!

Hawaii Oct 2018

Ryan and I were able to go on a vacation for 10 days at the end of October. It is always so nice to have some time without responsbilities so we can relax. This time our travels took us to the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai & Hawaii. 

Frist day there we wasted no time and checked out/hiked to/drove to 5 different waterfalls.  Wailua Falls, Kauai. 

I guess this was the rental car of choice because we saw mustangs all around the island. We had fun driving it!

Secret Falls, Kauai. We had to kayak about 40 minutes and then hike another 30 minutes to get back to this one. It was huge, beautiful, and fun to swim in.

It is so cool when the "hike" to get somewhere looks like this does.

We saw some massive trees over there. I made Ryan hug this one just to give you an idea.

Hoopi Falls part 1 & 2. Another neat hike to get to them.

The next day we did a doors off helicopter tour of the island - it is gorgeous! They call it the garden isle and we now know why.

The Napali coast from above.

That big smile is partially because I didn't get too sick on the ride.

Up near Princeville on the north end of the island, we hiked down the super muddy trail to Queen's Bath.

It was a really neat spot - I can see why everyone trys to come swim in this cool rock formation.

One of the things we really enjoyed on the island was all the different types of trees. This bark was so cool!

The Kilauea lighthouse. Glad the reason we were taking a picture here made it into the photo haha.

Roadside lookout, between Princeville & Hanalei.

We also did a tour of the Napali Coast from the water. This one was really neat but I couldn't keep my stomach as in check as I did on the helicopter. Highlights were seeing spinner dolphins, the sea caves, and getting off the boat to snorkle.

We stopped for a snorkle, picnic lunch, and nature walk. I think we saw 18 or so turtles laying on the beach.

The tree tunnel road on Kauai - so pretty. It was fun driving through it.

Sunday after church we headed up the Waimea Canyon. Stopped to snap some pictures at the red dirt waterfall and a few lookout points.

We did a 6 mile round trip hike (Awaawapuhi trail) for a beautiful view from above the canyon cliffs. That was some good exercise because of the elevation drop!

Even though it was really rainy, we enjoyed our day on the south part of the island seeing Spouting Horn and snorkling at Poipu beach.

We had to stop and grab these hot dogs we heard all about. Polish dog, pinapple relish, lemon garlic sauce - yum!

We then flew over to the big island and started exploring in Hilo. We went to the rainbow waterfalls - amazing! One thing we thought was probably cooler was the huge grove of banyan trees next to it - Ryan had fun climbing and I couldn't believe how big of a leaf I found.

Next stop was Akaka state park to see this pretty waterfalls. They had a nice short walk around the vegetation to see it - definitly worth a peek!

We explored Hawaii Volcano National Park next. We were bummed we didn't get to see real lava and a lot of the park was closed down due to the volcanic activity earlir in the year. We did think these steam vents were pretty cool though!

The volcanic rock is light with a lot of air bubble holes. Ryan says it cools down so fast, the air doesn't have a chance to escape. Smart man.

There were several earthquakes that messed up roads in the park when the volcano was erupting ... this was a pretty big hole.

At the end of the national park - pretty arch.

Old lava flows.

We stopped by the black sand beat at Punalu'u beach. This place was so neat and the best part was snorkling and seeing over 15 sea turtles. Just gorgeous animals!

Next we hiked 5 mile round trip to Papakolea beach. It has green sand - very rare and oh so pretty!

Southern most part of the USA. We did see a guy jump off the green platform in the back. It was about a 40 ft drop into the ocean.

We loved being in the car and enjoying the sunsets in Hawaii.

Walking through a lava tube off the side of the road north of Kona.

Before heading to the airport to come home, we stopped by the Kona temple and walked around. The grounds and building were both beautiful. We loved our time in Hawaii and I always enjoy traveling with my best friend! It was so fun getting home and seeing the kids though. Great memories!