Memorial Day

 

We were able to go visit my mom, grandma, and grandpa's graves on the Sunday before memorial day. 

While we were there Kenna noticed that there was not a flag out by my grandpa's headstone.  We were able to walk over and get a flag for him.  It meant even more putting it there myself.  We are grateful for his years of service in the military.  This was the first memorial day that I wasn't able to go to the cemetery with him.  I was really missing him that day!

Then next morning we met my Dad and the rest of the family at the graves in Taylorsville. I was grateful to share this family tradition with everyone. Last year we were not able to go together as an extended family due to the pandemic. 

We went to the family graves in the S.L.C. cemetery. We even met a women that had ancestors that were related to the Jenkins side of the family.

Everyone was happy to get their free pop at the Larkin cemetery.  Mike's face in this picture is hilarious!  My brother can always make me laugh.

It was good to see my Uncle Wright and Aunt Janett. It had been over a year.  I also had a good time talking with my cousin Scott. 

The kids were happy that we went to eat lunch at Olive Garden.  Then we were able to go up and visit grandma. 

We were glad that she was feeling well enough to have all of us come by.  We love grandma and this tradition she started for all of us!

We met up with Kev's mom at grandma and grandpa Grants grave.  We shared some of our memories. I'm grateful that all my kids had the blessing of knowing their great grandparents. 

We then drove to the cemetery in Larkin to visit grandma and grandpa Foster's grave.  Then we walked over to Uncle Brian's grave. It was the first time we saw his headstone.  While we were there, a family walked up and asked the kids if they would like some butterflies. The butterflies were packaged alive in wax paper.  The kids carefully got them out and let them fly away. It was really sweet of this family to give us this experience. A few weeks later I read this quote about butterflies, "What does it mean when butterflies fly around you? It can mean that your loved ones are trying to connect with you from heaven or trying to send you a message or blessing."  This is a beautiful thought that brings me some comfort. We really miss all our loved ones that have passed away! I'm grateful for this day to honor and remember them.

Aunt Teenie comes to visit

 

We love it when Teenie and Peter come to visit!  We got together at Mike and Amy's house on Friday May 28th.  The kids were all excited to see Aunt Teenie!

They had fun swimming in their cousins new pool.  It was just the perfect size for them. 

We went and got ice cream afterwards at a place called Spilled Milk.  It is one of Mike's favorite places and is not far from his house. I got the fried ice cream flavor that had cinnamon toast crunch cereal in it. We took a picture with all of us siblings. We were missing Greg who was not there with us that night.  We had the best time talking, laughing, and reminiscing together. 

It was a little bittersweet when Teenie said goodbye to Kenna knowing she would be leaving on her mission soon. I have the best sister and she is the sweetest aunt to my kids!

Hayden's graduation

 

Hayden graduated from sixth grade on May 26th! We were glad to be there to cheer him on. It is a big deal that they were able to have a normal graduation this year.

I stood on the side to take some pictures of him graduating. He walked right by and I was able to give him a big hug. 

We were happy that Hayden was able to attend his sixth grade year at Thunder Ridge.  He had Miss Flyodd as his teacher.  It was really nice because he had a smaller class size of 23 kids this year. 

Hayden was happy that Kenna, Parker, and Halle were all able to come to his graduation. 

Aunt Teenie and Peter were visiting from NY and also were able to come!

Grandpa and Grandma were also able to come cheer on Hayden.  Grandpa told Hayden that he looked sharp in his suit. 

I made Hayden a candy Lei to wear for graduation. It had some of his favorite candies like Mike n Ikes and Sour Skittles in it. We are proud of Hayden and all that he accomplished this year. He always works hard and does his best. We are excited to see the great things he will accomplish in Junior High.

Hawaii 2021!!

 

Kev and I flew to Maui on Saturday May 15th! It had been five years since we had last been.  It was a beautiful sight seeing the coastline as we flew over. 

We went and found my favorite food truck called Geste.  I had been craving this meal since the last time we were here.

