Aloha!

I don't have many nice things to say about Cory's previous employer, however, thanks (in part) to them, we were able to take a trip to Hawaii at the end of February. Cory went on a business trip last March and he got bumped off of three different flights. He ended up earning $1,000 in travel vouchers. They expire after one year - and we certainly weren't going to let them go to waste. We decided we needed some warmth and sunshine - so off to Hawaii we went. We visited the island of Oahu.

Our hotel was on Waikiki beach so on day one, we took a drive over to the North Shore to see some of the bigger waves (and the surfers). It may not have been this exact spot, but back in 1992, I was here body surfing and lost my swimsuit top as I tumbled through the waves after falling off my body board. I didn't actually lose the top - I just ended up stumbling out of the ocean (gasping for breath) with my top down around my waist. Oops.

Cory told me that we could not do and/or see anything that had to do with history on this trip. Poor guy - our last two vacations did involve a lot of historical sight-seeing i.e. the Parthenon in Greece and the early settlers' farms in The Smoky Mountain National Park. I was, therefore, quite surprised when he said he wanted to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. To be fair, we didn't spend much time in the villages at the PCC before heading to the luau so I don't think it was too painful. One thing that did make me laugh - you can definitely tell that the LDS church runs the PCC. The buffet-style luau was served on dishes, and with cups, that strongly resembled items you might find in every church kitchen around the world. :-)

We got up early one morning to go on a whale watching tour. It didn't take long to spot some whales. We ran across some right as we were leaving the harbor on our tour boat. They're not as pretty as Shamu, but stunning nonetheless.

This is one of the prettiest temples I have ever seen. Destination wedding, anyone??

We also visited Pearl Harbor (again, totally shocked given the non-historical-sights-mandate). Watching the videos at the museum and visiting the underwater tomb of so many (the U.S.S. Arizona) definitely brings tears to my eyes. So many have sacrificed so much for my freedom.

We went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. This is one thing I absolutely wanted to do. I remember how much I loved it when I visited Hawaii last time - and it didn't disappoint this time around either. The sea life here is just amazing. It did take me a few minutes to get used to the snorkel gear. I found myself flailing in the water for a while before I finally calmed down and figured things out. Good thing no one was video taping that!

Cory really wanted to take a helicopter tour - we waited until the last minute to book the tour and almost didn't get to go. I'm glad we did end up going because this was definitely the highlight of our trip. Here is an aerial view of the temple. The pilot stopped to hover, and tipped the helicopter just right, so I could get some good photos.

Our pilot also took us back in to see the Sacred Falls. It is against the law, and apparently impossible, to hike back into the Falls so the only way to see them is via air. The pilot got us so far back in there and so close to the mountain, it almost looked like we were going to hit the wall. But he let us see straight down to the bottom of the Falls. Amazing!

Hanauma Bay from the air.
My cousin, Morgan, went to BYU Hawaii for a semester and she strongly recommended that we visit Giovanni's shrimp bus while we were over on the North Shore. The line was huge. Apparently it's quite popular. And I can see why - the shrimp were huge and super yummy!

On our last night in Hawaii, we drove to Turtle Bay to have dinner. We did catch a few sunsets but this one was probably the best. So sad to have to go home the next day...
I went down to the beach late one afternoon to soak up the few last rays of the day and happened to stumble upon the cast of "Hawaii Five-O" filming at one of the restaurants at our hotel. The video isn't the best since it was taken from my camera but you can see most of the cast. Funny how much smaller they look in real life. I hope this scene makes it into one of the upcoming episodes!

I'm Married to a Superhero!

Just a quick add-on to my last post. I happen to visit teach the mother of one of our little Sunbeams. I'll call him "T". Little T has been scared to come to class. He came the first Sunday but didn't stay for very long. And his mom says he's been crying before church on Sundays because he hasn't wanted to go to class.

Last Sunday, T's mom brought him into the Primary room and sat him down next to Cory. I wasn't paying attention but I guess Cory put his arm around the little guy and said "hey bud". And that's all it took. T stayed for the entire time and was good as gold. But I didn't find out why until last night when I went to visit T's mom.

She told me that T thinks Cory is a superhero. Literally. I guess T is totally into The Incredible Hulk, Superman, The Titans, Knights of the Round Table, etc. The only way they can get him to enjoy scripture time is if they focus on the "war stories". Anyway, I guess after church, T told his mom that his teacher is a superhero. She tried to explain that it was possible that Cory is just a regular guy, but T was insistent. He says, "But Mom, he's so big and his voice sounds just like a superhero. I just know he is one." I about died laughing! What a cute little guy! I can get on-board with thinking Cory is a superhero. Maybe we'll have to take a cape to class one of these days. I know...not very reverent but it would be fun.

Sunbeams!

Cory and I weren't able to fly under the radar screen in our new ward for very long. We have recently been called to be Sunbeam teachers in the Primary organization (teaching the 3-year-old class). Our first class was on Jan. 2nd i.e. the very first day when all of the new Sunbeams are coming out of nursery for the first time. Cue the madness.

