33 weeks on the Big Island

I cannot believe we are 33 weeks, when did that happen?! It is crazy that we are getting so close to meeting our girl! We have been on the big island for this whole week and it has been a blast!

Things are a little slower for me right now, I am at a full on waddle. And I am a lot more cautious of hiking. But I have still managed daily runs, walks, or hikes in the mornings and I have been plugging along on our adventures here. The big island is beautiful and amazingly diverse and we have LOVED it!

It's going to be really hard to leave this beautiful island on Monday night! We are trying to soak up every minute we can!

ALOHA,

Brookeydee

Fall Break

We had the opportunity to join my family for a fun long weekend in St. George for fall break! Luckily between all of us in college- Rachel is the only one graduated besides mom and dad- we all had the same fall break! We headed down on Thursday for some warm and fun in Southern Utah!  We stayed at a beautiful home by the Ledges golf course and we went on two hikes right outside of Snow Canyon, ate lots of food, did a temple trip, saw Thriller at Tuacahn , and just enjoyed being together. All of it was SO NICE! Also, Ruby is at the most fun stage right now! she is funny and developing her personality and an awareness of others and she is learning to talk (and count, little smarty pants!) and its just SO fun to interact with her!

Lake Powell- Trip 1

We went to my favorite place this last week! I have always loved Lake Powell, probably because my family has been going since I was 1 year old, because it is always so beautiful, because we disconnect from all work and electronics, because we get to spend quality time together and because I love to ski, wakeboard, surf, etc. It is what I look forward to all year long! I can't wait to go again in a few weeks! I made this little video of our trip, it was the first video I have ever made so its a little rusty! It was all recorded on my phone too, so the picture quality isn't great, I think Mikey needs to buy me a nice camera so I can do more of these...

lots of love,
brookeyd

just maui'd

Mike tried so hard to keep our honeymoon a secret.. but it slipped about two weeks before the wedding. I was so excited when he accidentally spilled the beans.  And for a good reason.  It was amazing!!

love rock

We spent our first few nights in Utah before going to Hawaii.  It was nice to recover from the wedding and get acquainted (haha) before heading to the island!  We went hiking and had some yummy dinners out!  And we did a lot of packing in preparation to our move right when we landed form hawaii- that story is to come. :/

that smolder melts my soul- he is so handsome!

we found the yummiest mexican food in sandy!

there is a little back story on the maui situation. That story is here . Long story short, I fell in love with Mike while I was in Maui back in February so it was so romantic for him to take us back to that spot! And, its hawaii... so you cant go wrong!

Nakelele blow hole

We spent our days exploring the island.  It was so fun to go on our adventures.  We saw parts of the island that I have never seen before and absolutely adored! Some of our favorites were daily shave ice run, sunet dinners on Front street, the road to hana waterfalls and hikes, a black sand beach, nakelele blow hole, love rock, and my favorite was the Olivine Pools(this is a pretty secret spot on the island).  It was so nice to go out and see new places together and make memories for us to share as a family.  And I loved every second of Mike and me time.  We are pretty busy, so it was nice to have him all to myself for 12 whole days.  We will never get time like that again so I tried to soak it all in!

banyon tree on front street 

a hana waterfall <3

bamboo forest- a hana treasure

black sand beach

the amazing olivine pools

view of Napili beach- one of my favorites!

what I call- Snorkel Mike!

seriously- SO CUTE!

yes, we got a shave ice everyday. its a need. 

the gazebo- the best breakfast ever. these pancackes are honestly divine. 

dinner at sunset everyday was so so fun!

I am so grateful for our days in Maui and the memories we made! It will be a highlight forever. 

lots and lots of love

brookeydee

trip to california!

My grandparents started a tradition to fly out each grandchild when they get engaged to spend time with the couple and get to know the newest family member.

Friday- they picked us up and we went straight to a burger place to get burgers, malts, and fries. yum!  We spent the night catching up and telling stories.

right after landing at the Long Beach airport.

Saturday- We woke up and hit Denny's for breakfast.  We went to the Rainbow shoe factory and got some nice flip flops.  Took a drive along PCH and stopped at Dana Point and Huntington Beaches.  Huntington beach was hopping- there was a surfing competition going on as well as a fair.  We bought some cool shirts there too!  Late that afternoon we went to see Pitch Perfect 2- SO SO funny! We finished the night at a very nice restaurant at Dana Point, Katie and her BF Brody joined us there.  It was so beautiful!  and delicious!!

Dana Point in the morning

Huntington Beach Pier

49 more days!!

we thought this shirt was so cool!

right before our yummy dinner above Dana Point

Sunday- We woke up to a yummy breakfast made by grandma (including GF waffles! nom-nom)! watched 17 miracles (Mike cried. He has the best heart people) and then Mike and I sat out by the pool talking and snuggling.  It was a great trip!!

A couple of things I want to remember: As we sat down at our gate at the airport in SLC ready to scarf down some cafe rio before we boarded Mike got really quiet.  I asked him if he was okay and he said yes but was acting really weird.  I few minutes later he explained to me that he received an impression that he should buy one of the airport workers some dinner but ignored it, and now the worker was gone.  He was feeling guilty for not following through on the impression.  But then the man walked back in.  Immediately mike jumped up and went directly to him.  They walked over to a sandwich shop and got him some food.  Mike learned a little bit about him in the few minutes they spent together- but one thing is for sure the man was hungry and needed some food.

As I sat there watching this happen, I was holding back the tears.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  Gratitude for the heart of my almost husband, for his worthiness to hear the promptings of the spirit, and for his obedience in acting on that prompting although the situation felt uncomfortable to him.  I am so in love with MCD!

Another fun memory happened on the plane. long story short- "Brooke?  You know what the amazing thing is?  I can keep them separate!"  as he spits out a piece of gum to never be found. haha.

Lots of love,
Brookeydee