Another project on the house

We keep saying things like "After this project, we will be done doing things for the house for a bit." Then another project comes. And sometimes another.

About a month ago we decided we finally needed to get a new front door. We got new bark and finally decided on the new plants we wanted in the front yard. That was going to be it for the year. But then we decided it would be great to have a new back door as well, since our slider it pretty terrible. It slides shut so hard, I am so afraid someone will lose a finger! So we now have that idea in the works.

The biggest project we decided to do was to get rid of our pool. Crazy? Absolutely not. We have not enjoyed this pool as much as we would have liked to. It never warms up, so it is not as enjoyable (at least for mom) to swim in. It is not a very big pool, but they placed it in such a way in the back yard that we don't get to enjoy much actual yard.

The pool was pretty easy to get out, it took only a day and a half. We are currently stuck in the middle of fixing the landscaping, which is taking longer due to the rain.

We can't wait for it to all be done so we can get out and run and play and enjoy our yard!

A crafty moment

I learned a great trick. You can take an old t-shirt and refashion it into a cute toddler skirt. I think that it is such a clever idea! It works great in our house since there are plenty of hand me downs I could refashion for Evie to wear now instead of four or more years down the road! I have only done one so far, and it isn't as cute as it could be...but it was quick and easy and a nice first effort to see how I like them.

Evie thinks it is pretty cool. especially because it has pink in it. She sported it the other day, of course wearing as much pink along with it that she could find. Yes, she is dressing herself still!

The shirt

The new skirt

Hawaii

Ez and I have been talking about taking a trip to Hawaii for years, but it has never been the right time. Now that the kids are a bit older and more independent, we decided this was the year to make it happen.

A HUGE thank you goes out to my parents for coming out and staying with the kids while we were not home, and to Ez's mom who came in and filled in the last day as well.

Hawaii was wonderful. We stayed on Oahu with the intention of doing some of the touristy kind of things, as well as relaxing on the beach. We spent the first couple of days in Honolulu. We hiked Diamond Head, visited Pearl Harbor and the Punchbowl Cemetery, as well as a neat botanical garden. We hiked Makapuu Point, we wandered downtown and visited the Dole Plantation. It was busy and fun to just see so many neat places.

One of our favorite parts of Honolulu was our dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We've wanted to go there for quite a while, but have never made it. Vacation seemed like the perfect opportunity. The steaks were delicious, just as we have heard, but I think my very favorite part of the meal was their sweet potato casserole. Seriously. I will never be able to eat sweet potatoes again without comparing them to that casserole. Seriously. They were that delicious!

The last couple of days we headed out to the other side of the island for a nice, quiet, relaxing stay at Turtle Bay Resort. We took wonderful, long walks on the beach and swam a bit in the ocean. We also got to visit BYU Hawaii and the Laie Hawaii Temple. Unfortunately, the temple is closed for some reconstruction so we were not able to go inside, but did enjoy the visitor's center.

We spent our last day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, which was such fun! We had a great tour guide and saw and learned a lot. We enjoyed the luau and show in the evening. Directly after the show, we headed to the airport for a red eye home back to reality and 5 children that missed us dearly!

We had such a fantastic time!

Loved these trees!

View from our room at Turtle Bay

On the beach at Turtle Bay

It was a bit windy...

Cool bird in the hotel

We ate at this awesome shrimp truck twice. Yup. Twice.

On the way out...

A little more of January

We had a rather busy month for some reason, and not a lot of pictures were taken. Here are a couple more cute ones, however!

Lily sporting a recently missing tooth

Evie sporting a cute headband, allowing mom to pretend she has hair!

Alexis--a little blurry, but still cute!

Evie pretending to play Band Hero

Joe on the drums

Slightly Wacky Weather

Our weather is pretty predictable here, and it doesn't change much! We get sun in the summer, mostly sun and some rain in the winter. You know, it's thrilling weather-wise! BUT, a few weeks ago during the middle of a number of rainy days, we heard a funny noise outside. We opened the door and saw hail! Perhaps that's not exciting to many, but our kids absolutely loved it!

Evie didn't want to miss it, so she grabbed one of Joe's and one of Mom's shoes to get out the door quickly!