Hawaii (Day 4)

Monday was a beach day for us!

We started the day with a yummy breakfast in the condo....scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and banana, blueberry pancakes! Yes, it was delish!

After breakfast we drove a mile to Po'ipu Beach.  We snorkeled, layed out, ate snacks, read, and some of us even hunted coconut......(Brach!)

 

 

Rafe loved the salt and vinegar chips....I love this picture with his hand in the bag! 

You know how it is with Lays.....you can't eat just one!!

 

After a while he tuckered out!

While I was rocking him to sleep I spotted two whales about 200 yards off shore.  They breached right our of the water twice!!  They were in a really playful mood so that was fun!

 

Brach and his coconut!!

 

A great day at the beach!

Hawaii (day 3)

Just a few pictures from Sunday.  Breakfast before Church. 

 

 

A shot from the balcony.

 

The Bomans by the Christmas tree in the Lobby. 

Rafe is super cute in this picture!!

 

Skylar and Sarah

 

A group shot

 

We flew on Go! Airlines to get to Kauai.  It was just a 30 minue flight.

S & S boarding the plane.

 

After getting settled in our condos we found a little place to get some dinner.

Brach and Skylar ordered tropical burgers and they LOVED them.

They were HUGE and they could barely fit their mouths over them:)

 

We'r eready to begin the week on Kauai!

Hawaii (Days 2 & 3)

Hawaii Day 2

 

We left the hotel early to get over to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium.  The swap meet is a must for those wanting to get good deals on Hawaiian trinkets.  Rick purchased a long sleeve T.  I got some handmade Hawaiian soaps and some locally made jams.  Brach and Kendra got some hats and shirts for the Boman family.  And Skylar bartered himself a nice ukelele and case for 100 bucks!!  ( He has been serenading us in the car ever since:)  It was a fun time! 

 

About 20 minutes into our shopping spree Rick decided to leave to find a Wal-Mart because he realized with horror at 4 o'clock that morning that he didn't bring any Sunday clothes!  Since there were no Sunday pants to be found at the swap meet he took off to find some, leaving me with no money and no camera.  (I didn't have any pockets and he was carrying them for me.) 

It turned out ok though.  I hung with B & K and they took care of me:)

So no pics of the swap meet!

 

Next we drove through the inner part of the island to get up to the Laie Temple.  Skylar, Sarah, Brach, Kendra, and I went in and did some sealings...... 

 

 

...while Grandpa took care of Rafe.  Actually, there wasn't much taking care of to do because Rafe just slept in the back seat while Rick drove around to see some sights.

 

Here's a pic of our 7 passenger mini van. 

It's a tight squeeze for B & K in the backseat with Rafe's carseat but they don't complain:)

 

Another temple picture at the street level.

 

After the temple we grabbed some lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.

This was a must for the shrimp lovers in the family.

Sarah and I opted for a taco:)

There is the truck in the background.

 

I love this face!!

Rafe barely has two teeth so he gums everything he eats!!

 

Pictures at the corn cutout.....

 

Our plans were to next go to the PCC but changed because the lateness of the hour.  We knew we would not be able to get our money's worth if we went that late so we opted for Waimea Bay.  Rick, Brach and Sarah enjoyed getting pounded in the HUGE WAVES!

Seriously the surf is super strong there on the North Shore.

 

Kenni and Rafe having fun!

 

Someone snuck a picture with my camera as Rick and I were enjoying the view.

 

Ever since we arrived on Oahu we have been wanting to climb one of the amazing trees.

We took the opportunity before we left Waimea bay.

 

Skylar and Sarah

 

Brach and Kenni

 

Rick and I

Our second day was full!!

The next day was Sunday and I don't have any pictures uploaded yet.  We all packed up our bags and loaded the car.  We found a meetinghouse and attended the block of a very nice ward there in Waikiki.  Afterwards, we had a quick lunch and then headed to the airport.  We caught a short flight over to Kauai and then got settled into our condos at the Lawai Beach Resort on the south end of the island.   We are looking forward to seeing this beautiful island for the next couple of days.

Hawaii

 

Just a quick post about our first full day in Hawaii.

We  woke up bright and early (5AM) because that's what our bodies told us to do:(  The time difference will take us a few days to get used to.  After waiting for the sun to come up we gathered together in our room here at the Wyndham Royal Garden in Waikiki.  (We each have our own room on the 8th floor and they are very nice)  We stopped for breakfast at Vit's Restaurant a block from here and had breakfast. 

Rick had THE BEST banana, macadamia pancakes with coconut sauce ever!!

 

Here are some pictures just outside of the restaurant. 

It is so nice to be out of the very cold Utah temps!!

 

 

Then we drove just a few miles over to Pearl Harbor.  I love to learn about the history of that day.

So many men lost their lives on that day and in fact of the whole WWII conflict. 

It is mind boggling and very sobering. 

I am so thankful to men and women who gave their lives to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.

 

On the Arizona Memorial looking out over what is left of the smokestack.

 

...and in the shrine room.

There are over 900 names on the wall representing the men

who died on the Battleship Arizona that morning.

 

After visiting Pearl Harbor we drove over to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling!

Skylar and Sarah were the first ones to get into the water.

 

We watched Rafe on the beach while Brach and Kendra went for a swim as well.

There was an abundance of beautiful tropical fish in the swimming area.  I followed a green turtle around for awhile just watching him eat off of the coral.

 

Rafe loved the water!  He wasn't too sure about the taste of the seawater though:)

 

That night we went to the Shorebird Restaurant.

It was right next to the Waikiki beach and was a fun place where you bbq your own meat. 

The boys had fun with that!

It was a full and fun day!

Christmas Lights

Hello Blogging World!!  It's been a while!

After our temple shift on Wednesday, Rick and I stayed in town to see the lights on temple square.  We were hungry so we started our night in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building up on the 10th floor at The Garden Restaurant.  Delicious food!!  (On our temple days we don't have time for lunch so by dinner......look out!)  We started with a fun appetizer of cheese and bacon covered potato chips served with ranch dressing.  Super unhealthy but WOW!  I had the asian chicken salad and Rick had the parmesan encrusted chicken over pasta.  We had a nice seat next to the fountain!

Here we are with the temple lights way below us.

 

 

 

I wanted to be sure and stop at the candy windows at Macy's because they are just really cool!

This one was my favorite!

 

The world in a candy wrapper.  (sorry it's blurry)

 

"Santa Paws"

 

This elephant was fun.  I loved the long licorice eyelashes!

 

This is not my favorite picture of Rick because he has chipmunk cheeks:).....

but look at the temple!  It was so pretty!

 

The reflection pond was really nice with a small nativity and floating lights.  There was one massive old pine tree by the east gate that was covered from trunk to tippy top branch with thousands of red lights!  I loved that tree!  We meandered over to the Nativity and listened to the narration there for a few minutes and then we decided that we were too cold and so we headed back to the car.  I was kind of hoping for a nice horse and buggy ride but at that point all I wanted was to be home in my cozy house with the fireplace going.  Seriously, the temperatures have been so cold this past week.  It feels more like January than December. 

 Once the sun goes down.....Forget it!  Get me inside!!

It was a wonderful night with my sweetie, though!