A Tale of Two Mauros: JUNE

(I'm going to have to apologize up front for how long this post will be, but there's a lot of pictures I want to show. So enjoy!)

June was the height of the year for us and our whirlwind lives. It was my very favorite month, and not just because it was my birthday!

And yet, it was my birthday...I turned 24 this year, and my husband planned the most amazing weekend for me.

We started out the morning of my birthday by going to the temple. It was the most amazing experience ever, and I'm so glad that my husband was there to share it with me.

Making it even better, my mom and my two best girlfriends were able to be there as well! Bekah and Tashia both took time off work to spend the day with me! I am so lucky to have them as friends!

Then, my husband actually did the unthinkable and actually arranged a surprise party for me! He has never been able to pull off any sort of surprise for me, not because I snoop around, but because he always gets too excited and gives it away. But this time he did! And I was definitely surprised!

Even Zilli got in on the fun and got all dolled up for the occasion!

There were actually a lot of people that showed up. I don't have any pictures of Shelbie there, because she was our photographer extraordinaire!

Here's a great picture Shelbie took of me and my most favorite person ever!

And a picture of me and my most favorite 2 year old ever!

Later in the month came the trip that I had been waiting over a year for! HAWAII! The trip actually almost didn't come at all - with all of my frequent flier miles, I had been saving up with Southwest to get a couple free flights to Hawaii via ATA Airlines. Unfortunately, about six weeks before we were scheduled to leave, ATA decided to go out of business, meaning we now had no free tickets to Hawaii. And since two other airlines that flew to Hawaii also decided they didn't want to fly anymore either, the price of flights skyrocketed to around $1200 each. It was a very stressful time, but fortunately, we were able to figure out a way to get some more frequent flier miles with United and get our tickets mostly paid for that way.

But even then, just getting to Hawaii was a nightmare. Flights were being cancelled left and right, and we didn't notice until all of the flights with the other airlines were completely booked. When we finally were able to make it onto a flight to San Diego and fly out the following evening, United offered to upgrade us to first class (which was fantastic, but spoiled us miserably!) I hoped that the same thing might happen on the way home (it would be much better to be stranded in Hawaii than at the San Diego Airport) but to no such luck.

Anyway, the experience in Hawaii was just paradise. I can't wait to go back as soon as I possibly can!

We spent as much time in the water as we could. The beaches were indescribable - perfect warm blue water.

I also learned how to snorkel, and I officially decided that snorkeling is just about my favorite thing to do in the whole world. I had to be dragged out of the water every day!