10 year anniversary trip to Hawaii

See this man? 

I've been married to him for ten years. He masquerades as a travel agent apparently.

 To my surprise (or not, you really can never underestimate Jeff) he put together a PERFECT anniversary trip. We left from Seattle, Hawaii bound.

Happy aren't we?

Our first night in Waikiki. 

The Hyatt.

Couldn't wait to get out to the water.

Lobby of the Hyatt

Happy to be on vacation.

View from our room.

Our 2nd day, hike to Diamond Head.

A short but "straight up" hike.  

View from the top.

Views of Waikiki from Diamond Head.

Headed back down.

At the bottom, Shave Ice from Magoo's.

(Just had to snap a pic because we call the boys Mr. Magoo sometimes.)

We had taken a taxi to the start of Diamond head but decided to walk back into town after our hike. 

This is the tunnel back to the main road.

Flower from Diamond Head.

Walking back along the beach. 

Does it get any better than no agenda, walking along the beautiful beach?

Our hotel, view from the beach.

Lobby in the daylight.

Mexican lunch behind the hotel. View of the water down the street.

Found the perfect spot on the beach.

Banyan tree.

Shopping our way down the beach front.

A row of high end shops. Cartier!

Our 3rd Day,

Rented a convertible and drove around the entire Oahu island.

Stopped to take in some amazing beaches.

And sea life.

Ate lunch at a local BBQ spot. So good!

Then off to the Hyatt in Maui!

 View from our balcony.

A pictureless update

For some reason I haven't been taking many photos lately, but I did want to write a couple things here, more for documentation than anything else.

~ The biggest news first. We bought a house! At the beginning or March we happened upon a house that looked vacant, but not listed and no for sale signs out front. We mentioned it to our realtor and he called us 3/15 and told us it was a foreclosure and was just listed. We went that night to look at it and put in an offer. This was a Tuesday night at about 6pm. By Thursday the bank approved our offer. By Friday we had to have our earnest money in, inspection was this Wednesday the 30th and it passed with flying colors. A few small things need to be fixed, dishwasher, garage door etc. Nothing my handy man can't take care of. We should close 4/13/11 and move in by May 1st.

~ The above comment leads me to my next . . . PACKING. For the THIRD time in 18 months. It will be our last..... Please and thank you. I am bound and determined to be packed by the 15th since we will be leaving for Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary, a trip we will make without kiddos, Sniff Sniff... OK, YIPEEEE!

~ We bought a used Jeep in an effort to get down to one car payment. Currently we still have 2 car payments and a used Jeep...... Anyone want to buy a Toyota Venza!!!! Please and Thank you.

~ I just want to also say that we have such amazing friends. I can not remember a time in our life that we felt so loved and taken care of, with the huge exception of the Anderson's of course.

~ We are blessed to have the Papa and Grammy so close, so close that the boys can direct me from our house to theirs no problem. Which of course CAN be a problem if that is not where the destination really needs to be. Tears and shock and awe mixed with "But we love Papa!" usually change the intended destination.

Doesn't seem like much of an update but it is keeping us busy.
I will try to post pictures of the house and kiddos soon.

Happy BIRTHDAY Buddy!

I happened upon these videos taken in 2009. Carter was 2 1/2. His best buddy Dane was turning 3.

Now that best buddy is turning 5. I just can not believe it. Where has the time gone, we've moved apart but distance can't break this bond. 

Happy Birthday to an unbelievable Buddy! So happy you are getting to be such a big boy. 

We love you.

March 2008

Where have the last 3 years gone?

Sunshine Sunshine, Where for art thou Oh Sunshine.

Exactly One year ago today, we were living in Tucson. This was a typical day at the zoo. Bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Short sleeves. in fact, if you look at the boys cheeks it was pretty warm. I remember Carter saying that the elephant's ear was hot.

I miss this one thing.

2 years ago today.

I can't believe how much has changed in the last 2 years. 

I can't believe how grown up my little Cam has become.

I came across this video taken exactly 2 years ago today, He's just so stinkin' cute I couldn't resist.

One thing that hasn't changed completely is that he still loves to eat!

Who'da thought?

15 years ago, it was simply Jeff, Dan, Dave and I. Best Friends, well the boys were, I was the added tag-a-long. But now we all have babies, and there are 2 more wives. We went from 4 to 10 in a matter of 15 years. It feels so great to see all the kiddos playing together while we chat. Forever friends.

First Soccer Practice

The Boys started their 1st soccer practice on Tuesday. 

They were very excited to get to wear shin guards just like Daddy. 

I'm pretty sure we just started another line of Shepherd boys playing soccer.

This week, practice was held in the gym at Silver Lake Elementary.

Carter was the only kid who would respond to the coach when talked to. he did all the dribbling when asked and participated in everything.

As usual, Cam, is very coordinated and listened very well to the coach. Even though he is the youngest in the class, (yes, Mommy lied about his age to get him in, he is 2 months too young really.) you wouldn't know it. He keeps up and boots it harder than most.