The Family Legacy

Happy Birthday Mom, Becca, and Rick

2011-01-16T14:52:00.001-08:00

We suck!!!

2011-01-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we suck at this blogging thing:-) I changed the background and I am going to change our family pciture (Marini). If you guys want me to change your family pictures to reflect the changes in your families let me know...and post them on facebook. I'll copy and paste them to the blog. Daddy wants updated family pictures so we need to be sure we get some at the wedding:-)

I will also put a count down on the page for Amy's wedding:-)

Not much going on here...all of us at school and trying to graduate. Zachary fractured his nose playing baseball...go figure he plays how many seasons of football without one injury and a game of baseball at the park with his friends lands him with a broken nose. Medications tend to have the opposite affect on him...he gets hyper. So I have spent the last week trying to keep a 12 year old boy hopped up on meds still...I think I need meds now!

Love you guys....lets get back at this communication thing. We need to discuss Dad's retirement plans, the trip next summer, and Amy's wedding:-)

Love all of you!

Happy Birthday COLE, RON, and BEN!!!!!!!

2009-11-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Comments

Catching up

2009-11-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know I missed all the sept and oct birthdays ....sorry daddy Cassidy and me. I will add a birthday wish this weekend for Cole,Ron and Ben. This is going to be short because I am on my phone. Kids are good lots of updates to add. I love my job and Rick is enjoying shore duty. Love you all!

2009-11-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

hi guys

just a quick hello to all. buffalo bills weekend was a lot of fun. of course the bills lost! but other than that it was good. i was introduced to mexican dominos and really liked it. cole, ben, and me all decided that after that weekend we would all quit smoking. it's been over a month now SMOKE FREE!! feel pretty good!

so nino slept over my house on the monday we returned. went very well but nino woke up very early tuesday morning! ben had a great time at the concert he went to. i helped cole paint her house a little. we did the living room, dining room and hallway. i think i still have some paint in my hair. but overall it came out pretty good!

work is work. i really hate it some days and other days i only hate it a little bit.

ben and i went with cole, tony, and nino on a haunted train ride/house. that was a lot of fun watching nino be excited about scary stuff but not get scared about it. inside of the haunted house, cole was more scared than nino was!

right now i'm on the last couple days of my vacation. started off being sick of course. ben and i went to a uconn game. they won, that was fun even though i still felt a little bit under the weather. monday i hung out with nino.

then ben and i drove up to ronnies. of course on the way up we hit really bad traffic on 495. took up almost an extra hour and half. got there and watched some tv. tuesaday we went into town and went to a couple stores. went out to eat with cassidy and kendall. and of course there was only one waitress on. lunch took a little longer but it was good. went back to rons and we got to take a nap. hung out with the girls while ron and jen went to parent teacher conf. had some good tacos for dinner. then we got to play some video games. i know i got really into rock band. ron and ben played some soccer then we played sorry sliders on the wii. for a hasbro game it was really addicting. ron and i could not dethrone ben! he was unstoppable. wednesday morning we got up and had some really good pancakes...at least mine were good! then we went for a hike with the whole family. cass and kendall climbed the whole way by themselves. kendall decided that she was a lion and started to crawl and growl up the mountain! and cassidy decided that we were all being mean to her! but i really enjoyed the hike! we got back to ron's and had to try to dethrone ben again! after a couple of rounds ron came up the new winner...thank god cuz they would have played for another 5 hours!

so for the rest of my vacation i don't have much planned. hand out with nino for a little while on sat so cole and tony can get some xmas shopping done with out nino there.

so i hope all of you will update me with what's going on in your lives very soon!!!!
pictures to follow once if figure out how to put them in a slide show!
love and miss everyone!
amy victoria

Hey people....

2009-08-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

Just found out that Solomon Eliminem (probably spelled wrong)just signed with the Bills. Cool thing is...we know him, he goes to church with us and has shared with the kids at several of our programs...you have one local kine brudah on your team:) he's a great guy.

Football is running our lives here....Britt's team won Fri, Joshua's was robbed Saturday because I swear the refs were the oppossing teams alumni, Zach also lost..he was sick:(

I am soooo tired. Working a fulltime job,andtwo part time,school fulltime...I am going to bed!

I love you!!!

YAY Amy!

sorry i don't know how to put into a slide show

2009-08-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

2009-08-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

random pictures

2009-08-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Hello out there!!!!

2009-08-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well I got all of my laundry done at home! Yes Ben finally hooked up the washer and dryer that was Grandpa's. They've been sitting in their spots since we moved in back in Dec. It's really exciting to be able to do laundry at home. Yes I know I'm a dork.
Not too much new going on here. Ben and I have been going on a lot of hikes this summer. Some easy ones and some long ones and some interesting ones. All of them were worth it! We make our own trail mix and bring waters with us and depending on the hike some sandwiches. And since we've been hiking, we've been trying to eat a little bit healthier. I don't even know when the last time I had a Swiss Cake Roll. We were at Stop and Shop today and I had to let them know it was nothing personal and that I still loved them! Ben's been going to the gym a couple of times a week. I try to do some wii fit. My schedule sucks, I know it's an excuse but it's hard.
We're going to a Mets game on Tuesday.(even though they are sucking this year) They're Ben's team. And I'm pretty sure everyone knows we're going to Ireland in January! I went to the post office the other day to take care of my pass port. Hey Ron, that's one step closer to The Amazing Race!!!! Just any time we'll be together, you need to bring your recorder.
Me and Cole get to work together on Tuesdays most weeks. Thank God, cuz I just might kill everyone in that place. And she likes to fart on me all day long! She claims that if she doesn't release her gas then she'll get sick. Which is fine if you release but it doesn't have to be ON ME!!! We try to go out to dinner together just the two of us. But of course neither of us can decide where to eat, and we end up at crap places like Ruby Tuesday's. Which brought us to the decision that we are going to start our own website about us reviewing normal places like that and pretty much tearing them to shreds! If the food or service is no good. (cole, I did check google and there is like a million different sites). I've had Nino sleep over twice now. He'll be all excited to come over and play with Zoe and see Ben, then the minute he get's bored it's all "can I go home now?" And all I say is that he's stuck with me for good! It's been fun both times, EXCEPT when he comes into my room at 6:45 in the morning yelling "boogedie boo" Thanks Cole. And we get to hang out on Mondays. Go swimming, play games(where he tries to cheat...thanks cole again) play lego batman on play station.
Mom and Dad's visit was good, but too short. They got here late afternoon. Relaxed for a little bit, then we all went to Ben's parent's for food. Cole and Nino went too. All Nino wanted to do was go upstairs look around and go into the attic, while we were all sitting outside talking. It was fun, I didn't think it was weird at all. Good food, good weather, and good conversation. We left around nine I think. Went home watched the football hall of fame induction. BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE! Went to bed. Got up and ate some breakfast and then they ran as fast as they could! (just kidding) Mom told me again that if I wanted to move back to Buffalo I could. No thank you.
What else?...Oh, we went to see Inter Milan and AC Milan play at Gillete Stadium. (pro soccer teams from Italy) That was really cool seeing huge teams like that play in person. It was just a friendly but it was still fun. We went to Weezer and Blink182 the other night. That was really fun. And I'm really excited for the Bills game, which is coming up soon. On the Monday we come back, Ben's going to Boston or New York (can't remember which city) for a concert. Cole and Tony are going to New York for a Yankee's game and Nino will be sleeping over my house for the night! That will be rough...I'll have to drink a little less maybe during the day on Sunday. HAH! Who am I kidding?
Anyways...Jill's right. (did I just say that?JK) We really need to keep up on this blog. EVERYONE.
OK...that's enough for this evening
Love and miss all of you!!!

