Father's Day... "DAD" Book

As promised, here are the pictures of the father's day "DAD" book. We (well, Charley) has very few pictures of him and the girls when they were little, so I've been wanting to put them into an album for him. I thought this would be something fun the girls could work on when they were with us on the weekends. Well, turns out we had very little weekend time before father's day, but I still think this turned out great. I cut all the pages on the Cricut (cartridges used are George and Base Camp), put the book together, and the girls did the rest. Oh, and yes, he loved it.

Board Notebooks...

So I learned how to make these notebooks on my cricut with the design studio software. I LOVE them!! I am definately going to make more. They are just made from chipboard and have blank white cardstock between each page. Bound together with the bind it all.

I have a dear friend at work (yes, her name is Connie) who pretty much "donated" all her surplus scrap supplies to my friend and me. She had some great stuff, and I was able to start a collection of supplies for the girls... who by the way I'm hoping will be my life scrap buddies! Anyway, I made this book & beaded pens as a thank you gift for her. She loved it.

Nothin' Like Homemade...

Aren't these shirts cute? My wonderful friend Jen has the machine to make them! First we cut images in vinyl from the silhouette and burned them onto the screen. Then the machine does all the rest! Holly wanted twilight, and Lauren wanted Jack.


They were so easy that my sister in law Heather made 12 shirts for all her nieces and nephews in about an hour. They ranged from Jack to bionicles... and even some Tinkerbell. Ahhh, the benefits of a large family. (I think the twilight screen is still available... and Jen takes donations!! Just Kidding).


And a quick picture of the back of Holly's shirt... Yes, they are sisters and have so much in common. On the other hand, they are totally opposite! If one likes it, chances are, the other one doesn't. Here's a prime example... Holly likes Edward, Lauren doesn't!!


And here's a pic I'm just tossing in for fun just because I really like it. Isn't it cute? Here's the girls in the hoodies & leis we brought back from Hawaii. Did I mention that I loved the swap meet there? $15 hoodies!

Parasailing... An Aerial View...

The highlight of our vacation... Can you believe I actually did this?? Well, I am so glad I did! It was awesome! It was so pretty and believe it or not... peaceful... I would have never have done this by myself though! These tandem (side by side) parachutes are pretty cool. You sit on the boat and you're lifted up... about mid flight they slowly bring you down, dip you in the ocean, then bring you back up. Talk about a rush!

And this is my survival picture! You know, the one you take after the fact with the big smile on your face to show everyone you did it! I would definately do it again!

Scenic Hawaii...

Here are some scenic pictures of Hawaii. I took a TON! And I'm not normally a scenic photo kind of gal! LOL. It was just so pretty, I couldn't help myself.

These pictures were all taken from our condo. Either from the balcony, or by stepping on the back patio. We stayed at the Grand Waikikian at the Hilton Village. It was gorgeous! There was a lagoon right outside the back patio and shops that encircled the group of hotels.

This by far is the best vacation we have taken! We loved every minute of it, and can't wait to go back. Four days just isn't enough! We did try to extend our trip a couple days, but it would have cost a small fortune ($1100.00 in plane tickets to be exact), so alas, we came home. Guess I will start saving now :)

Polynesian Cultural Center...

These are pictures from the polynesian cultural center. We also took a bus ride over to the BYU hawaii campus, the temple and the visitors center. All of it is so pretty! We even bumped into Elder Mark Eubanks (yes, the weather man from channel 5) who is serving over at the visitors center.

The roasted PIG was a little strange for me! Not sure how I feel about that, but Charley loved it. He said it brought back memories of being in the Phillipines. It was nice, however, to know that the actual pig that this picures of is not the actual one they served that night!

Pearl Harbor...

Here are a few pictures from Pearl Harbor. We didn't get to spend as much time there as we would have liked, but it was a neat experience anyway. Charley's favorite part was the aircraft carrier that happened to be in town and docked there for a few days. It was HUGE! We toured the USS Missouri, but didn't end up with enough time to go the the USS Arizona memorial. We did get some neat pictures though.

One Year... Already!!

Can you believe it's been a year? I just wanted to share a little about our anniversary dinner. Well, actually, it was an anniversary week! It started Tuesday when we left for Hawaii.

Last year, on our wedding day, (June 4th) we went and got massages in the morning, went to the courthouse and were married, then went straight to the airport for our honeymoon. As soon as we got to Long Beach, it was late in the evening, so we went to dinner at a fancy steakhouse, Ruth's Chris. I had never eaten there (I'm not much of a steak person), but Charley had and loved their steaks. It's a very nice restaurant with excellent service. Of course, you pay for the service because the meals aren't cheap. We figured it was a special day, so we wanted to go somewhere special for dinner. When we sat at the table, the host pulled the chair out for me, said enjoy your meal, Ms. Blackwood, and put the napkin on my lap. UM, ok as soon as he called me by my name (my new name of about 4 hours, that is) I knew that it was a nice, expensive restaurant.

Fast forward one year. We're in Hawaii for our anniversary, we're at a nice time share resort & spa with free massages, and there's a Ruth's Chris down the street. We did have a relaxing massage and went online and made reservations for dinner. There was an area online where it asked if we were celebrating a special occasion, so I checked the anniversary box. When we arrived at the restaurant, they took us right to our table, it was covered with fresh rose petals. They also greeted us with "complimentary" champaigne and he asked if we wanted him to pour it for us. When we told him no thanks, we didn't drink, he soon arrived with two glasses of non alcoholic sparkling juice. After dinner, he brought a free anniversary dessert. Chocolate & coconut covered strawberries in the prettiest display i've ever seen! Then he gave us an anniversary card with a $25 gift certificate in it for our next visit. Whoa! Although we don't go there often (twice to be exact), I am so impressed with the service and will definately go back again. Not to mention the food was awesome! The best steak I've ever had. (They serve them on sizzling 500 degree platters). And the other food was just as good!! I would definately recommend going there for a birthday or anniversary. They really make you feel special on your special day.

Doesn't this dessert look awesome?? It came on a glass tube filled with rose petals. Almost too pretty to eat! But, you know me and chocolate covered strawberries! Of course we at them. The sticks were edible shaved dark chocolate. Not bad for free, eh?

And speaking of feeling special on your special day, This is for Charley...

Happy anniversary CBabe! I am truly lucky to have you my life. When we are together, I know that you truly love me for who I am. Thanks for having patience with me and for everythng you do for me. I am so glad we have spent the last year together and am looking ahead to the many years to come. Hopefully I will make you feel as special as you have made me feel. I love you & am so blessed to have you as a husband.

Aloha... From Tropical Hawaii...

Yes, Yes, we are here in Hawaii! Very tropical, and very humid, But definately gorgeous!!! It's a long (five hours from San Francisco) flight, but definately worth it. It's only 9:53 here, so I'm really not posting this at 2 in the morning. *wink*

Here are a couple of our first glimpses of Hawaii... The welcome escalator at the airport, and the floral lei's they hand out. (This one isn't ours, we're too cheap and they are quite expensive).

And here's some pictures of our awesome room...

Here's a couple of shots that are taken from the Hotel Lobby

And these were taken from the balcony in our room

Last, but definately not least, we got a kick out of the name of the Taxis... it's even spelled right!

Much more to come! Stay tuned...