The Dog's Place!

This was Angie's "Have to go see" place in Hawaii! We loved it! She love's the "Dog"! When we were in Vegas one time she ran into Beth (his wife) and was totally star struck! You make me giggle Angie! That is one of the reasons we love you so much!

Matsumoto Shaved Ice

I have heard about Matsumoto Shaved Ice forever! How fun to finally go there! We got there at 5:45 and it closed at 6:00. There was a line clear out the door and around the building! It is in Haleiwa an old surfing town! The town is still small and filled with surf shops! Very fun! Actually the shaved ice was the best bargain in Hawaii! A large one was $2.00 and with ice cream $2.50!


Tasty flavors! We didn't add the "black beans" a bit too local for us!

Matt and Sadie

Hal finishing it up!

Snorkeling With Dolphins!

I can't snorkle... I have claustrophobia! I can? Are you sure? Hmmm? Ok.. I'll try!

Here we are off on an adventure! The promise of swimming with dolphins was enough to get us all up and going at 5:30 AM.

Here we are... ready to go.


We decided to do something a bit out of the ordinary. We heard about "Ko Olina Ocean Adventure" so we thought we would give it a try! It ended up being a real highlight of the trip!
On our way out we quickly spotted a school of dolphins! We were all in AWE! They were so beautiful! They swam right next to the boat and as soon as the "captain" had us all ready.. he dropped us right into the middle of them. The first time a group of Japanese girls started chasing them and they took off....so we tried a couple more times. The last time we were first in the water and the dolphins were all around us. One just "stood" there looking right at me... 4 feet away! It was AWESOME! There was one that swam right up to the boat...he had tons of fishing line all wrapped around him. It was causing him not to be able to keep up with the others and he couldn't eat because of the fishing line wrapped around his mouth. I think he was begging for some help. The photographer on the boat jumped in with some clippers and swam out from the boat. The dolphin came right to him and let him cut all the line off of him. It was amazing to see! Hopefully he is still hanging out with his friends in the bay.
We went to one place called "turtle town" and there were tons of turtles! Hal turned around at one point and there was a huge one staring him right in the face! He loved it! Then we went to a place where there were tons of fish.... every color and kind you could imagine! It was so cool! At one point someone saw a huge whale out a ways from where we were...we went out to try and see if we could see it. Sure enough it surfaced and came up and then surpise...there were two! So awesome to see! It was such a fun day! We saw everything we could have and seeing those dolphins made it a real magic day!

Angie and Sadie


Checking out the turtles

Hal and I on our Ko Olina adventure! Awesome!

Dole Pineapple Plantation

Who knew pineapple grew "up"... not me! The pineapple ice cream was amazing-however the sugar roasted macadamia nuts were to die for! Truly! Wish I had bought a case.

Fumi's Shrimp Farm

Up on the North Shore there are all of these shrimp farms. The enterprising Hawaiian's set up a trailer and some tents and start cooking shrimp for the tourists. We had garlic and butter (no calories) with sticky rice and a salad and pineapple! YUMMY!

Polynesian Cultural Center

One of our favorite days was spent at the PCC - it was an awesome experience! The first person we met as we arrived was a girl from Fiji. She remembered "Sister Maaachbanks". She was in a ward Jen served in! It was so fun to see the different cultures and learn more about the islands. Our favorite show was Kap from Samoa! His show was hilarious! He taught us how to make fire and climb the coconut trees and how to husk a coconut!! We could have watched him all day! The luau was wonderful and we had GREAT seats! Lizzy... we got the coconut drink just for you! It was really fun to try all the different foods... however I stopped at poi...just couldn't quite do the purple goo. The Horizons show at night was amazing! I can't believe Jenny was so blessed to spend 1 1/2 years with these wonderful people! The cultures and traditions are amazing! What a fun day!

Hawaii 2009

Vacation of a lifetime!
A month or so ago... Matt called and told me he had sent me a cool email and to go look at it while he was still on the phone. I was so surprised to see tickets to Oahu for Spring Break with them! It was our honeymoon in Hawaii finally after 38 years! (My folks had told us if we would wait to get married until April -instead of January they would treat us to a trip to Hawaii.. We just didn't want to wait..) So we ended up waiting 38 years for this trip!! It was so fun! It really got us hooked! I better start saving some money ...there are a lot more islands to check out! We haven't quit smiling since we came home. We stayed at the Marriott Ko Olina... Amazing! Everything was perfect. Pictures to follow! Love you Matt, Angie and Sadie! It was such a fun trip! We loved being with you three!

