Hawaii 2010

Our Awesome Swimming pool!

We enjoyed many hours laying out by this massive gorgeous pool

This is a beautiful courtyard on the hotel grounds.

There were a couple of black head swans and some cute ducks

wandering around.

Of course there were beautiful flowers everywhere!

There were several hammocks throughout the grounds

Casey's best totem pole pose :)

This is the beach that is right outside the Marriott

I love this picture. Casey is smiling so nicely! I think

the dark silhouette of the palm trees looks beautiful.

Eating at Portifinos and enjoying the view!

This beach was gorgeous. The sun was setting

and there were surfers everywhere. I do not love

this picture of me but I think Casey's look is especially lovely!

The gang at the 4 mile mark of our 8 mile hike.

We all look a little rough!

Hanakapiai Falls

The views and scenery on the hike were stunning.

This picture is my favorite of the whole trip. I've

swallowed my pride and posted it (lets be honest

I look like a weirdo) Casey's face is priceless! We were

facing into the sun and the squint factor was in full force.

Oh how I love Hawaii! Casey and I were able to go to Kauai the first week of May. We joined his parents and his sister Cari and her husband Jason. We stayed at the Marriott and enjoyed every minute of it.

We went on a beautiful hike to Hanakapiai Falls. It is an 8 mile hike round trip. 4 miles into the Falls and then 4 back to the start. I'm pretty sure that's the longest and most beautiful hike I have ever been on. I was absolutely filthy and should have planned better for photo opportunities. We woke up extremely early and I opted for no make up and a braid. (not my best look) Parts of the hike were a little tricky. We had to cross the river several times and grapple on some steep rock inclines but all in all it was a nice easy hike! I loved it!

The rest of the time we just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine and refreshing ocean air! We ate many incredible meals and delicious desserts. ( my favorite was a delicious carrot cake with the most amazing cream cheese/butter cream frosting I've ever tasted)

I've been to all the major Islands now and I'm thinking Kauai is my new favorite. I love them all for the different beauty and fun they have to offer but Kauai is the epitome of what I think Hawaii should be ;) I cannot wait to go back!

Easy Cute Headbands

I was watching Studio Five one morning and they were making these cute necklaces out of metal washers. I loved the necklace idea but even more than that I loved the cute fabric flowers that were pinned to some of the necklaces. I researched some blogs and finally found an instructional post on how to make the flowers.

They are super easy to make and I thought they would be darling on a headband. If you know me well you know I have quite the impressive collection of headbands ;) I have been obsessed with making them for a few months now!

From sun to snow to torrential rain in less than a day....oh the joys of traveling the country

I enjoyed some fabulous pool time in Santa Barbara yesterday. I went out to the pool around 5 pm and enjoyed the 70+ degree warmth for a few glorious hours. Just over twelve hours later I touched down in Denver to nearly a foot of snow and temperatures in the twenties! What the what?

I am in Arkansas now and I am soaking wet! I went for a walk in a comfortable 59 degree climate and after a 20 minute walk and an hour in Barnes and Noble I decided to make the trek back to my hotel. It looked pretty gray outside but I figured I could make the 20 minute walk back before the rains came. Uh.....I was wrong. Lets just say that It's a good thing I wear a padded bra! I pretty much look like I decided to take a shower with my clothes on.

Call it a perk or call it a curse; different time zones and different climates in just around 24 hours! I'm off to sit in the jacuzzi to warm my drenched body.

Matte about you

I'm in love with this new product by Essie. I love keeping my nails nicely polished and I am all about new and trendy colors. Having a "matte " finish on your nails is a big trend right now and Essie makes this top coat that turns any glossy color into a matte finish! It is so cool and works so fast. I think my favorite thing about it is that once you put it on it takes about 30 seconds to dry and then your good to go. You can touch your nails and not get any nicks!

Grrrrr.....

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Honestly I am finding it very hard to wipe the scowl off of my face. Its ridiculous really and thinking about it and writing down on my blog is actually making me smile. What a sour puss i've been for the last few days. Everything is irritating and too loud and too bright and too lame. Ha! I seriously need to lighten up. I think Casey is afraid of me. (sorry honey I do love you but do you really have to wear your ski helmet at the breakfast table? On any other day this would make me smile. )

I am still in pain from my darn tooth surgery and I want to blame my ornery mood on this fact but frankly that's just an excuse. I am choosing this behavior and I need a spanking. A good kick in the pants is what I need and a total attitude adjustment. My life is amazing. Wonderful husband, nice place to live, great job, fabulous family, really awesome friends, a ghetto booty that won't quit, etc. I really am so blessed and need to get off of my high horse and settle down. This is my public apology to any one who has suffered from my foul mood! The grump is officially leaving the building and Little Miss Happy Pants is here to stay!

Oh boy oh boy!

Ha that title kinda makes it sound like I am announcing a bun in the oven. Nope still no babies. It's actually just how I've been feeling lately! Just busy and sometimes overwhelmed. In my last post I promised pictures.... that clearly didn't happen. I was sick for my whole 4 day trip and pretty much just slept the entire time.

