For those who have the adventure in them!

Jon and I wanted to go on a hike and spend some time out doors.  It was a cool morning so we decided around 10am that we would take our dogs to the dog park to get some wiggles out.  So, we get the dogs ready to go and we head to the dog park.  It was cold, cloudy and gloomy but that didn't stop us from wanting to have fun!  Near by the dog park there was a sign that said, "Hiking Trail".  We decided that we wanted to see where it lead to, so we took the trail.  It ended up being super short and not even a ten minute walk up a short little hill.  We got to the end, which was the entrance road to the whole park, and said to each other, "That is it!?  That's LAME!"  So, I suggested that we try going to hike Point Sal trail.

First off, we didn't even know where it exactly was...I just knew the round about area where to locate it.  After only one wrong turn we found it!  Woohoo!  We were so excited!  Our dogs even seemed like they were excited to be out in the fresh air.  The sun was just starting to peek through and it was now around 11am.  We climbed out of the car and found the entrance to the trail, just as we were walking through we asked a small family if they hiked the area often, they did, and so they let us know to take the "Sissy Trail" since we were first timers. We were for sure sticking to that advice!  We didn't want to strain ourselves too much since we are not in the best hiking shape.

Our hike was going along really well until we noticed that the sun was completely out and we still had sweat shirts on... off the with those layers.  We enjoyed the wide trail and the wildlife around us.  There were the green rolling hills; cows grazing near by; birds chirping and singing along the way; lots and lots of horse poop; and a wonderful ocean breeze that was able to help us stay cool as we warmed up hiking the steepness of the trail.

As we got further and further in to the hike we would pause to take a moment and reflect on if we had the energy to get back from the point we were currantly at.  We concluded that we should continue since we had gone that far and that we didn't want to leave disappointing ourselves.  We wanted to see the ocean view that everyone talks about at the end of this hike!

Well, we got to the end!  It took us about an hour and a half to hike 2.8 miles of the 5 mile trail and boy was the view worth it!!!  We sat down at the top of one of the hills that over looked the ocean and marvelled at how beautiful the sight was.  Here are some of the views we saw out there!

Looking south while hiking the trail...almost to the end...we can see our goal!

We reached our goal!  Looking north!

Looking south

The small beach is actually the end of the trail... but that was another 2 miles or so

The point we were there... ha ha ha... Point Sal

Gorgeous!

Come one! Come all!

If you ever come to visit us, I will probably mention taking you to this amazing local inn.
It is called the Madonna Inn.
It is an amazing place to go and look at decorating that is extremely beyond anything normal.
To say that it is over the top is just hitting the tip of the ice.
To say that "there are no girls aloud in the boys bathroom" would be a lie.
To say that you would have a "beyond great" stay here would be 100% true.
Come and visit us! We'll take you there to see this "little house on the side of the road".

My little sister...

She is all grown up now. She's a big girl out at college and transitioning well to living out on her own. I am so proud of Carolyn because she is the first in my immidiate family to go to a 4 year university. She is studying English and probably would love to teach it some day too.

I remember growing up together that we always said that we would live close to each other because we couldn't stand to live far apart. I would have to say that we still feel that way. With her living in Idaho and me living in California it is hard to physcially meet up and hang out. We are so grateful for Skype, Facebook, emailing, texting, and cell phones. I think both of us use at least one of those means to talk to each other on a daily basis.

When we were growing up, all three of us girls shared a room. Some might think that that is a bad idea, and I would have to agree because at times it was hard. Over all, I would have to say that I wouldn't change a thing about sharing a room with my younger sisters. We have a bond that cannnot be broken by anything or anyone. I believer that the bond that we have comes from living in and sharing the same space for so many years. My sisters are not only blood related to me but they are tied to me by friendship. We might have our times where we are mad at each other, but there is never a fight that has lasted for more than a day with us. We can't be mad at each other for long at all.

This year will be a year wher our relationship will grow on different levels than we have known before. We will not only grow because we are apart, but because there is a new chapter in Carolyn's life that will affect us as well. I hope that she is having tons of fun! I hope that she is learning a lot about herself! I most of all hope that she is finding in life what she needs to better herself as a person... and sister!

Love you Carolyn! Miss you bunches!

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was given a

two thumbs up by all of us!!

I, Michelle, worked in my Hawaiin Christmas themed office helping many people with their smiles!

Jon worked hard at his job as well (sorry no picture of it).

We spent time with family and had a blast decorating cookies!

We decorated the tree!!

We even started a new tradition of finding the pickle on the tree to open the first gift on Christmas morning!

We all enjoyed seeing each other light up as we each opened gifts!

The gifts and wonderful memories that we created this Christmas Season were just the sprinkles on the cake.  The real reason we had a two-thumbs-up-Christmas is because we were celebrating Him and the life that He shared with the world.

I am so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I found this plaque at my Grandma's house and it made me reflect on my testimony of the Savior.

I hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas and

 that you find the new year bringing you happiness and joy.

Free digital collage generated with Smilebox

This is late, but it's done

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful and amazing!  Jon and I got to go up and see everyone on his side of the family.  I didn't get my camera out a lot, but I am gathering pictures from those who did take them.  So there will be pictures next time.

I am feeling the need to heed our own blog title and count our blessings as a couple:

We are thankful for those who make us happy and enrich our lives with goodness and love.  We are thankful for our parents who have raised us with love; for them always teaching us to do what is right, even if it means working harder; for the trust that we have in them that what they taught us really does mean something later on in life.  We are grateful for laughter and fun times of building memories with one another.

We are grateful for this time of year to reflect on those things which our Heavenly Father has blessed us with.  Jon and I have had the opportunity to teach the kids in our primary that are ages 8-10 and we are thankful for them.  They have taught us so much and we all learned new things about the Old testament this year.  I think we all share a special bond between teacher and student ,that can only grow and flourish while teaching nine kids between the ages of 8-10 all the year.  We feel so blessed to be able to teach these children the Gospel and how it applies in our lives.  How we can learn from "old men with beards that wrote this big book a long time ago".  Not to just learn the stories that are found in the bible, but to learn about the meanings behind them as well.  I think one of our favorite ways of teaching the kids was when they got to get dressed up as the characters and act out the story.  They felt involved and not just instructed (plus it doesn't hurt for them to be each others entertainment ;) ).

One of our kids acting out a Bible story

We hope your Season of Counting blessings is a great one and filled with joy and happiness!

Michelle and Jon

The funny wishes of Christmas

These had to go up here

Since I'm laying here in bed with just a laptop and my dogs, I decided that entertaining myself was more important than sleeping/resting.  They say that sharing is caring, so here I go, I'll share what is cracking me up right now as I try to get better.

Hope these made you chuckle like they did for me!!

Happy Thanksgiving month!!

This made me laugh...

Seeing that I am sick and they say laughter is the best medicine then I should be getting better quite fast... I hope.

Well, September flew by...

And I don't remember half of it since it went by so fast.  I do remember the fact that we had very very hot weather here...in the 100s.... so yeah.  That was not comfortable at all!  My camera is out of order right now... or else I would be posting pictures...maybe for Christmas I could get a camera...maybe.  Well, that's a very quick up date for now.  I'm going to hit the pillow and be off to dream land for now!