Back in Hawaii!

Ellie and I left Sunday morning for Pittsburgh for an afternoon flight and I should have known it would be a very, very long day:

This was going through security:

Though you can clearly see the pacifier, she has other plans...

Once we got going, though, everything went smoothly... except an exploded diaper, but those that needed to relive that story already have...

Pittsburgh to Minneapolis

Minneapolis to Seattle

Seattle to Honolulu

And then things took a turn for the worse... Delta lost our stroller [and 36 hours later, they haven't found it.] and we arrived 30 minutes late. Andrew's cousin, Keno, picked us up and took us to our car... which had a completely dead battery and even after an hour of attempted jumping wouldn't turn over. So homeward we went at 1am. Now, as you can see above, Ellie spent a great deal of time sleeping during the day and I paid for it through the night. It was almost a relief when Keno called at 7:30 and picked us up to fix the car. [Kudos to him for being fabulously resourceful and replacing the battery without a hitch!]

Just SLEEP, little girl!

Car repaired and winter waves on North Shore calling, I decided a quiet drive was in order.

This picture is before Waimea Bay but the waves there were outrageous. You know it's winter in Hawaii when there are 40 surfers out at 9am.

After checking out the beach house that Andrew's family plans to stay in during their trip here in March, we headed home. [Oh, Michael! I saw BYU-Hawaii and the Temple and my goodness, it is stunning!] I did some laundry while Ellie napped and heard a knock at the door... Someone's really awesome husband thought flowers were in order after such a long trip :) :) :)

Now with flowers and a beautiful day calling my name, I didn't see any merit in cleaning the kitchen... so out we went again! This time to Waikiki so Mama could treat herself to some Spaghetti Factory.

A quick stop at the grocery store and Wal*Mart and back home we went to crash. Though her sleeping isn't getting a bit better, I woke up with this:

...and so life goes on. :)

I think there is something really beautiful about a bad day. God will give you struggles [the car, missing stroller] and then reward you with crashing waves and a sunshine baby smile.

And today we are finally tackling the kitchen and de-funking the bathroom. And, if all goes well, EllieBellie and I will be on the beach for sunset and a picnic for Mama. Fingers crossed!