Scuba Diving

My very favorite thing to do in Hawaii was getting up early to run/walk on the beach.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  Preston liked to go with me.  Today it was just the two of us.  I loved it.  We had so much fun together.  This is my favorite picture from this morning.  Isn't that boy precious?  What a way to start off the Fourth of July!

Preston

I just had my phone, which I don't get great pictures on.  Especially when it isn't light outside, but you get the idea...

Preston

 Stephanie ~ taken by Preston

 Preston

 Stephanie

 Preston

This is the evil parking lot thing that tripped me on my first run.  My arm and knee still sting, but it is getting a lot better.  Not as stiff and I was able to play in the ocean today!

Preston with the evil white thing

 Preston

 Stephanie

 Preston told me to show my muscles!

 Selfies

 Preston

 Our shadows

 Preston & Stephanie

Preston crashed in the middle of these cinder blocks yesterday.  They were underwater and he didn't see them.  There was a little hole that he fell in.  Didn't hurt him too bad, but it was random.

Preston

 Our view

 Brett's half is close to us, our half is over by Preston

Mike, Maysen, Brett and I went scuba diving today.  Rachel played with the kids.  She took them miniature golfing and for pancakes.  Well, Stockton got chocolate chip pancakes, Preston m&m pancakes and Jorja got fried chicken.  Jorja kept asking to go back.  Anyway, back to scuba.  We got to the shop pretty early.  We had to fill out forms and wait.  When we finally got on the boat, we made two stops to pick up other people.  We then boated to our destination.  We were almost there when they realized there was some paperwork they forgot, so we had to turn around and go back.  Luckily half way there someone brought out the paperwork to us.  I started getting my gear on a little before we arrived at our spot.  The first thing was my shoes.  I felt something rubbery in mine.  Like a little ball.  I tried to feel around, but couldn't find it.  I thought I had it, but then lost it pretty quick.  I turned the shoe upside down and gave it a whack.  Out came a spider! GROSS! GROSS! GROSS!  I am not a big fan of spiders, but I'm not terrified of them, but this gave me the heebie jeebies!  I hate even thinking about it.  Shortly after it was time to get in the water.  All four of us jumped in.  Then everyone went straight down.  The water was a little colder than I was expecting.  I had my regulator in my mouth, but I could not get my breathing to calm down.  I don't know if it was because I was still creeped out about the spider or if it was the water or because I was wearing a wet suit that was kind of tight on my throat. Anyway, everyone went down except me.  Our guide came up and asked if I was okay.  In hindsight, what I should have said was, "I need a few minutes to get adjusted."  Instead I said, "I'm not going down. I'm going to stay up here.  I can't get my breathing under control."  I really think I would have been okay if I didn't need to immediately go under water.  I had told them that this was my first dive since I was certified and I was pretty nervous.  I guess no one took me seriously.  Mike and I went scuba diving on our honeymoon.  It was one of those quick introductory things.  When we went down, my goggles kept filling with salt water, no matter how many times I tried to clear it.  I had to go up early.  I became extremely claustrophobic and never wanted to do that again.  I have been nervous all the times I have done scuba in my classes, but my teacher was great.  I don't know if it was the salt water that made me freak out, but it was crazy how I could not stop breathing fast.  I ended up snorkeling while the others dove.  It wasn't the best snorkeling.  There wasn't much to see.  I did see a few fish and a turtle, but not too exciting.  It sounds like the other three had a great time, except for the part where Maysen got stung by a sea urchin.  The guide pulled out the nettles, but as Maysen was swimming she could see the green poison coming out of her fingers.  Poor girl!  When she got out of the water they had her put vinegar on her fingers to help dissolve the parts that were left inside her.

We drove a bit away to the next dive site.  I was planning on trying again, but Maysen didn't want to go, her fingers were hurting too much.  I decided to stay up with her.  Brett got sick on the way over. He threw up - a lot!  Poor guy.  I was laughing as I was taking pictures of him though.  Brett was a lot like Stockton growing up.  He got car sick really easily!  Brett and Mike went down the second time. Maysen and I snorkeled at the top.  The snorkeling was great this time.  We were swimming in the middle of hundreds of fish!  Literally!  It helped that a guy on the boat was throwing food in the water.

Brett

 One reason Brett is in the Air Force and not the Navy

 Mike

 Brett

Mike had the best time.  He giddily looked at me and said, "I think I'm hooked!"  I replied, "Really?  Because I was just thinking I hope I never have to do this again."  It's good to have separate hobbies.  At least I tried!

The rest of the day was spent playing in the waves.  Brett convinced Rachel to try scuba diving tomorrow.  She is going to go with her mom. Rachel tried to convince me to try again with her.  Nope.  I'm totally fine with how things played out.

We were hoping someone would be shooting off fireworks that we could watch from our cabin.  No such luck.  Rachel really wanted to see fireworks.  She hasn't seen fireworks for four years.  Brett didn't want to drive in traffic for them.  No fireworks for us this year.  Good thing Rachel will be close to DC next year.  I bet they will have some good ones!