What's Up Family?

2009-08-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

So,as I am sure you can all see...we don't use this blog enough....

I was late posting Graduation pictures....Nino made it to the next step in his karate class....Cass and Ron have been going to the co-op and farming or something....mom and dad visted all of us.....and there are no posts or pictures.

We have to do better people:)

What's going on here?

Well, today is my last day at my old job...sorta kinda. I will be resigning my full time position, but keeping the two part time ones I do for the company and doing them at home:) I start back to school on September 9th.

Rick is finally at shore duty and working on three years worth of "Honey Do" Lists. He is going to start school in October. Right now is the time of year when they are initiating the NEW CHIEFS so he is busy with work and playing reindeer games, as they fondly refer to them in the Navy.

Britt is enjoying the last bit of her summer freedon before she hits the books on Sept 10th. She is substituting at a small preschool where I used to work and is the assistant cheerleading coach at her old high school. She did get her permit....and yes, the rumor is true she did run into the house with the Jag.....but there was minimal damage to the car and no damage to the house.

Joshua is first string on the JV football team and is loving every minute of it. He has set a goal for his grades this year and seems to be working just as hard at school work as he is at football. We made it through the first game of the season with no brokem bones....its no joke those local kind boys are some big buggas!

Becky is enjoying high school and being the little sister of the bog man on campus....or as the football team calls him...BUBBLES! She has been sick lately with a cold that comes and goes. As I type this she is at home sleeping off the Nyquil from last night. She is exploring all the clubs and ativities that high school offers becfore she makes a decision about what extra curricular activities she will partake in.

Zman is playing flag football and is doing really well. Last Sunday, he was MVP and had two interceptions, pulled three flags, and had one penatly for roughing the QB....I think he may end up one of those big kind local buggas! He has been in school since July and will be on a three week break in September.

We are just trying to find our rythm with all the changes going on with all of us in school and Rick being home:)

Now....the rest of you post!!!

2009-08-19T10:25:00.001-07:00

2009-08-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

alt="Happy Anniversary graphics" border="0">

Happy Anniversary Tony and Cole

2009-08-05T21:37:00.001-07:00

2009-08-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY COLE AND TONY!!!!!

2009-05-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

Six Favorite Things

2009-05-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

I have tagged all of you my family in my blog:

Six Favorite Things

http://keeponkeepnon.blogspot.com/2009/05/six-favorite-things.html

Happy Birthday Amy FooFoo...

2009-05-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

Blogger Graphics
I found some really Cute Blogger Layouts at Doobix.com

Sneak Peak at Britts Senior Portraits

2009-05-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

109th Submarine Birthday Ball

2009-04-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

Here is our picture from the Submarine Birthday Ball.Go on over to my blog to read the invocation Rick gave.

Hey Family......

2009-04-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Just an update on what's going on around here.....

Rick finally got his orders to SUBPAC here is Hawaii so that is one thing we can breath easy about. We are stil waiting to hear his exact transfer date. And as soon as he transfers he will be hitting the books. We are going to the Submarine Birthday Ball next Friday and he is doing the invocation.

Britt is still wrestling with going to school here or not. All I can do is pray. We went to an awards ceremony Monday where they gave her the Presidential Scholarship. Above is a picture of her with the school mascot Sharkey.

They asked Joshua to come play Varisty this year but after some discussion he decided that he would rather be a guaranteed started and see some serious playing time on JV this year rather than ride the pine for Varsity. So he will stay on the JV team.

Becca is getting ready to transition to high school and is very excited:) She will be cheering on the jv squad this year.

Zach just wants Aunt Amy and Unlce Ben to get married so he can get a mowhawk and die it blue....

Me, I love my job....but I did I apply for another job doing the same thing for the Army...making $10000 more a year. I don't want to leave my current job, but we need to prepare all we can for the upcoming retirement. *sigh*

Sunday we will be going to church and then having friends over for dinner....how about you guys?

Happy Easter

2009-04-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Image Provided By: SeekCodes

Happy Birthday Jenn and Joshua!!!!

2009-04-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hi family

2009-03-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Not too much new stuff going on here. I was on vacation last week, a week I didn't even ask for off but I'll take it! I did NOTHING all week and it was great.
It was a week for the ncaa tourney. Ben's family takes it very seriously and I've heard about past years that were crazy. So I decided I would take it all in! It all started on Sunday. That was Selection Sunday, where who ever I don't know, decides which teams get which seeds and where they will be playing. UCONN got a #1 seed! They were put in the west, where they've won it all in another year. So everyone is pretty excited about that.
Monday I got to hang out with Nino. It was suppose to be nice out, but of course it wasn't. So we hung out inside playing all day. Ben's sister was in town and we had to meet one of Ben's friend's new lady friends, so we went out Monday night to grab a couple of drinks. Well, the place we went to was having karaoke that night. Even after a couple I couldn't go up there and sing, no way!
Ben and his sister went up a few times. I had a good time, we never go out so it was nice.
Tuesday and Wednesday I really didn't do anything at all. Slept in both days, went to the mall to get my hair cut but too many people were there so that ended that. Cole came over on Wednesday with Nino so we could go get a baby shower gift for one of the girls we work with. Me and Ben went one time to Babys r us with Nino and Nino kept asking one of the workers if he could get a job there. Ben told Nino that if he wanted to buy something he would need money and to ask someone for a job. So he did, and he didn't get the job:(
Then on Thursday....I cut up some veggies and made dip for the long day of basketball ahead of me. We went to Ben's parents house to watch all the games. His parents were there, his brother, one of his friends and a friend of the family came to watch UCONN, who kicked some major butt. The veggies went over very well and there was food all day long.
Friday the same thing.
Saturday the same thing. I made some chili cheese dip at half time and that was gone in 10 minutes. So for my first tournament, I had a great time. I filled out a bracket which was a good way for me to cheer for teams, otherwise I would have been bored out of my mind. Basketball from noon til past midnight isn't so bad if you have good people with you, good food and a good bracket!
Then it was back to work on Sunday :(
That's all that's going on with me...I miss everyone so much.
AMY
GO UCONN!!!

Hey Family....

2009-03-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

What's shakin? I know I need to finish our Hawaii vacation blog....I just have been crazy busy. I think Benehana is next....followed by our trip to Anna Millers for PIE:)

I have had the crud....as we have heard that Jenn and the girls have also had it...love it when kids share their germs:) I have to wean Zach from drinking from my cup...bad habit.
Go on over and check out my blog for pictures of Zach with his shaved eye brows......I blame Amy and Ben:)

Rick is in port four a couple of months...then he does a couple of weeks before Britts Graduation...then shore duty...whatever that means. Britt still has not decided about school...for me the choice would be easy...but what do I know?

ninos bday party

2009-03-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

hey everyone,
this is alittle late but ninos birthday was fun. of course we got snow so three kids couldn't come. but we did have four others plus nino. the theme was star wars, and tony found a ballon that sang the star wars theme, we still have it and it is still inflated, awesome hearing that everyday! but the kids played musical chairs, which amy was the musical chair leader, pin the tail on the donkey and sword fights. one of the younger kids beat the crap out of nino and caden, the two older ones. it was very funny. we got him his first bike with a lighting mcqueen helmet, he rides like a madman. amy got him a darth vader costume, which he puts on everyday at some point.
miss everyone
cole

Canopy Tour

2009-03-10T17:42:00.001-07:00

Ron & JJ's MiniVaca

2009-03-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well Jen and I are on a little vacation, just hanging out NH and doing some of things we haven't had the opportunity to do up here since the girls were born. Skiing, Snowshoeing, Sitting Around doing nothin! The girls slept until 9 AM on Monday, only happened the night we got home from HI (of course they went to bed that night at 2 AM)!