Can I buy this place?

Such a beautiful resort! Lots of pools and a private beach...yummy food!...We need to go back!

THE CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE

When Lizzy and Dallas were on their honeymoon they told us about this restaurant... "Cheeseburger in Paradise" on Waikiki Beach. They had some delicious coconut shrimp.. We checked it out and it was DELICIOUS! Seriously the coconut shrimp was YUMMY! Thanks Lizzy for the tip!

Hanauma Bay

We got to Hanauma a bit late in the day... But it was awesome snorkling. Hal and Matt tracked down some big turtles and hung out with them for a while. It was a bit cold and windy (Hawaii?) but once you were in the water it was great! First time for Sadie and Hal and I to snorkle! It was quite the adventure!

Pearl Harbor

I love my country and Pearl Harbor was really special for me to see! I love what America stands for... and I am not happy about the direction it is taking right now. I don't ever want to forget the sacrifice that men make every day to defend our nation. I didn't really understand the sacrifice of those at Pearl Harbor until I witnessed 911 and saw those brave men that gave everything to protect others. We live in such an amazing country and I pray everyday that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless our nation. Pearl Harbor was awesome!

On Our Way!

Quick flight to LA.. breakfast and on to Honolulu!

Jaxson's Party

It's so much fun when we get together with the Horsley crew! Yummy food and great company! (We almost had everyone there...but we sure missed Becca and Levi and the girls!)
What a great day!

Jaxson's Baptism

Jaxson and Mckay!

Brotherly Love.... Can it get better than this?

Grandpa and I love you both and we are so proud of you!

(notice those car keys in Mckay's hand? Yes he drives!

Baptism Quilt

When Mckay was baptized 8 years ago I started a "tradition" of making baptism quilts for each of the grandkids. To date I have made 5 with only 10 more to go (yeah...right)
This is Jaxson's Quilt.

Each quilt has 17 pictures from their 1st eight years.

Around the quilt I embroider the words "When Jesus Christ was on the earth.. He promised He would send the Holy Ghost to comfort us.. Our true eternal friend"

I tell the kids that this quilt will make your body feel warm, just as the Holy Ghost can give your spirit a feeling of warmth and peace.

On the bottom I put his name and the dates of his baptism and confirmation... and the name of the person performing the ordinance.

Jaxson was baptized by his brother Mckay! That was really special!

Get off the roads and hide the ladies! Our grandson turned 16 today!

HAPPY BIG 16 MCKAY! !
We love you so much! You are such a great kid! We are proud of you for making good choices and for being such a great example to all of your family and to us! It seems like just yesterday when you were born! Your mom invited me to come and be there when you were born. Grandpa was so excited he said it wasn't "safe for him to stay at work" so he came to the hospital! He snuck in and hid in the corner of the room saying "I won't be any trouble over here".... He just wanted to be there when you arrived! What an amazing memory! You have blessed our lives for 16 wonderful years... and we can't wait to see the next 16~! I hope you know how precious you are to us and how much we all love you! What a blessing you are to our family! Happy 16th Birthday!

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT!

Happy Birthday Jaxson! This is one of my favorite pictures of YOU! If there is something fun going on...You will always be in the middle of it! I love to watch you playing with all the cousins! We all LOVE YOU! We can't wait to come to your baptism! I have a fun surprise for you!

Grandpa Caught a Leprechaun!

Grandpa Hal caught himself a leprechaun...and what a story he had to tell!

Happy Birthday Preston!

Happy Birthday Presto! We sure love you!
We had so much fun with you at lunch!

HAPPY 24th LIZZY!

Happy Birthday Lizzy! We sure love you!
You make us proud every day!

Princess Academy

Being involved with Miss Pleasant Grove is always an adventure. This year as a fundraiser we held a "Princess Academy" for 130 little princesses! They all received a beautiful crown, a fun treat bag and completed 3 fun projects. They had a yummy lunch and watched Princess Staci dance with her Prince Charming. As they were leaving the "Fairy Godmother" (Betty) gave them a magic wand and a "kiss" (chocolate kiss from the princess treasure chest)It was a great success thanks to Staci's mom, Lois! She is amazing! What a fun memory for all of the darling little girls! I overheard one little girl say "This is my favorite day ever!" How fun!

