Happy 5 years!

Five years ago today, I managed to muster up enough courage to ask out the cute girl whose assigned parking spot was right next to mine.  I decided to ask her out to a Boca Jr's soccer game; I figured that a girl who spent a year and a half in Brazil would have to enjoy watching a soccer game, even though it was an Argentine team.  Who would have ever guessed that it was by far, the best decision I ever made in my life.

Thanks for all the great memories. I love you!

Update on Chad

So, I wanted to give everyone an update on Chad and how he has been doing.  As with any healing process, the body tends to ratchet itself back to full health- Chad's journey over the past few weeks have been no different.  With a mix of good and bad days, Chad has made some very significant improvements since the accident that are nothing short of miraculous.

One of the most significant hurdles was walking again.  The first day he tried, his body would only allow a couple of steps.  The next day, a few steps further.  Within two weeks, he was able to walk a loop around the unit; quite the feat considering all of his injuries.

We are three weeks out from his accident and Chad is home and able to perform a number of tasks on his own.  However, due to doctors orders and the pain/exhaustion involved, Chad still needs some help from those around him. Jodie and I are moving up to Provo in just over two weeks and we'll be staying with him to help ease his recovery process over the next few months.  So, stay tuned in with our blog over the coming months for more updates and pictures of Chad.

 In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the hospital.  Here is a picture of the family shortly after everyone arrived in Utah; a pretty awesome support team, if you ask me.

Chad soaking in some rays with Dad; just enjoying being outside again.

Trying to warm up a little- hospital rooms can get very cold.

In closing, we wanted to thank everyone for their continued prayers and well-wishes for Chad and a speedy recovery.  We are extremely thankful to have such an awesome support team for Chad.

Fun at the beach and another train ride

One of the things you can't go to Hawaii and not visit is the beach; this trip was no different.  We definitely had a fun time going on a special trip to the beach with Kiran- it was an awesome afternoon to go.

When we got to the beach, we happened upon a mermaid.

Jodie and Joseph in front of Rabbit Island.

 Mom and Kiran in front of Rabbit Island.

 Joseph wasn't too sure about the water- it was a little cooler than we are used to.

We still had a lot of fun hanging around Cockroach Bay.

Joseph definitely enjoyed getting out in the fresh air and exploring the beach a little.  Although, it was a little difficult to walk around.

 But we did have a lot of fun playing in it and trying to eat it.

All the while, Jodie and Kiran had fun playing around in the water.

 It was a great afternoon at Cockroach Bay.

On the way home, grandma got a happymeal for Joseph; he loves chicken nuggets and french fries.

 This little boy definitely is very loved.

We also took a family picture in front of grandma and grandpa's house.

 But a little boy didn't want to stay put for very long, so we had to switch things up a little.

It is amazing how much this little boy loves to be outside and moving around- Jodie is actually galloping around the front yard to keep Joseph happy.  The best part is that when Jodie stops, Joseph will lightly slap her forearm a few times to signal "giddy up."

A picture of the backyard view.

Mommy and baby just hanging out in grandma and grandpa's backyard.

Thanks to grandma watching Joseph, Jodie and I also had an opportunity to go to the Laie Temple.  It was really nice to be able to go back to where we got married four years before.

For his birthday, Joseph got a pretty cool gift- a toddler-sized tool belt with a few different tools.  The tools would velcro to the side; I think he really enjoyed being able to take his toys with him.

Joseph also had a lot of fun watching some Disney Jr channel with grandma.

And playing with blocks with auntie Tina.

On our last day in Hawaii, we had a blast.  We got started helping grandma clean up.

Then we went to Windward Mall to ride the train.

It was really cool.  It was a little electric train that would take passengers on a little ride around the mall.

Here is Joseph waiting to have his ticket punched.

I'm surprised that I haven't ever seen this before at a mall.  It seems like a great idea; all the kids loved it.

