What felt like a minute in Maui...

I really feel like the luckiest girl to have a husband who always encourages me to join him on business trips and parents who are always willing to come watch the kids for us so I can go! So when Jack asked me a week before Christmas if I'd be up for joining him in Maui on business in January, there was absolutely no hesitation...of course I would! Being it takes 15 hours of travel and a five hour time difference to get there I told him we'd somehow need to turn this into more than a business trip, especially if we were going to fly my parents all the way out here to watch the kids. So indeed we did. It's never easy for me to leave the kids behind because although I know they are in good hands with my parents, I naturally think of all these terrible things that could happen to Jack and I, particularly related to the plane... but thankfully all went well, no lives were lost, my parents still have their sanity and I got to spend over a week in paradise with my hubby during what normally feels like the most depressing month of the year!

Being we arrived so late, this is what we woke up to our first morning and what we'd see each night as the sun went down...



Unfortunately this view wasn't enough to keep me stress free that first day. My phone had decided to die in the Seattle airport on our way over. Seriously, the worse timing ever. Jack was smart enough to see I wasn't going to be able to relax and enjoy the vacation without my phone so he insisted on getting me into town to pick up a new one that first morning. Thankfully T Mobile had a loaner phone they gave me until I figured out if I indeed needed a new phone or not. It's hard to believe that just three years ago I didn't even have a texting plan and now I can't live without texting. It truly felt like my lifeline to my kids, their activities, and the world had been disconnected. But once we got that taken care of I was in true vacation mode! Jack had no work engagements for those first few days and we were both looking forward to some snorkeling and sun! That first weekend we headed out to Honolua Bay first thing in the morning and caught the 'Honolua Mens Open' surf tournament which was really a fun scene. We had such a nice time that we returned first thing the next morning to see what was going on. Sure enough a bunch of locals were taking advantage of the huge swell that had swept across the west side of the island the past few days. It worked out great because there was no way I was getting in that water to snorkel with the waves like they were so instead we enjoyed our muffins while watching the surfers from above.




We have only been to Maui a couple other times and the most recent trip was probably eight years ago so it almost felt like we were visiting a new place. The only places I had clear memories of were Kaanapali, Wailea, snorkeling Molokini and biking down Haleakala. This trip though was about pure relaxation so aside from golf, we had nothing planned and no excursions booked! We spent the majority of our days visiting various beaches and snorkeling spots I had researched ahead of time. I had been a bit nervous about January weather as we had never been this time of year but it was picture perfect throughout the trip. The swell however, caused some not so friendly snorkeling conditions but that didn't stop Jack from still getting in to check things out even when I was a bit too scared. We did find a few places that were decent and we both agreed that during calmer surf conditions the reefs would probably be quite nice. We may not remember seeing a whole lot of fish on this trip but we will remember all the whale sightings we saw from the shoreline, and the super sized turtles we encountered. We even unknowingly captured the sound of whales singing on our video footage while taping a turtle we were snorkeling with.



What do you know, this is Hawaii's state fish, the reef triggerfish!



One of Jack's business appointments was with Maui Jim, so we spent an hour in their office in Lahina learning about the company and their culture and getting a tour of their quarters there. As big fans of their sunglasses, it was nice to learn how great of a company they indeed are.



After our visit to Maui Jim it was off to golf at the Kapalua Plantation Course. By far this is the nicest course I have played on. Granted I've only played on like six and the majority were public but still, being the PGA was here the week before I'm assuming many other people think it's pretty nice! We had a great time with one of Jack's colleagues Judy and her boyfriend Tom! Aside from Jack not being very happy with his game, it was a good time. When we arrived it was gorgeous but later in the day they warned us weather was on the way and sure enough in the distance you could see the low clouds. We took this opportunity to head into the clubhouse and enjoy some lunch before heading back out. Sure enough it cleared right up and just as we got to the last hole the clouds and mist returned. What a great place to spend the day!



During one of the cocktail receptions Jack and I attended, I was able to capture this photo of the nightly cliff diver jumping off Black Rock. I'm not quite sure what the fuss is over it but apparently he draws crowds from all up the Kaanapali beach. One of the other attendees even asked me to send her my photo. So there you have it...lol! Usually in the evenings we'd grab dinner in Kaanapali or Lahina. I never get tired of having someone else cook dinner for me. We didn't make it back to Mama's Fish House on this trip but we did make it to the Lahina Grill which had great food and some of the best service we've ever had in a restaurant. You really can't go to Lahina either without taking a photo of the Banyon tree grove. I didn't even get the main tree in my photo but thought all the vines hanging were so cool. I can guarantee Ty would have never obeyed this sign...haha!




