SPRING!!

I am sooooo excited for spring to arrive. Every nice day we have I've been outside slowly working in the yard. Can't do too much, too fast with my big belly. But that doesn't mean I'm not soaking up this spring weather!

Spring Break

Since Nate and I had gone to Hawaii two weeks before, he didn't have any time off to travel. So we just hung out at home. Spent a lot of down, relaxing time. Spent time at a friend's birthday party. Spent time playing with friends. And spent a day going to the Aquatic Center to swim!

28 Weeks

After taking the above picture I was surprised to see how high I was carrying. No wonder I've been suffering from TERRIBLE heart burn and acid reflux! I've started taking Zantac regularly, and it's been helping - so far. I've been feeling great. Lots of energy. No uncomfortableness yet. Sleeping only okay however. 

A cute shirt my mom left me! 

St Patrick's Day

The days leading up to St Patty's day were fun! Douglas celebrated a few days early at preschool. And everyone loved his awesome green mustache! Even Levi had to try it out, although he only left his on for a few minutes. Evelyn made a Leprechaun trap. It was all her idea, except for the rainbow (I'll take credit for that, haha). On the day of St Patrick's Day I was sooooo sick! I'm not sure if it was food poisoning or REALLY bad indigestion, but I was in bed or near the toilet all day. Thankfully it was only 1 day, and by Saturday I was all better.

Pi Day

This year for Pi Day, since I had just returned home from Hawaii, I just threw together a quick yummy pie. A brownie crusted (heavy on the brownie) chocolate pudding pie, topped with cool whip and chocolate chips. It was yummy! And even the missionaries who came over for dinner the next night LOVED it!

10 Year Anniversary Trip to MAUI!

Nate and I were blessed to be able to spend 7 days in paradise. It was absolutely heaven! And it was so nice that it was just the two of us - no kids. We had so much fun together and really enjoyed our alone time. Of course, we missed the kiddos, and were so happy to see them again when we got home. But having 'couple-time' was something we were long overdue for. A >HUGE< thanks to my mom for coming up and spending the week taking care of our kids. They loved hanging out with Grandma.

Our journey started Saturday afternoon, driving down to Salt Lake City. We spent some quality time with Nate's parents. Then at 4am we were up and out the door to make our 6am flight to LAX.

Once at LAX we had a 3 hour lay-over. And thank goodness we did, because Nate and I had no idea how complicated those terminals could be!! If I remember right, we landed in terminal 3. Discovered our flight left from terminal 6. So we began walking toward the signs saying terminal 4, thinking it would just go up from there. Oh no! After walking nearly 2 miles in underground access ways, we discovered we had to *leave* security, walk around *outside* to the opposite side of the airport and *re-enter* security to get to Terminal 6. Ugh. Then the airline had issues with the oxygen masks being deployed in one aisle. For some reason the technicians could not figure out how to get them back in. So eventually they had to DUCT TAPE it close and move those passengers to another seat, haha!! Needless to say we sat for about 30 minutes while they tried to figure this out. 

After 5 hours of flight time - PARADISE!! 

We retrieved our luggage no problem, found our rent-a-car shuttle, then stood in a ridiculous long line waiting for our rental car. Honestly, in a place like Hawaii they need a more efficient system to getting cars out. Once we got our car, we made a quick stop to Walmart to pick up a few things and discovered that Hawaii does not use plastic bags, so we were forced to purchase a reuseable bag. And there is a plastic tax on any plastic bottles your purchase (like our Powerade and water bottles), haha!

Then took the drive to the west side of the island to Kahana where our condo was located. We were so exhausted, our condo looked even more splendid when we finally arrived.  

Another >HUGE< thanks goes out to my Uncle for letting us stay here for the week!! 

We had dinner at the Beach House Grill, the Condo's restaurant right next to the pool. Yummy place! We revisted a few times throughout the week for dessert and poolside smoothies. 

MONDAY:

Breakfast was TO DIE FOR!!! Seriously! The best breakfast ever. We even went back our last day on the island for more. It's a place called Slappy Cakes. And was reviewed by my all-time favorite celebrity chef Alton Brown as "nirvana". It's a make-your-own pancake joint. You can order meals from the kitchen. But each booth in the restraurant has a built-in griddle in the center of the table. You can order from a variety of pancake mixes, mix-ins like fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. And add-ons, like whipped cream, and my favorite chocolate macadamia nut spread. It was sooooo yummy! And sooooo fun! Nate ordered the Banana Bread french toast from the kitchen, which was also to die for! So moist! 

