Another new word!

Last night Taylor and I were reading a book to Preston about bubbles. Afterward he kept kaying "bubble". It was so cute. You had to be there. Taylor and I were so proud. I would clapp after each time he would say it. He was pretty proud as well. Preston only says hello, hi, bye, and a few other ones so bubble is very exciting.

The Cake!

We never really do cakes for birthdays since Taylor and I have been married. So we did a cake for Callie and I from Coldstone. It was called Chocolate Chipper with devils food cake, sweet cream ice cream and chocolate ganache. It was okay but not great. It wasn't very fancy. I am not a cake decorator at all.

Celebration for Callie

We had Callie open her presents. She got a Barbie from my parents and a scooter and some clothes. She was playing with a neighbors scooter last weekend and really liked it.

Happy 4th Birthday Callie!!

Callie turned 4 yesterday and it is crazy how time flys. I remember when she was a little baby. We are so glad she came into our family. She always seems to amaze me with her witty little comments. Here is a picture of Callie when she was 6 months and a video of her 1st birthday. Happy Birthday Callie.

Day 6 in Hawaii

I promise there are just a few more Hawaaii posts. Just a few odds and ends from other peoples cameras when we were't carrying ours. I miss Hawaii. I wish I were still there. We had so much fun and are definitely going to go back. I am standing next to a Rainbow Eucalyptus tree. I thought they were really cool looking. There are a couple different patterns.

Waterfall video

Here is a video clip of the waterfall. It isn't very long.

Waterfall hike continued

Day 5 in Hawaii

On Monday, which was Taylor's last day due to a conference in Fort Worth, we went on a 8 mile hike. We left early in the morning and started our hike at 9:00 a.m. We hiked 2 miles into a beach and then 2 miles to a beautiful waterfall. The beach we went to is called Hanakapia Beach. If you can't read the sign Taylor and I are standing next to, it says, "Hanakapia Beach Warning! Do not go near water, unseen currents have killed, (75 tick marks) visitors." Scary huh! We then hiked to the waterfall and ate our lunch there. It was quite chily while sitting next to the waterfall. Taylor's brother, Chase tested out the water and said it felt like 40 degrees. We then hiked back those 4 miles. On our hike back we took a wrong turn and got lost. I started to panick. I had a prayer and then after about 15 minutes we found the right way back. We forgot to cross back over this river. It was fun overall. Although the last 2 miles were killer because it was down these really steep rocks and we didn't were supportive shoes. We wore these water shoes so we didn't ruin our good shoes.

More Hawaii pictures

We went to this beach, which is the longest beach in the United States. I can't remember what it is called. We didn't really stay for very long because it was so windy we were getting sand blasted. The other two pictures are at our beach by our hotel.

German Stolen Bread

From the kitchen of: Leanda Hunt

When my mom was here visiting she showed me how to make this because I wasn't sure what the end product should look like. I have a picture so hopefully you can figure it out. This makes two large pizza pans. Take one to your neighbor or a friend, they are sure to love it. It tastes similar to a cinnamon roll.

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbs yeast
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs oil
5 cups flour
1/4 cup butter(1/2 stick) to share between to breads.

Mix first 3 ingredients, and then add the rest except the butter. May need to add extra flour. Nead in mixer for 5 minutes. Let rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size. Divide dough in thirds, and then divide dough into thirds again(making 6 equal parts). Melt the 1/2 cube of butter. Roll out 1 of the 6 equal parts onto counter. Press onto pizza pan. Brush the dough with butter and sprinkle with about 1/3 cup of topping. Roll out another piece of dough and place on top of the previous layer. Repeat butter and topping. Roll out third piece and place on top. Brush again with butter and topping. With round cookie cutter, or small glass mark center of dough. Cut outer circle into 16 equal strips with pizza cutter or knife(not cutting into circle, leaving 1/2 inch of uncut dough from the center). Twist each 16 parts 3 times. Continue all the way around facing the same direction. Repeat the process with remaining dough. Let rise once more for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Do Not Overbake!!

Topping

1 cup sugar
1 tsp. maple flavoring
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 tsp. cinnamon
combine ingredients in a bowl and with a fork stir until well mixed.

Struesel topping
1/2 stick butter
2-4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup milk to make a thin consistencey. Drizzle over warm bread.

Wildfire!

Yesterday Callie went out in the backyard to play and our neighbor was out there talking to her through the fence. Callie told me to come outside because there was a fire. We have mountains practically in our backyard and it was on fire. It was really scary. I don't think any homes were damaged. The weather has been dry and hot. We had small airplanes and helicopters flying all around our house trying to put out the wildfire. They did get it out but saw today firefighters out trying to prevent it from happening again.

Day 4 in Hawaii

Sunday was Day 4 in Hawaii. We went to church in the morning. When anyone got up to talk they said Aloha and the congregation says it back. We came back and took pictures outside our Hotel room because the landscaping was so gorgeous. There is also some pictures of the inside of our hotel room.

Dinner cruise continued

The last picture is of Kami pretending she is Rose from Titanic. I thought it was pretty funny. The others are scenic pictures of the Napoli Coast. If you look real close in the water you can see dolphins swimming near our boat on the first picture below.

Dinner Cruise

Saturday afternoon we went on a dinner cruise. When Taylor asked me if I wanted to go on a dinner cruise I had a big cruise ship in mind, white linen table cloths, waiters etc... The "dinner cruise" was more like deep sea fishing to me. The cruise was on a catamaran with about 25 people. Due to the "small boat" (smaller than the cruise liner I had in mind) I kind of felt sick on the way out. Anyhow- the purpose of the cruise was to see the Napali Coast. We viewed the coast on day 2 from the Waimea Canyon drive but wanted to see if up close from the water. The cruise was about 5 hours and the food was pretty good- salad, rice, chicken, pork, bread, and cookies. Remember the purpose of the cruise was to see the Napali Coast; however, on the return trip we were fortunate enough to see whales, dolphins, and sea turtles- all an unexpected treat. Just before we arrived back into shore we were able to watch the sun set which was beautiful. I have not watched many sunsets before. Just before the sun disappears the last color of light that you see is a green dot…pretty amazing.

Day 3 continued

This photo is of me and my brother-in-laws friend, Rachel. We are in front of the Hyatt where we did not stay but has such beautiful landscaping. We then took a walk over behind our hotel. We found some cool caves.

Day 3 in Hawaii

Saturday morning we drove to Wailua Falls and Ho'op'l Falls.