Charity's Birthday

Charity turned 33 and we celebrated with dinner and cupcakes: her favorite. I made chocolate cream-filled and lemon cupcakes and Ashley made coconut. Then we spent the night eating cupcakes and being entertained by Weston and Paisley. Happy Birthday Charity!

Her cupcake 3's Blowing out her candles

Still blowing out her candles. I think it took her about eight tries. It was funny!
Weston and Paisley had fun playing under the tablecloth

4th of July!

We got back from Hawaii the morning of the 4th of July, so we picked up Weston and headed home to relax again before going over the J and Ashley's for a BBQ and some swimming. When it got dark we went to a parking lot and lit some fireworks that Jason had bought. It was a fun and relaxing day!

My All-American Dude smiling for the camera

Watching the fireworks. Weston would run away from them everytime they went off :)
Family picture in our Red, White and Blue

Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday, Casey took me to Oahu, Hi...without Weston. I know, I pretty much have the best husband ever :) We found a great deal and Jason and Ashley were nice enough/willing to watch Weston for 5 days while we soaked up the sun. We had such a fun trip and were able to do and see so many things that we couldn't have done with Weston there, but luckily he was doing just fine without us back home. I don't even think he missed us. I'm going to warn you that this is a REALLY LONG post of pictures, but it is per Casey's request. I like to fully document an event and this is how he thought I should do it. Enjoy!

Our first picture on the beach

After a few hours of snorkeling we took a break for lunch and had the famous Matsumoto's shaved ice. I had shaved ice another time we were there, but this was the best by a long shot. It was so smooth and just melted in your mouth. Yum!

Just in case you were wondering how a pineapple grows. This was at the Dole Plantation.

Waimea Beach Park. This was a great beach with this rock that everyone jumps off of, which we did.

Casey making the jump

Waikiki Beach

We would often go down to Waikiki beach to watch the locals boogie board. They were very entertaining since they didn't boogie board the typical way.

This is a plumeria tree. The flowers smelled so good and I would always pick one up on our walks on the beach.

Nu'u'anu Pali lookout. It was really windy up there.

A pagoda at the Valley of the Temples

Casey banging the gong. It is customary to do this before you enter.

A view at the Valley of the Temples. It was a huge graveyard that featured many different religions.

Some piled rocks we saw on the way to the Polynesian Cultural Center The Laie, HI temple For lunch we stopped by a shrimp truck (which are all over the island) that was right next to the fruit stand owned my Reno Mahe's dad (played for BYU and the Eagles). The owner lets everyone write on his truck.

The coconut shrimp Casey got at one of the shrimp trucks. It was so yummy!

At the Tongan village at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I got Casey to go up and play the drums. It was pretty funny and I wish I had gotten a video of it. Getting his special headdress at the end.

At the Samoa Village they have a tree climbing demonstration that is really cool. This was our favorite village. The guys were so funny.

One of the Samoans striking a pose on the tree

Getting my Lei right before the Luau.

Bringing our the roasted pig from the ground

Casey got me a pineapple smoothie and it was delicious!

We went on the Diamond Head Crater hike and you had to go up 100+ stairs.My Jellyfish sting. Both Casey and I got stung by a dead Bubble Jellyfish that had crazy long. tenticles. I got the worst of it as you can tell. It stung a lot at first, but dulled after 30 minutes or so. You could still see where the barbs went in my skin for a few days though

Pearl Harbor. We loved it here and it makes you even more appreciative for the men that serve our country and those that lost their lives so many years ago. I got a little teary-eyed in the video beforehand.

The memorial over the USS Arizona.

The ship still leaks oil after all these years

Some of the burnt steel

Tanner Family Reunion

At the beginning of June we had Casey's family reunion in Crescent City, CA. The redwoods were beautiful and Casey's mom found a really fun/nice house to rent that had a great view of the ocean, plus we had a great time as usual. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Weston and Charity the morning of our first outing

Posing with Paul Bunyan
We were driving along and Casey spotted some elk, so we stopped to check them out.

We took a hike down to the ocean and checked out the tide pools. Someone brought this starfish up and Weston was having a hard time deciding between his stick and the starfish.

He chose the stick :)

Nate found this little crab

I just loved Weston's wide-legged stance in this picture.

Photo-op in the forest, but Weston didn't want to touch the clover.

Weston and Casey playing in the reeds

The littlest cousins posing with a big redwood

Family Picture

Banana slug. I had remembered these from when my grandparents took us on a trip the redwoods when I was little. I remembered them being bigger though.

I just love this picture. Weston always wants to do what his dad is doing : )