Aloha, Part 2...

Here is the second set of pictures from our trip to Hawaii. One of the highlights of the trip was going on a zip line tour through the rain forest. I included a video from the tour at the end of this post as well.
Christy, Payton and Ryan after the zip line tour. We had a blast, but we were soaking wet and muddy from all the rain. It was fun riding in the hummer through the rain forest.

Me and Ryan in the rain forest. We saw 4 different waterfalls on the tour.

Ryan and Payton.

Christy and Payton.

All suited up for the zip-line tour through the rain forest. Payton's helmet said Pee-Wee. Ha!
Payton and Ryan inside the lava tube. It was REALLY dark in there, so the flash was pretty bright. :)

Payton, Elly, and me in the big section of the lava tube. Only the boys continued on to the pitch black section from the picture above.

Elyse, me, and Payton at Mount Kilauea...the volcano is in the background.

Steam from the volcano.

Cousin Katie and Elyse practicing their ballet moves.

Aren't they cute? Elyse wanted to be just like Katie...monkey see, monkey do.

Christy and Ryan at Akaka Falls.

Elyse, Christy and Payton at Akaka Falls.

Katie, Alex, Elyse and Payton.

Payton going across the last and BIGGEST zip-line. Woo hoo!! This one was a little bit scary because it was 1,000 feet across, it was pouring rain, and they told us that small people had gotten stuck part way across before. You can hear the guide telling Payton to "run, run, run" because he wanted him to build up enough speed to make it all the way across. Luckily we all made it! You could see a waterfall to the right and the ocean to the left as you went across the valley. So beautiful!

This trip was such a great experience for us. We were able to experience so many amazing sights. We are one lucky family!! Aloha!

High Jumper...

Payton's track team went to a meet in Little Rock yesterday. We drove down on Friday night and stayed at Tamara's house. Thanks Tamara! We also went out to lunch at Arkansas Burger Company with Tamara, Cayden, Becky and the Penne family. It was delicious! The meet started bright and early at 8:00 and lasted until 4:00. It was a long, HOT day! Payton did the high jump for the first time:

This was his last jump 0f 4'2''...everyone else was out by then and he decided to stop jumping because he had already....

1. kneed himself in the eye when he landed between the two mats they had pushed together (he has a large black lump next to his right eye)

2. gashed his leg open with his spikes as he made one of his jumps (eewww...it looks pretty gross!)

He decided that since he had already won the event, he might as well quit while he was ahead and before he injured himself any further since he still had his two running events to complete.

Here are his stats from the track meet:

High jump 1st place 4'2''

100m 1st place 14.00 sec

200m 1st place 30.68 sec

Way to go Payton!!!!!

2 Year Checkup...

Elyse had her 2 year checkup this week. Ryan took her since it was my first week back to work and luckily she was very good. For a while she'd cried and cried when we took her to the doctor...ever since she had the flu this winter she has been very anti-doctor and anti-medicine.

Here are her 2 year stats...
Height: 32 inches, which is in the 5th percentile (somehow I'm not surprised by that ...the girl has very little chance of being tall)
Weight: 25.5 pounds, which is in the 30th percentile

She had to get one last shot, but was so excited to get a sticker AND a new book!! A book makes everything better. :)

10 Things I Love...

1. Hugs from Payton and Elyse...just want to squeeze them forever :)
2. Cuddling with Ryan before falling asleep
3. Laughing with my friends
4. Seeing the smiling faces of my kids everyday at school
5. Dr. Pepper....Mmmmmm
6. A nice long run in the summertime
7. Curling up with a good book on a rainy day
8. An evening alone with my husband (doesn't happen very often these days)
9. Watching reality tv...Bachelor/ette, Survivor, Amazing Race...
10. A BIG bag of Skittles

Aaaahhhhh, life sure is good! :)

Back to School...

Today was my first day to go back to work since my surgery. 7 1/2 weeks away is a long time...but as soon as I stepped into my classroom everything just felt so right. I loved seeing the kids smiling faces as they ran up to give me hugs. Hearing their sweet words about how much they missed me, listening to them read, watching them play at recess.... They even gave me a really sweet gift - a tote bag with a class picture and all their signatures on it. I've missed these kiddos SO much!!!

