Maui 2011

Okay, so we've been back for almost a month now and I'm finally going to write about our trip to Maui last month. It's not like I've been super busy this month like I was this time last year.

Our Primary program took up some time and went off without a hitch, but even that didn't end up being as stressful as it could have been.

The kids costumes were easy to put together this year and I'm super excited to show you all, though, now that I think about it, I don't even know what they'll look like. I've just got everything, but I haven't put them all together on the kids. Guess we'll find out tomorrow!

The biggest reason that I haven't really written anything yet is because I feel like there's not a whole lot to write about. I mean, we lived there for a year and a half and we did all the touristy stuff when our friends and family would come to visit. So, besides the excitement of a wedding that we'd been waiting for years to happen, and a last minute baby shower, we mostly just hung out with the family and went to the beach. But, here are the pictures and the stories:

Joseph's first sister, Kailee, is expecting her first baby, a girl(!) in December. We realized, that since most of the family was going to be on island, what better time to throw her a baby shower than now (or then, since we're past tense now).

So, the evening of the day we flew in, we stopped by the house, said "hi" to the fam and then I left to go work on Kailee's diaper cake. I love making these. Megan, Joseph's second sister, bought me the decorations for the cake. Aren't those little pink sequin shoes the cutest things you've ever seen?

I love baby showers. I love diaper cakes. I love buying baby girl things. Thanks for having a girl Kai!

 

The reason for our trip was to see Megan get married. We all, especially Meg, have been waiting for this day for a very long time. We are so happy that Meg found the right guy for her. Josh is awesome.

I wasn't able to get a whole lot of pictures of the wedding because I got put in charge of the justin.tv broadcast, so that friends and family, who couldn't join us on island, could still be there digitally. I linked the broadcast, but I don't expect you to watch the whole half-hour, unless you know Meg and Josh and missed the wedding, of course.

Megan, with Char and Dave. Isn't Megan gorgeous?

Later that week, we all hopped on a plane and took a 22 minute flight to Oahu. Megan and Jake, Joseph's third brother, were going through the temple for the first time. Jake is leaving for a mission to go to the Philippines right before Christmas. It was exciting to have both of them go through at the same time. The whole session was pretty much just our family and a few BYU-HI students. We were a big group.

Joseph and I were only on Oahu for about 18 hours before we flew back to Maui. We left the kids with my sister, Kristen, and while the break from the kids was nice, I didn't want to burden her too much.

Kristen had fun with the kids though. She took them to Lahaina for the day and had all sorts of adventures. She also now knows what it's like to have three kids, even if it was just for less than 24 hours. She's really good with kids in general, but especially good with mine. I can't wait till she and Keith start having their own. She'll make a great mommy.

My favorite part of the trip, besides going without the kids and being able to go to the temple with my husband: when they announce on the flight that portable electronic devices are not to be used during the first and last ten minutes of the flight. Remember, the flight is only 22 minutes. Lol!

The only picture I was able to get of our short island-hopping adventure.

The rest of our trip was mostly hanging out at home and going to the beach.

Asher's not a huge fan and freaked out when he heard the water, but calmed down and just stayed near me and played in the sand. Then he would find a group of birds and chase them all over the place. It was so cute.

Moses surprised me and jumped right into the water. Mind you, he is not a water baby. When we're at the pool, he will not let go of me, so I'd have to carry him and Asher all the time whilst in the water. But, Moses loved splashing and playing with Akiko and getting tumbled in the breakers. Then, there was a breaker that tumbled him a little too much and he swallowed some water. He was done after that and played in the sand the rest of the time.

As for Akiko, before I could even set anything down, she kicked off her sandals and was in the water. Of course, I kept an eye on her, but I really didn't see much of her until it was time to go, except for a little here...

... and a little there. 

How I love this!

Sand monster!!

See how Moses' hair is all matted down from playing in the water? Sometimes he would come out and say "Hi" and it would be all over the place. So cute!

Akiko and her Auntie Hannah (Joseph's 4th sister). What a twosome!

Too much fun? No way!

So, we had a lot of fun. It was exhausting though. Even with Joseph there to help me, 4.5 hours on the plane with these remarkably well-behaved kids is hard. We were so glad to be home.

I used to love traveling. My mom works for Delta, so we get the flight benefits. I used to go all over the place. Akiko and I would fly back and forth to Salt Lake all the time when we lived on Maui and it just wasn't a big deal back then.

Now it's just so tiresome. Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe it's just because my brood is expanding and I have to cater to different children at different stages in life. I don't know. But I do look forward to staying in California for the holidays. Anyone in the family is welcome to come join us, by the way, though I do know how unlikely that is.

I think we'll stay home for a while. We traveled a lot this year: two weddings and a funeral, plus an extra trip for wedding #1 prep. So, I'm asking everyone in my family to not die and not get married until next summer. I'm pooped. Besides, it's hard to just up and go somewhere once the kids are in school.