Settling In After the Vacation

It was great coming home to the kiddos and Mama Lisa.  She had the kiddos well-fed which is what Jens appreciated.

 Mama Rae was excited to get back to her kitchen where she makes homemade Cap'n Crunch. 

 We've had some fantastic weather which allows the chicos an opportunity to get fresh air and to get out from under their mother's feet.

 Speaking of feet...Rock saw a puppet show at school and brought that enthusiasm home.

 While I was running on the treadmill Rock came down and ran on the other one to keep me company.  He ended up running 1.6 miles on a 12% incline in about 22 minutes.  He was pretty tired and slept at Papa Dale's birthday party.  Ryker was smart and slept while Rock sleeps, just like with a new born that's how you catch up on sleep.

 Ryker had a combination of sunscreen and lotion in his hair which made it appear very cottony. 

 When Rock woke up he was very hungry and didn't care that Chayo's foot was especially spicy.  He ate a ton of chile con carne.

 Jens loved the cake and the blue lips that it gave her.  

 "YUMMY!!"

 Chayo, Case and Ma and Pa England.

 The kids starting sleeping on the living room floor while Mama Lisa was here and we've let them keep it up since.

 The kids have loved cuddling with their sweet mommy since we've been home. 

 Papa Dale and Mama Rae surprised Ryker with a spike helmet and new bike.

 He looks like the perfect little biker dude.

 That might be the most Ryker face ever.

 Jens loved the bike and wanted in on the fun.

 Meanwhile Ryker enjoyed feeling his sweet spikes.

 Huddy really liked helping Ryker get moving.

 Maybe this one is the most Ryker face ever.

 Checking to make sure the spikes were still there.

 Jens and Huddy felt left out since they couldn't ride the bikes, so Papa Dale made it up to them. 

 Spring is an especially pretty time of year to live here.

Mavier's Wedding

The big trip to Marissa and Javier's wedding finally arrived. Mama Lisa had flown in to watch the kiddos and we were sitting at the airport.  Life was looking relaxed and carefree.  

We weren't even off the ground in Wenatchee before someone started crying because she missed her kids too much.

She kind of got over that when she saw the view from our upgraded room (the hotel took good care of us to apologize for a faulty room key).

The north shore by La'ie was beautiful and the temple grounds were very Hawaiian.

DeAndra was especially beautiful with her sunkissed skin and windswept hair.

She's always beautiful, but Hawaii did her good.

The wedding went well but right after the ceremony Grandpa Myron asked if I could take him to the shrimp shack.  Mom forbade the trip until after the family pictures and Grandpa didn't dare override Bridezilla's mom.

The pictures went fairly smooth and the photographer aggressively pushed through the different shots.  He didn't like people getting into his shots behind the family (like those walking into the next session at the temple or Grandma Arlene getting a drink).

As soon as we were excused we booked it to Giovanni's Shrimp Shack so that Grandpa could have prawns.

DeA and Nick couldn't believe that Grandpa wanted to eat the sea bugs.

Grandpa couldn't believe that DeA and Nick didn't want to try the delicious sea bugs.

Tiffany and Kay Lynne put together a delicious lunch and Javi's family entertained us with a song and dance.

Our little economy car was barely big enough for DeA and I, but somehow we managed to get Mom and KC back to Honolulu without burning out the four AA batteries that powered the thing.

After the wedding stuff we enjoyed a few days of Waikiki. 

Spencer Webster took us on a tour of Pearl Harbor and all the cool things to find there.  We saw where the first bomb struck, the hangars with bullet holes in the roof and bunkers guarding the harbor.

We got to see the memorial for the USS Utah.

That is the USS Missouri with a random walker.

The memorial for the USS Arizona.

After the great tour we ate at a delicious BBQ place where DeA was able to try fried pickles.  

The bathrooms were...different.  The ladies room had a fake mannequin and urinal.

The boys room had redneck pick up lines that didn't seem to impress Whitni.

There was a huge park across the street from the hotel with a view of Diamond Head and the Waikiki strip.

Our hotel was next to the Diamond Head Loop and that's where DeA liked to do our morning runs.  Because of the time change our runs were right after sunrise when everything was beautiful.  The only problem was all the tanned, long haired surfer guys were finishing their morning runs and made the route very crowded.  Normally DeA doesn't like running through crowds but always resisted my suggestions for other routes.

A Little Bit of Easter

On Saturday before Easter the ward had a Pinewood Derby race.  The boys 'helped' me make two cars by painting them (including the wheels) and aligning the wheels by repeatedly dropping them and ramming them into the walls.  They were still excited about their cars' performances.

 This was the best picture I could get of Jens' Easter dress, and I got this one because she wasn't moving.

 She woke up when we got to Sunday lunch and she was happy to cuddle with Uncle Nick.

 She liked cuddling so much that she went right back to sleep.

 Ryker may have ODed on Easter Candy because he crashed around 7pm and slept through the night.

 He woke up the next morning to Jens asking if he was okay.  He was, just a little groggy from getting so much sleep.