A very Happy Birthday in Hawaii!

Sometimes, you just need a little getaway. Kevin and I both turned 30 last weekend, I'm older by a day, :) We're expecting baby #4 in 3 months, and we got an amazing deal, so what other reasons do you need to just take off?

Especially when you get to go somewhere like this...

We did some hiking, up diamondhead. It wasn't too hard, but I'll admit, it would have been alot easier had I not been 6 months pregnant. You'll forgive me for the lack of pictures of myself. I write the blog, so I get to decide which pictures make it on. :)

Kevin looking handsome at the top. I took only one lens with me to the top...and it was the wrong one, dang it. So no good pictures with us and the background, it was really one or the other.
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But it was a pretty impressive backdrop.

See, this was the best I could get, But it was beautiful up there, looking down at Waikiki and the ocean.

Notice all the little dots of people in the ocean. Waikiki beach is pretty busy.

We got to enjoy some seriously beautiful plants. I loved it! Yes, the beach screams Hawaii, but these flowers do too!

We went to a Luau, cause you can't go to Hawaii and not go to a Luau. They had some areas set up to get tattoos, make a headband with palm leaves, and to try to make fire, so we had to give it a shot. I got smoke, then got tired from working so hard.

Kevin wasn't going to do it, but then once I did he had to show me up:)

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Guess what? He did! He didn't get fire, but he got alot of smoke before he decided that he was done.

Then we had a delicious dinner, I could have just eaten the fresh pineapple and been happy, SO GOOD! It did give me heartburn though, dang pregnancy!:)

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The Chief for the Luau was hilarious, and made for a very entertaining night.

The dancers were awesome as well.

My favorite happens to be the fire dancers though. They can do some amazing stuff!

Oh, there I am...after we made our palm leaf headdresses.

We decided to go whale watching. This is the boat we got to ride on, we also had traditional Luau food for lunch here too, loved it!

Here's some more of that beautiful Hawaii scenery.

This was in the water by the pier, before we even got on the boat. I couldn't believe just how clear it was! The water was really calm, so I was able to get this shot from above the water, and it looks like I'm using a waterproof camera!

Kevin with Waikiki behind him. We didn't stay in Waikiki, but we were down there quite a bit.

A view of Diamondhead from the boat. See the highest point there? We were there just a couple days before this!

We were very excited to get to see some Humpback whales while we were out there. Well, we saw their dorsal fins and their tails, but it's still pretty cool.

After we got off the boat, we met up with some friends of ours from the parkway ward, the Nordgrans. He is in the Navy and is stationed at Pearl Harbor, so they gave us a behind the scenes tour, I didn't have my camera that day, and they took us out to dinner at this amazing restaurant on the east shore. Great food, and an amazing setting.

It was all open air, so this was our view for the whole dinner, it was wonderful!

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A huge thanks to the Nordgrans for taking time out of their week to hang out with us, and show us some areas that we never would have found on our own. It was like we had our own tour guides who were tons of fun too!

We went on a hike one day to Waimea falls.

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There were beautiful gardens to walk through, and this was the prize at the end. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was freezing water, so we didn't get in, but we could have had we wanted to.

Isn't that breathtaking?

After that, Kevin's mission was to find some good boogy boarding. We found a great beach right outside of Waimea falls. The waves were a little big, and Kevin got a little beat up, but I think it was worth it.

Later that week, we headed out to do something I've never done before, we went on a submarine. We got to see it surface, and there were tons of portholes to see out of. It was scuba diving, while staying dry.

We saw TONS of cool fish, a couple sting rays, and a turtle. See it there, right in the middle?

Some of the very cool fish.

Then we got to spend our evenings here...right on the beach at our resort, watching the sunset.

It was beautiful, relaxing, and amazing! We owe a HUGE thanks to my sister-in-law Jill for watching the girls all week. I hear it all went pretty well, but three kids, on top of her little 7 month old, that'll wear anyone out after a week. Thanks Jill, the girls adore you, and so do I!

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What better way to ring in a new decade, right? Although if you ask, I may still say I'm 29, I don't feel like a 30 year old just yet.

The {N} kids

While I'm busy editing the hundreds of photos I took while we were in Hawaii, (it was a blast by the way) here's a sneek peek at a photoshoot I did just before we left. Three adorable little kids, at a beautiful location. Check out a few more of the photos here. Hopefully I'll be able to post some of our trip tomorrow.

Family Photos {Traut Familly}

I was able to take some really fun pictures of a really fun family this week, I love being able to do this! Check them out at my photo blog! Also, I only have three more slots available at the introductory price, so if you're interested call quick! Once those are filled, prices will go up to $85 per session.

Weekend at the Lake

Kevin's parent's had been talking for years about getting a house on Lake Travis...well in February, they finally bit the bullet and got one. It's on the lake, and it's small and old, but hey, it's on the lake. The boys have been going up there for over a month trying to fix it up and make it more comfortable for everyone to use this summer.

I had been wanting to go up and see it and take a little vacation, and this past weekend we finally did. The weather was amazing, and the girls LOVED it! We were able to BBQ alot, enjoy conference, and put up some swings for the kids to enjoy while we were there. What's better than swinging with Lake Travis as the backdrop?

