Kauai 2015 {Part ONE}

For the last several years, Abe and I always joked that we were going to head to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary. Once we got back in the States, we teamed up with Roni & Brett and Kara & Justin and made it happen! I had never been to Kauai before and it was so much fun to explore a new island. It was beautiful and lush, with so many outdoor activities. It definitely wasn't a "hang out on the beach" kind of vacation everyday. Kara mentioned that she worked out more on our trip than she ever does! That pretty much sums it up. We were super active the entire time and it made for a fun adventure!



Haha, first stop: Walmart to grab some groceries!


Then we were off to Princeville to our Condos and were greeted with some leis


Our pool


Our first day in Kauai, we headed over to Hanalei Bay. This beach was pretty amazing because the mountains kind of surround it and you can look up at the mountains and see several waterfalls from the beach. The sand was super soft and it had a pretty neat pier.













After exploring Hanalei Bay (and probably not long enough), we headed over to Anini Beach. I LOVED this beach. The water was clear, the beach was a little more hidden and just beautiful.









After we headed up to do the Hoopi Falls Hike. We heard this was a fun one because you can jump into the waterfall. When we got to the first waterfall (which is the one you are supposed to jump into), there were a bunch of people sitting around looking at it and it did not look safe to jump in. We then headed to the second waterfall just to see it. The trees are so cool!













Not far from the hike was Lydgate Beach State Park. We all ended up getting in the Ocean and tried to body surf. It was so fun! We got some fun video and I made a video of the entire trip, but I can't post it for some reason!












The next day we headed to the Na Pali Coast to hike up to Haanakapi Falls. We woke up at the crack of dawn so we could get hiking before all the crowds. It is 2 miles in to a "beach" and that part of the hike gets really crowded with tourists. Since we got there so lucky, we didn't have to deal with too many people on the way in. From the beach, we hiked 2 miles up to an AMAZING waterfall. It is hard to describe how incredibly tall it was. It was so powerful that when we got up to it, we were soaking wet and it was windy. So cool. Most people didn't hike all the way in and turned around at the beach due to the mud and some obstacles while hiking. We had to cross several rivers and the terrain was interesting. I have so many good memories from this hike! The coast was so beautiful too!













































That night we took a REALLY LONG WALK and I was so tired from hiking 8 miles that day and then walking for several more. It was so pretty walking along the Coast and down to a fancy hotel and then back around.

2015 Family Pictures

One day, I hope to hire a photographer to take our family pictures! Luckily, I do have my sister and dad that can take pictures of us if we ever have time when we are together! I got a tripod to use for our family pictures. It was a lot harder than I thought since our kids are so little, don't look at the camera and won't sit still. I got a handful of cute ones that way, but luckily my friend and her family showed up. I bribed her to come meet us and possibly help push the button on my camera for me and in return I would take some of her family. I think they turned out really cute!

Fall Happenings

Super nice summer weather in September!









Went for a little weekend getaway with some friends to attend "Time Out For Women" in Denver!





School Pick Up




Date at the USAF football game

Adeline's Track Meet

At the beginning of the year, there were lots of papers sent home from school with clubs to sign up for. They must have talked the kids into signing up for them, because Adeline was adamant that she needed to do both track and choir. I am not a morning person, so I wasn't super stoked about it. Track was before school on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and Choir was before school on Wednesday.

It was fun going to Adeline's first track meet. They are pretty casual and somewhat unorganized with a million kids running around. Adeline was so nervous about it (because she is so competitive) and didn't really want to go, but was motivated since all her friends were going to be there. It was so funny because Adeline started the race in the very back of the back pretty much skipping along, holding hands with one of her good friends. I guess eventually her friend wanted to walk, so Adeline left her. Adeline ended up being the 2nd girl finisher in the 3rd grade! Adeline is probably not the best sprinter, but she definitely won't ever give up and has endurance!













Since Anders had just started walking, we were trying to get him to walk to us and he was not so happy about it! How can you resist that cute little pout!?