Hawai’i

Rod and I were lucky enough to get to go to Hawaii in celebration of our 20 years together!  We had a great time.  A BIG thanks goes to my sister Cindi for watching my 5 kids for over a week! 

We went to Pearl Harbor twice.  The first time, they were not running the boats out to the monument, so we had to come back later.  It was interesting to learn about all that happened that day.  I am truly more grateful for all those who serve us to make our country free.

We hung out at the beach at Waikiki.  It was nice and not too crowded that day, but it was very windy. Diamondhead is in the background.

We went on a very pretty drive.  On the way up we could see all of the downtown.  Diamondhead is in the background.

Although the picture quality isn’t very good (we were using the self timer and sticking  the camera on the roof of the car).  It is cool how you can see the Punchbowl Cemetery in the background.

We went by the Punchbowl Cemetery.  Humbling!

We went by Laie Point.  Once again, it was very windy!

We hung out at Turtle Bay for a while.  The sun finally came out!  It was a very relaxing area.

We checked out the surfers at the Banzai Pipeline.  There wasn’t much going on, but we did see a few catch a wave or two.

We got a Hawaiian Shaved Ice, a couple of times!!!

Trust me when I say that a large was too large!

We loved the Kailua area.  Not too far from where we were in this picture, is where the president vacations with his family.

The view from the condo we stayed in.  Most mornings, it was cloudy or raining.  The nice thing about Oahu is that all you have to do is drive to the other side of the island to find sun.

We went to check out BYU Hawaii and also the Hawaii Temple.

We even went in the temple and did a session while we were there.  The temple was lovely inside and very peaceful.  We met the Mission President for the Hawaii mission.  He had three of his sisters visiting.  One of them lives in Wesley’s mission!

The Polynesian Culture Center was a lot of fun.  I am sure that the kids would have enjoyed it.  We even attended a luau.

We hiked to a waterfall.  It was raining and so the path was so muddy that in some parts it was hard to keep from slipping. 

I have to admit, I was a little unimpressed with the waterfall.  It was much smaller than the ones that we have in Utah.  I did think that it was cool how there is a deep enough pool of water to jump in.

You can see on my legs that we got quite dirty on this hike.  Every time that we crossed the river, we would wash off our legs and shoes. 

We sat on the beach and watched the canoe clubs practice.  Rod was impressed that all you needed for the sport was your own paddle.  He thought that sounded a whole lot cheaper than Lacrosse!

We kayaked out to Flat Island.  It was a beautiful day, but the wind made it a lot of work.

From Flat Island, we kayaked over to the island on the left.  Yes, it was as far as it looked!

We stopped by the Dole Plantation (just for you Mom) and got a yummy pineapple ice cream treat!  The place was a definite tourist trap, but the ice cream was so delicious that I wanted to go back!

This was our ride around the island.  It was a lot of fun, but it did little for my hair!!!

It may not have been the best weather, but we managed to find a little sun every day.  The best time was when we could just kick back and relax.

It was so nice to get away from the everyday routine and check out a piece of this beautiful world that we have been so blessed to live on.  Aside from missing our flight home, we had a wonderful time and I am already thinking of where we can go next and who I can convince to watch my kids!