Friends were up this weekend and we enjoyed some skiing on Sat. with just a long sleeve Tshirt and a Fleece Vest - gotta love spring skiing! Monday JJ and I went skiing again, and only in NE can you go from 58 degrees to 4" within 48 hours, but the skiing was great and the mountain was empty.

On Sunday, we had scheduled a canopy tour for Tuesday . . . 48 hour cancellation policy . . . no worries right! Ha, pick up Cassidy on Monday and she has a fever and Strep is going around the daycare . . . figures . . . take her to the walk-in and they see that she has an ear infection and don't even bother checking for Strep because she will be on antibiotics anyway . . . she sleeps through the night and feels good enough to go to daycare, and now that she is on antibiotics is ok, whew . . . this little tour is not cheap!

The tour includes 10 zip lines (larger ones are 600-800 feet long) and over 1oo feet in the air, 3 repels (longest 65'), and a couple of sky bridges! We got really lucky today . . . beautiful weather, no winds, great sun, and the entire presidential range was free of clouds! I can't explain how fun this was . . . mixture of adrenalin, speed, beauty, and peace. Can't really speak for all of you but Amy you have to do this in the near future!

Later, Ron

Happy Birthday Tony:)

2009-03-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

These early birthday's sneak up on me:) Someone remind me about Jenn's next month:)

2009-03-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Comments

2009-03-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY!!!!!!!

Kendall's Bday and Cassidy's boo boo

2009-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well Cassidy has had her first tear jerking accident . . . kids and tread mills don't mix well. Although it was very scary and sad, she is fine and doing well. Oddly her hair doesn't really look all that bad when just lies where it normally would, and Jen can put a little ponny tail right over it and it covers it perfectly. The interesting part should be when it is about an inch thick, we'll have to wait and see what comes of that.

Otherwise she is doing great as you can see. I really planned on bring a camera last Thursday when we went skiing again. We went together this time, when in the past she was taking a lesson while I skiied by myself. A few things were obvious, first she likes to ski, second she is not afraid to go fast, and third in a couple of years I will have a hard time keeping up with her (by the way Jen can't already!)

Kendall had a good birthday - Tinkerbell theme - sit and sping, and bunch of stuff from tinkerbell. Nothing to exciting as we didn't do a party this year, but she was very excited and had a good day(s), cake on Thursday at school, then present from Mom, Dad and Cassidy. Then Mr and Ms J were up for the weekend, so another cake and more presents, and I'm sure Dave and Jeff will have something for here next time we see them . . . so they are both spoiled and birthdays and xmas sometimes go on for weeks . . . but that's okay. Here is one photo of Kendall. Love ya all. Ron

Touring Sub Base

2009-02-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

OK, guys I finally had a chance to upload the pictures from the Sub Base Tour. Since I have been here for 20 years and i have been on my share of subs, have been to the memorials for everything from memorial services to promotion services, and drive past them weekly...I think that your take on the tour would be fresher and mean more.....so post away. Ron can you email me the group photo from the restaurant so I can do that next? I would also like birthday shots of Nino and Kendall....hint hint:)

Touring Sub Base

2009-02-22T21:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Nino and Kendall

2009-02-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Graphics

Amy and Ben visit NH

2009-02-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hey Amy and Ben it was really nice to see you guys again, and I always love to see the Krieger side of my family enjoy Cassidy and Kendall . . . and they obviously really enjoy/ed seeing you two.

A footnote in true Griswold fashion. As of Saturday night (they came up on Sunday) it was suppossed to by about 45 degrees on Monday (the day we skied) . . . Well Sunday morning's forecast showed a cold front from Canada that came out of nowhere and suddenly . . . a whopping 18 degrees for a high LOLOLOLOL!

Needless to say, it was cold. Ben in good judgement decided to relax at the house, and Amy and I headed out for a few runs. It actually turned out to be fine, and Amy skied as if she hadn't missed a beat over the past couple of years, and she fell fewer times than I did snow boarding (although I could have taken a nap on the side of the trail waiting for her) . . .

All was great . . . haven't skied with Cass since the last time I promised to bring camera . . . sorry.

Ronnie

ummm...

2009-02-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

first of all...Jill is the one who wrote "may". yes dad you got a definite answer when you talked to him and some day we will be married. so before you get yourself all worked up about a little word just know that it will come someday.
second of all...that's it really. just wanted to say hello to everyone. AMY

Helping Daddy Out....

2009-02-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here is Daddy's reply to the caption under Amy and Ben's photo...he knew he posted it...he just wasn't sure where he posted it:)

"Why are we using the the word "MAY"? It's seems to me I got a definite answer when I asked the question concerning someone's intentions." BIG Jim's words:)

You have Snow...I have Sun....

2009-01-29T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yet I have a ten year old with pnemonia:( Yes, after two trips to Tripler it has been determined that Zach does indeed have pnemonia. Hopefully, the antibotics they put him on will knock it out so he canget back to being himself and I can get back to work:)

Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-01-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

Yeah, 14 and 1/2 more inches yesterday, and its not even February yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I LOVE THE KRIEGER'S

2009-01-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Becky! Happy birthday mom (Ellen)! I haven't written in awhile and after being with my sister and her family for the weekend, I have to say how much I appreciate and love the Krieger family! I was with all of you for two weeks and do not ever remember wanting to be away from any of you as as much as I do my sister and her family!! Maybe it is just b/c we are in our small house and cannot get away from each other.

So needless to say I miss everybody!! Cassidy often asks to play "Hawaiian" music and when we do it brings me right back to the time we were there. I of course miss the weather, as you saw the pictures Ron posted of the snow we have here in NH.

Amy and Ben- I had a great time with you both at the Bruins game!

Jill, I have been reading your blog and sometimes feel as if I am right there with you when you are talking about the traffic, the kids arguing with each other, and all the other chaos. It is your family and as I've already said I missing everybody. I'm so happy to hear your job is working out well and you love it so much. I am hoping I can get there with my job one day.

Hope everybody is well. I love and miss you all!! Jen

Sorry guys....

2009-01-23T15:55:00.001-08:00

I was suppose to have Rick look at the sub pictures one last time before I posted them to make sure they were not in violation of any classified issues...but I forgot and it will be a while before he gets back:(

Big Day for Cass

2009-01-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody . . . Cass had her 3rd lesson today, and I went to check on her and could not find her! She wasn't on the magic carpet anymore . . . where could she be? She was going up the chair lift! She even led the instructor down the run on their final run of the day! Yeah Cassidy!!!

Winter In NH

2009-01-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

It is only Mid-January, and we have heard about the crazy weather that Marini's have been dealing with, so I figured that we might give you an idea of what has been going on here . . .

Cass is sitting in a pile of snow that is just on the other side of our porch . . . We started a tradition last year that we create a sled run from our porch . . . by the end of the year, we should not even need to leave the porch to take off. We got about 16" yesterday of beautiful powder, and YTD(season wise) we probably are over 3'.

Cass has started her lessons, she will have her third later this week. Jen has been out 2 this season, which is great because she hasn't gone since the winter of 02-03! We were lucky enough to have a babysitter lined up for today, and were able to enjoy a few hours of skiing today. It might not seem like a big deal, but this is one of the reasons that we moved up here, and this has been the first time in a long time that we have started to enjoy the area the way we intended. Anywho here a couple of more photos to show the amount of snow we have already.

