In other news...

Sooo I guess it's about time for something other than paradise. When we got home from Hawaii we hit the ground running. Our flight landed at 7:05 AM on Sunday & we went back to work at 8:30 AM Monday morning. We left ourselves no time to do laundry, grocery shop, or catch up on sleep. It's. Been. Tough.

The Thursday we got back from Hawaii Mom & Codi came to Dallas. I guess they missed me that much. Since Derek was in town playing baseball I definitely watched more games than I have in my entire life. All the baseball watching reaffirmed that I am not a "baseball girl." Mom and Codi ended up staying through Sunday, which was great, but left us no time to get back in our groove before another work week.

This past Friday, the 25th, I took off work a little early to head to Austin/San Marcos with the lovely Jones women. I look forward to this trip every year, not just for the shopping, but for the opportunity to bond with my sister-in-laws. I feel like each year we grow closer & closer.

So the shopping trip was very successful. We started off Friday night at the Round Rock Outlets. We piddled around for a while & purchased a couple small ticket items, basically killing time before meeting Sarah in Austin. On our way out I spotted the Burberry outlet. I had to go in. One thing lead to another & I left Round Rock with a brand new Burberry bag.

Saturday we went to the outlets in San Marcos. Holy overwhelming. I'd forgotten how many stores there are. When we drove up Ellen said, "It's like Heaven on Earth."

Once we finished shopping Sarah took us to a great Mexican food place in Austin, which just happened to be near a Nordstrom's Rack. Jackpot. After "round 2" of shopping we were ready for dessert, specifically gelato. Ellen & the Joneses love gelato. I like it fine, but I'm not completely sold on the idea of cold pudding-ish ice cream. Never-the-less we went searching for a gelato place. It took us a while to find one that was actually open. First we went to Whole Foods, which usually has gelato, but not in Austin. The second place we tried was shut down. We finally found a neat little place in the Hyde Park area of Austin. It was like a coffee bar with outside seating. Very neat. I was adventurous and had the Mexican Chocolate, which was ok, but not my favorite. It had a weird cinnamon twang to it.

Sunday morning we went to Terryton Methodist Church to meet up with the Adam Joneses. We arrived a little late leaving Ellen worrying about finding a pew to fit all 11 of us. Adam's response was, "I doubt we have a problem finding a seat this morning. You see, during the summer church is optional for Methodists."

&&& I love my husband because he's the reason I have these wonderful Jones family members. They are pretty great.

Until Next Time.& How awesome my grandparents are

We got up bright & early our last day there. We decided to play hard, since it was our last day in Paradise. Codi was also in the mood for a mini photo shoot today, so there's a lot of photos. So after breacky (aka breakfast) we headed straight to the beach.


Grandad's other other girlfriend. He was quite the "Ladys Man" on our trip. He made friends with any/everyone he met. He's such a likeable guy.
& this dude was busy watching the US play, so he missed out on our Saturday morning at the beach.I love how happy my grandad is about life.
& last, but not least, the best nail polish ever. Sold only in ABC stores.
I am so so so thankful to have these 2 as my grandparents. They are such an amazing couple, and serve as an excellent example of what a marriage should be. They are grateful for their time with their kids, grand kids, and most of all each other. They value life more than anyone I've ever met & cherish each day they have. That was the whole reason behind this trip. Nena and grandad wanted "all their chickens in the same basket."

During rush week my junior year of college my grandad got very, very sick. He was in the hospital for 6 weeks & for a while there we were unsure if he would make it. After switching doctors, hospitals, and finding a new medication that actually worked, grandad slowly got better. He still has set backs from his illness (he lost 3 of his fingers & 1 toe, he becomes short of breath very easily, and he can only walk a short distance due to his bad hip), but he always has the best demeanor. I am thankful for everyday that he is in my life.

"Everyday is a good day, some days are just better than others" --my grandad.

