Easter Then & Now

Easter: THEN

During Easter 15 years ago, we took this photo as a couple (Jami had a gig in college as the Easter Bunny at the mall.) Little did we know what Easter 15 years down the road would look like...

Easter: NOW

12 Years of Marriage, 3 Sweet Boys, Lovin' Life in Colorado...

We are BLESSED!

The week before Easter, we gathered together with some friends for a playdate and Easter egg hunt. Grant is still too young to understand there is chocolatey, sugary goodness hiding in those plastic Easter eggs, but he loved being outside and watching the big kids scurry about.

 Caught with his hand in the cookie jar...

or in this case, the Easter basket!

 Why hunt for Easter eggs when I can drive THIS?!

 The kiddos at the egg hunt. Priceless expressions!

And G was trying to make a quick getaway!

On Saturday morning, we ventured to a local Easter egg hunt (rumored to have 4,000 eggs!) We ran into many neighborhood friends and joined in this Easter tradition with our 3 little fellas.

Patiently waiting for the hunt to begin.

 Mama & Her 2 Happy Hunters

 Dad (green sweater) lends little Grant 

a hand in his quest for eggs.

 Returning victorious!

 Chillin' with Mom

Luke was quick to load up his basket!

On Easter morning, we awoke early for an egg hunt, Easter basket treats, and then headed off to 8 a.m. Mass!  

 Well, would you look at that...

The Easter Bunny made a visit to our house!

Easter is one of two times a year (the other is 

Christmas) that the boys wear neatly ironed 

shirts & ties. The funny part is that we got in the car 

for 8 a.m. Mass and discovered that none 

of them had on socks. Oh, well!

Nicely dressed. Nicely playing.

 At least 2 out of 3 look happy.

 Grant's favorite toy Lion joined the photo opp...

We enjoyed a nice family brunch for Easter complete with this menu from the Junior League of Houston's Cookbook:

•  Cinnamon Pear Scones (in the shape of Peter Rabbit)
•  Frittata with Fontina & Italian Sausage (featuring one of Scott’s own sausage creations!)   
• Radicchio Salad with Blue Cheese & Peppered Almonds
• Meyer Lemon Pistachio Tart for Dessert

 

Napkins folded into bunnies.

The table is set for Easter Brunch!

A lesson in fine dining...

Luke takes his seat, right next to the 

frittata, scones & Devonshire cream.

 

Dessert, anyone?

Happy Easter to all! We hope you enjoyed 

a blessed day full of faith, friends & family.

The Brothers

A New Chapter ... Taekwondo

One of the highlights of our Spring Break at home ... Taekwondo Camp! Luke & Reid attended the week-long camp in the morning at our local US Taekwondo Center. (Fun fact: The founder of the school is Grand Master Sang Lee, who was the first ever head coach of the US Olympic Taekwondo Team in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.) The boys enjoyed the camp, and we decided to enroll them as taekwondo students. They now attend 30 minute class sessions up to 3 times a week. In addition to the taekwondo skills being learned, the program is also great for building confidence, respect, self-discipline & focus. We also like that the boys are able to take the program together and share that experience as brothers. 

 Reid shows off a kick.

In his first day of class, he was awarded

"Student of the Day" for being so focused.

Way to go, R!

 Go, Luke!

The brothers with their camp certificates.

Trailblazers

We've been hitting the hiking trails a lot lately. Here are some scenes from our spring trailblazing...

Every good hike requires

a walking stick.

Mama loves the Great Outdoors! 

This hike is in our backyard ... well, pretty close.

Fox Run Regional Park is just a few miles away,

and we escape to trek around in the pines 

as often as we can.

Happy Little Hiker.

Grant loves hiking and doesn't say

a peep, unless we see a dog.

Then you hear him say,

"guh" for dog ... he loves
furry friends!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Monkey, we sure do love YOU!

ONE Big Reason to Celebrate!

Long-time friends & 1st birthday parties ... the perfect combination! Our friends Brent and Kori and darling daughter Harper visited Colorado earlier this month (along with both of their extended families) to celebrate Harper's 1st birthday with a weekend away in the mountains. We were thrilled to join in the festivities and help the birthday girl celebrate! 

 Proud Parents & the Birthday Girl

 Brent & Scott grew up together...

now sharing memories as fathers!

What fun to also catch up 

with Brent's parents Si & Kay!

Lions & Lambs

Our new sandbox ... nicknamed "Mini Maui"

Whew! What an amazing ... crazy ... memorable ... fantastic month March has been! They say March comes in like a lion & out like a lamb, but I'm pretty sure this March was at the full-speed running pace of a lion with the peaceful, beautiful weather of a lamb. But enough of poetic references, this March will long be remembered as one of our favorite Spring Breaks.

This is the first Spring Break since we've moved here that the weather has actually seemed like ... well ... SPRING! Sunny skies every day. 60-70 degree temps. Shorts & t-shirts. Grilling. Lots of time on the trampoline and swingset. And no snow. The week spent in Hawaii was technically the week before Spring Break, so the boys got to enjoy some good quality time on the homefront for the week of actual Spring Break. Thank you, Mama Nature, for sharing your very best weather with us!

Day 6 :: The Maui Finale

Sadly, all good vacations must come to an end. Today marked our final day on Maui. With check-out at 11 a.m. and our flight at 10 p.m., we had one more day to pack in the fun. We started off with a final beach excursion to Oneloa Bay since it was only a short walk from our condo. The morning was windy & a little chilly, so we spent less time in the water and more time exploring the lava rocks on the beach. We scouted out the rock formations and discovered that tiny hermit crabs and little fish lived in the pools of water in the rocks.