Our ward has three nurseries (yes, Sacrament meeting is deafening). And subsequently, we have three Sunbeam classes. Cory and I have eight children (all boys!) on our roster - seven of them attend class regularly. I was just released from the Primary Presidency in our ward in Idaho and I must confess that I was hoping to get a break from Primary for a while. But poor Cory - he went from working with the teenage boys to working with those of a much younger demographic. The look of terror on his face that first Sunday was priceless. And to give him credit, I probably would have felt the same way had I been in his shoes.

Junior Primary that first Sunday was a complete zoo. The decibel level was probably close to a seven. There were sobbing children who were scared about this new experience. Wiggly children who weren't accustomed to sitting still and upright in their chairs for 40 minutes straight. A song leader who insisted on teaching a new song for the entire 25 minutes, which led to extreme boredom and cries from the children that they wanted a new song. And my poor husband got stuck sitting directly behind a child who was spitting up in the air and letting the spittle fall to the floor or land on his face. Cory kept looking down at his shoes and then looking at me - and I could tell he wanted to bolt out of that room as fast as possible. In the meantime, I'm wrestling seven children by myself because Cory was frozen to his chair.

We both had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on the second Sunday of the year. Cory stood up there and told everyone that he wasn't scared to be standing in front of them giving a talk. However, he said he was pretty scared about going into the "lion's den" immediately after Sacrament meeting.

Fast forward to yesterday. When the boys file into the Primary room now, the first thing they do is run to Cory and give him a hug. They all fight to sit next to him. They are so proud to know Brother Johnson's name. And they profess their love to him all the time. I'm just an after-thought at this point. Let's be honest - it's way more cool to come to church and get a fist-bump from Brother Johnson. And that's just fine with me.

Happy Birthday, Cory!

Happy birthday to my wonderful, kind, amazing husband! Guess what Cory got for his birthday today?? One of the shop guys at work backed into this truck. Nothing too serious - just a ding in the back quarter panel. For real? I thought we left our bad luck with accidents behind us in 2010. Apparently not. Maybe we'll beat our record of five car accidents in one year.

When Cory left the house this morning, he confirmed that I wasn't going to do anything crazy today, "like come to work and try to surprise him." I've done that in the past. I guess it was too embarrassing. Good thing I wasn't planning on doing anything nice for him today!

Merry Christmas!

Although it's late, I'd like to still take a moment to say that I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. It took until the second week of December but I finally found the Christmas decorations (buried under the moving boxes) so we could decorate the tree.

We stayed at my parents' house on Christmas Eve. Grammie had a fun time opening Paisley's Christmas presents!

We spent Christmas afternoon with the Johnson's.


Cory cooked up some crab for a fabulous Christmas dinner.

We arrived back in Salt Lake on Sunday afternoon and the first thing Cory did was break out his Cabela's hunting game that Jaron and Karen gave him for Christmas. I must confess to being completely mystified by how guys seem to intuitively know how to work every video game without reading the instructions. They know what each button is for and how to navigate through the game. I had to ask Cory for help on how to use the Zumba "game" that I got for Christmas. And I'm still not sure that I've got it completely figured out.
We also invested in our first MAC computer. Both of our PC's were dying so we decided to bite the bullet. I've been extremely frustrated with the effort of learning a new operating system. I had to Google instructions for how to eject a CD from the CD-rom drive. Sheesh! Good thing I'm signed up to go to an "introduction to your MAC" class next week. I can also go in for any other classes they offer during the course of the next year. I have a feeling the folks at the Apple store are going to be seeing a lot of me...

I would also like to take a moment to express my gratitude for all that Cory and I have been blessed with. 2010 definitely ranks as one of the worst years ever but it certainly ended on a positive note for us. And I know there are so many out there who have challenges that I cannot even dream of. It makes me feel like a spoiled child to whine about my problems. 2011 has to be better, right?? I wish you all a very happy, blessed and prosperous New Year!

Seattle

I went to Seattle for a conference and Cory came with me so we could celebrate our two-year anniversary together. I have been to Washington before but never to Seattle. It is absolutely beautiful! The Puget Sound is amazing!
I'm told it's pretty rare to be able to see Mt. Rainier (because it's always rainy and cloudy in Seattle). But we lucked out and had a beautiful day for sightseeing.

We ventured to the top of the Space Needle and took in the sights.

We visited the Pike Place fish market and had some amazing sushi for dinner.

We attended a dinner one night that was hosted by one of the suppliers at the conference. They had invited Jason and Molly from "The Bachelor". You can see Jason here and Molly is directly behind him. I have never watched "The Bachelor" but some of the women at the dinner were faithful followers of the show and were clearly awestruck! :-)

We Are Moving!

Well folks, after three years (since Cory and I started dating), we are finally down to one house payment. We are moving back to Utah! The renters moved out of our house just in time for Cory to get a new job. He started work yesterday and seems to really like it.

Oh, and lest you think that life can go too smoothly for us, I'd like to squash that thought by reporting that Cory was driving my mom back to Preston on Sunday (after Paisley's baby blessing in Afton, WY) and hit a deer. They were in my mom's car - poor Cory felt awful. And that brings our grand total up to four car accidents this year...