Paradise

Last week, Josh and I were lucky enough to vacation in our favorite place on earth - Kauai, Hawaii.  We honeymooned there, and were so excited to go back.  (I cried on the way to the airport at the end of our honeymoon because I was worried that we would never go back!)  Anyway, we went with Josh's family and had an amazing time.  The weather could not have been better, which we were very grateful for after having a hurricane warning on our honeymoon and two days of pouring rain.

This vacation was much needed.  These past few months seem like a crazy blur after all the work we've been doing and continue to do to our house and both Josh and I have been working six days a week most weeks so that we have a few extra dollars to keep making improvements to our little home.  I feel like I only ever see Josh in the evenings and because we are so busy, we rarely get to spend quality time together.  Vacations are good for the soul and good for your marriage.  Once in a while you need a break from your everyday routine and have a little carefree fun.

Anyway, here are some highlights from the trip!

Stopping at an overlook on our way to the beach

 Trevor and his GF Jeana.  If he doesn't marry her, we are kicking him out of the family.

 On a beautiful hike

 The wonderful people who made this trip happen

My favorite little birds in Hawaii.  This guy totally posed for me.

Me and Riley(aka "Roo Roo")

Me and my favorite boy

Josh jumping into Queen's bath...doesn't he look like a little boy with his legs like that?

Girls at the farmer's market 

We bought lots of yummy fruit

My father in law, Hugh, and my brother in law, Connor, won a hula contest.  Funniest thing ever.  We went to a hula show at this cute little shopping center and they selected a few members of the crowd to come up and be in a contest.

Here is some footage of the contest.  If you know them, it just makes it that much more funny because they are not the type of guys to go up and do this sort of thing.  Please excuse the shaking and my crazy laugh during the video. 

Bali Hai...if you've seen South Pacific then you've heard of this mountain

Our favorite beach, Kalihiwai! Best boogie boarding waves.

Getting ready to boogie

On our last day we hiked to this place called Secret Turtle Cave and the views were amazing

We finally made it to the cave after walking through lots of slippery rocks in the ocean

 And there were turtles inside!  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  I love sea turtles.

 Family photo in the cave after our little friend went back to sea.

We had such a great time. Josh and I love Hawaii and we hope to go back several times.  We would seriously live there if we could.  We love everything about it.  I wish everyone could go to Hawaii at least once because it is such a beautiful and fun place.

I just have to share one of my favorite moments from the trip real quick.  Josh's youngest brother, Riley(or Roo Roo as we like to call him) is 13 and has such a fun personality.  He still has a lot of little boy in him and he was really excited for the plane ride because he had never been on an airplane before.  Anyway, the flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii is just over five hours long, but feels like an eternity.  Riley was sitting in the row in front of his parents so he was sitting next to two strangers and fell asleep with his head against the window.  A little while into his nap, he switched from resting on the window to the stranger's shoulder.  He was out cold and napped for close to two hours on this man's shoulder.  It was awesome.  Oh Roo Roo, thank you for the entertainment!

And I want to give a special thanks to my wonderful in-laws for making this trip possible.  We had such a great time and we are so blessed to have you in our lives.  Thanks for all you do for us.  We love you!

Hawaii, until we meet again.  We love you.  ALOHA!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day
to all the wonderful mothers in my life!

I love you!
 

 

Garr Bear's Wedding

Hello Blog world.  Long time no see.

I promise to get my blog back on real soon...for all two of you that read it.

Anyway, last week I was able to go to my cousin Garrett's wedding.  Garrett(AKA Garr Bear) is the little brother I never had.  I have always been close to him and his siblings.  My brother's are seven and nine years older than me and growing up, that age gap was very difficult sometimes.   But lucky for me I have lots of fun cousins that are just a few years younger than me and have been able to spend lots of time with them throughout my life.

Garrett was able to be there on my wedding day and his sister, Whitney, was my maid of honor, so I was so grateful I was able to be there on his big day.  It was the first sealing I've been to since my own.  There is absolutely nothing better than being inside the temple.  The Spirit was so strong and I cried the whole time.   I kept thinking about my wedding day and about how lucky I am to be sealed to Josh.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful.  It could rival the royal wedding, I tell ya!  Garrett's now wife, Ashton, is from Mesa, so they were sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple and had a beautiful reception outdoors that evening.  It was 97 degrees on their wedding day.  I felt like I had flash forwarded to summer.  I loved it!  Garrett on the other hand is from Littleton, Colorado and had a beautiful dinner at the Cherry Hills Country Club.  Shortly after arriving to Denver from Mesa, it snowed.  I much prefer the Arizona weather.

Well, let's get to the pictures, shall we?

                Adorable, yes?

 

Best Cuzies

Mr. and Mrs. Wonnacott

The beautiful Mesa Temple

 The cute Groomsmen

 Me and the beautiful bride

 New Sisters

 Me and Whitney

The beautiful reception

Me and the cute groom

 Cutting the cake

First dance

Jimmer doing the Dougie.  He has moves.

The getaway car

A Jimmer sandwich at the Colorado Reception

Hanging out before the dinner

My cute cousin Jimmy, the groom's brother

 Girl Cousins

Cousins + Jimmer

Love this girl like a sister.

As you can tell, the wedding was beautiful.  I had such a great time, but missed Josh like crazy.  Because of his crazy work schedule and a family trip coming up, he wasn't able to come.  Poor guy.  I felt so bad having all this fun while he was back home working.  We haven't had many nights apart in the nearly two years that we've been married, so it was very weird going to sleep without him next to me.  I can honestly say I think it is healthy for a marriage to spend some time away from your spouse.  It really made both Josh and I realize just how much we need each other and rely on each other.  It's so easy to take your spouse for granted when you see them everyday and this trip has made me appreciate Josh more than ever.

p.s.  Can someone please explain to me how I can put pictures side by side in blog posts?  I hate that this post is a mile long.  Thanks!