Maui Top Ten...er...Eleven

Most everyone who knows us knows we went to Maui in December, and I've had lots of requests to get pictures posted. But, just so you know why a whole month has gone by before I've actually got it done, I had over 2000 pictures to sift through (between ours, Anne's, and my mom's--I haven't even looked at Doug's yet!), and we had Christmas, my birthday, and New Year's since. Between all of that it's taken quite a while to get it together to post, but here it is finally!

I have narrowed down the pictures considerably, but there are still tons. So, if you want to skip the last couple of posts, here are my very favorite pictures from the trip. I really wanted to keep it to my "Top Ten," but could only get down to 11. I just couldn't cut any of these pictures. Here they are in the order they occurred. 
 

Linda, Douglas, and Lily at the Las Vegas airport



Porter and John at the Salt Lake airport

if you look closely, you can see the rain falling...it DUMPED on us that first day!

hang loose!

Porter and Jeremiah

 

Max, Rachel, Adam (with Lily), Linda, Douglas, and John on the glass-bottom boat



Max and Katie at the Maui Ocean Center

Miss Lily the beach babe

Anne, Porter and Katie at the pool

Isaiah and his best friend from the trip, Aiden

Anne, hanging loose with the turtles

Maui- Part 2

We went to church in Kihei.  I noticed this truck with the surfboard in the back when we pulled into the parking lot, and I thought it was fun that Anne got a picture of it!



If you click on this, you can see that the truck advertises surfing lessons. 

We had a family barbecue and took a group picture Sunday afternoon and then our family and Anne's went for a walk on the beach.  It was a nice relaxing day. 


Monday we went to West Maui for lunch at Buzz's Wharf and to the Maui Ocean Center.  I had a horrible headache and we left the aquarium early, but it was really cool, and my mom and Katie said they thought they saw a whale from the wharf. 


Porter loved the fish at the aquarium!

Another whole-family outing (well, almost, Jer didn't go with us) was on the glass-bottom boat in Lahaina.  It was pretty fun, and Isaiah and John even saw a shark as we were headed back and everyone went up top.  It was nice that they had divers that brought different organisms up to the windows so we could see more of the wildlife, and they also provided cards to identify the different fish, which my kids loved.  But poor Douglas got pretty motion sick being in the stuffy enclosed boat, and Lily was miserable in the heat. 

While we were still in Lahaina, we saw the giant Banyan tree and had hamburgers for lunch.  Adam took our kids to a great little calm beach, and Anne and Porter watched Jer as he had a surfing lesson while Mom, Douglas, John, Lily and I went shopping.  Lahaina means "cruel sun," and it sure was hot!
Adam and I took the kids to the beach and the pool again while all the rest of the family took the famous road to Hana on our last full day on Maui.  They saw some awesome things and went around lots of hairpin curves.  Here are some of their pictures from the trip. 

Maui was so beautiful and quiet, even in the touristy areas.  The beaches weren't packed, and everyone was so nice.  Although there were Christmas decorations up in lots of places, it was easy to forget about the hustle-bustle of the holidays, and just relax with the family.  Here are some of the best shots that the family got that showed the beauty of the island. 

 

Just try to imagine standing there, the waves crashing, nothing else in the world to worry about...yeah, it really felt like that. 


Our flight home went pretty well, but we were zonked when we arrived at the resort in Vegas around 2:00 am.  It was an awesome trip that we will remember for a lifetime, and we were so lucky to be able to go with the whole family! 

Maui - Part 1

We started off our trip by leaving a day early and staying the night at the Worldmark resort in Las Vegas.  We did this at the end of our trip, too, and I think it really saved our sanity to not have to tack on an extra 2-hour drive after flying all day.  Santana was on our flights from Vegas to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to Maui.  I had no idea who it was, but could tell he was famous first because of his appearance, and second because everyone was asking to take a picture with him or for an autograph.  I kept taking pictures of my family and then sliding the camera over to include him (I know, talk about sly!), but I was taking them with my phone and it was a casualty of our last day on the beach.  So all my awesome pictures in baggage claim and the terminal in California, gone.  Luckily, I must have grabbed the camera from Adam for a minute in Vegas, so I have these:


Proof that I didn't just pull it off the Internet. 



A little closer up and less blurry. 

You see the lady travelling with him?  She stopped on her way back from the lavatory to tell me what a beautiful family I have.  As we were approaching Maui, a flight attendant came by showing off his autograph, and that's when I learned who the famous guy was. 

Here are some shots of my world-traveling family.



We arranged to have my someone present my parents with leis as we arrived on Maui.  Do we look hot?  'Cause the humidity hit us like a wall! 


