Quist Spot

Christmas

2011-04-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

We had Christmas, it was great... sorry it took so long to post... LOL

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

We went to the Vineyard nursery in Orem with Mindy, Paige, Benson, and Everett to pick out pumpkins, go through the corn-maze, and go to "pumpkinland".

We got there a little earlier than Mindy and her kids, so I let the girls pick out pumpkins and took pictures of just them.

The girls together...we're working on getting Lexi to smile with her teeth...lol. :)

Ashton looking at pumpkins.

Lexi found her pumpkin.

It was a little too heavy for her to pick up....lol.

In the cart with the pumpkins.

In front of the haystack with their pumpkins.

Cute face with Paige in the background.

The girls.

The boys.

The group.

In the corn-maze.

Lexi's eyes look a little funny, but Ash's face was SO cute!

My little pumpkins.

Sweetest little pumpkin I've ever seen.

We had such a great time! :) After the corn-maze, we got to see animals, play in a caterpillar tunnel, a jack-o-lantern house, and on these huge bouncy houses. Then we went through this fun Halloween light show in the barn. It was a really fun day! :)

Ashton's Birthday

2010-09-28T15:32:00.001-07:00

Ashton and I have the same birthday, so we had two cakes..... a more kid-friendly chocolate cake, and then my fave brown sugar chocolate fudge cake... mmmmm.... we had a blast and had so much of our family there... it was great! :) Thanks to Uncle Ron for the pics! :) They turned out awesome! :)

Ashton before Dinner

Candles waiting to be blown

Blowing the candles

The kids chose the "trunchbull" chocolate cake

Ashton enjoying the cake

Lexi's Birthday

2010-09-28T15:20:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official, my little baby is a big girl. She just turned 5 this year and is heading off to Kindergarten. She is so excited! And somehow we ended up having 3 birthday parties for her this year... lol... I'll post pics from the other ones later! :)

4th of July

2010-09-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Abbie and Bobby and their son Major were able to come up around the 4th of July this year for family pictures. We all had a great time. It was great to see them. We went to this farm in Salt Lake: the kids all had a great time. It was fun to take the hay ride and see all the animals.

Lexi Paige and Benson petting the bunny

Abbie and Major on the tractor

Ashton and I on the hay ride

The kids in the strollers

Everett petting the Bunny

4th of July with Sparklers :)

Ashton-Pie

2010-05-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

Ashton updates:
Today Ashton accidentally pulled the baby-doll out of the stroller. At first, she was kinda shocked/scared, but then she got really excited and pulled the doll up to her mouth and "kissed" its head. I ran to get the camera, and when I got back and I was getting set up to take pics she took the headband off the doll.

After I started taking pics I told her to "kiss" the baby and she obliged.

Then she picked up the headband and tried to put the headband back on and looked at it all confused when she couldn't get it to stay on.

Then we moved from "kissing" the baby to biting it's hand... I guess we'll have to talk about that. ;)

Her crawling pose. Although she doesn't technically crawl...lol... she more body crawls... with almost equal speed.

Every once in a while Ashton off-sets her jaw to the side and smiles.... it cracks me up... especially since she only has the two teeth! :)

Lexi-Girl

2010-05-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Lexi got dressed this morning and I'm not sure where she got the idea to do a sash, but she tied her nylons around her waist to look like one and was surprised she couldn't wear it to the park.... she's so determined about what she thinks looks good, it's funny! :)

Feeling Froggy

2010-05-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I was getting Ashton dressed for bed after her bath and gave her the frog finger-puppet to keep her entertained. She totally ate and mauled it. It looked really funny with the frog
protruding from her mouth. :)

Sleeping

2010-05-10T10:25:00.001-07:00

So actually, really cute story to go with these first few pics.

Ashton woke up in the night and wanted to eat so I brought her into our room and put her on the bed with Britton for a sec so I could use the potty.