When I got done with that trip Case and I started babysitting for a family in our ward. We babysat from Friday the 8th to Saturday the 16th. It was a long week but the kids were darling and for the most part everything went really smoothly. Casey left for the annual Bacon Beaver Creek Ski Trip on Thursday so I had the kids for a few days by myself. I've decided I like parenting a whole lot better with a helper. :)

Saturday night after I left the McGees my mouth started hurting and I had a really bad headache. I woke up many times that night from a severe toothache. I took some ibuprofen and hoped it would get better fast. After suffering through church and another sleepless night I decided to call in sick to work and go to the Dentist. I haven't been to the dentist in many years (like 12....how horrible is that?) Needless to say things weren't exactly perfect in my mouth. Dr. Call decided to extract one of my wisdom teeth (the one giving me problems) right there on the spot. It was quite the experience. The tooth didn't want to come out and I was getting a little anxious. ( it is so not fun to be awake for that whole process) It came out finally and they sent me on my way! I am not feeling better though. My mouth is still killing me :( I'm sure it's just from all the digging around to get my tooth out. Man I am not a big fan of dental work.

I am sitting at home by myself in pain and missing my husband (he gets home tomorrow) So I am trying to keep myself busy so I don't think about the pain.

Here are the pictures I promised. They are just some of my favorites from Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are quite a few....sit back and enjoy!

Case and I in Vegas for Thanksgiving

Case and I eating at the Encore. He surprised me with a
fabulous room on the top floor of the Encore!

Enjoying a Black Tie Sunday at Serendipity

Serendipity is such a cute girly place ;)

All of the nieces and nephews! Love these kids.

Miss Lily! She is such a doll!

Bekah did a beautiful job on the tables

Miss Hannah! I sure love that smile

The delicious spread

The "under six club"

This picture is not the best but I had to show off
Lily's darling outfit.

Jeff's girls adore Casey. You could always
find one of them snuggled up to him.

Casey's makeover. Chloe and Alexis worked him
over quite nicely.

All of us dressed in white at the Vegas Temple
after Taylor went through for the first time.

If you look closely at Casey he has a very charming
look on his face.....uh

I had a dinner party at my house for Relief Society.
I loved how the table turned out.

Our gingerbread house :)

Casey chillin in his gift from Kim and Mat

Christmas morning at Grandma Chrispy's

Casey loved his giant stocking filled with goodies!

My beautiful new piano

Sledding at Thanksgiving point

All bundled up :)

The cutest snowbunnies I know

Baby Jason wasn't too impressed with sledding

Uncle Tyler built a ramp for the kiddies

Miss Hailey caught some great air

Jason is Casey with blue eyes. It's crazy how much they
look like each other.

Baby Blakely on her blessing day

Suffering with holiday withdrawl!

I am excited for a new year and new adventures but boy am I sad the holiday season is over. Case and I have been super busy partying it up with family and friends and as a result I have been very lax about blogging. I have tons of pics and fun things to share and update but alas I am starting a very busy work week this week so we'll see if any pictures get added.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Vegas this year with my entire fam! It's always wonderful to get together with all of my brothers and sisters and their darling families. Case and I had never been to Jeff and Bekah's new place in Henderson and we had not met the newest member of the Martin clan...little miss Lily! Casey is smitten by little Lily! It's impossible not to be. She is so happy ALL THE TIME! She has the most infectious smile and the sparkliest eyes. We had tons of delicious food and a very crazy (to say the least) family photo session. Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! Thanks to my brothers and sisters and the joy they bring into my life!

Casey's sister Cherie had a beautiful baby girl the first week of December. Blakely Pyper Barton is a beauty and such a sweet baby. She is so well behaved and I have enjoyed that precious new baby joy every time I am around her.

Christmas was fabulous this year. It always comes and goes way too fast. Casey surprised me this year and got me a beautiful electric piano. I am in Love! I have been wanting a piano for ages so it was quite an emotional morning for me. I love that man of mine! We spent Christmas Eve and morning at Casey's parents house. We enjoyed watching Maddie and Hailey marveling over Santa and his goodness. We also got to talk to Elder Bacon briefly Christmas morning.

Chris and Melia flew in from Cali on Christmas night and Case and I picked them up from the airport. We enjoyed some sledding and some great food and we got to see Sherlock Holmes (great little flick ;)) We enjoyed some game night time with the old crew. It was nice to catch up with everybody. Blakely was blessed on the Sunday after Christmas. More delicious food and fun family time.

New years eve Case and I went to see Avatar. Its pretty sweet. I loved the effects. I've never seen anything like it. We brought in the new year by watching a little sports center and then straight to bed at about 12:15! We are so exciting!

This post is pretty boring without pictures so I'll try and add them this weekend. Happy New Year to all of you bloggers out there! Enjoy 2010 and all it has in store.