You know all that rain that dumped on us here in Southern Utah (and in California, and elsewhere?).  Well, it started in Hawaii, and we caught a day of it our first day on Maui.  It really made us nervous that the rest of our trip would be rainy, but it only lasted that first day and it kind of forced us to take that day to recover from the long flight the day before.  That first day we ate at my favorite restaurant of the trip, the Five Palms.  It was a really nice fine dining restaurant in one of the hotels in Kihei.  It was really beautiful and peaceful, and they had the giant windows open, so we could listen to the waves rolling in and look out on the beach. 



No, you're not wrong, Max really did get more food than I did! (That's okay, he shared!)



When the kids got restless, we took them down to the private beach of the hotel. 


The second day of our trip, Adam took the big kids kayaking and snorkeling while I took the littles to the beach.  They said there were so many turtles, and they got so close!  Here are some shots from their kayaking trip, and from Anne and Jer's kayaking trip our last day on Maui:




Click on this one so you can see this turtle's face--so cool!



Yellow bikini woman will forever be remembered because she got in between Jer and the turtle in this shot that shows how close the turtles were. 

Throughout the trip, we spent a lot of time at the beach.  If I remember correctly, I think we went to the beach every day but two of our 8 days on Maui.  This slide show has some of my favorite of the beach shots. 

To Be Continued...

Exercise #1: Releasing Pressure

Well, I mentioned that Anne and I were going to be doing each of the exercises in I Hate it When Exercise is the Answer: A Fitness Program for the Soul in my New Year post, and here it is, finally! 

I love this book because it has a lot of great ideas to help you become better, and in bite-sized chunks that are really manageable.  But most of all, it's funny.  Like laugh-out-loud-while-you're-reading-even-when-someone-else-is-in-the-room funny.  Because of that, Emily Watts doesn't come across as preachy or syrupy sweet, but more like a great friend who's giving you tips in the midst of telling these really great anecdotes.  (Plus, it's really short, and let's face it, my attention span isn't great these days.)

I'm not going to quote any of the really great stuff from the book, so you're going to have to read it.  You can borrow my copy, or click on the link above and buy it from Amazon.  I think Deseret Book has it, too. 

This is not the best way to start an exercise program, late and incomplete, but it's the way it's going to have to be.  I'm planning to do an exercise each week, but I'm later blogging about last week's exercise than I planned to be and I wasn't entirely successful with it.  Hopefully I can continue to work on this one over time because it is something I really need. 

Exercise #1: Releasing Pressure


Take a minute at the beginning of the day to assess what bubbles might be building up in the bottle that is your life. If it looks like the pressure might be high, choose one of the strategies from this chapter (or a different one that works for you) and let off some of those bubbles right now before the whole thing blows up in someone's face.

Now, because I don't know if you've read the book, I have to give you a bit of background.  She suggested these things throughout the chapter to help blow off steam:
-a silent scream
-make a list
-spend 5 minutes outside
-planning something pleasant to look forward to at the end of the day
-laugh (watch something funny or call a friend)

Both Anne and I had a hard time anticipating when we might get stressed throughout the week, so it was a bit harder to take control when we got to that point.  But I do have to say that I saw Anne put this into practice on Saturday.  It was her little guy Porter's first birthday party on Saturday, and there were plenty of things to do before all the guests arrived.  As time dwindled in the morning we were starting to rush around without being necessarily effective, and Anne made a list of everything that still needed to be done.  It seems obvious, but it really did help. 

Did it stop either of us from becoming overwhelmed and stressed?  Not completely.  (I was still frustrated that my children were requiring so much attention while I was trying to help.  I was trying to blow up balloons while holding a fussy baby and repeatedly putting my two-year-old down to nap.  I snapped at Max and literally threw him into bed.  Yeah, not exactly a "Mother of the Year" moment.)  But I do think it took things down a notch.  And everything was ready on time.

Here's what Anne said about the week:

I never ended up using the bubble bursting techniques til the END of the day; my mornings are fairly stress-free.  It's usually in the evening when I've had a long day and Jer is MIA and I'm cleaning the kitchen AGAIN and trying to figure out what to make for dinner and Porter is whining and clinging to my leg... then that silent scream is amazing.  I already mentioned I'm a list-maker, and that helps prevent a lot of stress. 

I am also a list-maker, and while it does organize my thoughts and help me know what I need to be working on next, I also find myself overwhelmed as I don't get to everything on the list.  It helps to try to keep each thing on my list very simple, and to be realistic in my expectations. 

The tactic I relied on most this week was to ask for help.  (It wasn't one that Watts suggested, but it's good practice for me.)  I hate asking for help.  I especially hate feeling like I'm incapable of doing something by myself.  But I need a lot of help, and I end up feeling a lot less overwhelmed and lash out at others less when I know I can rely on someone else.  So, knowing that I was going to be driving alone to Salt Lake with my littles this week, I started praying that I would have help while I was there, and that I wouldn't be too proud to accept it.  No sooner had I started that train of thought, and my mom called and asked if she could come with me!  She was invaluable throughout the weekend, tending to Max every time I asked and lots of times I didn't.  I didn't exactly keep my cool all weekend, but I would have been a basket case if I hadn't let go and asked for help. 