&&& I love my husband because he was hell bent on watching the US play soccer in Hawaii. He even drug Dr. Dad to the sports bar to watch with him.

HawaWHY? Because it was so fun!

I know it's been a VERY delayed process getting these pictures uploaded, but life has definitely caught up with us. Since we've been home we have been blowin' and goin' non stop (more on that later). I am going to try and knock these out today... We'll see how that goes.

So on our last full day on the island we rented another Jeep... & this time we got a red one. Codi says it's her dream car.

Mom had been wanting to drive up to Pali Lookout, since it was rated the #1 scenic point on Oahu.

& it was breath taking

& it made for an excellent photo op.
Then we headed to the Eastern side of Oahu. Which was absolutely gorgeous.
The waves crashing in...
Another amazing backdrop
Then we ventured to Hunuma Bay. Which was a bit over rated if you ask me. When you have to watch a 15 minute informational video before entering a beach it kinda kills the mood.
Chris & I enjoyed some good reads. I read Lauren Conrad's new book while he read a John Grisham novel.
Hello crazy hair...
Codi talked me into boogie boarding. It was actually really fun, probably because the waves were huge this day.

If you look closely my board was actually upside down. Awesome job, Shan.
We met Nene & Grandad at the Royal Hawaiian for lunch.& cocktails.
Codi & I got a tad-bit simpled out. & caused a scene at the hotel poolFriday night there was a street fair going on because of King Kamea Mea's birthdaySo we went to Jimmy Buffett's at the Beachcomber. It was like a Margaritaville, but with a different name. & yes, Grandad found a new girlfriends.
Dad wanted in on that
Hubbski.
We got conned into this...
& then it got worse. We had to dance alone.

while the audience judged us....
& even Nena did it. She was by far the best of any of us.

She shook it like a Polaroid picture.
Then we shopped at the flea market by our hotel & got lots of treasures to take home.

Japanese drummers.

&&& I love my husband because all week he carried around my silver sparkly beach bag without griping. What a winner.

Snorkel Trip & House Without a Key

So we woke up bright & early the next morning to travel to a nearby harbor & catch a catamaran for a family snorkel trip!We spent our morning at sea
enjoying the sunshine & smooth water. THANK GOODNESS it was smooth
We did a lot of chillin ... which Eddie is excellent at.& enjoyed the marvelous scenery, because nowhere is prettier than Hawaii.We even got to see lots of dolphins swimming free in the ocean.
Eddie estimated between 50-60 dolphins swimming around our boat.There were also some sea turtles After we enjoyed the wildlife we got geared up to go snorkeling. We were loving the awesome flippers they supplied us withAlmost as much as the neon green life jackets. Rad.

Even Grandad snorkeled!!

Our group!
Eddie was the first one in and last one out. But he did get to see stuff the rest of us missed. (an eel, a sea urchant & an octopus!) I tried to do the Titanic pose & Chris dissed me. Bum deal Our whole fam damily.
The Demere Fam.
Match-skis. Great minds think alike... or something like that.
When we arrived back at the hotel it was still mid-morning. So we relaxed, drank mimosas & read some gossip magazines.
Nena & Grandad had enough sun, so they got all prettied up and went out on the town to shopAfter getting our fill of the sun we got fixed up too & we went to the Halekenlani to eat at the House Without a Key.

The House Without a Key was by far my favorite place we ate at this trip. It was elegant, but low key, on the beach with live music & delicious food. I would definitely go back.

Also, the snorkel trip was great, but I would definitely recommend the afternoon trip rather than the morning one. (last time we were in Hawaii we took the afternoon trip) The afternoon trip takes you further around the tip of the island, while the morning one takes you only up the coast a little ways. Basically the secenery further up the coast is fabulous and we were sad do miss it. However, we did see way more dolphins on the morning trip than the afternoon one.

&&& I love my husband because he finally wore the awesome "vacation shirt" I got for him. & he looked adorable in it.