Officially a TEENAGER

Here is a photo of Emily with her new flip flops, one of the things she got at the big birthday party before our Hawaii trip.

Since her birthday fell on Sunday this year (March 11) we took her to lunch the Saturday before and she wanted to go to Olive Garden  - they gave her a little bowl of whipping cream with their yummy mints in it as we all sang happy birthday

Sunday morning, she wanted pancakes and scrambled eggs!  WOW -officially another teenager lives in our home -

We don't have church until 11 so she didn't want to wait to open her presents

A new wallet, make- up bag and purse are among a few of the things she received

This girl is a girl after my own heart, she wanted a raspberry filled cake with butter cream frosting!

Funny little story - as I put the candles on her cake, I only put on 11 of them  and all the kids reminded me that I was short 2 candles..... I guess in my mind, she should still be 11!

Make a wish and blow

What a beautiful young woman Emily is becoming -

We now have 1/2 teenagers and 1/2 under 10 in the house - they grow up so quickly!  She often times sits silently in the background waiting for her turn to shine, but when she does she sure shines bright -I guess that is a downfall of being in the middle.  She is a great big sister as she helps the little ones with keeping their rooms clean, homework and reading.  She is funny, smart and beautiful.  How lucky are we that she came to our home, we love her and appreciate what a wonderful daughter she is! Next thing I know, she'll be driving!

Ali turns 9

Ali's birthday was back on the 6th of March and she was lucky enough to have 2 different days to celebrate.  Before we left for Hawaii, I did a big birthday party for her with our 2 other March birthday's so they could have a few things they would need for the trip.  Here she is happy with her new swimming suit.

The actual morning of her birthday.  Where has the time gone?  I can't believe this is her last year in single digits! She requested french toast for her birthday breakfast -

Jace and I took treats into her third grade class.  She wanted twix candy bars with soda pop!
She is handing out the soda in this photo ~

For dinner, she wanted to go to Red Robin (a family favorite) and I love when they pick a place that celebrates birthdays!  Here the waitresses are singing to her after they presented her with her sundae and balloons.  (Chris is the background taking some photos)

What a cute smile!

Ali isn't a cake type of a girl - she didn't want a cake but instead, wanted to go to Orange Leaf frozen yogurt for her 'cake'
Picking her flavor

Can't forget the toppings

The finished bowl.....

Time for presents

Ali is such an amazing little girl and we are so lucky to have her in our family!  She is one of the funniest kids I know and always has us laughing - she is a great big sister and tries hard to be a peacemaker in our home!  Happy Birthday Ali, we sure love you!

Hawaii - random photos

These pictures are just pictures that made our trip fun and didn't really fit into any of the previous posts but we definitely couldn't leave them out!

Kenna at Cheeseburger in Paradise enjoying a pina colada, virgin of course!

The old banyan tree in downtown Lahaina - this tree is amazing

We hiked to Nakalele's blowhole, but it was so windy that day, we didn't make it all the way down to the blowhole.  This is the view from where we were

See how windy it was?

This 200XL shirt is in Hilo Hattie's - keep in mind it's only the 2nd largest Hawaiian shirt in the world!

Downtown Lahaina there is a koi pond right in the middle of the outdoor mall ~ this is right after we landed, we stopped to eat even before going to the resort!  (I love my friend in the background on the phone)

Several times we walked along the harbor where the tour boats go in and out.  On this particular day, a deep sea fishing boat had come in, cleaned it's catch and offered it to the people along the harbor.  Chris enjoyed tasting this raw mahi mahi!

On one of the several times we stopped for Hawaiian shave ice, Kenna ran across the street to pick herself a plumeria

Best buddies along the harbor

Of course there was shopping in all the shops along front street in downtown Lahaina!

Jace with a tiki in Hilo Hattie's

The main reason I wanted to go to Hilo Hattie's?  They have a spot where you can pick pearls from oysters and for Lindsay's birthday, I thought it would be fun for her to do so!
Here she is picking her oyster~

She got TWINS!! Not only 2 but 2 gorgeous white pearls!

I decided to get it set for her and for doing so, the lady let us pick another oyster.  Kenna and Jace picked next and got a beautiful black pearl.  Long story short, I was a sucker and ended up getting each of us girls matching necklaces - we ended up with 2 white pearls, a black pearl and 3 pink pearls - here is what the setting looks like, this is with one of the pink pearls ~ (I guess I'll always remember what I paid for them too - the chain isn't included)

Jace caught himself a big wave!

This is Kenna, walking back from writing all her friends names in the sand - notice her phone in hand? She texted each of them their names in the sand

Boys will be boys ~ Jace is playing in the fountain at whaler's village

At whaler's village, Ali wanted her picture taken with this whale

A nice young man was kind enough to take a family photo along the harbor

 I started planning this back in 2010 after Chris and I had gone.  We ended up getting a great deal on airfare back in May 2011 so it was a long countdown before we actually left.  This was definitely a once in a lifetime family trip! We are blessed to have been able to go spend time together and strengthen our family bond - This trip was everything I dreamed it would be with the kids and so much more - I think we are all in agreement that it stinks to be home - we are missing the warm sun, the smell of the flowers, the Hawaiian shave ice, the beach, the pool..............I can go on!

Lanai snorkel and wild dolphin watch

We headed out to another Hawaiian island to snorkel and were told we would possibly see some dolphins along the way.  The island we headed to was Lanai, it used to be a huge pineapple plantation, the Pacific Whale Foundation was the company that hosted this adventure. It was a beautiful morning and we were all excited to go!

Here are Makenna, Emily and Lindsay right after we boarded the boat

And here's one of everyone - the sun was pretty bright, just ask Lindsay

As we headed out of Lahaina Harbor, we started almost immediately seeing whales.  Several times the captain had to power down the boat because it's a law that they can't be within 100 feet of them.  The whales can get as close as they want and this one was only about 50 feet away......

As we got closer to Lanai, Chris got some wet suits for himself, Ali and Kenna - they're ready to go!

They took us to a place where the wild dolphins were - I absolutely LOVE dolphins and think they are so amazing. It was fantastic to see them in the wild.....breaching, swimming, spinning.... it was awesome!

Me and Kenna as she was preparing to get into the water to snorkel

Chris decided he would go in by way of the slide....

Waving to let us know it was all good!

Chris is helping Ali get acclimated to the deep ocean while Baylie looks on

Ali opted to stay on a boogie board to snorkel so Chris pulled her along

Kenna, headed out to meet them

Chris and Kenna

Baylie got brave enough to go with Makenna but she also wanted to stay on a boogie board

Emily on board the boat

On the way back to Maui, we saw tons and tons of whales.  Chris was funny, walking around the boat trying to get the best pictures of them.  We came across a group of them vying for the female - the instructor on board said there were at least 4 males all trying to get the attention of the 1 female.  It was so amazing to see them in action - here are 2 that have surfaced

Here are about 3

Watching the whales was so fantastic, we were enamored by them and even though we had seen a lot, we all looked each time someone saw one as if seeing one for the first time!

My cute little man, Jace enjoying the boat ride!

This was such a fun excursion! The wind came in and the waves really picked up so we had to leave the snorkel spot a bit earlier than we were supposed to.  The boat was rocking and jumping waves like mad, it's a good thing none of us get sea sick, although we can't say the same for another passenger! We had a wonderful day snorkeling (some of us) and watching the wild dolphins and whales - so FUN!