Millie's Blessing

Look at those eyes! What a darling baby!

Hang on tight Ryan... Macie is off and running again!

Ryan and Mom

Super Bowl 2009

I found it funny that Becca has almost the same picture on her blog. I can't believe you found the same glasses... Great minds think alike!

What a Fun Surprise!

My darling neighbors Zach, Abbie, Sam and Millie came over and sang Happy Birthday to me! (With a yummy cheesecake....I might add!)
What a special family we have living right next door! When they moved in a few years ago, our kids had all been gone for a while...and I had forgotten how wonderful it sounded to have kids outside my kitchen window playing with each other! The first time I heard it again...it made me cry! We were so blessed the day they moved in! Thanks so much for making my day so special! I love YOU!

Happy Birthday Terry Anne!

Hey this is Hal... I just wanted to leave a post for my beautiful wife to let her know how much I love her....We started celebrating Terry Anne's Birthday this morning at 12:30 a.m. by singing Happy Birthday to her right after our movie ended. She is the joy of my life and I love her dearly. She is going to be so amazed that I was able to write this on our blog. Terry you are an amazing Wife, Friend, Mother and Grannie. Our children and our grandchildrens lives have been so blessed just to know you. I know mine has! I love that you love me! Where would I be without you? Wishing you a Happy Birthday Lover and many more! Love, Hal

Happy 40th Brett!

Happy 40th Birthday Brett! We love you and we are so glad you belong to us!

Here is Brett with the hearse his dad brought down for the celebration! I was 40 when Brett married Amy... something just doesn't seem right... Am I THAT OLD? I guess I can just remember that Hal is OLDER! YEAHHH!!

Charging the Human Battery

I found this on my desk at work tonight: I loved it! It is an excerpt from "Charging The Human Battery".

"One choice, just one- can change your life forever. Simply put, your life today is what your choices have made it, but with new choices, you can change directions this very moment. For me that idea alone is highly motivational because it offers tremendous hope, regardless of circumstances, for a better tomorrow.
Your life-changing choice may be to switch careers, to leave an abusive relationship to go back to school, to stop drinking, to adopt a child, to start a business, to lose weight, to start a charity... just to name a few. If you have the courage to do so, you could make any one of those choices, or others today. And you would change your life.
Sometimes it's a different kind of choice. It can be to not quit, to not give up in the face of adversity...We've all been there.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen received 77 rejections for their idea Chicken Soup for the Soul. They had to make a decision each time...should they throw in the towel and say enough is enough? Or should they keep trying to pursue their dreams? You know the rest of the story. the 78th publisher said "Yes" and they went on to sell over 100 million books.
So never forget that you are only one choice away from changing your life. Do you have the courage to make that choice?

38 Years Together!

Hal was the true romantic today. He rousted me out of bed and said we had to be on the road by 9:00. I hurried and got ready...we headed out and started up 800 North. I still wasn't sure where we were heading... I figured we were going to breakfast...but then he turned toward Provo Canyon. I was really puzzled. Then I thought..."Hmmm Midway, Heber?" Then he turned off at Sundance....and headed up the hill. Sundance... Wow! That's really fun! We have never eaten up there and so I was really surprised! What a fun morning. He had a table by the fire all reserved and we had a really yummy breakfast! For my favorite surprise he gave me our "love story" all typed as he remembers it. That in itself was a huge gift! He has been working on his history for years. But I have never read this part. Now it is my favorite part! He remembered everything...things that I didn't! 6 pages single spaced typing! Wow! It was so awesome!
Thanks for making this day so special Hal! You are something else!

The mountains are so beautiful! Wow!

Good Advice for All of Us!

Hal brought home the following quote by Elder Neal A Maxwell. It is timely and great advice for all of us.

"Ultimate hope and daily grumpiness are not reconcilable. It is ungraceful, unjustified, and unbecoming of us as committed Church members to be constantly grumpy or of woeful contenance. Do we have some moments of misery or some down days? Yes! But the promise is that Christ will "lift thee up" (Moroni 9:25). The disciple can note the depressing signs of the times without being depressed. He can be disappointed in people without being offended at life. Thus it is that ultimate hope, if it does not finally dissolve our daily disappointments, at least puts them in perspective."