Is Life Really This Good?

So, we have now been in paradise for two weeks and I can truly say that I have several moments a day where I say to myself , "Is this for real?" I have never lived somewhere this wonderful before. I Love the people, the location, the ward, the school and the lifestyle. We have truly been blessed to have come to such a wonderful place. I feel so happy to know I am lucky enough to live in Laie, Hawaii and never want to have to leave. We hope you are all happy and healthy too!

Happy 28th Birthday Ryan!

We had a great party tonight with the Phungs, Lo and LeGrand.  They all came over for dinner and then we had  "Dream Cake" from Teds Bakery at Sunset Beach.  It was such a great night and Ryan even got his own homemade Lei's.  We got to meet our new ward today too and that was a blast!  I am glad that Ryan had a great day and so glad to have known him for almost seven years!  Love you Ry! By the way Chubbs aka Taft spilled Lasagna all over his shirt and turned it orange.  I am not sure I can get it out but it sure was funny to watch.

Lunch at School

So, last week I had the opportunity to go see what it was like to eat lunch in the cafeteria because Alissa was saying she was not getting enough time to eat.  I had the best time ever.  I sat at this end of the table and watched the class.  In Alissa's class there are about 16 kids and only five are girls.  I went thinking I would chat with Alissa most of the time but the sweet little girl on the end kept saying, "Auntie, Auntie I have a story to tell you Auntie."  It was so much fun to here all her exciting story, even the one about her mom getting in a fight with someone at the park.  It was hilarious.  I am so glad Alissa is making friends so easily and having fun at school.  Her grade doesn't even play at a playground for lunch, but they sure have fun with "the recess lady"  playing games of all sorts.  I am glad I got to go and see how much time Alissa really gets to eat and how much fun she has.

The Plane Ride

Well, it is time to write about the plane ride.  When we left California everything went great. My mom was able to get a special pass to help me get to the gate with the kids and it was really easy.  once at the gate everyone started getting a bit restless, so I was getting nervous.  At the gate I went to check and make sure our seats were all together and the flight attendant put an extra seat in the middle of us, so that we ended up with five seats!  This was great news! I figured due to lack of sleep that the kids would be exhausted and sleep the whole way, but after about 45 minutes I knew that was not going to happen and had tried every activity book my mom had packed for the kids.  Now they were fighting sleep and the poor stewardesses were trying to help but I caved and decided to rent the portable DVD players.  To my surprise they don't take cash so I have to ask a stranger if I pay them cash, if we can swipe his card to purchase the quieting devices for my children.  Finally, settled for a few minutes.  Next, comes dinner which to our surprise is pasta salad that none of my children will eat and there are no other options.  Oh, except the food I can buy but I am out of cash and have no cards because Ryan has them all in Hawaii.  So, we just deal with pretzels for dinner.  We actually make it through two movies okay and then Taft cries for about an hour and everyone crashes.  Well, I now take the great sigh of relief but only to hear the captain that we will be landing in about 40 minutes.  Everyone but Taft stayed asleep and once he woke up everyone was cracking up because he was talking really loud about animals and kids and just about everything random you can think of.  We finally landed and I was able to call Ryan and tell him about the gate pass, so he was at the gate waiting but could not come on the plane.  The flight attendants were nice enough to try and help figure out how to get two extremely passed out children off the plane while holding three huge carry ons and a baby.  So, I took Taft off first to Ryan and then came back for Alissa and the flight attendant had Kenzie in his arms and the other attendant had all of my bags.  We managed to get off just in time for them to clean them plane.  I was so relieved to be off of the plane and see Ryan there waiting for us!

Our First Beach Day

Were Here

BUSY AGAIN!

