HAWAII 2011

For Christmas, Mark's parents rented a house on O'ahu in Hawaii for the family. We were initially going to go over Christmas, but the flights were extremely expensive, so we decided on the kids Spring Break. I'm glad we waited, the weather was amazing! We had so much fun! I can't tell you how sad I was to come home. Mark and I tried thinking of ways we could make a living on the island...from selling coconuts on the beach, to making banana leaf art...to opening "another" shrimp truck! We came to the conclusion that it just wasn't going to work...so we're back home! But, in my head, I am planning my next Hawaiian vacation!!

Here's what we did:

-Ate at Ted's Bakery several times (North Shore), the best garlic shrimp ever!
-Tour of a Cocoa bean farm
-Went to the North Shore Soap Company
-Turtle Bay
-Ate at the Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, yummy!
-Sunset Beach
-Kua'aina burgers, best pineapple burger in Haliewa
-Haunama Bay snorkeling
-Blow Hole outside of Honolulu
-Valley of the temples, buddah temple & fed the gold fish
-Dinner @ Papa Ole's in Laie, yummy ribs, best peanut butter rolls you will ever have!!
-Pearl Harbor
-Dole Plantation
-Matsumoto's for Shaved Ice in Haliewa, yummo!
-Pipeline on the North Shore, super fun boogie boarding!
-Swap meet at the Aloha Stadium
-Lunch at Kahuku Grill on the North Shore, yummy coconut shrimp
-Swam at Kalukea Beach
-Waiepea Falls hike, swam under a waterfall
-Waiepea Beach, boogie boarding
-Shark's cove snorkeling, super fun
-Walk to the temple grounds, amazing and beautiful
-Whale watching out of the Haliewa boat docks, so fun! Saw spinner dolphins and several whales
-Rented paddle boards and paddled up a river in Haliewa, saw sea turtles that swam right up to our boards!!
-Lunch at Kono's, loved it!
-Punch bowl cemetary in Honolulu
-Ala Moana Mall, tons of shopping!
-Waikiki, super busy, but fun!
-Ate crepes on Waikiki beach

As you can see it was a super fun filled vacation, we loved it!! I would recommend Hawaii to anyone! My favorite trip!!

FLORIDA/BAHAMAS TRIP

Mark has been working in St. Petersburg, Florida for about a month and a half. I was lucky enough to be able to go see him over my birthday. I booked us a nice weekend cruise to Naussau, Bahamas and Coco Cay. We had so much fun!! The weather was wonderful. When we returned to Florida we caught the Yankees Spring Training and the Phillies Spring Training!! Loved it! It was really hard to come back from a vacation to real life!! I am getting super excited for the next vacation, Hawaii in April!!!

HE MISSES HIS DADDY

My sweet little Riley sings to his Dad everytime he calls home. The song usually goes something like this, "Daddy I miss you, when are you coming home, how long will you be gone, I miss you Daddy"...and then he says "Bye" and hands the phone to someone else. Honestly, he does this everytime he calls.

We do miss Mark...but when he's home...the kids can't get enough of him!

HALF WAY THERE

My parents have made it to the half-way point of their mission! 9 more months to go! What amazing parents I have, to sacrifice their time away from family and friends to serve the Lord. They are both true inspirations to me. I spoke with my dad a couple of days ago and he woke up to 21 below. They have had a couple of days where the snow has drifted over their front door and they had to call the elders to get them to shovel them out! I can only imagine the experiences they are having...they will never complain about another Utah winter again!!

LAST MINUTE ROAD TRIP

My parents are serving an LDS mission in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Apparently it is pheasant hunting heaven, according to my dad. So Mark had to see for himself!! We packed up the car at 10:00 p.m. Christmas night and left at 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We drove straight through, 14 hours!! We arrived in South Dakota at 8 p.m.!! My mom had made a turkey dinner for our arrival!! I missed her cooking, so I was so excited!! The kids were super excited to see their grandparents, they miss them so much!
Bright and early Monday morning the boys took off for hunting! While my mom took Kaycie, Riley, and myself on a tour of Eagle Butte...that took all of 20 minutes. It is a very small town. But, it was fun to see where my parents will be spending 18 months of their lives! They are living on an Indian reservation. It is a very interesting small place, in the middle of what seems like no where.
The boys came back from pheasant hunting and we made them lunch! They then wanted us to all go hunting! It was really cold, but fun to see the boys shoot at the pheasants!! We were able to visit with the ranchers that allowed them to hunt on their property. They had the best South Dakotan accents!! Loved it...if you have ever seen "New in Town", it is just like their accents. While visiting, they asked if our town had a Wal-Mart, I said of course we do...the lady thought we were so lucky! That tells you how in the middle of no where they really are!!

I am pretty sure my parents were happy to see us! We spent a couple of days there and really enjoyed being with them! We played games, watched movies, and ate yummy food and treats!! I am even more proud knowing the sacrifices they are truly making to serve the Lord. What amazing parents I have!!

The weather on the way home was unbelievable. Winds of over 50 miles per hour. Snowy and icy roads...14 hours later we were home! Riley was so sad to leave, along with my other kids. Riley; however, asked his grandparents if he could stay with them. I told him he would miss his parents and he said he wouldn't he just wanted to stay with his grandma and grandpa!

Mark is already talking about going back in October, to "bring them home" or pheasant hunt, you decide ;)

CHRISTMAS 2010

We had a fabulous Christmas this year!! Mark was home, finally. The kids were super excited to have him back home and so was I. He had been gone for over a month, first to Germany and then off to Hawaii!! He was home only 42 hours in between each job!! Since my parents were on their mission, I decided that we still needed to keep up the Mellor family tradition of Christmas morning breakfast. It was fun! We had a french toast bar and a Honey Baked Ham, yummy!!

I love Christmas! A couple of weeks before, I managed the Santa's Helper program at work. We were able to give over 200 children Christmas. It is a very stressful time of year for me, but it is so rewarding.

I missed having my parents around, but they called a couple of times and started talking pheasants with my husband! Before you know it...we were headed to South Dakota, the day after Christmas...post coming!

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!!

BARLOW FAMILY

My sweet friend of over 10-years, Heather Barlow, had her third baby the end of October. Heather and her husband Jake found out the day Alyssa was born that she had Trisomy 18. This is a fatal genetic disorder and most babies do not live beyond their first month. Baby Alyssa has been with her family now for 6-weeks and has proven to be a fighter, but each day is a struggle. This family is a true inspiration to me. They have so much faith and love. I am inspired each day by their strength. I have had the blessing of holding sweet Alyssa many times and as I hold her, I think of my own children and how I would handle what this family has and will have to go through. My desire for them is that they will be able to spend what time they have left with this precious spirit without the stress of medical bills hanging over their heads. I am asking all of my friends and family to donate to this family in their time of need.

Please click on this link and donate, no amount is too small.

http://www.alyssamareebarlow.blogspot.com

Thanks and Merry Christmas to you all!