We left the kids at home!

Day 6

Time to go home, see ya next year in Maui...

Day 5

This is my scuba day! I am still waiting on pics but it was amazing. I am determined to get certified. In January we are going to Puhket and in '09 we are going to Fiji so I am way excited to get certified and do this again.


One of the things I love most about Hawaii is watching the sunset. From our beach we can see the most beautiful sunsets. But this trip I missed everyone of them almost, I was determinded to get one sunset in and it was that last night.

Day 4- Snorkel Kapalua Bay

Sand Castle building contest and our friends won!

Dinner was at Mama's Fish House and it was by far the best food I have ever eaten. It had the best presentation of food and the most quaint of atmosphere.

Day 3
Well I was supposed to go scuba diving this morning but the swells created murky water and poor visibility so it was postponed till Wednesday which will work out great because they are going to take is out to Molokini by boat. I can hardly wait. I have always wanted to scuba dive. We did do our training class in the pool this morning though. Now that my afternoon is freed up I am on my way to The Grand Wailea for a message. Life is good but life in Hawaii is better!

Day 2


Yes, it's true. We are in Hawaii and the girls are at home. It was very hard to make the decision to leave the girls but now that I am here I am so glad that we did. I am loving it here in paradise. This is our 4th trip to Maui. We came once before we had kids but then the last 2 years we brought Avery with us and therefore for the last 2 years I went home from Hawaii whiter than when I came because we spent so much time in the hotel room. So, this year it was my goal to get a tan. You can tell from the picture how that came out. But it is worth it to me. I slept better last night than I have in 3 years, I did nothing but lay around either at the beach or the pool and I finished a book today. Tomorrow I am going to scuba dive and I am lovin' it.

Day 1

Pics from our hotel

Why do we even bother?

Okay so I am sure that everyone reading this has felt this way at some point. FHE, family scripture study, family prayer, etc...But then the pay off comes. Two nights ago Avery said she wanted to say the prayer so I started her off with the, "Dear Heavenly Father" and she took it form there..."thank you for TV, and for Brooke and we can have fun, thank you for maddy" and then she waited for me to help her. What a break through! Last night she did the same thing, I started the prayer and she continued, "thank you for aunt Patrice and for volleyball, thank you for Stina" and then she waited for me to tell her what to say next. It made me feel so good. Not only is she wanting to say prayer (finally) but she is reflecting on the things we have done that day and incorporating it into her prayer. Yay!
Oh and someone save me in that my kid isn't the only one who is praying about the TV. It is cute but I am not proud of it. Today was a TV morning and I always hate that...

Madelyn's New Toy!

1 st Tooth

Madelyn is getting her first tooth.

Grandma Harper discovered it yesterday.

Madelyn Grace, 5 mo

Father's Day!

So, because Travis didn't do anything for me for Mothers Day he gave me permission not to do anything for Him for Father's Day. "Yeah right" I said, "I've had your Father's day done since March". Then he told me that for Father's day he is golfing Monday and Tuesday as if he wasn't going to golf then anyway. But all is well. This is the same story for every Holiday and birthday. I have learned to take advantage of it and so when these "special" days come around I don't even feel guilty doing whatever it is I decide to indulge myself in. But that doesn't keep me from setting the example. Travis would just assume there never ever be a Holiday of any sort. I think that these days are very important though. It is so easy to get caught up in life that we sometimes need a special day set aside to remind us not to take the ones we love for granted. Although I try to do my part to make these days fun we still don't take them too seriously.This is what Travis got for Father's Day.

I am glad that I did have a good gift for him though because the day did not go as planned. Madelyn has been sick since Thursday but Saturday night it got real bad so I took her to the ER early Sunday morning and didn't get home until 6:30 am. Somehow I still managed to pull myself out of bed at 7:15 to be up with the girls and fix a nice breakfast but I didn't have energy for fun and fancy.

Little mady had a rash from head to toe and a fever of 103. She was congested and croupy to the point that she couldn't breath. When we took her to the hospital they x rayed her chest and gave her some steroids to open her airway as well as epinephrine. Breathing treatments and Motrin had her feeling better by the end of the day.

Then there is my Father. Since my parents divorce I haven't been as close to him but this past year I have had a personal developing testimony of the Atonement as I have tried to learn to forgive my Father. Father's Day is always a dilemma for me because of all of the cards that praise fathers as examples and heroic. Nonetheless this year all hurt aside I was able to reflect on some of the good things that I remember about father. I compiled a list and created this display with some pictures of us doing those things as I was growing up. I had a lot of fun doing it and I think he really liked it.

In order to understand the card I made for Travis dad you would have to know that we tease Travis' mom about treating his dad like he is hired Mexican labor . We tease him all all of the time and call him Julio. I was pretty proud of the way his card turned out and we got him a massage gift cetificate. Travis' family is all about humor and sarcasm so it isn't sentimantal and that is the way they like it.

Help please!

Hey everyone I need a little help. I am teaching an enrichment lesson tomorrow on spiritual development. I know this is really short notice but I wanted some input from you. How do you moms (and dads) find time to make spiritual growth happen especially with young families?
One of my struggles is family scripture study so I put this out there too. How can I effectively have scripture study with my little children? My mom brought to my attention a good point. My two year old has many Disney songs and other songs memorized . If she can memorize those songs she is certainly capable of memorizing the scripture stories and yet scripture study as a family is one thing we just can't seem to get it together on. What works for you?

Not Your Typical Picture For the Book of Firsts

No, I didn't beat my baby.

Last week Avery threw a water bottle at madelyn and got her just right. Poor baby!

Our Family Trip to Yellowstone

Here's where we've been lately. A family reunion type celebration with my Mom's new family. Every year (or every other) the entire family get together to do a big family trip. This year was Yellowstone National Park. Although it was in the 40's most of the entire time it was great fun to get to know my mom's new family; and mine now too. How lucky I feel that my mom married into such a great and loving famliy. They invited us ( me and my siblings) along and make us feel so welcome. We had a great time!

Happy Birthday to Me