Well everyone,
It is official. Ryan leaves in about 3 hours and is finishing up packing as I type. We have had the most busy few days I think I can ever remember. We had a very fun weekend too! My second mom, Donna came into town this weekend on Friday to visit and it was so good to see her. My mom, Donna and I went to the temple and dinner just the three of us and it was wonderful. We also got to see Blake and his friends for awhile which was fun! Here are a few highlights of this week. We sold the tramp and the swing set in the same day. Also, on that day we had great friends come play and Ryans dad come and help redo the tile in our bathroom and save us a ton of money. We are so thankful for all of these blessings. Then we had a soccer game amidst selling all of our furniture and things except for about five pieces, three of which were my grandparents antiques. We had the piano movers too! In fact, so many things have happened I have already began to forget. The other fantastic news is that Ryan's sister Shayna had a sweet little bundle of joy named Trystan ,which I have not seen yet but can not wait to see when I am invited to see him. Ryan got to go see him today since he is leaving today and said he is precious. Yesterday we garage saled all day and made lots and lots of money which is great! The best part of the garage sale though was all the free stuff we got to give away and all the great deals we gave to people who were truly appreciative. It was such a wonderful feeling! Next, we anticipated the sale of our truck because we are obviously down to the very last minute and can I truly say miracles happen. We SOLD our truck and to some of the best people we could want to have it! So, today I am sitting here at my moms house because our house is pretty much empty (after just watching Donna and the boys drive off to Northern Utah with the truck and their car) and all I feel is extremely blessed to feel the love of the Lord pouring down on our little family. We have been blessed by so many amazing miracles and I am just in awe at all that has happened for us. I did not have the opportunity to watch General Conference this weekend and I can not wait to do so. But I have to say that my testimony has grown so much this past few months from all of the wonderful lessons the Lord has given us the opportunity to learn. Especially in the last few days. I will be without my computer for about two weeks while Ryan is in Hawaii with it but I will try to keep everyone updated on how things are going. Thanks for all the love and prayers!

Although I am missing about nine blogs from the past few weeks that I promise I will get up before we move, I have to post about our night last night.  We had the opportunity to go on a date with Ryan's parents.  We went out to the Mongolian Grill in town and I had a blast loaded a bowl higher than I had ever seen one.  It was exciting! After that we went to the St. George temple for the rest of the evening.  I have to tell you that I have never had such a truly learning experience.  Thanks to Ryan parents my knowledge of things unknown is so much clearer and I truly gained a better understanding.  I will always remember this day and be thankful to have married into such a wonderful family who knows so much about the Lord and his gospel.  How lucky I truly am! 

Tim and Sonia!

We had the most wonderful surprise on Friday March 20.  Ryan's brother Tim and his wife Sonia came to visit us before we leave for Hawaii.  They drove here all the way from Tempe, Arizona to come say good bye.  It was a very special weekend.  We spent all day Friday just spending time together playing games and talking.  It was the best.  That evening we went to say hi to Ryan's parents and then Ryan's sister Shayna and her husband Trevor met us at Pirate Island Pizza.  we stayed up late, but had a blast!

Sandhallow Reservior

I can not believe that after living here for over a year and a half we had never taken the opportunity to go to Sandhallow.  So, Wednesday March 18th we decided to go out to the lake for a few hours.  This lake is within about 5 miles from our house.  Aren't we lucky?  Everyone had a blast.  The sand was so incredibly fine and orange which was fun for a change.  There were so many bugs that Mema and I spent most of our time avoiding bugs in our mouths.  I am really glad we took the time to do this before we left and wish we would have gone more often.

Zion Hike

ON Tuesday March 17th we had the opportunity to go to Zion National Park with Ryan's parents.  We went on a fantastic hike!

This picture is of everyone playing hide n seek.

We tried to cross the river but it was too cold.

So pioneer like, this one. I love Grandma carrying Kenzie across the cold water.

Isn't Papa strong?

We had such a fun time thanks to such wonderful grandparents!

Way Behind

There is so much going on here and so little time.  Ryan leaves for Hawaii in about a week and so many fun things have been happening.  I promise I will post everything new by Sunday, so check back Sunday night! Hope everyone is good.  