When I came back, she was cuddled up next to Britton, holding his arm and looking intently up into his face. I couldn't get a picture before she was only haphazardly holding his arm, but she smiled when I asked if she was taking care of daddy (I'm aware she probably didn't understand, but it was really cute!)

The girls snuggling their daddy.... it's my fault that Lexi still comes in because I allowed co-sleeping for so long while I breast-fed the Alexis.

Fishing

2010-05-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Fishing so patiently with Dad

Finally they got the right bait on the hook and started catching rainbow trout.

Lexi had a blast, and we cooked and ate one of her fish... not too bad! :)

Sisters

2010-05-10T10:01:00.001-07:00

Just some cute shot of the girls sleeping.

Bridal Veil Falls

2010-05-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

We went for a family hike/walk to Bridal Veil Falls the other weekend. It was gorgeous! :)

Lexi had lot of fun "climbing the mountain" with her Daddy.

Ashton got her feet a little wet in the cold stream. I'm still not quite sure how much she enjoyed it.... she would giggle about it and then suck in breath when her toes hit the water... lol.

Hannah's Birthday

2010-05-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

We had Hannah's surprise birthday party at our house. It was tons of fun. We had pizza and banana splits instead of cake. :) Happy B-day Hannah! :)

Funny Things

2010-03-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

So, I just have to put this in here cause it was SO funny!

This picture is of Lexi from a couple years ago and doesn't technically match the story, but it had snow in it. :)

So the other day, Britton tells Lexi he'll play whatever she wants to and asks her what she wants to do.

Her response:

"Let's go throw snowballs at the bulls!"

Cool Chess Set

2010-02-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

Hey women! Any of the men in your life gun or chess enthusiasts? You should check this out then, it's really cool! :)

http://chessammo.com

Our House

2010-02-26T12:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, So i'll get more pics on here later, but this is the floor plan for our house. :) We love it and are considering trying to buy it if we stay. :) (we don't have the bonus room... I wish we did)
It does have a full unfinished basement that we could finish which would total about 3700 sqft when finished and be a 6 bed 3 or 4 bath house. :) Here's hoping we're supposed to stay and buy and finish the house. ;)

Christmas

2009-12-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

So yet another holiday that we only got limited pictures of... lol.... I feel bad that somehow we have no pictures of Britton for both holidays now. I thought I got one of him opening his valet, but apparently not.

The girls in matching jammie tops.

Me helping Lexi to open a present. Ashton is on my lap.

Well, at least we got pictures of our first Christmas alone set table... lol.

Just for the three of us.

Skaneateles, NY

2009-11-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Actually pronounced skinny-atlas. They have a "Dickens village" every year where the characters from a Christmas Carol walk around. There are also free roasted chestnuts and free hot-cocoa. We had a great time, eating a late lunch at the hotel there,

going on a free carriage ride,

and then meeting various characters including:

Charles Dickens

Father Christmas

(Lexi's good friends Madeline and Scott were there randomly)

Scrooge

( he gave us a little coupon for a free post-it pack)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over for thanksgiving, but forgot to take pictures while they were there...lol... so these pics are what we have to remember it by.... ;)

This was my first ever turkey... :) It turned out great!
All moist and yummy!
Thank you Michelle and thank you Fine Cooking!

Pumpkin and Apple pies....we've discovered that Cortland apples really are the bestfor Apple Pie! All sweet and tart with perfect texture! YUM!

Ashton - 2 Months

2009-11-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some cute pictures of Ashton on here so people can get a good idea of what she looks like.... seeing as so many of our family and friends are not here. :)

Cat and mouse for Halloween. :)

Pumpkins

2009-10-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

We went to Grisamore Farms to pick out pumpkins the Monday before Halloween. When we asked where the pumpkin patch was, they told us, but added that most of the good pumpkins were up around the store and that there weren't a whole lot of good pumpkins in the field anymore.