Okay, I'm not going to be this long-winded each week, but I guess I had a lot I was thinking about tonight.  Preview for next week: Exercise #2: Forgiving

Snow Day

01.03.11

Yesterday it snowed!  We don't get much snow here, so it is required that we go out in play in it quickly, before it melts.  Everyone got bundled up and ran outside for a snowball fight before breakfast.  



 Well, almost everyone:

I may have missed my only opportunity to use the adorable snowsuit I have for Lily (a hand-me-down, not something I would actually go out and buy, I promise!).  Ah, well.  Things were more peaceful this way. 

In the afternoon, Adam took the big kids looking for a hill that still had some snow on it so they could go sledding:

And just for fun, here are our snow angels from yesterday:

 And from last month:

Ah, Maui, I miss you...

A New Year

Welcome, 2011!  A new year always feels like a fresh start, and that's what I'm feeling in many ways lately.  Mostly in my house.  It's been pretty messy for months now, and we've spent the last week cleaning out.  Do you feel like your brain works better in a clean house?  I know mine does.  (Not that my brain is firing on all cylinders now, but the clean house helps.)  Here's where my improved brain function is taking me...

It was suggested in Relief Society that we set four goals this year, each to improve a relationship that is essential to our salvation: our relationships with God, our family, our fellow man, and ourselves.  As I thought about it, I tried to think of the areas where I am lacking in each of those relationships, and found that going back to basics would probably have the most impact in my life right now (and, honestly, I'm not really up to any grand, elaborate plans this year!).  Here are my goals for 2011:

1.  In improving my relationship with God: Daily personal prayer.  It's really sad that this is something that I have to work on, but there you are.  I read recently a mother saying that as she pondered the words of the hymn, "Ere you left your room this morning/Did you think to pray?" she realized that she usually left her room in the morning at a dead run.  This may not exactly be the case for me, as I usually wake up and nurse the baby, but I definitely empathize because as a mother you rarely wake to peace and quiet and time for prayer and reflection. So I'm sure this goal will require setting a new routine of some kind. 

2.  In improving my relationship with my family: Praying for and practicing calm and patience with my children, and sincerely repenting for my lapses.  It's not really measurable to just say I'm going to be more patient, so I chose a specific action that I could be accountable for.  And lest you think I am leaving Adam out in my quest to improve my family relationships (as I initially did), I have come to the decision that this may be the best gift I could give to him, as my lack of patience is probably one of his greatest frustrations as a husband and father. 

3.  In improving my relationship with my fellow man: Monthly visiting teaching.  As a former Relief Society president, I am ashamed to own up to my sorry visiting teaching track record of the last two years.  I know how important it is to truly befriend and be accountable for our sisters, and so although I had grandiose ideas for service projects aplenty, this seemed like a better first step in serving others. 

4.  In improving my relationship with myself: Keeping a daily gratitude journal.  Looking back at the things that have improved my outlook on life the most in the last year, my infrequent gratitude journal is at the top of the list.  Finding things to be positive about, even on the worst day, gives me perspective that all is not as bad as it feels in the moment.  Surely by doing this daily, my negative attitude will at least diminish a little. 

One thing that I will be doing to help improve myself this year will be here on the blog, and I'm bringing my sister, Anne, along for the ride.  She recently borrowed a book my brother gave me last year, I Hate it When Exercise is the Answer: A Fitness Program for the Soul.  As she was reading it, she suggested that it would be a great thing to blog about.  So she and I are going to do each of the 31 exercises (one for each day of a month, but we'll be doing them weekly so as not to overwhelm ourselves) and I'll report our experiences here each week.  Stay tuned to see how it goes! 

Lily's Blessing

November 7, 2010

These are the only posed shots I got from Lily's blessing day, which is a testament to the fact that Lily is the fourth child.  In the past I've always made sure to get a shot of our babies with Adam (who has blessed them), and one of all the men in the circle.  But once you get this far, you are mostly just trying to get everything done that needs to get done.  I'm lucky I have any pictures at all! 

I was pleasantly surprised that someone picked up the camera and started shooting while Adam and I were putting out the luncheon food (we had a pasta bar, it was really good!), so we got some other fun shots:

Adam gave Lily a beautiful blessing, and we were really blessed to have so much family around.  Adam's dad, David, came and stayed with us, which was so special.  When he first came Katie and Max weren't even sure who he was, but by the time he left they were climbing all over him and sad to see Grandpa go.