February Break in Las Vegas, St. George and Zion

After stopping in Vegas for a day or two, we went to visit Matt's grandparents, Ray and Ann, in St. George and used their house as a home base to visit Zion National Park as well! We played lots of cards, used their spiffy new card shuffler, had long talks, and just enjoyed their company. We consider them some of our best friends:)

Yes, I slipped just as Matt was snapping this picture. And yes, it was a steep drop off and yes, I was holding on to that chain for dear life:)

Christmas in San Francisco

A yearly tradition that Matt and I have is to visit SF for a night, eat yummy food, shop at Union Square, ride the cable cars to Ghiradelli Square, and do lots of people watching! We hope we can keep doing it year after year!

Christmas 2013

Still catching up...

We got to enjoying having all of our family here (at some point) to celebrate the Christmas Season. 

Monterey with the Karrens:

Touring the Giant's Ballpark with the Walton crew:

Then Chirstmas Dinner shinanigans with Curt, Michelle, Jessica and Eric Walton too!

And what is Chirstmas without a visit from Santa?

New Years was just as entertaining as always...

Thanksgiving in Chicago

Catching up! We visited Jon and Laurie in Chicago for Thanksgiving in 2013. We loved spending time with them in their new city, making a full gourmet Thanksgiving feast for the 4 of us and sucking it up to walk around the cold cold city:)

Karrens in Kauai

Shortly after arriving home from Tahoe, we packed our bags again and headed for a slightly warmer (albeit wetter) destination. With one family vacation down, we had one more still to go with the Karrens. 

My mom rented a house on Hanalei Bay on the beautiful northern shore of Kauai. It could not have been a better location or a nicer one! The house fit all 9 of us perfectly and there are some beautiful views from the dinning room of the mountains. 

Shortly after arriving in Kauai, Kyle posed for a picture. He was really feeling the island spirit!

We enjoyed Tunnels Beach where two reefs leave plenty of space to snorkel. Not to mention the great view!

Peter and Kyle enjoying the view... Well, in reality, we all were taking couple pictures and they felt a little left out;)

Then we stopped at Wishing Well shave ice for some yummy Hawaiian shave ice:)

We stayed in a beautiful place!

The next day we hiked to Hanakapi'i Beach along the Napali Coast and then inland to the falls. We all agreed that it was well worth it, but the 8 mile hike on Hawaiian trails is much more difficult than 8 miles on the mainland. 

Proof we were there!

Half way!

We made it to the waterfall! And even though it was (super) cold, we swam in the pool beneath it.

Next, we enjoyed Ke'e Beach and more snorkeling! Ke'e is at the very end of the road on the north shore of Kauai, mile 10 out of the little town of Hanalei and also the start of the Napali Coast. Kyle and I went walking just a ways to get this great view of the coastline we had hiked the day before.

The Hawaiian Sandcastle Competition was on the beach in Hanalei on Saturday. Amateur locals and tourists alike competed in one of four groups. My friend Elizabeth and her husband, Dave, competed at the group level last year and this year, Dave took on the individual level. He completed third in that division! 

Sunday we went to church at the Hanalei Branch and then drove to Elizabeth's house for lunch. They live in a cute historical home with great character. We will have to go back next year to see their new home after they move in!

Then to Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific! (Aren't we just a great looking family?)

That is better:)

Isn't he cute? 

We love that red dirt!

This is a close up of the sand at our favorite beach, Hideaways. It is super course and if you look closely enough, you can see little shells and coral bits.

The boys digging on Hideaways Beach. This was after they were playing "beached whale" in the surf and before burying Kyle and doing flips into the waves. 

So relaxing!

Our last night we spent on Hanalei Bay watching the sunset and walking the beach.

This was where we called home for the week. Surrounded by banana trees, orchids, and a beautiful mountain view out the back, this was a perfect vacation rental!