New Zealand Adventure

We finally accumulated enough airline points to go somewhere special and were inspired by our friends' experience touring New Zealand's great outdoors from the comfort of a camper van.  This trip exceeded expectations and left us wanting to explore more of that beautiful country.  Here are some of our favorite memories.

 

Looking forward to 2015

I love starting a new year. Expectations are high that this year will be the best yet for our family. We will not be moving! We will not be packing or unpacking, starting new schools or jobs, or having a baby. With the absence of these major life events that have defined our family life for the last eight years, I see a glorious blank slate. No, not blank, because I'm hoping that routines (that have usually been disrupted) will provide a solid base for family happiness that we can build on, methodically, even. I'm hopeful the kids can learn to be more independent, that we can develop our interests as individuals and as a family.

I'm also hopeful we can find more meaningful ways to connect to you who are far away. Do any of these ideas appeal to you? Please let me know.

-more regular blog updates
-monthly email updates
-scheduled phone calls
-reading the same books and talking about them
-sending each other writing prompts to have different kinds of conversations
-planning a trip together or a visit (we'll be in Utah most of the summer and DC at the end)

How else can we connect?

The Beach

Hands-down favorite activity for J and the kids--the beach. Endless fun. Claire learned to snorkel this time and is a natural (so happy the pressure is off me to be J's snorkeling partner). We saw turtles almost every time we went, and for those willing to get their faces in the water, a lot of other sea life, as well. Hawaii is beautiful.

Christmas Morning

Santa found us in Hawaii and left lots of surprises!

Nativity Play

Christmas Eve included a classic nativity play directed by Sylvie. Bella quickly abdicated maternal responsibilities, but Paul took his seriously.

Polynesian Cultural Center

We all loved visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center. I tried to learn something unique about each of the cultures represented there. Let's see if I can remember:
Tonga: the oldest of the cultures--most of Polynesia trace their roots back to here--never was colonized
Samoa: the men do the cooking
Fiji: Melanesian in skin color, Polynesian in culture
Tahiti: former French colony
New Zealand: fiercer dancing and face tattoos
Hawaii: hula dancing that tells a story with the hands

The evening show was amazing, too. Jet lag wasn't a problem when watching fire dancing!

Together Forever

The highlight of our trip was being able to attend the sealing of Shawn and Lucki and their girls in the Laie Temple. What a precious family that can now be together forever.