That was kinda an understatement. lol... we found some that would "work", but finally decided to go get some from up by the store since we couldn't find 4 that would "work". The people at the store said that they'd had an abnormally bad crop this year and that next year we should come about a week and a half to two weeks before Halloween to make sure that we got a good pumpkin and that it didn't go bad before Halloween. :) So next year, we'll hit it the Saturday before Halloween and stay to do the hay rides and corn maze as well. :)

One of the ladies in the shop was super nice and agreed to take a family photo. I just wish the trees in the background had shown up. They were brilliant yellow, orange, and red... just like in the first photo with Britton and Ashton's car seat. :)

Cookies

2009-10-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

While the Quist's were in town for Ashton's blessing, we made some sugar cookies and Lexi did Jack-o-Lantern faces with Grandma Lisa. She had SUCH a good time!

Grandpa Curtis and uncle Kramer kept snitching candy corn, and so they became the "snitcher's club" (which Lexi still brings up and laughs about). Britton and Lexi finally joined as well, so almost everyone was part of the snitcher's club. :)

Ashton's Blessing

2009-10-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ashton's blessing was great! Everyone got into town by Saturday night (my poor father got stranded in Detroit for a night since Ithaca's airport was fogged in) and we had a great time together, eating, chatting, visiting Cornell campus, and the local falls. There are a lot of waterfalls right around Cornell campus. They're all beautiful! I'll have to post some pics later!

My parents stayed at a nearby hotel to avoid the problem of having 8 adults and 1 bathroom Sunday morning when we all needed to be ready by 9am. :) It worked out well, and we all made it to church before the meeting started. I had a moment of panic when I realized after I sat down in the church building that Ashton's headband was too big for her head, but fortunately I'd randomly brought a needle and white thread with me, so my mom quickly basted it in the right spot before Britton took her up for her blessing. The sound system was on the fritz so we all moved up to the first and second pews so that we could hear the blessing well. It was beautiful. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful and beautiful daughters.

My parents left Monday afternoon and the Quists left Tuesday morning. The weekend was wonderful. Everyone seemed to have a good time and Britton was able to go up to Palmyra on Monday with his family after swimming with Lexi at m parent's hotel. We really had a great time with everyone, Lexi loved making pumpkin cookies with her Grandma Lisa (pictures to be posted later), and we were sad to see our families leave.

School

2009-10-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Alexis stared preschool this year and was SO excited to go! The morning of, she could hardly sleep and got up much earlier than normal, urgently telling Britton that she had to "get ready for school"! Britton promised Lexi that he would see her off at school, so we picked Britton up from Cornell and then the three of us went to school.

Lexi hung up her coat, then showed Britton around her classroom...she was most interested in showing him the wide range of dress-up clothes available, and put one on before we left.

Reading

2009-09-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

That's right!!! :) Alexis is officially reading now!
This is her reading to me! Somehow it just finally clicked and now she just reads tons and loves it! :) We go to the library and pick out new books to try out new words in books she hasn't memorized. lol :)

Mormor

2009-09-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's interesting to me how my girls look alike and yet so different. Lexi has always so obviously looked like my family and Ashton looks distinctly more like Britton's family, and yet they look so much like each other. It's weird!

Alexis (left) and Ashton (right)

Well, my mom came out about a week after Ashton was born to help us transition from one form of family life to another and, I have to say, we could not have done it without her! She was so indispensible to me! Taking care of my girls so I could get some much needed rest, sewing together curtains for my house! Cleaning and cooking and cleaning some more! What a huge help! I'm not sure who appreciated it more, Britton, Alexis, or I!

We had lot's of good times and one day even got daring enough to go to the beach at Meyer's Point and have some fun! What a GORGEOUS place! The water is clear and cool, but not too cold! And the cute little light house and all the sail boats just make it look so picturesque!

There is also a little playground there, so we all played for a couple of hours (till Ashton needed to eat) and then went home for some lunch and a much needed nap! Lexi went a couple more times with her Mormor and had a blast collecting shells and playing on the playground.

