Aloha

What a vacation! Hawaii was definitely the vacation of a lifetime which I will always remember. My mom took me and my sisters for a week and what an adventure we had.

It all started in Las Vegas where we stopped at Hooters to kill a few hours before our flight to Honolulu. They had this promotion going on where you signed up for their rewards and they gave you $100 to spend in a special machine. Well long story short, Jamie ended up winning $209 so she bought us some really expensive cheesecake and we were on our way. Here she is with her winnings....it was pretty funny!

We took a red eye flight to Honolulu so we got there at about 6:00 am. Our first stop was Pearl Harbor which was pretty neat, but kind of blah.....definitely not the highlight of our Hawaii trip.

Across the bay is where the USS Arizona sank and where the memorial sits.
On the memorial

After exploring Pearl Harbor, we found some much needed breakfast and then we headed to Hanauma Bay to try out our snorkeling skills. We had SO much fun checking out the sea turtles and the gigantic fish in the bay. One thing we learned real fast is that you shouldn't laugh while snorkeling because your masks fills with water (it happened to us A LOT).

Yep, we snorkeled down there!!!

We were some SEXY snorkelers!!!

After snorkeling we went to Waikiki beach to our hotel, showered, and then headed back to the beach. Here we are posing in front of some pretty green stuff.

Waikiki Beach

We also took a drive down the North Shore. The beach was so pretty and we were able to stumble across this cool little blow hole.
One of my favorite parts of our trip was our snorkeling tour out of Ko Olina. Our captain was hilarious and made our trip so awesome. As we started out in the ocean, we ran into a few whales. February is the best time to see whales because they come to Hawaii to mate and give birth, then they go back to Alaska. Anyway, we got really close to these two whales and it was AWESOME. You have to remember that humpback whales are the size of a school bus......our boat was 1/4 that size.

After watching the whales for a bit, we were finally able to get out into the ocean and do some snorkeling. The water was so clear and we were able to see some really awesome things.

Here we are feeding the fish

After a few minutes of being out in the water, our captain hurried us back onto the boat because he had found the dolphins. He said that it had been a while since anyone had been able to swim with them, but he thought we would give it a try. He gave a strict instructions to not move once we "ninja pencil dived" into the water (while the boat was moving). We all followed his instructions perfectly and were able to swim with the dolphins. It was amazing!

This picture is my favorite.

We are all looking like HOTTIES! We belong on the beaches of Hawaii don't we?

When we got back to the harbor, our captain took us to see this Pirates of the Caribbean ship. It used to the be black pearl, but in the new movie, it was called something different. It was really cool and the detail was crazy!!

After getting off our snorkeling tour, we jumped through the outside shower and headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center with our hair soaked. It was pretty cool. Here is a sexy Polynesian climbing a coconut tree.

Yeah....we're funny!

So every time we had to pose here they wanted us to make the "hang loose" sign. Well my mom could not do it......it was hilarious. She finally gave up and just didn't even try in our pics.

Luau

The next morning we woke up and went to the swap meet and then headed to the airport to fly to Maui. When we got there we attempted Hana Drive. The drive was insane, but the scenery was beautiful. Here we are in some bamboo.

The waterfall we hiked to

Hawaii was just pretty EVERYWHERE!

You can REALLY swing from these vines, I didn't try, but Jamie and Jasa did

We also went and saw the Iao Needle. It was really pretty there as well.We spent one day down in Lahiana where we toured front street and went on a whale watching excursion. I didn't get very many pictures because I was to amazed at what I as seeing. We saw a whale that was ticked off splashing his tail like mad, we saw a few whales actually breech (come clear out of the water) and we saw three whales fighting for a female (blood and all), you wouldn't believe the amount of whales we saw. It was so cool.

The next morning we left at 4:00am to go and see the sunset on the Haleakala crater. It was beautiful. We drove from sea level to 10,000 feet to see the most amazing view. I am no photographer so my pictures don't give it justice.

Another one of my favorite parts about the trip was ziplining through the rain forest. We had a really funny instructor for this tour too, so we had a blast. We went down 5 ziplines, each getting steeper as we went. It was so much fun and we laughed the entire time.

Our trip was amazing. I am forever thankful to my mom for taking us on such a fun getaway. Kyle did so well with the boys and it was so good to see them after a week. This was definitely a vacation of a lifetime and I was so lucky to spend it with my very best friends.

Valentines Day Larsen Style

Valentines Day was really fun this year. It started out like any usual valentines day like the heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and the exchange of cute little valentines, but the best part about valentines day this year was our little picnic out on the desert.

It was such a nice day that we decided to take a hot dog (of course) out on the desert and have a little picnic and to also check on the cows. The cows are starting to calve and we already had one little calf freeze to death so we needed to get out their and check to make sure all our ladies were okay.

Here is Kade posing with his robot valentines box. He had so much fun making him and picking out just the right accessories.

Tyce didn't care too much about his robot so I did most of the work. That's okay, he thought it looked pretty cool.

