The Anconas: Wow, it's been a while.

I guess, I should start off with - Happy New Year!! Better late then never, I suppose.

I hope 2009 has been treating you well. January was a low key, laid back month for us. Which was nice. We spent almost 2 weeks in Hawaii in February. I'm sure you have figured out by now, that Hawaii, well to be specific, Maui, is my favorite place in the world. This is the first time we were there in the winter months. The temperature was perfect - mid 70's the entire time, it was quite breezy, and very low humidity. A very nice change from the weather at home. One day we had called home and were saying that it was windy and it was hard to walk down the beach because of the blowing sand, we were informed that there was 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground and 25mph wind at home. I quickly decided that I'd take blowing sand any day over the snow. Since this was our first time in Hawaii during the winter, we also got to see the Humpback Whales. We did a 2 hour boat excursion to see them. Any direction you looked you could see the water spouts as they were coming up to breathe. We had several whales close to our boat, one came up about 5 feet from the boat and at two different times a whale swam under the boat. Even though this was our third trip to Maui, we still haven't done everything - this way we can keep going back. Our first morning there, we got up at 3am, left the hotel at 4am to make the drive to the summit of Haleakala, for the sunrise. It was 35degrees at the summit, we arrived at about 5:50am and stood outside for an hour to watch the gradual changes in the sky. From the summit you can see the peaks of 2 of the 3 volcano's that make up the Big Island. It was well worth getting up early and standing out in the cold. If you haven't been to Maui, I highly suggest you go. Yes, the flight is long, but the reward in the end is so worth it.

Last night, my cousin Dusty got married. We had a great time at the Wedding reception. We're dragging a bit this morning, between the time change and staying out way past our usual bedtime. But we had fun, and that's what counts.

Matt is getting ready to start his in-season training for the Ironman. He's in the basement working out right now, while I sit on the couch watching the Travel Channel - Hawaii Do's and Don'ts. I've seen this show before, but like I said at the beginning, it is my favorite place and I don't tire of it.

Here are a few pictures :