Here are pictures of the black sand beach we walked down to, a view from the hotel and Nathan jumping off the rope swing.

Pearl Harbor

Devin, Ja and I had a 10-hour layover in Oahu the day before we returned to Utah. We decided to go over to Pearl Harbor and take a look around. The harbor is so peaceful now, it was hard to imagine the total chaos that happened on December 7, 1941. We got to see the U.S.S. Arizona which was bombed and sunk to the bottom of the harbor. The picture has all the names of the people that died that day on the U.S.S. Arizona. It was really sad to see letters from wives and girlfriends written to the soliders saying, "We can't wait to see you in a few months," or "Can't wait to hear back from you." Those families weren't able to say goodbye. In the middle of this we ran into some friends, the Wests, from Utah, we had no idea they would be there. That was fun. Devin, Ja and I then went on the U.S.S. Missouri battleship. That was pretty cool to see in what small quarters the Navy has to live in. We did get a picture of the huge canons. It's hard to imagine how loud those would be when firing. And to think when Japan was bombing the harbor there were multiple bombs and canons shooting. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the ship but it was pretty cool. Tiny rooms, tiny beds, tiny storage, tiny offices. Part of the ship was like a little musem with artifacts from soldiers. All in all it was a fun layover. If you ever get a chance to see Pearl Harbor it's a trip worth taking.

These are the huge canons. Notice how little the people are in the background.

Our dream come true!

He did it! Ja got into BYU's accounting program! We couldn't be more excited. The day Ja found out he called everyone he knew and told them the good news. He was so excited he went and bought his books 2 months early! So this fall Ja will be starting classes in the #2 accounting school in the nation. We've been waiting for that day for two years. Thank you all for your many prayers. We are so grateful for this opportunity. Whenever Ja remembers he's in the accounting school he looks at me and says, "Laura I'm going to be an accountant!" with a huge smile on his face.

Christmas Break 2006

Instead of taking us to Yosemite again the Seymour family decided to let us scrape their ceiling instead. We offered to help them, we didn't know it would take so long. If any of you are thinking about doing this here is a word of advice: Use the metal scraper! It works so much better. What a good way to spend a vacation huh?

Happy Birthday and Blessing

For my 21st birthday we were able to celebrate with the DeVore family because we were down in CA for Henry and Caleb's baby blessings. All of the uncles were able to be in the circle to bless the babies. Even though it was only for a weekend it was fun to be in CA and to be with the family.

Wedding Dress Party

This may sound crazy, but we had a wedding dress party! Since most of us in our ward are newlywed's we had a party to show off our favorite dress. This way we got to wear it more than once. My friend Erin and I hosted the party and we were excited so many girls showed up. We even had a wedding cake, a photographer and a red carpet so show off our dresses!

St. George Trip

We took a weekend trip down to St. George with our friends, Andrew and Chelsey Jones. We went to the St. George temple, played tennis, went swimming, watched a movie and took a day trip to Las Vegas. We had a lot of fun.

Golf, Golf, Golf

This summer was the summer of Ja improving his golf game. He went about once a week with his Uncle Steve then four or five times with his friends. The Elders Quorum even had a golf championship. Ja was able to enjoy his birthday golf clubs. He eventually got better at the end of the summer. Ja also took a trip to Midway, UT to go golfing with Jason Roberts while I went shopping with Jason's wife Katelyn. If we aren't shopping Katelyn and I ride along in the cart and the guys would let us drive.

Maui

The DeVore family took a family vacation to Maui this summer. Ja and I were only able to go for half the week while the rest of the fam stayed the whole week. Even though we were only there for a few days we still had a blast. Our hotel had a kiddie pool with a pirate ship that the kids loved to play in. Brigham got Ja to go in a few times. Brigham thought it was fun to pull Uncle Ja on the "skateboard." We were able to go snorkeling, to a black sand beach, and on a fun Sunday drive. It's wonderful to walk into the ocean and the water is warm! The waterfall was amazing, we felt like we were in the jungle! All in all we had a great time and were really sad to go back to Utah and school.

We're weren't in Provo anymore

Just a few miles up the Provo Canyon there is a ski resort named Sundance. During the summer you can ride up the ski lift and walk down the mountain. We did this with Ja's uncle Steve and aunt Kathy because Ja's cousin was working there. It was so pretty up there. We didn't feel like we were in Utah anymore but in the mountains of Austria. We almost started singing doe a deer, a female deer.

Ward Campout

Our first ward campout was quite a hit. We made some new friends while playing croquet and had a great time. Our campsite was right next to a river so we fell asleep to rushing water.

Our apartment is leaking!

One holiday Marel Stock and I were watching a movie and during a break I walked into the kitchen only to walk into a big puddle. Where was this water coming from? I hadn't been cooking, taking a bath or anything. I go into the bathroom to get some towels to clean up and find water is all over the bathroom floor too! Water is even leaking out of our electrical sockets and coming out behind our medicine cabinet! Our bathroom and bedroom window had water flowing down from the ceiling. I run upstairs to see if their toilet is leaking only to find they are having the same problem. The third floor was the culprit. They had no idea any of this was going on, their bathroom was perfect. Luckily the water stopped after a while and the rest of the night was spent disinfecting our kitchen and bathroom. Well, after we went to a BBQ of course, it was a holiday after all.