May in a Nutshell

All right fellow bloggers, in an attempt to get "caught up" on my blogging, I am bringing to you the first (in probably many to come) of the "Nutshell" series. Because lets face it, I am awful about keeping up on my blog and then I get so far behind and I find myself wanting to post something that happened today, but I feel like I can't, because then it won't be in order... So, I just don't post anything at all. It's a vicious cycle really that I am hoping to get rid of by doing thees "In a Nutshell" posts. I hope there won't be many, but we ALL know there probably will.


So, I hope you all enjoy:)

We started out with my 28th Birthday!! It was an incredible day. I had lunch with friends and ate from the yummiest place in Springville (or anywhere else for that matter)... "The Trolley". Then Alan gave me a sweeeet Road Bike! I was totally shocked and excited. I can officially say I am addicted to biking now! I love it. Now I can train with a friend for a triathlon(any takers).
Then we had dinner at Tucano's which I wait all year to go to. It is my favorite restaurant, but way too expensive to go to often. We took the kiddos and Andres and Sandee met us there. It was a blast. Unfortunately, I have no pics of that fabulous day, but I had to share it with y'all!

Barbara, Sandee, Kallie, Me, Stacia

The next weekend we did a birthday slumber party for me and Kallie and that was a blast from the past. We always manage to end up dancing - this time it was Pole Dancing (poor, poor, passers by who had to see that). But we had a great time together!

My little "twins" had their Mother's Day program at school. They sang 2 little songs with actions for their Moms. It was cute.

Hallie learns to ride without training wheels in "little less than half an hour". I attribute her quick success to being highly skilled on her scooter first!

Hallie had her very first Dance Recital! She was a flamingo (in case you were wondering about the interesting costume) in the Carnival of the Animals Ballet. She takes dance at The Pointe and we really love it there. She pretty much stole the show with how small and darling she looked up there. And then she ran across the stage TWICE by herself before the finale trying to figure out were exactly she belonged. The crowd loved it. Way to go Hallie!!

Mrs. Schaack Mrs. Mulliner

Hallie and Jaxon enjoyed their last day of school and they will miss their teachers so much! But Hallie will have Jaxon's teacher next year so we are thrilled! They had such amazing teachers this year and we loved them each so much!

And finally... Violin recitals!! Summer played in 3 group numbers: "Concerto for two Violins" by Bach (otherwise known as the Bach Double), "Concerto for four Violins" by Telleman, and then a fiddle piece called "Cabbage" which Hallie also tried to play in. Summer also played a duet with her teacher "La Cumparsita" - which is an Argentine Tango that my parents really loved! This was Hallie's 2nd recital and she played the entire "Tucka Tucka Stop Stop" version of" Twinkle, twinkle little star". I was so proud of her for being so brave in front of all those people!

Jaxon skipped this recital, because he had MONO!!! What?? Do little kids really get Mono? ... Yes. Yes they do. Poor Jaxon! At least it wasn't leukemia, which is what the doctors first thought he had! Mono sounds way better then Leukemia, don't you think? And right before we left to Maui! Thanks so much Sandee for taking him anyway and Mom & Stacia for taking him for a couple days too! You guys made that vacation possible and I am sooo grateful!

...And that's May!!

MAUI

For our ten year anniversary/graduation we planned a trip to Hawaii. We ended up going with Alan's brother Ben and his wife Jen and their friends, Jordan and Erica (who also happen to be newlyweds). It was really fun. Thanks to Jen's parents timeshare we were able to sped money on doing the fun stuff!! Thanks so much Morley's!! You rock!

We had an AMAZING time in Maui! Best vacation I've ever been on. I guess I really enjoyed having a break from the kiddos (even though I love them with all my heart) and just spending time with my man. It is an incredible island. And we did just about everything we wanted to do, so that made it an even better experience. We figured - we might not be back for a long time - so do it all!

On our way to Maui we had a few hour layover in Honolulu, so we took advantage and went to see the Pearl Harbor memorial. It was really cool. I can't believe that ship is still there in the water. We saw a documentary video and then they took us over to the ship on a boat.