I can't post without including a photo of our beloved beach chairs. Jack recommended we grab a couple beach chairs our first day in Maui to make our beach visits more comfy. We were lucky enough to find some at the grocery store near our hotel. They turned out to be the best investment ever...yes, investment because you bet I showed up at the airport in Maui with them and had Delta check them with the rest of our bags! Granted they ended up in Atlanta at one point even though we never did (nor did the rest of our bags) but a day later they finally reached our doorstep. Thank you Delta! Clearly "priority bags" indeed means priority bags because the chairs were the only things not labeled as priority and they were the only things that ended up going home a different route than us... lol!



Maui you were sure good to us! I was able to meet a new friend at the pool whose husband was attending the same conference. She happened to be from the Seattle area and is also LDS. We exchanged info, became FB friends and if it turns out Jack returns to the conference again next year, I'll perhaps join him to meet up with her. We said this could be the start of a new annual meet-up! As much as I still prefer Oahu as my favorite island, we will definitely make a point to return here again! We have our snorkel spots mapped out and are already missing the delicious banana pudding and pesto chicken sandwich from the 808 Deli in Kihei!!!



Couldn't have done it without these two... Love you both!

Hello 2016!

Well, we are almost done with January already and it feels like just yesterday we were ringing (or should I say blowing) in the new year! :)



Although we had a wonderful time celebrating with the Hayes', our hearts were all heavy thinking about our friends the Denisoff's and poor Michelle who had lost her sweet mom earlier in the day to a heart attack and wasn't able to make it. Our prayers continue with their sweet family in hopes that this new year brings them much peace.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." At least that's what I keep telling myself...

Although we had a fabulous Christmas I can't say it was one of my least stressful ones! Shopping for family, teachers, bus drivers, Jack's direct reports and many others to putting together our annual holiday note and Christmas card to planning menus for when family arrives into town is busy but expected. Compounding that with the unexpected is when the season can really start to feel overwhelming like when you accidentally agree to host a holiday social at your house the same night your kids are performing in their holiday concert at the school or when your car decides to not start in the Target parking lot on your first official holiday shopping day. After an unsuccessful attempt by Roadside Assistance to jump it, it was clear this was not a battery issue. I finally had to call a tow company who late that night towed it to the dealer. Of course when the dealer called the next morning they stated after two tries it started right up. Somehow we still managed to end up with a $1600 bill... Lesson learned: Don't be such a softy with the service manager and hope future break downs will occur when Jack is in town...



Next up was LUX's annual holiday event at the Cinci Zoo's Festival of Lights. Jack missed out on this last year so I was excited for him to see it since after all he's responsible for it even happening. But after spending almost two hours in traffic trying to get somewhere that should only take 40 minutes, and circling around all the parking lots before finally being allowed into a parking lot that wasn't full we all questioned if we'd be up to the task ever again! Lesson learned: Go at 4, just before it gets dark and before all the crowds arrive! That had been Jack's plan but I talked him into going later when the lights would look prettier...big mistake!!! By the end of the night and after a trip to the gift shop we all kept telling ourselves it was all worth it...haha!



Then there was the devastation that struck the Roddy home when Sage found this gem of evidence in the guest bedroom...



You ask what that is? Well it happens to be an empty sheet of Christmas labels that mistakenly didn't get thrown away. Mrs. Clause was feeling so on top of things having wrapped most of the gifts the week before Christmas but unfortunately in her haste to be quick she was a bit sloppy and left this with a stack of unused labels. Sage approached me one afternoon while wrapping her own gifts asking me what it was. When I quickly responded it was an empty sheet of holiday labels she went on to point out that with her X-ray vision she could read what the original labels had said on them "Dear Sage, Love Santa" and wondered why Santa would be using our labels. Lesson learned: Never ever share the truth about Santa until your kids are certain they know the truth!! Turns out her questioning wasn't because she doubted at all. I'm still mad at myself for coming clean when I didn't need to especially after having to see her cry all night over the devastating news...

Then, the day all my family was to arrive into town Ty dislocated his knee at swim practice. After X-rays and an MRI we were thankful that no surgery was needed. He continues to have the worse timing with his injuries.

