Skiing at Solitude

I am 31 years old and I finally went skiing!
Mike and I went up to Solitude for the day and he taught me how to ski. I have some video, but will definetly not be sharing that publicly. Skiing is HARD work. Feel the burn!

I am amazed with all of you that can ski and more amazed at those who can snowboard.





I will say my favorite part was riding the ski lift.

Overall it was a rewarding day. Mike was a good teacher and I was glad I went. I have been told I need to make sure I go a second time. They promise it gets better.

Christian: 10 Months

Christian is a man... baby on the move!

At 10 months he took his first step. Now he walks about 8 to 9 steps before dropping to crawl. He is a good eater and I would say his favorite right now is a classic PB&J. He still wakes up at least once at night, usually around 4:30am. You can see in one of the pics that he has 4 teeth- 2 on top and 2 on bottom. "Mama" is still about the only "word" he says.

I am having trouble getting house work done. There is always some little guy right there undoing what I did.


Christian is getting into all our cabinets and loves opening and emptying drawers.

With spring and warm weather coming he wants to be outside with the big kids. I got some shoes and put them on him. He didn't like them one bit. By watching him, you would have thought they were made of cement. So I guess he will crawl around outside until he figures out how uncomfortable it is.

I know I am biased, but what a cutie!

Mahalo Hawaii

Sunday 2.14.10 Valentine's Day

On our way back to Honolulu. We packed up and headed down the windward side to take it all in. The waters were so shallow and clear and the waves were far out. The windward side was so nice with the homes and fewer tourists. We saw some fellow Saints filling up for gas on there way to church. Contemplated what it would be like at one of their Sacrament Meetings... ALHOA!!!... Congregation replies... ALOHA!!!

So much beach- just beautiful!

Chinaman's Hat


Maunawilli Falls
We missed doing this earlier in the week and thought we would try to find the falls trialhead again. We found the beginning in the middle of a nice neighborhood.
The trail to the falls was so slick and slimy. Even though we were in thick forest I wasn't one bit scared knowing there were NO snakes lurking about.

Lush, green, moist, awesome.

The falls were freezing cold, but it was so worth it.
We did it!


We drove back into Waikiki and walked the beach. Watched the keikis boogie board and body surf next to the pier. Sought a Valentine's Day dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Because luck is on your side when you travel with Mike Black we were able to skip a huge line and a very long wait and ate our dinner back at the bar while we watched TV and caught up on what was going on in the real world. It was delicious and filling!

The camera ran out of juice on our way back to the car from the falls and I had forgotten about the camera on the IPod until we were about an hour away from the airport. So in the end Mike recorded our final very romantic sunset in Waikiki.

MAHALO Honey!!!!

Hawaii: Day 5

Saturday 2.13.10 The Day in the Sun

Looked like the forcast was going to be less clouds so Mike said I could choose what we would do. Then he renigged about an hour later, but gave in again a few hours after that.

Shark's Cove
So we were told that some of the best snorkeling in the North Shore was in Shark's Cove. What they forgot to tell us was that was during the summer season. I didn't take my camera down to the water so not any pictures.

Pretty cold morning. I got some great shells and saw pretty much the same fish we had seen other places. Saw oysters for the first time here. We had been snorkeling for about 15 minutes when all of the sudden my snorkel tube filled with water. I peeked up and a huge wave had breeched the rock wall and was coming towards me. I looked around for Mike and couldn't see him. Dove under the next wave and a flipper hit my arm. It was rough and the waves kept coming. Just got banged up a bit. This picture is pretty much what I rememeber it being like when I peeked up to see what was going on.


Went into La'ie to the notorious Foodland (such a creative name) for some food to hold us for the next two days. I loved comparing the prices of groceries. Holy Cow- dairy is expensive in Hawaii!

We drove by the temple and BYU again in the daylight. Beautiful!


Stopped by the beach north of the hotel where there had been signs the day before for the "Cast and Crew" for Surfer Girl.


We spent the rest of the day chillin' in the hotel room, snorkeling at Turtle Bay and laying on the beach or by the pool.

Our first sunset on the North Shore.

Another fantastic, memorable sunset!

North Shore: Day 4

Friday 2.12.10
Took an early morning walk going south from the hotel. Saw a bit of the golf coarse and forest that runs along the seaside.

Looking for any critters in the rocks.

World War II Bunker

Looking back towards the hotel


Went back to the hotel to talk to the Christensens... I mean freshen up for the temple, but later learned that it was closed for construction.

Sunset Beach Pro

We loved Ted's Bakery and went back for lunch again! During lunch, chatted with a service missionary couple from orem searching for seashells on their P-Day.

Caught a bit of the surfing contest.

You can barely see the guy catching the wave. But they are out there.


Polynesian Cultural Center

We loved the hula dancing from Tahiti. The Samoans were pretty funny and it was amazing to watch them climb those palm trees to get the coconuts. I have loved the people of New Zealand (Maori) ever since I saw Whale Rider. We got tatoos. Were able to visit most of the villages.

At the Luau



We had a great day on the shore and finished it off with the amazing night show at the PCC

Hawaii: Day 3

Thursday 2.11.10
We were tired and sunburned from all our snorkeling the day before. So Mike ordered a cloudy day. It was perfect!

We spotted several rainbows on our way to Pearl Harbor.



We had some time before our ferry left so we toured the grounds.
Mike inside of a submarine

Amazing to see the equipment they used and how much things have advanced.

Very sobering. Can't imagine what it would have been like. So grateful to all those who sacrifice for our freedoms and safety.



Aloha from the Dole Plantation!

We were surprised to see how much the vegitation in Hawaii was similar to Florida's. I thought I would never see another bromeliad! They are beautiful, but prickily little devils to have in your yard.

Stopped in the deli for some yummy chili topped with pineapple and of course, pineapple ice cream.

Took the train ride around a piece of the plantation. Saw lots of banana trees, cocoa bean trees, birds of paradise and...

pineapples!!




Headed over to Hale'iwa
Watching the surfers paddle out.

This is the beach in Blue Crush where they take the football players out for their first surfing lessons.

Continued our drive up the coast along the Kamehameha Highway.
Pulled off the road to see the turtles, but because it was so cloudy and cold they were in the water. I was told if the sun were out they would come up onto the beach.

Checked out the Waimea Falls Park and walked with the peacocks, but decided we didn't want to pay for the hike. However, the lady that worked there gave us tips about moviestars that were in the area filming Lost and Surfer Girl. Turned out to be some juicy info!

I was constantly commenting on these trees. The were so clean looking and there canopies were so big and beautiful. I love this kind of tree!


Loved Ted's Bakery!! Thanks for the tip Kellie! I had a shrimp grilled cheese sandwhich and Mike had a delicious burger. Sat with a couple of surfers that had flewn in from New Zealand for the competiton. They told us the waves had not gotten big enough to compete. The waves we saw were huge and couldn't imagine they weren't big enough!

Our hotel for the next three nights

We had literally just walked into the hotel and were checking in when Dennis Quaid walk up to the counter to talk to the bell boys. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough! He was staying in our hotel because they were filming Surfer Girl in the area. He is the girl's dad in the movie.


The view from our hotel room down into Turtle Bay.

No sunset this night, we kept our door open all night to hear the waves crash as we slept.