I'm glad to be back!!

Good Friends and Margaritas...

This weekend I had a great time hanging out with some of my very best friends. First, on Friday I went out to eat with Ashley and Jennifer...my girls from work. We sat for hours just talking and catching up on things. I laughed so hard that night! I am so lucky to work with such an awesome team. They make me look forward to going to work everyday! Then yesterday I went out with Sara, Tamara, Becky, Jennie, and Mallory...my girls from school. We had a blast eating and drinking at Jose's. It's hard to get us all together at the same time so it was great to have the whole gang together (except Roxana...we love you and will see you soon!)...


Sara, Becky and Christy at Lit

They sang Happy Birthday to me and Tamara at Jose's.

The whole group: Jennie, Tamara, Christy, Mallory, Sara, Becky.

Jennie, Tamara, and me

Mallory, Sara, and Becky

I really do LOVE my friends!!

Run Payton Run!

Today Payton had his first AAU track meet of the season. The weather was beautiful and it couldn't have been a better day to be outside. Unfortunately, Elyse was not feeling well so she stayed home with Ryan. She would have loved to cheer him on..."Faster PP!" For this meet he decided to do 3 running events: 100m, 200m, and 400m...ugh, makes me tired just thinking about it! Of course, he did great and had a blast!

Here are his times:
1st place 100m 13.37 sec.
1st place 200m 28.6 sec.
2nd place 400m 1.19 sec.

Here's a video of him running the 100m. (Please excuse the poor camera work...it's hard to shoot a video, watch the race, and cheer all at the same time!) He's in the lane closest to me...in the white shirt and black shorts.

Here's Payton running the 200m...

Next weekend we're off to Little Rock for another meet. This time he plans to try the high jump for the first time. Go Payton Go!

Idol Frenzy...

I can not even begin to say how EXCITED I am that Kris Allen pulled off a shocking ending and won American Idol!! Not only is he a great representative of Arkansas....he is too cute...and did I mention he can sing?

Go Kris!! Plus, isn't his wife just the cutest little thing?

Aloha, Part 1...

We've got so many pictures of our trip so far. Here are just a few...

Elyse relaxing on the hammock. All this playing is hard work! (not to mention the time change)

Watching the dolphins. (Elyse is saying, "Where'd it go?")

Eating at the Kona Brewery.

Head first down the water slide.

He's too cool! We had lots of fun using our new underwater camera.

See how much fun Elly was having going down the slides. Ha!

Going down backwards. Now Payton really did have fun on the slides!

Elyse and Mommy enjoying the water.

WEEEEEE!

Me and my sweet babies.

How long can he hold his breath?

Me and my Lysie Lou.

Ryan and Christy

Payton and Elyse...my loves.

Aloha! (Elyse loved the waterfall in the background...she was much more interested in that than the camera.)

They're just too cute for words!

Elyse and Ryan at Uncle John's wedding.

Christy and Elyse at the wedding. (Payton was trying to avoid the camera because he'd had enough pictures!!)

Elyse and Cousin Katie at the Ladie's Luncheon. Aren't they cute?

Nanna and Nonnie at the Ladie's Luncheon. We love you guys!
Elyse and Aunt Liz

Here's the aloha bear that Elyse "made."

Looks like she was just observing as others made her bear for her. What a princess! Ha!

Elyse and Ana (we named the bear after the beach where we got married). :)

More pics to come later! Aloha!

John and Beth's Wedding...

Yesterday was John and Beth's wedding and the ceremony was so BEAUTIFUL. Earlier in the day a tiger shark had been spotted in the water, so they closed the beach and we had it all to ourselves. The view was amazing and the weather was perfect. Here are just a few of the pictures I got...

Beth and John saying their vows.

The groomsmen.

Elyse, me and Payton at the Luau after the wedding.

Nonnie enjoying the luau.

Elyse, me, Ryan and Payton. What a cute family! :)

CONGRATULATIONS JOHN AND BETH! WE LOVE YOU!