~~Hawaii~~ (two favorite shots!)

I just had to share two of my most favorite shots!!!

~~Hawaii~~ (part 3)

~~~~~~The Wedding Day~~~~~~

I wish we had more shots from the big day, but we don't... we were having too much fun enjoying the celebration!

Congratulations Dad & Kelly ~ May you be filled with Love and Joy for all the years to come!

~~Hawaii~~ (part 2)

~~~~~~Pearl Harbor~~~~~~

There are not really any words that can express the somberness of the experience of being there. I know the kids don't get the full magnitude of the events that day; for that matter, I am not sure I can wrap my head around it. The memorial was beautifully thought out and I am very glad that we went as they are working on raising funds to re-do some of the memorial. The names of the men lost that day was huge and the name of survivors who have sense past was so small; it surely is a great reminder of the loss of that day! The two things that stick out in my mind the most are the one display they have that held pieces to one of those lost; who he was... pictures from his high-school, pictures of him and his wife, a letter he once wrote her, the uniform he wore and the letter sent to his wife after his death. The other was the footage they show prior to taking you to the memorial site; I didn't realize they had so much footage from that day.

~~Hawaii~~ (part 1)

I really don't know where to start on our trip to Hawaii, so I am just going to post some picture highlights; I will attempt to keep them at a minimum, however, there are tons and some that I feel are priceless. Shots that can't be shared from our experience of swimming with the dolphins... all of us got in for this and therefore no one could take pictures, but we did buy the pictures that

that Sea Life took so we have some captured memories for ourselves!!

~~~~~~~At the Beach~~~~~~~

~~~~~~Grandma 70th Birthday Dinner at Dukes~~~~~~

~~~~~~With the Birds~~~~~~

~~~~~~Sea Life Park~~~~~~

~~~~~~Sea Life Park Luau~~~~~~

pictures from the Luau do not do this justice at all!! We LOVED the Luau!!!

More pictures to come from Pearl Harbor and from The wedding!!

Last meeting before the big day...

Saturday we had out last official wedding planning meeting before we all get on planes and head to Hawaii! We have been meeting monthly for about six+ months and it was both exciting and a relief to know this was the final meeting before the big wedding day!!! Next posting will be pictures from Hawaii and the wedding!!! Mahalo!

All geared up...

So Syrah was referred to the Orthodontist some time ago because she has a pretty significant under bite. After reviewing Syrah's bite and xrays and consulting with her dentist; they decided that due to the fact under bite was getting worse quickly; it was time to act. Syrah will have headgear (which she will wear mostly at night) and will have an expander; this process should last about a year.

Syrah started a few weeks ago with getting expander to make some extra room in her mouth for the equipment that was installed today (who says this about someones mouth??).

This is what was put in her mouth today - each day we use a special key to turn the expander!

Side view of the head gear the rubber bands attach to the large piece of metal in her mouth (see above!).

Other then the fact that she is having to learn how to talk with all that in her mouth; you would hardly know that it was in her mouth!!

Phase two is expected to start in five to sever years!

Once every five years...

Last weekend my grandma, mom and our family all had a huge garage sale! We have been storing stuff up well before our move in March and taking loads over to Grandma's house (she has been so kind to give up her garage). It was a lot of work, marking, sorting, organizing and setting up, but we all had a successful weekend.

We had her entire driveway, landing strips and yard covered.


My brother and his wife came to help set up and tear down on Sunday. My cousin Zachary surprised us and showed up Saturday afternoon to help and we didn't even know he was coming - it was so great to have all of their help!

It was fun for the girls to be able to get ride of some of the stuff they don't use anymore and they both made some spending money for Hawaii.

Day two it rained pretty good before we set up, but the weather held out all day and everything that was left was hauled off to the goodwill - that was probably the best part - it went to a good place and it didn't come home with us!!

We meet some some really nice people and it was really fun to spend some time with my Grandma and Mom.

I say every five years because garage sales are a ton of work and my grandma does this every year (with a bunch of friends); we will see if it really is five years before we do this again!!