Maui

We had planned to take a ten year anniversary trip to Hawaii for some time.  It finally came around to that time and Jason and I decided to pick the islands, the time frame, and booked our vacation house after much deliberating.  Then, God laughed and we became pregnant with Carter after three long years of trying.  After all, He does indeed know the best timing ;)   I didn't feel comfortable leaving a four month old for the amount of time we were planning to stay on the islands (after all, for most folks it's a once in a lifetime trip, so you want to make sure you're there long enough!), so Jason talked with the house owner and we were able to procure the same amazing place for the same week the following year for the current market price.

Couldn't have asked for better timing...  We closed on the old house, lived in the hotel, moved into the new house, finished the school year, and BAM!  Time for a very much needed vacation!  I drove the kids down to Conroe so the grandparents would have a car (carseats already installed) and see the routine, then I had planned on flying back the next day.  What we didn't plan on was Tropical Storm Bill.  Unlucky me, they canceled my flight, delayed the next flight (then canceled, after I'd run across several terminals at IAH), and about then we gave up.  Plan B.  Big kisses to my dad for coming back to the airport to get me.  I felt horrible that it basically took up his entire day, but it was fun to have some treasured Dad time in the car as he drove me more than halfway back to Dallas.  In the meantime, to add to our fantastic "luck," Jason blew out a tire before even leaving Prosper/Frisco and had to get that replaced before meeting us to get me.

BUT we made it...  I managed to pack and make it to bed around midnight.  Steven was sweet enough to pick us up (we joked that he was our Uber driver) and drop us at the airport early the next morning and TS Bill didn't delay anything at DFW this time.  Happy couple, on the plane and ready to celebrate 11 years of marriage!!

The flight was wonderful and we ate, drank, watched movies, and napped.  Times like this seriously make me wonder what on Earth I did with all that time before we had kids and had to be "on" 24/7.  We arrived in Maui with no issues, shockingly not even a lost bag.  We grabbed our rental convertible and headed down the Hana Road.  Waterfall #1!  You definitely don't see these in Texas!!

We enjoyed the sights and continued on.  The timing was actually really great and we missed the early morning rush and the afternoon rush of folks headed back toward the airport area.

We'd eaten well on the plane and the time difference probably confused our tummies anyway, but from the guide book and reviews we'd read, it sounded like things close on 'Hawaii time' (translation: whenever they feel like it).  We began to worry that we may not end up eating dinner because we'd passed most of the places that might have meals, yet wouldn't reach Hana until places might be closed for the evening.  But we happened upon a little hippie grotto with several food trucks/impromptu restaurants that have seemingly been there for years.  It was hard to decide what to eat because it all sounded good... Thai, seafood, fruit...  A delicious, unexpected stop!

At the end of the day's journey, we were disappointed to find that our rental was pretty much a dump.  They were renovating the downstairs unit and we were staying in the upstairs.  Good enough for two nights, even w/o air conditioning (once it cooled down a bit).  The view was great and we enjoyed a rocky walk out on the "beach" our first night.

The condo/house had tons of potential and I'm sure it will fetch top dollar for its location once it's updated.  We had interesting chats with the two construction guys, one Lithuanian and one from the state of Georgia.  The Georgian gave us some lilikoi (passion fruit) off of a tree in the back...one of the weirdest fruits I've tasted in my life. I have to say...this place has a nice view!

We woke up early to try and catch a sunrise.  Even though we couldn't see the actual sun, it was an adventurous little hike and still beautiful.

Off to hike to the Haleakala Falls and the Seven Sacred Pools.  I couldn't resist climbing a huge banyan tree to get a picture for Reid.

 Bridge over the river, in the middle of the bamboo forest

The falls were breathtaking!  Amazingly, because it was so early, we didn't pass a single hiker until we were more than halfway back down the trail (and it was a long trail!!).  That made it all the more majestic.

Back at the bottom, a lot more folks were milling around the pools.  The parking lot was now pretty full (unlike when we'd arrived...first ones!) and it was nice to have a mid morning snack as we admired the view.  I even found and cracked open my own coconut, which was quite delish!

It was great to stay in Hana because we could drive up and down the coast as we pleased, without having to worry about the rush of getting back before it was dark on that crazy road.  Some other sights we enjoyed...  A red sand beach, where we noticed a little food place we'd seen signs for that is only open on Thursdays.  Boy, were we glad we stopped for lunch--delicious and reasonable Thai-type food!  Apparently it's very popular and once he runs out of something, that's it. 

We hiked several other places and saw more beautiful sights.  There wasn't much down time because we wanted to see everything!

At the black sand beaches, there are also sea caves.  We weren't brave enough to swim in them, but it was fun to watch others jump in.

On our last evening, we went in search of a very elusive red sand beach.  The trail head to get there was hard to find, but we finally managed to make it there.  This was a steep, trecherous, gravelly trail and we saw several groups turn back. 

 It was well worth it... gorgeous!  There were only a few people there, including a nude hippie couple with their baby.  Interesting.  Amazingly, of all the places on Maui, this remote spot was the one place we could get a cell phone signal, so we called to chat with my folks and Reid as waves crashed in the background.  It was good fish watching, too.  I'm not sure how those little guys don't get crushed with the waves and rocks, but God takes care of even them.

On our final morning in Hana, we tried to watch the sunrise back at the Seven Sacred Pools.  The cliffs kind of blocked it, but it was amazing being the only people there.

Instead of backtracking to the other side of Maui, we decided to take the Hana Road all the way around the island.  Not for the faint of heart!

But despite the sheer cliffs (with broken guard rails), unpaved portions, and dangerous blind curves, it was well worth it.  This beautiful little church was amazing.  Our car (a convertible Camaro) very nearly didn't make it down the rocky, pothole ridden "road" and we were quite scared that we'd ripped open the bottom of the car, but it was too late to go back.  We were also very concerned we wouldn't get back up the road since it was semi slick with morning dew.  But Someone was watching out for us!