Highlights:

Spring Break

Sandhallow

St. Patrick's Day Party

Jenna came to play

SURPRISE! Tim and Sonia came to see us

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Pirate Island Pizza

Mema's Birthday

Family Barbecue

Easter Egg Hunt

Packing and more Packing

Alissa's school presentation, Christopher Columbus

Ryan Adventure Runs

Zion National Park hike with grandparents

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa Garner

These are just a few of the fun things we have been up too! Details soon!

Real Cheese Anyone?

Okay, so I usually do not post about my pet peeves, but this one I wanted to post about.  Ryan and I went grocery shopping the other night at Walmart on our date night.  Yes, we have stooped to shopping at Walmart, but who cares when times are tough.  Anyways, we needed to buy cheese for a soup that I was making.  I wanted to buy the shredded kind to save some time and could not believe that it is even cheaper now than it used to be.  So, I picked up a bag of cheese and started reading the label.  Oh my gosh, they put fillers in our cheese now! I could not believe it.  Cheese is no longer real cheese, then I checked the "natural" kind, same thing.  Then, I decided to look at the blocks of cheese, only two kinds of block cheese were actually real cheese and of course they were expensive.  And people wonder why we all have so many health problems, seriously.  They are even corrupting our cheese.  So, moral of this story, please read what it is your food and actually educate yourself on what the strange ingredients are.  Thanks for listening!

Pirate Island Pizza

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to a new hot spot here in St. George called Pirate Island Pizza.  It is kind of like a Chuckie Cheese, but has a full menu and geared toward a little bit older crowd in someways.  There are no rides but the food was good and really reasonably priced.  So, if you live in Southern Utah check it out, if not they are opening one in Orem and Salt Lake soon!

This picture is of the Toddler Play area, which was lots of fun and even has a bridge to go across.

Ryan loved the shooting range!

Nineteen month old Taft!

This picture is actually a full size height boat, it is hard to see sorry.

The kids loved the real waterfall!

The skeleton talks to a parrot.  This is the entrance.

Rock In Roll Band

Alissa making her "shy" face as she calls it.

The Kindergarten teachers.  Miss Kayla(on the right) is Alissa's teacher.

Here is a side video(because I do not know how to flip it around) of Alissa dancing with Miss Jana.  Alissa's class had the opportunity to make instruments out of boxes and containers and they put a concert on for us.  The actual concert video wouldn't post on here, so if you want to see it leave your emails address and I can send it to you.  Alissa was being so super cutie and shy the whole time.  Her best friend Jenna got her loosened up a bit. 

Hawaii Here We Come

As many of you know we were planning to move to Gilbert, Arizona this month.  We were planning on Ryan attending ASU with his hopes in that getting him a job at BYU Hawaii eventually and moving our family to Hawaii.  I guess I kind of thought once we got to Arizona and got settled we would stay and hopefully be able to travel to Hawaii in the summers.  After awhile though, I have realized that this would not be enough for Ryan and that he was truly drawn to Hawaii.  While on our trip there in September we both felt very strongly that we would live there someday and Ryan even went as far to say that we would be there within a year.  Well, after many months of prayer and continuously relying upon the Lord, our plans have changed once again.  We are moving to Laie, Hawaii in about a month from now.  We currently do not have a job set up yet completely but have been networking and have lots of promises.  Now some would say we are totally crazy for this, but only we know in our hearts all that has happened and all that has led us to this point.  For this I am grateful.  I am especially thankful to have married a man who truly gives his life to the Lord and is dedicated to do what he wants for us to do, regardless of what it takes.  We are at such a good place right now as a family, and although we will be leaving most of our worldly possessions behind we are learning great lessons from this.  We do not know far enough in the future to plan farther than what we have right now but I feel that Ryan will work very hard to keep us in Laie permanently.  This truly will be an adventure and I am excited for what is to come.  We are very blessed to have Ryan's sister Aubrey, two sets of cousins and good friends locally there.  As for "Mema"(because most people ask) she will be moving there too eventually, not right away.  We are so thankful to get to have her as part of our family and extremely excited that she will come join us on our adventure.  We wish the best for all of you and hope to see you in Hawaii if you ever visit!

