Time for the Moore's to fly away home. No more aloha this year.

But so that we all remember, here are some of our favorites from Ko 'Olina, place of joy:

Sherman- Jump off rock and survive....Sushi at Roy's; The 'Frying' Dragon, The Big Popper, The Ko 'Olina Caterpillar

Jennifer- Roy's....playing virus in the pool.....Angie getting the stranger to open his bag of wasabi dorritos and share them with her

Emily- Eatting meals together and conquering the doughnut

Ryan- I liked just swimming around and being with family

Abby- I liked when we went to the rock, and I jumped off it three times. I also liked seeing the boat, Queen Anne's Revenge, from Pirate's of the Caribbean. I think I liked swimming out in the ocean and playing with my cousins. It felt cool when I got two coconuts 'cause I did the hula in front of everybody at the luau

Luke- Abby's first one was my favorite, too, only I jumped off two times

Mark- Fresh towels....Butterfish...Being in the place and with the people that bring me the greatest joy

Angie- PB and J at the pool with the whole family...sunsets and rainbows... yoga on the rocks....seeing friends...Angel's shave ice w/snow cap...a fully dressed table at Roy's

Jessica- Sitting by the pool.....Roy's

Taylor- Cliff jumping...Mermaid Watching...No shirts required

Amanda- Relaxing by the pool....No worries about hair and make-up

Brandon- Virus! Having the slide all to ourselves. And I also like playing the animal and the ninja games. Finding sea-shells.

Jeffrey- I liked playing games with the family, especially virus. I liked the slide and shave ice.

Living to Eat or Eating to Live?

I love listening to grandma tell me about the things she is coming up with for dinner. My good intentions to re-create her masterpieces never come to fruition, but I would still love some of the recipes. Maybe one day I'll cook again in earnest. I showed Grandpa how to make a blog post, maybe someone could show Grandma, too? please?  (I waited until the last minute for the instruction and Grandma was packing.)
I wish I'd had a tape recorder with me so I could preserve Grandma's food genius. Any else have family food stories they'd like to share? I'd love to hear them. And, since this family has a sense of genius in the kitchen, for the rest of the summer everybody add as many new recipes (or new to the rest of us) that you try.  I know you have them, it's the busy factor that's the question.
Here's one we invented a few months ago.

Can't wait!

Doing what we do best

What a wonderful family! The fly on the wall must be shaking his head. I like to imagine that other people may not understand our obsession with food, but at least they'd be entertained by it. Is there another family so enraptured with food?

The whole family was invited to 'the grown-ups' restaurant, Roy's. I'm so glad we decided to bring them. Of course, now we'll never be able to go alone again, but it was so enjoyable to watch their eyes light up as their mouths took in each new bite. Mark always looks forward to treating his parents to something wonderful-so much so that we all enjoy it and look forward to their reactions-but I wasn't anticipating how much fun it would be to watch the kids reactions. Taylor was literally beaming! There we sat, in one of the most beautiful places in the world, every one of the senses engaged: the food was arranged like a work of art, the smell was driving me crazy waiting for everyone else to be served before I could begin, obviously the taste, all the different textures in your mouth- (creamy wasabi mayonnaise, little beads of caviar that explode in your mouth, crunchy tempura, cold ice cream/hot souffle), but the sounds are the best.  The 'Bob-like' mmm's and aah's. It was such a great night.

Roy's 
Appetizers: edamame (with coarse salt, sugar, seasame oil and a Japanese spice) Flying Dragon Roll Ko Olina Roll
Entres: Butterfish, Roys Classic 4, Rack of Lamb, Hibachi Salmon
Dessert: Chocolate Souffle, Elvis Monte Cristo Bread Pudding
(Some of the pictures have links to the recipe!)

My favorite line of the night: Taylor, "What does a butterfish look like? A cube of butter with fins?" I love my Family.

Creepy Crawlies

The cousins were pretty impressed with Mark's Watch, I can remove my finger trick." But when he took it to the next level, he didn't get quite the reaction he'd anticipated.

Check out Luke's face. Not an ounce of concern-all boy-totally cool. Even our kids had a hard time with that one the first time they saw it. (Abby wasn't impressed.)

Although...later, when the kids went lizzard hunting, the cousins were sufficiently freaked out.

