Ziplining 12.23.08

Getting all geared up!
A pretty impressive group, don't you think?

A Hawaiian sunrise.

Before we began...do we look as nervous as we felt?

Seriously...it rocked!

So bright and early (sorry again guys) the gang went ziplining. This was one of our must do activities while we were in Hawaii. For anyone who is somewhat considering this, I highly recommend it. We had an absolute blast! We ziplined about seven lines, then went to a little swimming hole that was freakin' freezing, then lunch, then we had the rest of the day to hang out since our flight didn't leave until 11:30 that evening. All in all, it really was a trip of a lifetime and I'm so thankful that I was able to go with such an amazing group of friends. I love you guys. Life is good.

The Wedding 12.22.08

In our fancy wedding attire at the Grand Hyatt.
The beach where they got married.

The bride and groom.

The wedding.

A view from the Hyatt.

On Monday Sarah and Jim got married. It was absolutely beautiful. They are such a perfect match. I'm so glad that I was able to attend. We had such a marvelous time and wish Sarah and Jim nothing but the best. After the wedding we went out to a very nice dinner and I finally got a drink served to me with an umbrella in it! Phew! Life is good!

A Day Off. 12.21.08

The Kruse House...our home for four days!
That's right...I've got it goin' on! Hee, hee!

It doesn't get much more like paradise.

Walking the beach at night...life really is quite good.

After the "excitement" (AKA Matt's injury) the day before, we all pretty much decided that today would be a hang around the plantation day. We did a lot of time by the pool; Darrick and Anne got massages; we did some serious tasting of beverages; played some volleyball, and all around had a terrific Hawaiian day. Life is good!

Oh what a day! 12.20.08

Waimea Canyon

It's a pretty impressive sight...no, I don't mean me...although....

There's nothing like great friends.

The beautiful, but deadly beach!

Finally, dinner and beer! Delicious!

So, today we decided to head to Waimea Canyon, then to the beach, hit a local parade, and then end with dinner at the brewery. The Canyon was beautiful, I had seen it the last time I was here and it was just as breath taking as I remembered. The beach by our plantation was nothing to look at so we headed to another beach for some sun bathing and body boarding. Again, it's all well until dear sweet Matt stepped on a sea urchin. He had 72 prongs in his foot. Ouch! The life guards helped him out, but he was done for the day. (By the way, he just pulled out the last few a couple days ago. That's about a month later.) So Matt and Jason headed back home, while Monica, Anne, Darrick, and I went shopping. Yahoo!!! Then we parked way out in BFE as all the roads heading back to our place were closed for the local Christmas parade. It was fun to see, but not fun to hike home. So we decided to hit the brewery on the plantation for dinner. It was delicious! Life is good!

In Paradise!! 12.19.08

Hooray...we made it!!
This is where we stayed. It was on the south side of the island.

Part of the Golden Circle!!

The dancers were amazing.

Our fire eater was crazy and funny!

So, on December 18th I flew out of this winter madness and landed in paradise. My dear friend Sarah was getting married on the island of Kauai and a bunch of us decided to go. It was a freakin' fantastic trip. I'll post just a few of the umpteen million pictures I took!! We got in late Thursday night, so Friday morning it was up early (well not too early) to do some exploring, then time at the pool, and then off to a luau. Life is oh so very good.

Here Comes the Snow

Snow Angels
It gets tiring trudging through the snow.

Man he's cute!!

Norm was in hog heaven!

Picture Perfect!

So just as I was getting ready to leave for Hawaii, Washington had a pretty decent snow storm move through the Northwest. We were knee deep in it, and besides how messy it gets when you want to travel, it was beautiful. Logan, Norman and I had a blast playing in it. I swear Logan's favorite thing is not sledding, making snowmen (as he repeatedly thwarted my attempts), or having snowball fights...nope, it's eating the delicious snow. Silly boy. Life is good.

Tuesday Night Fun 12.16.08

"Oh Holy Night...."
So even though it's the new year, I'm posting some stuff that happened at the end of '08. Because of the amazingly large amounts of snow we got, December 16th was my last day of school for the year and since my computer at home is slower than molasses I've waited until I was back on campus to update my blog. A lot has happened in three weeks, so here goes....every Tuesday night Kara and I try to get together with the boys for dinner and play. For this particular evening we went to one of our favorite local Mexican restuarants. Delicious! The boys did great and even stood by the tree for a quick pic. Life is good!