Happy Birthday Mom Marchbanks!

Happy Birthday Mom! We sure love you and appreciate you! Hope you had a great day!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Life gets away from us sometimes and I didn't post pictures of the last 4 birthday kids! Happy Birthday to Audrey Lynn! She turned 2 on April 1st, Taylor Anne turned 14 on April 15th, Macie turned 2 on April 25th and Mason turned 2 on May 1st!
You are so special to grandpa and I! We are so proud of each of you and love you soooo MUCH! I know that you all had happy birthday's... but Now I feel MUCH BETTER~! LOVE YOU!

Audrey Lynn 2

Macie K 2

Taylor Anne 14 (Isn't she a beauty?)

Mason Hyrum 2

Swim Swim Swim!

Heaven on earth... I am convinced! 2 fun days spent at the pool! Sadie sure did want to go on the water slide. But she couldn't quite muster the courage... after about 20 mins of frustration...Grandpa hoisted her in the slide and gave her a bit of a shove! She was mad for a couple of mins... But soon realized it was FUN! Good job Sadie! YOU DID IT!!!

Hawaiian Temple

This is one of my favorite places on earth! What a beautiful afternoon we spent in Laie at the temple grounds. It was everything I had ever dreamed it would be! What a treat to actully be there!

Waimea Falls!

This was such a fun adventure! A mile in and a mile back. We felt like we were walking through the Garden of Eden! It was so Beautiful! We got to the falls and Hal, Matt and Sadie took a dip! Angie and I "kinda" got in. I didn't want to walk back down wet... I know...what a wimp!! The water was beautiful and refreshing! Hal and Matt swam over to the falls and climbed in behind it and then "dove" out! They they were so proud! I have it on video if I could figure out how to upload it! It was a fun hike and so nice to just be in the quiet and beauty for a little while!

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!