Cassidy's 5th Birthday Party at Bellows Beach

2009-01-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

We got up Saturday morning to gray gl00my skies..which totally bummed me out because we were scheduled to head to Bellows beach for Cassidy's birthday party.Bellows is my all time favorite beach. We take the kids camping there and they spend days in the water...days:)

So anyway we got up and ate the yummy breakfast casserole that i am famous through out Hawaii for, packed up all the beach items and food. i have to interject right here that we all did well working together as a team to get everything ready and all the cars loaded each time we went somewhere:)

We had to stop at the Shoppette of course to get gas, drinks for the ride, and a floatie for Cass...too bad the floatie selection was ugly and they didn't have any:( Then we had to stop and pick up the Mermaid birthday cake for the birthday girl!

The ride up which is usually breath taking was disappointing:( and the weather never improved...of course Griswold beach day. We played football a bit before heading down to the beach. Everyone found something they liked about the beach. Jen, Ren, Cole, Amy, Ben, and Dad found their love of boogie boarding and Kendal and Cassidy found a love of what we like to call wave chasing:) Everyone had a great time and it was decided that next time we will spend a couple of days out at Bellows in their cabins)

We had planned to stay for dinner, but as we sat on the beach watching the clouds roll over the mountains and come at us we changed our minds and packed up to head home:)

Cassidy's 5th Birthday Party

2009-01-16T16:33:00.001-08:00

Haunama Bay

2009-01-16T16:08:00.000-08:00

On Friday morning we got up and packed up to head off to Haunama Bay. It took us a little longer than expected to get everyone loaded into the car, stop and get supplies (and to pee...between me, Cass, Cole, and Kendall...it was often) We also had to pick up the other love birds Amy and Ben up in Waikiki.

Ron and Jenn met us there and we headed off to the water. It's been a long time since I went snorkeling and I was a little freaked out....I think all of us but Ron were a little skeptical:-P

We had a lot of fun seeing the sites and the beauty of Haunama Bay. We piled into the cars (don't ask me who rode with who because I know we juggled that around a bit trying to make sure we all got to stop and get Cassidy's birthday presents for the next day:)

When we got back to the cabins there was a beautiful rainbow that Ron was able to capture on film.

Ron & Jen's Turtle Bay Getaway

2009-01-16T16:07:00.001-08:00

Before I start, Jen and I thank Jill for taking Cassidy and Kendall for 3 days! Toni, Nicole, Mom and Dad we appreciate and all assistance you gave to her during this time as well. Both of our girls are great, but they definately are a handful.

We really psyched to getaway for a couple a nights in such a beautiful place, and with the added excitement about Turtle Bay being in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We didn't know this when we booked or at that point hadn't even seen the movie, but still . . .

We totally pampered ourselves . . . valet parked the car, checked in and headed to our room. We had a suite (Pakiki or something like that) - a really nice room with king bed, sitting area and a beautiful view of the lagoon (see pics below) . . . the only area that we were disappointed in was the bathroom . . . pretty standard. We headed down to one of the outside bars for lunch, where we drank some local fare, caught up with one and other, and watched as a few surfers went by . . . pretty cool! We had dinner that evening at one of the restaurants and it was good, but honestly can't remember what had that night. We went to the room to find a bottle of champagne there from the resort - nice touch.

Next morning, I headed off to the golf course and Jen to the Spa. I was scheduled on the Palmer course but they were a bit behind, so I played the Fazio course . . . in less that 2 and 1/2 hours, and because Jen still had another 3 hours before her spa day was over, I played again. With my quick first round the starter wanted to figure out a way to get me back on the Palmer course, but they were still behind, so I let him talk me into playing first thing in the morning on the next day! Talking about beautiful courses, both courses are perfectly manicured, challenging hazard locations, and the ocean breezes make certain club selections difficult to say the least. I did reach the 4th (I think that is the first par 5 on the Fazio course) in two. I easily hit my drive 325 with a very strong wind behind me and only had a 7 iron in! About a 15 foot put for eagle (first attempt of life putting for eagle, chipped for one in the past but never putted) and lipped out and tapped in the birdie. Played pretty well and shot a 92 on the first 18, and on the second 18 shot a 87! Jen enjoyed her spa treatment a lot, but she can blog about that later.

After finishing the second round, I still had about an hour before Jen would be done, so I decided to enjoy a couple of beers at the clubhouse. Hung out with a couple of other guests and spoke with the staff members . . . really nice and friendly and they talked us into dinner at the clubhouse later that night.

Caught up with Jen back at the room and headed down to the restaurant on the beach . . . really good! I enjoyed multiple flavored beverages, we read, listened to music, took a couple naps, swam a little and just enjoyed each others company. Tired from the sun, golf, beach, and spa treatment, we headed back to the room for a couple of hours of napping. I understand that this might seem like a lame thing to do with some many things out there to do, but with 2 little girls at home, we seldomly if ever take naps any more, and we both like napping.

After our nap, we ordered a little cheese plate and enjoyed the bottle of Pineapple Champagne we had bought at Dole earlier in the week. It was really good, and we keep meaning to see if they ship, cause we would like some of our friends to try it. Headed to the clubhouse restaurant for dinner. One of the best atmosphere's that I have ever enjoyed at a "non-themed" restaurant. The staff and guests seem to understand a partake in a lively, but no loud, dining experience that is just fun. Jen has a really delicious piece of fish, and I had a perfectly cut and cooked prime rib . . . Good stuff!

The next morning the alarm clock went off a bit early, but I will do some silly things to play golf and there have only been a couple of opportunities to play 54 holes in less than 24 hours! Headed down to the clubhouse for the first tee time, and beat all but the starter to the clubhouse. He was ready for me, and a great example of outstanding customer service! The clubhouse wasn't even open and he was ready with my cart, a bag of balls for the driving range, and even had a few of the flags in for the putting green . . . literally for me (for helping him out the day before by giving up my tee time). I played the 18 holes as quickly as well as I have ever played a course. A lot of shots stand out (only of which is below and if you squint one shot is a pic of the 14th green from my approach shot, which landed about 2 and 1/2 feet from the hole . . . birdie! Most remember hole was the 18th, a 506 yard, par 5 with water on along the entire left side of the fairway, a break in the fairway around 250 yards out with water directly ahead, a large sand trap at the beginning of the dogleg right. Hit a hybrid right to the edge of the fairway . . . perfect! The green is a fortress with water in front, and 4 bunkers surrounding the rest of the green. As I was scoring well, I laid up with a 9 iron to ensure that I would have a full swing to the green. 3rd shot was with my loft wedge from just under 100 yards. Left it on the bottom of the green and 2 putted for par. Shot an 86, equalling by best round ever, and played on a PGA course fro the middle tees!

We headed out after some breakfast to meet up with everyone for our next adventure!

RON

Haunama Bay

2009-01-16T16:06:00.001-08:00

Ron and Jenn's Get Away

2009-01-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

Moving on....

2009-01-16T15:46:00.001-08:00

Ok, thanks to a wind day...the Hawaiian equivalent of a snow day, I was able to upload some more photos and do the next set of activities of our vacation....the Swap Meet and Time with My Nieces and Nephew (you can all call it whatever you want...but that is what I want to call it)

So, we set off for the Swap meet and for October it was a very warm day, so we were constantly looking for shade and something cool to drink. This is also one of Ron's favorite sites on the island...he was sedate during this visit:)

We cruised around the swap meet and everyone got their souvenirs. Next we parted company...Ron and Jenn went off to the North Shore to enjoy their time on the North Shore, and we dropped Amy and Ben off down in Waikiki.

