More Hawaii

This is in Laie, Hawaii at The Point. This is really close to where my dad lived

Dad, pointing to his old house (which has since been torn down)
It was so fun to hear him talk about his childhood/teenaged years of living here, and all his crazy experiences. When he lived there (over 50 years ago) there weren't many "white folks" so he told us of having to gain respect amongst the locals, and also the fun and crazy things the locals taught him. He sure loved his few years there, and it was so fun to see this side of him.


This was the only turtle we saw! The tide was so high while we were there it made snorkeling tough.

This is Dad's high school. He graduated class of 1958 and was there the week before us for his 50 year reunion.

Before we left Oahu, we took a trip to Pearl Harbor. I've always wanted to visit there. I still can't believe what a sad day that must have been. It was amazing to walk through the museum and read letters, see pictures, and gain a better understanding of what happened that day. What a sad day!

This is our first official day in Kauai. We went to a place called "tunnels" to hopefully snorkel, but the waves were just too crazy, so there were signs everywhere and lifeguards who wouldn't let us in the ocean. It looks calm from where we're standing, but there's a better picture a couple down that put the waves in to perspective.

The whole family took a hike along the Nai Pali Coast. It was so beautiful! I LOVED all the scenery, the smells, the flowers, shrubbery, EVERYTHING! This was probably one of my favorite things about this trip. It was so incredibly beautiful, I can't even begin to describe. I'm glad we all were able to do it. My poor mom needs knee replacement surgery, so the way back was really challenging for her. She did amazingly well though, four miles round trip! Way to go Mom! It was raining pretty heavy on the way in, which was awesome! It added to the fun I thought. I don't think I'd rather do it any other way. It just magnified the green, and the yummy smells. Every few hundred feet, I'd get a wif of something yummy (some yucky too), but it smelled like fruity chap stick, maple syrup, cinnamon, bread (or more like rolls rising...like yeast or something), and many other smells I couldn't quite figure out. It was so dang awesome. If I weren't pregnant, I would have wanted to do the 10 mile hike that takes you way far back along the coast to where all the crazies live. From what we've been told, there are people who've lived back there for over 30 years!!!

Isn't is so green!!!

Just one of the beautiful views along the way

Here are a couple pictures of some of the waves...due to the large reef NO ONE was allowed to get even a toe in the water. If you did, you quickly had lifeguards buzzing their horn at you. I guess the day before this some tourist died thinking they'd be safe out there.

This picture is taken right outside our door to our condo. We had the most amazing view of the ocean! It was seriously such a beautiful resort. It is only a couple years old, so everything seems so new and modern.



Matt hates spiders, so I was shocked to see this picture. I asked how he dared to get so close to it, and he said it was easy, he just zoomed the camera in. Technology these days!

We had all gone snorkeling this day. I didn't last too long out there though. The waves were pretty crazy and it made me a little nervous. I'm a baby! We saw some cool fish though, some were huge they kind of scared me! We saw an eel which was kind of scary too.

We went to dinner one night at Duke's, and so we made everyone pose for the camera. We had some locals sing to us a song I think called "The Hawaiin Wedding Song" that sounds wrong now that I typed it out, but anyway, it was really cool, and made a lot of us a little emotional.

Dad and Mom


My brother Brian and his wife Julie

My sister Joan and her husband Chad

My brother Steve and his wife Mandy

My sister Carrie and her husband Jason

My brother Roger and his wife Susan

My brother Eric and his wife Katie

Matt and me of course

This is a Monk Seal that showed up on the beach of our hotel Friday morning. Isn't that cool? We read afterwards that you're supposed to stay 100 feet away from them...oops.

Here is a picture of just one of the beautiful sunsets

This is our last adventure before we took off and headed home. We went on a helicopter tour of Kauai Saturday morning. It was so beautiful, but unfortunately I got SO sick! I luckily didn't barf, but I was sure I was going to. It didn't make it as enjoyable for me, but I've enjoyed looking at the photos Matt took during the tour.

Here we are, 24 hours after our helicopter tour home with the kids. They loved their souvenirs. I was so glad to see them! I missed them so much. It's amazing how much patience I had the week that followed. I have a whole new appreciation of how much we actually NEED vacations from our daily routine. I was surprised how happy our kids were too. It seems in trips past we truly paid for the time we were away, and our kids "punished" us for being gone. But it was really the total opposite. They were so happy and loving and couldn't have been cuter!

Hawaii begins!

After years in the works (literally, over 2 years) the Morgan family made it to Hawaii, with no kids! We initially planned this trip when Joyce was battling cancer, and had the hopes of all being together there. We missed Joyce & Stu so much, but thought about them constantly, and we're sure Joyce was with us at least part of the time! It was so nice to be with Matt, my parents, brothers and sisters for nine days without any kids! I missed them so much more than I expected though. Anyway, here are the pictures from the start...sorry to bore you all with the details!





My sisters and I started off the trip a day early by getting pedicures. That's a must! It was nice to spend a little time together before we left, especially considering all the craziness it takes to get ready for a big trip.



Here we are, we had just arrived and were waiting for our rental cars. It was so blasted hot, I was totally sweaty (from the humidity of course), swollen (from the water retention) and starving...but for some reason we just kept hanging around the rental car place. Where better to be than there? It took us a few days to figure out how to function well as a group of 16. The first few days entailed a lot of standing around waiting!




We arrived Friday afternoon STARVING! It was about 9:00 PM our time so we were ready for dinner! We ate at the most beautiful place in Oahu. I loved the all the green scenery, the flowers, the smells! It was a great place to start the trip with everyone.



My sister Joan can still do the splits! She's so crazy/silly and will just be standing there one moment and then break in to the splits the next. She makes me laugh!