We saw all sorts of wildlife on the arid side of the island.  These cows refused to move off of the road.  The main bull stared us down as we inched forward and we were a bit afraid he might ram the car...

It was amazing to see how different one island can be... From rainforest on one side to near desert conditions on the other.

 Back into some more tropical area, then into the uplands as we drove into a cloud.  It was very chilly!  We explored the beautiful Ali'i Kula lavender farm (more like a botanical garden, almost) and as the clouds down below began to burn off, the view became even more spectacular.

I have never, ever seen some of the trees and plants we looked at, like this crazy upside-down looking tree!

We also stopped at a tiny winery, Ulupalakua Vineyards, along the way. We did a small tasting and nearly missed the most notable wine...their pineapple wine.  Sounds gross, right?  Wrong!  It was the most delicious of the group (and their most popular) and we bought a bottle to enjoy on our last night in Hawaii.

 Back to Paia, where we'd begun our journey a few days before.  Several people had raved about Mama's Fish House as being the best meal of their life, and we found out they had a little inn on site, too.  We literally booked our reservations for the meal an entire year in advance!  I wasn't expecting too much of the inn, but it was perfect.  Clean, beautiful, within walking distance...complete with a set of happy anniversary swans.

We enjoyed the air conditioning, then headed out to explore the little town.  It was a quaint, quirky place.  Lots of hippies and tourists.  We did have our first sea turtle sighting.

But we were most excited to get back to our little bungalow to freshen up and enjoy our 10th anniversary (a year late!) dinner at Mama's Fish House.

We had a huge, circular booth all to ourselves.  It was a nice view...we'd just hoped for a spot near the edge so we could see the sunset.  But the booth was nice and the atmosphere great.  Too bad we couldn't say the same for our very lazy server.  Not sure how she'd made it at this top notch place because all the other servers were fabulous.

We had to enjoy the iconic mai tai.  Yum!

Dinner was scrumptious and they even had a personalized card to wish us a happy 10th anniversary, complete with yummy dessert.  We enjoyed walking around the grounds afterward, barefoot in the sand and enjoying the view via torch light and moon.

 The next morning, it was time to island hop to our main destination of Kauai.  Goodbye, Maui!  God outdid himself with your beauty and we hope to return someday.

New House!

We weren't planning on moving so soon, especially with Carter being so young.  But as all these corporate headquarters began moving into North Dallas, the housing market was getting crazier and crazier.  We were also up to our eyeballs in toys and baby stuff at the Rancho house.  Jason finally talked sense into me and basically said, "It's now or never!"  Boy, was he right.  If we were to attempt to purchase our exact house today (versus when this started, in November), it's already gone up at least $150K!!!  No way would we ever be able to afford it.  When we began the house hunt last October, we prayed and prayed that God would show us just the right thing for our family.  We wanted a great neighborhood that's safe, family-friendly, and had more than just your run of the mill "stuff."  We actively looked (especially Jason, who would check out some of the neighborhoods online or in person since he wasn't carting two kids around) and on the weekends, we'd go visit neighborhoods.  Most of the we could rule out right away for this or that (too expensive, too poorly built, too far, too weird), and most of the existing houses were being snatched up before you could even make an appointment to look at them.  At the end of one very long day, we happened upon Windsong Ranch in Prosper and on a whim we decided to check it out.  Nothing was here yet except the models and the amenity center.  We chatted for quite some time with the salesperson at the first model we visited and you could tell this neighborhood just had more.  We visited two more of the models and the kids were tired, hungry, and getting cranky.  But on the way home, I think we both realized this might be it.  We looked at floor plans, researched the area and neighborhood, number crunched, visited some more neighborhoods, and realized we were sold.  Our wonderful friend/realtor helped us out and we got started on the process...and signed one cold November evening.

The floor plan we chose only had one house in the entire north Texas region.  Thankfully, it happened to be in our neighborhood, so we walked it to be sure it was indeed what we'd pictured and we fell in love with it.  That house became what we did every weekend!  We'd go check it out, hike on the walking/biking trails, walk through other houses, and dream about the day ours would begin being built.

 

Our dirt!

Framing

 

Slab poured

The other house that was our plan was really taking shape.  It was fun to check on it and see what we did/didn't like.  It was all in grey tones and we preferred earth tones, but some of the choices were beautiful, like the granite.

We also loved some of the details in the bathroom and kept them in mind as we made our selections.  We'd never gotten to make so many of the choices in a house, even though we've previously built two.  After hearing the design center was pretty overwhelming, we made a "pre" visit before our scheduled four hour visit. 

The house was coming along nicely and got framed.  Knowing our (lack of) luck, we fell through the cracks and didn't get called to be scheduled.  Thankfully, Jason made it clear that we had to get into the design center before school started back after the Christmas break because all my sick days had been used between the appendectomy and sick kids.  Laura and the boys were here visiting, and she graciously agreed to watch them while we met with the designer. 

Our designer was a tremendous help.  Oddly enough, most of our selections were not upgrades!  We were very excited about that!!  The hardest thing was choosing tile.  You just don't know how it will look with a whole floor of it. 

But once everything began going in, we got soooo excited!  It looked beautiful and we had something to look forward to amongst all the craziness of packing.

 

 

 

This guy was most excited about his "secret hideaway" under the stairs.  It's what he would check on every time we came to the house.

 

I need to take pictures now that we're all in and settled.  It's exactly what we wanted and are so thankful for God's timing and provision.  So far our two kiddos are loving it as much as we are. We look forward to making lots of memories in this house, and we hope to not move again for a VERY long time!!