Aloha!

We finally got to go to Hawaii for our delayed honeymoon! Here are a few pics showing some of the rain, fun and sun we enjoyed during the trip!


I was excited that my chain link countdown that started out with 120 links, was down to only 4!



The View from our hotel room in Waikiki


The view out to the USS Missouri (left) and the memorial for the USS Arizona

Steve taking a moment to pose for the camera during our self guided tour of the Missouri

Me climbing from done deck to another on the Missouri

We visited the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island. Steve really enjoyed the planes but the most interesting part of the tour to me was seeing these bullet holes that occurred during the attack on Pearl Harbor. They made the whole day at Pearl Harbor, learning the history of the event, MUCH more real.

Taking a moment to take in the views of a beach outside Waikiki on our driving tour of Oahu


Good thing we stopped for a picture earlier, the weather definitely took a turn for the worse and cut our driving tour short. It was raining to hard to be able to see any of the sights :(


Back in Waikiki later that afternoon, the rain had slowed a bit, but it was still cloudy. What can you do?


I know, LEAVE Waikiki and head to Maui! Of course when we leave the sun comes out again.


We made it to Kahana Sunset on Maui and took advantage of the sunny weather for a walk on the beach.



Steve decided to play in the ocean when we got there

The next day we shopped in Kaanapali and Lahaina. Went from sunny....

....to rainy very quickly that day. These two picks were taken about 10 min apart. No question we were there during the rainy season.

Luau night!

Finally the SUN CAME OUT TO STAY!!!! The rain kept us from playing in the ocean for the first part of our time on Maui because all the rain caused roads to close, flash flooding and sewer drains were overflowing resulting in coastal water advisory. Meaning stay out of the ocean or risk getting sick. But the rains cleared, the ocean went from brown to blue and invited us to go play!


There were 4 of these HUGE turtles swimming around in the cove of our hotel. SO AWESOME! We watched them for a long time and they were only 20 feet away from us. This was the BEST afternoon!

Me swimming in the ocean

The view I had from my suntanning location. Not to shabby.


Sunset from our condo on Maui

Enjoying the sunset in Lahaina waiting for dinner at...


...Cheeseburger in Paradise! YUM

One last picture saying good bye to the hotel.

The last shot before we had to leave and go home :( Love this place

Aloha Hawaii! Until we meet again :)

Picture post

Doesn't seem like much has happened recently. Thus the lack of post. So I'm posting some of my favorite pics from Aug through now. Or if they aren't my favorites, they are just some pictures of what we've been up to I suppose.

Wedding Time

We got hitched :)


Grandpa Don and Sarah



Most of the cousins minus a few.


I'm ready to go become a Mrs.

Dinner Time

I made this dinner a while ago, but I love it mostly because (well it tasted good) but it made me feel like we were eating out at a restaurant because of the basket and liner. It is such a fun way to present dinner differently from home. I love making food/cooking fun.



View from above. The menu was winter beef stew, caesar salad, and french bread. Sure did work out well that I had already planned such a yummy dinner for what ended up being our 3 month wedding anniversary :)

Christmas Time

Poinsettias

Pretty bowl of jingle bells as the table center piece this year.

Christmas tree, o, Christmas tree, why don't you seem as lovely as last year? Maybe it's just the lighting in the picture. But I felt the need to document it still.

Attempt at an artsy shot that I think fell flat. But it gets the tree, stockings, poinsettias, and nativity all in one shot.

Well folks. That is the best I can do for now. Adios for now:)

Brayden's 1st Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!



Oh hi Mom and Dad and everyone else! I am such a sweet boy and I just want to thank you for this wonderful birthday party!

Do you think they bought the sweet talk? Are they watching? Am I clear to launch?

Ahhhh ha ha ha, I did it! I got away with it. And boy do I think I am a kick in the pants! LOVE his little expression in this one.


The AMAZING cake Brayden's mama made from the good ol' secret Duncan Hines recipe :)


And on to the presents. I'd really like to thank you guys for getting this ridiculously amusing bag. The clothes and book were nice, but really, the bag was just way to kind of you :)








Oh look, Auntie Christine got me a little trip to the zoo....



.... looks pretty tasty if you ask me!










And a good time was had by all. Happy 1st birthday little dude!

Loving My Garden

Ok, I may be obsessive about the garden posts. I just enjoy watching it grow and produce so much I can't help but want to share it with you all! Here are pics I took JUST now of the flourishing garden. Right now I am MOST excited about the zinnias blooming and the 2 pumpkins I have for sure growing. I cannot wait to carve them in October :) Hope you enjoy the pics!

Garden Progress

It keeps growing! It's much bigger now, but I don't have any pics from this week. But I thought I'd share the garden success :) Thus far we've harvested 3 zucchini and have lots of green tomatoes on the vine, the zinnias are getting ready to bloom, lots of blossoms on the pumpkins that will hopefully lead to some squash, the peas are blossoming all over the place and starting to produce and it just keeps going! Its so much fun (except for the watering). So, here's an update and then below is a surf n turf dinner I made featuring the first harvested zucchini :)





We've been trying to keep up with projects around the house as well as fun things like the garden during this busy summer! Today marks only 20 days until wedding day! Thanks to EVERYONE that has helped pull this wedding together. I wouldn't be happening without you! So this was a glimpse into life that is not wedding related lol. Hopefully more harvest pictures to come, but if not those, I'm sure wedding pics will be posted eventually!

See My Garden Grow

So I'm SLOWLY getting my yard pulled together amidst wedding frenzy stuff. The flowers out front are disappointing me as they aren't getting enough sun to grow very fast. I need them beautiful by Aug 28th please :) But it appears that my first attempt at a garden in my little home here is a success, thanks in great part to Steve working REALLY hard on making the soil nutrient rich. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure nothing would have grown in the dirt I have here. Well here is just a little sampling of what I have going around this place.









Can't wait to harvest all this goodness :) So proud of myself! And THRILLED that there are hardly any weeds so far, in the garden, elsewhere, it's another story. Stay tuned for more!