Tanner

Yesterday was Tanner Mckay Smith's birthday. Chris says he would have been 34 or 35 this year. Tanner is Chris' brother. I never had the opportunity to meet him. He died when Chris was about 16. Last night we took out his picture and Chris told us a little bit about his brother. Tate and Tanner were so sweet. They both just stared at the picture and were really pretty quiet while Chris told them about their uncle. He told of how Tanner was a cowboy. He told of how funny Tanner was, and how he always made people laugh. Even today when Tate saw his picture he said, "he's a good cowboy." Chris never really talks about his brother. Basically all I know about him I told you in those two sentences. I wish I knew more about him. I am excited to one day meet him.

Ethan's Run

I ran a 1ok at the end of Feb. My first! The run was called Ethan's run, and it benefitted the congenital heart unit at St. Joes. I don't really know the details of Ethan's condition, but he had a congenital heart condition, and he died last summer at 6 mos of age. His mom organized the run. A bunch of ladies from my ward trained and ran it together. Liz, in the middle, had a baby, Jake that was born 4 days before my Tanner last year. He was born with a heart condition, and he lived 3 weeks. He was also treated in that unit at St. Joes. We all wore pictures of little Jakey on the back of our shirts. It was a really neat experience, and I am so glad that I did it! For some reason I am so sensitive about little Jake. I think it is because he and Tanner are only 4 days apart.

Chris was out of town, so I enlisted my sister, Ami to come and watch the boys while I ran. Thank You!

The run was held in Las Sendas, which made the course a bit more challenging. There are some decent sized hills. It was so nice to run down them, not as nice going back up! I wanted to finish in under and hour and I did! (Barely!) So I am not setting any speed records, but I am happy with how it turned out!

SNOW

We went to Pima the weekend of Valentine's Day, and on Sunday we took a drive to Mt. Graham. There was tons of snow. Tate really liked it, surprisingly. We thought he would think it was too cold. He loved building snow towers and then knocking them down. He was actually just talking about the snow again tonight. I think it is so funny that he is starting to talk about memories. I think it is so crazy how they remember such details at such a young age. Tanner on the other hand was a grump. (See L lower pic) He just wanted to snuggle the whole time. We even saw wild turkeys. Chris' niece, Justice, is in the Middle L picture with her snowman. I guess she had been waiting all season to go to the mountain, so I am glad that we went!

ThE ZoO

Tate and Tanner's first zoo trip. My friend Heather invited us to go with them since they have a zoo pass that was expiring soon, and they were trying to get a few more trips out of it. Thank You! We both have two boys pretty close in age, so it makes for a fun time. I hadn't been to the zoo since we had morp there my junior year. If I were feeling more ambitious I would dig that morp picture out and scan it in. Too bad I am not feeling very ambitious.

Clockwise from top Left: The ever popular petting zoo, I love this giraffe picture. Tate has these huge giraffes behind him and he appears to be totally into the map of the zoo. Trey and Tate, Tanner and the tractor, Tate, Trey and Connor.

From top L: Us and the Komodo dragon, Heather and I and the kiddies. ( I think Tate thought he was hugging my leg. ) Tate cracking up about the monkey, The 3 boys staring at the monkey, Tate and Trey. I like these collage things.

Hawaii-the 2nd.

Just a few random shots to sum up the trip. I can't remember what all I said in my last post, so some of this could be a recap.

Can't remember what beach this is. Right outside of Haleiwa. The night we left. BEAUTIFUL.

This is the town where we actually stayed. Waialua. Home of the last remaining sugar mill on the island. I think the sugar mill closed in the late 1990s.

Ever had this soda before? We discovered it a few months back. On our way to our house we actually saw their bottling plant off the side of the road and really close to our house. Kind of random.

We stayed in this little studio behind a house. It was perfect for us, and really affordable.

Chris surfing

While Chris surfed the first day I just hung out on the beach and i kept seeing these fins coming up out of the water. At first I thought they were seals. (Do seals even visit Hawaii??) But then I realized they were turtles. There were 5 or 6 of them together, all really near the shore. They were all swimming around me, and I felt really cool.

I showed a couple of pictures of our Stand up paddle surfing lessons in the last post. This is their van. We actually met the couple that owns the business when we were at church and we went to their house afterward for Sunday dinner. They were so nice. Their 3 little girls were so cute, too. Don't you love this van?
We went on a small hike to Kaena point, which is on the far NW side of the island. We had a wiener roast on the beach. Quite enjoyable.
This is the best picture I could get of both of us. My camera was precariously perched on a rock and it was so windy I was thinking it was going to blow off.


Later in the week we took some surf lessons. The instructor was another lady from church, although we didn't meet her there. The other couple that did the stand up paddle surfing lessons referred her to us. Before we went I was thinking, "do you really need someone to show you?" BUT- I am glad that we used her. I would totally recommend getting some basic pointers from someone who knows if you have never been surfing before. Even just basics like how currents work and where you should exit and enter the water, and basic surfing "rules" for catching waves when there are a lot of people was totally helpful, and made me realize I was (and still am) clueless. I was a little freaked out to go surfing, I'll be honest. But I am so glad that I did. I got up several times, (ok, she helped a lot) and definitely would go again.
Our dream home. O LOVE THIS HOUSE. This is my favorite look, ever. I love houses with huge porches, with steps up to the house. Something out of the 50s, maybe? If we ever build a home it will be something like this. I always wonder why there are not more homes like this in AZ?

We went on a hike to Makapu'u point as well. It is the eastern most point on the island.

Here is Chris playing the Clariflute. (I am pretty sure he made that up.)
The hike was so cool. There were tons of ruins that had dates from the 1930s and 1940s that were written in the cement. I want to do some research to see what the area was used for. While I was in Hawaii i read a first hand account from a woman that was on the island on Dec. 7th, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. I had never read an account like that, written in the first person from a civilian. It was so interesting. I don't know why, but Hawaii in the first half of the 20th century is so fascinating to me. I think that is why Chris and I both love the north shore. It seems to have retained some of the original splendor, without becoming too commercialized. I am such a tourist. But I wish I wasn't. It may sound weird, but part of me feels totally at home there. Like maybe part of me belongs there??? Is this post getting a little freaky yet?

Light house on Makapu'u hike.

View from the top. We could see two other islands from the top. Maybe Molokai and Maui?

Remember the shaved ice I told you about? This is it.

I think this church was awesome. I don't think it is really that old, but I love it because it looks like it could be.

Just behind our house we went for a walk and found this. I still am unsure of what or who it is, and I hope that I did not desecrate something in the process of walking up next to it. Isn't it cool, though? Just in case it is something sacred to someone, I am not going to post the picture of me kissing it :) Besides, Chris was a little jealous. jk.

Our next Hawaii trip is not anytime any the near future. Or the far future for that matter. But I wish it was. After this post I want to go back! I am so grateful that I could go, though. Vacations are not overrated.