Healthy Mamas

This is from Amy who is a part of fun weight loss group I have been in.  I got second this last time.  I have lost 28 pounds since January 2.  If anyone is interested email Amy and sign up!

WE ARE DOING A SUMMER-READY WEIGHT LOSS COMPETITION. IT IS GOING OFF OF BODY PERCENTAGE, NOT POUNDS LOST. LARGER GIRLS WILL HAVE MORE TO LOSE, SMALLER GIRLS WILL HAVE A LITTLE LESS, AND SO WE TAKE HOW MUCH YOU'VE LOST COMPARED TO WHERE YOU STARTED OUT AT, AND THEN WE KNOW WHAT PERCENT OF WEIGHT YOU HAVE LOST. YOU WILL WEIGH IN EVERY FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE NOON. THE COMPETITION LAST FOR 12 WEEKS....SO THE LAST DAY WILL BE MAY 29 WHICH ALLOWS US TO LOOK HOT RIGHT BEFORE BATHING SUIT SEASON. IN THE PAST WE HAVE SPLIT UP THE POT OF MONEY BETWEEN 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD, BUT THIS TIME THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL. SO NOT ONLY BEING MOTIVATED TO LOOK HOT, YOU WILL BE MOTIVATED TO WIN THE WHOLE POT OF MONEY TO PAMPER YOURSELF AFTER ALL YOUR HARD WORK. IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF IT, JUST E-MAIL ME AT amylavonallred@yahoo.com AND WE WILL MAKE IT OFFICIAL. .....LET YOUR FRIENDS KNOW AND HAVE FUN COMPETING TOGETHER

Priceless Garage Sale

Well, today we had the first of hopefully only two garage sales we will be having.  We are really trying to eliminate most of our belongings and keep only the things we really truly need.  Through all of this I am actually learning more than any money we have earned could be worth.  I have to admit selling our things and lots of our furniture has been very hard (especially because we are selling it below what it is worth)  I even had a few moments of emotional crisis where I couldn't help but feel sad and some tears, but as I watched the people getting our things I couldn't help but imagine how the buyers would use them, or how we were helping them by giving them such a deal in such a hard time. I realized as I got in house and sat down to no desk how thankful I was that I was still sitting in a room listening to my children's voices and watching my husband smile with his positive attitude.  It was then that I realized that this garage sale was more for me for than all of those people.  That part was just to help me get through the sale.  It was teach me about the realistic unimportance of material things.  I feel so blessed to have the gospel of Jesus Christ to help remind me what is truly important in my life.  Also the blessings of the temple to help me get through times like this.  I have to say that I am also thankful for such a loving and supportive mother to help with support and be such a great example.  Ryan and I are truly starting a new family adventure here soon and I am so lucky to get to go on adventures with such a wonderful husband and children.  I hope to always remember the wonderful lessons of this Priceless Garage Sale.

Is Alissa There?

Well, today I had a totally new experience.  The phone rings and I pick it up to hear......"Is Alissa there?"  I have to admit I was totally thrown off, I tried asking who it was but she was being shy so I just handed it over. After a few minutes we learned that it was Molly from school.  They talked for awhile and then said good byes.  Within the next several hours we got four more calls from Molly.  I was so excited for Alissa because she was excited but at the same time I felt like our family time was being invaded on.  She is so little and I only get about four hours a day with her and Molly was using it.  I know sounds crazy but I wanted to share this for Alissa later on.  I can not believe how fast my "Baby Girl" is growing up!

The Perfect Date

Ryan and I had the most wonderful date last week.  It felt a lot like old times.  I think part of it was because all of children are all old enough now to go to their Mema's for the night and I do not feel like I have to worry.  On Saturday morning we woke up and went on a hike directly behind our house, no driving involved.  It was so fun and the bottom picture is our house from where we were standing.  Gotta love date nights!