Ashton

2009-09-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, Ashton was born on Sept. 12th, 2009! She weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long! I had been contracting since Wednesday and Britton asked me to call my physician Saturday morning to see if they just wanted to check me to make sure I hadn't dilated too much since he didn't want to be delivering our daughter in the back of our car. I called and they told me to go into the hospital and have a labor evaluation. So I took a nice long shower, packed some extra stuff into our hospital bags on the long-shot that we ended up staying, and then we all piled in the car and I drove us to the hospital (30 mins away). The nurse said I was dilated to 3cm (which is what I was on Wednesday) and so the physician and I discussed our options and I decided to stay and walk the halls until Alexis woke up from her nap on the hospital lounger, and then get checked again before leaving.

Not wanting to be bored, I called my mom and talked as I walked. After I got off the phone, I realized my contractions were 2-5 mins apart, and a little more intense than I'd remembered them. My physician got out of her other delivery and rechecked me. She said I was 5cm and in true labor! I was so convinced I was going to be going home, I asked her if it was a joke. She said she doesn't joke about things like that and started laughing.

We called the people who had volunteered to take Alexis when I went into labor, but no one answered, so we started calling other people we knew. My Dr. came in and broke my water at 5:30 and we still hadn't gotten ahold of anyone! We went through every single person in the ward that we knew and NO ONE picked up their phones! Lexi and Britton went down to grab some food from the cafeteria before it closed, and then Britton continued to call people. Still, no one picked up! In desperation, Britton called the church building (since there was an activity going on there) and finally got ahold of our friend Josh Price. Britton told him our dilemma and he said he'd work something out and call him back. 10 minutes later, he called and told us his wife Kelli was on the way and they would take Alexis for however long we needed. Kelli picked up Alexis around 7:10 and Britton got back to the room by 7:20. It was a good thing too because I started pushing at 7:55 and at 8:16 Ashton was born!

After all the cord cutting, weighing, and repairing, Britton left to pick Lexi up from the Price's house. He came back, and the two of them only had eyes for Ashton! Lexi was especially entranced! She just doted on her new little sister and kept wanting to hold and love on her! It was a great, though stressful night. I'm glad this delivery went a little slower than my first, otherwise Lexi would have been there for the traumatic part, and I can't express enough gratitude to the Price's who stepped in like family when we needed it and were such kind and helpful friends! We could not have made it through without them!

The Harkers are another family to whom we are forever indebted to for helping us manage the hard week between delivery and my mother arriving! Lexi spent every morning for the rest of the week at the Harker's with their twins who are about a year older than she, and she had so much fun that she hardly wanted to come home every day. We feel so blessed with such a wonderful ward who treated us like family; bringing us meals, watching Lexi, and driving 30 minutes away to pick her up! We also feel so grateful we were inspired to call the office that morning and ask for a labor evaluation....by the time I felt my contractions were "bad enough" to go into the hospital, I was at an 8 and if we had been at home when I felt they were "bad enough", Britton would have been delivering in the car! What an amazing experience, what a wonderful ward, what wonderful friends, and what a beautiful family we are blessed with!

Moving Trip

2009-08-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

So, we took about 4 days to drive out to NY. We stopped by Nauvoo and Kirtland on the way, and went to Palmyra shortly after arriving here. It was a great experience. We had SO much wonderful help as we moved!!! Everyone was great! All of Britton's family came to help at different times as well as my family that was in the area. I have to say, although everyone played an important role in us getting out the door, I have to specifically mention a few who we could not have gotten out of our house without....

Hannah - She painted cabinets for the kitchen with Britton and I MANY times and then came back to help us pack up!

Aunt Ginny - She sanded cabinets, painted cabinets, brought over food, played with Lexi, helped us pack and clean the house!!!!

Jeremy - We used and abused his muscles to get all our heavy stuff out of the house and into the moving van... and he also tackled packing up our office which would not have gotten done without him!

Kjiera and Britty - came over and played with Alexis and helped me pack and paint and clean!

Mom and Bryan - Came and stayed with us during those final days when you just need someone else to tell you what to do next every once in a while... played with Lexi, helped to pack and clean and then drove out to Ithaca with us where they cleaned our new apartment and moved us in!!!!

