Grant grows up

I've taken a picture from each year of my life and put them here. I am eleven now.

2006

2007

 2008

 2009

 2010

2011

2012

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 2015

2016

2017

by Grant

Easter Blooms

Look what sprouted in the front yard!

She may grow like a weed but she's as sweet as honey and pretty as a tulip.

Just in Time for the Holidays...

Missing: Two Front Teeth

I recommend printing this picture and putting it beside your bed as a way to avoid having good dreams.

What a Crock...

... Pot Box!
It's hard to say whether the box or the camera is what causes the funny faces.

Gap-Toothed Grin

Nearly nine months after his twin brother lost his first tooth, Cole has finally done it.

I never saw a boy so happy to have a mouth full of blood.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part XI - Twilight

Our last full day in Hawaii dawned bright with mostly clear skies so we headed back to the Sans Souci beach. We even had to use sunscreen.

We made a few sand towers.

But mostly we just enjoyed the warm weather and water.

I'm not sure what the point of the rocks were but he seemed pretty certain.

Grant found a little hermit crab.

Cole got in some final boogies.

And ended up with sand in his ear.

John and Laura got to snorkel together.

This is what a Hawaiian beach day should be like.

Towards evening we stopped by to look at the penguins and turtles at the Hilton. This photo is the last confirmed sighting of Emily's shoes. Maybe a penguin ate them.

Then we headed down to the beach for some last minute cousin time.

A local woman, probably hired by the Hilton, came to the shore and did some dance looking performance.

It was a nice way to spend our last few minutes with the beach.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part VIII - Surf and Turf

After church on Sunday we headed east to get out of the city and find a nice beach to play on. We found a great place on the south eastern corner of the island with nice big waves, great sand, surfers, and even a few tantalizing glimpses of Molokai. Cole brought along his coconut.

The waves were pretty big so we didn't go any deeper than this but the boys had fun running away from the crashing surf.

Afterwards we needed some shave ice.

We didn't really need it but it certainly made Bryn happy.

Then we found a sea life park and spent a while looking at turtles, sea lions, penguins, dolphins and other assorted fish.

The scenery was gorgeous.

Of course, the kids were riveted by the playgound. "We can look at dolphins any day but how often can we go down slides or sit on a bouncy whale?"

We did make it to the sea lion show and it became one of Bryn's favorite moments when one of the sea lions danced with the trainer.

She watched intently.

Then we went over to the dolphin tank to wait for the show.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part VII - North Shore Wanderings

After a drive across the island, with stops at Matsumoto Shave Ice and a sandwich shop we headed to Haleiwa Beach to consume our comestibles. After eating we spent an hour or so watching surfers and playing on the beach.

Cole found a coconut that still had half of its husk on and he adopted it.

Following the adage, "If you love something set it free..." he released it into the surf, where it soon floated far enough off shore that it seemed beyond recovery.

A short while later, however, it returned and there was a joyful reunion. The conclusion of the adage has now come back to haunt me, because we brought the coconut home with us.

We drove a few miles down the highway to another beach where a crowd of people gathered around some of Hawaii's wonderful wildlife.

Well, those were Bryn's favorite animals at that beach. Most everyone else was focused on the three sea turtles lounging on the sand.

And here we found an urchin.

Here's another one, holding that spiny sea creature they caught!

Continuing around the north point of Oahu we stopped at the Laie Hawaii Temple visitor center.

And got another group photo in front of the temple.

As we were leaving we walked past a plumeria tree in bloom and did what comes naturally to girls of all ages.