A family portrait...

This is our little family through Elise's eyes.  She drew this at school and one of her teachers labeled us, but I think it's pretty obvious who's who. : ) In the photo below, she said this is a "mouse holding a flag" to celebrate the Fourth of July.  We are getting excited for Elise and Elijah to start school in a couple of weeks!

Twilight chocolate fondant cake...

I experimented with a marshmallow fondant recipe for my young cousin's 14th birthday...  She's a fan of Twilight - is it obvious?  Tragically, non of the decorations were edible - not even the apple! Hilarious, right?  I enjoyed making it, even if the chocalate marshmallow fondant / chocolate buttercream frosting didn't taste as good as my sister's homemade (carrot cake/cream cheese frosting/white chocolate marshmallow fondant) wedding cake.  I will keep practicing until I can create an asethetically pleasing AND delicious cake.  I think the amount of black food coloring may have affected the taste a bit.  However, my cousin was pleased with it, so it made all the hard-work worth it.  (It's shiny because I used Crisco to roll it out.)

Lucky Shot

One the way home from visiting with my mom, we stopped at Hapuna Beach along the way.

I love how this captures Elise mid-jump - suspended in time for eternity.

Mini-Vacation in Kona

We love when my mom comes to Kona to work in the Temple.  It was so relaxing visiting with her at the resort that she was at.  Lovely and peaceful, lounging in the pool and pretending that we lived there.    These pictures were taken with our phone, so they are slightly blurry.

This place they were staying at was fancy and comfortable.  Because they were travelling with kupuna (elderly), they got upgraded to a big 2 bedroom / 2 bath room on the ground level - sweet!  This room had a huge kitchen, a dining room and a washer/dryer.

My mom is super generous.  She is the kind of woman who would literally give you the shirt off her back if you needed it.  We always leave her with triple the amount that we came with.  The kids loved seeing their "Maui Grandma."  

My mom offered to watch them so that Aaron and I could go to a session at the temple together, and then go out for a kind of pre-anniversary dinner.  Ono local kine grinds!  Thank you so much, Mom!  (Don't worry - I exercised some restraint and brought my mom back part of my dinner - didn't eat it all even though I was tempted. : )

The kids didn't miss us at all, and why would they with this huge bathtub to play with while we're gone?

No trip is complete without a photo op - Elijah hamming it up with Grandma. The next morning, my mom and I got to go to the temple together and all the sweet temple workers kept saying:  "I thought you two were sisters!"   Isn't my mom youthful and lovely?

Lovely ladies.