The Brinks II

The day we got home from Hawaii was the same day as the girls' dance recital. I was so excited to see how they did onstage and they didn't disappoint! As expected with recitals there was about 3 weeks of lead up! Costumes, pictures, more costumes, dance class, camping out for tickets, dress rehearsal. Needless to say we were looking forward to the result of months of hard work and weeks of running back and forth from home to the dance studio! And a HUGE shout out to Lindsay who took my girl to the dress rehearsal the day before the recital!!!!! THANKS LINDS!

Natalie in her Boom Da Boom costume

Reecey in her Baby Take a Bow/Little Piggies costume

Brookie in her Baby Take a Bow/Little Piggies costume.

For the Little Piggies dance the little girl took off their tights and put on piggy ears. It was soooooooooooo cute!

The Dancing Queens

Reece and Brookie doing Little Piggies. So I don't know what's wrong with me but when I saw how cute they were onstage I totally got teary. They were just so darling and sweet. I know, I'm a spazz!

Natalie in Ease on Down the Road

We were so lucky that LouLou flew in from Denver to see some of her favorite girls dance. Reecey was DONE in this picture and was sad because her flowers were too heavy! She was also starving! The recital started at 5:30 and right after it started she told me she was hungry. We were asked by the owner of the studio not to bring food so other then a few candies that Lindsay had in her purse Reece didn't eat anything until 3 hours later! No wonder she was so sad.

LouLou with Natalie and Reece

We were also lucky that Nana and Grandad were there. Grandad may not have been super excited about being there but Nana kindly reminded him that his brother Rob, who passed away over 25 years ago, would have probably given anything to be there to see his grandaughter Abby dance. (She is a Company dancer at the same studio so was performing that night too) That did the trick and there were no more complaints from Grandad. Now, to be fair it was a long show and we were all done by the end! You may ask why we didn't leave early and the answer is simple. Each class did 2 dances. Natalie's second dance was second to last...of course it was!

Us!

I'm so glad that my girls had the chance to dance this year. They both LOVED it and have decided it is something they both want to continue with! Since I always wished I could dance I love that they both enjoy it and that they're both good at it! So yeah, I guess you could say that I'm living through my kids at this point but let's be honest...we all do that from time to time, and it isn't like I'd be upset or devastated if they decided to something else! But for now we'll enjoy the dance classes, costumes, makeup, pictures and even the 2 1/2 hour long recitals!

We were lucky enough this year to be invited to Hawaii again with my mom and dad. Since neither TJ or I are ever inclined to pass up a fun vacation we jumped at the opportunity. So on April 29th we hopped on a plane and headed to Honolulu to spend a week at the Ko Olina Marriott resort on Oahu. We were looking so forward to this vacation and for the chance to spend some time with my parents, Marilee and Adam and some close family friends, Richard and Mahalia Bird.

The first day there us girls hung out at the pool and the boys got their golf on. It was a beautiful day and as an added bonus we got to hang out with my adopted sister Jenny and her cute family. After a lovely day at the pool we headed into Honolulu to eat at THE BEST hot dog place ever...Puka Dog! If you're ever in Honolulu or on the Island of Kaui I HIGHLY recommend giving Puka Dog a try.

Now, you may be asking yourself why Puka Dog is so good? Well let me tell you...you choose what kind of dog you want, a polish sausage or a veggie dog. Then you choose if you want garlic, jalepeno or hot pepper flavor. Then you choose what kind of mustard you want. There's coconut, pineapple, mango, passionfruit...all sorts of exotic mustards. And finally you choose a sauce to top it off...mango or passionfruit. So after you choose everything they take a delicious bun, drill a hole in the middle, toast the inside, put all the toppings in the hole and then stick the dog in! The puka dog with some fresh squeezed lemonade is to die for yummy!

If you didn't know how good PukaDog is you would pass right by. It literally looks like a dirty little hole in the wall joint.

Dad, Jenny and Mar enjoying their dinner.

Me with my cute nephew Wallace. This baby is soooooooooooo yummy!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. Then we went over to the JW Marriott for Sunday Breakfast Buffet. And because everything revolves around food may I just say that this place has the best Eggs Benedict I've ever had! Plus they have yummy waffles with coconut syrup. YUM!

After brunch we headed into Honolulu to visit the Punch Bowl Crater, which is The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. I had been there before but I was really little when I went so it was really cool to see it again. We ran into a group of college students from Missouri who were there on a trip. There were 10 kids and they were grouped into 2's and each group of 2 were put with a Veteran. 2 of the Veteran's were brothers who fought in WWII and one of them was a survivor from the USS Arizona. It was really interesting to see them...especially because there are not too many WWII veterans left.

After the Punch Bowl we went over to hike Diamond Head. Again, I had hiked it when I was a little girl so it was fun to do it again, and actually remember it!

Mom and Dad down the trail

TJ, Adam and Richard...not quite to the top.

Mahalia, Me and Mar. We were most likely laughing at the antics of our hubbies in this picture.

Me and Teej at the top. Waikiki is in the background

Mom and Dad! I was so proud of Mom for making it to the top. She almost threw in the towel right after we started but we convinced her to persevere!

The rest of the time we were there the boys golfed and us girls sat by the pool, except for a day of shopping. It was pure heaven!

Marilee with her silly hat. Whoever has Mar for Christmas needs to buy her a new sun hat!