I took mom and dad back to the cabins and I let the kids cruise on the beach, taking them with me when I ran around to deliver my children to their activities and schools.

On Thursday, Dad, Cole, Tony, and I took the little ones to Ko'Olina and Cass, Ken, and Nino had fun floating in the water and having a picnic lunch:)

Amy and Ben, and Ron and Jenn can blog about their time away in Hawaii:)

I enjoyed spending time with my nieces.....but I had forgotten how much work children that young are...I have been spoiled by children who can bathe themselves:)

Swap Meet/Ko'Olina

2009-01-16T15:43:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday January Babies

2009-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Graphics & Myspace layouts

That Sucks!!!

2009-01-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Cole...that really sucks...what makes it even more sucky is that my window is the one that is cracked!

I am super duper sick with some freaky virus...I have been out of work for two days and have to stay home tomorrow...doctors orders:) Nothing much else going on around here:)

Cole sorry your window broke...you are having quite a bad vehicle streak:(

Jill

2009-01-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

hi everyone. i hope everyones new year was good. amy told you about xmas and new year was uneventful. but the griswolds strikes again. driving down the driveway the other the back window of the truck shattered, i actually mean shattered into a thousand little pieces. i mean how does that even happen. this would not happen to anybody but the griswolds. if anybody has any doubts about the truth to the griswolds they need to be told this. we DID NOT do anything out of the ordinary. nothing and the back window shatters. and we can't get it fixed until monday. seriously shattered. but anyway love you all cole

Sabres Weekend

2009-01-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

We did have a good time at the game, and I am very glad that Amy and Ben were able to make it. But I do feel it necessary to correct one thing, and only because it doesn't/hasn't happened in recent years for buffalo fans over boston/new england fans - The Sabres scored twice within the first 5 minutes!!!!! Amy and I actually got booed by people in our area, it was priceless. Although history has taught me to not cheer to loudly and If only I could have known the outcome, I would have been a bit more boistorous (that doesn't look right, but oh well).

Pet peeve I've mine: How isn't the pricing for food and beverages within a arena, attraction, stadium, etc. not prone to price gauging, monoply laws or some other law/regulation that protects the consumer. Seriously, the most expensive keg out there can be purchased for less than $100 and you get after foam around 7 cases or (7 times 24 times 12) 2016 ounces of beer which equals out to 216 - 16 ounce glasses at 7.50 on average per beer equals $1620.00! Now that a mark up . . . don't even get me going on peanuts, popcorn, candy or hot dogs . . . . .

Great time regardless, and glad to hopefully start the Sabres Bruins annual get together!

Buffalo Sabres

2009-01-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

OK...last post of the evening. Ron and I went to a Sabres game in Boston on Sat. We went with Jen and Ben and a bunch of Ron's friends. I didn't expect much of the game, I just hoped we didn't get blown out. Ben and I met Ron, Jen and Brian at Brian's house. We headed out to pick up Stacey and drive right to the arena. Which I'm very happy about because it was super windy and cold in Boston. Then we all headed up to The Hub inside the arena and met up with everyone else before the game started. It was getting close to game time so we went to our seats. I thought they were great seats. Third tier at the corner. You get a great view of the ice and we had two rows of people right the the isle so if you had to get up you didn't have to bother strangers to get the hell out of your way.
Within the first 3 or 4 minutes of the game the Sabres score!! Me and Ron were almost the only people in our area cheering, even though I saw plenty of Sabre fans on the way in. I had a great time at the game and I think it went by way too fast. But we won 4 to 2. Wooo hoooo!!!
Then we all head out with the mass of other people leaving the game. We manage to stay together and head out to get some food and drinks. I forget the name of the place we ended up but there were pool tables and you know what that means....pequawket time. I'm so happy you guys invented that. It's such a great game to play cuz I suck at actual pool. Jill, next time your up in NH have Ron play it with you, it's a ton of fun.
Time to go so we all head back to the arena because we parked there. Said our good byes and headed to the truck. Before we left the parking garage on the way in we made sure Brian had his parking ticket with him so when we left we could pay for it. Do you actually think we remembered to pay for it before we got into the car! Ben was driving and we pulled up to the gate to pay and duh you can't pay there. So Ben has to reverse down hill in the tiny garage. Luckily there was a parking guy close by so Ben didn't have to go too far.
So we headed to Brian's to get my car and Ron's car and go home. I had a ton of fun and loved being able to see the Sabres this year. Thanks Ron for getting the tickets for "Jeff's Birthday" the price was really good.
Good night all and Jill, can you continue to blog about Hawaii please!

AMY

amy's new year

2009-01-04T18:44:00.000-08:00

onto the next holiday...new year's.. well ben was really sick the whole week and some how it was my fault and i put a hex on him. who knows maybe i did. but i had to work, ben didn't even go to work that day. it was snowing pretty bad on the way to work, took an extra hour to get to work. people come in and shop a little. but i was only schedule to 5 (we were opened til six). went home to ben asleep on the fouton in the living room. managed to get him up and see what he wanted to do that night and what kind of food he wanted. i went to stop and shop got some appetizer foods- pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, and mozarella sticks. high class foods i'm talking about here. got some drink for me and went home. ben's friends that live down stairs invited us for some pasta so we went. went up stairs not expecting much for the evening. then we started preparing our snacks. a couple more of ben's friends showed up down stairs and we invited them up for some snacks. we had a good time just hanging out eating food and i had a couple of beers. we went to the living room to watch the ball drop. did anyone else see dick clark try to do the count down? they should not invite him to do it anymore. he isn't the same since his stroke and i'm afraid he might start to scare some children.
so another new year has come and gone. i don't think new year's is that big of a deal. so i hope everyone else enjoyed yours and many more to come.

AMY

amy's christmas

2009-01-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

happy new year everyone!! I'll start out with christmas. well of course i had to work on christmas eve. christmas eve ben and i have dinner over his grandfather's house with his family. really good polish food. start off with some little stuffed tomatoes that his grandfather's care taker (bonnie) make. good stuff. then for dinner we had fresh and smoke kielbasa wrapped in dough. also i had some cabbage soup over mashed potatoes. then there is some swedish meatballs that his grandmother makes (ben's mom's mom). and some really good perogies. then everyone opened some gifts. we all thought bonnie was on crack because she was helping ben's grandpa open gifts and she would rip open the paper super fast, flash the gift to his grandpa "you see" and move on to the next gift without stopping. when they're suppose to open a gift and move onto the next person. it was just really funny watching her. we hung out there a little longer then went home. cole came and got me to sleep over her house. ben went to his parents house to hang out with his family. only his brother chris came home. his sister jessica and her husband james couldn't make here this year. they live in georgia. me and cole only stayed up a little bit then we went to bed. i woke up to nino coming in the room and tony with a video camera. i looked super pretty and sounded awesome. this year it was all about nino. he had been talking about this dinosaur spike that he saw at target forever. this thing is a huge robotic roaring thing. and nino is so fun to watch open gifts. he would open something and want to play with that toy immediately. cole kept having to tell him to wait until he opened all of his gifts. then he opened a remote control for spike. and tony was like awe man, santa brought the remote for spike and no spike? cole told him to look around for spike and maybe spike got cold. and there on the side of the couch was spike. this was what the camera was for. he lifted up the blanket and made the coolest face ever. it was kinda like is that really spike there, and he was trying to hold back a smile. it was hilarious. then they got spike to walk and nino was afraid of him and dove into cole lap. even funnier than his smile.
so we hung out for the rest of the day playing with nino. ben came over and we played a little bit of xbox 360. mortal kombat vs dc. it's only fun for me when i play against nino cuz i might win. the weather was not a white christmas. it was like 50 degrees. we were going to go sledding but all of the snow was melted.
ben and i left and went home to open gifts from each other. then we went to his parents house to open some more gifts. i got The good the bad and the ugly-the buffalo bills. a book from his dad all about our beloved bills. ben was up stairs talking music to his brother and dad so i hung out down stairs with his mom and sister in law. i started to read the book and got hooked right away. by the time we left it was almost 11:30 and i of course had to work the next day.
but i had a great christmas eve/day. leading up to christmas i'm always so bah humbug about the whole season. working in retail has made me this way and with the whole family spread out i get bummed out. you would think i would get used to it by now but i get sad every year.
christmas blog done....

