Hawaii

John and my brother-in-law Mike waiting for the perfect wave

Having yummy sushi
John and Ella shopping on Front Street on Maui
John and I at the luau

Ella listening to some tunes

Ella and I relaxing

Whaler's village - Ella and John next to whale bones

The family at The Gazebo (a great restaurant)

Everyone who came to Hawaii - Matt's friend Jeff is taking the picture

Family picture on Maui

Ella loved the flowers

John, Ella and I made lei's

Playing in the sand

"Spouting Horn" on Kauai

Waterfall on Kauai

Hanging out at our condo

Ella loves Hawaii

Ella, my dad, and John loving life

John and Ella playing on the beach

In front of our place on Kauai

The kids with Grandpa and Grandma Briggs

Dean and Elysee's first plane ride

After we got to Hawaii (3 flights and 3 tired kids later)

Sunrise on Kauai

"The Lighthouse" on Kauai

We're back from Hawaii. We spent about a week in Kauai and another week in Maui. It was Ella's first time seeing the ocean and she loved it! Some of the highlights of the trip were staying at our timeshare on Kauai and having an ocean front condo, sight-seeing and exploring Kauai (it was our first time on that island), having chickens and roosters wake us up in the morning, seeing the sunrise every morning while on Kauai and seeing the sunset every evening while on Maui, having an ocean view at my parents timeshare on Maui, spending time with my family, yummy sushi, going to the Old Lahaina Luau, watching John and Ella play together in the water, and my #1 favorite thing was doing absolutely NOTHING! If we didn't feel like going out we just stayed at the condo.

Quick story - My parents didn't want any kids at the luau (just an adult evening) and John and I were stressing about trying to find a babysitter for the kids. I really didn't feel comfortable leaving the babies. The nanny service was going to be $26/hour! And we needed someone for 4 hours. At the ward on Maui we just happened to sit next to such a nice family and asked if they knew of any babysitters. They volunteered to watch the kids for us and I immediately felt comfortable with them. Anna is my age and has a little boy (Jay) Ella's age, her husband is deployed and she is staying with her parents until he gets home. So there were 3 adults to watch the kids. It was so nice to have a break from the kids and have some time with John. When we went to pick up the kids, you could tell they were happy to have us there. Anna and her parents said they didn't know how we handle that every day. When we tried to pay them, they said that they didn't want any money and just wanted to do it to give us a break!!! I just couldn't believe that this little family had so much love and compassion for us. I was honestly at a breaking point and ready to come home from the trip early, but this saved me. It's great to know that there are such sweet members who are willing to go above and beyond to help someone else.