Hawaii Baby

 

We had an amazing time on Oahu as a family. We landed on the 5th and had a pretty good flight out. both Marshall and Quaid were the most excited to fly on the plane, so we knocked out their wish list 1st. We got to the rental car pick up, and our van was disgusting, and we were able to swap it out for a pretty much brand new van. We got in the van around 10 and made it up North to Turtle Bay around 11. We had a 2-bedroom condo that fit our family great. Bridger and McCoy slept up in a loft area with Marsh and Quaid in the family room. 

The next morning, we hit the road pretty early. We drove past the temple and had to stop to see it. It was amazing! We drove down to Ho'omaluhia gardens to check out the mountains and then went to Wiamanalo beach to hang out for a couple of hours. It was one of the coolest beaches ever and after we left, we wish we'd stayed longer. We ate poke on the beach and played in the waves. From there we headed to Kailua beach. It was pretty but super crowded. I dropped the family off and drove over a mile down the road to find a place to park. It was nice, but windy, and much more busy than the last beach. After that we treated ourselves to shave ice and then went to Lihina to Seaven Brothers for Dinner. By that time it was pretty late so we headed back to our condo and swam went to bed. 

The next day we went to the PCC. It was so awesome. We had some time before, so we went to the temple again to take some pictures and walk around and see the visitors center. We got to the PCC as it opened and visited all the villages. We started with Samoa, which set the bar pretty high. A guy named Kap gave the presentation and was hilarious! After that, we visited the rest of them and did activities at each. We painted, rowed the conoes, played mouri games and did poi balls, threw spears, did tahitian dances, and juggled. Wow! that was a full day. Then we headed to the buffett, which was amazing, and ate until we were stuffed. Then we went to the night show, which was great. By the time it was done, it was pretty late and we were exausted and ready to head home to bed. 

The next day (Saturday) we hung out on the North Shore. Bridger and McCoy had surf lessons in the morning so we started there. It was so fun. They both did great and rode a ton of waves. Marsh and Quaid played in the tide pools and hung out. after the epic surfing, we found a cool outdoor farm to table resturant and then did some shopping. Then we hit the beach for a couple more hours before heading back toward Lihina to visit the temple, AGAIN, for sunset. 

On Sunday, we had a free day and decided to go back to our favorite beach, Wiamanalo to relax. It was amazing. We had a great day relaxing and polished off some Hawaiian BBQ. 

On Monday, we had an evening flight. We got up and headed toward Honolulu to meet the Bringhursts at Pearl Harbor. It was amazing that their trip overlapped with ours and we were exicted to see that with them. We saw the museaum, went out ro the USS Arizona and then went to lunch and to get Malsalas. Afterward we went back to the Bringhursts place to hang out and get one last shave ice in Honolulu before we headed to the airport. We had a red eye back and didn't get too much sleep that night as most boys were excited to watch all the movies on the plane. 

It was a pretty perfect trip. The weather was kind to us. The sites were awesome. The food was great. The housing was perfect. And the boys were kind to eachother. We'll be thinking about this trip for a long time!

Moab 2025

The 4 oldest and I had a blast in Moab with our friends. We went with the Leifson's, Greenwoods, Roses, and Jensen's. 

On Friday we headed down and aired down as fast as we could to hit fins and things. it got dark about 3/4 of the way into it and we did the last 1/4 in the dark. There were some big ledges but we made it through. 

The next day we did 7 mile rim. It was pretty awesome. toward the end we got of track and thinking we were on the trail went down Wipeout hill. It was nuts. about 15 minutes later re realized that we were off trail and needed to go back up it to get back on track! It was the most insane we had done in our Jeep so far, but it was a good warm up for the next day. At the end of the trail, Marshall, Briggs, and Micah were playing around on the side-by-side and Marshall jumped off and split the back of his head open. There was a lot of blood but he was ok. 

The next morning we hit Hells Revenge. It was epic. Bigger and harder than anything we had done and more than I think I'd like to do again with our current set up. But we made it through and had a great time. 

Throughout the trip the boys had a great time alternating vehicles and riding with their friends. We are lucky to have some great off-road buddies!

 

The rest of February

Its been a busy week or so. 

• We had valentines. Marshall and Quaid were excited to have parties in their classes. Quaid FINALLY got to use his tiger box. Marshall was excited to exchange valentines with Samantha, his 1st girlfriend!
• I went to Nashville with my brothers. We've never gotten together and were excited to see Landon. Sadly, he got the Flu the night we got there and spent most of the time in his room. We still had some good talks and he came out for the last day. Food was great. Honkytonk highway was fun and I'm excited to go back with Cass someday
• Cass and the 3 younger boys went the UVU game. They've had an awesome season and have been fun to watch. They went with Ryan and Tate and got the royal treatment with food, treats, shirts, and awesome seats!

 

Heber Valley Camp

We had a awesome time at Heber Valley Camp with the Beall's. Even though there has been little snow down at our house, there was plenty of it at the top of the mountains. 

We all had dinner and then sledded for a few hours. The missionaries were taking people up the hill in their side-by-sides. We had a hard time starting a fire as things were pretty wet, but we had hot chocolate and played games and hung out. 

The next morning we sledded some more before going home. It was a great time and we are grateful that we got to enjoy the snow for a bit. 

Recent fun

We've finally got some good snow and the boys were itching to build an igloo. Sadly, it melted and caved in a couple days later. 

Quaid had his 100th day of school and was excited to dress up. The school posted a video and Quaid was front and center in front of the camera for most of it. 

Marshall is still killing it with reading. He loves to read and often reads in his bed at night

Quaid is super eager for things at school. He just loves it. One recent example is he came home the other day begging to start his valentines box. He wanted to get a jump on it and was excited to build his Tiger box

 

Girls trip to Arizona and Mesquite soccer

Cass had a great girls trip to AZ. Cass to provide details

McCoys Peaks team played in the Presidents cup in Mesquite. They had a great time and did well. They lost their 1st game in a close game to a D1 team that ended up winning the tournament. They smoked their next 2 teams, and lost their 4th game by one to another D1 team that went to play in the finals. It was still pretty cold at night, but there were a couple day light games where the weather was ok, The Bringhurst's and the Browns came up to one of the games. 

 

Marshall's Birthday

 Happy Birthday Marshman1234_56! Marsh just turned 9 and had a great Birthday weekend. 

On Saturday he had a party at the church. He wanted to play gaga ball and basketball. They had a great time, he is lucky to have so many great friends. For his birthday dinner, he wanted to go to Brick Oven, its become one of his favorites. 

Marshall is the life of the party. He is fun and makes friends wherever he goes. He is going great in school and looking forward to basketball season starting. He loves to play sports and has gotten pretty good, but also really looks forward to screen time everyday when he gets home from school so he can play roblox with Quaid.