Tonsil Free

Last Thursday we had to take Kate in for her very first surgery.  She had her tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears.  We are now on day 10 of the recovery and she seems to be getting back to her old self.   I am happy to be through this as it has been a stressful mommy experience to say the least!


She got to bring home Travel Bear from her school.  We took pictures of her with Travel Bear and then we get to put them in his special notebook with notes about the experience so she can share them with her friends when she returns to school next week.  

Here is Kate and Travel Bear before the surgery:

With her nurse getting ready to go back in the operating room. 

 At home resting on the couch on the first day

Her little boyfriend Cameron stopped by to deliver flowers, a card and a stuffed monkey!  She was so excited!  And yes, she is only 5.  I'm not sure how old I was when I received flowers from a boy.  I'm pretty sure I was at least in high school though.

 Day 2 playing with the new lego set we bought her

 More flowers!  These were sent by REI.  I work for a great company!

Crashed out on day 2. 

Jack's class made her a get well poster with all of their handprints on it.  So sweet!

These pictures of course only show the happy moments.  There were definitely some rough patches especially in the first couple of days when she was getting sick to her stomach.  But for the most part, it wasn't too bad.  She was a real trooper!  We are hoping all of this truly pays off in the long run!  Way to go Kate!

Happy St. Pat's!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.  Here are a few pics of the kids showing their Irish spirit:

We celebrated by making our first attempt at cake pops.  Here is Kate hard at work:

And with our finished product.  Not bad for our first time!

 Very festive!

 Jack approves!

Aloha!

Last week Dave and I took our very first trip to Hawaii.  We felt like the only remaining residents on the west coast that hadn't experienced the islands first-hand.  So to celebrate our 9th anniversary, we headed to Maui for a short getaway.  My parents flew out from Colorado to stay with the kids while we were gone.  Thanks Mom & Dad!!


We flew in on Thursday evening and didn't arrive until after 9:00 so it was dark out.  But we arrived at our resort - the Honua Kai in Kaanapali, to a beautiful room with a gift of chocolates, a picture frame and a card for our anniversary.  We woke up on Friday morning to sunshine and a beautiful day.  We had breakfast before exploring the resort's pools and then the Kaanapali beach.

That's my handsome husband

 And the two of us on the beach

It was whale season while we were there and we saw lots of whales while just looking out from the beach.  They aren't easy to capture on film from far away, but I did get some proof!

  
We drove up and checked out Kapalua and the northern part of the island which included the Plantation golf course and the blowhole.

The Plantation course

 The blowhole

Dave making me nervous on the edge of the cliff

It was a little windy

That night we went to a luau at the Hyatt.  It was a great show and the food was pretty good too!  

The next day we drove down to the southern part of the island and checked out Kihei, Wailea and Makena.

Views of Oneloa Beach (Big Beach) and a nice big black storm cloud

Enjoying lunch in Wailea

On a whim, we decided to drive to the top of the Haleakala volcano.  It was a long and windy drive all the way up past 10,000 feet elevation.  And the 40 degree temps were a bit chilly in shorts and flip flops!  Despite the clouds, the views were amazing!

The next day day went back down to Wailea to play the Wailea Resort Gold Course.  I kept busy hanging out by the pool and busing in to Lahaina for some shopping!

We met back up for dinner at the Hard Rock cafe that evening.

Our last day in Maui we woke up to pouring rains which foiled our plans to go on a whale watching boat tour.  So instead we hopped in the car and went to check out some of the road to Hana.  Another windy drive with pretty views.  We made it to the halfway point before calling it a day and heading back to Wailea for some food.

After a long day of exploring, we headed to the airport and hopped on a red eye back home.  We were greeted by snow in Seattle!  When we got to the house, the kids were just getting up.  We were so happy to see them!

We had a fabulous trip and the kids had a great time with Grandma & Poppa Graham.  It has been a wonderful 9 years.  I can't wait to celebrate #10!