Just another day in paradise:)

Today was a great Sunday, and its not over yet.

Hallie woke up at around 7:30, and Joe got up with her.

I slept until about 8:45, when I woke up after a weird dream of being at McDonalds.

I was buying a smoothie, biscuits n gravy, water, hash browns, and a coffee for Joe.

I kept thinking, "why am I getting crappy McDonald's"?!?

"why does Joe want coffee, when he knows it messes with his system"?!?

Then, the cashier guy, led me to a locked door that only McDonald's employees could enter.

Behind the doors, was an amazing department store, with anything and everything you could want.

Then I woke up...


It was a very cool, crisp morning today.

I put on my pajama pants and a sweatshirt.

We have noticed the past few night, its been very cold at night.

So cold, we are all 3 wrapped up together in our down comforter.

Hallie doesn't like to sleep with anything but a diaper, so I try and snuggle her as much as possible.

The mornings here are the most beautiful part of the day, in my opinion.

The cool air is a great break from the hot afternoon sun.

I'm not usually a morning person, but in Hawaii I don't seem to mind getting up and around.

When I came downstairs, Joe and Hallie were just playing around on the floor.

Hallie came right over to me, and wanted me.

I scooped her up and gave her a big ol' good morning hug!

Joe and I chatted for a bit about our plans for the day, and he was off to go run on the beach.

I woke J-bird up, and told him to get ready for church!

We have never been to church as a family before.

Joe is not the most spiritual person on the planet, and definitely not religious.

I was pleased when he brought up wanting to go try out this cute church in Hanalei.

So, I started pumping, all the while I was making toast, brushed my teeth, and ordering Jalen around to help me out. lol

BTW..its not a "hand's free" pump, so I had to hold it up to me, carry around the pump, AND get things done.

I didn't want to be late.

We were out the door, and on our way to meet Joe at church.

As we arrived, there were many people who you could tell were visitors.

They were taking lots of pictures of the church, inside and out.

The dress was very casual, one guy even wearing a tank top and sunglasses.

This church was built in 1884, and is the prettiest church Ive ever been to.

The back drop is like nothing you have ever seen before.

As we entered and picked a seat in the back, we watched as the lady who greeted us pulled on the thick rope to ring the church bell.

Right away, they started playing Hawaiian music and instruments.

They then had everyone who was new, stand and say their name and where they were from.

Joe told them our names, and where we moved from.

Oddly enough, there were 2 other groups there from Kansas.

The service was very laid back, and the songs were sang partly in Hawaiian and partly in English.

It was very cool.

Jalen got invited to go off with the kids to Sunday school, which he enjoyed alot.

They got to sew a bing bag, and next week they will learn to juggle them.

I walked around alot outside with Hallie, as you can imagine she was not wanting to sit.

After the service, many people came up to us and introduced their selves.

It felt good to know they were so welcoming and nice.

The feel of community here is awesome!

We will be going back next week.

After that, we headed over to Harvest Market (the natural food store) to get smoothies, and some food for Hallie.

We sat outside in the shade and filled our bellies.

Joe got an avocado, carrots, sprouts, and tomato sandwich.

I got a smoothie and some pirate booty.

Jalen got a burger from Bubba Burgers.

And Hallie Rose got a little of it all, except the burger (we do not give her meat often, especially red meat)

Its amazing what a little food can do for the body!

We were energized and ready to head on over to the beach.

Jalen wanted to boogie board, and Hallie was ready to play in the sand.

The waves were pretty big, so we couldn't get Hallie in.

Her and I only stayed for about 30-45 minutes, until she was fussy.

When asked "do you wanna go bye-bye"?

She shook her head "yes"..

So off we went....

She fell asleep on the ride home, after eating a bunch of pirate booty (a popcorn snack), and drinking some milk.

She is still asleep, I'm blogging, and the boys are downstairs in the studio watching a movie.

Jalen is going to make us an appetizer tonight.

From what he has told me, it sounds like a creamy artichoke dip.

I cant wait to try it!

He made meatless tacos last night, with our help.

He picked out this meatless ground veggie stuff, which was a shock to me since he is usually so against trying those products.

It was SO good!!!

Tasted like meat, but had kind of a veggie yummy flavor to it.

We all were a fan.

After dinner (or should I say DURING dinner), we got out a new toy food set for Sugar Bear.

She LOVED it and made her "happy face" when we showed it to her.

She therefore did not want anything to do with eating her real food..lol

Its made by Melissa and Doug brand, is all wooden, non-toxic, and MADE IN THE USA!!

All of the pieces velcro together, so she can pretend like she is cutting up veggie or bread with her wooden knife.

Smiles and laughter is what we get every time we help her do it.

She played with it for hours, until it was time for bed.

Later this afternoon when Hallie wakes up, her and I will go take our shower (outside), and we will all probably just hang around and enjoy the rest of our Sunday evening.

I guess you could say, today is just another day in paradise:)