My meal was buttermilk pancakes, with chocolate macadamia nut spread and topped with fresh mangoes. A side of eggs over easy. Oh my goodness. My mouth is watering just remembering this meal. 

After breakfast we headed out to explore the island. 

Makena Beach 

Drove along the *CRAZY* one lane roads of the Kahekili highway.  

Even saw a guy roll a joint on the side of the road, then join us a few turns later. Knowing he was driving high, we decided to let him pass us...in his family minivan!! 

It sure was gorgeous!! 

Stopped near Nakalele Point to see some local surfers.  

 Finished the day up at the condo pool!

TUESDAY: 

After a quick breakfast (at McDonald's no less, haha!) we headed into Lahaina to catch a boat for our Whale Watching tour. It was so hard to get anything on camera, but I got lucky a couple times! 

And of course, fighting with my wind-blown hair, haha!!

After our whale watching tour, we walked around Lahaina a bit

After lunch we were ready for a nap! The weather became even more breezy and overcast, so we just hung out by the pool that evening. So relaxing! 

We did stop and get some DELICIOUS ice cream!! A must if you are in Maui! 

WEDNESDAY:

Rented some beach chairs and a boogie board and then drove off to explore the beaches nearby. First stop was Napili Bay Beach. It was gorgeous, although not our favorite, but we were rewarded with Sea Turtles!! 

After a while we headed up the coast to DT Fleming Beach. PERFECT for boogie boarding. I did miss Nate's 3 best runs however. I was so busy talking to my kiddos on the phone. 

After Nate wore himself out battling the waves, we headed back to the condo for a quick shower. Then into Lahaina for some lunch! We ate at Cool Cat Cafe, known for it's burgers. And don't let Nate tell you otherwise, but it seriously had the BEST burgers on the island!! 

We walked around Front Street and stopped for some yummy Gelato as well! 

We couldn't decide if we wanted to go back to the condo and take a nap, or explore the island some more. Thankfully Nate decided to drive to the North side and try to find some die-hard surfers. We had heard that the weather on the other side of the island was pretty nasty, making the waves bigger, more ideal for those locals to get out. So out we headed.

While watching the surfers from a look-out point, we noticed a few people gathering down on the beach (Ho'opika Beach). After a few moments I realized they were looking at a couple turtles that had crawled up on shore to rest. So I eagerly made my way down there. Once I got close I realized it wasn't just 2 turtles, but over 30 of them!!!!! I was so excited, and Nate just laughed at my obsession. 

THURSDAY:

Another early morning excursion. This time on the Atlantis Submarine! Pretty cool, much better than the Nemo ride at Disneyland, haha! The sights weren't spectacular, but the overall experience was fun because of the crew, and the fact that you are in a submarine! 

The rest of the day was more beach hopping

This is Kapalua Beach. We rented some snorkel gear right here on the beach and FINALLY got to do some snorkeling. It wasn't the best conditions because of the weather, and there was a lot of sediment in the water. But we still got to see lots of fish AND sea turtles! 

Then back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes before we headed out for dinner. In Lahaina at a place called Aloha Mixed Plate. Seriously some yummy local Hawaiian food! It was gorgeous to be right on the beach, watching the sunset and listening to the music of the Luau next door. 

My meal consisted of macaroni salad, scoop of rice, Korean BBQ ribs, Teriyaki chicken and a flank steak.

FRIDAY:

And another early morning excursion. This time a Snorkeling trip out to Lanai. Ironically we saw more whales on this trip than on our whale watching tour! And we even saw dolphins on our way home! 

 Gorgeous sunrise over Lahaina Harbor

This whale came so close!! It actually swam under our boat! 

This was *ONE* whale that apparently had so much energy it decided to breach over and over again! Our guide on the whale watching tour said, that for such a big animal, it takes a considerable amount of energy to breach. So they only do it once, or twice. Maybe three times. But this guy was breaching over and over again for seriously 10+ minutes!! It was crazy surreal to see! Even the crew of our boat were amazed! 

Nate, attempting to keep the sunburn at bay. 

Bottle-nose dolphins!! 

SATURDAY:

Our very last day on the island we decided to totally take it easy. We just sat by the beach, enjoyed poolside smoothies, and took the occasional dip. We were desperate to soak up every drop of Hawaiian sun we could.