But good for Abby! She not only got her hands on one, but held it long enough to get a couple pictures. She didn't want any lizzard earrings, though. I don't blame you Abby. I haven't tried a pair on yet either.

Luke, your mom was right!

The Easter bunny does visit Arizona! Whew.

So glad fear of no easter bunny, no wii, and not sleeping in your own bed didn't keep you all from coming...and look how well your trust in mom paid off! It was a great trip. Thanks for coming. We love you.

"Does Arizona always smell this good?"

It does in the spring! Warm breezes, beautiful sunshine, and everywhere you go the scent of orange blossoms in the air. It's wonderful! The cousins thought so, too. Maybe it was the sun, maybe it's that they were still on east coast time, but they were up early Saturday picking oranges, lemons, and grapefruits.

So what do you get when you add team work to youthful enthusiasm?

Fresh squeezed OJ with our conference waffles, homemade lemonade with our BBQ, and oodles of grapefruit. I think Ryan was a little dismayed when he tasted the grapefruit sans sugar and thought he might have to eat all the fruit he picked. Luckily, there are plenty of people in the house who love it.

Had to put this last picture in. Jeffrey went missing for a time between sessions. We finally looked outside and realized he'd gotten himself stuck in one of the grapefruit trees. Poor guy!

I am going to miss fresh fruit 10 steps out my back door for over half the year. It's been wonderful!

The Good Egg

...and yes, it's good. The adults were impressed with the food, but I think the kids were more fond of the fountain outside. Oh well. They'll learn.

Can you regift wishes?

The Lazy River

OK, question. Does Grandpa look like he's having fun?

Remember these Grandma?

With Jessica getting a new room in Provo, the kids here have been shuffling rooms. Naturally-they've been sifting through all the things that have accumulated and tossing a lot of junk. A slightly painful process (it didn't help that we had glimpsed the show Hoarders just before we started. Mark was on a roll, and I was ready for therapy. There's a little G'ma Dot in me yet.) Jennifer would have loved it. Anyway, Taylor found these glasses and tried to tell Jeffrey that the doctor had told me Jeff needed them. He wasn't as gullible as Taylor thought he'd be, but still, it was kind of fun to wear them. Although, I don't think Jeff will be wearing them as long as Taylor did (2 years, Tay?)

This picture's for Jessica. The slip of paper in Jeff's mouth is from the Quelf game we were playing. It's not really a two player game, but Jeff and I struggled through it. We'll have to try again when you get back. Love ya.

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?

2 tacos per person per visit. today only. what a deal.

Happy Dec. 23rd!

Hope your celebrations were all a lot of fun. We invited the elders over to spend the evening with us and we heard two brand new stories that we've never heard before. One about when Joseph was wrestling with someone and accidentally broke a man's arm; then feeling badly, healed it. And another of a man who wanted to kill the prophet, but was thwarted. The man sent his young servant to fetch the prophet. The boy begged the prophet not to go, because he didn't want him to get killed. Joseph assured the boy that he would not be killed that day. When he met the man, he bared his chest to him and told him to take his best shot. The gun misfired. The man thought he had been sabotaged by the boy, but shooting at a tin can, proved their was nothing wrong with the gun. With that, the prophet excused himself. (Still want to check on the truth of those stories-Clayton, are you out there?.)

Of course, we also had songs, including a birthday song and dessert, but the best part of the night was Jeffrey's story. He wanted to share his favorite story...and then did a beautiful job retailing the first vision. It was interesting to hear it from his perspective. He was very detailed up until this concluding statement: 'After Joseph came to the forest, Satan tried to hurt him, but Joseph just wouldn't give up.' When we sang Joseph's First Prayer a little later, Jeff whistled the last verse. He was feeling it! Wish you could have been here.

It was great. I love this tradition. What a perfect thing to celebrate at Christmas time recognizing that the events & accomplishments of Joseph Smith's life did more to restore our understanding of the precious gift of the Savior than anything else. The Book of Mormon so clearly explains the doctrine of the Fall, the Atonement and the Resurrection. In the Doctrine and Covenants, we read Christ's words given directly to the prophet in a first person telling. The first Vision and restoration of Christ's church with a living prophet help us understand our relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ and provide the vehicle that best help us apply the blessings of the atonement. Joseph, more than any other person, aids us in coming to know Jesus Christ. What a wonderful time of year! Hope all of you had a great evening.