Thanksgiving in Hawaii

Beautiful Hawaii! We had a fabulous week of relaxing in 80+ degree weather as well as a few activities... International Market Place, attended church, outrigger canoe ride, surfing, Hawaiian Adventures water park, Dole Pineapple plantation and pineapple maze, botanical gardens, BYU-Hawaii, Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii Temple, breakfast sail on a catamaran, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, hiking to Diamond Head, Sea Life Park, Pearl Harbor, submarine, battleship, aviation museum, Bishop Museum and 4 hours of shopping at the BEST mall ever (Ala Moana Mall) because our plane departure was delayed until midnight...

They made it to the top! We left at 7 am and got to the top at 7:30 and back down by 7:45.

Hailey saved her money so she could swim with the dolphins at Sea Life Park. She even got a belly ride along with her kiss!

Hawaii Temple (they're closing it for 18 months for renovation)

Enjoying shaved ice at Polynesian Cultural Center while watching the canoe show.

Diamond Head in the distance (we hiked to the very highest point you can see in the pic)

Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background. Our hotel was right across the street from the beach and we usually made it out to the beach by at least 8 am each day (pretty easy since Hawaii is 3 hours earlier than Utah so we were awake).

The Last One!

We finally celebrated our last November birthday -- Hillary is 17! I made her French Toast for breakfast (one of her favorites) and she got a new lacrosse stick which she was very excited about because winter lacrosse started last Saturday. She's looking forward to spending her birthday money from her grandparents in Hawaii or Abercrombie...whichever she gets to first! We had an hour and a half to take her to dinner so she opted for Applebees over Spaghetti Factory or The Mayan because of travel time. Thanks for being accommodating Hillary and hope your birthday was fantastic!

Birthday Boy (one more time...)

Grayson is 10 today! Double-digits and $10 richer in two-dollar bills from Papa. Grayson opened his presents before school, took a treat for the class, went to lunch with mom at Spanky's (his choice; mom didn't eat--ask me about it later), double-layer chocolate cake after a spaghetti dinner and Robintino's tomorrow night when dad is feeling well enough to join the rest of us. Besides, Hillary was going to Disney on Ice with her friends tonight (they took her to celebrate her upcoming birthday in five days) and Hailey had to cheer at a basketball game, go to ballet, voice and Nutcracker rehearsal so tomorrow night will be a better time to sit down with the family and enjoy a dinner out to celebrate Grayson's big day! Since it was early out due to parent conferences, Grayson also went to the church to play basketball with his friends for a couple of hours and came home and put together his new Lego set. Now he's downstairs trying out the new Wii games and he read a chapter of his new book before school. He sure knows how to make good use of a birthday...

Happy Birthday Garrett! 15 years today... started out his morning with a wake-up call from Grammy & Papa singing to him at 7 am. He then opened his family presents and had a birthday breakfast. We've still got to get to the DMV today to get that driver's permit! Hope he passes...

Last night Hillary and the other 3 Seniors (Ashley, Niki, Jessica) were honored at their soccer banquet. The Senior moms were in charge and we put together a great Senior moments video with interviews with each girl, a team highlights video and then we gave them each a Wildcat in uniform from Build-A-Bear that we dressed according to their personalities. Hillary's had a pink streak of hair in the brunette wig and a yellow card with her name on it. She also won the Midfielder MVP award which was a surprise and happy moment for her!

Grayson celebrated his birthday a little early. Since the kids were out of school on Halloween he took his friends with him to Fat Cats bowling and The Pizza Factory. You can see that he won't be in need of a new basketball for a little while...

Hailey (right) as "Wednesday" for Halloween. She and her friend Katie went out trick or treating and then went back to Katie's house to watch a scary movie with another girl and five boys. Hailey hasn't slept in her own bed since!