Our little picnic on the desert

My Valentine

Here are a few of the cows we saw, no calves though....maybe soon!

Happy Anniversary

On Feb.15th, Kyle and I will have been married for 8 years. It doesn't seem like that long, but at the same time....I don't remember life without Kyle.

Kyle has a really weird work schedule, so because he doesn't have a weekend off for awhile, we celebrated our anniversary this past weekend. We had SO much fun just being with each other without any kids. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Salt Lake and of course AA Calisters. We made our way up north shopping along the way and ended up in Brigham City for a yummy dinner at Maddox. We stayed in Brigham city and then the next day we spent a few hours at Smith and Edwards (which is the greatest store ever) and then we came home. It sounds really plain and simple, but it is just what we needed.....a day away from dirty diapers, dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and Tyce peeing everywhere BUT the potty.

Kyle, I love you so much! You are the best guy in the whole world and I am very lucky to have you in my life. You are the best dad ever and my best friend. I love spending time with you and I am thankful everyday for our eternal marriage. LOVE YOU BABE!!

Getting Out of the House

Today was the perfect day for a ride out to the Buckhorn Panel for a picnic. On our way, we stopped at the dinosaur track in the rock.

Tyce, Tylee, Kelsey, Kade and Abby standing by the footprint. Their shadows are covering it so you can't really see it in the picture.

Grandma Jo and Jess. He loved being outside.
Checking out the pictographs at the Buckhorn Panel

And of course a hotdog roast for lunch. Hotdog's are a staple food at our house. Everywhere we go we take our hotdogs, chips, and Pepsi's for a fabulous lunch. This is Tyce's 3rd or 4th one!!

The best part about our little ride is that all of this amazing scenery and fun is only a 20 minute ride.....gotta love EC!

Jess is 5 months old today and I just can't get enough of this cutie-pie! Jess is the happiest baby ever and he just loves his mama. He also loves to laugh when Kyle is tickling his neck, and he cracks up at Kade and Tyce. He is so sweet and I just think he is pretty dang cool.

Yesterday I decided to try some rice cereal and he loved it. He is such a good littler eater...but I bet you couldn't tell because he is SO slender :)

I am such a blessed mom to have the cutest little boys on the planet!

Where did he come from?

Tyce cracks me up! Everything he does is hilarious. Tonight he walked downstairs in this get-up and I couldn't resist taking his picture. I just love this kid!!

Tyce started primary on Sunday and he is the youngest kid there. On our ride home from church today I asked him what he learned in primary and he said "that we can eat treats!" I'm glad that he is learning something I guess!

Christmas 2010

I can't believe that Christmas is already over.....it seems like every year it goes by quicker and quicker. Christmas was SO much fun this year. My boys loved every minute of it and were so cute to watch Christmas morning. We went to A LOT of parties and had a blast at each one. Here they go in order:

Kade had a little preschool party and Santa came. I brought Tyce with me to the party and here he is with Santa.

We also visited with Santa at our ward party. Here is Kade with Santa and Mrs. Claus
My mom's party was once again a BLAST. This year we had it at the Jr. High in Ferron where we played "Minute to Win it". This is Kyle winning the pedometer game.

Tyce thought he was pretty cool with this pair of panty hose on his head for a fun game

After a talent show, dinner, and "minute to win it" we went up to Jodi's classroom to open presents.

Grandma Jo gave all of the kids these wiggle riders and they were in HEAVEN! They had so much fun riding down the ramp at the Jr. High on racing around the halls. They were definitely a hit!

The next set of parties was on Christmas Eve. We started out at Grandma Reid's for caroling and donuts. We were quite the singers on our wagon. The party was short and sweet and just right.

Jess and I riding the wagon

After Grandma Reid's party, we headed to Cleveland to go ice blocking for Grandma Hansen's party. We had so much fun making trains and crashing down the hill. Here is Kyle and Jess hanging out at the top of the hill:

CRASH!!

After ice blocking we went to the Elmo town hall for dinner and games. As soon as we were done with the Hansen party, we loaded back in the car and headed to Ferron for a little Larsen party. The kids opened up their PJ's and us adults played another little white elephant game.

Kade and Tyce in their new PJ's

Christmas morning was the best. I had to wake up the boys so they were a little sleepy but way excited.

Jess just LOVED his toys.....he just played and played and played with them :)

Tyce got these Buzz lightyear wings and he thinks that he is pretty awesome when we wears them. He just wishes that they really made him fly.

Kade got a DS and forgot about the rest of his presents. He hasn't put it down since Christmas morning. We are going to have to put a time limit on this little device soon. Here is Kade with all of his presents.

Tyce's favorite present was his motorcycle bike. He rode it all over the house and down to Jasa's. While riding in the house he insisted that he wear Kade's new Iron Man helmet. It was hilarious to watch him ride around with it on. At one point he was riding his bike with his helmet and the buzz lightyear wings....it was awesome.

Christmas in now over and I am spending most of the day cleaning it up. This was definitely a Christmas to remember. Thanks everyone for making it so much fun!