Time with Daddy

So it has been a long (long in a good way) weekend. Tyler didn't have any appointments this week for work so after 2:00 on Thursday, he has been ours. It is a rare occasion when Tyler gets to spend a lot of time with us. I don't blame him as he is going to school full time, doing two independent study courses, working part-time and fulfilling his hefty church calling. There are days when he leaves before Lucy wakes up and gets home after she is in bed so he doesn't even get to kiss those lovable cheeks of hers.

We have taken advantage of his extra time and we have been to the park twice, out to eat with the Battles' and watched a few too many episodes of the final season of the West Wing (our fav. TV show despite the republicans being the bad guys). He even ran 10 miles today-unaccompanied by his wife of course.

Lucy, being a daddy's girl, has enjoyed the extra time with her daddy for sure. It amazes me how I can be with her all day long and the moment daddy walks into the room she goes crazy. It makes me smile that's for sure!

The hat is obviously daddy's influence!!!

Swinging is her new favorite activity. She laughs non-stop while in motion on the swings!

I'm thinking the slide is not on her top-ten list of things she enjoys. What do you think?

Good Friends

This is a short thought, but I have been emailing my friend Kassie back and forth all day (we also went out to lunch with some of our other girlfriends). Our discussions got me thinking about the value of good girlfriends. I have been contemplating a lot about what makes a good friend, the qualities that I feel you can't go without.
I have been blessed in my life to have so many good girlfriends, and I wish I kept in better contact with most of them. (Some of you will be reading my blog and know who you are, I really do miss you!). I don't have a lot to say about it just now because Lucy is awake in her crib wondering where I am. I did however want to get out there that good friends are priceless. One of my best friends in high school gave me a scrapbook when we graduated. In it is a poem I love. It meant a lot as we were going our separate ways for college, but means something different now that I have experienced separation from good friends.

"True friends are never forgotten, they live within our hearts and souls...forever, and always, dancing on our stage of memories."

Can any of us forget our true friends, the ones that loved us no matter what we did? Whether I talk to them every week, every month, or even every year, I could never forget any of my girlfriends because of the memories we've made together. It's like I have so many different sets of friends, those from preschool though graduating high school, my first two years of college and my second two years after I switched schools. Then when college friends started moving away, and I got married, it's like I got a whole new set of friends. All are priceless in my mind. I wouldn't be who I am today without any of you, so thank you for everything!

Hawaii

So I know it has been a week, but I started looking through my pictures of Hawaii and realized I didn't take hardly any at all. Tyler's parents were also on the work incentive trip, seeing as how his dad runs the company, and he took a TON of pictures. So I will post more when I get a CD of those.

The first day we went to Pearl Harbor. What a sobering experience! There was such a prideful feeling I had for not only the soldiers at Pearl Harbor, but for all our Troops, no matter when or where, that have given their service for our country. The most memorable part of this trip was the circle outside to remember all those (minus those on the Arizona) who lost their lives that day. There were quite a few civilians in Hawaii who died, one was 7 months old, the age of our little Lucy. I was glad I had sun glasses on because it topped off my emotions for the day! We spent the rest of our afternoon touring around the island and then walked the board walk in Waikiki.

Monday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I LOVED it!

Below Tyler and I are playing with some sticks in the New Zealand portion of the Center. It is some traditional thing they do, like the hula in hawaii, where you hit sticks together and throw them from person to person in different ways. I will have you know that during our little class, Tyler and I didn't drop our sticks once:)

After we went to several shows from the different islands within Polynesia, watched a water parade and played some fun games, Tyler and I snuck out to go see the LDS Temple. And boy was it breathtaking. The Picture doesn't do the scene justice. The sun was setting and there were beautiful clouds in the sky. Nobody was on the temple grounds which added to the peace we felt there. It was one of my highlights for the whole week!

After seeing the Temple grounds and the BYU-Hawaii grounds, we went back for the final show . It was amazing and I had to include a picture to show you all how good our seats were. Row 4 in the exact middle of the arena.

I can't remember the order of the rest of the days but we went to a Ranch to go 4 wheeling and take an off-road jeep ride. We did this at the Ranch where a bazillion movies/TV shows have been filmed such as Lost, Jurassic park, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, etc. Needless to say it was BEAUTIFUL!

One day we went Para sailing

We also went jet skiing. I will have you know that while I was driving the waverunner I threw my big-strong husband off the back. He thought I was going to be wimpy but I suppose I showed him. Oh, and you don't have to tell me how dorky I look in those goggles, but the water was so salty that they were worth the fashion faux paux.

We did a ton of other things like eat great food, shop, Tyler went surfing a few times too. But one thing I wish we did more of was just relax. I only sat out by the pool twice and once the sun wasn't out yet because it was so early. The four hour time change had us up pretty early. I suppose it was okay we didn't see too much sun by the beach or pool because if you hadn't noticed, we are pretty fair skinned.

Lastly for this post are a couple of pictures of our little Lu Lu in one of the outfits we got for her. As you can tell by the second one, she loved the skirt. I am pretty sure there are little green pieces all over our house.

The trip was great but I missed Lu entirely too much. It is hard to leave your little girl for a whole week. But as Tyler and I said to each other half way through the trip, it was a great thing that we actually looked forward to going home. She is too perfect to be away from that long!

Wait for it...

So I am sorry to say that it is late and I am feeling a little under the weather, but I realized it has been weeks since I have even been on the Internet, much less updating or looking at blogs. So I thought I would let you all know that I didn't forget I had a blog and will update you on our trips to Hawaii and Portland soon. I don't know what soon means but I did the bathrooms and the laundry today so really the only big one left before I can have a few minutes for me is the grocery shopping. I have never seen such an empty fridge before so I am thinking this is going to be a chore not to be accomplished at one store. It will be a whole day event when you throw Lucy in the mix, but in the end it will be worth it!