Happy Halloween from the Cheerleader and the Chicken/Cow

Tyler had a hard time sticking with a costume (as did Emma). It's so fun to see them "get" the idea of trick-or-treating and charm all the friends and neighbors. Now we can start getting ready for Christmas!

Tremors

We finally got our welcome (for me, re-welcome) to California! Tonight at 8 pm a 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook the ground. It hit a little too close to home - literally - as it was based less than 20 miles away from our house. Being a native Californian, I recall earthquake drills from elementary school but during those 30 seconds of shaking tonight I just stood still and wondered how I could get my kids from their beds and under the table with me. Thankfully it stopped before I really had to take action and we had no damage.

So...poor Spencer who was on an airplane, thousands of feet above this unstable earth, missed experiencing his first Californian earthquake! Poor Spencer was on his way home from Disneyworld, still relishing in the fun and magic associated with everything Disney. With the rough time all of California has had these last two weeks, I think we are entitled to a bit of a break from scary natural disasters for a while.

Boston Red Sox = World Series Champs!

So I'm not really into major league baseball. In fact, I can't stand watching baseball. It is probably because the action isn't really exciting (not like football anyway). Granted, I grew up watching the Dodgers...enough said. So, what makes me totally obsessed in keeping up with the Red Sox this year? We lived in Boston until just a short 6 months ago, where Red Sox fever is out of control. And by out of control, I mean it! It's huge and is taken very seriously. I didn't care much about the Sox when we lived in Boston. But boy oh boy I sure care now!

Right before we moved west a huge furniture store had a gimmick where if you bought a bed, sofa, dining set, etc. during a 6-week period, and then if the Sox won the World Series this year, you'd get your money back! We did a lot of pricing and this place had the best prices anyway, so we thought we might as well go for it even though we were pretty sure the Sox wouldn't make it that far (I know, little faith). Well, about 5 minutes ago they clinched the Series after winning the first 4 games!! WOO HOO! I should be thrilled and only thrilled, but all I can think is , "Dang - we should have bought more!!" Way to go Sox!

Cute

Emma asked to watch our wedding video (again) today. She has all the songs memorized and can talk along with any and all dialogue in the video. Today, when we got to the part when Spencer and I walk out of the temple and everyone cheers Emma said, "I was there saying 'woo hoo' too!" I said, "Emma, you were still in heaven; you weren't born yet." She said, "I know Mom. I was saying 'woo hoo' from heaven." I sat back and smiled for a minute. That made my day.

Recap of our trip to Paradise

After a whirlwind two weeks and after 6300 miles, we are HOME! I feel like we've gone around the world (a few times)!

Our first day in Honolulu was rather uneventful. Actually, the most eventful part of the day was being upgraded, for free, to a Mustang Convertible! Woo hoo!! We had the top down a lot, except when the typical downpours were downpouring...

We did the "obligatory" trip to Pearl Harbor (I am SO not into stuff like that) because Spencer wanted to go. Come on, I watched the Ben Affleck movie - wasn't that enough?? When we got to the Memorial, we walked straight to the end of the line that was going back to shore on the ferry - no wasting time dawdling! Then we hit the swap meet in Honolulu.

By that point we'd had quite enough of tourist-ville (Honolulu/Waikiki made me claustrophobic) and hit the North Shore, where our hotel was. What a beautiful drive! We saw tons of surfers, minus the 30-feet waves that hit that area in the winter, and lots of emerald blue water. We were so excited! The top of the convertible went up and down as the rain started and stopped. As I've mentioned before, I am incredibly resourceful in terms of saving money (ask me how much our hotel cost!!!) so we were going to do lots of meals at home to save even more money. Anyway, my "frugal-ness" wore off when we spent twice what we'd spend at a grocery store on the mainland! Ouch! We couldn't even find a "real" place to eat that night so we just ate fast food and went to bed early.

Sunday was conference Sunday. Since the "afternoon session" was over at noon we had lots of time. It's hard to be in Hawaii on a Sunday!!