AMY

New Years....

2009-01-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years family!!! We spent last night at Mike and Carolyn's and we had fun...we played a new game...Mexican Train Domino's...pretty cool! The island is strong in tradition and there are more fire works on New Years eve than on the 4th of July. Britt usually has trouble because of her asthma...the air gets VERRRYYY smokey and its hard to see. At midnight the sky lights up and its like Beirut.

Around 1100 we had the kids outside with sparklers and it started to pour...of course the Haugheys are an extension of the Krieger/Marini Griswold family tree. So the kids started playing in the rain....all of them from Zach to Kaitlyn (Britt had to stay inside because she has to keep from getting sick with all the smoke in the air) Carolyn took pictures and as soon as she emails them to me I will post them:

By midnight it had stopped raining and the air had been washed clean enough for us to go out on the balcony and watch the fireworks. afterwards we played domino's until 230 and then we made our way home.

We got to bed at 4am and everyone slept until 130 this afternoon. Today we just chilled and straighted up....ran to Walmart to pick up a few things and we are having make your own pizza night. Rick has duty tomorrow night and I am driving a bunch of the teens from church to a youth event downtown...so while they are there Zach and I will go hang out with Rick on the boat.

Jill

2009-01-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

MyHotComments

NH Krieger Happenings

2009-01-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Jill is right, we need to post more often and then maybe for me at least that won't end up as epic novels . . .

Any way, Christimas itself was wonderful, but leading up to it has been nothing less than monumental family luck, or lack there of . . . First Jen's truck goes in for an oil change and $1,800 dollars later we get it back . . . Second my Toyota (which I purchased at a much higher price as it was and still is rated higher than all other makes and models for pickups, but well what should I/we expect) will not lock into 4 wheel drive (which you need living in NH mtns and we get snow, see below for full understanding) so I bring it to the dealer . . . something called a 4 wheel drive actuator is shot . . . another $650 I have my truck back . . . Third Jen states sometime in mid to late December that the washing machine is making weird noises, and what should we do. Well I use an appliance guy for the problems we have at the resort, and I give him a call. Well anyway we miss each other for 6 or 7 days, and finally he can make on the day that we are heading down to RI to celebrate Xmas with Jen's family. It has some part that he can but litterally would cost $5o less than buying a new one . . . so after a bunch of phone calls to dealer, manufacturer, we have a new washing machine . . . Not done yet . . . the same weekend we left Nh for RI, we leave in a storm that is only suppossed to be 1 to 3 inches . . . hah hah hah . . . in the valley the totals range from 10 to 15 . . . and the trip back is another storm which added another hour and half to the trip. . . No worries we have a snow blower. So we have 13 inches on he ground when we pull the fully stocked Tundra into a neighbors cleared drive way, treck the kids in, get a fire started, and I go to start the snow blower . . . . . . . . . It will not start, it is dead, I really dont care for humanity, mother nature, life, God, snow, the birds and the bees. etc, etc, etc . . . I shovel 5 different times from 11 Am and 11:3o PM that day. The snow blower has been great, and was a hand -me- down from dad, so oh well. Another $950 dollars later we have a new snow blower. Thought we might be done, no way! Wood stove needs a part that is $161 and they aren't quite sure who long it will take them to get the part and to do the repair so I actully have no idea what the total cost will be in the long run . . .

No to Xmas: Spent the weekend prior hanging in RI with Jeff, Anna and Lexy on Friday. A really fun night, our families really get along so well, and although I have 3 of best sisters a man can have Jeff has been a very important person in my life and it is really awesome to see how important he has become to Jen and the kids. Saturday, we spent it with Jen's family (extended) which went very well. The only positvely/negative thing is that our family and friends completely spoil the girls and we have a truck load of toys for them (which I unloaded somewhere in between the shovellings).

Now to Christmas . . . Although I really miss big Krieger family Christmas's, there is something special when you get to watch your kids open their gifts slowly and surely and have all the attention them. We woke up just a bit early, got the fire started, at our traditional sugar cookies, and then the girls opened their gifts. It was wonderful and I'll try to get a couple of picks up soon. Jen and I made a great meal - pepper encursted tenderloin with garlic/horseradish cream sauce, riscotto, green beans with garlic and shallots and JJ made a great chocolate cake with raspberry and cream topping. . . a couple of scotches and I was in heaven . . .

I hope all of your christmas's and new year's were as enjoyable and peaceful as mine . . . love and joy to you and yours . . . Ronnie

Christmas

2008-12-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to my siblings aka the Lurkers:)

Christmas was nice here. We spent Christmas Eve just hanging out with the family, baking for the next day. Then Christmas day Rick and I got up at 5am to put the turkey in the oven and went back to sleep on the couch until 9:30am....don't hate just wait until your kids are old enough to sleep in!

We opened gifts and chilled until some friends came over. Then we ate and watched movies all day. It was a good relaxing day filled with love and friends...I just missed my family:(

Yesterday was our real adventure.....the entire island had no power for about 9 hours...about 7pm last night all the power went out when four transformers were hit by lightening...which caused an overload on the rest of the equipment. Talk about dark.....when there is no electricity on the island....wow it was realllllyyyyy dark. The kids played Phase Ten by lantern light and Rick and I went to bed. We got power around 3am...there are parts of the island who still don't have power!

How was everyones Christmas?

Love

Jill

2008-12-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

http://
MyHotComments

Good Morning

2008-12-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

Amester.....what instrument does he play? Does that mean your a groupie? Not much going on here either today is my office Christmas party:)

I talked to dad yesterday he sounded sad...I hate living so far away....don't suppose I could talk you all into coming to live here? I did look at a beautiful house in NH that is twice the size of mine for half the price of mine online the other day....with 5 acres...sigh

Amy sent me the pictures of the sub visit, Rick just has to check them for security issues and I can post them. I plan on working on it next week:)

Off to work...love you all

Jill

2008-12-16T18:12:00.000-08:00

I thought we were suppose to sign our names at the end of a blog we write(JILL). Nothing new here except Ben had a show tonight. He's in a band with his best friend and another guy. It's really far away and there's suppose to be bad weather. He said it went well. But nothing else is new. AMY

I know you were here.....

2008-12-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

I see that all of you have visited the page but have not written anything today...what's up with that? Not much going on here...flash flood warnings and flooding everywhere. It has been pouring for days.

Britt is at a bball tournament after taking her ACT's this morning. The other three are playing outside in the rain and Rick and I are getting ready to go to the church and check for leaks.