The first Airbnb that we stayed at was in Wailea.  We went and walked that night along the boardwalk and looked at all the amazing resorts. 

The next morning we went snorkeling at a nearby beach. It was nice because the place where we were staying had beach chairs and an umbrella for us to use. 

We also walked over to these tide pools to explore.  We saw tiny crabs and found some shells. 

We tried a restaurant that the show Triple D had recommended. Kev ordered the famous Beer Can Chicken.  Everything we tried there was delicious!

We watched the sunset that night and even spotted Kenna's plane flying in.  Then we hurried over to the airport to pick her up. 

It was great to have her in Hawaii with us and get to show her around the island of Maui.  

We took her snorkeling for the first time and she loved it.  Kev had his Gopro and was able to take pictures of the many sea turtles we saw. Unfortunately, Kenna stepped on a sea urchin her first day there.  She was able to get out most of the black spindles from her foot.  She had to soak her foot in vinegar to get the rest out. 

She didn't let that stop her from enjoying the trip.  We took her to get some shave ice at Ulanis. She couldn't get over all the wild chickens and roosters running around.  I told her "Chickens are to Hawaii what rats are to NYC!"

Kev and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on Tuesday May 18th! Kenna took some pictures of us in the yard of where we were staying. 

This is a throwback picture of us on our wedding day May 18, 2001.  We were so young then!  It's crazy to think that the first time we went to Hawaii together we were in our early 20's and now we are in our 40's!

We drove to Lahaina for dinner that night. I took this picture of Kev along the harbor. 

We had reservations at one of our favorite restaurants called Kimo's.  This was the view at sunset from our table. It was a memorable anniversary!

The next morning we took Mckenna to Makenna beach.  She had fun walking along and breaking off sand into the ocean. 

We drove to our next Airbnb that afternoon.  Kenna made herself right at home!  This place we stayed at was incredible with its 270 degree ocean view. 

We ate dinner at a fun place called "Down the Hatch".  The food was great.  I had breaded shrimp. 

We watched the sun go down from the porch of the place we stayed at. 

There was a beautiful rainbow shining on the ocean the next morning. 

We started out on the Road to Hana.  We stopped to see the Twin Falls. It was raining off and on all morning. 

We then went to Waianapanapa State park.  We saw some cool rock caves. 

We had fun exploring at the black sand beach.

We then went on a hiking adventure to get to the red sand beach.  It was the first time Kev and I had ever been there. 

We took Kenna on the Pippiwei Trail.  There were more boardwalks since the last time we hiked it. It is cool hiking through the bamboo trees. 

I took this video of the Falls. It is always an impressive sight. 

We took our picture by this large Banyan tree. It took us longer than we thought to get back to our car.  We were the only car left in the lot.  An officer had left us a note talking about how we were "exceedingly late" getting back and the park had closed.  Luckily, the exit gate was not locked and we were able to get back out. 

The next day we took it easy and did some more snorkeling. We walked over to the Marriott resort we stayed at when Kenna last came with us in May 2006.  Kenna was almost four years old at the time.  She did remember playing at this water playground.

I was happy to see some Birds of Paradise outside of our Airbnb.  They are my favorite tropical flower. 

We ate dinner that night at the Lahaina Fish Co.  My shrimp scampi was delicious and came with an hibiscus flower for decoration. We were proud of Kenna for trying some Fish n Chips.  We think she will be eating them often on her mission to England.

We went and watched the sunset from a park nearby.  The sunsets here never get old. 

The next day we ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise. The wait was long but the food was worth it. 

We went and got some ice cream at a local shop.  They even had a dole whip.  It reminded me of Disneyland. 

We went exploring at the Nakalele Blow hole later that afternoon.  The heart in the rock we saw the last time was gone. We think it might have eroded sometime in the last five years. 

We drove up to Haleakala Crater that night.  We drove through the clouds and pulled over to watch the sun go down.  We took these pictures up at the top. 

It was beautiful up there and cold.  We drove to the airport after this to catch our red eye flight back home.  We are grateful that we were able to have this trip with Kenna before she leaves on her mission!