Thanksgiving

We were able to go to my parents ( the Hillesheims) for Thanksgiving. It's been a long time since we've spent Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family...so I really enjoyed the time I had to visit. I'm most grateful for the relationships that I have within my family, it's what sustains me. Also having parents that are a wonderful example and who love the gospel. I have been blessed and I am GRATEFUL every day!

Trick or Treat

My kids decided to leave "scary" out of it this time. Emilee was a Midnight Fairy, Haydn and Riley were Nascar drivers and Gracie was, of course, Cinderella. Halloween is a lot more fun when you are the one dressing up and wandering the neighborhood with your friends in pursuit of the perfect years supply of candy. Oh well, guess I have to let go of those days. It sure is a relief when Halloween is over though, time for the good "holiday-stress"!

Aloha!

Delon and I recently returned from a much needed trip to Hawaii. We went with the McKays, some friends from our ward. We stayed in Ka'anapali, Maui. This was a great opportunity for Delon and I to "get-to-know" each other again. It was nice to talk and not be interrupted and to think of ourselves for a short time. It was also nice to eat my food before it got cold and not have to clean up afterwards.
Maui was a beautiful place. I have been to Oahu (16 years ago) and it was a more populated and "busy" island. Maui was very laid back and intimate. It's a perfect location to actually relax on vacation. Also, surprisingly, it's very family-friendly. At least half of the people living in Maui are not permanent residents. Most everyone we met working there was from Washington, Oregon and southern California...they're on hotel-management internships. There were several that also came to work and loved it so much they haven't gone home. It's like a little melting-pot.
The food of course was amazing. We went to several highly-acclaimed restaurants, being as we were with a restaurant owner/chef. So he always had an opinion about where we ate.
Delon and I also did some snorkeling. Although, I must say, I was very impressed with Delon. For someone who never took swimming lessons and is not fond of large bodies of water, he did very well. I did very little snorkeling compared to Delon. He really enjoyed himself!
Traveling helps to remind you how big and beautiful the earth is and how little we really all have seen of it. On the other hand, you can travel thousands of miles away and find someone who knows someone and so on. It really is a small world through association, but there is still so much I would love to see. And I must say, there really is no place like home when you have been away for a while.
I am grateful for where I live and the things that I know, but I will always love the surprise in visiting different places. There is so much out there to experience and learn.
I am sure we will return there someday, but back to reality. Just glad we had the chance to do and see the things we did!