January 2014: Hawaii

After a very crazy month of December Dave and I took advantage of some much needed alone time. Dave presented a poster on some of his research at a Cardiology Conference at the Marriott Resort in Waikoloa, Hawaii (just north of Kona on the big island), and I tagged along for the week. A big shout out to Grandma Beutler who came and watched the kids for us while we were gone - she is one tough lady to handle those two for a week by herself!

Snorkeling, boogie boarding, swimming, hiking, and hot tubing consumed most of our time, but by far the coolest thing we did all week was a night snorkel with the Manta Rays. The boat ride out alone was worth the cost. We saw a huge group of spinner dolphins and a bunch of whales on our way out to the cove. As far as the actual night snorkel goes, it was pretty awesome. When it got dark we went out to this cove where the Manta Rays generally come to eat, we got into the water and held onto this little raft with holes in the middle and big lights shinning down, and waited for the Manta Rays to come. There were also divers on the bottom of the cove with big flood lights and several other boats with snorkelers on rafts with lights as well, so it basically looked like a big lit swimming pool. The light attracted photo-plankton, which looked like a whole bunch of snow in the water (if the pictures look fuzzy it's because of the photo-plankton, not the camera), and then the Manta Rays came to eat the plankton. They are basically great big huge rubbery butterflies in the water. The largest one off the coast of Kona has a 16 foot wing span, if that gives you a good idea of their size. They don't have teeth or stingers or anything though, so they can't hurt you. When they would come to eat the plankton they would get super close to us (literally inches away from our stomachs) and do big belly rolls over and over again. It was like watching a dance up close and personal. One of the coolest experiences ever!

Birthdays All Around

While we were visiting Blackers we had birthday parties for both Lexi and Cole - one of the perks of Christmas birthdays is that everyone is already together to celebrate. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!

Happy 3rd Birthday Big Boy!

December 2013: Christmas

Our Christmas season started off with a visit to Santa. Lexi was not happy about a strange bearded man holding her, but Cole was sure doing his best to help Santa with her. Dave was looking for an excuse to sit on Santa's lap so it all worked out.

After Aubrey's choir concerts, Cole's preschool performance, and Russell's wedding we headed to Albuquerque for Christmas with the Blackers. The kids loved having cousins around to play with and always enjoy Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma Blacker asked Santa for a bouncy house and a ball pit for Christmas this year, and needless they were a big hit with the grandkids. Lots of reading, hiking, and eating also topped the list of favorites.