TEXAS

Before I start this post I need to let ya'll (see I did spend time in Texas) know that I don't hate the "great" state of Texas. Many of my complaints are purely exaggerated (some). I know that TX is a HUGE state and that we only spent time in a small area so many of my complaints apply to a small portion of the state. I know that there are many, many beautiful areas and I also know that there are many ugly areas in UT as well. Let's not hate.

1. your roads suck! They are so confusing. Is it really necessary to have a 121 business loop, 121 toll road, and 121 state road? Also, why do your roads that are called Northbound or Southbound go East and West? And lastly, can you explain to me while your Northbound freeway (which goes east) is 35 miles from your Southbound freeway (which goes west)? Maybe I'm not a good navigator, but I have been told by several people (all who have lived in Texas) that you need a $35 book to be able to drive there. Here is a little example of my frustration with your roads.

The family was heading to a fireside the night before the BYU game. Dad who likes to arrive 3.5 hours early to these football firesides left way earlier than Kami, Brandon, Clayton and I. The fireside was 5 minutes from our hotel...it took us 1.5 hours to get there.

2. no mountains. I know this is all personal preference, but I love mountains. I love to camp in them, to hike in them, bike in them, and just look at them. You have no mountains (that I saw). This also makes point number 1 more confusing when mountains also serve as landmarks for directions.

3. BYU lost to TCU. really REALLY bad. that is all.

4. some old guy called me a heifer in the Temple. That is right a HEIFER. Definition: a female COW! Clayton tells me that in TX the term "heifer" is a term of endearment. I don't like it.

I think that is all my reasons. Now here are some pictures.

After a 11 hour flight from HI to TX the family made Clayton take the majority of the luggage into the hotel. Nice family, nice!

The Stockyards

My family struggles when it comes to reading signs. The stockyards were pretty cool. The guys enjoyed looking at the cattle. You would think that they get enough of that at home.

Texas Motor Speedway

Not quite sure why we went here. Not a single one of us are into racecars. There was a dead bird on the sidewalk though. That was kinda cool.
Cabela's

Continuing on with places title "not quite sure why we went here" our next stop was Cabela's. Last time I checked we do have one in UT. The boys enjoyed shooting things though and I did get a pair of socks for $7.00 (rip off).
The game

The picture of Clayton demonstrates exactly how we felt during the game (however this pic was taken before the game). Not much excitement here. I guess the most exciting part of the game was the colorguard (flag people) at half time. They had 2 GUYS (sorry I only got a pic of one). Something my eyes had never before seen in a colorguard. I feel so less sexist now and oddly gay. Other than that not much else to say about this event.

The Temple (you know the place where the guy called me a heifer)

The Temple was really pretty. The session was good. On of the highlights for me was being able to kick Nate when he fell asleep. I did it in a very reverent way.

Following the Temple we headed out to the Texas State Fair. I will give props to Texas for the fair. The Utah State Fair has nothing on this fair. You need a map to get around. Well mostly we needed a map to find all the finest fried foods.
Texas State Fair

I was absolutely thrilled during the taking of this picture. I think I was in a bad mood. Unbelievable, huh!?!


The ostrich had a personal vendetta against Clayton.

Fried Food









Starting left to right the fried foods are...
1. fried cheesecake
2. chicken fried bacon
3. fried banana cream pie
4. alligator kabob (not fried) 5. fried banana split
6. fried strawberry waffle balls
7. fried s'mores
8. fried cookie dough (a personal favorite)
9. fried snickers
I'm pretty sure all that fried food cost over $50 dollars and put on the same number in lbs. Not a fan of fried food, but it was fun to try all the different kinds. NOTE: no we are not pigs. We each bought one thing and everyone took a bite.

This was my favorite part of TX. a whole community for Alcoholic Beverages!?! Interesting...

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip. Oh and Texas...you really aren't that bad.

MAUI

We were on Maui for 5 days. I'm getting tired of posting (but I am almost caught up) so on this post you will get my favorite pics from some of our activities.

Road to Hana

We probably could have spent the whole week seeing the sights on the road to Hana. So much to see. Here we are at the seven sacred pools at the end of the road.

My favorite waterfall on the road. I'm giving up trying to remember all the names of the falls.

Ok so this is a red sand beach (obviously). Let me tell you a little story about our time here at the beach. This beach isn't off the road, it is one you have to hike into. So there we were hiking, hiking, hiking along and we finally see the beach. We stop to take a picture and this old dude passes us. Counting Clayton and I there were only 5 other people on the beach, 2 girls, 2 guys (arguably gay guys) and this old dude. After we take our picture, Clayton says, "uhhh Heidi, don't turn around. That old guy just dropped his shorts and is laying out naked." Now you could insert many naked old guy jokes here, but I will spare you. Clayton wanted to go ask him to take a picture of the two of us, but I didn't oblige. And no for those of you who are wondering (you know who you are) I resisted the urge to look.

3 Bears falls Molokini Crater

We did the touristy thing one day and took a boat out to the Molokini Crater to snorkel. It is supposed to be one of the top 10 places to snorkel in the world. Don't know if I believe that, but the snorkeling was pretty good. Also, there was a couple on our boat who saw a shark! Sadly, we didn't see it. They said it was a baby shark, but wherever a baby is the mother isn't far behind (heck what do I know the mothers might leave them after they give birth...anyway moving on)

Us after the snorkel
Us during the snorkel
Olivine Pools

We hiked out to the Olivine pools. Like I said once before Clayton thinks pools like these are mother natures urine. I once heard that urine is good for the skin so we jumped in to find out.

Clayton diving

Chacos and a swimsuit are not attractive!

Haleakala

Once again we took our car up a volcano. Haleakala isn't as high as Mauna Kea and the road is much better (non 4 wheel drive cars ARE allowed).

Woohoo 10,023 feet.

Nakalele Blowhole

Another hike we did was to Nakalele Blowhole. Pretty cool. Clayton wanted to go pee in it, but I held him back. Does it seem to anyone else our conversations revolve about urination? Just wondering.

Told you our new pose was the "action pose".

Waterfall - called lonely fall or something like (or not) that.

again with the action pose. Black Rock

We did some snorkeling off of that rocky point. Lots of sea turtles (but no sharks)

Memorial

I can't remember the name of this memorial but one of the last wars between the islands was here. That mountain in the background is supposed to be (according to the Hawaiians) the a piece of anatomy of the god of the ocean. I won't tell you what body part...you figure it out. Just thought that you would want to know.

Sunset

Hawaii has some amazing sunsets. Here are a couple we saw in Maui

ahh...precious. Stop gagging family!

And just in case you couldn't get enough here is a little slide show.