So, as always, I took way too many pictures, but what can I say, the subjects as always are beautiful, and who doesn't love some fun pictures of the lake?

The girls just loved hanging out outside and playing whatever their little imaginations could come up with.


She really wanted to go down to the water, but actually did a pretty good job listening to us and stayed put.

Showing off her imaginatin. I think she was either flying or swimming, probably swimming though.

They loved having a picnic outside for lunch.

We dyed easter eggs while we were there. Lexie kept smelling the cups, and I have no idea why, cause they smelled like vinegar.

Halli on one of the "swings" Kevin and his dad put up.

Seriously, does it get better than that? That massive house on the other side of the lake is 'Mattress Mac's' compound. If you're not from houston you have no idea who he is, but he owns a huge furniture store here.

The girls loved being able to hang out with grandpa for the weekend. He even got up with them one morning so I could go back to bed....we love grandparents!:)

Grandpa putting the finishing touches on the swing.

Kevin and his dad trying to figure out where to put the ropes for the swings, and trying to get the knots tied good and tight.

This was kinda funny. They were trying to get the ladder up to the branch to tie the ropes, but it just wasn't long enough. They sure struggled with that for awhile before they just gave up and used a rock to throw the rope over the branch.

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One of the best parts of this trip was that we were able to have Kevin around for the whole weekend, with nothing to interrupt us. Between work, real estate, and his calling at church, oh, and march madness, can't forget that, we have been missing him lately.

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He is an amazing dad, and spent the weekend playing with his girls. They loved having him around. He taught them how to fish, took them out to the boat dock all the time, cause that's where they wanted to hang out, and just plain old spent time with them. They are so lucky to have such a wonderful dad!

I love this photo of him fishing, well actually, he was trying to fix the fishing pole, but he's still so handsome!

The sun set's right over the water and it's beautiful. I think when we're up there, we'll be spending lots of evenings watching that gorgeous sunset!

We love these three little beauties, even if they do keep us way too busy chasing them around! We can't wait to head up there again, and just sit back and relax. Maybe next time we'll even have the boat up there, that will be fun!

Easter

Easter was a little busy this year. We started the morning up in Austin, on Lake Travis, more on that later. We headed back home around noon, and had just enough time after we got back to bake a cake, change our clothes, and unpack the car.

We headed over to the Grandparents house, had a delish dinner, played with our cousins, and headed outside for lots of pictures and an easter egg hunt, always the favorite for the kids.


Halli asked us to hide some harder for her this year, so she bypassed all the easy eggs, and in the end was a little disappointed that she didn't get as many as the other kids. Oh well, she was fine with it eventually and that's life, right?


Peyton and Lexie did a great job during the easter egg hunt, and I'm suprised that Lexie is as into it as she is. Of course, she knows there is candy in the eggs, so I suppose that's why.

So, lots of photos ahead, although I did try to condense some of them so there weren't so many, but there's still quite a few. Enjoy!

All 10 grandkids, minus baby Colt who was inside asleep.

Sweet Lexie, getting into the hunt!

Peyton had this egg in her basket, and after opening it, brought it to me and told me it wasn't candy. I said sorry, and she threw it on the ground. Some of the other girls walked by it and no one would pick it up cause it wasn't candy inside. Funny Kids!

Sweet Peyton, Love this photos, not really the tongue, but she's cute anyways!
Gotta love this girl!

She doesn't like to pose for pictures anymore, but she's still beautiful!

lovely Halli

Love this girl!

All of our beautiful daughters, kinda happy after the easter egg hunt. Lexie REALLY wanted to eat her candy, so she wasn't too happy to sit there, but she did good anyways. We had a wonderful easter, and loved spending the day with our family.

Little Bookworm

I know Halli is a great reader, and I know that she REALLY loves to read, but I guess I just didn't realize how good at it she was getting. A few moms in my ward, and old ward, have daughters around the same age, and one of them suggested we do a mommy/daughter book club.

Our most recent meeting was last saturday and we were supposed to have read 'The Boxcar Children', I was a little behind and hadn't gotten the book, and Kevin was going to be gone all day with the Young Men, so I wasn't planning on going. Well, Nicole convinced me to come anyway, and she had the book I could borrow. Only problem was, we didn't get the book till 7pm on friday night, and the meeting was at noon the next day.

Well, Halli is one amazing little girl, and she read her little heart out that night. Apparently she kept waking up throughout the night to read, at least that's what she says. She finished the book right after we got to Nicole's house the next day. I couldn't believe that she actually finished it, but boy am I proud of that little bookworm!

I LOVED to read too, and still do when I have the time, so it is a wonderful thing to see this same love instilled in her, and I hope the other girls get it too. There is just something about being lost in a good book, I hope she continues to love it and keeps on reading!



I guess I should have known early on that she REALLY loved to read, here she is, no more than 18 months old, and she loved her books way back then too! Yes, we put her chair in the crib, with her stuffed dog, and all her books. I have no idea why we did that, but apparently she loved it so who cares!

I just love you Halli and I LOVE being able to watch you learn and grow into your own amazing little person. You're awesome!