Love you all and miss you much:)

Jill

Birdaflickle!!!

2008-12-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

Birdaflickle is a word made up by the chiefs at Ricks last command....is a form of cussing I guess you could say.

Anyway that is how I feel today.....it has been pouring out all day today. We have flash flood warnings and winds of 45 mph...it took me 2 hours to get to work.....

Anyway love you all....

Well Amy....

2008-12-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

Rick deleted them all off the hard drive by accident...but thankfully they are all stored on photobucket...I will you email you the log in ...I have to transfer them

pictures?

2008-12-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

jill, can you please hurry up and send everyone the disk with the pictures. i'm going through hawaii withdraws and i need pictures please. AMY(happy rick?)

I need...

2008-12-08T18:51:00.001-08:00

A better picture of cole, tony and nino together:) Also please sign the blogs rick stresses out when he doesn't know who wrote it:)

aww

2008-12-08T18:36:00.001-08:00

very nice and festive

Don't freak out

2008-12-08T17:58:00.001-08:00

I'm playing with the blog:)

2008-12-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

i think the picture looks awesome. the blog was good too. amys place is huge, very nice

Nice job bro....

2008-12-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

I think you did an awesome job on the picture and the blog. I can't wait to get a copy of the picture so I can print it and frame it...I really like it:)

2008-12-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

i think you did a good job with the luau ronald. one thing you forgot to mention was you misplaced sunglasses that some how ended up in your pocket!!!

The Hawaii Family Photo

2008-12-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

Here it is, Sorry it didn't come out as clear as I hoped, but I will get copies out to everyone.

Luau 3

2008-12-05T18:05:00.000-08:00

Alrightly then, I'll take on the task of attempting to follow the big sis's stellar blogging talents . . .

Pretty much a Griswold-free evening (almost) . . .

Paradise Cove and the Krieger's meet . . . the night started off with only one problem . . . missing Rick, so he missed the photo when you walk in. But it happened to be a really funny moment, when some how Big Jim missed the two "native hawaiian's" that accompany you during the photo, one of which is a rather attractive femal that more than likely was at least making mild contact with Big Jim during the photo itself. When they moved away from our little group Big Jim gasped in wonder and dissapointment (from the fact that he was that close to such a beauty and wasn't able to enjoy it).

Well it was a new experience for the parents and they both took full advantage, and I was especially suprised and happy to see Jim taking part in the local flavored beverages (watered down as they may be, they are still tasty).

We then moved on to the games . . . the spearing chucking was really funny . . . all the big brawny men lamely attempted to hit the mark (Ben was close), but it was Amy only who looked and connected as if she had a clue. Tried a few other games with equally lame results.

One of the best pictures of my sisters (in my humble opinion) I have ever seen took place during the fishing ceremony, which is one of my favorite parts of the event . . . I enjoy anything that invovles tradition, heritage, or history . . . and of course it is perfectly timed to be framed by another perfect Hawaiian sunset. Watched the Pig out of the hole ceremony . . . cool but not the highlighted of the show . . . . . . Then Griswold luck stikes.

"Hey look how beautiful the sunset is out there . . . Let's go take some pictures . . . Mom and Dad why don't you guys go first . . . oh poopy I don't have my flash so you have to hold while the camera collects light . . . alright Rich and Jill you next . . . Amy and Ben your up . . . ok Mine and Jen's turn . . . Ok honey we have to stay really still . . . OUCH . . . OUCh . . . you ok . . . yeah fine . . . that really hurts . . . just take the picture" Well it happens that some how we awoke a decent size red ant hill . . . they awoke during everyone else's photo and then decided that JJ's foot looked appetizing. She must of had 20-30 all over her foot and ankle and crawling all over her shoes . . . seriously what are the odds. But alast she is a trooper and we moved on . . .

Dinner came and I believe every one enjoyed their food . . . Ben wins and has official slot in the Paradise Cove clean plate club . . . our waiter was great . . . with the number of people and therefore drink tickets, we were over extended and he brought a plethora of drinks for the show.

During which Crazy Jim and Ellen were annouced for celebrating their 40 years of marriage!!! YEAH JIM AND ELLEN!

I do beleive that the Paradise Cove Dancers are the best on the Oahu. I have seen a few live and a bunch via travel shows, and they are good! Part of the show includes audience participation and Jim and Cole got up and did the Hola, during which it appeared they enjoyed themselves as much as we did watching them.

We collected ourselves and moved toward the exit, where Jim spied a couple of native Hawaiian's, of the female gender, posing with guests that where leaving. He some what patiently waited for his turn and then litterally dove at his opporuntiy to get a photo, which he did with one of the largest smiles in human history.

Those ended another great night with Krieger Family (Adults, in age at least)!

I love my new apartment...

2008-12-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted everyone to know how much I love my new home. Especially because it's more like a home and we have different rooms. We finished packing late Sat. night. Got up early Sun morning to a cloudy sky. Well of course being a Griswold...as soon as Ben got back to the apartment from Uhaul, it started to sleet outside. Cole, does that sound familiar? When I first moved into that hole, in April, Cole and Tony helped me and it was snowing and sleeting. In April? Really?
A couple of Ben's friends helped us thankfully. I stayed inside most of the day cleaning so I didn't have to deal with the elements outside..hee hee. I didn't plan that one at all, really I didn't. It took me a lot longer than I though it would, so did the moving. Ben and I didn't realize how much stuff I actually had. And that's with moving boxes all week long.
Once everything was in the new place, I got to the bedroom right away to make sleeping space. There were clothes all over the bed, and dresser drawers all over. I moved really quickly, put clothes in the closet, and most of the drawers back where they belong. One casualty, one of the drawers wood split off. Not a big loss, it's not the best made furniture but I've had it about 8 yrs. Nothing a little wood glue won't fix(hopefully).
Monday I did the kitchen. Talk about a big kitchen. I had almost everything put in place and looked around. Then I decided to move all the food and dishes around. Then I was happy. It was Ben's friends birthday so I made a huge thing of baked ziti-Yes Jill, I can make other food but this was the easiest thing to make with the amount of energy I had. And besides, everyone thought it was really good. Anyways, I love the kitchen, gas stove, dish washer, tons and tons of cabinets, good sunlight, hardwood floors. Now I can make Cole some pumpkin pie.
So, once we have everything in place, I want people to visit. You will actually have your own room. You won't have to stay in the living room. Oh yeah, we're gonna have a library too.
Love and miss everyone one of you!!
amy

Hey all you turkeys.....

2008-11-29T21:31:00.001-08:00

You guys could blog about the luau.....I have only been there 100 times, it might be nice to hear about it from a fresh prespective.....I'm just saying!

Luau

2008-11-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

I'm too tired to do a decent post about the luau tonight....anyone else want to take a shot? Also...I want pictures of everyones Thanksgiving on here:)

Luau 2

2008-11-26T22:15:00.001-08:00

Luau

2008-11-26T22:14:00.001-08:00

Mauanawilli Falls

2008-11-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

Well this was an adventure:)

It began with a nice leisurely drive to the windward side of the island. For this trip we managed to break it down to just two auto mobiles...to start:)

We got there and everyone loaded out of the cars, changed into their hiking shoes and off we went....It began with a slight incline on a paved road, which led us to the actual path. Once we got there of course there was a sign that warned us of the deadly disease we may contract if we swam in the water.....