Mar and Adam at dinner at Turtle Bay.

Me and Teej at dinner at Turtle Bay...crab stuffed salmon=GOOD!

Richard and Mahalia

Me and Mom at Kolohe's, the restaurant at the resort.

TJ under his towel tent at the beach

My happy place!

TJ going down the waterslide. We thought the waterslide would be lame and it totally wasn't! My kids would've LOVED it!

The Leader Board for the weeklong golf tournament! This is TJ's creation and he was so proud of it, even though he didn't play his best golf!

View of the Marina out our room. The big ship is from the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We think its BlackBeard's ship. It was cool looking!

So there ya have it. A huge shout out to mom and dad for inviting us along. We had such a fabulous time and we can't wait until Thanksgiving 2012 Maui...with the kids! YAY!

I would like to begin by stating for the record that us Brinkerhoff's are not huge Scouters. Aside from TJ's dad, none of the Brinkerhoff boys ever got their Eagle Scout Award, yet. Josh is working his way through Scouts and Taylor could probably still get his but the reality of the situation is that when you're heavily involved in sports it is a very difficult thing to make time for. Add in a distaste for the outdoors and there is the recipe for no Eagle Scouts. Well our poor Jackson may have been born into the wrong family because he LOVES Scouts and was able to attend his very first overnight scout camp while we were in Hawaii.

Now, before I continue I must give credit where credit is due. Our ward probably has THE BEST Scout leaders in the entire church! Seriously, they're amazing and committed to the boys and their success in scouts! Even though we're not very far into Scouts I can already tell what a HUGE difference having awesome leaders makes.

So with that said, the boys left for the campout on a chilly Friday evening and returned home the next morning. I had helped Jackson get everything ready before we left for our trip and I knew that he was prepared for cold weather but I still worried the entire time that he was cold!

The group before they took off for outdoor adventures!

Jackson and his friend setting up their tent! Check out all that snow!!!!!

Campfire time!!!!! I'm seriously cold looking at this picture!

Jackson preparing breakfast the next morning. When I talked to him he told me that it was the best breakfast he'd ever had! He loved it!

A cold but very pretty campground!

All in all Jackson had a blast. He assured me he was warm enough and slept well and had enough to eat and that he was super excited for the next camp out! Only 19 more nights to get his camping merit badge!

Then this past Sunday we attended a Court of Honor where 2 young men from our ward received their Eagle and Jackson received his Tenderfoot. He was also told in his board of review that he was the most enthusiastic Scouter they had talked to! He was quite pleased with that.

So, as I told his scout leaders...sports come first but we are absolutely committed to getting his Eagle Scout Award!

April was a very busy month for Brady! He worked and worked and practiced and practiced so that he could test for his yellow belt in Karate. After his first Karate tournament back in January we told him that he needed to advance to yellow belt to fight in the April tournament. Since he had such a great time the first tournament it was enough motivation for him to work hard to get his yellow belt. So, the Wednesday before the tournament, he tested and advanced!

Getting ready to perform for his class

Star Block

Kung Fu

The ceremonial whip with his new yellow belt by his instructor Gigi.

I can't even tell you how pleased Brady was that he was able to advance to yellow belt. He was so excited and it was a great lesson for him to learn that when he works hard for something, he can accomplish it!

So that following Saturday Brady headed up to Salt Lake to compete in his second karate tournament. TJ and I were out of town so he went with Lindsay and Colton who were there with Madison for her first competition!

Brady waving at Madison across the mat

Speaking to the judges before performing his open hand forms. He says,

'Judges, my name is Brady Brinkerhoff. I would like to perform Star Block and Dragons Breath. May I begin?'

Then the judges tell him to begin, he bows and starts. Its so cute!

He took 3rd place in Open Hand Forms. I was hoping he'd do better because that's what he placed back in January but apparently the kids he was competing against were performing more advanced kata's. So hopefully next competition he'll improve.

Brady sparring. Last competition he got knocked out of sparring after the first round. This time he advanced to the finals and took second place. He fought against a purple belt which I believe is 2 belts above his level.

Madison in horse stance performing her Open Hand Forms.

Continuing with her forms. She placed 2nd, I think.

Madison sparring against "Pinky" This little girl beat Brady in the last competition and ultimately beat Madison but not before Madison gave her a run for her money! The final score was 9-7! Good job Madison!

Brady with his second place trophy for sparring.

Madison with her second place trophy's for sparring and open hand forms.

The Karate kids. The medal around Brady's neck is for 3rd place in open hand forms!

I'm so proud of these little chickens. They both worked so hard and had so much fun. I also think it takes a lot of courage to perform and fight in front of judges and so many spectators. So good job Brady-son and Madison-son! And a shout out to Lindsay and Colton for taking care of Brady for us and giving us the play by play of the tournament after!

can you find the golden egg in the tree?

This year we were very fortunate to have decent weather on Easter so for the first time ever my kids went on the annual easter egg hunt outside at the Smith's!

Lindsay is always so prepared for events such as these and as a result of her preparation we had 101 eggs to find, some plastic, some real. The kids had a blast and miraculously found every single egg.

After the hunt we all sat down to a DELICIOUS ham dinner. It was a lovely holiday and it was fantastic to spend it with family!

And they're off!

J.B. the bucket head

My beautiful Natalie Rae

My beautiful Reece Annelynn

Cute cousins...Madison and Brady