On our first day in Maui we went to see the Iao Needle. It was sooo green and beautiful. Then we drove around the west side of the island on the smallest road I have ever been on. It was a crazy drive with such amazing views. We stopped at a beautiful beach called Ka'anapali and went snorkeling for my first time ever. I loved it - I pretty much was hooked from there and I wanted to snorkel all the time. I couldn't believe how much you could see under there and how close all the fish are. Then we stopped in what is now my favorite town in the world (it beat out Vegas) - Lahaina. It was so fun. This whole town's main street was right on the ocean. So we shopped and had dinner with incredible ocean views as the Sunset. I loved it and instantly fell in love. Not only that, but there was a guy singing and playing his guitar at the restaurant we ate at and he was really good. Can't wait to take Summer to see Lahaina. She would love it. The shopping is really great there! I miss you Lahaina!

The next morning (or should I say - middle of the night) was the most amazing ever! It was the funnest thing we did in Maui for sure. We were picked up at 2:15 AM and taken to a bike shop were we got instructions and were fitted for bikes and gear. Then they drove us to the top of the volcano (Haleakala) at 10,000 ft to watch the sunrise! It was INCREDIBLE! Not only have I not been up to see the sunrise very often, but I had never seen anything like this! Then we rode our bikes down the volcano (on roads) back to the bike shop. It was about 27 miles I think. It was soooo fun! I wanted to do it again the next night, but no one else did. It rocked, you should definitely do it if you go to Maui.

The next night we went to a Luau at The Maui Prince Hotel. It was a beautiful place. The food wasn't as good as I expected, but the fire dancing and the whole show and the also the view were spectacular.

When we were snorkeling at Big Beach we got to swim with a sea turtle! It was soo cool!! We fell in love with snorkeling! One morning we hiked clear out to a place called La Parouse Bay and saw tons of amazing fish. It was a cool place. Alan got stung by a jellyfish there, so I bolted out and that was my last time snorkeling. But it was cool, cause it was like our second to last day.

And just as a side note - Alan was totally fine. He kept snorkeling for like a half our after the whole Jellyfish incident-he is much braver than I.

So, I think that Alan's favorite day on the island was Thursday (it was definitely my second favorite). We rented B-E-A-utiful Harley Road Kings and took a LONG drive around the North East end of the island called the Highway to Hana.

It was crazy fun. We felt like we were riding motorcycles through the rain forest and I'm pretty sure I saw a "Tarzan" tree! I loved everything about that day. At the end of the drive we stopped at the Seven Sacred Pools. It was a very beautiful place. Can I just say that I am so glad Alan did so much research about what to do in Maui, because I am pretty sure that we did ALL the good stuff!

On the road to Hana we stopped at lots of cool places on the way. Like this waterfall on the left where all the guys jumped off of (they jumped off up by the bridge on the left side)! They are crazy, but it was fun!

Doesn't this tree look like the trees on Lost??

The first thing I noticed about Maui was this tree everywhere. I automatically thought it look ed like the tree of life. Don't you think it does? This is the tree where all those beautiful flowers grow on that you put in your hair. I think they are called Gardenia??

Of course the guys HAD to go golfing! Apparently the course was beautiful. Jen and I went and got massages while they golfed!

And the very last day we were there the guys rented surf boards in Lahaina! And they actually got up!! They definitely have got skills! Jen and I sat in the sun and fried, but it was a great day. We spent our last night shopping and having dinner in Lahaina. It was the perfect end to the perfect trip!

I am still dreaming about Maui! Thanks for taking me there baby! I love you!!

The end of a long road

Alan graduated in April from BYU (in case you cant tell from the pictures). I am so proud of him! I NEVER could have worked full time to support a family while going to school. He is an amazing guy! He is a great example to me and to my kids of the importance of getting an education. Maybe someday when all my kids are in school, I will head back and finish my degree..

Anyway. Graduation was long and boring (as usual), but we had a really fun barbeque afterward at the park by our house with all our families and Dewayne's family too. Elli and Dewayne graduated on the same day too!!

It was really fun to see them all graduate together. Elli got her Nursing Degree from BYU and just recently passed her exams so she is an RN now!! Way to go Elli! We are so proud of you! And Dewayne graduated from UVU!

It was a long hard road for all of us (graduates and families included), but so worth it!

Congratulations Babe! I love you sooo much! You are my rock.