The kids found a turtle in the backyard.

Yesterday we went to the Raleigh, NC temple. David, Susan, Nick, Oma, Opa, Coree and Gavin. We also went to see Kung Fu Panda. I thought it was excellent. Today we went to see Get Smart. Very funny!

Sandling Beach North Carolina

We went to Raleigh, NC this morning to visit the state Capital Building and the Sports Hall of Fame museum. In the background you can see the dome for the Capital Building. Downtown Raleigh is pretty old, but neat.

After the state capital we went to Sandling Beach near Raleigh. It's a beach at one of the lakes near David and Susan's house. Nick has been showing us how to play rugby. Jonny wants to play rugby for our school in China. As you can see my tan is really coming along. I'm trying to get tan only on my forearms. It's working great so far.

Vika playing in the water.

Rachel, Morgan and Jonny were trying to stand on the float barrier at Sandling Beach.

Today was a fun day. We are enjoying our time with family. We took the family mini golfing in the 90+ degree temperature. It was fun but a little hot. Vika found a nice place to rest. After mini golfing, we came back home to just hang out with David and Susan's family. Morgan and Jonny were playing basketball out front this evening and came running in to tell us that someone was shooting a bb gun at them. They said a bb hit the backboard. The kids have all enjoyed playing together. We just wish we could all live closer together.

We decided that we needed to contain our kids on our vacation in North Carolina. This was a great idea for about 30 seconds. It was 90+ degrees with about 75% humidity. They didn't last long.

Coree is trying to imitate the bird below. Did she do a good job?

David, Coree's brother, has two African Grey Parrots. They talk a lot in the evenings and early morning. Last night Gavin was rolling on the floor laughing at them because they make the funniest noises.

Here is our two headed monster and our one eyed ghoul.

Nick's Farewell

Nick will be leaving for Sao Paulo North Brazil Mission next week. Today he gave his farewell talk at Church and this is a picture of family and his friends from Hawaii.

Rachel, Jonny, Nicole, and Emmi striking a pose.

Vika loved jumping on the trampoline. The kids miss having one at home.

We started on our trip across America. Our first stop was somewhere in eastern Colorado. There was no name, it was just a bunch of hotels. Going over the Rocky Mountains was really cool because we saw the Colorado River and the ski resorts. I didn't want to leave but we had to press onward. 19 hours later we made it to Arkansas for a few days rest at Coree's parents house in Fayetteville. We did a little frizbee golf.

We headed east for about 7 hours and made it to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. We were surprised that Graceland is in a pretty bad neighborhood. We didn't stay long.

DVD players are a modern miracle because it makes long drives much more fun. We watch a bunch of movies and then we are at our next stop. Here are pictures of us watching movies.