Now this was suppose to be a moderate hiking trail....maybe for that triathlon guy lance whatever....but it was more than any of us expected....by a couple of miles. The other thing about Hawaii waterfalls.....that in order for the water to flow and be pretty it means that there had to be some moderate rain fall recently. Along with rain comes mud on a hiking trail:)

The thing that I loved most about this hike was that we all worked together to get it accomplished...everyone helped everyone else out...like it should be in a family. When it came to crossing the streams....you saw the Krieger family at its finest. We all worked together sometimes without even talking about how we were going to do it and got everyone across. We would approach a stream and then without instruction fall into position, start across, hand the kids across to the next person, and then worked together until everyone was across. It was the best part of the whole thing!

By the time we got to the bottom it was apparent that we would not be attending the luau that night as originally scheduled. We all had sore muscles and were looking forward to relaxing!

So off we headed to buy the tickets for the next night and get snorkel gear. We were suppose to meet Rick outside the main gate so that he could help Jill get everyone on base. He got hung up at work, so we piled everyone but Jenn and the girls in the truck....thinking it would take only about 20 minutes. Well true Griswold form it took almost an hour....to get the correct snorkel gear, stand in line and find out that Haunama Bay was closed the next day!

As we purchased the luau tickets Rick showed up....so we all went to rescue Jenn. Well by this time Cass and Kendell had both had meltdowns and Jenn had dug into the secret stash of m&m's to bring order back:) There was also some talk of someone peeing in a cup.

But wait the adventure was not over...after juggling cars and ideas....Jill, Jenn, Ron, Ben, and Amy climbed into Rick's car and headed to Costco while everyone else took the other two cars and went back to the cabin. Even to this moment I still wonder why we took the smallest car to Costco....to buy enough food to feed 17 people...what were we thinking? I have pictures of that adventure on my phone...which I will post later...I'm too sleepy to get up and find the cord that attached my phone to the computer:)

Mauanawilli Falls

2008-11-26T21:47:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T10:57:00.001-08:00

Comments & Myspace layouts

November Birthdays Ron Ben and Cole

2008-11-26T10:55:00.001-08:00

Comments & Myspace layouts

2008-11-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLE!!!!

Brrrr Its Cold:)

2008-11-24T18:14:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know I am going to get reamed for this one....but it's freezing here! I am sitting in my living room with all the windows closed and the a/c off and I am still chilly! It got down to 69 degrees last night....bbbbbbrrrrr

I know it is taking me a while to update the vacation stuff, but I like to do it when I can take my time:) Ron can you email me a copy of the Benehana group shot so I can use it on here:)

So what is everyone doing for Thanksgiving? We are going to church in the morning, then to Mike and Carolyn's....where it is always cold because they keep their a/c at sub degree temperatures! Friday, I will probably stay in my jammies all day...opps no I won't Britt's team made it one more round in the state finals so I will be at Aloha stadium cheering the team on...because she has been cleared to cheer as of Friday:)

Peace and hair grease my friends.......

2008-11-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

hey everyone,
no snow but extremely cold. the griswalds strike again. sunday we went to a gaints game. we were running late but tony got us there in 2 hours, that gave us two hours to tailgate. we get to the stadium and we see signs for non-permit parking. of course we don't have a permit, so we follow the signs and keep following the signs. we goe about a mile away from the stadium. we find the parking. they tell us that we have to take a shuttle to the stadium. ok. oh but wait there is NO TAILGATING. thats right a football stadium with no tailgating. so we drive around trying to find somewhere that would let us atleast grill the sausage, chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs we brought. of no one would. so we pull into a gym parking lot and decide to just atleast cook the hamburgers and hotdogs. we get the grill out, it was a mimi portable one, it was so windy the grill wouldn't stay lit. so we put the grill in the trunk, open all the doors. opening the doors didn't help with smoke or the smell. they ate the hamburgers medium well and the hotdogs were slightly hot. 45 minutes later we were done with our tailgating. but on a good note the giants won and it gave us really funny story.
love yall
cole

2008-11-15T19:40:00.000-08:00

Never mind about the picture, I just saw it.

2008-11-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! no snow here. way too warm for that. Not much new here. Ben and I are definatly moving at the end of the month. We're really excited to get out of this place. I've grown to hate it. Hey Jill, what happened to the picture of me and Ben on the side? amy

Ko'Olina

2008-11-15T15:40:00.001-08:00

Day Three Ko'Olina Beach

2008-11-15T12:36:00.000-08:00

Ok.....I finally figured out a way to get the pictures of one event onthe blog in an easier to view and load manner using photobucket. So what I will do is make a slide show on photobucket, post it here, then write about it:)

Day three started with Amy, Dad, and Ron heading off to Jill's house to catch the Bill's game, while Rick went to church...the rest of us attempted to sleep in:) The plan was to go take a tour of Rick's boat, but that didn't work because Rick got held up at church. The ladies were going to go to the beach anyway, so we just changed the plans and we all headed to the beach.

Ko'Olina is the perfect beach for younger kids because of the man made reefs that slow the waves down. The younger kids enjoyed the water and playing in the sand, while us big kids enjoyed the water and relaxing on the shore.

The day was beautiful....until the dark clouds started coming over the mountains. Dad, Ron, Amy, Ben, and Becca had headed back to the cottage for the Red Sox game and Mellie and Rick had joined us. Once we saw the cloud coming we hastily packed up and we were in the cars before the first raindrop hit!

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at the cabin enjoying each others company!

2008-11-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

i finally figured out how to get on here...... cole

Sisterly Love

2008-11-11T11:22:00.001-08:00

You know Jenn I think they may have reached a turning point in their relationship. While I am not naive enough to believe that they will be buddy buddy everyday, I have found them giggling behind closed doors more often lately. Which of course makes me cry *sigh*

That's cool that we hiked the celebrity hike and didn't even know it:)

I wish for your snow..........:)

I'M YOURS

2008-11-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I was watching the video, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, and thought it looked exactly like the hike we did in HI, so I did some research and many people mention that the waterfall everybody is jumping off of is the Maunawili Falls. The same waterfall Ron jumped off !! Isn't that cool? Jen

SNOW'S HERE!!!

2008-11-11T06:11:00.000-08:00

Jill,
I read your blog and remember the day when I went with my parents to drop my sister off at college, and this overwhelming sad feeling came over me, and I started to cry. I was confused b/c all my sister and I did was argue and fight about everything! I admit there are still times she drives me crazy and I can't be around her, but mostly we are great friends.

There were snow flakes when I dropped the kids off at daycare this morning!!! The snow is coming, it is inevitable and I need to accept it.

Jen

All cozy like :)

2008-11-10T22:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the little darlings all comfy cozy in the back of Rick's car....that was a fun week of car sharing and carpooling. We have the truck back and it only cost us a total of $59.06 :)

Kendall and Cass look cute in the picture.....its a balmy 73 degrees here tonight. We went to dinner in Mililani (in the mountains on the way to the North Shore) and it was cold and rainy....lol

Go over and read my blog about the big revelation in our house yesterday:) I will do day three tomorrow night if I have time. I have to work tomorrow:(

I love you guys and miss you lots:)

Dole Plantation

2008-11-10T16:34:00.000-08:00

Halloween was great . . . Kids cute as ever and they called it quits after about 10 houses . . . Although I do not remember getting small bags from every house and/or 3 or 4 pieces of candy at every house. 10 houses and they easily each had over 50 pieces of candy . . . oh well better selection to "share"!

Congrats BRIT! As far as Buffalo sports -Sabres sat 3-1 loss and then 20-10 Bills loss on Sunday . . . . seriously will I see them beat a New England Franchise again?!?!?!?

Hey low of 29 tonight . . . I miss HI!

Love ya all,

Ron