Nothing

Mike drove the motorhome with all our kids and Max.  My dad and I drove home separately.  I stopped at Huntsman to see Heather.  She had her mastectomy yesterday.  She looked fantastic!  She was wide awake and very happy when I stopped by.  She was doing so well they were planning on releasing her from the hospital today.  I was in the hospital for a week!  Well, I had both surgeries at the same time and I got a fever so they wouldn't let me go home.  Anyway, she seems to have a pretty high tolerance for pain.  Many people told her to make sure she takes her pain medicine for the first few days, even if she thinks she doesn't need it.  I remember the first two months after my surgery as extremely painful.  It was so great to see her looking so well.  I'm so proud of her.

The most noticeable change to our house while we were gone is the upstairs bathroom.  The sink is gone and the toilet is out.  It looks pretty discussing right now.  Hope that won't last long.  I'm not sure what next week will be like.  I know Rob will be out of town for the entire week.

A few months ago we let Maysen quit piano lessons on the condition that she takes voice lessons.  She has been taking them for almost two months from Sister Newman who lives down our street.  They had a recital today.  Maysen sang, "Nothing" and did a really good job.  She was noticeably shaking for the last half of the song.  I was so worried for her!  You couldn't tell it in her voice though.  She sat down and whispered, "Did you notice me shaking?  I'm just glad I didn't fall over!"  What a good experience for her.

Maysen

My family came over for dinner.  Sloppy Joes.  We had the pool up and running.  Our heater is on the fritz, so it wasn't as warm as normal, but it wasn't cold at all.  The kids seemed to have a great time.

Matt and Anne

Our scuba certification cards came in today.  Mike picked them up along with a scuba tank.  He had ordered his BCD and regulator stuff already.  He gets really excited about things.  He had fun playing scuba in the pool with Jorja.  She was breathing off the alternate air supply.

Jorja & Mike

 Scuba Mike

I kept trying to get a good picture of Abby.  She has this beautiful smile. When I would ask her to smile she would squint her eyes.  Actually all the pictures are cute, so here you go....

Bubs & Abbs

 Abby

 She was a little nervous about the diving board

 Bubs and Abbs

 Matt and Anne

My dad has these weird giant bumps on his arms.  They remind me of giant hives.  He keeps scratching them.  I begged him to get some Benadryl on the way home.  I hope he did.  I hope it helps.  Matt, Mike and I played a game of Dominion.  Matt won.  That was disappointing.

Certified!

We got up bright and early this morning.  Preston looked so funny when I woke up.  We could fit a lot of people in the motorhome if they all slept like him!

Preston

We dropped off Jorja and Preston at my dad's house around 6:00 this morning.  He was waiting for them on the porch.  He fed them scones for breakfast.  I'm sure that was a hit!  It was raining when we got up to the crater.  First we had to do a compass course.  That was pretty fun. Then we were able to go inside.  Our first dive we had a few more skills we needed to pass off.  The thing I haven't liked is we have to do all these worse case scenarios.  I'm glad I know what to do if something goes wrong, but it is not very fun to practice.  I hate the full mask flood. We also had to go to the surface on one breath...like if we were out of air.  The last dive was more fun.  Our only skill we needed was the underwater compass navigation.  That was pretty fun.  Then we just got to explore.  The crater is pretty small, so there wasn't a whole lot to see.  It sure was warm though!  I loved that!

We stopped for sandwiches at Wasatch Back and then headed to my dad's house.  I picked up Jorja and Maysen.  Mike took Preston with him to Home Depot.  I dropped Maysen off at our house and took Jorja to Natalie's birthday party at the ice rink.  I watched until I felt okay leaving Jorja.  She got on the ice all wobbly.  Immediately her friends were there making sure she was okay.  Ella took her by the hand and skated with her for awhile.  I sure love Jorja's friends.  I am so sad they are splitting up these kids!

I was excited to see the floors when I got home.  There is now a pretty shine to them.  Beautiful!

 Preston

Mike and Preston picked up a boat at Home Depot and tried it out in the pool.  I'm not sure what they were doing, but they had fun.

Preston

Once Jorja got home from her birthday party I took her to Dallin's house.  They had invited Jorja over last week, but right before she was supposed to go there we got a text saying Dallin was throwing up.  Poor guy!  Jorja was so excited to go there.  She has had a busy day!  Once I got back from dropping her off we headed to Steve & Shannon's in the motorhome.  They let us hang out there and play with them since we couldn't really spend any time in our house.  Preston and Weston had a lot of fun playing together.  Here they are having a chair race.

Preston

Shannon took me to pick up Jorja.  She was busy playing with Dallin's rats.  Sounds like she had a great time.  She loved playing with their hammock in the basement.  It is hooked up to the ceiling.  They also walked a neighbors dog and earned ice cream sandwiches.

Jorja & Oreo

Mike, Steve, Weston and I played a card game.  Weston and Mike were pretty good, but Steve and I managed to win two hands.  Out of about ten.  Not too shabby.  (I know....very shabby....but whatever...)