 Exploring the lava rocks.

This is a video of the boys on the beach.

You may want to turn down the volume

as the wind gets a little loud.

It's a rare day when you can say you've driven from sea level to 10,000 feet! After we left the condo, we drove more inland on Maui to Haleakala National Park. This massive shield volcano forms more than 75% of the island of Maui. We had hoped to see the large volcanic crater at the top, but unfortunately, thick clouds prevented those views. It was still quite the experience to see the different ecosystems as the elevation changed.

 The boys loved that we were above the clouds!

Scott, Papa, Luke & Reid hiked to the top.

 The Chauffeur

View of the ocean on the drive down Haleakala.

After being along the coast most of the trip,

it was amazing to get a different perspective

of Maui from high above.

Next stop: Alii Kula Lavender Farm. This was a beautiful garden of a variety of plants. We took a walking tour of the grounds.

 Look closely and you'll see someone perched in the tree...

 Lavender fields in the middle on the left.

Ocean in the background.

Next stop: Tedeschi Vineyards. We took a 15 minute drive further down the road to Maui's winery. It is nestled in a very agricultural region of the island known as the Upcountry, which sits high upon the hill overlooking the rest of Maui. Lush green fields, roaming cattle, and little fences made of stacked lava rocks made this drive a great finale to our island adventure since it was so very different than our days on the coastline. We stopped at the vineyard's Tasting Room where we sampled the Maui Splash pineapple & passion fruit white wine, the Ulupalakua Red blending merlot & syrah, and the Maui Blanc pineapple wine. All delicious!

 The boys enjoyed playing on this big tree

outside the winery!

 The Tedeschi Vineyard Tasting Room

Our Whole Crew

With only a few hours left until we had to catch our flight, we returned back closer to the airport and grabbed one final meal based on a recommendation by the vineyard staff ... to go to a restaurant called Da Kitchen. It's a favorite among the locals and serves some great traditional Hawaiian fare!

After that, we returned the rental car & made our way through the airport. When our flight departed at 10 p.m., we were sad to be leaving such a fantastic vacation but had happy hearts with all the memories we shared and experiences to remember! Mahalo (thank you), Maui, for the trip of a lifetime. We hope to see you again some day!

Day 5 :: Kicking Back Aloha Style

One key goal for our vacation was to give the boys opportunities to fully experience Hawaii and do activities they wouldn't have the chance to do at home ... so another day with beach time for us! In the morning, we arose and headed straight to the D.T. Fleming Beach about a half mile from our condo. Nothing like being on the sand by 8:30! This beach featured a lifeguard station (the others didn't) and a bonfire made of driftwood. It also had a very gradual slope from the beach into the water, so you could walk out quite a distance before it got too deep. We also enjoyed some bigger waves here, perfect for our little boogie boarders.

 

 Blue skies. Blue ocean. Happy boy.

 

 It's like a sled ... but on the sand!

 Hang on, Grant ... here we go!

 Funny brothers.

 Man on a mission. Gotta find that boogie board.

 4 points of a compass...

 Playing in the sand is great fun.

When the wave rolls in ... not so much.

 Sandwriting by Luke.

 "But Mom, I don't want to go home and take a nap.

I'm having too much fun with my big brothers."

After this, Mom & Grant returned to the condo for a little rest time (Grant was asleep in the car within 2 minutes.) The older boys & Dad hit the pool for a little more swim time. After all that swimming, it was time to refuel, so we decided to try the highly recommended Maui Brewing Company ... which we would also highly recommend after dining there! 

 We sampled a few of the beers, 

including a Coconut Porter!

 After lunch, we did a little souvenir shopping.

Luke decided that this Long-Life Tiki 

needed to come home with us!

From our condo, the nightly sunset was blocked by part of the island and several buildings. So we took a short walk around the cove on our final evening in Maui and made it just in time to see the sun setting on the horizon. Beautiful...

 The sunset from Kapula Bay

 One more fun photo with our "Hang Loose" pose!

The boys thought that it's like Spiderman slinging a web...

"Daddy, where did the sun go?"

On this day, Papa & Kathy made the day trip to drive the Road to Hana. We thought about joining them for this adventure but decided it might be a long trip for the boys ... and that a day on the beach would be more meaningful for our crew. The island travelers reported the Road to Hana was well worth it, as they had the chance to see a different side of the island with more of a rainforest feel to it. A highlight for them was swimming in a waterfall pool!

Day 4 :: Luau!

 

The Hawaiian experience is not complete without seeing a luau! So to celebrate the Hawaiian culture & heritage, we spent the evening at the Maui Hyatt's Drums of the Pacific Luau. Upon entering, we had a quick photo opp (see above) and were greeted with shell leis and Hawaiian drinks. 

 Waiting for the evening to begin...

 Mama & G

 Ceremonial lighting of the torches

 Dancing with fire!

Sippin' on a lemonade & watchin' the show.

 Leahy fellas at the luau.

(And yes, Grant was ready for dinner...

thankfully, the knives were super dull!)

 Ceremonial Dancing

 Loved the purple ... go K-State!

In addition to the entertainment, the luau also served an amazing buffet of traditional Hawaiian foods including Kalua Pork, Huli Huli Chicken, Grilled Fish with Mango Salsa, Polynesian Rice, Vegetables MakaMaka, Soba Noodles, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Pacific Ahi Poke & the Traditional Poi. The dessert table featured Macadamia Nut Luau Cream Pie, Pineapple Cake & Bread Pudding.

What an evening to experience the culture, the people, the food ... all that makes Hawaii so special!