Is that a Big Mac you want?

Hey, look who has a job. Is that with our with out cheese!!

Aloha, welcome to our Hawaiian Vacation

Oahu Beaches

Oahu has more than 130 beaches of every conceivable kind -- from legendary white-sand stretches to secluded rocky bays. Waikiki, of course, is the best known, but there are many others. We spent 2 days "beach hopping" We snorkeled with schools of fish, giant sea turtles, barracudas, and saw many underwater volcano formations. We even saw the beach were they are filming the T.V. show "lost." We also found it important to heed the warning: Wherever you are on Oahu, remember that you're in an urban area. Never leave valuables in your car. Thefts do occur at Oahu's beaches, and locked cars are not a deterrent. We were robed on our last night at Sharks Cove.

Polynesian Cultural Center

A real Hawaiian Lulu. We had a wonderful night eating as much as we could and watching the spectacular show at night. (p.s. it was Mark's and Wendy's 22nd wedding anniversary!!)

Manoa Falls

We spent the afternoon in what felt like a fantasy World as we hiked to Manoa Falls. Our adventure of hiking took us through the lush rainforest of Hawaii, filled with giant ferns, cascading tropical waterfalls, picturesque streams, bamboo forest, and unique species that can be found nowhere else on Earth. The rainforest is so unique that it was even a setting for Spielberg's film "Lost World" because the vegetation has a prehistoric look. Manoa Falls is a spectacular site as it tumbles down a near vertical cliff for approximately 150-feet into a small pool. It was the most unique place we have ever been.

Buddhist Temple

This beautiful Buddhist temple is a replica of the 900-year- old Byodo-In located in Uji, Japan. It is located in one of the most peaceful location in O'ahu - the Valley of the Temple. The valley is situated against a black-drop of tall cliffs and is landscaped with traditional lush Japanese gardens and koi ponds. Inside the Byodo-In Temple is a nine-foot Loutus Buddha. Outside a three-ton, brass Peace Bell. Upon entering we were asked to take off our shoes because they consider it holy ground. It was very peaceful there.

The Boys favorite day "Pearl Harbor"

Ryan and Mark looked forward all week to seeing Pearl Harbor. We took the tour out to the "Arizona," we were asked to only speak in a whisper because we were on special ground. It was humbling to see the ship under the water knowing that the men were entombed inside and try to imagine what that day must have been like. The ship still leaks drops of oil "black tears" every few seconds.

We got Puppies!!

I will half to say these puppies are quite unique, and yes there are 4 of them. We will have them until Thursday of next week. We would normally keep them longer but we will be leaving out of town so that is all the longer I could keep them. We love puppies

4 PUPPIES

Almost Heaven

Everybody who's lived in or visited Ft. Collins has seen Horsetooth Rock. It is a very prominent landmark visible from anywhere in the Ft. Collins area. Horsetooth Mountain, towers 7,300 ft. Its rocky, rugged slopes provide a nursery for cactus, rabbitbrush and shortgrass, with stands of Ponderosa pines on the northern slopes. The trail head is only 15 minutes from our house. It was a beautiful morning so we strapped on our boots and hedded for the Mountain. It was beautiful to see the sun rising over us as we hiked. When we got to the top we looked West and could see the whole front range mountains. If we looked East we could see all the city's that covered the nearby areas.

Tornados Hit Colorado

As you may of heard our City was hit by Tornadoes. Each one of us was within at least 4 miles of being hit. Mark was on a team building activity in the Pouder Canyon river rafting. As the storm hit his raft was hit with server cold winds and hail. He thought it was a horrible storm but in fact is was a tornado passing over the Canyon. They got off the river and found saftey in a "Bikers Bar". Tiffany was at work huddked in the lunch room as they listened to the tornado pass with in by. She works very close to the town of Windsor whre the largest of the tornados hit. Ryan and Alyssa were at their schools in lock down. Alyssa spent 3 hours in a dark band room with no lights. Many of the children were crying. I was at work try ing to call all of my family menbers to make sure they were safe. I also saw a tornado form over JC Penney but it did not touch down. I was so relived that night to have my family at home and safe.

Sunday our family went to the town of Windsor to help with the clean up. Over 300 homes were damaged.

Family Fun

Birthdays are always wonderful when we share them with family!!


Our puppies have been adopted: Charlie and Carlie 9 weeks.