Post-Nap Storytime

After Stewart's nap one day I told Lily to go in and keep him company while I finished up some baking. And this is what I found...

I have no doubt that Lily is going to be the best mother! She is already so nurturing and thoughtful to those younger than her. I love seeing the relationship and bond that Lily and Stewart have and I can only hope that it continues throughout their lives.

Our Hawaiian Escapade

Paul and I had such an amazing time in Maui last week. This had to be my favorite vacation I have ever been on. It came at a much needed time. It was so nice for Paul and I to get to spend a whole week together just the two of us. We went to do some Salts training but planned for many days of playing too.

Even the plane ride over was enjoyable, to get to do whatever I wanted and just have a little me-time, was so relaxing. I even read two entire books on our trip, which is unheard of for me. Normally it takes me six months to read one book. We left on my 27th birthday (crazy - the day just kinda rushed by that I forget that I turned one year older!) and I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend it than unwinding in a hammock on the beach next to my love...

We found a church, right next to the resort, which was totally full, almost all the way to the back of the gym. I always love going to church in other states because I feel like the members are so strong. And it happened to be testimony meeting so it was a strength to me to hear about their trials and how they learn from the gospel.

The fruit in Hawaii is out-of-control delicious, so luckily we found this fruit market off the side of the highway and stocked up on passion-fruit and mangos for breakfast and snacks throughout our trip. On the other end of this stand we found this adorable farm-house styled restaurant called Leoda's Kitchen and Pie place. It is one of those places that I am going to crave for YEARS! It was so amazingly good. We had breakfast one morning that hit the spot but as we were leaving, there was a crazy-good looking banana cream pie that was just calling to us. We had to get it. And when in Hawaii, you can totally justify having an after-breakfast dessert right?! Paul is planning a trip back to Maui in December and I told him he had to bring me back an apple hand-held from Leoda's (which is a little apple pie that we tested on our flight home..mmmm).

We ate some awesome food and saw some amazing sunsets. Sometimes life gets so crazy that I don't have time to enjoy those simple things. But I made sure to soak up every bit of it.

And I got to do a shout-out to the whole reason we were able to take this amazing trip. Training at the brand new (like not even open yet) Andaz Wailea. I was in charge of video footage of the training. It was fun to see Paul give his training, it had been awhile since I had been to one with him. I am so proud of him and the work that he has put in to make Salts the company that it is today!

Last December when Paul and I went to Hawaii we heard how amazing the "Road to Hana" was but we never had time to do it then. So this go-around, I researched all about it before we left so that we could make time for this adventure. It took about 3 hours to drive to Hana, even though it was only about 50 miles that we travelled. The road is so windy and narrow the entire way that our average was about 10 mph. The day we did this was totally unforgettable. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

We drove past Hana to the Seven Sacred Pools. We started on a hike that went through the most amazing bamboo forest. It ended at an unbelievable waterfall that was so incredible. I could have spent days on this hike in the deep forest of bamboo and amazing trees and things that we saw. It was so reviving to really take in the beautiful Earth that God has created. And to do it all with Paul made it that much more special. 

After the hike we took a swim in one of the Seven Sacred Pools. There are seven natural pools with waterfalls running into each one. It was so refreshing to swim in the natural fresh water coming from the beautiful mountains above. Despite the nauseating moments in the car to and from Hana because of the crazy roads, this was my favorite day of our vacation. I don't think I will experience anything quite like it again.

On our last day we rented some boogie boards and went up to Kapalua and found an amazing beach that we had almost all to ourselves. A couple nights before, we made the mistake of watching some of "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel. Of course most of the sharks, or incidences, or footage they showed was from where?!  Hawaii! Totally freaked us both out to get in the ocean, but the water was clear enough that we didn't let it stop us from having a blast. Then we met with a spa director at Kapalua Spa for a few minutes and she was gracious enough to let us use the spa facilities to relax for the rest of our day until we had to catch our red-eye flight home. It was an unforgettable trip...

2nd Annual Salts Boating Party

We had our annual Salt of the Earth boating party at the cabin. Friday after work we all headed up to Eden. We were sadly missing Shairstin, our Lead Salesthetican, but were glad that the rest of the team made it up for some boatin' fun. While there was some major competitive juices flowing on the tube among the Salts team, the babes and I enjoyed a nice easy ride, complete with a face full of freezing water from the spray of the rope! I was so proud of Lil and Stew for being brave enough to ride the tube after watching the "big kids" getting hammered back there. And there is something funky going on with Pineview this year, the water is outrageously cold... and it's JULY!!

Back at the cabin we unthawed in the hot tub and just relaxed. Just what we all needed. Nic was awesome enough to make my newest favorite fruit dessert - Mango Sticky Rice. So delicious!

 In the morning we headed back out to the lake, this time wakeboarding and surfing making sure to not waste the good water. And because this was a work party, we had to get in some good product shots with the beautiful scenery.

Heslop Grandkids

It's official - Jeff, Jessica, Hazel, and little Genevieve are gone! They moved to Illinois last week for Jeff to start a four year specialized fellowship. The next time that all of the grandkids will be together again won't be until MAY 2014!! We decided to get them all together one last time to take a photo. We got this photo above printed on canvas and gave it to Joan and Clair as a special gift before Jessica left with the girls. We are going to miss them so much and next time we see those little girls they will be so much bigger. But thanks to Joan, at least Hazel and Lily can keep in touch and be little pen-pals with their adorable stationary gifts from our Tea Party.

 

We thought we would get a cute head shot of everyone laying in a circle, but the sun made that a little impossible since none of them could open their eyes. But it was a sweet little effort that they made. 

St. George

Paul was off in Florida on business, so where do the kids and I go...off to St. George of course! And it was HOT down there. So we spent the majority of our time at the splash pad or in the little inflatable pool my parents bought for the back yard.

 I am sure there will be many more St. George visits to see Grandma and Grandpa Stewart that were just like this one!

A Tea Party

We had a tea party for the Heslop girls (so sad that Holland couldn't make it) and we all had so much fun. It is nice to celebrate just being a girl sometimes with some cutsie decor, frilly pom-pons, adorable miniature foods, and of course a no-boys-allowed kind of policy.

Jeff and Jessica will be moving next month to Illinois for FOUR years!! It is so sad and crazy to think that little Genevieve will be Lily's age when they are done with Jeff's work there. To celebrate and help maintain the little cousin relationships that Lily, Annie, and Hazel have, Joan put together the sweetest gift to each of the girls. They all got a "friendship" necklace that will help them think of each other every time they wear it. They also got some cute stationary with the letter of their name so that once Hazel moves, they can write letters to each other to help them remember each other. At this point all of us girls almost broke down right there. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever seen and it really put into perspective how much is going to change in the next four years and how much we will miss Jeff, Jessica, Hazel, and Genevieve!

We all had so much fun and I truly hope it becomes a tradition among the Heslop girls! Joan did an amazingly beautiful job with everything. I know that all the little girls were in Heaven.