Sweet 16!!!

This past Saturday, Lindsay celebrated her 16th birthday. I wanted to make a big deal out of it since I think turning 16 is a big deal. I had planned for a couple of weeks to have a surprise birthday party for her. Her best friend Avery was my accomplice. She told me who to invite and then helped me keep Lindsay out of the house while I got ready. Lindsay thought she was going to the movies but had forgotten her money, luckily and they had to come back and get it. I decorated with a few posters which were made by my friend, Nicole. I also had 16 pink roses and 16 pink balloons. Here is Avery in the middle, they played the game "signs" for hours. We ended up with 19 of Lindsay's friends to help in her celebration.

Here is the birthday girl, with Jace on her lap, and several of her male friends. Lindsay has such a great group of friends and they are always having fun whatever they do.

What could be sweeter for a sweet 16 party than a chocolate fountain? It was a huge hit with the kids!

Here's a lot of the goods we had to dip into the chocolate. I think I had way to many choices but everything I thought of sounded like it would be yummy in chocolate (what isn't really).

Here she is posing in the new sunglasses her dad and I gave her.

She requested the cookie dough delirium ice cream cake from cold stone as her birthday cake.

We took her to lunch at Red Robin. Here she is right before they sang to her.

I can't believe it's been 16 years since she came into our family!! Time has sure gone fast. Lindsay is such a delight to have in our home. She is always working hard in school and trying to be the best she can be. She makes correct choices and knows who she is! We are grateful to Heavenly Father to have sent this sweet spirit to us to raise. She really does make being a parent easy. Happy Birthday Lindsay, we love you!

ALOHA!

Chris and I had the fantastic opportunity to spend 8 days on the beautiful island of Maui. We went with some great friends and had such a fabulous time!! After I started downloading pictures, I realized I probably should have made a couple of blog posts according to the things we did. Too late for that, so these are in total random order. Maui is such a gorgeous place and I can't wait to go back with the kids!!
Here we are after hiking down to Nakalele's blowhole. We found this heart amongst the lava rock at the bottom. One of the many eruptions from the blowhole. We would go stand near it too and would get soaked. It felt great in the heat of the sun though.

Chris and I on the boardwalk from our resort to the beach.

On the resort grounds. This resort was spectacular!!

One of the evenings we went to "the feast at Lele" luau. It was awesome!

Here's Chris hiking down to Nakalele's blowhole. (see out of order)

Just one of the many pictures of the beautiful scenery we saw while on Maui. I believe this is on the "road to Hana."

We loved, loved the color of the water! It was breathtakingly (is that a word)beautiful

Here is a reef shark that Nicole and Justin saw on their scuba dive trip! Chris and I just snorkeled above them.

This is a sea turtle, one of many seen on our snorkeling day to molokini island and turtle town! This day was so much fun!

There are tons and tons of beautiful flowers all over the island. I loved seeing them, smelling them and taking pictures of them. This is a hibiscus which is the state flower of Hawaii.

Chris, me, Justin and Nicole on the sailboat we took to Molokini Island and turtle town. We snorkeled while they did scuba. We saw tons and tons of whales. They are such spectacular creatures!

Me, putting on my fins to head into the water for some GREAT snorkeling.

We ate a lot of fantastic food. Here we are at "Cheeseburgers in Paradise." This place we loved so much, we went there twice!

Laying out at the beach behind the resort. Kaanapali beach

This arch is formed by trees grown over the walk way at Mama's Fish House. Note: if you don't like fish, don't go eat there. The grounds were awesome and the other three tell me the fish was too. I ate steak, it wasn't the best.

We took a helicopter tour of the island which was hands down one of our favorite things. The views were incredible and you get a completely different outlook of the island itself.

Two humpback whales we saw from the helicopter! Loved it, and I named these two, Bonnie and Clyde." We saw two whales jump out of the water simultaneously side by side one morning. One of the most awesome things I've ever seen! I didn't have my camera on however.

Climbing the old Banyan tree in downtown Lahaina. This tree was amazing, it's all one tree. Apparently you aren't supposed to be climbing on it as an older man came and yelled at us, telling us if we get caught it's a $1500 fine. He didn't say a word to any of the kids that were hanging and climbing all over it. We just decided he was jealous of the fun we were having. : )

A shop owner in one of the shops in Lahaina gave me this plumeria for my hair. These flowers are so pretty and they smell like heaven. I couldn't get enough of them. Every time I saw one, I had to run smell them. YUMMY!!

One of the many waterfalls we saw while we were there. This one we had to hike down into the bamboo forest on the "road to Hana" to find. There were 4, this is the second. We didn't go in further than this.

Down in the bamboo forest. This place was seriously amazing. The sad thing is, not many of the travelers on the "road to Hana" know about it.

Chris took the car keys and carved into one of the bamboo poles. Isn't he romantic? Look closely and you can see it.

I had mentioned to Kenna one of the days that our resort had a water slide at one of the pools. She asked how it was so I told her I would check it out! Result? SO FUN!! I went on it about a dozen times. Can't wait to take the kids back!

Heading to the airport. Kissing Maui goodbye : (
This is at the waterfall in front of our resort.

There are many more pictures, it was so hard to just pick a few to post. This was such a fantastic get away with great friends. I've already looked into airfare and weeks available at this resort. I so want to go back and take the kids. I've told them in 2012. That will be our 20 year anniversary and the year Lindsay will graduate from high school. Crossing my fingers : )

I now know why they say "Maui no ka oi!" We loved every second!