Kauai (Hawaii Part 2)

For the 2nd half of the week we island hopped to Kauai to visit my brother-in-law Shawn and his family. I liked this 1/2 of the trip much more than the 1st part.

Apparently roosters roam wild here. We saw them all over the place.

At Poipu Beach to snorkel and sit in the sun.

Hanging with my girls...my favorite part of the trip!



Getting ice cream!

On Saturday we all drove up to the north shore. There were a few of these one-way bridges where you just take turns driving across. You let four or five cars go and then it's your turn. Only in Hawaii could this happen. No one honks at each other. I'm not sure I ever observed any road rage. Fascinating.

Of course, if there is a bug nearby, the girls would find it and pick it up.
Shawn attempting to teach the "rookie" how to surf at Hanalei Bay.

I'm somewhere under the water....

Will I get all the way up?????

Yes. I will!

This is the best shot Clint got of me standing but I got up twice. The 2nd time I got up I rode the wave all the way to the shore. It was cool!

Fearless Heidi. She will do anything!

Clint and Shawn boogie boarding!

The sun decided to peek out at us as we were leaving Hanalei Bay.

On Sunday Clint and I went to Kapa'a and rented some bikes and rode along the shore. Best $10 we spent!

It was pretty windy as you can see from the palm trees in the background. But still fun.

There spots on the bike trail that went right alongside the cliffs of the shore.

Clint being....Clint.

After our bike ride we got some shave ice from a local shop. I have to admit, it didn't sound all that wonderful but it was so good that I didn't even think to get a picture of it until we had eaten almost the whole thing!

On our final day in Kauai, we went on a whale watching trip. These were the pictures taken by the photographer on the boat:

First whale spotted about 10 minutes into the 5 hour ride.

Spinner Dolphins

We actually saw them jump in the air and spin before going back in the water.

We went all the way up the Napali coast. The cliffs and mountains are unlike anything we had ever seen!

More whales!

I was pretty ready for this trip to be over after 5 hours...can you tell by the look on my face?

We went to Brenneke's beach that night and made fajitas and had a picnic dinner before Shawn took us to the airport. He forgot tongs for the wok so he used a stick...ha ha!

Beautiful Sunset.

A perfect way to end our trip.

From our back door...

...we see some pretty cool things!

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple is just up a small hill from our house. We have a beautiful view from our kitchen and living room. I love to sit in the dark and just look out the window at such a pretty sight! Granted, we have an open field behind us where houses will probably go up in the next few years. So we might lose that view from the ground level. So I'll enjoy it while I can.

We also had these crazy little things in the field and in ourbackyard last week. We counted 14 deer in all. Just grazing and hanging out! Maybe they like the view of the temple too?

We Have Moved!

Last fall we decided to sell our house.

Once it sold we moved to an apartment in North Salt Lake until we could find a new place. Funny thing...the house we ended up buying was the 2nd house that our realtor showed us. We didn't really give the house a chance at first because we thought the backyard was too small. But a month later, after looking at several houses and not loving any of them, I thought back to the house on Coastal Dune and couldn't remember what I didn't like. So I went back to the house and as it turns out, they had had a ridge of dirt along the backyard that hid the true depth of the lot. The backyard isn't huge but it is much bigger than our old house so we decided to write an offer. We negotiated quite a bit and fought over a few modifications on the house but in the end, we are really happy with how things turned out.

Pictures are below:

This is the front of the house

Front Entry

Front Room. There used to be an open window box here but I hated it and asked them to fill the wall in.


This is what it looked like after I attempted to decorate. I hate how this room looks though.
So I will be redoing it sometime soon.

Kitchen.

No, the fridge isn't blue. That's just the protective covering. However, it was a workout to get that protective crap off!

My favorite part of the kitchen...the walk-in pantry that is bigger than my old bedroom closet!

Here is a picture of the kitchen after I decorated. I still don't know what to do with the area above the cupboards. I hate what I have up there right now.

The dining area. These french doors used to be really tall sliding glass doors and I just didn't want them in this house. It was a fight but I got what I wanted!

The new kitchen table...I love it.

The living room...BEFORE

AFTER

The master bedroom. There are four bedrooms upstairs but it's not really easy to take a picture of the rooms. All you really see is a bed and a door. So these pictures aren't wonderful but our bedroom is great!

The master bathroom. This is the first time we have had two sinks in our bathroom. We like having our own space.