On Monday we went back to Waikiki to snorkel, hike Diamond Head (gorgeous views), and hang out. It was lots of fun - the highlight was having a sea turtle come up right next to me and scare the ba-jeebies out of me for a second...or a few seconds to be more precise. We had a fabulous time and once again went to bed early. We never adjusted to the time change, so I was up every morning between 4 and 4:30 a.m. I had to find things to do while I waited for Spencer to wake up. One of those things was to read Twilight - took me 3 whole days.

Waikiki - Looks like a postcard, huh?

Hanauma Bay


On Tuesday we went to the temple, snorkeled at "Shark's Cove," and spent the majority of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center! What a cool place. Polynesian people are lots of fun and are hilarious, so we had a fantastic time. I mean, who else can climb a coconut tree with bare feet, and joke with you while they're at the top?? Learning to hula was a highlight; I just had the giggles so bad watching Spencer, and he was a really good sport. By 9:00 that night I was half-asleep through the fire dancers' show - I know, I'm lame. Shucks, the show really was good.






By Wednesday we were pretty tired. We hiked to Waimea Falls (and I got eaten alive - darn mosquitos!) and then went back to the condo and...took a nap! It was so weird but so nice at the same time. We just hung out that afternoon, then went for a dip at Sunset Beach and watched the sunset. Gorgeous!! I think this evening was my "favorite" night (if I can pick a favorite). It was so fun to sit and watch the sunset - that has always been one of my very favorite things to do. I just felt so perfectly happy for those few minutes! A perfect sunset for a perfect night. There were some dudes riding around (standing up) on these surfboard-type things, with paddles. I don't know what it's called but I guess it's the "new thing." Enlighten me, please.



Thursday was our last day. We went to the PCC again (they have a "free within 3" deal, and we didn't get to see everything the first time). We were roasting in the heat and didn't stay long. We drove to Waikiki where we swam again - we HAD to go to Waikiki Beach...the most famous beach in the world! Then we ate at Cheesecake Factory that night. I have to say, that topped off our trip! The food was awesome, the Cheesecake was sooo good, and we had a gift card which made it all the better! We sadly parted with the Mustang and headed off to the airport for a long red eye flight.

Getting home (to LA) was great. The flight wasn't so great, so I'll leave it at that. My mom brought Tyler to the airport and he grinned from ear to ear for about two hours. He talked my ear off and I couldn't believe how much more talking he seemed to be doing. He kept reminding me that I had been in Hawaii, and I was so glad to be reunited with my cute little boy. (I loved seeing Emma too but she wasn't nearly as excited to see US). My sweet little momma's boy never lets me down!


Sleep-deprived, we headed off for Las Vegas for the BYU/UNLV game. We had a great time seeing grandparents/great-grandparents, and some of the Wirthlin family. We drove the 9 hours home yesterday and it's so good to be home!

For all of you who are planning on visiting Oahu, we are now EXPERT travel guides as I did research for months on where to go and what to do! :) We had so much fun and it was really nice to leave my kids for a bit (though I missed them a lot and called twice a day). I loved getting Spencer away from his CRAZY work life and taking the break we both needed so badly, though he still had to monitor his 50 emails a day and keep in touch with his clients. Best of all, we finally got the honeymoon we missed out on 5 years ago! Hooray for us - 5 years down and infinity to go! :)

The Happiest Place on Earth...It Really Is!

I took the kids to Disneyland yesterday, and I wish I could capture so many moments in my mind forever. While we've gone a few times, this time both kids were at the ages where we experiencd the epitome of a good time. Everyone who knows me knows I don't pay full price (or even half price) for anything, so I had an amazing deal on park tickets. Also, there weren't many people there, and it was totally decorated for Halloween. I went on more pukey rides than I care to think about or remember, we got Emma on all the scary rides - and she liked them! - and Tyler got to see Lightning McQueen and Mater (AND clean them!). By the time of the parade Tyler was running on empty, not having taken any nap, and I could tell they were losing steam. When we got to the car, it took a total of 14 seconds for Tyler to fall fast asleep. Emma followed a few minutes later. Even with how exhausting it is, it's so worth it to see them get excited at every little magical thing! I love the fun that comes with having a 2 and 3 year old!

We leave for Hawaii tomorrow morning. I can't stop stressing about leaving Tyler for a whole 6 days, but I know it's something we really need, and I know the kids will be well taken care of. We are so excited.