Hawaii Part Two

I think the best part of the trip was watching my husband enjoy snorkeling, especially when we found all these turtles!  On Tuesday we took a boat ride to Molikini (a vent crater for the volcano) and Turtle Town.  We saw at least ten turtles, five of those up close!  They are such magnificent creatures!  The fish are amazing, I'm starting to understand why people want saltwater fish in their aquariums!  But I have to say, Todd was definitely my favorite fish!!

Hawaii Part One

Our trip to Hawaii was fantastic!  We were able to do so much, but it went by too fast, as trips often do.  I still have some editing to do, but I thought I'd post the beautiful flowers I was able to capture.  I love how colorful Hawaii is!  There are so many exotic bright flowers... it's so pretty!  The trees are equally amazing, but I don't have so many shots of those.  So enjoy these for now, more to come later...

Nineteen Minutes

Before I get to the good stuff (AKA Hawaii) I wanted to report on Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult... 

This book/story sent me on quite the emotional ride.  At first I became obsessed with school shootings that actually happened.  I researched those of Columbine High, Virginia Tech, and eve 9/11.  I took a trip back to the day of Columbine, watching the reporting of it as I sat with my friends in class.  I was in ninth grade - shocked, but probably not fully understanding what was going on.  As a parent now, though, I wondered why and how?  I was amazed to learn that the shooters of Columbine had even done a video called "Hitman for Hire," teens protecting the bullied by taking down the jocks, for a school project... how could the teachers not wonder enough to further investigate??  But as my anxiety rose, I finally climaxed at the conclusion that there must be some efforts to recognize and thwart these troubled students, or else there would most likely be even more.  Thinking of m high school time, where we were like any others with cliques and other varieties of social status, there were a couple times we had a handful of police officers along with rumors of bomb threats.  Whatever their reason was, I'd like to think their presence was the actual defense of preventing any such violence... Then again maybe I'm still being naive??

I really did like learning so many points of view, because while I was asking the whys and hows my thoughts would also turn to the families.  I'd listen to (since I did "read" this via audio book) Lacy's, Peter, the shooters, mom, view that my heart was softened and broken.  Gary boy has some physical flaws - he's pigeon toed and has a wandering eye, the doctors won't try to fix it until age six or seven.  Because of this I worry about bullying - he's so cute that I hope that will stand out more, but still I worry.  And what will or can I do if that is the situation?  I also can understand Lacy's confusion - this is her little boy.... looking at Gary or Liv's precious little faces and how innocent they are I know that's what I'll always see, always.  So to try to believe they are capable of any wrong is impossible.  Not that I'm saying I believe my kids will grow up to be mass murderers, of course not, but I guess what I've learned is in the end my children will make their own choices, and I will always love them even if their choices break my hear, just as Lacy had.

I don't know if I would recommend this book to someone.  It was an incredible trip, but only if you're prepared for it!

A Tag Before I Go

I have been tagged by my friend Jennie, and so I figured I'd do it before Todd and I head off to Hawaii! This'll probably be the last post I leave you with since tomorrow morning we head to Salt Lake where we will buy me a new Mac laptop and hang out with friends before we take the flight with my family Saturday to beautiful Hawaii!

So the Tag is all about three things... 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 surprising facts about myself...

3 Joys
- Liv
- Gary
- Todd

3 Fears
- being slowly squished to death
- loosing a child
- not having chocolate

3 Goals
- go back to school
- stay sane until the end of the day
- take my family to the LDS temple

3 Obsessions
- pictures
- scrapbooking
- getting home videos to DVD

3 Surprising Facts
- I was an avid nail biter until just recently
- My house is usually cluttered, thanks kids
- I'm mostly crazy ;)

The Named

This was a book I happened upon by chance... not knowing what to read next I walked by a book called The Dark on a stand at the library. Reading about it got me interested, but then I found out it was the second book in a trilogy. So I looked up the first book, The Named by Marianne Curley, and really enjoyed it. It's not the best writing, but the story's uniqueness kept me hooked. Then the last quarter of the book became very suspenseful and quite the page turner. So now I'm hooked and have already started the second book! I don't know how to tell you about the story without giving anything away since there are a lot of twists and turns... so I'll sum it up like this: As the Goddess of Chaos strives for disorder by altering the past in order to have complete dominance of all worlds the Guardians of Time with their special gifts come together to thwart her attempts. A prophecy is given, a traitor is discovered, nine are revealed, time travelers will meet in battle, and destinies will come together! Good stuff :)

Cupcakes for little Scarlet

I love this blanket! At first the color combo was too Neapolitan ice cream, but as it came together I was in love! This pattern is fabulous! I hadn't braved it yet, because it's another special one that is tied to my mom. She used this pattern to make a lavender and white blanket for Liv as a newborn, so I felt funny about it for a long time. BUT I have overcome this awkwardness and have now made my own beautiful work of art! Yay!

Sunday Spotlight

Getting the shot - I love how patient and helpful my husband is. I often get great ideas of where I want to take a picture... that doesn't mean it's always the most opportune location! For example, the other day Todd and I took the kids into Zion National Park for an afternoon of hiking. Our last stop was at the end of the Narrows where the river cuts through the canyon. The kids love to throw rocks here and it's incredibly beautiful! Anyways, there's this large rock in the center of the fast moving river, but, of course, it'd make for a great picture! So my kind husband wades out to is waste carrying the kids so his "crazy" wife can get her picture! It's so sweet! And in almost every picture I take of the two kids Todd is almost always behind me getting them to look in the general direction of the camera & smile!
p.s. Of course the kids never did both look at me and smile at the same time so I never did get the "perfect picture" for this one... still it was fun in the making!