But in amongst all the craziness we encountered this holiday season, we were also provided with wonderful opportunities to perform acts of kindness. Although at times I did feel like I had taken on more than I really had the time for, I quickly reminded myself how selfish that seemed considering how blessed as a family we are. Here are some photos from Christmas Eve morning when we were providing breakfast for families at the Ronald McDonald House.





As we were returning home from our time there I was reminding the kids how thankful we should all feel that we get to be the ones performing the service rather than being in the shoes of some of these poor families at the Ronald McDonald House who were spending their holiday in a room far away from their homes praying their child would be healed or someday be lucky enough to return home healthy again. We could someday be in their same shoes as one never knows what challenges lie ahead but for now we are in a place where we can serve and how important it is for our kids to see this! From preparing food boxes to playing Santa for a family in need, to providing and preparing breakfast on Christmas Eve morning, in a very small way we were able to serve as a hand of the Lord during this holiday season. Isn't this really what the reason for the season is? Lesson learned: Christmas begins with Christ.

Another highlight was a week or so before Christmas Jack came home with a couple gift bags stuffed with beautifully wrapped packages. (A dead giveaway his wonderful assistant Diana had to have been in on this). He sat us all down and explained that this holiday he wanted us to really focus on spending time together as a family and how these packages would play a role in that. He lined up all the packages on our dining room table and each night a new one would be opened. This collection of packages turned into a wonderful collection of card and board games that we would play each evening. Surprisingly every one was a hit! It was a great idea and what fun we have had playing all these new games together.




We were a little late getting our photo with Santa this year but it's a tradition I won't let go of. If I have my way the boys will be 18 and still participating in these photos!!! We also have a wonderful Santa who comes to our church breakfast each year who Sage enjoyed visiting with even though... :)



Twas the night before Christmas...



Christmas morning was once again a big success. Between Ty opening up a hover board with a dislocated knee, Sean and Paul opening up mom and dad's gift which was an envelope that included a photo of their wrapped presents sitting under mom and dads tree back in UT (She didn't want to lug them out here), Paul and Sean giving me a blue tooth ear piece because apparently they both thought their lives were at risk driving with me while I used my phone navigation and answered calls earlier in the week, Connor opening up a box of brown sugar to cover up for the video game he was hoping for, Jack getting a carved polar bear... we shared quite a few laughs. I think the highlight of the gift giving came from Sage. On her own without even asking, she had purchased two knitted scarves for Grandma and I from a friend who was making them at school. I had assumed it was art she had made at school as usually that's what she gives for Christmas and admittedly those are my favorite gifts but not this year. She had mentioned earlier in the month that her friends and her were starting a scarf business but that since she didn't know how to make scarves she'd be responsible for marketing them. Her pay would be half price scarves. I never thought a thing about it again until I opened up my scarf. It was so sweet and she was so excited for us to open them.






Dinner's on...And it wouldn't be Christmas dinner without Christmas after dinner gifts! With the hope of the family taking on the new hobby of golf together it only seemed appropriate that everyone get stocked with a supply of personalized balls! Here's how we differentiate between them...



Our little happy campers...



Some of the extracurricular activities during the week of everyone being here included the boys all seeing Star Wars, Full Throttle racing, sharing Blaze pizza with the family (our favorite pizza place), Sean and Paul experiencing nasty Skyline Chili for the first time and lots of fun family time together!!!



I won't spend time detailing how Connor and Tyler unknowingly made my life much easier by throwing away my large bag of Christmas returns by accident. As Jack pointed out, was my time worth returning what was in the bag? I think so but I'll never speak again of the $200 worth of clothing that got thrown to the curb...lol! Hopeful that somehow the bag ended up in someones hands rather than at the sanitation pit...

The best news of the season? Elf officially retired...for good!!! Mrs. Clause may be following close behind...Happy New Year and high hopes for peace on earth in 2016!!!

Thankful for good friends!

It has become a bit of a tradition for us to spend Thanksgiving with the Hayes Family! When Jack first recruited Rick from Orange County we knew it would be a difficult move for them and did our best to make their family feel welcome here in Ohio. Through the course of that we became good friends and have really enjoyed hanging out together! Our first Thanksgiving here we hosted them and the following year they had us. Last year we spent Thanksgiving out in Utah but this year we returned to our traditional deep fried turkey dinner at the Hayes house! Rick is quite the master of fried turkeys and Steph is always such gracious host! Fun times!!!