Celebrating 5 Years!

May 15, 2009

Chris and I have been married 5 years!  Even crazier, we've now been together for 10!  He must be the most patient person I've ever known, to deal with me day in and day out for that long!  :)  To celebrate our 5 years of marriage we went to Maui for 7 days.  It was an amazing trip!  Thanks to all who gave us suggestions on activities, food, and all things Hawaii!  We stayed in Kapalua, on the North West shore of Maui.  It was breathtaking and the hotel was amazing!  We spent several days at the beach or the pool laying in the sun, playing in the waves, and snorkeling.  We also did a day trip driving the road to Hana.  It was AMAZING and by far our favorite day.  It was a long day, I'll admit.  We left the hotel at  7AM and got back to the hotel around 7PM that night.  We hiked to several waterfalls, admired the amazing views of the ocean, plants and trees, and walked on a black sand beach.  It was a great day and I highly suggest it to anyone who visits Maui.  We ate at several restaurants including Mama's Fish House, Spago, Banyan Tree, and the Hula Grill. Our favorite was the La'haina Grill.  It was so yummy!  We also went to a luau called the Feast at LeLe.  It was really cool, the food was good and the entertainment even better!  Hawaii is such a beautiful place and we were sad to leave (but so excited to see Will - 7 days away is a lot!).  I spent a lot of time taking pictures and playing with my camera, which was a ton of fun!   When it is just the two of us, it is hard to remember to have someone take our picture together.  We managed a couple times.  Below are pictures from our time in Hawaii - some scenic and a couple that show we were actually there. Enjoy!

Thanks to all who sent us such nice wishes on our anniversary!  We are truly blessed with amazing friends and family.

Pictures from the luau on our anniversary.   During the luau we were entertained with hula dancing and other dances from Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa.  We also had a 5 course meal that reflected these areas and their impact on Hawaiian development.  It was a lot of fun!

Chris getting lei'd

I really liked these torches and took about 50 pics of them...

Backdrop of the luau

Fire dancer

Chris with a hula girl (she wasn't thrilled to take a picture)

Pictures on the beach by our hotel.  The water was amazing - the bluest I've ever seen and the weather was perfect every day!

Pictures from our drive to Hana (a small town on the eastern side of Maui).  The road is a curvy road going up the mountains and back down.  There are many waterfalls you can hike to along the way, amazing views of the ocean and beaches, and unbelievable plants and flowers you just wouldn't believe grow naturally!  It was an amazing day trip!

Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree

The first waterfall we saw

 Me at the top of the waterfall 

Me again - the spec at the top right

A waterfall that dropped 200 feet.

Chris swimming by a waterfall

A flower pic I really like

An bridge (cement tube) we had to walk across to get to another waterfall.  It was about 100ft long and about 2 ft wide.  The drop below was 30 ft. or so...It was worth it!

Beautiful flowers growing wild!

Black sand beach

Chris on the black sand beach after about 10 hours of driving, hiking, swimming and sweating.

A crazy kid jumping off one of the tall lava caves!  It was fun to watch.

Will is 19 months old!

Will with his first big boo boo on his face.  He climbed up in a chair outside that collapsed and sent him flat onto the concrete.  He climbed back in the same chair the next day...  He didn't seem to mind the scrape as much as I did.

Will turned 19 months old on May 19th!  He is getting to be such a big boy!  He talks all the time -my favorite thing he says is "Oh WOW!".  It is so funny.   He spent his 19 month b-day with grandma (Chris's mom) and DeeDee (my mom) while we were in Hawaii.  He had such a good time with both of them.  When Chris and I got home yesterday we were shocked at how big he is getting!  We both swear he had changed so much in a week.  I guess when you are away you definitely notice it more.  He is also so smart and understands so much these days!  We can ask him to do things and he gets it!  AMAZING!  Now of course, little tasks like putting socks in your drawn and throwing trash away seems fun to him.  Asking him not to hit is another thing.  He likes to hit and throw things.  Is that the little boy in him?  When I tell him not to, it seems to cause the opposite effect.  Oh the discipline is fun!  :)  

He's definitely becoming his own person and I love it!  He's is calling us Daddy and Mommy now, although I am still Daddy sometimes.  He loves to "honk" our noses, he is getting really good and telling us body parts - mouth, nose, cheeks, eyes, ears, etc.   Will is starting to pay attention to the TV more.  He loves Elmo (Melmo), Sid the Science Kid, and Super Why? on PBS.  He also seemed to like dancing with the stars and would dance with me when it was on.

We are having a blast and enjoying our little guy!  He will be a big brother in 5 months - that is hard to believe!  Here are a couple recent pictures.

Will with my mom (DeeDee) and me on Mother's Day.

Will with DeeDee and Papa on Mother's Day.

Will helping me pack for Hawaii!

Will on my uncle's boat (the Hubba Bubba) over memorial day weekend.  He loved the boat so much he took a nap on it for 2 hours.

We love you big boy!  Happy 19th month!  Time does fly when you're having fun!