Here is a video of the train in action.

After the train ride, Joseph got to go to Hot Dog On A Stick for lunch.  While we were waiting, they gave us a lemonade slushee sample.  While it doesn't look like he likes it in the picture, Joseph really enjoyed the slushee.

We also went on another short train ride- not nearly as cool or fun as the first.

And we also went on a short merry-go-round ride.

Lastly, on the train ride, they drove past the pet store and slowed down so the kids could see the animals.  Naturally, Joseph quickly found the dogs and was super excited.  So, we had to make a quick stop before leaving.

When we got home from the mall, we decided to set up Joseph's pool with water and let him play in it.  He was having a blast and got a little surprise when grandpa got home from work; actually, we all did.

Thanks to everyone who made Joseph's first luau so fun and so successful.  We definitely had a great time and made a lot of wonderful memories.

Honolulu Aquarium and Zoo

One of the thing that we were really excited to do on our trip was to take Joseph to the aquarium and zoo.  Here's Joseph getting ready to enter the aquarium- we're pretty excited to see the fish.

One of Joseph's favorite activities at G & G Brems' house is looking at the fish tank.  So, we were excited to see Joseph's reaction to the aquarium; we definitely were not disappointed.  Overall, he really enjoyed the reef tanks and watching the fish.

It was really neat to see him pointing at different fish.

This first reef tank had a ledge that he could stand and shuffle along.  

We also really liked to watch the jellyfish float around.

And get into mischief with grandma.

After finishing up inside, we went exploring some of the outside exhibits.

And collecting leaves from the plants.

We got to check out a sea lion.

And a seal.

And chase a little bird around.  The bird obviously realized that Joseph wasn't much of a threat because it would just slowly walk instead of flying away.  Joseph definitely love chasing the bird.

After we finished chasing the bird around the aquarium, we went across the street to meet up with grandpa at the Honolulu zoo.  Joseph definitely enjoyed the zoo and seeing the animals. 

We also found some more birds to chase.

Because Joseph was in the middle of eating lunch and dropping crumbs, the birds were more than willing to be chased to get an occasional scrap of food that he dropped.

Although, when it was a bigger piece that fell, Joseph would try to fight the birds for his food back.  With some intervention from daddy, the birds won this big prize from Joseph.

We also decided to stop along the path and collect a few of the large leaves that had fallen from the banyan trees.
 

We had to stop by the hippos and take a picture with them- Jodie has a picture with her and the hippos at a similar age.

 We also found a Joseph-sized elephant.

We got to see an orangutang up close. 

Joseph also really enjoyed watching the monkeys swing from branch to branch.

Here is Kieran "blending in" with the monkeys and apes.

We got to take a little break on a turtle.

Joseph was really excited to practice giving grandpa some hi-fives.

We also got to see an alligator- Joseph hopes that his auntie Kirsten, uncle Shaun, and cousin Bowen never run into any in Florida.

We also got to check out some peacocks.

We also found out that Joseph likes Dippin' Dots.  A lot.

Joseph also got some "height inspiration" from the giraffes.  All the while, I only thought of the shirt that my brother and his wife gave to Joseph that has a giraffe on it saying, "hey, who you calling short?"

Now that we're able to walk pretty well, we rarely want to sit in our stroller- we want to push it.  One nice thing about it is he really tires himself out pushing his stroller around.

In the kids section, they had a very cool fish tank that you could stand in the middle of- as demonstrated by Kieran.

They also had a "goat experience" area with some extremely docile and mellow goats.  We didn't end up staying too long because we keep yanking the goats ear.  So, while the goat didn't do anything, we didn't want to subject the goat to too much abuse.  Anyway, Joseph really enjoyed petting the goat.

We also got to check out one of Joseph's favorite animals- well, at least animal sound.  So, we got a picture next to a model where you can practice milking a cow.

All in all, we had a very fun day and were definitely ready for bed when we got home.