Recipes

2009-08-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked me for various recipes, so I thought I'd post them on here so anyone can get to them! Happy Cooking! :)

Monkey Bread

Dough:
2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powqder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
5 Tbs butter, melted

Caramel:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter

Cinnamon & Sugar:
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease monkey bread pan (bunt or fluted work as well) with butter. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. mix buttermilk and butter together in small bowl, then add to dry ingredients. Mix till combined thoroughly. Separate dough in two equal parts and then into small balls about the size of a walnut. Cover balls in cinnamon and sugar. Cook caramel till softball stage. Pour 1/3 caramel into pan - place 1/2 monkey bread balls - pour 1/3 caramel over balls - place second 1/2 monkey bread balls - pour remaining caramel over balls. Bake for 35 mins - cool 10 mins & turn out on plate.

Classic Potato Gratin (from finecooking.com)

2lbs potatoes, peeled
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 generous pinch nutmeg
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
3/4 cup finely shredded Gruyere, Emmental or Comte cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Cut potatoes into 1/8 inch thick slices. Put potatoes in a large saucepan with all ingredients but the cheese. Cook over med-high heat until the cream is boiling. Remove garlic as you pour contents into a baking dish - shake to settle, then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 for approximately 40 or until the cheese is brown and the potatoes are tender. Cool at least 15 mins then serve.

Moist Spiced Pumpkin Cakes

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs

1 cup sour cream
1 cup canned pumpkin

Peheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set to the side. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Then add eggs one at a time. Add 1/3 dry ingredients to the buter/sugar/eggs. Then add sour cream, then 1/2 remaining dry ingredients, then cannned pumpkin, then remaining dry ingredients - blending after each addition. Divide batter evenly between 6 greased mini bundts, or cook in greased 9x13 pan for 25-35 mins. Watch closely and remove when toothpick comes out clean. Frost with a cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin Cookies (Meg & Mandi Bucy)

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar

Then add:
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg

Mix well, then add:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Mix thoroughly, then add 1 bag mini chocolate chips.

Place large dollops on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12-15 mins. Makes approximately 24 large cookies.

Flakey Pie Pastry (from finecooking.com)

2 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter cut into cubes
1/2 cup chilled shortening cut into cubes
3-6 tablespoons ice water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter and shortening a few cubes at a time and cut into dry ingredients with pastry blender. Mix till ingredients ball up. Drizzle ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix into the center of the bowl with a fork. Keep adding water until dough holds together well when pinched together. Pres dough toward side of bowl to make a ball, the roll out with rolling pin.

Classic Apple Pie (from finecooking.com)

8 cortland apples or 6 golden delicious apples and 2 granny smith apples
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar & 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400. Peel apples and slice thinly - toss with lemon juice. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar (1/4c), cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add ingredients to the apples an mix. In a small dish, whisk together the egg white and 1 teaspoon water - brush over pie crust. Put apple mixture into the pie crust. Cut 1 tablespoon of butter into pieces and place on top of the apples, then cover with 2nd pie crust. Brush top with egg whites and sprinkle with sugar. Wrap foil around outer 1 inch edge of crust and bake for 60-70 mins, removing foil for the last 10 mins. Let cool 1-2 hours then serve.

Bloody Nose

2009-08-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

We just thought this was a silly picture. Lexi got a bloody nose, and it was hot in our house so it wasnt stopping very easily... so I put a cool wash cloth on her forehead and a tissue up her nose and told her to sit in the chair while I packed. She leaned her head back, which wasn't comfortable, so I got her a neck pillow and she was sitting like that when Britton got home from work. he started laughing and took some pictures. :)

Birthday!

2009-07-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fairly large birthday party for Lexi this year since we're leaving in a few weeks. We got together at Nielsen's Grove Park and played in the fountain/wading pool. Then we had cake and presents, and then we went home and had an extended family dinner and party. It was a nice excuse to get everyone together one more time before we left. We will miss all our friends and family we are leaving in Utah.