Chad, Joan, Mandy and Steve
This is the view we had over dinner!


This is all of us, except Matt (taking the picture) and Susan who met up with us in Kauai.




We had this inside joke going around in my family about a mustache, and who'd show up with the washboard abs and a mustache, and so Matt took it upon himself to grow one. He thankfully shaved it off the next morning! He already has the washboard abs, so the mustache completed the package. (:





Back row: Dad, Mom, Eric, Julie, Brian, Chad, Matt, Jason, Carrie, Steve and Roger
Front row: Katie, Joan, me, and Mandy


This is at the temple. We were able to do a session with everyone on Saturday morning. We were so tired though, and had just eaten a huge breakfast so a lot of us were nodding off, but it was great to be there together.



Matt took this picture on the temple grounds. I loved all the beautiful flowers everywhere.


The Polynesian Cultural Center


Carrie and Jason at the luau dinner


Eric volunteered to play the drums and dance around a little bit at the P.C.C.'s Tonga exhibit. I honestly don't remember laughing that hard in a long time. Katie (Eric's wife) has the video of it. I'd LOVE to post it if I can. It's seriously hilarious. The coolest part is, Erica can actually play the drums and could keep up with this guy so it was super fun to watch, and the crowd was super impressed (mind you 15 of the members were a little biased)



The humidity was killing me! I was so swollen by the end of the day my flip flops were hurting and my puffy feet were bulging out of them. Matt wanted me to take a picture with this guy, and he said "sorry, I'm all sweaty" and I said , "cool, so am I!" The humidity has it's good things, but I'm so glad to live in a dry state!


Here we all are at the luau dinner


It was my mom and dad's 41st wedding anniversary recently (Sept. 1st) so they went up and did a little dance along side with other anniversary celebraters, honeymooners, etc.



These pictures are actually in Kauai, so I'm getting a little ahead...


This is Roger's wife, Susan riding a wave in. She nailed just about every wave and always came right in to shore. She was a natural!


Here's Matt riding a wave in with some random kid


I think this is Joan riding a wave in. This was her first time ever boogie boarding!



Brian applying sunscreen to be sure and not burn!


My mom, Julie, Chad, Joan, Eric and Katie


Dad, Carrie, Roger, Susan

Ok, well I'll post more later!

Unexpected Weight Gain

So I've gained a lot of weight over the past several weeks. It has me a little concerned. I'm wondering how am I going to last 2 1/2 more months in these maternity clothes? They're not fitting too well these days. As I was surfing my sister's blog, I was reminded of how this gigantic spike in weight gain was accomplished...



I guess I should have layed off the "shave ice" as they call it

More Hawaii photos to come....

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some cute photos Matt's family took while we were out of town. They went to a pumpkin patch one evening, and found some great pumpkins (see the pumpkin carving photos!). They were spoiled while we were gone, and had some good quality time with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Amy & Uncle Anthony, and of course cousins!!!

Zoo with Grandpa & Grandma

Grandpa, Katie, Emily, Issak, Amber, Parker, Skyler, and Grandma

My fabulous in-laws offered to take Amber & Parker to the zoo several weeks ago. What troopers! All the grand kids were there (six under 4)! They did have a little help though, Amy & Lisa (Matt's sisters) went along too. I stayed behind and worked. I know the kids had such a blast! Neither of them had naps that day, and they came home around 5:00! They were exhausted, but had such a great time.









Matt was out of town that week hunting, so I was so happy to have a little break. That night though, they both were SO tired so I started a bath at 6:00 for them, thinking bed was at 7:00! They both screamed from 6:00-6:30 NON STOP for no reason! They had both had it! Luckily I was full of patience since I had spent the entire day away from them, and then to our surprise Matt came home at about 7:00 (we didn't expect him for another day) which made everyone happy! Matt's hunt was a success, and he brought home a 3 point buck...those pictures & experience I'll let Matt post.

Garnder Village & Pumpkin Carving

Matt had last Monday off, so we went to Gardner Village and then carved pumpkins later that evening. It was such a fun day. I wish Matt and I were independently wealthy, and Matt were retired to we could spent every day together! Forget the wealthy part, just to be retired while the kids were young! I would want nothing more! It was such a fun day, and was so sad when Monday came and Matt returned to work. Gardner Village wasn't as fun for Matt, he was a good sport. He said the whole scene was a nightmare for him (a bunch of moms pushing strollers, all cute and done up, shopping with bags overflowing their stroller...). We still had fun though, and the kids LOVED riding the little ponies.

We went to my brother & sister-in-law's house to have a yummy chili/cornbread dinner and carve pumpkins. The kids had a blast, and so did we!

WAY Behind!

So I know it's been forever since I've posted. As I've said before, since I work from home getting on the computer is the LAST thing I want to do in my spare time. I was hoping Matt would keep up with the posting, but he just joined Facebook, so all his free time is devoted to that! Don't be surprised if he asks to be your friends...I've asked him to email all my friends so I can check up on you through that (:

So where do I begin? So much has happened in a month! I'll start with the oldest and work my way forward. This will be a daily task though, so for once you can check back daily and I'll have updates!

These pictures were taken in August I believe. We went to Payson to go horseback riding with my sister's family. The kids loved it (mostly Amber). I think she has the same love for animals I do. She shows so much compassion towards them, it's really cute. She was glued to the horse, and had a fabulous time! I went on a small "walk" with one, but since I'm pregnant I thought I'd better take it easy and not go too fast.






These are my nephews Andy & Taten


Here's Amber, and my niece Kiley


Matt and Amber, hogging the horse! J/K


This is Kiley & Emily


Here's Amber, proud and as excited as ever!