CHRISTMAS DAY-PM

We opened the day with a song from 

Jared and our Elder from Korea.  Of course they sang in Korean.

Then we watched our traditional Christmas  movie, 

the movie of Jesus birth.

This year we have been blessed by much more than 

what is under the tree.  Garth has a good job, in a place we are so blessed to be in, 

we have each other,

and we have the knowledge of God and His son, Jesus Christ.

The missionaries were there Christmas morning, and had many other places to go, 

so we are glad they spent some time with us too!

The kids draw for gift exchange with each other.

That is the funnest part, seeing what the other one gave

and the love we all shared.

Merry Christmas in Maui!

FAMILY PICTURES!!!

"Please, be serious!"

Well, it had to be done, we were all here and it is Maui....

We will never be able to do this again, so as unpleasant as it is, we are going to do it.

Family Pictures...here we go!

There is the love of my life.

Ok, a funny one....

Now a great one!  Smile!

My beautiful girls,

 Laneah, Kathy, Rachel and Mariah

Wow!!  I love my kids. 

 They are all so grown up now.

                                                               3 John 1:4

4 I have no greater ^ajoy than to hear that my ^bchildren ^cwalk in truth.

Thank you Josh for cooperating! 

 He is just ready with his great smile.

And we are waiting......

There is Jared, always the jokester!

Did I say, "all grown up" earlier?? 

 This could work if those 4 would grow up!!!

What a great family memory.  Thank you Rachel James for taking them!

CHRISTMAS DAY-Mt. Haleakala, AM

We thought taking in a sunrise on this special day, Christmas Day would be a nice way to give to Jesus today and show our gratitude by recognizing His hand in all creations.  What a great way to start the day.  God has given us so many things that remind us of His love for us, 

and sunrises and sunsets are my favorite!

But to take in a sunrise at the top you have to start at 4:30 AM. 

 And it is windy!  Look at Mariah's hair!

The missionaries were able to join a family on Christmas, so they went too.

(Jared, Rachel, Josh, Garth and Laneah)

It is also cold!  Yes, even on Maui.  It actually snows up here.

It is 10,000 feet up.  Laneah never even came out!

At this high up, the view is amazing!  

It is a cool feeling to be above the clouds. 

 Wow, one day I want to be above the clouds 

and see the universe with God-what a "perfect day".

Doctrine and Covenants 50:24

24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Wait for it....patience.

Proverbs 4:18

18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, 

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

2 Peter 1:19

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, 

as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, 

until theday dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

God loves us!

What a glorious morning!  And it was with the family here. 

 I am so grateful I was able to share this with my children. 

 I hope they see the beauty of all God has blessed us with.

THE COMMANDO HIKE (Dec/Sept 2011)

This hike has earned it's name. 

 It is called the Commando Hike because it is rough and has many aspects to it.

For 1-you get dirty...

Did I say DIRTY....???

The hike begins by crossing a fence into a field that is being used by cows....

Rachel.....were you not looking?  How could you have stepped right in that!?

2-It brings out the "warrior" in you.

These next few pictures were taken when we took the hike previously in Sept. of 2011 and had a lot of fun.  So having the rest of the kids do it was a must!

3-Difficult.  You are following a riverbed full of huge rocks, 

which at one point is so overgrown by jungle that the only option is going over the thick branches.

4-Dark. A cave.  Yes, you have to go through it!  

There is water inside you have to swim through.

This is towards the end, and I must say, I was glad to finally arrive at the cave!  

That little Laneah tho, she was at the front of the hike the whole time and never 

complained a bit.  It was total extreme adventure for a 7 yr old. 

 If she can do this hike, she can tag along on anything!  

5-WET!  Everything gets wet.  

Swimming through and then climbing the wall of water 

coming through the cave to get out.

(Isaac)

6-Hiking.  Yes, it is a hike to the top of a mountain 

with a nice waterfall and a swimming hole.

We made it to the end, now to get back out....There is a path you can go out on, 

but it is longer but not in a riverbed. 

 This was moms first and last commando hike going through the riverbed.  (It was difficult!)

(Josh)

So Isaac had heard that you can jump from the top part of this waterfall, and so he did, and Josh followed.  Garth declined-he has children.  It was treacherous enough just to scale the face to get to the jumping spot.  My stomach was in a knot just watching them climb up.

  And a flip to boot!

It was a blast tho!  Wow, what a fun time, and the cave was the best part!

GAMES, FOOD, and MORE FUN! (Dec. 20-24)

Playing games and just visiting and laughing about times past.  Oh, the things you find out about after they have grown up.....

Our favorite place to go for dinner, Fred's Tacos just down from our house.

Who is paying for this?

This is an "Extreme" version of spoons, the regular one wasn't exciting enough.  You pass the cards as well as rotate around the table.  Then you all dash for the spoons...not on the table, but on the floor!

Notice the cusions on the glass doors.....a bunch of teenagers, 3 of which are over 6 ft all fighting for a spoon!!!  (Kathy, Elder Hatch, Jared and Isaac)

New game Elder Hatch was teaching us.  The missionaries were over for Christmas Eve.

See Jared going "duh..." and Mariah laughing....:)

Now to end with the rest of that  hilarious story!  This is our favorite place to snorkel.  We always see turtles.  It is the back side of Makena Beach, you go through a small cemetery to get there.  We are all out in the water and Mariah is far behind as they are all swimming out to where the turtles are.  Garth says, "Mariah, come on!" to which she replies, "there is something wrong with these fins!"  Garth goes toward her and watches what she is doing.  She is not moving her feet back and forth, but moving them in and out, or up and down together......no wonder!  Everyone was in stitches as  Garth tried to explain this to her and saw what she was doing.  We all still laugh about it!

ALL TOGETHER NOW! (Dec 19, 2011)

We are all here now!  Leticia and family were here a few weeks ago because they could not come in December, but now everyone else is here.  We have missed having everyone together...How fun!

At the airport.  Rachel, Mariah, Garth, Jared, Isaac and Laneah

Can't wait to get started on our visiting!

We went to the whale watch and a bit of window shopping, then everyone got bored....

BOOGGIE BOARDING!  What a beautiful day! Rachel, Kathy, Laneah, Mariah and Isaac

It is so good to have all my children together.  We have such a good time.  Now that everyone is more mature:) and older, the relationships are easier than when they were younger and everyone has a  better attitude!

Not sure I would want to just jump to the teenage years tho....smaller children has it's advantages and great moments I would not want to miss out on....it just crossed my mind, briefly.



Shopping for souviners with teenagers!