Family Pictures

2009-07-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

I just loved these pictures that the Quists so graciously treated us all to, and I thought they deserve to be seen. The gal who took our pictures was so meticulous, and so good with working with everyone! And the proof is in the pudding as they say! I love these pictures, I think they turned out amazing! As soon as I ask Lisa who took them, I'll post it since I think everyone should be her patron for family photos! I just wish we would still be in Utah in a few months so we could take some new ones with Ashton in them when she comes!

The photographer's website is:

www.prettylittlepictures.com

Dancing

2009-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Lexi was involved with Utah Academy of Ballet this past year. She did their summer camp last year and took part in their pioneer legacy performance (which was awesome). This year, the company did the ballet Cinderella for their recital and Lexi was a bluebird. It turned out great, and Lexi had such a great time!

Graduation

2009-04-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

I did it!!! I finally graduated from college!!! I received my Bachelors of Science in Nursing and WOW does it feel good to be done! I had a great time and made some great friends! :) I'll get some more pictures on here soon!

David and Mercedes Alden, David and Tami Caceres, Britton and I

My best friends in the program: David and David

My close friend Krista and I

Karen Palmer, Aubreigh Parks, Me, Jen Walton

Lexi walked with me

Me getting pinned (this is a big deal for nursing schools)

Disneyland

2008-08-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

We went to Disney Land in August with Michelle and her boys, David and Russy, and my mom. It was SO fun to see Alexis react to all the princesses and the rides. We got there pretty late that first night and were trying to get all 4 kids to eat their dinner at about 10 pm without complaint. We were failing miserably when this awesome balloon guy came over and made balloons for the kids. He bargained balloons for bites and the kids laughed and had a great time. It reminded me of the master card commercials: trip for 3 to Disneyland $1,500, dinner for 7 $250, getting the kids to eat their dinner without complaint? Priceless.

We went to a princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Lexi had so much fun, and I swear we met the real Snow White! lol.... her voice, her looks, her demeanor... everything! Lexi was so excited and so shy at the same time, it was so cute!

We also had a character breakfast one morning which was really fun. Captain Hook was one of the only characters she knew however since we din't really watch TV. That took some explaining...."Lexi, he's not a bad guy at Disneyland." Tigger was quite flirtatious...acting all shocked that I was married....sometimes you wonder if it's a boy or girl under those costumes...hahaha....

I have to say, that the new Woody ride at California Adventure is AWESOME! It was SO much fun. It's now one of my favorite rides. Lexi really liked it too. Lexi liked the Peter Pan ride best (also my father's favorite). She got scared on Snow White and Winnie the Pooh, and Britton took her on the Roger Rabit ride which also scared her. She liked the roller coaster in Toon Town though, and did the princess coronation ceremony and loved it.

Britton in the mean time got over his fear of roller coasters and even went on California Screamin' and loved it - we went two more times. :)

Hawaii

2007-07-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, school has it's perks! As part of Britton's research, he was invited to a conference in Hawaii! WOW!!! We spent about a week on Oahu and then my parents let us use their time share to spend another week on Hawaii. We had So much fun! Britton got pretty burnt once he had some time in the sun (I told him everyone burns in Hawaii, but he didn't listen) and spent the rest of the time wearing a shirt when he snorkeled and swam in the sun. But we still had a really great time. We saw tons of sea turtles and got to see a black sand beach. The volcano was closed since it was being kinda active at the time, but we had a nice little tour around the Island and hiked out (more like took a leisurely walk) to Akaka Falls which was beautiful! Our hotel had a little lagoon and they put on dolphin shows every once ina while. We were fortunate enough to go to one and Lexi aquired "Kai" after the show... her new favorite stuffed animal to sleep with. While on Oahu, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a little bit and had a great time! Lexi did the Keiki dance up on the stage, and we got to see the Samoans and eat at the Luau. All in all, a wonderful time... we all came back tan and happy. :)