THANKSGIVING!!!

Thanksgiving was great! We were originally planning on going up to CT for Thanksgiving, but plans changed when I couldn't get off work for the day after Thanksgiving so we ended up staying in Richmond and going over Mom and Dad Ray's. Taryn, Matt, and Gabriel made the trip down and Rick, June, Gavin, and Jhomar all came over as well. We had an AMAZING lunch filled with lots of yummy foods and desserts :) I made a holiday champagne lunch that was very yummy with yummy frozen fruit ice cubes. I thought I had completely messed up when I Couldn't get the ice cubes out of hte containers I made them in....BUT! Brian came to the rescue when he was like...they are melting a tiny bit and are coming right out! haha!! OK so I freaked out a little :) We all had a great time. We played games and cards and all just hung out. They Haley Crew, Ray Crew, and Baldwin Crew (us :) ) all made a trip up to the new Bass Pro Shop which was a lot of fun. They guys got to dream while the ladies shopped :) Over all it was a GREAT Thanksgiving and I hope and Thank God that he has given us so much to be thankful for! We can only hope for another amazing year!

BaCK tO REaLitY...

So we had an AMAZING honeymoon!! WE went to Kauai, Hawaii, for those who do not know! It was so much fun. Our room was 60 feet from the ocean at the most. WE could lay in bed and look out and watch the sunrise every morning! It was the most amazing thing! WE had some crazy weather. It POURED down rain one day, probably a foot of rain! They closed down streets and advised people to stay in! There were some land slides and places where rivers go over streets that were flowing so hard they didn't advise passing over! We drove around still though and went through the "Tree Tunnel" even though we could barely see, haha!! It was fun though! We also had some GORGEOUS days. One of those gorgeous days we went down to the Sunny South Shore and spent the day at Po'ipu Beach. We layed around the at the beach, splashed around the ocean which was probably 75-77 degrees! It was the perfect temperature. We also went up to one of the Marriot's pools and hot tub and bar for a little bit. Their lounge chairs layed all along the beach so it was nice to have a chair instead of just sand. It was one of the most relaxing days on the island. We also spent days driving aroudn the island and stopping at sights and taking small and big and one...semi-dangerous... but fun hike!! Our crazy hike consisted of us going down an unmarked trail that was half mud and pretty darn steep! We had to use a rope tied to a tree to help us get down! The Blue Kauai book said it was an umarked trail and moderate if it is dry. We ultimately wanted to get down to the bottom of the Wailua Falls. We did make it down to the Wailua River and had to walk the bank...then cross the river...then trail blaze the other bank...then cross the river again (Now I don't want ot leave out the fact that the river was kickin' in parts and higher than waist deep in most places)...then we had to meander along the bank of the river until we came to some large boulders that blocked us from getting to the pool of the falls. Now usually this wouldn't be so bad...you could just swim/wade through the river to the pool...however, it had just rained close to a foot the day before so the pool was more than twice the size it normally is and the river was flowing heavier than normal as well! haha!! We did make even though Brian thought we were going to get stuck in the dark!! We ended up deciding to take a straight up vertical hands over head way to get to the top of the falls! haha!! It was super muddy and luckily there were ropes at the top to help pull yourself up! It got the adrenalin going in some places so that is always fun!!! We were safe and did make sure to have good footing and hand grips. The roots to most of the large old trees were exposed so that made it fairly easy...kind of...to find hand and foot grips! WE did make it to the top...had to hop the fence to get to the street...and then started to walk back to the car down the road. The middle aged gentleman stopped us and asked if we had been to the bottom. WE said yeah, and went on to tell us that he had done that 15 years ago when it was a marked trail! haha! It was very muddy, but very fun!! We understood where the red dirt shirts came from!!!! That red mud is impossible to get out of things!! We did quite a few other hikes as well...got stuck in pour down rain for a mile in one...saw some great views...and over all had an amazing time!!! There are so many trails it is IMPOSSIBLE to pick even half your top picks! haha!



The island itself is very rustic in comparison to Maui. A quarter of the island cannot be developed due to the fact that you cannot make a road over part of it!! It is all swampland and very uneven. That keeps a large portion of the island very remote and lush! It is overall a beautiful place. It is a nice size island because you can do as much or as little as you wish. You can drive the whole island in 2 days. (One day for the North...one day for the West/South) THen if you want to lay on the BEAUTIFUL beaches you can or you can do as many trails or activities as you want.

We will get pictures up as soon as we get to Mom and Dad's to get them off of their computer...we are trying to get our computer up and running :)

WE are now back to reality...organizing the house and getting settled in!!

*oUR nEw WEbsitE*

Click the Video to Play the Music then Listen and Enjoy and Read :)

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Welcome to the new website!! I hope everyone enjoys this! We wanted to switch over to blogger because we decided we liked it better and it was easier for us and everyone else to use :) We will start on this website as soon as we get back from the HONEYMOON!!! So we will officially be Mr. & Mrs. Brian Baldwin!!! YaaAaYyY! We aren't going to transfer anything from the old website just start fresh as a new couple on!! We love and miss everyone!